Julep's Might Nail & Cuticle Serum Product Review

Howdy, everyone!  Hope your week is going well.  Mine has been great, considering I haven't had to work since Friday.  Although I'm getting a bit nervous about how I'm gonna pay the bills!  It's back to work tomorrow, however, so I thought I'd throw up a little product review post.  *I purchased this product and all opinions are my own*

A couple of weeks ago, I got my April Julep Maven box in the mail.  I was excited to get my box this month because there was a new product that Julep had been hyping and that I'd been wanting to try;  the Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum.  This serum comes in a 6 inch long silver tube with an application brush attached.  Julep describes it as "Peptides – super-charged amino acids that build keratin (for your nails) and collagen (for your cuticles) – are our Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum's secret weapon to transform dry and damaged cuticles almost overnight. Plus, get visibly stronger, smoother nails with fewer ridges and less splitting and brittleness in only 2-3 weeks." Sounds fantastic, right? *I purchased this product and all opinions are my own*

I've been using the serum twice a day or so for about two weeks now and I have noticed a difference in my cuticles.  They are smoother and have a softer look over all.  The serum absorbs quickly and does not leave a greasy or oily feel on my hands, which is a plus.  As far as nail strength goes, I can't attribute it all to the serum, as I've recently started using O.P.I.'s Nail Envy (Thanks, Liz!), so I'm not sure which product is working or if it's the combination of the two.  *I purchased this product and all opinions are my own*

Now for my gripes.  I hate the tube and I hate the brush.  The tube is huge...it doesn't fit easily into my purse to carry it around with me.  As you can see in the photo above, the bristles on my serum's brush are all wonky.  It came like that and it bothers me for some reason.  It doesn't necessarily affect the application, but it doesn't look pretty.  The delivery system for the serum is less than satisfactory as well; you twist the bottom of the tube to dispense the serum on to the brush.  The information that came with the packaging claimed that "This serum is so powerful, you only need one half-turn per hand".  I do agree that a little goes a long way with this, but I'd like more control over what comes out of the tube.  I think a bottle with a brush in the lid or a dropper would be easier for me to work with.  *I purchased this product and all opinions are my own*

I also think it's pretty expensive.  The Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum retails for $28 with a Maven discount price of $22.40.  If you were lucky enough to snag it in the April Maven box, you got a pretty good deal, as the box costs $19.99 and you got a few polishes thrown in.  I do like the product and if it worked so much better than any other cuticle product I've tried, I'd definitely pay that price.  However, I'm not sure that it's superior to Essie's Apricot Cuticle Oil or O.P.I.'s Avoplex Cuticle Oil, for a third of the price.  *I purchased this product and all opinions are my own*

Overall, I like the product, but I don't think I'll be buying it again unless they get a different container for it.  It just bothers me too much as it is.  If you're interested in becoming a Julep Maven, do me a favor and follow this link and enter code 1694308 at sign up.  I get points for referring folks their way!

Don't forget to enter my Sinful Colors giveaway...it's almost over!  You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

 


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Thanks so much for reading! 

Magnetic Water Marble Manicure

Howdy, everyone!  Well, my WSU Shocker manicure from yesterday didn't do the team a lot of good for their Final Four game.  They ended up losing by a couple of points, but they put up a great fight and had a really good season.  Who knows what'll happen next year?

Anyway, I have a new mani today for you to see.  I seem to be stuck on magnetic polish lately, not sure what that's all about.  I got to thinking about other ways to use magnetic polish and, knowing that you can do a gradient with it and get a pretty nifty effect, I wondered what a water marble might look like. 

And now I know!  As you can see in the photo, the magnetic effect is really subtle (you can see it best on my thumbnail) which makes sense since it's a pretty thin layer of polish.
 

I started this manicure with 2 coats of Julep's Lena, a pretty teal with a gold shimmer.  Lena is pretty much a one-coater, but I can never seem to leave it at one coat...gotta have at least two or I feel weird!  For the marble, I used China Glaze Magnetix in both Pull Me Close and Instant Chemistry and a set of mini magnetic polishes from Ulta.  I picked this set up on clearance a couple of months back.  I used 3 of the 4 polishes in the set; Opposites Attract (purple metallic), Rules of Attraction (pink metallic) and Polar Opposites (teal metallic).  Even without a strong magnetic effect, this turned out to be a pretty marble.  The colors look nice together and there's a pretty shimmer from both the magnetic polishes and Lena.
 

This was definitely an experiment and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.  My marbling is starting to look better with practice and it's becoming less frustrating as well. What do you guys think? Have you tried a water marble with magnetic polish before?  How'd it turn out?

And don't forget to enter my Sinful Colors giveaway...last day to enter is this Wednesday!
Thanks so much for reading!

