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Manicure Monday | Julep Jennifer + KBShimmer Cotton Candy

Posted on April 27, 2015August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Manicure Monday! I’m a bit behind on the Alphabet Challenge now, but I’m going to catch up! This week I’m showing off two polishes for the letters J and K. I decided to grab a KBShimmer I’ve never tried, and a favorite from Julep. Let me show you this pink manicure!

I began my manicure with two accent nails of KBShimmer Cotton Candy. This is a glitter polish with a pink base filled with blue, purple, and pink glitters. The formula was great, but a bit on the sheer side so I layered on three coats. On my other nails, I added three coats of Julep Jennifer, which is a sheer pastel pink that I absolutely love. I finished up with my Essie Good to Go Top Coat, and I’m obsessing over this pink goodness! I can’t believe I’ve never used this KBShimmer before – it’s been hiding in my collection for a couple of years now!

All in all, I’d say this was a very successful Manicure Monday! I’m definitely impressed with this KBShimmer. It is discontinued now, but you can buy other polishes from this indie brand online HERE. KBShimmer is one of the few indie brand’s with an Amazon shop (HERE), which I love because you can buy the products with Amazon gift cards! Of course, be sure to check out Julep’s website HERE for Jennifer. Please let me know your favorite KBShimmer polishes in the comments so I can check them out!

This post includes affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Manicure Monday | Julep Florence

Posted on March 9, 2015August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Manicure Monday! Last week all of you were so helpful when I asked if you knew of any nail polish brands that began with the letter F. Unfortunately, I didn’t own any of those brands (which I know is hard to believe)! I searched through my collection and finally found a polish whose name begins with an F, so I decided that would have to suffice for this week’s entry into the Alphabet Challenge! Let me show you Julep Florence!

Florence is a beige nude polish with a creme formula. It applies well in two coats, but is a bit on the streaky side. I received Florence in my Julep Maven box way back in September 2013 (see that post HERE) and haven’t used it since then! I do really like this shade with my skin tone, but the formula definitely wasn’t the best. Nonetheless, I’m glad I was able to use it again for the Alphabet Challenge!

I have decided to destash Florence, as I have plenty of other nude polishes in my collection with better formulas. As I sit here looking at how gorgeous Florence is in the photos, though, I’m almost rethinking my decision! If I wasn’t so desperate to shrink my polish collection before I move in a few months, I’d definitely hang onto this one. What do you think – is Florence a keeper for you?!

This post contains an affiliate banner. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Dare to Compare | Julep Niecy, Raegan, & Drew

Posted on March 6, 2015August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Friday! I’ve been decluttering everything in my apartment lately, so I figured it was time to conquer some of my nail polish collection, too. My pink polishes have an entire drawer of their own, and let’s be honest, most of them are extremely similar. In fact, I found three nail polishes from Julep that were so close shade wise that I decided I had to do a comparison post for all of you. Let’s see how these bright pinks compare!

First and foremost, let’s take a look at the bottles together. I’ve labeled them so you can see which shade is which in the photo. Dare to Compare | Julep Niecy, Raegan, & Drew Now, this is the point in the blog post where I say the classic beauty lover line: “They’re not the same! They’re similar.” I can clearly see a difference between these three nail polishes. However, I do think it is a bit ridiculous that I own all three of them in my collection. I wanted to test these out to see which polish, if any, I would be comfortable de-stashing.

First up is Niecy, one of the first Julep polishes I ever owned! Niecy is a true bright pink creme. It has an excellent formula that is opaque in two coats, and my bottle features the old Julep brush, which I really love because it is smaller and easier to use. I love Niecey’s flawless finish!

Next up is Raegan, a pink that has a bit more of a purple undertone when compared to Niecy. Raegan’s formula is a bit off – it’s thick and a little tacky. I absolutely love this shade, though. It’s definitely my favorite of the three in terms of color.

Last but not least is Drew, a pink creme with red undertones, and definitely the darkest pigmentation wise of the bunch. Drew has a good formula that is opaque in two coats, but I find it to be a bit on the thick side as well. It’s definitely a gorgeous color. I obviously love it, and purchased it at the Julep NYC Holiday Pop Up in 2013 (see that post HERE).

I wanted to show you side-by-side swatches of these polishes as well. From left to right are: Niecy, Raegan, and Drew. As you can see, these three polishes are quite close in color (especially Niecy and Raegan), but they are not exact dupes. It definitely comes down to personal preference when you’re deciding which shade to buy.

