New Julep Trina Turk color Alma :) and manicure

I've been slacking on updating this journal of sorts but it's been a hectic few weeks since I got home from the hospital trying to catch up on everything. I need to do a Halloween post too. Miss Miley was the cutest little Minnie Mouse and I need to document it in a post. I did take plenty of pictures. I also volunteered in her bubba's class on Halloween for their class party and got pictures of him as the most handsome Mario :) Miley was running around all day Halloween before going trick or treating with a friend (whose son was Mickey Mouse) going on about how Minnie and Super Mario were the coolest ever.

ANYWAYS away from the rant. LOL. Here's my last manicure. I'm actually working on a new one right now and have just my Julep nail therapy basecoat on right now since this last manicure started peeling up. I'm way too rough on my  nails. Definitely need to excuse the messiness in the photos I'm about to attach... I didn't do a clean up job before photos. Actually confession... I never did a clean up job. LOL Miley started running around like a crazy person so as soon as I got the polish dry I was up and going.

I got a new Trina Turk color in an "exchange" of sorts. Miley's grandma Sandy got the Bombshell box from September and didn't really like the yellow color Alma. I traded her one of my doubles for it. I don't love or hate Alma but I did want another one of the Trina Turk collection. I have three already (Eileen, Gunta and Hoch) and I just wanted to continue the collection.

Yellow is my favorite color but in the bottle Alma was not my favorite. It's actually not bad on the nail. I used it as an accent color. I didn't plan on using it at all right away but when I asked Miley what color Mommy should do her nails next she stuck to Alma. Even after asking her a few more times. :) So I did Eloise from the American Beauty October box on all the nails except the ring fingers and Alma on the ring fingers. I wanted to add to it so I put Glenda (a sparkly silver crackle from Julep) on half of the ring fingers and on the tips of my thumbs. In the photos though I hadn't done the Glenda yet so it's just Alma and Eloise.

I really need to get a handle on the rambling... and make it simpler. But as a journal of sorts I think rambling is aloud... :)

Well here goes with the pictures. I had a hard time capturing the actual shades of the colors but I also take the pictures with my cell phone... so eh. :)

Eloise ended up looking more like Gunta from the Trina Turk collection in this picture but it's actually more of a greenish blue ( in my very bad at judging colors opinion... LOL )

Can I say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Julep is now including which style profile the color is from (you can see on Eloise) as of October :) I actually put the style profiles on the side sticker on the cap before October's polishes came with it already on both stickers (bottom and side).

Here are my messy nails. Sorry :/ And I am still working on getting all my nails to the same shape and length. I am so new to this doing my nails and attempting to make them actually pretty :) So I'll get there. They're actually decent looking right now but I'm sure one will break soon.

Pretty blue and yellow :)

XoXo
Miley & Amber

November 2012 Julep Maven choices & Add-ons

I am a bit late on the Julep Maven preview but I did go into the hospital to be admitted the day the preview emails came out in my defense... :)

I could not make up my mind and while I am an American Beauty usually I wasn't too interested in the body lotion/butter product offered this month. I bet it's fantastic as Julep hasn't done anything that isn't in my experience but I am too excited about the matte top coat and the suede polishes to get anything but. So I chose the It Girl box with Hailee, Nora and the Matte top coat. I added on Amber (I just had to have my namesake polish), Trina and Donna. I got the last two for little miss Miley. I was going to add on Diane for her (the dark green) but it was a bit too dark for her even though her favorite color is green at this point. I figured the pretty blue and purkle would make her happy along with Hailee (the green suede polish)

I will post pictures when the two packages arrive in the next week :) I can't wait. I had a free box this month so that allowed me to add-on without guilt this time. LOL

XoXo
Miley & Amber

Hospital & Jewelmint Arrival :)

So I've been missing from posting in this "journal" of sorts and haven't even done my nails once or little miss Miley's because I was in the hospital again. For the last six to seven weeks I have been in and out of the ER/Hospital with a few respiratory problems figuring out what's wrong. First it was just a visit to the ER with a diagnosis of bronchitis. Then a few weeks later it was back to the ER and then admitted to the hospital from there with pneumonia in both lungs. I asked to be released early so I could come home after four days and they sent me home with the pharmacy and a breathing machine... LOL but I did get better. Then about a week and a half ago I started having trouble breathing again. I used my inhaler and eventually the nebulizer machine again but it got to the point where going to the ER was my only choice. Good thing I did. Turns out I still have pneumonia to a point and I also found out I have Adult Asthma. Most likely caused by the really bad case of pneumonia I had. The DR said it most likely sensitized my lungs so that now almost anything will irritate them.

