Julep Blakely and Some Small Life/Blog Musings... not necessarily in that order (word heavy!!!)

  Hi everyone!!  It's funny what a tiny little thing like a new nail shape can do for your outlook.  I've been in a bit of a reinvention mode and it's all just little things, but they feel all fresh and exciting for me.  First off, you may or may not have noticed that I've not done any posts beyond polish reviews for a solid couple months now.  Part of that is because I've been receiving a BUNCH of press sample packages and have been busy working those in around all the other life stuff, holidays, household upkeep, full time job, etc.  and part of it is because I haven't been motivated to do my makeup at all, lol.  So regarding the latter, one of my new year's resolutions is to try a little harder to look presentable.  I'm blessed with a husband who sees me get up late and walk out of the bedroom with messy topknot, greasy face, and big poofy bathrobe and tells me how adorable I look.  That, combined with unadulterated laziness has compelled me to spend less time trying to look polished and more time sleeping/blogging/spending time with aforementioned awesome husband, but I kind of miss the fun of putting a look together and the effort I used to put into looking my best.  So I went and bought myself some new makeup, organized my vanity, and branched out and got some accessories and a new outfit that are a little out of my comfort zone.  The plan is to elaborate more on both those things in the near future but for now I'll just say that I'm kind of feeling floral prints at the moment and I never thought I'd say that, lol.  

  Regarding the blogging/press sample thing, it's honestly the coolest thing pretty much ever and I feel equal parts highly fortunate and sort of dumbfounded that I get to do this and that people actually want me to review their polishes for them.  Some folks' blogs take on a life of their own almost immediately and some of us have the opportunity to develop over time and that's totally how it's been for me.  I'm approaching my two year blogiversary in March and the growth that's happened on here throughout the past 52 weeks has been crazy and cool.  So right now I'm at a point where I'm pondering what direction I want to go with this thing.  The blogosphere is super saturated with nail blogs, as you all know (sometimes I wonder if there are more gals with blogs than without, lol), and reviews over and over and over again can maybe get a little stale.  I've been wondering how I can begin to set myself apart even just a little in this world.  So, with my new year's resolution and my desire to spice things up around la blog, I hope to do more beauty posts (beyond red lippy posts, lol) and to incorporate some fashion.  Maybe some of you remember my Wantable acessories box review last September?  Well, I'm hoping to expand on that.  All this also means doing a little more time budgeting but I'm up for it :) A blog is an organic thing and I want to be able to grow, and I also don't want to ever, EVER become boring, to myself or to you guys.  That's not to say that polish swatches and reviews won't still be in abundance :)

  Anyoo, here's my last set of photos of my talon-ish squares, lol.  You know I have a love-hate relationship with Julep and it has nearly everything to do with how overpriced I feel their polishes are.  With my Maven membership I was able to pick up a couple of Julep's Black Friday specials for $3.99 each (they're totally worth that price, imo).  Blakely is Julep's answer to the dark green to purple oil slick duochrome that was kind of ubiquitous this fall.  Essie and OPI both released one similar, so it's not groundbreaking, but it is super pretty and how cool is it to finally see the mainstreamers coming out with duochromes again?!

  Outside shot below.  As my friend Christine pointed out, when the skies are grey and those eye searing linear holos are wasted, the duochromes come out and play to their full potential.  Polish serendipity strikes again :)

  I don't know if Julep's maybe worked on their formula recently but this one was easy as pie to apply.  It might have to do with the very nature of shimmery duochromes but this is as nice a polish as any.  It's a little on the brushstrokey side in certain light but that's nothing I mind-- the shade is edgy and chic.  I used two coats and one layer of topcoat.  Oh, that's another thing-- maybe I should start disclosing the topcoat I use, eh?  Well, my new favorite and go-to is HK Girl Glisten & Glow.  It's everything Seche Vite is but without the insta-tip-shrinkage and utter unuseableness by mid bottle.  It's amazing stuff.  Get it here.

  So not that I've been kind of all over the board in this one and ridiculously wordy on top of it, I leave you with this heavily filtered bathroom selfie I took for my instagram last time I wore makeup (last Saturday, as it happens).  Expect more of that but don't let it scare you away ;)

Hi.

 Thank you for reading (seriously, you deserve a pat on the back at this point ♥) and have a lovely day!!