New Things! Nauti's Monthly Picks

Soooo since I want to be a "real" beauty blogger when I grow up ;), I am branching out a little bit on the blog!  I've decided to do a "Nauti's Monthly Pick" where I talk about and recommend a newfound favorite beauty (or just girly in general) product.

This month I'm featuring Julep's Beach Tonic Dry Body Oil.  I am a sucker for all things moisturizing: oils, lotions, body butters, balms, you name it;  but I hate when I use a product and I get this slimy feeling.  That slimy 'ew' feeling isn't a problem with this product.  Normally when I'm finished bathing, I put baby oil on while in the shower.  Needles to say, that makes my skin feel very slick.

I've subbed the Julep body oil for the baby oil for about a week, and I think I'll never go back!  When finished showering, I towel dry, spray on some of the oil and rub it in.  Done.  That simple.  It does not leave an oily residue, it's just silky smooth!  It has a really amazing light citrus scent to it as well.  Very 'beachy', but without the coconut-y tanning oil smell.  It's really refreshing.

I received this product in my July Julep Maven subscription box.  You can purchase it on Julep's site for $23.00, or if you're a Maven you can get it at the discounted price of $18.40.

If you want to become a Julep Maven and receive nail polish and beauty products for less than $20 a month, you can read more about it here, and please please use my referral link here!

Be sure to visit me on IG (@nauti_mermaid) and let me know what you think of the new addition to my blog!

Retro Stamp Mani

I'm not 100% sure what to call this mani, but it's stamped and has glitter!  The caTTT suggested "caTTT Wonderland" but that makes no sense at all...?  Katie from Swish Swatched said the design looks retro, which DOES make sense.  So I suppose I'm going with that lol

Retro Wonderland Mani

I used Sally Hansen White On and Julep Minnie.  The stamp is Winstonia plate W111 stamped with Julep Minnie.  On my middle finger is Lavish Polish Clown Party (click here to see my other post with Clown Party).

Here are the base colors.  Pretty on their own :]

Sally Hansen White On & Julep Minnie

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Julep Maven August 2013 Bombshell Box

Whee Julep!  Today I have swatches of Julep's August 2013 Bombshell Maven Box.  In the box this month was Bea, Lacey, Double Step Foot Treatment & Friction Stick, and some Forget Me Not seeds! It's Julep's two year Maven Box-iversary, so us Mavens got a cute little package.

I switched my style to Bombshell this month.  I'm usually Boho Glam, but I thought the colors were similar to some I already had.  First up is a swatch of Lacey.
I only needed one coat of Lacey for full coverage. Its a deep blue with a slight purple shimmer.  Dry time was incredibly fast!  Application was great.  Sometimes with shimmer polish I can see the the brus lines.  I didn't have that issue here.

Julep Lacey

I might have to do another comparison post soon!  This looks verrrry similar to Essie Dive Bar to me :]

Next is Julep Bea.  It's a gorgeous lemonade creme polish.  I was not so happy with this polish.  Application was alright.  It was sort of streaky with the first coat.  When I waited for it to dry to do the second coat, to my extreme disappointment, it was still tacky (probably 10 minutes later).  I did a second coat anyway and topped with Seche Vite to speed up the drying.  Of course, major shrinkage occurred very quickly (you may be able to see in my nail art).

Julep Bea

The goodie product in this month's box was the Double Step Foot Treatment & Friction Stick.  This product contains chili pepper oil to promote circulation and shea butter to moisturize and prevent blistering! I only use mine at night because I mostly wear flip flops, so I don't need "friction protection" lol.  I love it.  It smells great and there is a little tingly feeling from the chili oil.  

As you know, I recently ordered some Winstonia stamping plates.  I have just been itching to do stamps, so here ya go!

Moustache and Glitter Nails

I used Julep Bea as the base.  The stamp is from Winstonia plate W109 stamped with Julep Lacey with a glitter accent of Rainbow Honey Koi Pond.  

If you want to become a Julep Maven, click here to read more about it!  If you decide you want to join, please use my referral link HERE because sharing is caring :]

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Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and IG @nauti_mermaid

The Two-Week Review

Well, this is definitely more manageable: a few week's worth of work wrapped in one post with my commentary.  I'm thinking this will be my new "style" of blogging for a while.