(I will admit an awful fact. I am/was a smoker. I know it's a nasty horrible habit and you'll be pleased to know I haven't smoked in over a week and I am quitting for a few reasons. My daughter was my first reason but now my health is definitely up there.)

Yes I know I am oh so attractive when in a hospital gown and on oxygen ;) LOL thought I would include this picture of fun.

While in the hospital Little Miss Miley's costume came in the mail :) A friend has a two year old son who is going to be Mickey Mouse and Miley is going to be Minnie Mouse. We ordered the costumes off Party City's website together and they came super fast. I still wish there had been a red Minnie option but the pink version is adorable. Miley refuses to try the dress on as of right now but she loves the ears.

I came home yesterday evening and timing was perfect! In the mail yesterday came my Jewelmint gift from a friend. :)

Now I've never received anything from Jewelmint so I was especially looking forward to this package. With the Buy one Get one code that was used he paid $29.99 for both sets and I chose sets that had two pieces of jewelry apiece. They actually are matching sets :) The Sweet Romance set and the Duchess pearl set. I will admit first that while they are gorgeous pieces of jewelry that I'm glad that we used the code. They aren't the most spectacular quality It's decent but not fantastic.

First is the Sweet Romance set. It's a matching ring and necklace set.

First photo is the description paper they include on the top flap of the box. Then a photo of the two pieces without flash and third photo is with flash.

They are pretty pieces. My favorite is the ring. Only because since becoming a mommy I don't wear necklaces that often anymore. I have a gorgeous strand of black pearls that my daughter decided to break... LOL they need a new clasp now.  But I will wear the necklace for dressier occasions with the other pieces. The ring will just be more wearable for me.

Next up is the Duchess Pearl set. It's also a matching set of earrings and a bracelet but they also are matching to the Sweet Romance set :) So it's a big set of mix and matching pieces.

Again. First is the paper description. No flash. Then with flash. This set oddly enough again has one piece for me that is wearable and one piece that will be for dressier occasions. I wear a bracelet every day so that's the wearable piece for me. I do wear earrings daily but stud earrings. My usual go to earrings are these large rhinestone bow studs. I don't wear dangly earrings for the same reason as the necklace. Now I'm sure that with Miley being almost three I could try wearing them again on a normal basis but I kind of like having pieces for dressing up.

I wanted to take pictures of each piece on me but that will have to wait seeing as Miley took the ring and bracelet and put them in her dollhouse... :) Also working on doing my nails but its sort of a repeat manicure. I love the look of Caroline over black since it brings out the red more for me. Not sure what the accents will be yet but maybe I'll post it.

Xoxo
Miley & Amber

Tuesday/Wednesday's manicure... one day between them. Sad I know :)

So the manicure I did just Monday with Eloise and Mila chipped in a few spots and I used that as an excuse to redo my nails. Originally I was just going to fix the two nails that had chipped but in removing the polish from those I ended up accidentally removing some polish on the tips of a couple other nails so I just took all my polish off and decided to try a new look.

First I applied the basecoat and then Leslie. It's described as a black and silver speckled shimmer. I really like it but for some reason I can't find a coordinating look that I can bring myself to leave on my nails for longer than a little bit. I think I need to do a glitter look with it or accent with an actual color. I don't know.

For some reason my camera when I'm in Instagram refuses to focus when I'm up close to the subject for the photo... I don't know why and I've been on a mission to figure it out for ages. LOL but that is the Leslie all by itself. Blurry but eh. I didn't get a clear photo before I changed it again.