ABC Challenge: "J"

Howdy everyone!  Another Wednesday (well, Tuesday evening), another ABC Challenge!  Today's letter is "J" and I've got a humdinger for you!  This manicure was definitely an experiment and one I'm happy to say seems to have worked out well, but I'll let you all be the judge of that!  Take a gander:

You ready for the "J"s?  What you see here is Julep's January and Jordan in a jelly sandwich!  Did I get enough "J"s in??  Now, technically, January is described on Julep's website as a "tomato red creme", so in that sense, calling this a jelly sandwich is a stretch.  This is where the experiment comes in.  January doesn't really have that creme consistency, being more of a sheer, so I figured I'd try using it as a jelly and see what shook out.

And this is it.  Jordan is a gunmetal hex and micro glitter in a clear base.  The micro glitters give this combo a pretty red shimmer, almost like a flakie, in between the layers of January.  I wish I could have gotten better photos of that shimmer, the above macro was the best I could get.

Yay for experiments that work out!  Please take a moment and check out the other ladies participating in the ABC Challenge.  You can find their posts via the thumbnails below.

Thanks so much for reading!

Julep's Evangeline

Howdy, everyone!  Thank goodness it's Friday!  I've had the whole day off and it's been fantastic! I got to take advantage of some sales at Claire's and Walgreen's (select Revlon polishes are $3.99!) AND my replacement Julep box showed up...yay!  Someone stole my February Maven Box out of my building's lobby (or at least I think that's what happened) and so I had to file a claim with USPS.  Julep was kind enough to replace the Box at no extra charge, so I'm pretty darn happy with their customer service department :)

Anyway, I do have a Julep to show you today, although it comes from the Cupid Mystery Box I received earlier this week.  I love the Mystery Boxes...for some reason, the lure of possibly receiving 100's of dollars of product for $20 is a temptation I cannot resist!  I did not, in fact, receive 100's of dollars worth of product this time, but I did get a new holographic polish which is almost as good.

This is Evangeline, a coppery pumpkin orange scattered holo.  Coverage was great after one coat, but I did two cuz that's how I roll.  I also topped it with Seche Vite because it does dry to a dull, matte finish.  I think the top coat really brings out the holo.  It's a very subtle holo effect, easier to see in sunlight of course, but it creates a really nice shimmer and I love the color. 

Now the  last picture I have for you is something that perplexes me.  I'm guessing this is something new that Julep is doing.  They've provided me a "Swatch Me!" sticker for this bottle.  So here's the photo:

My question is this; if they've already applied the sticker to the lid, which does, of course, have the brush attached to it, how the heck am I supposed to swatch it onto the sticker?  Am I just being difficult or does this seem silly to anyone else?  I asked my boyfriend this question and he agreed with me that it seemed a little odd.  It would make more sense to provide the sticker, let me swatch the polish and THEN stick it on top of the bottle.  Is it just me?  What do you think?

Thanks so much for reading!

Giveaway Winner!

Hi, everyone!  I wanted to do a quick post to let you all know that I've picked a winner for my Julep polish giveaway!  And the winner is....drumroll, please!


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Kate L., I've sent you an email so be sure to check your inbox for details!

Thanks to all the participants!
 

Julep Petra

Hello, everyone!  I've got a quick swatch for you today of a very pretty Julep shade.  Take a peek:

This is Julep's Petra, described as a "cranberry magenta with a silver shimmer" on their website.  I swatched this not expecting to like it very much.  Pinks and reds just aren't my thing and this polish seems to sit somewhere between the two.  However, once I got it on, I saw the subtle purple and fuchsia tones as well as the silver.  I was surprised at how much I ended up liking it.  I'm wearing 3 coats here and I felt that was pretty good coverage.  The formula was nice and the color payoff is great!

Here's another look:
 

You can see a bit of the silver shimmer in this one.  Isn't it nice when things turn out better than you expect?  And speaking of nice things, here's a reminder that my giveaway is still open so get your entries in for a chance to win 3 Julep polishes!

Thanks so much for reading!

Giveaway Update!

Hello, folks!  I wanted to give you guys a quick update.  I've decided to extend my giveaway for another week to give everyone a chance to enter.  You now have until 1/22/2013 to enter for a chance to win 3 full size Julep nail polishes!  Just use the Rafflecopter widget on the giveaway post to enter by first following Over the Top Coat via Google Friend Connect (just click on the "Join this Site" button just below the "Followers" tab on the right hand side of my blog), then enter your GFC name in the Rafflecopter widget and you'll get 2 entries.  If you're already a follower of my blog, just enter your GFC name.  Then, leave a blog comment on that post for an extra entry.  It's pretty simple!  And you're always welcome to contact me via email or blog comment if you have any questions.  I do hope a few more people will enter!  Thanks so much for reading!

Nail Polish Giveaway!

Howdy, everyone!  I've mentioned this a couple of times, but I'm ready to do my first giveaway and it starts today!  Let's start with the prizes and then I'll go through the rules with you.  You may be familiar with Julep, a monthly nail polish subscription service.  When you sign up to become a Julep Maven, you get a box each month full of nail polish and nail-related goodies at a great price. 

