Color Comparison

There were a few people complaining that Julep's August box were reruns of other colors and I had to admit that I was concerned about a few colors. I have only been subscribed to Julep since mid June, but when I saw August's colors some of them looked familiar. That did not stop me from upgrading, my polish collection has duplicates and variations on finish and shades. I decided to swatch some of my Julep polishes.

I started with the fushia and orange comparisons. 

Kaylen- matte orange and Marjorie- orange shimmer, slightly more yellow?

Drew and Nellie- fushias

Francis, Etta, Veronica, and Nan. I did another comparison with Nan last week. Veronica is more pink than the unknown. I do love all three salmony colors.

Leila- banana yellow shimmer, Bea- lemon yellow creme, Millie, and Lacey. 

Lois and another favorite. My collection is not unfamiliar to similar or duplicate polishes. 

Julep August Maven Box

I received my August box monday. Here is the full garden party theme collection and the Champagne trio.

I used the double step foot stick at work last night. I will keep this in my purse to use at the first signs of sore feet. I have not used the treatment masks yet. It has one each for the hands, nails, and feet. I kind of want to save them for something special, maybe my birthday.

I sampled Reiko and clio from the Champagne trio on Monday. I started with Reiko- a rose gold metallic and then added Clio- a rose, purple, and silver glitter over the top of the ring finger. Reiko and Amity are similar to illusion polishes. At one angle the look gold and another you see the pink or white metallic. Sienna- muted gold, compliments this trio.

Also in the box were Francis- a pistachio creme, Lois- a mauve shimmer, Bea- a lemon creme, Lacey- a glitzy navy, Sylvia- purple creme, Veronica- a dusky salmon, Marjorie- an orange shimmer, Nellie- a deep fushia, and Fiore- an espresso brown.

I have yet to try them all out but I wore Nellie to work last night, I even found scrubs to match.

Preserving Produce

Yesterday I made two more jars of pickled radish seed pods before pulling up the plants. I want to make room for a fall garden. I have also started drying my Tabasco peppers. I had to move them as Max though it was a new toy. I will keep stringing on more peppers as they are ready.

Themed Nails

Last week I tried to do Steampunk nails, friday I used what I had learned to redo them. The black under the copper plating was a step in the right direction. It made more noticeable seams, but I found it too harsh. I think the brown in my august julep box will work best, it just has to get here first. The gold studs were a perfect touch. I also found a gold and copper glitter that looks great with it.

While on vacation with the family I practiced galaxy nails. I painted Joyce and Becky's toes and Alex and Kathryn's finger nails. In the process I messed up my nails so when we returned I tried it out on myself.

Yesterday I decided to try my new Julep color, Nan. It is similar to an unknown polish I have. Nan is more red, you can compare to the unknown on ring finger and thumb.

Metalwork.

Charles is in the EMC2 program. It is a program for those who want to go to school for mechanical engineering. They pay high school students to take free classes during the summer after their junior and senior years. So not only are classes free, they pay you $300 each summer and give you another$300 in scholarships after each summer (providing you enter engineering program after), you also get credits reducing your bachelors degree to an additional 2.5 yrs. How can you say no to that?

This is just one of the fun projects he made this summer.

Steampunk Nails and Steamed Greens

I've been trying to eat my greens while they are fresh. I've steamed them and put over rice with butter and soy sauce and steamed as a side.

I ordered my Maven box for August, I chose to upgrade to the full collection. I decided to try a couple looks with Faye- a bronze color while I wait. This first one I paired with Juleps Sienna and Petites' Passion Orange.

The second one I used several metalics to try a steampunk look. I used striping tape and gem stone layered with a copper polish for a grommeted metal look. I then used nail stamps to simulate gears on the other nails. To finish I hand painted tentacles, which were harder than I planned. I had to outline so the would show up. They looked better before outlining and I should have just done them in black as a shadow effect.

"Grow" Headphones

I finally finished Charles' headphones. I was also using them for a craft challenge. I had to craft something inspired by a proverb. I chose, "Children should be seen and not heard." It also had a garden theme for bonus points.