Wordless Julep, except for a new link to the polishes

If you want to check out Julep's colors, click here.

(okay, a couple more words: in case it's not painfully obvious, I cannot recommend Julep's polishes highly enough. I love them.)

Fancy Schmancy Nails

You all know how enamored I am with Julep nail polishes. I ordered a special July 4th set (called Independence Yay!), which arrived today.

I knew I wasn't going to be satisfied choosing just one plain color...

As always, the quality is amazing. The white is 2 coats, the red, blue, and glitter are just one coat apiece. A single coat with opaque coverage. Never heard of such a thing. (Note: I cleaned the edges later, and they'll sharpen up tomorrow- the bits on the cuticles always peel away after a day).

I love the glitter too!

These colors will all be wonderful for later, single-shade manis. But I had no intention of leaving these nails plain today. I intend to be FESTIVE!

It's been a long time since I did any nail stamping. I wanted a multi-color stamp over the white, so I painted both red and blue across the edge of this image...

And scraped...

And then picked it up with the stamper...

It stamped beautifully, not that you can tell in this shot. I decided to make a nice straight line on the red nail. I applied tape...

And then painted the navy from the tape toward the tip...

and then peeled the tape off. Nice straight line of polish from a not so straight line of tape.

And then I stamped some white stars.

I stamped a white design over the navy. This one I'm not quite as thrilled with because the white looks pale blue. Still, it's cool.

I decided to add dots.

 See? Dots.

And a few more.

And a small star on the thumbnail over the glitter. The glitter is a little rough, even with several top coat layers, so I only did a small image (and none on the pinky).

Let the celebration begin!

A crackling good time

Terrible pun, yes I know.

I started yesterday with Julep Saaya, a beautiful pearly, shimmery peach. I had about five colors to choose from and no particular preference, so I did a Facebook poll on color choice, and Saaya won. It's gorgeous, but maybe not quite the right color for my skin tone. It'll be fantastic as accents, stamped designs, and in fancy color nails, however.

I didn't even know that the Ursula black was a crackle polish until it arrived. This morning, I decided to give it a shot over Saaya.

I tried to take a shot of the actual crackling but still missed it. The trick is to get a good thick coat of the crackle. It begins to split and shrink almost immediately. I think it's also important to have a nice gloss top on your undercoat, so the crackle polish slides easily as it shrinks. Side Note: the above coat wasn't quite thick enough. I swabbed it off with remover and tried again, with a good thick coat. I was much happier with the results on the second try.

How cool is this? Two coats of gloss on top (and a quick removal of the fuzz on my index finger) later.

I can see playing with this one a lot. (The index fingernail isn't jagged, that's just how the crackle reflects the light)

More This 'n That

I finished the first medium-size finger-down glove prototype. I have the fingers and thumb already knit for the mate, so it won't take long to finish the pair, especially since I'm not spending two nights a week live-blogging American Idol.

I think I'm getting a handle on the sizing. And how to tweak the little finger instructions. This little finger is still too long, and too loose at the end. But by the time I get done with the large-size prototype, I should be ready to get it written up. I may try this one as my first Ravelry pattern for sale. We'll see.

My wonderful daughter-in-law Cassy, and the SoDak grandgirls, planted pots of flowers for our back deck. They're beautiful already.

We have had tranquil, foggy mornings lately. Of course foggy mornings mean humid afternoons, but that's how it goes on the plains. And humid afternoons often mean storms. Again, so it goes...

My June Julep Maven box arrived. The purples are as gorgeous in person as they were online.

I'm wearing Colette already.

And I bought this pattern- after I finish the Medium Glove, I think I'll knit one. He is way too cute to resist.

This 'n That

Nothing coherent today, just odds and ends.

Q: When did David Beckham turn into Ricky Gervais?

PSA: Hip Waders don't keep water out, they just let it warm up a little bit inside the boots and pants. A week ago, my pool looked like this. And the water was barely 70 degrees.

Now, the water is crystal clear, and it's already 80 degrees+. We've been swimming every day, but not today. Today, it's going to storm. Today, tomorrow, Monday. Storms every day. Sigh.

