Ahhh Monday. Monday, Monday, Monday. I was away from home for a good part of the beginning of this weekend, and towards the end of that absence, noticed my Facebook was going crazy. Apparently it's been #ShareTheLove, and I had NO IDEA!! So the Facebook page not only hit the 200 mark, but the 300, AND the 400!!! At last check, we're sitting on a very cushy 414 followers! [Think we can make it to 500? COMMENT BELOW!]
Unfortunately, Julep has also rocked many of our boats this weekend as well with the subtle announcement that accounts made AFTER 12-18-13 [December 18th of last year], are no longer able to skip their box every month [SHOULD that be something they needed, or wanted, to do.] As a Julep Affiliate, I definitely took this to heart. What affects my consumer base, affects me. I wrote a very strongly concerned 4 page letter, and sent it to Julep immediately. Today, I received a response. In effect, I was told once more that my account, made prior to that date, was "grandmothered", and safe in the ability to skip freely. Now, I understand this, but I know for the new Mavens that sign up, often that desire to sign HINGES on the ability to skip whenever you can't afford it, or don't like what you are presented with. I was told in the response that Customer Service will STILL be able to skip any accounts as necessary, so long as you call them and talk with them. I don't feel this is a good enough arrangement, and I want you all to know I AM fighting very hard to get this changed. I can't make any promises at this point, but I'm trying! And, I wanted to compile a list of as many people as I could to Share the Love: But there are just so many of you!!! Instead, I'll be sharing EVERY nail page that comes across my feed at all!!! Prepare yourselves, get those Like fingers ready!! <3 A HUGE THANK YOU! I love you all, and appreciate every single like you've all given me. I'm working on a giveaway right now to celebrate this momentus occasion, and if we hit 1000 likes before the end of the week [Sunday], I'll give TWO identical giveaway boxes away!!! <3
0 Comments
I'm so excited you guys! Remember that Resort Collection I swatched and fell in love with? It's FINALLY finally up for sale, and it's still perfect. In fact, I need to go put one of these beautiful colours on RIGHT now. :)
Click the button below to buy YOUR Resort Collection, and hurry before they sell out!!! If you missed the post with the swatches, check it out! Evening beautiful gals! I want to apologize to you all for the slowed updates, and unfortunately will have to warn you that things may not pick up the pace as I had originally intended. There are many things happening to and within our family right now that are making it a little more difficult to focus on the beauty elements I normally love to indulge in.
I have not been given any open green lights, and have not asked for the permission, to divulge any of the personal information of certain family members. Please respect this, and just know that someone very close in our family has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and it is a very frightening thing to be confronted with right now, amidst the other things we are also handling within the family. So far, things have been progressing very nicely, and any thoughts and/or prayers would be greatly welcomed and appreciated. I will just ask for privacy on behalf of the family, and when or if permission is given at a later time, I might release more information. Those that remain with me here, THANK YOU! Today, that IS the question. I had a surprise question waiting for me this morning, and I definitely wanted to address it. [Reminder: Just my opinion and experience as a beauty representative and user. I'm no guru, but I've been doing it a long time and have spent as much time as I could researching different avenues prior to doing things myself for personal testing. I would not, and will not, advocate ANY beauty regimen I feel unsafe or unsanitary or that I have not personally tried and tested regularly for problems.] I was asked, "Do you buff? I see a lot of people talking about buffing, but I'm not sure exactly what it is or how to do it or anything pretty much. I'm so new to this. Do you have any information about it?" My answer: Yes! I do have information! Personally, I only buff when I need to. Over-buffing, contrary to some beauty guru advice, IS detrimental to nail health overall. You CAN buff too much, and the result is not pretty. First, let's address "What is buffing?" for those that have absolutely no experience with it. Buffing, much like it sounds, involves various stages of filing down the nail plate [That is: The nail surface] with a small [usually spongey] block with attached sandpaper like surfaces. You start with a higher/rougher grade side, and remove the vertical ridges many of you might have seen. [Nails naturally have lines from the tip to the Eponychium/cuticle area, look closely and you'll see them. :)] You move to smaller and smaller grit until you reach a slightly quilted-looking side, meant to "buff" the nails, or give them a polished shine. Second, let's address "What COULD happen?". You COULD, in over-buffing, thin your nail plate severely. Sometimes, this can be SO severe you expose the nail bed underneath, which can