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!

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

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]!

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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Follow me on IG @Nauti_Mermaid 

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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Follow me on IG @Nauti_Mermaid

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".