I started out with a plain classy white.   Okay.  I WAS going to do some dot nail art, but I got busy playing with my lipstick.

SH White On with a dumb pose by my Lime Crime Red Velvet
Velvetine lippie 

One coat SH White On

This is one coat Sally Hansen (SH) White On.  I personally LOVE this polish's formula.  I have gotten mixed feelings when I post about White On on IG.  My bottle is absolutely perfect and I have no issues with it.  Some say their bottle's formula is lumpy like most other white polish; most agree with me though.  It's hit or miss and I suspect some bottles may be on the older side.

I have been having major polish block lately.  I feel like I have so many I want to use that I just get so flustered and can't decide.  A little saying popped in to my head one night - when in doubt, wear red.  Well thanks, self, I only have 17 reds to choose from!  I finally decided on China Glaze Hey Sailor because I was in a nauti mood I suppose.

ChG Hey Sailor

I did two coats Hey Sailor.  The formula is good.  Its kind of a crelly polish.  Not exactly opaque, not exactly jelly.

Next I have an couple indies!  First I have a thermo-linear polish from Cameo Colours Lacquers.  This is called Morning Dew.  Its a thermal polish that changes from lime green when warm to teal when cool.  And y'all know "linear" refers to ... (read with Oprah voice) ... HOLOOOO!

Cameo Colours Lacquers Morning Dew
Top - Warm; Bottom - Cold; Right - Transition

PS - Thermals are the lazy girl's ombre!!  This is a super fun polish to wear if you're in a pinch but want something...jazzy?  Yeah.  Jazzy.

I slapped on some Mod Lacquer 8-Bit Digits because...micro matte neon glitter goes with everything, duh!

Cameo Colours Lacquers Morning Dew with
Mod Lacquer 8-Bit Digits

Cameo Colours Lacquers Morning Dew with
Mod Lacquer 8-Bit Digits

I don't think I ever do very girly manis.  Girly in the sense of like pinks and flowery.  So I girl'd it up with two coats Essie Fiji with one coat Different Dimension Inner Goddess.

Essie Fiji and Different Dimension Inner Goddess

I really LOVED this look but had a big problem with the DD.  It was suuuuper thick and took forrrrevvvverrrr to dry.  My polish twinnie/bestie suggested thinner, but 1) I don't own any and 2) I think an indie brand should pay more attention to their products' quality.  I have no beef whatsoever with DD, I love the brand and have never had an issue before this particular polish.

sadface

Also this gorg mani lasted less than a day because housework is evil.

Now, who doesn't love some neon & holo???  I had seen this look floating around IG for a while and wanted to try it out forever.  I did a base of NOPI Make a Comet-Ment topped with Darling Diva I'm Fwee with an accent of Orly Passion Fruit.

Neon holo goodness

I went simple with some Julep Dianna from the June Boho Glam Maven box.  This is a OCW too!  In my opinion, Julep's formula has improved so much since I first signed up in September.  I just love this sea foamy mint color!

Julep Dianna

Still with me?  Almost done!

I don't know if I have ever expressed my intense lust after Emily de Molly's The Fifth Element on the blog before.  Besides Lime Crime Pastelchio (which I have ordered and am waiting to receive!!!), THIS was my main lemming.  I NEEDED this.  It was the holy grail of indie polish.  The most beautiful thing I had laid my eyes on.  A beautiful precious gem that needed to be mine.  Yes, I was obsessed.  Well.  Katie (@notjustnails on IG) sent it to me as a surprise.  It was originally just a polish loan if you will; I was supposed to send it back after I got to have this beauty on my nails.  BUT she was nice enough to actually GIVE it to me when she found a replacement.  I seriously died.  Enough rambling: here is two coats EDM The Fifth Element!

Emily de Molly The Fifth Element

LAST ONE!  A skittlette mani!  Now, I didn't do it exactly how you're supposed to (like ChitChatNails/@martawarmuz on IG), but close enough!!  I of course wanted more glitter.  I have been feeling very blah and empty lately and my polish twinnie/bestie had the idea a while ago for black vintage roses.  Seemed to fit my current mood; I took her idea and turned it into a red/dark/glitter rose mani.