I didn't like the Leslie by itself and didn't feel up to figuring out some "nail art' so I put Caroline on all my nails except the ring fingers. I ended up smudging most of the nails before I got to the top coat and quick dry drops part. That's what I get for attempting manicures in the middle of the day between feeding kids and etc. :)

So I took all the polish off AGAIN and since I'm pretty paranoid about using up all my Julep polishes since the bottles are so tiny I didn't want to risk using up a whole ten fingers worth of Leslie again. I resorted to the black creme I have of Wet'N'Wild and put that on all ten nails. Let that dry and then put Caroline on again on all the nails except the ring fingers. I was tempted to do some sort of glitter or something extra but I ended up leaving it be with the plain black creme accent nails and I actually really like the muted ish look of the dark burgundy and black. Caroline is a beautiful dark burgundy in the bottle and in bright light/sunshine but in normal lighting looks brown on the nail. It's a pretty brown but I layered Caroline over Leslie originally to see if it came off more red/burgundy if layered over black and it did for me. :) So I am happy with the manicure even without glitter and bright somethings. I think it's a fun fall basic look and hopefully I can keep this on my nails for more than a day before I get bored with it.

Miley has not decided on a finger nail color yet in the last few days after taking her red off but she did decide on toe colors and she even let me paint her toes this time. Usually she has to do them herself. :) The last few days green has been her number one favorite color with purkle in close second. So she chose Hoch by Julep for one foot and a light shimmery green that is a random polish from here in the house for the other foot. She's sleeping right now so I'll snap a quick picture of her cute little toesies. Yes I just typed toesies. :)

Hoch which is her favorite green so far.

 And a light green shade from a random bottle in the house. It's a pretty green and isn't really being done justice in this picture but she is asleep and I couldn't move her feet around too much without bothering her. :)

XoXo
Miley & Amber

Julep Product Collection and photos :)

So here is my Julep products collection so far. I am beyond ecstatic for November's box since the product is the Matte Topcoat but they also did a reveal on the polishes for the next boxes and it's the suedes! Now I haven't ever had a suede or matte polish so I don't know what I'll think of it on my nails but I am excited because Julep has a polish named Amber :) and it's one of their suede polishes. For once something is called Amber and isn't some odd orangey color. It's actually a beautiful bronze ish color from the swatches Julep posted online and from another blog I saw. Preview day and time to choose which box/add-ons is in just THREE short days :) Cannot wait.

Now for the collection of Julep products I have been lucky enough to own so far :)

First up was the very first product I received. The American Beauty Intro box came with two polishes (Emma and Renee) and Julep's "The Best Pedi Creme Ever!" While I haven't been too big into pedicures and pedicure products so I can't say that it's the "best" ever, I certainly think it lives up to its name in my opinion. It's smooth and silky. Rubs in without being greasy and has a pleasant scent. I use it from time to time when I change my polish on my toes (which isn't as often as my nails since I wear socks 24/7 and polish has a way of staying on my toes without chipping for a scary amount of time.

Next up was the product for September's Trina Turk collaboration boxes. There were actually two variations of the product for this month. It was a mascara and there was the American Beauty Volumizing Mascara that came in Jet Black. Then there was the Boho Glam Lengthening Mascara in Espresso Brown. Now I stuck with my beauty profile American Beauty for a few reasons. One I liked the colors that were in it (Eileen and Hoch) and the only other color that really caught my eye at the time was Gunta in the Boho Glam box. The Boho Glam box was also the only one that came with the brown mascara (Boho Glam obviously LOL) and while I have changed my mind since I had never used brown mascara before this product. I have always been loyal to black mascaras so I wanted to get the black one out of the two. (I did get a free add-on my first actual monthly box so I chose Gunta :)  )  

 Now for the American Beauty mascara which is the one I received in my Maven box. I cannot say enough about this. I literally have never loved a make up product more and that's a big deal for me. I have never really loved a mascara. I've loved bits and pieces of what certain ones have done and I've been pretty loyal to Bare Minerals mascaras for a while since for me personally that is what has worked the best for my lashes without clumping them too much. But with that said I have stubby sad little lashes and in order to build them up I always have some clumping until I comb through them. NOT WITH JULEP THOUGH :)))) This mascara is incredible. It is amazing in one swipe but it layers over and over and over again so amazingly beyond words. I am forever addicted.

