NAIL FILES!

I'm happy to be joining back in with the Friday Nail Files link up! I was looking back at my posts and I haven't shared my nails since September!

The inspiration for this mani came from my nail lady. Last night I went in to get my nails Shellac-ed and I noticed her nails. She had a burgundy color with gold sparkles on top. Not too much sparkle, but not too little either. I was very pleased at the way mine came out.

Happy Friday, and GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Nail Files

Holy moley, I am back on the nail files link up for the first time in a few months! In that time that I've been away I've had countless manicures (Ok, not really. Just 2x a month so you do the math!), and they have not been featured on the link up. All that is changing now. I'm including pics of my current manicure, and my awesome one that I meant to post for the fourth of July, and didn't. Womp womp on my late-ness.

I saw my hairdresser wearing a green color on her nails, and right then I wanted to do the same thing because it looked so pretty. Hers however was more of an evergreen. It was darker, and mine is lighter. I still was pleased. I think my nail lady didn't want to paint my nails this color at first because she made a comment about how it was a different color than what the bottle showed. When we were finished though she changed her story. She liked it, and so did I.

Yay! Fourth of July nails! I was really excited for this manicure because it is so festive.

Nail Files

Happy Friday, Bloggers!

I cannot believe it is already Friday. It's been one of those weeks that always happens when you get back from a trip. One where you're car gets stolen, you win $40 dollars and a coors light t-shirt at bingo, your car gets recovered, and you beat your butt so bad at the gym that you don't want to move. When you have a week like this, nothing gets done on the homefront and that includes blogging. SO I promised myself I will start the blog posts on Norway tomorrow.

For now though, here is this weeks nails:

 

I wanted to try something a little bit different, and I thought that nails "dipped" in gold sounded fun. 

Have a great weekend!

Nail Files!

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 HAPPY FRIDAY!! Here's to another week of Nail files sharing :-)
 
This week I chose HOT BABE shellac with some sparkles on my ring fingers. The lady who did my nails told me that this is method is becoming more and more popular. She told me it's probably because girls want the sparkle on their finger so it lets their boyfriend no they want to get a big 'ol diamond ring from them. My nail salon always makes me chuckle.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Nail Files!

Happy Friday, everyone! I don't know about you but this week seemed to draaaaag on. I'm so happy the weekend is almost upon us!

This is called SMOKY PLUM. I got this Shellac done earlier this week (hence the bit of grow out! boo) at my usual salon, and I didn't get too much flack for not seeing her in forever! I'm also getting better at taking clear pics, probs because I stopped using my phone to take them :-)

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend, and I hope that next time I do Nail Files I will have a brand new layout to go with it!

NAIL FILES: Featuring my first ever Julep Parlor visit!

I have been following the Nail Files from Tara @ Fabulous but Evil for close to a month or so, and because of this I was introduced to Julep. I had never even heard of this Julep before, and little did I know they have actual Julep parlors located solely in my neck of the woods. After all the wonderful nail colors and praise about Julep from Tara, I started looking into this company because I was curious when she mentioned the Julep Maven mail order program. I'm not usually one for doing my own nails because I can't sit still that long, and I usually mess them up right away. I stick to someone doing my Shellac for me because they're the pro, and they are dried before I have a chance to screw them up! Anyway, when I made the discovery of the parlors I knew I had to try them out ASAP. I scheduled an appointment at their Bellevue location for a Fab for 14 Julep Manicure. AKA their take on a shellac manicure. I was taken a little back by the price, but based on the description I figured it would be worth it:

Fab for 14 Julep Manicure-$66

Enjoy up to 14 high-gloss, chip-free days with new polish technology that dries instantly. Includes reflexology-based massage, sea salt exfoliation, and hydrating paraffin wrap.

Duration: 75 Minutes

Sounds amazing, right? Normally I pay around $28-30 for the basic shellac application and a little lotion at your regular run of the mill nail salon around the corner, but when I saw that there would be all these extras at Julep, I figured I'd fork over the extra $30 bucks.

I arrived to the salon, checked in and was told that I could get a glass of wine or champagne in place of my free bottle of polish if I wanted to. It was still early in the day, and I didn't feel like drinking so I decided to go for the free polish, which I picked out at the end of my manicure. I sat down at one of the stations, and let the lady do her work on me, I was excited for my reflexology massage and paraffin wrap! As time ticked along, none of those things occurred. She did all the usual steps in a manicure; trimmed and filed the nails, cut the cuticles, and buffed the ridges. Then came the color. My choice for color was called Grace. A nice deep brown full of good sparkle. I was surprised when she busted out the bottle of Gelish brand shellac. This happens to be the same exact brand they use at regular nail salons. It was a great color though so I didn't think too much into it. I liked that when they put my hands under the light that they didn't keep them under there for a very long time because sometimes it feels like I'm going to get burnt hands at other nail salons. I also like the fact that Julep Parlors are environmentally friendly and very clean in their practices.

After the color was all set and done the woman who did my nails asked if I wanted lotion. I said absolutely! The lotion was applied, much like at other salons, and then THAT WAS IT. The fab for 14 Julep manicure was done. No reflexology massage, no sea salt, and no paraffin wrap! I went up front, paid the $66 dollars, and got my free color. I walked out of the salon pretty confused, because then I started to think that maybe I scheduled the wrong service, or had gotten my services confused. It had only taken 45minutes to complete which didn't seem right either. I went home, looked up the services again and realized I was right, I should have gotten all those extras, but instead got exactly the same thing I would have received at my regular nail place except that I paid double the price!

Obviously, I'm not completely dogging on Julep, but I was extremely disappointed with my lack of experience had there. They did a good job overall, but I felt I didn't get my money's worth. I think I would go back there for a pedicure, but I'm sticking to my cheapy salon for manicures. I can't justify spending over $120 for a months worth of manicures when I can get the same thing done elsewhere for half the price. I also can't comment on their products since they don't have their own brand of Shellac. I think if people are into doing their own nails, Julep Maven is a good choice. For all these reasons I feel I can't make a final decision on this place, but I'm definitely skeptical about it until I go back and try a pedicure. That will be the deciding factor.

Have you visited a Julep Parlor or used their products before? What did you think?

Have a good weekend, bloggers!

Nail files: HALLOWEEN!

This week for nail files I decided to go for a seasonal color. I did black shellac, with both ring fingers painted an orange shellac topped with a sparkly orange top coat! I've gotten some awesome comments on them thus far, and it really makes me more excited for Halloween everytime I look at them. Happy Friday!

I have a heck of a time taking good pics of my manicures :-)