This weeks Mani: Halloween

Quick one! Base coat is 2 coats of Julep's "Parker" that I received in my October box. LOVE this color, a perfect pumpkin orange! Then I used the Kiss Stripers and finished with black tips and Orly's Matte Top Coat. What do you guys think? Tell me about your nails!

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My First Diamond Candle

     Well ever since I joined the nail blogging world and Instragram nail world it seems like Diamond Candles and Lush Products are the "cool" thing to have... well I'm not about to jump on the Lush band wagon, and not just because it's full of 14 year olds with smart phones. I used to have a small addiction to lush when I was about that age... and having become the mature, worldly (yeah right!) adult I am, I've realized that lush is overpriced for my budget, and I don't think their products work that great. There, I said it! Bring it on, internet! However, I did want to try a Diamond Candle. So here's how it went.

It says on the website that if you have 14k or 18k printed on the band it's real gold. If it says "Taiwan", it's not. Well this one says nothing! So I'm not really sure, and haven't had the chance to get over to the mall and ask if it's real. Either way it's pretty! And the candle smellls Soooooo yummy.

Doppelganger: Julep's "Toni" and China Glaze "Below Deck"

Hello! Been exactly one month since I posted... but that doesn't mean I've been idle! A few weeks ago I was ready to try a brown since Autumn is here, so I grabbed Below Deck to swatch. I was keeping it with my neutrals! As soon as I put it on I think, Wow, this look a lot like the Julep I got in my September box. So I swatch that one too, and wow! I was keeping Toni with my purples, yet they look SO alike!

I love this shade. Ok, here's the good stuff.

ONE COAT

Hate to say it since Julep is so much more expensive, but China Glaze was definitely less streaky and more opaque.

TWO COATS WITH SECHE VITE

Both finished off very glossy and flatted out nicely, even before SV.

Toni definitely has a richer plum hue, but I also love that below deck is slightly subdued. Personally if I would have known, I'd have kept Below Deck and asked for something else from Julep. Oh well! :)

Have a great rest of your days out there!
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Halloween is finally coming!

     Hello! Haven't posted in a short while. I went through a little bit of a palette cleansing period, my nails were naked for almost a whole week! I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with them so I decided to wait until I was inspired. That's when this arrived...

     Oooh yeah. This is my 2nd Julep Maven box and I am so in love with it! It came packaged very cutely, there was also a little packet of candy corn but something happened to them. All I'm gonna say about it is that I ate them with my mouth. Here's what I got:

•       "Hermione": A matte white crackle. Love. 
•       "Lisa": A cool gray cream with a glossy finish. Opaque in two coats but looks best with two.
•       Julep's new quick drying drops. I put them over my SV when I am completely finished. 
•       One pot of loose glitter, orange.
•       One pot of loose glitter, black. 

     And I happened to receive this package on a Saturday night (my Friday) right after work, and my boyfriend was working all night so I had the place to myself. So I put on a girly movie and went to work. It was a great Saturday night!

     I decided it was high time I try my hand (no pun intended) at a glitter dip manicure. I have to say, I think my boyfriend and I are about to have some problems. You see, he hates glitter because you have it on one tiny little Christmas ornament (or big, gawdy turquoise tree topper) and suddenly you notice a fleck of glitter on your cheek while you're at work. You wake up with glitter in your hair. You find it in your car. You can't escape it. But it's too late. The glitter has worked its way under my skin, to my heart. I'm sorry, dear boyfriend, for all the pissed off you are going to be in the coming years.

     The red-orange polish I am wearing on a couple of these nails is Orly's "Flicker", which I am obsessed with right now. I have never had a nail polish that I just kept wanting to add coats on because I love to look at it, this one is my first. More on it another time!

Anyone have tips on how to keep the glitter from spreading all over your nail when you put on your top coat? 

Which is your favorite?

Have a great rest of your day, you addicts!

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Detroit Lions Matte Manicure

Here is this week's manicure, thought I'd celebrate the beginning of football season! China Glaze's "Pelican Gray", Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry "Brisk Blue". I got my set of nail art brushes and so I used my new striper to do my ring finger. Super happy with it! I also got my first matte topcoat and I LOVE the matte look! However I have been totally spoiled by SV and nicked the hell out of my nails because it felt like it was taking so long to dry! What kind of matte top coats do you girls like to use? Any recommendations?

Ok, better go watch the Lions finish losing.

Have a nice day, ladies!

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Yellow Swirly Goodness

Afternoon Folks -
     I went through my neutrals I realized I only have three! Womp womp womp. Well of course I decided to go polish shopping, and Walgreens is having a $.99 sale on Sinful Colors so I picked up eight or so of those, and in those I picked up "Unicorn", a really pretty pastel yellow, not quite eggshell but definitely soft. It took  five coats for it to be opaque!
     I also noticed that Sinful Colors uses very hard bristles and requires a very soft touch if you don't want to cut paths in your undercoat(s).  Not too thrilled with that, I don't think I'll pick up anymore SC unless there is a color I really can't live without.
     So I gave myself a manicure using FIVE COATS of Sinful Color's "Unicorn" as a base, Bundle Monster stamp BM-314, white Konad stamping polish and OPI's "Did You Ear About Van Gogh?"

     How do you feel about yellow polish? I have read that is the most hated nail color, I think it's under appreciated! I own more yellow than any other color. My first polish was OPI's "Need Sunglasses", the polish that started it all! 

Dare I say it was a "Gateway" polish? Anyone else own and LOVE Need Sunglasses? 

Have a great rest of your day! :)

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Gray Half-moon Mani with Thumb Accent

I am a huge fan of the half-moon manicure. I think it is really beautiful and makes the nail look longer. So on Saturday I decided to take out one of my new purchases and also take my new Juleps for a spin. The half moons are with China Glaze's Pelican Gray, which is a cool gray with a subtle shimmer, which doesn't sparkle so much as it illuminates itself. The thumb is is Julep's "Toni" which I recieved as my first Maven package.

That is what I received in the mail, in a cute little box with a recyclable bag inside. So cute! I swatched the pink on instagram (where you can follow me @squoval) and it was very bright, almost neon (and with no base coat!). Very happy! 

I'm on kind of a neutral kick right now. I think I'll go see if I have enough neutrals to do an ombre manicure. See you soon!

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Autumn Sponge Manicure

Hello! Well it is almost the end of August, and although it is hardly cooling down, I am so in the mood for Autumn! It is my favorite season! So I thought my nails and I should celebrate.

This was my first time using acrylic paints for nail art. It is 1,000,000,000,000,000 times better than sponging with nail polish! The colors went on so vibrant and matte! My base was OPI's Need Sunglasses, two coats. On my ring fingers I wore Essie's ACTION, three coats. I wanted them to look like Autumn leaves. I guess I should have taken some before and during pictures... man I am a terrible blogger! Oh well... Now I am wondering what to do with them? I was thinking about some sort of black or white leaf outlines? I'll have to look at my stamps.

This is the second thing I love about Autumn. Bath and Body works comes out with their fall collection and I die over this candle. It smells so good! Anyone else a fan?

Have a good day, girls!

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My First Post!

Well, here is is: My First Post! I may as well upload these pictures of some manicures I've done lately. All of these are by me on my own hands unless I say otherwise.

 I absolutely love Number One Nemesis by OPI. Here I am earing it with China Glaze's Pelican Gray.

This one was inspired by Whitney

 Questions, comments, suggestions on how to blog? Please comment! Thanks!
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