Valentine's is almost upon us, so I thought that I would do a little round up of some pink, glitter and red polishes you may want to get your hands on! 

     As I'm sure you know if you've been following me for any length of time, I have a HUGE Julep nail polish collection. Way more than anyone really needs to own ahaha. I have been a Julep Maven for 7 years now, which is a monthly subscription service if you're not aware. If you are interested in checking out Julep's polishes, box sets and beauty products, you can check them out here.
     So anyways, I thought that I would pick through my Julep polishes and choose a few pinks, glitters and reds that stand out to me for Valentine's Day. I wanted to keep it versatile for everyone with some classic shades and some funky shades. The colours I've chosen are: Adeline, Polly, Vicki, Marianne, Hartleigh, Elsie, Lee & Kayleigh.

     I think there's a shade for everyone. For the glitters I would suggest them over a white or pale pink base if you want them to be the feature, otherwise layer them over any of these colours. Below are swatches of each polish and will link Julep's descriptions of each colour. 

     Adeline is described as Azalea Blossom Multidimensional Shimmer. It's a little deeper shade for those who don't want an overly bright pink. It has a really subtle gold/pink shimmer which is lovely.

     Polly is described as a Vibrant Azalea Shimmer and is bright. I suggest that you do at least 3 coats when wearing this polish as it is very thin; you can still see my free edge.

     Vicki is described as a Pink Flamingo Crème and it is not wrong. This is a very bright colour and would be absolutely perfect for spring/summer as well. If you need a pick me up in these cooler months - this is it!

     Marianne is described as a Tutti Frutti Matte Glitter Top Coat. It has varying sizes of glitter which is nice and it spreads it all out pretty evenly. 

     Hartleigh is described as a Holographic Heart Glitter Top Coat but unlike Marianne is more difficult to work with. It's thicker and separates so trying to get the big heart pieces means you'll need to go fishing in the bottle. It needs a really good shake before use but it's cute.

     Elsie is described as a Strawberry Popsicle Holographic Jelly (which means it's sheer) but with 2-3 coats it actually goes on really nicely. I love the rainbow holo in it because it adds something to a basic red. 

     Lee is apparently no longer on their website but a really good comparison (which I may actually own as well) is Myriam which is described as a Casino Red Crème. Lee is a bright classic red that would suit anyone.

     Last, but not least I have Kayleigh which is described as Holly Berry Iridescent Shimmer. This colour has really nice blue/pink shimmer in it which makes the red base pull a little deeper pink in some lights. 

     Let me know which polish colour is your favourite and what you tend to rock for Valentine's Day! Are you a classic French manicure? Bold red? Bright pink? I want to know! 

Julep boxes will be the death of me! I have been a Julep Maven for almost 6 years and the amount of nail polish I have amassed in that time is astounding. I regret nothing. But I do think it's time that I slow my roll with the monthly boxes and foresee myself cancelling my subscription, or at least skipping more often than not. So let's see what this box had in store!

     This month's It Girl has three duochrome shades that I think are so pretty! It also came with some nail tattoos as well; which I believe they've also included in one or two recent boxes as well (different designs though). I would say two of the three polishes do in fact have a strong duochrome finish, while the other is apparent in the bottle but not as much on the nail. 

Descriptions

Daylee
Finish: Chrome/Metallic
Colour: Gold Medallion Duochrome

Lou
Finish: Shimmer
Colour: Royal Blue with Coral Duochrome 

Jonna
Finish: Chrome/Metallic
Colour: Iguana Green Duochrome 

Thoughts
     Daylee and Lou are the two polishes that showed much more of the duochrome when I swatched them. Daylee has that greenish tinge you see in antique gold but it isn't an obvious colour shift. For Lou, you definitely see a shift in the colour, though the coral shift translates more as a purple with the royal blue. Jonna in the bottle goes between a teal and a brighter green, but on the nail it doesn't have quite as much of a shift, though playing in different lights you can see it more or less. Out of these three I think Jonna is my favourite, but I really like Daylee as well. Lou isn't as eye catching with a shimmer finish but I think it would be stunning with the chrome/metallic finish. 
     I haven't tried out any of the nail tattoos yet, from this box or previous ones, as I haven't really done a proper manicure for a few weeks. But I will be checking them out soon so if you'd like to see my initial thoughts or a review - let me know!
​ 
     Which of these shades is your favourite? 

Connect with Me
YOUTUBE - Sydneexo
INSTAGRAM - @livelifeyourway
TWITTER - @sydnee_xo
FACEBOOK - Sydneexo
SNAPCHAT - @syd_xox ​

New season, new trends! I've wanted to branch out for nail posts and when stuck for ideas a fellow Canadian blogger gave me the idea to look at Pantone's colour of the year. This year Greenery is our colour & the other 9 shades are ones that were seen on the runways of the many global fashion weeks. I decided to look through my collection to find some shades to help you rock these colours for Spring/Summer 2017!