Now I fell so in love with this product that I actually really wanted the brown mascara. I saw it on Listia first and bid on it but lost the auction. I was really bummed I hadn't added it on my September box for the $9.99 add-on price and really didn't want to spend full price for it (even with the Maven discount). Then I saw the Boho Glam mascara on Copious's website for 7 bucks and some change. I was over the moon and ordered it. Once it arrived I became a believer in brown mascara for days where I'm just throwing on a simple natural make up look. And the formula is just as fantastic as the black American Beauty mascara. I haven't used the brown one enough to really see a difference in the "volumizing" black mascara and the "lengthening" brown mascara but in the few times I've used the brown I do think that it is more of a natural look in my opinion. That could be because of any number of reasons though. My make up was more natural, I didn't layer it on like I did with the black most of the time, etc. Either way I am in love once again. :)

So before October's Maven box I did receive a few boxes from a friend. The It Girl Intro box did not come with a product (the polishes were Blake, Claire and Morgan) (the It Girl style profile is the one with three polishes and no product every month) but the August Bombshell box that was purchased for me did come with one along with the polishes Harley and Kim. Julep's "Acetone Free Conditioning Nail Polish Remover". (I actually now have two of them because of the Manicure Kit I purchased through the secret store in October so that is why the photo has two bottles in it) This is a great polish remover for being acetone free. I've never had an acetone free remover that didn't drive me absolutely nuts with its inability to actually remove polish. Julep's version actually does its job. :) Which is becoming no surprise since they seem to have figured out how to perfect everything. It is a fairly small bottle (4oz) and I have already used up one which is sad since they're kind of spendy full price and I won't ever bring myself to buy one full price most likely. But I'll just keep an eye out for the deals that include them and get it then. The other awesome part is that they come with a pump top for one handed polish removal. My first bottle's pump was kind of defective and leaked if not standing upright. It also didn't lock close (which is probably why it leaked... duh Amber. LOL) I didn't bother Julep with it since I just kept it upright anyways but my second bottle's pump works fine so that was kind of exciting.

I forgot to mention! In my American Beauty Intro box, the It Girl Intro box and the August Bombshell box I also received Julep mini totes as free extras. I now have three and love them. Perfect for holding anything from my polishes to some of Miley's toys to random little things for on the go. I did not take a picture of one of those so I'll steal one from the internet but shhhh. :)

October's Bewitching themed boxes came with a pretty nifty product I was uber excited for. I again stuck with my beauty profile American Beauty (which came with Eloise and the orange crackle Sabrina). The oh so nifty product was Julep's new Quick Dry Polish Drops. They do the job which is no surprise now with Julep products. They were advertised as perfect for busy moms with young kids but I also discovered they are perfect for the young kids! Miley loves doing her nails but really won't sit still long after she's done painting them and they smudge every time. I hold her still and put the "drops" on her nails (she calls them the drops and loves them LOL) wait a minute and then let her run off. She would have perfect manicures for longer than a few hours if she didn't pick off the polish in an effort to get to do her nails again. :) And these too have a nice scent to them.

As an extra bonus in the October boxes I also received two glitter pots in orange and black, and a small package of candy corn. Now if Mason and Miley hadn't devoured the candy corn in a matter of seconds I would have a picture to include with the photo of the glitter pots but eh. I'm sure we all know what candy corn looks like :) Miley also adores the glitter. I found some craft glitter in silver, gold and green after Julep sent these glitter pots since it sparked some fun nail art ideas in my head but Miley got to those three craft glitters and decorated my bedroom carpet with them. So now I am down the to two glitter pots sent by Julep (which I now guard LOL and the last craft glitter she didn't get ahold of, blue, that I'm thinking will come in handy for a fun winter nail art idea in the upcoming months).

Now for Mavens who did not skip the October box we were given access to a "secret store" for a week beginning October 1st. I originally did not plan on buying anything from it but the deals were literally TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. :) They had a manicure kit/set that included the nail polish remover (which I was running low on at the time), one of Julep's glass nail files that I was really wanting to try, the nail therapy basecoat which is BEYOND AWESOME and Julep's Essential Cuticle Oil. That last one there being pretty cool too. I am not an expert at taking care of my cuticles and actually have no idea on what I'm supposed to do with them... I push them back and use this oil and I'm hoping that I'm doing it right? I need to Google on that and become more informed... LOL but as far as being an oil it's nice because it absorbs into my skin and doesn't stay greasy or oily for long. It has a decent scent to it also.

