Zoya 4th of July Nail Art

Today I am going to share with you a mani I did just especially for the 4th of July holiday! I started out wanting to recreate a mani I saw on Instagram but then as I got started I realized I wanted to do something a little different and inspiration just struck me.

I used Zoya Blaze on my pinky finger and thumb, then I used Zoya Purity on my ring finger and middle fingers, lastly I put Zoya Dream on my pointer finger. There is my red, white, and blue!! So pretty, I could just stare at all that sparkle in Blaze and Dream!!

Next I used Julep Fireworks for a glitter gradient on my ring finger. I've had this polish for roughly a year now (I think I got it shortly after the 4th of July last year) and haven't used it yet. Fireworks is a red, blue, and silver glitter topper that has multi-sized hex and circle glitter.

Then to make my "flag" on my middle finger I started out by placing some mini chevron nail vinyls that I got from Linda at Nail Vinyls. I placed the mini chevrons on my nail vertically and tried to space them out evenly (I used 3 mini chevron nail vinyls on this nail). Then once I had my nail vinyls placed I painted on a nice coat of Zoya Blaze over my entire nail. Once I had a nice coat of Blaze on I immediately removed my nail vinyls to reveal my white coat of Purity beneath them.

While my chevrons were drying I took a thin striping brush and a small pot of white acrylic paint (you can get this at any craft store) and painted "stars" on my pointer finger over Dream. Don't worry if you make a mistake because this is acrylic paint and it washes off with water. Once I had my stars painted on I waited for those to dry.

Next I took some french tip Nail Vinyls that I also got from Linda at Nail Vinyls and placed them on the tips of my middle finger over my red and white chevrons. Once I had them placed where I wanted them and they were straight I painted my tips with Zoya Dream. After painting on a coat of Dream on my tips I immediately removed my french tip nail vinyls to reveal my nice clean lines.

After everything was dry I added a topcoat to seal in all my nail art and keep it nice and shiny!!

I hope you like this 4th of July mani because I know I do!!

Zoya polishes can be purchased at Ulta stores, select salons, and Zoya's site here. Julep polishes can be purchased at Julep salons (I believe these are in the Washington/Seattle area only but don't quote me on that) or on Julep's site here.

Julep Josephine

Today I thought I would share with you one of the polishes I received in my September Julep Maven Box. This is Josephine. Julep describes her as a deep teal grey creme but on me I thought she was a deep navy blue creme. I guess it's one of those too close to call colors.

I love this color and it is perfect for fall! I can see that I will be using this one a lot. I love dark colors and I seem to be able to pull them off very well!

Now for me Julep's formula has been hit or miss but I got a good one with this bottle. The formula was great, I didn't have to add any thinner. It went on smoothly with no streaks or clumps. I used a base coat and 2 coats of color.

Then because I had just picked up the Salon Express Stamping kit I decided I was going to give that a try. I added a cute little heart stamp in white to my middle finger and thumbs just for something fun and flirty. Once it was dry enough I added a top coat of Out The Door to seal everything in and add some shine and protection. All photos were taken indoors with no flash.

I think this mani was a success! Julep is a monthly subscription and it is $19.99 per month. If you are not already an Maven and would like to join please use my link at the bottom of the page to join. Just click the "What's your Style" icon and it will direct you to Julep's site.

Julep Lacey

This is probably the one color I was most excited about while I was waiting for my Julep August Maven box to arrive. I could not wait to put this baby on when I opened the box!! This is Lacey from the Julep August Bombshell Maven box and it is GORGEOUS!!!

Lacey is described as a midnight blue with purple shimmer but all I can say is wow!! I will be honest that I just didn't know how I was going to like wearing a blue and I wasn't sure how dark or blue it would be on my skin tone but I fell in love as soon as I put it on.

The pictures shown are with 2 coats but in all honesty, I could have gotten by with just one coat. I was all set on just trying it with one coat because it applied so opaque and even in just one coat that I didn't think I needed a second coat but while I was waiting for it to dry, I smudged it. So I just tapped out the smudge lightly with my ring finger and then just applied a second coat and it was gone.