Skittlette Dark Roses

Oy, I used so many polishes:
Pointer & Pinky: SH Cherry Red topped with Stardust Polish I'm Seeing Red
Da Bling Ring: Color Club Harp On It topped with ChG Make a Spectacle
Middle & Thumb (thumb not shown, but its there!!) - Base: Orly Naughty or Nice Roses: SH Grey Area, Cherry Red, Essie Chinchilly, SH White On & Essie Good as Gold


Find the indies!  Like what you saw?  Go check out their shops & IG's!
Cameo Colours Lacquers on Etsy @CameoColoursLacquers on IG
Mod Lacquer on Etsy @ModLacquer on IG
Different Dimension on Etsy @MissiBarry on IG
Stardust Polish on Big Cartel @StardustPolish on IG
Emily de Molly is an Aussie brand that can be found on Llarowe (or visit the link to EDM's Etsy shop to find other distributors) @EmilyDeMolly on IG

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Follow me on Pinterest & IG @nauti_mermaid

Swatch Tuesday! Julep Maven March Bombshell Box & Lavish Polish

Well hello, hello, hell-ooh-ooh-o!!  I’m back!  Did you guys miss me??  I sure missed you!  [Unless you’re on IG & I was there the whole time ;P]  So. Today I have some of the best polish I’ve ever received in the Julep Maven boxes.  ANNNND some really funky unique indie polish by Lavish Polish.

I’ve been kinda ehhh about my Julep subscription for a while.  They really turned me off after that stupid crackle polish in October [I’ve probably talked about it a lot…but I forget these things].  After this month, they completely redeemed themselves!  I think I will permanently switch my Maven Style to Bombshell.  I used to get the American Beauty boxes, but now that is retired.  The new box [Modern Beauty] includes NO polish, only beauty products.  Meh.  Give me the polish!!  As I was looking through the other styles, the pastel pistachio color caught my eye. As you may know, I have been literally lusting over Lime Crime Pastelchio for like…EVER!  This isn’t the same, but it’ll do until I can squash my lemming for Lime Crime whenever they finally restock [estimated April 1 per the Lime Crime site...April Fool's?  I hope not!!]. 

Julep Adrianna is a light pastel pistachio [say that five times fast] green that is absolutely gorgeous for Spring/Easter.  It was a tad streaky with the first coat; perfect with two.  Great creamy formula.  It looks a bit greener in person; my light box kinda makes it look more yellow than it really is.

Two coats Julep Adrianna

Next from the Julep Maven March Bombshell box is Minnie, a darker pastel coral [salmon?  I don’t know the distinction between those two – they look the same to me] with a hint of pink to gold to orange shifting shimmer.  This was also streaky with the first coat.  Less so than Adrianna, but it still needed a second coat for full coverage.  You can't see the shimmer in pictures and it drives me crazy! 

Two coats Julep Minnie

Now for the funky indie polish!  First up is Lavish Polish One Eyed Monster. I layered two coats of this intense glitter bomb over China Glaze In The Lime Light.  This is a great combo for St. Patty’s Day!  In The Lime Light is an almost neon polish with some pearly shimmer.  It dries quickly to a waxy matte finish [I’m LOVING that look lately]. 

Two coats China Glaze In The Lime Light

One Eyed Monster is p-a-c-k-e-d, jam packed, full, overfloweth, stuffed, [you get it] with medium sized emerald green and clear iridescent glitters in a clear base.  You can’t even tell there’s a base when it’s in the bottle; it just looks like a bottle of glitter lol :P  Easy application; tons of glitter on the brush each time.

Two coats Lavish Polish One Eyed Monster
over ChG In The Lime Light

Now.  The awesomest of awesome: Lavish Polish Clown Party.  Okay.  As soon as I saw this on Tiana’s nails [@pandasnails on IG], I went right to Lavish Polish’s Etsy and bought it.  It was THAT cool guys!  Clown Party is funky and pretty and gives you a weird feeling [like clowns] and it sucks you in!  It has a weird greenish white crelly base with all sorts of funky glitters. There’s small matte neon yellowish green, pastel blue, medium pastel purple, large matte pinkish red, and huge pastel blue glitters.  Just what?!  It totally makes you feel weird [in a good way], I don’t know how else to describe it. 