be extremely painful, as well as dangerous. Nails rarely ever fully recover from this condition, as it creates an ingrown-nail of sorts. You could also thin the plate to the point of creating extremely thin, flimsy, flakey, and brittle nails that peel very often and bend and/or break constantly. Third, "So why would we want to buff? When SHOULD we? What are the benefits?". Benefits vary; But much like cleaning clogged pores, it can be healthy to buff away a thin layer or two, to remove harmful bacteria prior to smothering with polish. A light buffing can also give a slightly more jagged surface [Not dangerously so, just enough to give more surface on the nail than actually exists] for polish to better adhere to [Just be sure to clean with a cotton ball and polish remover, or rubbing alcohol, to pick up the nail dust BEFORE applying polish!]. I mentioned that I, personally, rarely buff. How do I know when to? I most commonly buff when I see this: What you see is the result of nail polish that has been picked off [Yes, a bad habit I know ;)]. The polish had adhered so well to my nail plate, picking/pulling it off pulled up strands of my nail plate. Much like string cheese, or pulling bark off a sapling, once a strand starts, pulling it will only bring it to the edge it's closest to, which can cause further damage. Light buffing, in this case, will close off those frayed pieces, giving me a smoother plate for polishing, and a healthier plate overall. Its also in this case, in my experience, polish HELPS to protect the nail. It creates an airtight barrier to keep bacteria out of the frayed openings, though they are small; And it creates a relatively thick shield to prevent further damage by external means. :) There are, of course, other times when it might be necessary; The most common reason I see buffing happen is to aid in Ultra-shine results. I will do this sometimes as well, but not if I have buffed in the last 1-2 weeks. Do you buff? Or do you not? What reasons do you have either way? I'd love to hear! Want the best and latest in hand health and care? Click the button below to get your own Manicure kit from Julep! Made of Sleek Black Teflon-coated Stainless Steel, these are durable AND sanitary. What's better? Not only are these the tools found in Julep's nail parlors, but these come packed in a cute, compact, zippered travel case! Okay, those of you that took the Modern Beauty box for December of 2013, or that chose an upgrade that included the featured product; You have a bottle of this already in your possession, and you're probably aware of the great benefits Julep claims to have in this bottle. From the product page on the site, it boasts:
You're also probably wondering: But does it? Spoiler alert: It Does. While testing out the Resort Collection, after taking Lani off I noticed some green staining. Not much, I'd only worn it a day, but it was still fairly noticeable. I figured: PERFECT! I had already tested Vanish's cuticle removing properties, and found it softened almost on-contact; And after just a second or two, was more than ready to have the stick taken to it [A clean, new orange wood stick; Please remember to use SANITARY products when dealing with any kind of hand care!!]. I had not, however, had a polish stain yet, as it IS a fairly rare occurance for me. I was stooooked when Lani had mild staining. Normally, nothing works right? Not now. Get ready gals, this is amazing. Here is what my nails looked like immediately after Lani's removal [Please note: I use 100% Pure Acetone, so nails and cuticles WILL be extremely dehydrated in appearance. Moisturizing comes after all this] I also made sure to do a stain compare photo, so you can better see JUST how big of a difference it made, even on a minor stain. :) Not enough proof yet? Here's a close up of the cotton ball I used to wipe the stain off, after Vanish application. [Note: I placed approximately two drops of Vanish on each nail, using the tip of the dropper to spread across my nail evenly. I then let it sit for 5-20 seconds, and wiped each fingernail off as if removing polish. I repeated for another short 5-10 second stint to get any residual stains off.] Pretty amazesauce, right?? The topmost photo, with the Vanish in hand, shows the after of how clean and bright my nails looked after the use. I was all set to go and put another polish on [In this case, Malia of the Resort Collection!] It's recommended to use Julep's Cuticle remover tool with this product, and I can promise you mine is on my "must have" list already; So if you haven't gotten one yet, click the button right here and get yourself one! [NOTE: These are currently out of Stock, check back later!! :D] Otherwise, orange wood sticks are still great tools to use, and can come to you fairly cheaply at your local Walmart or most drugstores for a buck per package. In the mean time, make sure to click THIS big button here to get your Vanish! 8D I have already ordered a second bottle for my collection, and I can't bring myself to say I won't order more. xD