All in all, I’ve decided to keep Niecy and destash the other two polishes. I do love all three, but it is silly for me to keep them when I am trying to declutter. As you may know, I’ll be moving in a few months, and the more I get rid of now the less I have to worry about later. Be sure to let me know in the comments which of these three is your favorite, or if you own any of these in your nail polish collection!

This post contains an affiliate link. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

5 Marsala Nail Polishes You Already Own | Pantone Color of the Year 2015

Posted on January 4, 2015August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Sunday! Now that 2015 is in full swing, it’s time to embrace the new Color of the Year! Every year, Pantone deems one color shade to be the Color of the Year. This year is Marsala, an earthy wine red that looks to me like a deep, dusty mauve. You can read all about Marsala on the Pantone website HERE, but today I’ll be talking about Marsala nail polishes! I’ve raided my own nail polish stash to find the shades that match up best with 2015’s new color. Let me show you the five Marsala nail polishes that you might already own!

Milani Color Statement Nail Lacquer

Mauving Forward [REVIEW] [BUY]

Mauving Forward is an affordable polish that fits nicely within the Marsala family. It definitely has some purple undertones, but the pigmented formula is great. Plus, this new range from Milani can easily be found online or at your local CVS store.

Milani Limited Edition Textured Creams

Mystery Mauve [REVIEW]

If you purchased Mystery Mauve from the limited edition Textured Creams collection last fall you are in luck! It is a great Marsala shade, plus it has that fun textured feel. Time to dig out your bottle from last year!

Zoya Naturel Collection

Normani [REVIEW] [BUY]

If you prefer more muted nails, try Normani. It’s a bit lighter than Marsala, but still similar to that gorgeous hue. I highly recommend this shade for those with a fair skin tone!

Zoya Naturel Deux Collection

Aubrey [REVIEW] [BUY]

Another great pick is from the second Zoya Naturel line. Aubrey is a much more pigmented mauve, and is one of the closest matches I have to a true Marsala in my collection. Aubrey is also a polish that can be worn in any season.

Julep

Aisha [REVIEW] [BUY]

Finally, if you prefer more of a bold shade try Aisha. It’s definitely brighter than Marsala and has some berry tones to it, but it’s for sure in the Marsala family. Try adding a matte top coat to soften the look if you want.

All in all, as Pantone embraces a new Color of the Year we can reach into our nail polish collections to find our own Marsala polishes. There is no need to splurge on new releases (though you are more than welcome to do so if you wish!). Even if you don’t have a perfect Marsala match, any mauve shade will do. Leave your favorite Marsala polishes in the comments so I can know what you’ll be rocking in 2015!

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. This post contains an affiliate link. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Simple Saturday | Julep Cloud Manicure

Posted on December 27, 2014August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Saturday! Now that Christmas is over, I took the time to paint my nails after going a week without any polish. I rather enjoy short nails, and after doing so much housework the past week to get ready for holiday get-togethers, I actually enjoyed chopping them down. Since I am separated from my nail polish stash at the moment, I raided Momma Polishland’s collection (with her permission, of course). She’s grown quite a substantial pile of polishes in the past few years – that seems to happen when your daughter is a nail polish blogger, even if she’s moved out of the house! Let me show you the quick and easy nail art look I created.

I began with a base of Julep Dianna, a stunning navy polish. Dianna has a great formula, and I applied two thin coats to achieve opacity. This was easily done very fast – I forgot that Julep switched to wide, flat brushes! They can be tricky at first, but really easy to use once you get the hang of the feel.

For an accent nail, I grabbed Julep Briana, a mint shade that leans towards blue. I thought Briana looked perfect when paired with Dianna! I simply used the cloud nail art technique (full details on how to create the clouds HERE). The creme formulas look amazing, and the blue tones are wintery yet no longer holiday themed. I applied a glossy top coat to finish the look, and I was good to go!

All in all, I am really happy with my simple manicure. It looks fancy with the cloud accent nail, but was so easy to create. You can actually grab Briana for just $4.99 on Julep’s website HERE in the Savvy Deals section today. If you spend $25 or more from now until December 28, you get a free gift worth $50 with promo code SAVVY. This is definitely a great bargain! Be sure to let me know in the comments what you think of my manicure, and if you are picking up anything during Julep’s sale. Also, don’t forget to enter my 3rd Annual New Year’s Eve Manicure Contest! Details on how to enter HERE.

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Dare to Compare | Neon Yellow Nail Polish

Posted on August 27, 2014August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Wednesday! After tackling the orange nail polish in my collection, I moved onto the yellows and decided which ones I should keep. It turns out I owned three polishes in the neon yellow shade, so I tested each one to see if I could get rid of any as part of The Great Polish Destash. Let me show you the three neon yellows I had, and which I decided to keep.