From what I read other Mavens saying about it it's a popular item I believe. And some people were awfully bummed it was sold out for a bit so that's good reviews I think. As of tonight I really hope it's non-toxic... since Miley decided it looked like lip gloss (it has a roller ball which is great for application but bad for a two year old who likes lip gloss and has some kiddy lip glosses with roller balls LOL) and started to apply it to her lips as I looked over at her.

The glass nail file is kind of cool. I haven't used it too much because my nails had to be cut down after breaking one and I only had to file a few spots before doing another manicure but so far it's a good product.

Now I included the Nail Therapy Basecoat in my polish collection post since it's a polish of sorts but it's also a product so it gets to be featured twice :) Plus I don't believe I reviewed it much on that post? I am writing this "journal" as if people are reading but I kind of like writing like there's an audience even though there's not. :)

My only "complaint" about the basecoat is I wish they had taken as much effort as they do with everything they do and given it a special bottle different than the polish bottles. Not necessarily different in shape or size but in the writing on the bottle. It is put into a regular polish bottle and actually has instructions on how to apply polish after you've used a basecoat and before you apply your top coat. I know it's really not much of a complaint nor does it matter much. It's just the only con I had in my mind and it's not really a con. Just a preference I guess?

I also have a few "random" products that aren't Julep that I have been using in my manicures/nail art/etc. My top coat which yes I am obsessed with currently is the Seche Vite one. I wasn't all too impressed with the Seche Clear basecoat and I'm especially glad Julep has a basecoat that I do love since I haven't been using one (shhhh) ;)

I now wish I had gotten the Trina Turk color Brandt for the fact that I've been using black A LOT lately but a black creme from Julep is now on my wish/to get lists and until then I've been using Wet'N'Wild Black Creme. It works great and I don't get too terribly upset if it smudges and I have to take it off and redo it like I do with my Julep polishes since they are so tiny... :)

I think that I've written enough of another novel once again with my post and I am promising myself that these posts will become more of actual one size posts with my random manicure posts now that these "collection" and intro posts are out of the way for anyone that does happen to stumble upon this journal blog of mine. I'll end with a few more photos. For now I have been keeping this new found addiction of mine in my zebra box I got at a Home and Garden party a few years back. I do have a nail polish rack I want to make that I saw on a YouTube video using foam board, glue and duct tape (my kind of project haha) but until then I have been storing the polishes and products that I use regularly in this box.

Last few photos are random also... My favorite lotion currently for my hands is one from J.R. Watkins. It's not actually my favorite product for my hands from the brand but it is in my favorite scent of theirs. Aloe and Green Tea. My favorite product of theirs is actually a little tub of concentrated hand cream but I cannot find it for the life of me. So I'm using the Hand and Body Lotion in the same scent. Amazingness. Check it out if you get the chance. They also have a Hand and Cuticle Salve in the same scent I desperately want. I have it in Lavender and it's nice but I'm obsessed with the Aloe and Green Tea scent. And the other photo is a better picture of my polish collection. The one in the actual polish collection post isn't really any good.

First row, Left to right: Emma, Renee, Eileen, Hoch, Gunta, Blake, Claire, Morgan and Harley.

Second Row, Left to right: Kim, Eloise, Sabrina, Caroline, Glenda, Leslie, Gwyneth, Mila and Nail Therapy Basecoat.

XoXo

Miley & Amber

The two little lights that make my world go 'round.

I did the intro of miss Miley Iris in the first post but I thought I would elaborate on her and her brother Mason Richard. The two best things to ever have happened to this mama. Mason is not my biological son but I love him all the same. Miley calls him Bubba and they are the cutest little two to ever be siblings :) my little M&Ms. Now for the disgustingly cute pictures. Some of the photos are with their daddy Richie.

Julep Polish Collection and photos :)

Before I begin I hope no one minds my penguin quilt I decided to take the pictures on... :) and I promise photos will begin to be more clear and much better. I am actually looking at making my own light box. So soon very soon things should look as they should. Now to begin....