I finished the Regia Fluormania socks and I love them. I don't get to keep them, but they were great fun to knit. However, when I soaked them to wash, the pink bled a bit into the water. That didn't stain the other colors, but if you knit with this stuff, wash them alone a few times, just in case.

More Julep polishes arrived (not the regular Maven box, these were extra orders). Choices, choices...

I went with the orange glitter. It's lovely, but I might like it better over a solid color. I'll try that next time. I'm also very curious about the crackle. And the June purples will arrive in a week or so. Woot!

On the work front- I'm waiting to hear about my proposal, and I'm working on the medium size finger-down glove prototype.

And I'm waiting for the sun to shine so I can go swimming.

and I'll leave you this this, just because.

Follow up to yesterday

So, yesterday was day 4 or 5 on the Sydney va-va-voom orangey red. It was looking very good still and I would have left it on for more days, but even the most miracle of polishes won't hold up if you're chopping celery and hit your nail with the sharp edge of the knife. Since I chipped it, I decided to redo...

This is Julep Amy. And that ring was an eBay steal- real gem opals (as opposed to the pinkie ring, with a lab opal), and white topaz and gold plate for... are you sitting down? $13, including shipping...

Anyway, the blue went with what I wore yesterday...

And yes, I will buy clothes to go with my jewelry... heeee

And as an adjunct to yesterday's commercial, I want to say that I've been using Seche Vite base and top coat. I'll try the Julep versions, and I may switch, but both are essential to a good mani. And even with a fast dry top coat that feels solid to the touch, the polish isn't entirely cured for a few hours, so it's easy to smudge or mark the nails during that time. After it sets totally (by the next morning at the longest), you're good to go.

This is going to sound like one long commercial...

You all know that I've been fascinated (obsessed) with fingernail polish lately. After living 60 years without even noticing the stuff, I suddenly need to have my nails polished at all times. I've even let them grow a little bit, and I've learned to type that way.

Over the past year, I've tried many brands, and I've been happy enough with most of them, though none of my home manicures lasted more than 3 or 4 days without needing a touch-up or a complete re-do. That is, until I started noticing other Facebook friends' mentions of Julep.

Julep is sort of a Nail Polish of the Month Club, and all of my friends who are members rave about the quality. It's not inexpensive, so I had to mull it over for a bit before joining. But I figured- hey, the first Maven box is free, and there does not seem to be a minimum number of purchases, and... all of my friends love it. So, I took the style test and:

This is not just the Maven box- I ordered a couple of extra polish colors- every month there are add-on sales and other polishes for $5 or so a bottle. I could not resist. Usually you get 2 polishes and another product (or 3 polishes, depending on the style you select, for around $19-$24) in a Maven box, which is shipped once a month.

I could not resist trying all of the colors out the first night.

I am seriously in love with this glitter (side note: this stuff does not come off easily).

First Julep home-mani. Color: Natalie. I love this creamy solid pink.

This is what it looked like 5 days later! It finally chipped on the morning on the 8th day! 8 days on a home mani! This is miracle stuff. (oops- I have the above 2 pics switched- this one is the newly applied polish, and the one above is 5 days later- not a big deal, but I see a little bit of edge bloopers in this shot, which tells me it was the new one). Seriously, the mani lasted 8 full days, and I wasn't easy on the nails either. I wrote an entire book proposal with this mani, and did a lot of yard work, and the nails looked great throughout.

Next color: Isla, a pearly white

After 5 days, still beautiful. But I had already proven my point about how long the polish lasts, and I was ready for a change.

Next up Sydney- which is an orangey red.

This stuff is seriously 50's glam (and it's more orange than it looks in this shot). I'm on day 4 with this color, and the long-lastingness of the others was not a fluke. It still looks brand new.

It's also great for Gma/Girlie afternoons!

In short- I love love love this stuff and give it my highest recommendation. And I have more colors coming. I promise, Julep did not pay me to say any of these things...

Oh, their customer service is great too- the blue polish arrived with the lid partially open and the polish thick and gooey. They sent a replacement immediately.

These are the colors (plus Julep base coat) coming for June. I cannot wait!