China Glaze Bohemian Collection

     So excited that my China Glaze Bohemian Collection finally arrived from head2toebeauty.com yesterday. So happy in fact that I did a mani with three of the colors last night (more on that in a minute). Which is why I am posting this today I had to get a natural  light photo and it was after dark when my polish was dry enough to take some pics. I bought 5 of the six polishes. I didn't buy Rare and Radiant because I already own OPI's Just Spotted the Lizard and it's an exact dupe for that color. Here's my new babies.

In order of appearance: No Plain Jane, Swanky Silk, Want My Bawdy, Deviantly Daring, and Unpredictable. 

Now for their close ups.

 Deviantly Daring

     This is by far my favorite polish in the collection. It's a dark teal that transitions to a metallic jade. I have yet to see a picture that does this polish justice. This is a must have if you like duochromes or if you like blue nail polish. Either way this polish is a beauty. I am deeply smitten with this polish, and it may be my new favorite polish.

 No Plane Jane

     This polish is a medium purple polish that transitions to a peachy tan-ish color that if I was going to name it I would call it caramelized peach. This one's duochrome came across a little washed out in the picture but the tan areas are more pink that they appear in the picture. I took like 25 pictures and couldn't capture a true color representation. But trust me it's really pretty.

Swanky Silk 

     This polish does not photograph well at all. I took 3 dozen pictures and none of them showed the color change that this polish exhibits. This polish is another one you really have to see (and wear) to appreciate it. It's a platinum-ish gold that transitions to a soft metallic baby pink. A very pretty subtle duochrome.

Unpredictable 

     I was really happy with how this polish photographed. It's a mint green that transitions to a copper then a teal color. It's really pretty and if you love green or just duochromes you should pick this one up asap.

Want My Bawdy

     And lastly Want My Bawdy. This one also photographed fairly well. This polish shifts from a dark blue to a lighter bluish purple color. This is probably the least duochrome of the set. It's such a subtle color shift that it looks more like a metallic blue than a true duochrome. But if you look closely the color shift is there it's just very, very subtle. 

     Like I said earlier I was so excited to get these polishes that I opened the box immediately and couldn't decide which polish to wear. So I decided why not do some nail art and use more than one. I used a gradient sponging technique and stamping for this look. 

Indoor

Outdoor

I used Swanky Silk, No Plain Jane, and stamped Deviantly Daring over top.

I used Shany plate SH18.

I definitely think this line was worth both the wait and the money. They are all so pretty and apply like a dream. Do you guys have them yet? What do you think of them? Which one is your favorite color? Leave me a comment and let me know. Well that's all I have for you for today. Until next time Stay classy and stay polished. 

XOXO

Giraffe on Safari Manicure

Just a quick manicure picture for today. My hands were feeling better and I decided to do a new manicure with two of the On Safari collection polishes that I have had for a couple weeks but haven't been able to do anything with till now. This is not a tutorial but if you would like one for it, let me know by commenting below and I will make one for you guys. And don't worry I used Gaussian blur so you can't see what remains of my recent DE outbreak. Which luckily is in the final stage (which just looks like dry extra pink/red skin) and is almost unnoticeable to anyone but me at this point. Plus the bottle is blocking most of my palm and that's where the outbreak was mostly confined to. Yet another perk of taking good care of your skin. When something cause an DE flare it recovers so much faster when well cared for than when it's neglected. Any way hear's my Giraffe On Safari manicure.

Polishes used: (All China Glaze) Kalahari Kiss, Desert Sun, and Street Chic

Stamping Plate Used: Mash plate M61

And in case you are wondering that's the back of a page from my novel in the background. 

What do you guys think? Do you like it? Let me know. Until next time stay classy and stay polished.

My first Julep Maven Box!!!

     I know this is a little late but it's been kind of a crazy month for me and I am just now getting around to the post. Plus I wanted to try everything in the box before I posted about it so I could review all the items as well. I was super excited to get my first Maven box and try Julep polish for the first time...not to mention the awesome price ($0.01). So here's what was included in my first Maven Box.

Two nail polishes Courteney (pale green creme) & Hayden (Medium Peach creme) The Best Pedi Creme Ever and two toe spacers.

     The first thing that struck me when I opened the box was how nicely everything was wrapped and that they had even tossed in two free two spacer for painting my toes. That was pretty awesome. And then I opened the nicely wrapped package inside the box and was struck by how small the bottles are. I know they are only 8mL-.27 Fl. Oz but seriously they are tiny when you are used to OPI, Finger Paints, and China Glaze (all 15mL-0.5 Fl. Oz). They almost seem precious by comparison. Here's a pic of them next to a ruler and some other common everyday objects.

     The Julep bottles come in at just over 3 inches only a half inch bigger than my Burt's Bee's lip balm. Which is pretty small in the nail polish world. So after I got over how tiny the bottles are I got busy and painted my nails with Hayden. And that's when I started to get annoyed. My polish didn't even last 4 hours before I chipped the polish on my thumb. I was not happy about it. So I took off the polish and re-polished them with Courteney and this time got a full day's wear out of them before they chipped. Which is better but still irritating to me. Not to mention I had to use 3 coats of Courteney for it to be opaque. Which used 1/4 of the tiny bottle. 

Here's what was left after 1 manicure from each bottle.

Which means I could at best get maybe 4 more manicures out of each bottle.

     Here is where I am glad that I only paid a penny for my box if I had paid $20 (the regular price for a Maven box) or $14.99 (The regular price for a single bottle) I would have hit the roof. And someone it their complaints department would have had to deal with me about the quality of the polish I received. But since it was only a penny I just said "Note to self don't buy Julep polish again." Easy as that. 

     After a not so happy experience with the polish I decided to try out the pedicure creme. I mean it says "The Best Pedi Creme Ever!" right on the tube. So it must be awesome...right? Which brings me to the other reason why this post went up this week and not sooner. Because I tried the creme...and regretted it almost immediately. As you ladies know I have a skin condition called Dyshidrotic Eczema (DE) and this is what triggered my flareup this past week. Even though I washed my feet and hands after the burning itch of DE (which is an indicator of an impending flareup) it was to late. My immune system went on the attack and I had a DE outbreak. And that's why no finger pictures this week. I guess I could call Julep and complain but really what's the point I only paid a penny it's not like I am out much. The fact that I'm allergic to the pedicure creme coupled with the fact that the polish failed to perform well for me just tells me to avoid this brand in the future. And I guess if you are only wanting to wear your polish for a day or so then repaint them, then you may not mind the easy chipping. But for me if I am going to pay $20 for nail polish I would rather pick up 4 China Glaze (they are $4.99 at Sally Beauty Supply with a Sally Card), or 3 OPI for the same amount. I also reaffirmed my fear of trying new lotions and will stick with my normal lotion (Vaseline Intensive Care), because having my hands and feet covered in DE is not my idea of a good time. But hey if you don't have delicate hypersensitive (pain in the butt) skin that freaks out at new products, you may love the pedi creme. It does smell really good (Mint and Cucumber). Oh well I will just pass it along to my friend Marcie and let her have feet that are smell like cucumbers and mint.

     Has anyone else had a problem with Julep polish chipping so easily? Or with being allergic to the Pedicure creme? Any way I know I won't be buying Julep polish anytime in the near future that's for sure. Until next time stay classy and stay polished. 

XOXO