"But Cherry, it's Winter! Why are you wearing neons?" Because it's Winter, darling. Winter months might seem drab and dreary, if you're not into the cold and snow like SOME of us; but because of that it's the most popular months to go on a cruise! Okay, maybe not, but it should be. Everyone wants to escape, right? With this collection of mini colours, you're PRIMED for cruise capitols and palm trees. Being one of the first sets officially released of Julep minis, I can't help but feel they're "Testing the water" so to speak. And while individually-priced minis are a bit pricey, this collection at least is probably worth the price you will pay. Why? Because it's perfect. I mean it. It comes in ADORABLE packaging, so whoever made this in the Packaging department at Julep: KUDOS. It's a slide-out box/tray with snug little places for each piece of the set. Shake, rattle, or roll, they're not moving. The trick is the small upward bump meant to fit the gap where the name stickers are. As long as you don't forget to place polishes back in bottle-butt first, and smash that to crumbly paper bits, you're good to go! Which makes them PERFECT for travelling. And since they're mini-size, being just under half the size of a full-size Julep, you don't have to worry about huge bottles breaking, or [God forbid SHOULD these break] huge quantities of polish getting everywhere. But, you still get several great manis out of each little bottle! Like what you see? You should! Whether you want to buy this to brighten up your snow-days, as a gift for a friend, or to stock up and prepare for summer mani/pedi parties and beaches; I HIGHLY recommend you put this on your list of MUST HAVES. Unfortunately, this is not quite for sale yet, as it was only available as a December Maven Add-On. BUT! It should be arriving soon, so click the handy button below and check out the New Arrivals! You might even find something else you like to keep you busy while you wait! Not a Maven yet? Don't worry! It's super easy to join! Click the banner to the right, take the quiz, and sign up! If you use code FREEBOX, you'll even get your special Intro box FREE! All you have to do is pay for Julep to ship your beautiful box to you, and you'll be set to go.
Please note: Julep Maven program IS a recurring monthly subscription. After your Intro box, you can preview and change your next monthly box from the 20th to the 24th every month. Do nothing, and you'll get your assigned box style automatically! You don't even have to touch it. If you don't like what you see, need to skip the month for any reason, or want to change/upgrade your box that month, this preview window is the time to do it! Just log in to your account on any computer, and access your Monthly Maven profile to find the changes. Make sure to mark your calendars, so you don't forget! On the 27th, accounts are charged and boxes are shipped. They usually arrive within 2 weeks for US customers, and 2-5 weeks for Canadian customers [CP and customs slow the process, unfortunately]. If you took your box that month, on the 1st of the month after successful account charge and product ship, the Julep Secret Store opens up! This is a special store for Mavens as a reward, that offers limited edition products, super sale prices, and sometimes previews of what's to come for the rest of Julep's customers. Not for you? Give Julep Customer Service a call anytime, and leave a voicemail with your name and account information, and request your Maven subscription be cancelled. Within a week, you should receive an e-mail confirmation of canceling, and you won't get any more boxes! :) Welcome back everyone! As of today, I received my Ultimate Upgrade for the FULL Boudoir Collection from Julep! I have to say, my expectations have not only been met in some of these colours, they've been exceeded.
The first polish to be swatched and tried is one of the Cremes, Mona. Mona had a pretty bad rap pre-release, from people saying she looked too dark, or she was an ugly black, or so on. Thankfully, she's not! Mona is a beauuuutiful charcoal-grey creme that dried pretty quickly, especially for being a creme, and for the first half hour after putting it on I couldn't stop spontaneously bursting out "ILOVETHISPOLISH", much to the dismay of my poor teenage daughter. [lol!] I must say, if all the others hold up to this level of awesome... This might just be my favourite collection yet! If you would like to purchase Mona, look no further! The button below takes you right to her page! Hello again my lovely gals! Starting today is the Julep Maven Secret Store, and if you didn't take your box; You might want to regret that right about now. Why? Because BIRTHSTONE COLLECTION that's why! Every month in the Secret Store, there will be a relevant Birthstone gal in there. This month is Betty for Garnet, and she is GORGEOUS! Did I mention? ALL Birthstone collection gals will have a gold cap, not black!
These are direct links; Should you have skipped your box, IF you do NOT sign into your account, you should be able to click these direct links and access the item to purchase it. Logging into your account before checkout WILL result in a failed purchase, so make sure you're not logged in! I will continue to do this for the SSs so long as the direct link work around works! ;D |
Whut is?With this blog, you can expect to see reviews, impressions, tips, inspirations, deals, and more. If there is something specific you would like to see, don't hesitate to let me know! Instagram feedArchives
July 2020
Categories
All
|