Our collection began with the American Beauty box that included Renee and Emma. A light purple and sheer light pink. And that was where our collection was originally going to stop.



Obviously that didn't happen... :) I'll continue with the rest of the American Beauty colors and then move on to the others. September's American Beauty box came with Hoch and Eileen. A gorgeous emerald green and a beautiful antique white. Both creme finishes.



In September the theme was Trina Turk. And we got a free add-on as a welcome for our first actual monthly box after the intro box. I chose Gunta, this gorgeous blue that was a part of the Boho Glam box.



A friend of little miss and myself surprised us with two Julep boxes that he knew we had wanted. He has a son that is Mileys age and she adores him. First the It Girl intro box with Blake, a creme buttery yellow. Claire, a beautiful sky blue and Morgan, a frosty "grape" purple. (some of the descriptions I do recall from Juleps website and some I am making up off the top of my head. The ones I make up I apologize for... I'm terrible at describing colors)



The second box we were surprised with was a Bombshell box from August. Originally I had been excited for the August boxes before I learned that the first box received was an intro box which kind of bummed me out. That was completely resolved when I opened this box :) Harley, a beautiful silver chrome and Kim, a "gunmetal gray metallic". Kim was more sheer than I expected but still a gorgeous color.



In October the theme was Bewitching. We again stuck with the American Beauty box and received Sabrina, a "zesty" orange crackle and Eloise, a blue like no other. I described it as the baby of Gunta and Hoch from September's Trina Turk collection... :)



October's box was free due to Maven Rewards for two referrals :) so we also got three add-ons. I was in love with the It Girl box so ended up adding on all three colors from that box. Caroline, a deep dark burgundy that for some reason is so gorgeous in bottle and in the sunshine but against my skin tone outside of the sunshine is a brownish color. Still pretty but brown. Leslie which is described as a "black and silver speckled shimmer". It certainly is one of my new favorite blacks. Amazing. And Glenda, a shimmery silver with light silver sparkles in my opinion. It's a fantastic color and the formula of Juleps crackles is so incredible I think it would convert anyone to a crackle lover...



Now I have a few "randoms" that deserve mention since they are just as amazing and then the products, oh the products that Julep offers are too good for words but I'll give it a shot. :)

First up is Gwyneth. A sheer light pink that is PERFECT for French tips. Gorgeous and one of my many favorites.



Next up is my absolute favorite. I can't bring myself to do a manicure without it right now. It's my first Julep glitter and definitely has made me in need of their other ones (namely Yumi but its out of stock...sad) Mila is described on the site as a charcoal polish with multicolor glitter? I'm not sure what they mean by charcoal because it seems to have a clear base but I am not an expert by any means so don't take my word for that. LOL :)



Lastly of the "polishes" is my nail therapy basecoat. Now that I have this I could not live without it. It really lives up to its claims and all of Juleps polishes are 4-free so they almost have pleasant scents all around with a few exceptions. I don't hardly even notice the scents of them which is nice. I really do love this basecoat. I'm curious what Juleps top coat is like but reviews aren't looking too good. This basecoat is pretty amazing though. If the top coat ever goes on sale or is part of a great deal I'll give it a shot. (While I do love Julep... I would never pay retail for these. They're simply too small in size for $14 apiece) The quality does call for the price but I'm just a cheapskate I think in that matter. I can justify some spendy things but 0.27 oz for fourteen dollars is a bit...eh. I don't know. Lol. All I have to say is thank goodness for the Maven program and the deals that come along.

Next post will be my product collection so far from Julep. I think I've made this one long enough... And I'm positive no one will read it this far... Lol but if you do for some silly reason check out my intro post for the link to Julep. If you are interested in the product and want to check it out I would greatly appreciate if you used my referral code/link :) and the code PENNY or COLOR2012 should get you the intro box for a whole one cent. Sounds crazy and there must be a catch but check out my intro post and you'll see that there really isn't :) happy reading.


XoXo
Miley & Amber


P.S. Here's one last picture of the whole set of polishes. :) I left them in order that they are listed in this post.