     For each of the colours I tried to find ones as close as possible to the shade, but for some I didn't have quite the colour so I chose ones that were close enough or give off the same vibe. I'm going to include the Pantone description of each of the colours which I found here if you'd like to read more into it. So let's jump in!

     You just had to know that I would ROYGBIV these colours because rainbows are just so satisfying to look at. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit them all together so I broke it up to more warm/cool colours. 

     So I want to know, which Pantone Spring Trend colour is your favourite? least favourite? Would you wear Greenery on your nails (or perhaps only your toes?) If I had to pick a favourite, I  would have to pick Flame and Island Paradise as my top two; but I definitely enjoy all the other shades! I'm never afraid to add colour to my fingers or toes so I will definitely be cycling through these shades over the next few months. 

     So first off, my nail game can be quite strong, and then all hell breaks loose and my nails go to hell in a hand basket. So last month my nails came crashing down around me, and next thing I knew 7/10 were stubs so I took the plunge and cut the rest of my nails to try these bad boys out. They cost about $8 at Walmart so they are definitely a more affordable option.

​     I will start out by noting that as far as I can tell these nails are suppose to come in various lengths, but I think that's only the case in the US, as I've never seen these in different lengths in Canadian Walmarts. That's probably the biggest issue I had with these because even with my nails filed to absolutely nothing, I have longer nail beds. These come with 24 nails in 12 sizes and I struggled to find ones that fit each nail. Even with no nail the ends of the nails barely covered my nails which was disappointing. ​

     Once I got the sizes organized, actually putting the nails on was quite simple. They have a sticky base covered with a plastic piece you just peel off before placing to your nail. They are a bit hard to get right up to your cuticle depending on the shape of your cuticle; so I could only get them so close. This became a problem almost immediately for me because even running my fingers through my hair meant I'd snag hair on the cuticle of the nail and it would HURT. So I had to walk on eggshells, if you will, whenever I had to touch my hair which was annoying. ​

     As for the longevity of these, I have to admit I was impressed they lasted a week. The design began to wear away at the free edge of the nail with wear but isn't super noticeable. I was constantly pressing the nails down, more out of worry than necessity, so I'm not sure if that really played a role. If they hadn't kept catching on my hair I think they could have pushed a few more days. The real reason they came off is I lost two while at the gym after doing laps in the pool.
     I had to peel away the rest of them which was a bit more of a challenge than I thought it would be, which I suppose is a testament to their staying power. Once peeled off, the nails are flat and can just be chucked in the garbage. The condition of my nails were untouched after removing them, so there was no damage whatsoever which I'm happy with. ​

     So overall, my thoughts are if you have no nail length, a short nail bed and are looking for a short term design, I think these are a great option. They do have lots of patterns to choose from but personally I think some of their nail art could be recreated by hand, so that's not a huge selling feature for me. I do have another set that I'll get around to perhaps the next time all my nails decide to shatter on me but until then, I won't be cutting my nails off just to use them! 

     Here's a really simple St. Patrick's Day nail art design that doesn't require a tonne of skill but still super effective. If you want an OTT nail art look then definitely check out last years design here. I hope you all had a great (and safe) St Patrick's Day - sorry for not getting this up earlier! 

     I have a hard time coming up with certain nail designs because I want to cram them all into one look (like last years aha) so I wanted to do something simple yet still festive enough that it wasn't just a "green" look, but a St Patrick's Day look. The NYX polish I used as well is in "Lime" but any light green will do. The ring accent nail can be done in any range of colours; I think it would look great as a sponged ombre as well. I'll be using that design again soon in some spring/summer colours! Bring on the Spring manicures!!!
     I'd love to know if you did any nail art designs done and I'd love to see them, so be sure to tag me on IG or use #sydneexo on social media so I can find them! 

     I wanted to show the design with and without the additional pink stripe on the French manicure incase you prefer one to the other. I love the heart accent nail, you can also choose just one colour for the hearts. The best part of this manicure is, despite being designed for Valentine's Day and using a pink colour scheme, you can switch out the colours for anything else and create just as awesome a look. I'd actually love to see a blue version of this mani...may have to try it myself!

Products Used
Hope (white)
Carla (light pink)
Niecy (hot pink)
Dotting Tool
Nail art brush ​(optional)

I'd love to see what you did for your Valentine nails, so be sure to show me! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat (syd_xox).

