Throwback Thursday: My First blog post!!

Oh man is this post going to be cringe worthy on so many levels!

Good morning lovelies! I hope you are all doing well and are gearing up for the weekend! As you read this post I will be at work patiently waiting for the clock to strike 5:30pm so I can get out and have a nice day off on Friday. Unfortunately with my job I have to work at least one weekend day but on occasions I get a whole weekend off and when I do its is GLORIOUS!

Today I thought I would take you back in time four years and show you my very first blog post. The whole reason I started my blog was that I enjoyed reading nail polish blogs at the time and my collection was steadily growing. I wasn't as heavily into makeup as I am now so that's where my blog name came from. They were my nails and my polish and there you go.

I remember the name of the first post and it was an introduction post about myself, so really I guess I'm taking you back to the second post on the blog but its the first one I showed of a manicure!

I called it Springtime Crackle. Crackle was huge four years, I remember desperately wanting to get my hands on it, thank goodness we had just had a Sally's Beauty open up in the next town over!

So... brace yourselves... if its too bad... look away...

Julie G Cruise Collection Swatches!

Good Sunday morning to you lovelies! I am so sorry its been forever and a day since I posted a blog post! That crazy thing called life just got a little hectic but hopefully things will be changing/looking up soon.

If you saw my latest YouTube video then you know I recently acquired five of the six Julie G Cruise Collection polishes. Today I want to share swatches of those polishes with you.

First up is Miami Heat,  its a bright pink coral creme that is perfect for the hot summer days ahead.

My photo makes it more of darker coral but its more a middle toned. The formula is nice, creamy not runny, opaque in two coats and dry time is normal. If you pair this with the Julie G Jet Set Top Coat then your polish will be unstoppable.  This color I can see on my toes as I dig my feet into the sand at a beach or a lake this summer!

Next up is Old San Juan, I have to say I'm not usually a fan of bright orange polishes, its just a shade that doesn't always suit my skin tone but this one is one of the few that does!

It makes me think of a color you would see at block parties and festivals that go on throughout the summer. It just makes everything brighter, like a ball of sunshine. Formula on this one was okay. The first coat was a little patchy but not by much and a second to third coat really smoothed it out.

Santorini seems to be the polish of this collection that everyone wanted to get there hands on! I remember seeing Julie G post a photo on Instagram from I believe IMATS showing that it was the one color completely sold out. I was so glad my Rite Aid had it in stock in full on the display.

I freaking love this polish, its definitely my favorite of the bunch, I love bright light blues. Once again my photo shows it a little bit darker, its really more of a sky blue color, but even in the photo above the sky can look that color too. The formula on this was just like Miami Heat, creamy and opaque in two coats. This one and Old San Juan were the first two polishes I tried from this collection if you saw this photo on my Instagram!

This collection features a yellow polish called Canary Islands. I am always hesitant on buying yellow polishes because they are either streaky and the formula sucks or they are just not the right shade of yellow.

Canary Island is a nice creamy buttery yellow that reminds me of birds (its the first thought that pops in my head) so I guess that name is appropriate for it.

The formula on Canary Islands is nice, creamy a little patchy on the first coat but not bad at all, I believe I used three coats to get what you see in the photo above. Its probably one of the better yellow polishes that I have tried over the three years I've been blogging.

Lastly we have Thaiti a beautiful mint green that has beautiful blue shimmer in it. I believe its the only one in the line to have a shimmer to it. Sadly you can't see it in photos but in person you know its there. I didn't know if I was gonna like this one to be honest because I have quite a few mint polishes and even ones that have shimmer in it. I thought that maybe Thaiti would be similar to
Julie's other mint polish called Sharks cove but alas I don't own Sharks Cove to compare.

The photo shows this to me more of a sea foam green color but its a little more lighter in real life. When looking at my other mint polishes its definitely a different shade, as most of us nail polish enthusiast know we can justify owning similar colors because they are slightly different. The formula on this was just like the others, creamy and takes about two to three coats to be opaque with the first coat being kind of streaky.

The only color in this collection I didn't get was a purple shade called Rio De Janerio. I didn't buy it because I didn't think the shade would look nice with my skin tone. I have other polishes in that shade range and I hardly wear them because I don't like the way they look. I offered to buy it for my mom because that's her kind of shade she has yet to take me up on my offer.

So out of the five polishes I did buy my favorites are Santorini, and Miami Heat. I mean I love all of them but if I had to choose two shades to go back to over and over it would be those two.

Julie G Nail polish is available at your local Rite Aid for $3.99 or on Jesses' Girl Cosmetics website! If you want some fun summer colors I suggest you pick these up today!

