Stash or Trash: Julep Kylie (magnetic)

I received Kylie in my Julep Maven box.  It looks like a frosty deep mauve in the bottle, and that's what the polish looks like when you first paint it on your nails.  I did 2 thin coats and let them dry, then did one generous coat on each nail one by one, then used the magnet.  It was sheer after one thin coat, and opaque after a 2nd, but I wanted a deeper color, and that's what I got with 3 coats.  I also held the magnet at an angle, instead of having the stripes straight on.

A comment first on Julep bottles - their bottles are tall thin rectangular bottles.  This makes for a very precarious paint job - it's very easy to tip the bottle over, so I end up holding it in a bit of an awkward manner between my pointer finger and thumb.  Also, if not received through the Julep Maven program, these polishes are darn expensive at $18 a bottle.  I don't find too much special about the polish to justify that high a price.  OPI runs between $8-$9 a bottle, and I much prefer their formula, color selection, bottle, and brush.

I don't think I'm sold on this whole "magnetic" thing.  My hands are just barely steady enough to almost competently paint my nails, but even the slightest tremor when you're holding the magnet super close to your finger is enough to screw this up.  For this reason, a couple of nails have a 4th coat.  Plus, Julep's magnet doesn't have a lip on it as a guide.  Also...I don't know if it was how close I held the magnet, the magnet, or the polish, but I can feel the texture from the peaks of color. There is a slight raise where the magnet pulled the iron in the polish, like the iron was trying to climb out of the paint.

This looks OK, but it was a pain to do.  After I was done, I still had to wait almost an hour to put top coat on, and even then some of the design got a bit smeared.  I don't like sitting like a glass princess for that long.  I like to slap on my fast dry, and get going after 10 minutes or so.  Add that to the fact that I'm not crazy about the color or the bottle, and this one ends up in the trash for me.  (Ok, you caught me.  The giveaway/trade with friends pile.  I don't throw things away.)

The pictures are actually from my second day of wear, and it's grown on me a bit.  The wavy stripes look neat.  But....it still doesn't make up for how tedious this polish is to use.

And a few more pictures to try to catch the angles and how the design turned out.

Stash or Trash: OPI DS Extravagance

In the shade...you can see the little speckles that light up in the sun

In the sun...blurry, but you can see the beautiful shine

I love this polish.  I've actually worn it many times before.  When the sun isn't on it, it's a very classy wine polish.  But when the light hits....oooooh boy shiny.  I sit and stare at my fingers when I have this one on.  This was two coats, and it wears like iron.  Of course this is a stash for me.

My Birthday Manicure

Sorry for the horrible horrible picture...although it does give you a view of my two lovely rings.  My engagement ring is on the left, and my grandmother's Navajo silver ring is on the right.
The base is 2 coats of OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It!  I don't find it to be terribly unique, but I do really love both the color and the brilliant shine it gives.  It covers in two coats.  However, I used a thick layer of basecoat and it still stained my nails like crazy.
I topped Swimsuit...Nailed it! with Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday.  If wearing multicolored glitter on your birthday is wrong, I don't want to be right.  I really do love that polish.  It gives a fun kick of sparkle and color.

Both of these colors are stash for me.

Watch this space....

I'll be using this blog as I go through my nail polish stash, partially as a reference for me.

I'm a 6th-8th grade special education teacher, and I enjoy painting my nails as my moment of zen some days. I don't claim to be awesome at it, or even very neat with it, and teaching is a bit rough on your hands, with all the papers and hand sanitizer. My swatches probably won't be all that pretty, but they'll let me have a reference back to my collection. This will also help me clean out the closet of polish and other beauty items.

I just thought "Teacher Talons" was a cute name...I don't really have talons. They're more on the side of nubbins.