Two coats Lavish Polish Clown Party
over Julep Adrianna

I layered two coats of Lavish Polish Clown Party over two coats of JulepAdrianna.  The base of CP matches Adrianna perfectly.  I have seen it layered over white as well.  The application was a tad difficult.  There was a lot of shaking and rolling and fishing involved, but that is to be expected for the larger glitters. 

Check out Lavish Polish on Etsy where most full sized bottles are $8.00, and keep up on IG, @LavishPolish!

If you’re interested in becoming a Julep Maven, click my referral link [here], take the quiz to determine your Maven Style and enter the code "4993142" at sign up.  You can receive about $40 worth of products each month for only $20!  AND it’s virtually commitment free!  You can skip months, switch your style every month, or cancel any time you want.  At least give it a try!

Okay Lovelies!  See you Friday for some nail art!  Woooo :]

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Follow me on Pinterest [@miss_best] and IG [@nauti_mermaid]!

Hibiscus Martini and Gradient Mani Fail/Redemption

Hello lovelies!  Happy Friday :)  Sorry I completely forgot about my Wasted Wednesday post.  I stayed home sick on Tuesday and got sucked in to watching the whole first season of American Horror Story. Anyways, I have a GREAT drink recipe (similar to last weeks) and some nail fail/redemption pics.

To make a Hibiscus Pom Martini,

You’ll Need:

Absolut Hibiskus

Stirrings Pomegranate Mixer

Stirrings Pomegranate Sugar

Ice

Make It!

Rim a glass with the sugar.  Combine one shot vodka with two shots mixer.  Shake in a glass with ice. Strain into sugar rimmed glass.

This tastes JUST like a Passion Tea Lemonade from Starbucks.  LOVE it!  And the vodka bottle is pretty; so that’s a plus.

Gradient Nail FAIL and Redemption

I started out with this great idea in my head.  I was going to attempt a gradient that looked like a sunset.  I started with China Glaze Peachy Keen as the base.  Gorgeous right?!  Well, that was the prettiest it’s gonna get.  lol

Two coats China Glaze Peachy Keen

China Glaze Peachy Keen, Escaping Reality
and Japanese Koi (neon)

I tried to do the gradient with ChG Escaping Reality (pink) and Japanese Koi (neon) (orange).  Ehhhh it didn’t look as good as I envisioned it.  I would have suffered through it, but I was out from work one day so I decided to attempt again.

Julep Eileen and
China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Julep Eileen and
China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

This one was MUCH better.  I only used one color (ChG Yellow Polka Dot Bikini) over Julep Eileen.  It’s really hard for me to explain if you don’t know the method for gradients.  I am hoping to do a tutorial one of these days.  Not like I’m an expert, obviously, but the way I did it worked for me.  In a nutshell, follow these steps:

Paint your nails a base color (Julep Eileen) and let it dry completely.

On a makeup sponge, apply the base color and the gradient color.

Dab the sponge on the nail.  Be sure to dab the sponge in different areas of the nail, in order to blend the colors (so you don’t get such a harsh color line like my first attempt).

Turn the sponge over and paint some of the gradient color (ChG Yellow Polka Dot Bikini) onto it. 

Dab this on the very tip of the nail to give full color coverage.

Flip the sponge back over to blend once more.

Let dry briefly.  Seal with a topcoat to smooth sponge marks.

Like I said, it’s a little hard to explain without step-by-step. I will try to do one ASAP. 

I’ve only attempted gradients probably about three times.  This is the best I’ve done and I’m very proud of these babies :D

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Swatch Tuesday! Julep * Ava & Bette - January Bombshell Box

Hello lovelies!  Today I have the Julep Maven January Box.  The theme this month was Nude & Neon.  My normal box style is American Beauty, but I didn't really like the orange neon they offered, so I switched to the Bombshell style because I really liked the purple.

Julep Bette and Ava

The nude selection was a pretty polish called Ava.  It's a very light frosty pink.  Went on perfect in two coats, no application issues.  Dry time was normal.

Two coats Julep Ava

Two coats Julep Ava

Two coats Julep Ava

The neon in January's box is a sheer purple jelly polish called Bette.  Julep describes this a "creme", but I am going to disagree.  It is definitely not a creme in my definition of the word.  It went on nicely.  As you see, I used it with various undies/no undies combos.

Two coats Julep Bette various undies

Like I've found with most neons, dry time was fast and it dried semi-matte.  The pictures shown have no topcoat.  There is some sheen, but not as much as a normal polish, but it's not as matte as a matte polish.