45 Days Of Untrieds, Day 6: Julie G: Crushed Candy

Good evening everyone, I apologize for how late this post is going up, I was at work all day and then came home and napped out. Plus its been really hot lately and the heat is not fun when you don't have air conditioning.

Anyway today's post is is the final Julie G. Frosted Gumdrop Polish I own. It is called Crushed Candy. 

This polish is a pretty mix of of light pink and light purple glitter that have tiny bits of even lighter pink mixed it. Out of the rainbow of colors that this line has to offer this is the most girly, so if you are a lover of pinks and purples this is right up your ally. 

Two coats will get you opacity but I did three just because thats usually what I do. I'm not so sure if its so flattering with my skin tone but I still like it.

Don't forget to check out Adrianna's Untried today its a fantastic OPI Polish and Shaylad's on Instagram!

Do you think the texture craze is here to stay or is it going to go away like crackle and magnetics slowly did??

<3 Nicole

45 Days of Untireds, Day 4 Julie G: Hot Cinnamon.

Good morning! Hows everyone's weekend going? Today is work night number 3 for me. I don't mind working at night but back to back to back sure can drive you nuts!

So today's untried is probably one of my ultimate favorite textured polishes. Textured polishes are kind of all the rage ever since OPI released their Liquid Sand.

Jesse's Girl and Julie G. teamed up to help Julie create her own texture polishes called Frosted Gumdrops. I have featured two of them already on here but I have two more that I haven't tried yet. Today's is called Hot Cinnamon.

Hot Cinnamon is a bright red sparkly full of glittery goodness polish. It reminds me of Dorothy's Ruby Slippers from the Wizard Of Oz. If they were matte of course.

You can even see the little bit of golden shimmer that is in the bottle. I wish it transferred to the nail more, but even in the bottle its still pretty to look at.

Two to three coats brings it to perfect opacity. I think this is the perfect color to wear on my toes for the summer! I swear every single Julie G polish I have tried I have been in love with so I apologize if I get repetitive.

I think I said these with the other two Frosted Gumdrop polishes I have featured, but the removal process of these are super easy. No scrubbing of the nail required. I hope that more nail polish companies come out with glitter polishes that remove as easily as the textured ones do.

Be sure to check out Adri's untried today and Shaylads on Instagram!

Out of all the textured polishes out there which are your favorites?? 

 <3 Nicole

Julie G: Cabana Boy.

*Nothing to disclose, this polish was purchased by me and my own money.*

Hi guys! How are you all? I hope you had a good weekend, I went to a BBQ at my best friends house and ate way too much food and laughed a ton!

Today's post is a polish that has made its way into my favorites. I've showcased Julie G. polishes here on the blog before and this one is no exception.

I seriously hope Julie keeps making new polishes for her line because they are amazing. Cabana Boy is the name of the polish in today's post, and it is a bright cerulean blue creme, that reminds me a lot of Sally Hansen Pacific Blue and Nails Inc. Baker St.

This polish was released earlier this year as a part of the Julie G core collection.

The application of this polish is pretty much perfection. Two coats creates the perfect opacity, and the polish has a nice shine to it without top coat. This polish is too thin or too thick, it literally flows on to the nail and has easy control so you won't flood your cuticles. The only thing I found that I don't like but I think you will find this with any highly pigmented nail color is the fact it can stain your cuticles just a little.

Tell me what you guys think about the pictures! These were taken with my new camera! I got a Canon Rebel T3i for my birthday, all thanks to my parental units whom I love with all my heart and how they support my addiction to polish.

The three photos above were taken in natural cloudy light and all nails have top coat.

So tell me what is your favorite Julie G. Polish if you own any!

If you are looking for this amazing color its available at Rite Aid Pharmacies, and Jesse's Girl Cosmetics Website. Jesse's Girl helps create the Julie G. line!

Julie G. Frosted Gumdrop Polish: Rock Candy.

Hello!!!

How are you all on this fine humid Thursday? Well ok maybe its not humid where you are but its  pretty humid here in the Hudson Valley. Yesterday we had some pretty wicked thunderstorms roll through because of the humidity, I happened to be at work when they hit, there is just something about watching a thunderstorm outside the grocery store with your fellow coworkers that just makes it interesting. If I was at home I probably would of been freaking out while staring out the window from a distance.

Anyway its been way too long since I posted, almost two weeks, I seriously need to get back on my schedule of every other day instead of being a lazy bum.

Today's post is going to be fairly short since if you saw by the title that I am showcasing another Frosted Gumdrop Polish from the fabulous Julie G Beauty! If you like the Liquid Sand polishes from OPI these are similar but a bit more glittery and way more affordable!