First up is Spoiled in Did I Dye It Too Blonde? This is the first neon yellow I’ve ever purchased, and is also the most affordable. Spoiled sells for just $1.99 retail price at CVS stores, and even goes on sale for $0.99! Did I Dye It Too Blonde? is a good polish, but very sheer. I’m wearing three coats in the photo above, and as you can see it is not opaque. I always wear a white base under a neon yellow to brighten the shade anyway, so a sheer formula isn’t a big factor in this round of Dare to Compare.

Next up is Milani Neon in Totally 80’s. I purchased this polish at the Street Fair Cosmetics booth here in NYC for just $1.00, but never wore it. I was happily surprised to find that Totally 80’s has a great formula, and decent coverage in two coats. This polish is actually retired now, so it would be difficult to find it in stores.

Last up is Julep in Nikki. I remember disliking Nikki when I first tested it out, but for some reason I liked it much better this time around! Nikki is definitely a more green-toned yellow, but the formula is great and nearly opaque in two coats. So far all of the polishes are seemingly great, so it’s going to come down to the side-by-side comparison!

Once I tested out all three polishes it was clear that each shade is a little bit different. From left to right, I’m wearing the Spoiled, the Milani, and the Julep. I first decided to keep Spoiled Did I Dye It Too Blonde? because I’ve used up a significant part of that bottle, and I’ve had it since I started this blog. Then, I decided which of the two remaining polishes to destash. Because I’ve made a dent in the Julep polish, I decided to keep it as well. Milani’s Totally 80’s is a great polish to rehome, and because it is a retired shade, people might be looking for it. Thus, I decided to keep two out of three. Not too shabby!

All in all, I was surprised to have three neon yellow polishes in my collection, and even more shocked when each shade turned out to be a bit different. I’m glad I was able to get rid of one polish, and make my collection at least a little more manageable. Make sure to stay tuned for more Dare to Compare posts as The Great Polish Destash continues, and let me know what your favorite neon yellow polish is in the comments!

Dare to Compare | Julep Nina vs Zoya Arizona

Posted on August 21, 2014August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Thursday! If you’ve Liked my Facebook Page, you’ll know that I’ve begun a new project dubbed The Great Polish Destash. I will be moving at some point this year, so I want to go through my entire nail polish collection and get rid of polishes that I no longer want or need. My first step was to roughly organize my polishes by color, and now I’m going through those color families to find any dupes (aka duplicates). I decided to start with the organges, since I only had 20 orange polishes before I started my destash. Julep Nina and Zoya Arizona looked nearly identical in the bottle, so I had to test them out side by side to see how they compare. Dare to Compare | Julep Nina vs Zoya Arizona

First up is Julep Nina, a bright orange creme that dries to a satin finish. Nina is opaque in three coats, and has a tacky formula. I do love the color and the finish, but the formula is a bit difficult.

Next up is Zoya Arizona. This is also a bright orange creme, but it dries to a glossy finish. The formula is good, but a bit thin so I needed three coats for opacity. I got this cute mini size in a promotion Zoya did a while back. In fact, my friend Princess Polish made a bulk order and included this in it for me.

Here are side-by-side swatches of Julep Nina and Zoya Arizona. Nina is on my pinky and ring fingers, with Arizona on my middle and pointer fingers. I can barely tell any difference at all between the two! Because these polishes are nearly identical, I knew it would be safe to destash one of them. I considered formula as the biggest deciding factor, and decided to keep…. Zoya Arizona! The glossy finish and smooth formula truly won me over!

All in all, while both Nina and Arizona are great, bright orange polishes, there is no need to have both in my collection. If you’re looking for an orange, I definitely recommend Zoya Arizona. Not only is it more affordable at $9 versus Julep’s $14 price tag, but it’s got a great formula. With Halloween around the corner, you’ll want this shade for your pumpkin nail art!

Do you have a favorite orange?! Let me know what it is in the comments!

Subscription Sunday | August Julep Maven Box

Posted on August 17, 2014August 12, 2014 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Subscription Sunday! Today I have an unboxing of my August Julep Maven Box for all of you. I’ve been very picky lately with my Julep box, since I have dozens of Julep polishes and am working to shrink my nail polish collection. When I saw the beautiful polishes being offered this month, I decided to go for it. Let me show you what I got!

Here is a peek inside my box. This month’s theme is The Wanderlust Collection, which is perfect since I’ll be traveling this month! I went with my signature style of Classic with a Twist, and got two nail polishes and the Gel Eye Glider in Black. To be honest, I can do without the eyeliner, but I really loved the two nail polish shades so I still got this box.