Two coats Julep Bette various undies

Two coats Julep Bette various undies

I thought the neon would be much more in-yo-face!-where's-my-sunglasses?-blam!! neon, but it really wasn't.  The color shown is pretty much how it looks in person.

If you would like to be a Julep Maven and receive polish boxes monthly for about $20, click here for my referral link, take the style quiz, and enter code "4993142" at sign up.  It's a real deal to be a Maven, you get two polishes - sometimes three depending on your box style - plus an extra beauty goodie!  All for $20!  AND if you want to order polish at other times, you get a discount on regular prices.  Just sayin'!

If for some reason you don't want to be a Maven, you can check out Julep's website and pick out some great polish for $14 each.

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Fireball and Julep Julia

Hello Lovelies!!  Happy 2013!  Today I have a super simple drink and a gorgeous Julep polish for you.  I know I’m trying to step up the nail art, but I did my New Year’s Mani which was kinda nail art-sih earlier this week.  On to the drank!!

To make a Fireball & Coke….can anyone guess???

You’ll Need:

Coke

Fireball Whiskey

Ice

Make It!

Cup.  Ice.  Fireball…glug glug…  Coke.

If you haven’t tried this stuff yet, you’re nuts!  Anyone I tell about it turns their nose up, but once they try it, they can’t get enough!

Julep Julia from December’s American Beauty Maven Box

Two coats Julep Julia
(outdoor light)

Oooh shiny!  I don’t know if I should call this duochrome, color shift, jelly, or what. Julia as Julep describes is a “purple orchid with golden micro-glitter metallic”.  But there’s so much more to it than that!  It has a sheer jelly orchid colored (I’ll agree with that) base that would be fully opaque with three coats.  In the bottle, the polish looks gold with a hint of purple, but on the nail the purple really shows through.  Depending on the angle and light it can look mostly purple, or mostly gold.  I did two coats, no undies.

One coat Julep Julia (ring finger) vs. two on all others
(outdoor light)

Two coats Julep Julia
(indoor light) 

Two coats Julep Julia
(indoor light)

Two coats Julep Julia
(indoor light) 

If you want to be a Julep Maven and receive awesome polish and goodies every month for just about $20, click here, find out what style is and enter the referral code "4993142".  They had some pretty awesome neons in January's boxes :)

Okay loves.  See you back on Swatch Tuesday!  (I’m seriously so happy to be going back to three posts a week! I don’t know how people who do it every day can keep up!  lol)

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Swatch Tuesday! Julep * Donna & Trina

Okay!  I didn't forget about Swatch Tuesday, I'm still off on my days from the holidays.

Anywho, I finally got around to swatching my November Julep Maven box.  I think it was November anyway.  These two polishes are so pretty!

Donna is a dark smoky teal.  Smooth application, great in just one coat.  Dry time is fast also.
Trina is a deep metallic purple with a hint of gold shimmer.  Application was okay.  It looked good to me in one coat, until I brought it under the light :\

One coat Julep Donna;one coat Julep Trina (accent)

One coat Julep Donna;one coat Julep Trina (accent)

One coat Julep Donna;one coat Julep Trina (accent)

If you want to be a Julep Maven and recieve polish and goodies evrey month for only $20, click here and enter code "4993142".

Christmas Dip-Dye Nails

Merry Christmas Eve!  Today I have some festive nail art for you.

I had seen Rylee (@WickedNails on IG) post a few dip-dye manis and I loved the look.  I saw this tutorial on Pinterest a while back so I finally decided to try it out; mostly because I was too lazy to do an actual design lol

Its pretty simple.  Just paint your nails a base color.  Draw messy lines with your light color with a small nail art (or paint) brush.  Then more messy lines with your darker color.  I slapped on some glitter just for festive purposes ;)

Without glitter 

*GASP* My rarely seen right hand!!  This design is so simple
you can even do it on your dominant hand.  I actually think this
looks better than my left hand.

Base: Julep Eileen

Reds (light to glitter): Essie Head Mistress, Berry Naughty, and Leading Lady

Greens (light to glitter) China Glaze Def Defying, Julep Hoch, and Essie Beyond Cozy
all topped with Seche Vite.