As a Maven, you're also eligible for special pricing and sales and you can also order Julep's "mystery" boxes that can contain hundreds of dollars worth of product.  Now, I really do love the mystery boxes, but my only beef with them is that they keep sending me duplicates of polishes I already have.  This works out in your favor though, as I now have several dupes and I need to make a little space on my shelf.  So, today, I'm giving away 3 full, brand new bottles of Julep polish in Chelsea, Mischa and Hilary! 

 

Chelsea is a "violet, silver and purple multi-dimensional full coverage glitter".  Plenty of sparkle!

 

 Mischa is a "cherry scarlet micro-shimmer", according to Julep.  My bottles (both my original and the giveaway bottles) look much more orange to me, but either way, it's a very pretty color!

 Hilary is a "full-coverage copper multi-dimensional glitter".  You can't go wrong with even more sparkle!

So those are the prizes, now for the "whacha gotta do to win 'em" part! 

Rules:

Giveaway is open from 1/9/2013 to 1/16/2013*.
*I've extended the giveaway thru 1/22/2013.

1. U.S. entries only!  (Sorry, hopefully in the future I'll be able to offer international giveaways!)
2. You must be a follower of overthetopcoat.blogspot.com via Google Friend Connect.
3. Leave me a blog comment and enter your contact email address.  I need a way to contact you if you win!
4. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.
5. At the end of the giveaway, I'll randomly select one winner.
6. Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond.  After 48 hours, I will reselect a new winner.
7. Must 18 or older or have your parents' permission to enter.


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Snowflake Manicure

Howdy, everyone!  I'm on a roll this week, three days in a row of posts...woot, woot!  I love today's manicure so much, I'm just gonna jump right in:

Isn't this fun?  This is a perfect holiday manicure without being too in-your-face-Christmas lol  I stared with a jelly sandwich.  One coat of Revlon's Royal, one coat of Julep's Jordan, and another coat of Royal make up this pretty sandwich.  Jordan is a gun-metal silver hex and micro glitter in a clear base and Royal is the most perfect royal blue jelly there ever was.  Seriously, I broke my ban on Revlon polishes to buy this one cuz it's just too good to pass up!  After the sandwich dried, I added some hand painted snowflakes for accents.  I used a white striping polish and topped my dots with a holographic glitter striping polish.  I got the idea for the design from Laatikollinen Lakkaa (again).  If you've got a minute, you should really check out her Advent Calendar posts.  She's got some great holiday manicure ideas!  I changed things up a bit from her original design by using a dotting tool to add some extra dots around the edges.  Here's another look:

I hope to keep up with my holiday manicures, since I'm having so much fun with them.  Thanks so much for reading and please check back to see what's next!

Nail-aween Challenge 6: Frankenstein Nails

Howdy, everyone!  Trying to get back into the groove of posting more regularly again, since I've been such a slacker lately lol  Halloween is fast approaching so I've got to get these challenge posts done!  Today's manicure is an answer to challenge 6 of the Nail-aween Challenge; Frankenstein nails.  I wanted to do something different than just green nails and black stitches, but, honestly, there's not a lot of new and different ways to do Frankenstein's monster.  He's so iconic that I just decided to showcase him.  Here's what I came up with:

I started with 2 coats of Julep's Alma-Trina Turk which is one of the polishes I received in my Trick or Treat box from them.  ATT is a very odd sort of color (perfect for Halloween) somewhere between mustard yellow and pistachio green creme.  Application was great, it was almost opaque in one coat.  I used O.P.I.'s Black Shatter on the rest of my nails.  The Monster's portrait was done in black acrylic paint.  I'm pretty happy with this although I wish I could have come up with something a bit more interesting for my other nails.  But, honestly, I was just kinda tired lol

Here's a close up of Frankenstein's Monster:

I'm hoping to get Challenge 7 done tomorrow, complete with a tutorial, if I have time and can figure it all out the way I want it.  So please check back in to see all of that!  Also, check out these other nail artists who are participating in the Nail-aween Challenge.  They are all awesome and deserve some love!

datyorkLOVES

Erica's Nails and More

DreamyMM Nails & Make Up

 Tes Did It Nails
Sassy Paints
Nicole gets Nailed
glitznglammer
Finger Food
Wicked Tips
Fancy Schmancy Nails
Delight In Nails
Polish Groupie
My Nail Journey
Get Polished Up!
Just A Girl and Her Polish
Spellbound Nails
Le nail's corner d'Alex
Hello.Lacquer
 Countess Nails
Color the world with polish
Nail Crime Nail Art
Coat of Mani Colors
Cutie Cuticles (nail art by Laraib)
Wacky Laki
Nail-Aween Nail Art Challenge October 1-31st, 2012
GLAMOROUS NAILS
Polish Gone Crazy
tragedystipsandtreats

 

 

Thanks so much for reading!