This applied very nicely and smoothly with no streaks or clumps, it wasn't goopy or thick at all. I think that for me it dried in an average amount of time but I always add a quick dry top coat when it's about half dry.

This color is so gorgeous that when I started I had every intentions on adding some nail art with the other color that came in my box but once I got this lovely on, I couldn't add the nail art because it is just too beautiful on it's own. I have even gotten quite a few compliments on this color as well. I hope you loved this color as much as I do.

Julep is a monthly subscription box that you sign up for and you receive a box each month for $19.99 with colors that they have chose based on your profile quiz. You can skip a month if you don't like anything offered in the Maven boxes or if you want to try another box you can do that too. Julep polishes are 4free. Please use my link at the bottom of my page to sign up today, your first box is free (you just pay shipping) and Mavens always receive free shipping. Just click the "What's Your Style?" icon at the bottom of the page.

Julep April Maven Box

 

Today I am going to show you what I got in my Julep April Maven box. Normally I am an "It Girl" but this month I decided to change it up. I went with the "Classic with a Twist" box because these two colors caught my eye. There was a rock candy sucker in there for a special sweet treat. Julep always likes to add something extra for their Mavens!

 

 

In this month's box were two polishes and a Mighty Nail and Cuticle Serum pen. The polishes are Avery (the bright pink one) and Jackie (the red one).

 

Avery is a bright what I call a bubble gum pink creme. This one is really pretty and will be great for summer! I have to admit that another reason I was drawn to this one is because it has the same name as one of my nieces, but I am a sucker for a nice pink too!

The formula on this is great as is with all the Julep's have had the experience working with. Dry time was average for a creme polish

This picture was taken indoors with just a flash. I used 2 coats in all these pictures and no topcoat. As you can see without a topcoat there is still a nice shine to it!

Jackie is described as a marachino cherry red creme. This caught my eye because I do not have many reds and I love red. This is a nice bright red and I have some great plans for this girl!

This is a nice picture for you to see just how opaque this red is and it has such a great shine to it. These pictures were taken indoors with flash.

I used 2 coats for all these pictures also and no topcoat. I wanted you to see just how much shine there is with these polishes without the topcoat. Dry time on this one was average as well.

I have yet to use the Nail and Cuticle Serum pen and honestly I'm not sure that I will because I already have something that works very well for me and I sometimes have a hard time changing things. I haven't completely decided yet if I'm going to try it or not but if I do I will be sure to post my thoughts and review of it as well.

Julep is a monthly subscription box and you can get your first box free if you use my link at the bottom of my page. Just click the "What's Your Style" box and then enter FREEMAVEN code for your free box. You will have to pay for shipping on your free box but after that Mavens get free shipping on their boxes. Julep's website can also be found here.

Julep Trina

I did this mani about a month ago and am just now getting around to writing the post for it.

I'm sure most of you know that Julep is a monthly subscription of polishes and products. It is $19.99 per month and depending on which style profile you copse you get either products only, 3 polishes, or 2 polishes and 1 product.

This one is Trina. It is a dark shimmery purple. I can't begin to describe the awesomeness of this one. I'm not much of a purple person but I'm so glad I got this one.

Julep's formula is great, it is smooth and for some of their polishes you only need one coat. For this one I went with 2 coats because I wanted to be sure there were no streaks and I wanted full opacity. I topped this with a coat of Seche Vite for shine and protection.

I am also going to say how wonderful their customer service is. This arrive with a brush that was crooked in the cap and made it difficult to use. I emailed them right away, got a response very quickly asking for a picture of the bad brush. I immediately emailed them back a picture an within a couple days I had a new brush in my mailbox! Excellent customer service!

Julep polishes can be purchased here or you can use my referral link by clicking the "What's your Style?" badge at the bottom of my page. I would greatly appreciate anyone using my referral link. Thank you!!