The first polish is Katie, a stunning, iridescent orchid polish. Katie is somewhere between a pink and purple, and I am just loving this polish. The formula is amazing, and the polish is opaque in two coats. I’ve worn this twice already, and can see myself reaching for Katie quite often.

Next is Anvi, a deep violet shade with a magenta shimmer. Anvi is also a gorgeous polish, and is opaque in two coats. The formula is great as well. I know I have similar deep purples in my collection, but this one just stands out to me!

All in all, I’m so glad I got my Julep Maven box this month! I don’t think I’ll even open the eyeliner, but the polishes are amazing! I’m loving both of them, and have already gotten a lot of use out of them. As always, if you’re not a Julep Maven yet, you can get your first month for free using code FREEBOX at checkout. Please sign up using my referral LINK so I can get rewards points! While Julep does have its problems (find out what I mean HERE), I’m still going to stand by this company because the polishes are awesome and work so well with my body chemistry. If you’re a Maven, let me know what you think of your August box in the comments!

Kisspat Statement Necklace Review, Giveaway, & Nail Art!

Posted on July 5, 2014August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Saturday! I’m excited to bring you a fun blog post that incorporates fashion, nails, and a giveaway for all of you! I got the opportunity to review a statement necklace from the online boutique Kisspat, and thought I’d show you the jewelry, and in addition create a nail art look inspired by the piece!

NECKLACE REVIEW

Statement Necklace – Product Code KNSN-040M – $8.95 [BUY]

I love statement necklaces, and this design from Kisspat is definitely up my alley! The colors are beautiful, and I like the touch of rhinestones. This necklace is very lightweight, and good quality for the $8.95 price tag. The one main drawback, however, is that the chain turned my neck green! I wore this for about an hour, and had a green band around my neck. I was not a fan of that! I do really love this necklace, though, so I might try to wear it with a high-necked blouse in the future. There are 11 different colors for this product, so you can definitely find the shades that suit you best!

NAIL ART

I thought this necklace would make a great manicure, so I grabbed some polishes and rhinestones and created a nail art look! I used Color Club’s Aquamarine Azulino from the Gala’s Gems Collection for the blue and Julep’s Alexandra for the neutral shade. I used tweezers to place some rhinestones on my accent nail, and voila! I am loving this nail art look! It’s classy, yet still fun at the same time.

GIVEAWAY

I’m giving away one necklace from Kisspat! Please read the Terms & Conditions in the Rafflecopter widget before entering!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you liked today’s fashion and fingernails post! Let me know if you’d like to see more posts like this in the future!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

PLEASE NOTE: AS OF AUGUST 4, 2014 KISSPAT’S WEBSITE WAS REMOVED. IF FOR SOME REASON IT IS REINSTATED, I SUGGEST NOT USING THE SITE. EMAIL ME AT ADVENTURESINPOLISHLAND@GMAIL.COM WITH QUESTIONS.

Subscription Sunday | June Julep Maven Box

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Subscription Sunday! I didn’t expect to be showing you a Julep box this month, but alas I forgot to skip this month’s box and have some new nail polishes to share with you. I still love Julep, but I’m on quite a tight budget these days, so I’ve been skipping the box the past few months. My Julep emails somehow found their way to my spam folder, so I’ll have to set a reminder for the 20th of each month so I don’t forget to skip or buy! Let me go ahead and show you what was inside my June box!

Since I got my box automatically, I got my regular style profile of Classic with a Twist. It came with two nail polishes, and the product this month was a Smoothing Base Coat. I have plenty of base coats open at the moment, so I left this in the box for now. I was also quite happy with the Pixy Stix – my sweet tooth is always craving some sugar!

The first polish in my box this month is Bergen, a silvery-blue polish with a hint of shimmer. Bergen’s formula was a bit tacky, but it is opaque in two coats and has a great finish. At first, I thought Bergen was quite a boring polish, but once I tried it out I liked the color much more. It’s a great alternative to a nude neutral shade.

The other polish in my box is Ariana, a deep purple polish with a chrome finish. Ariana has a good formula that is opaque in two coats. It’s not what I would normally call a summer shade, but the chrome finish is quite shiny and glittery in the sunlight. If you love dark polishes, I definitely recommend Ariana.

All in all, while I wasn’t expecting my Julep box this month, it was still fun to get it in the mail and share its contents with all of you! Do you subscribe to Julep? Let me know in the comments! If you’re not already a subscriber, you can get your first box HERE for just $4.99 in shipping charges with code FREEBOX.

This post contains affiliate links. Subscription Box purchased by me. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.