     I know I've said this before, but this will most likely be my last Julep Maven seeing as the exchange rate between Canada/US is extortionate at the moment and it's just not worth it. I also couldn't resist the striping tape in this months box or I would have probably skipped this one as well. 

     This months colours are:
Jenica: Wrought iron metallic
​Hayley: Beetroot crème
Giselle:​ Midnight forest shimmer

Top: Natural Light // Bottom: Flash
T-B: Jenica, Hayley, Giselle

     Also, just wanted to share with you guys two promo codes if you are interested in picking up any of the It's Whipped lippies or Eyeshadow sticks!
"JANLIPPY" FREE It's Whipped w/ $20 purchase
"FEBEYES" FREE Eyeshadow 101 w/ $15 purchase

     I would LOVE to get some nail-spiration for using the striping tape, so send me some photos on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or Facebook! xo

     So for Decembers Maven box, I splurged with my Jules and upgraded to get a couple extra polishes and two of the It's Whipped lippies. This is the first time I've ever purchased "makeup" from Julep. If you guys have watched my Maven videos for any length of time you'll have heard me say many times that I'm just going to stick to polishes. But since everyone and their mothers' have released matte (liquid) lipsticks I thought, why not try these (and perhaps do a comparison with my others). 
 
    The polishes that I have here are:
Katie: Orchid iridescent chrome 
​Omelia: Sparkling sugarplum stardust
Chrissy: Deep Teal crème
Beatrice: Golden ember iridescent chrome
Cheyenne: Auburn matte metallic

Top: Natural Light // Bottom: With Flash
​L-R: Katie, Omelia, Chrissy, Beatrice, Cheyenne

     For January, I was slightly disappointed because (if you've followed my Julep adventure for any length of time) I got another light pink...wwhhhhhyyyyy?! The It Girl is suppose to have funky colours, I think these light pinks belong to another box style, but I LOVE the holo polish. It's GORGEOUS. I could have also lived without the nail therapy polish since I have a few already, and I actually thought I already owned it but apparently I don't. We also got a set of nail tattoos which I'm intrigued by. I've never use nail tats before, but I love the way they look! They have 10 nails and two french tip accents so you can mix up how you want to use the designs. 

​     The polishes are:
​Tali: Glacier breeze linear liquid holographic
Janie: Whisper pink sheer crème

Top: Natural Light // Bottom: With Flash 
L-R: Tali, Janie

     Which polish stands out of the crowd for you? And have you ever used nail tattos/decals? Were they simple to use, any you would recommend? Lots of questions to be asked, hopefully you guys have some answers for me. xo

     These manicures are so easy to create and you can always pick and choose which of the designs to use. I tried to include a lot of variety when I designed them but you could easily tweak them in anyway you want. I think my favourite one to design was probably the "outdoors" inspired one; the Christmas sweater, lights and wreath were fun to design. But I really love the snow inspired designs, which I may wear again this month. 

Polishes Used
Santa Nails
OPI - Oi! Another Polish Joke
INK Nails - Green Striper
Sally Hansen - Black Out
OPI - Kyoto Pearl
Julep - Love
OPI - Little Red Wagon
Sally Hansen - White Tip
Sally Hansen - Petal Pusher

Snow Fall
GAP - Shimmer Pink
Julep - Hope
Julep - Rebel
Ink Nails - Silver/Red/Black Glitter Stripers
LA Colours Art Deco Striper -  White

Outdoors
Julep - Mila
NYX - Las Vegas
LA Colours Art Deco Striper -  White
Ink Nails - Silver/Black Glitter Stripers 

Colours + Descriptions
Linda - Flint grey crème
Paulina - Peacock duochrome
Sigourney - Black holographic stardust

     Linda is such a soft colour, I love it. It's a great transition shade because of being a light grey with a purple undertone. Think this colour may be my next mani. Paulina is just gorgeous. I laughed when I read the Julep description of the colour because Peacock is definitely the first thing that came to mind when I saw this colour. The duochrome is so dynamic, pulling blue, teal and a touch of purple. Both of these polishes applied great with just two coats. I will say, I usually love the stardust finish, but Sigourney seems much thicker and gooier compared to the other polishes I have. I'm not sure if this was just an issue for my polish bottle or if this particular colour has a slightly different formula. This issue made applying two coats a small nightmare. It was just difficult to apply compared to my other polishes with that finish. I've decided to email them and inquire about it, sometimes things to astray unintentionally. If you are a Maven, I'd love to see what products you got in your box and your thoughts on them. So if you got Sigourney and had the same issue (or not) let me know! P.S. Those candy corns were delightful!

     If you'd like to get your first ever box for FREE go to the style quiz & sign up here. Don't forget to tell me what style you end up getting because I'd love to know!