NOTD: Julep Jennifer and Sally Hansen Strobelight

Jennifer by Julep is a ultra pale peach cream that made for a nice background for Sally Harsen's delicate glitter Strobelight.  I've a fondness for this iridescent fine glitter and seem to gravitate to it this time of the year.  It's still cold outside yet all the flowering tress are in bloom and the azaleas are starting to peek out as well.  Something about Strobelight captures the cold,  yet the flashes of color remind of the vibrant colors starting to emerge.

Jennifer was a bit streaky and may have needed 3 coats on it's own, but 2 were plenty as a base coat for the glitter.  I used one coat of Strobelight and topped it off with Julep's new gel top coat.  I'm really loving this look and think it's a both a nice palette cleanser for all the darker/brighter colors I've been wearing this winter, as well as a nice harbinger of spring!

Disclaimer:  I purchased these.

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NOTD: Pumpkin Spice by Sally Hansen

Pumpkin Spice is by Sally Hansen and is one of two Halloween polishes that I own, although technically I don't think it was marketed as a Halloween polish.  I saw swatches of it last year, when it was released, and was fortunate enough to find one lone bottle at Rite Aid long after Halloween had passed.

Now, I use the word "pumpkin" in my vocabulary year round and quite often.  I use it as a term of endearment for my dogs, as in "hey pumpkin" or "come on pumpkin heads".  So, I should probably not reserve this polish only for Halloween and break it out more than once a year. 

This dark gray jelly with orange glitter definitely does evoke Halloween, but it's also perfect for fall in general.  It's burnished, glowing, and spicy!  It took 4 coats to get it to that point as, like most jellies, it's very sheer.  Application was painless, however, and it doesn't feel or look thick.  I topped with one coat of Seche Vite.

Disclosure:  I purchased this. 
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NOTD: Galahad & Mahogany Magic French Tip

Egads, a-england's Galahad chipped on me after one day!  Not sure what was going on with that, I think I was opening a package when it happened.  I'd already had the idea of doing a french tip with Mahogany Magic, so this just sped things up a few days.

I topped off with one coat of Sally Hensen's Tealy Cool, an iridescent micro glitter mix in a blue-green gel base.   I really like the overall effect!

Galahad, Mahogany Magic, Tealy Cool

Nail of the Day: Tyin' the Knot in the Spotlight

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I thought I'd try something in that spirit.  However, looking at my pink and red nail polishes did not inspire me, as they felt too bright and spring like.  My eye was drawn to a bottle of Sally Hansen, and when I looked at the title it was perfect - Tyin' the Knot.  Now, the color is a gray with a brownish tint, so not quite sure how that ties into weddings, but it felt right to me.  If you click on the macro photo, you can also see flecks of teal, pink, red, yellow and green.  I topped it off with a coat of Sally Hansen's In the Spotlight, which is a holographic bar glitter.

Tyin' the Knot, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength

Tyin' the Knot wasn't the easiest to apply, as it was both streaky and easy to get too much on the brush at the same time.  However, two coats smoothed things out.  In the Spotlight had the problem of getting plenty of bars on one nail and hardly any on the next, so you have to work with it to get an even application.  Not sure how I feel about bar glitter yet.  Turned out to be something of a moot point, as I badly smudged a nail and started all over with a completely different look, including ultra short nails.  But I do like Tyin' the Knot and will wear it again!

Nail of the Day: Zoya Kendal with Strobe Light

I received the Zoya polish Kendal as part of my January Birchbox. I've read great things about Zoya but had not tried any, so was excited to see this in my box! The color was not one I probably would have bought on my own, but it's actually quite nice - described as a light periwinkle, but to my eye it's a light grayed out lilac cream. The formula was very nice - great consistency and opaque in 2 coats. I decided to top Kendal with Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Stobe Light for a little bling, and I really like this look.



Here is a magnified shot to show the holographic glitter detail in Strobe Light. I did get a bit distracted driving in to work looking at these, which is one mark of a pretty polish in my book.