Rock Candy is the name of the polish and it doesn't remind me of rock candy at all really. To be honest I never like rock candy as a kid, I thought it was really cool looking but never liked the flavors. But the name of this polish did not put me off it, Rock Candy is a Teal polish that has a metallic look to it, but its not your normal teal color that we think of when we think teal polish. The metallic finish makes it a lot dustier and a few shades darker and it leans more toward s the green end of the teal spectrum.

The top photo was taken with the flash and you can really see the larger pieces of glitter that make this polish sparkle. The other two photos were taken in natural light. The one thing I have yet to try with these texture polishes is putting top coat over them. I hear from other bloggers that they actually look really pretty with a top coat. I am definitely going to have to try it sometime, I did try it once with one of the Liquid Sand Polishes I own and it totally ruined the polish. Maybe that's why I haven't tried it with these.

The Julie G. Frosted Gumdrop Polishes are available at your local Rite Aid for $3.99 or you can find them on Jesse's Girl Cosmetics website!

Hope you enjoyed todays post, tomorrow I am going to post my second volume of Free For All Beauty Friday, I think I am going to write about my May Favorites. I see favorite videos on YouTube all the time and since I don't do YouTube the blog is the next best place!

So Talk to you all then!
<3 Nicole  

Hello!!! How 'bout some stampin'?

Good evening! It has been a week since my last post! How naughty of me! I've been desperately trying to keep on a every other day schedule and god life keeps getting in the way!

Anyway how was your Valentines? Mine was ok no flowers or candy but I  did my taxes, and  getting a decent refund so life is good! I just wish the money would get here!

In other news I am going to Florida in June! I am so pumped to get out of New York for almost two weeks! I will have pre published post for the time that I'm away and I plan on upping my Internet plan on my phone so I can stay in contact on Twitter and such.

Today I bring you the manicure I wore on Valentines Day. Or we'll a variation of it. On valentines day I actually wore China Glaze Cranberry Splash and Bundle Monster Plate 311. For the  base color in the photos below I used one of Julie G's new polishes that are available at Rite Aid right now!

The name of this beauty is called YOU-niverse ! When I saw it I wanted it immediately due to the amazing duo chrome in the bottle! The duo chrome does show up on the nail but it is super hard to photograph. It's more muffled on the nail then when concentrated in the bottle but still pretty none the less. I don't tend to gravitate towards bronze-y polishes like this one but it suits my skin tone nicely.

Two to three coats of YOUniverse is all you need to get the polish opaque. I got quite a few compliments on this color so you should too!

I figure this was a manicure that if your not a fan of all the fancy pinks and reds and whites on Valentines day this was a way to be that little something different.

For the stamp itself I used my Wet 'n' Wild, Black crème,  I bought back ups of this polish only to see that they are thinner then I thought, but I guess I'll have to let them sit out to get a little thicker.

So on to the photos:

These are taken with three coats of YOUniverse, and top coat in natural light.

All in all I think this is a nice departure from all the other stamping manicures I've tried out. I never thought that it would look this cool! I hope you guys go out and grab a bottle of YOUniverse at Rite Aid and maybe if you want to get into stamping some Bundle Monster Plates!

Have a great night!
<3 Nicole!

31 Day Challenge! Day 30 Inspired By A Tutorial

Good afternoon!

Today is Day 30 of the challenge! I'm still in disbelief that February starts on Wednesday! January has been an awesome month with this challenge, so many exciting things have happened not only with my blog but in my personal life as well and they continue to grow in that area!

I am so thankful that I get to share it with you guys on the blog!

On to the tutorial inspired nails. This tutorial is actually a re-promote from back in October. I kind of went through an "need to practice nail art everyday" phase and this was one of the ones that I was so proud of!

31 Day Challenge. Day 13 Animal Print!

Happy Friday the 13th!!

I think that this has been one of the post that I could not wait to do next to the rainbow one! Ever since I got my nail stamping kit and saw that I had gotten a leopard print pattern I couldn't wait to use it.

With the salon express kit that I bought it is definitely a trial and error project. I think I went through every one of my polishes before I found out that only some of them work with the kit.

31 Day Challenge. Day 12 Stripes!

Good morning, yeah I'm not a happy camper this morning, there is snow on the ground, but its raining which means it probably won't last long but who knows. At least the roads are clear so it's not a total loss and I can go see my girlfriends today. :)

Today is stripes day of the challenge and I can say that I really like mine. Its a bright manicure which helps with the dreary weather. I used two coats of Jessie's Girl JulieG which is  bright pinky peach color as my base, this is a perfect spring color and that is what I am thinking about these days, spring.

For my stripes I used a polish I bought a few years ago that I thought was going to be like For Audry because in thats what it looked like, well looks are deciveing. Its a polish by Savina called Blue For You, it dries a darker tealish color when applied to the nail but it was the perfect color for the stripes!