Julep Maven: February 2013 It Girl (Joan, Marion, Rebel) Swatches

The amount of photos I have from London/Paris is quite intimidating, so I haven't taken the time to sort through them just yet.  While I'm procrastinating on that, I thought I'd share with you my February Julep Maven box.  This came while I was away, so it was nice surprise when I got home.

I actually debated getting the full collection this month because I liked quite a few of the colors AND there were several holographic polishes.  Also, I kind of wanted to try that Oxygen base coat thing.  But in the end, I decided on the It Girl box because it had the color I really wanted (Joan) and the holographic color that I really wanted (Rebel), and also because an upgrade wasn't quite in the budget for me.

(Side note: my profile is supposed to be Boho Glam, but I can't even remember the last time I got that one. I'm really glad they let you choose which box you want, and also that they let you skip.)

Anyway, on to the pictures!

All the February boxes came with the Freedom top coat which is supposed to be like a gel top coat without all the hassle.  I think all the boxes also came with an eyelash curler (in the pouch) and some chocolate (hidden under the eyelash curler, lol).

I think these Swatch Me stickers are quite handy, but you can't really tell from the swatch that Rebel is holographic.  You can't really see the pretty gold flecks in Joan either...But I still like the idea of these stickers. :)

And this time around, I actually had time to swatch all of the colors.  I feel so proud that I'm really working on swatching more now.

First up is Rebel.  I had a hard time photographing this one.  It's a silver holographic polish, but I find the holo-ness to be quite subtle compared to other holo polishes I've seen.  Still very pretty though!

Click through for more swatches of Rebel, plus swatches of Joan and Marion!

SWATCH+REVIEW: China Glaze - Lorelei's Tiara (Eye Candy Collection)

Well, hello 2012!  Here's the first post of the new year!

Lorelei's Tiara is the perfect polish for ringing in the new year.  It's silver, blue, and shiny!  This polish is one of six from China Glaze's Eye Candy collection, which was inspired by Marilyn Monroe and released for the holidays.  This particular polish is a clear base filled with small silver glitter and more dispersed bigger specks of round blue glitter.  I used two coats to reach this opacity, and it applied really nicely!  Dried really fast too!  I didn't use a top coat, so not sure how well it does (i.e. if it's a top coat eater)...

Very pretty!!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to wear this to ring in the New Year, because I didn't have time to do my nails until now.  But wearing it on the first day of the New Year is just as nice. :)  Hope everyone had a fun and safe time celebrating last night!  I went to a dinner party thrown by my old roomie, and then went to my family's shindig to countdown to the new year.  All in all, had a very fun time at both parties!

Sorry I haven't been swatching much because winter doesn't treat my skin very nicely, especially my hands!  I look like I have elephant skin on my hands...very unattractive, lol.  You can see in these pictures that my cuticles are very dry...But I've got some other posts coming up. ^^  It's the start of a new year, so there's lots of new things to come!  One of my resolutions is to blog more, so please stay tuned~!

Availability: Sally Beauty Supply, Ulta, Nail Supply Stores, Online
Limited Edition? Yes - Eye Candy Collection (Holiday 2011)
Price: $4 - 7

NOTD: Whimsical Gradient

I've been wanting to try gradient nails for a while, so I decided to try it today.  My manicure had gotten messed up already, so I was already thinking of doing a new manicure.  Then, when I was looking at my polish stash, I saw OPI DS Coronation and thought a silver gradient would look nice with the pale pink I had on.  So, I just used my old mani as my base, and did the gradient by sponging OPI DS Coronation on top.  Voila!  My gradient nails:

  

I think they came out pretty well, and I'll definitely be doing more gradients in the future.  The ring finger got a bit messed up, so I just did a full coat of OPI DS Coronation on that finger.  Closer look:

What do you think?

I think they look a bit whimsical, and kind of reminds me of fairy dust.

P.S. I thought of maybe doing a tutorial on this.  Let me know if you want one~ :)