Recent Julep Add On Purchase

I got my add on purchase from Julep the other day and wanted to share those 2 colors I added on to my monthly subscription. I purchased Kate and O Canada in addition to my June Julep Maven box.

                   

Kate is a beautiful creamy white color that has just a very slight gloss to it. Sometimes it's nice to have something that isn't matte but isn't insanely glossy either! O Canada looks similar to America in the bottle, except it does not have any blue. When applying O Canada to your nails, the polish has much less large pieces of glitter than America does so it would look very nice over another polish. I also found the glitter pieces a little more difficult to move around with this one, but I did ultimately still enjoy the finished look.

 These pictures show one coat of each of the polishes, O Canada on the left and Kate on the right.

So, I decided to go ahead and do a full manicure with both polishes and was very pleased with a outcome. For this look, I used 2 coats of Kate, 1 coat of O Canada and 1 coat of  Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Color in #120 Diamonds (simply because I couldn't find my plain clear polish).

Here is my belated "Canada Day" nail look, for my hubby! :-)

*A note about the Julep glitter polishes: When I used the America polish I did not apply a clear coat of polish over top and what I found was that some of the glitter pieces are so large that they can snag on things and peel your polish off. Applying the clear coat over O Canada has prevented this from happening and I have not had any issues with snagging! I can't wait to do it right with America next time!*

-Yours - Jessica-

A Couple Product "Don'ts"

For me it's rare to find a product that I dislike enough to tell people that I wouldn't recommend buying it. Usually I can find something I like about it enough to at least say, "Eh... it's worth a try." Today, however, I'm bringing you reviews on 2 products that I will never consider purchasing again and I cannot recommend them at all. 

The first product, is the Marbella Permanent Eyeliner Pen. I received this product in my June bag from My Glam and had high hopes for this product. I am always looking for another great eyeliner and more specifically I have been looking for an eyeliner that will give me the look of a liquid liner but something that's easier to apply and will stay put on your eye. 

 I guess the word "permanent" is what convinced me this pen was going to be a success. Unfortunately, this eyeliner is hardly permanent. When you rub the line you've created, you have a slight amount of product rubbing off but this isn't the biggest problem. If you introduce any moisture to this product, you have a big mess. Any tears or sweat will cause this eyeliner to immediately smudge and run all over the place. I used the product once on a day where moisture wasn't an issue and aside from the fact that I had to go over my lines several times to make it a true black, I was fairly pleased with the wear. So, I decided to give it a try again. I wore it to the fireworks. God bless the kindness of the people around me because when I looked in the mirror I saw a raccoon before me! A hint of this product's epic failure should have been that it states on the pen to not use it at all if you wear contact lenses. I do not wear lenses, but I still think that should have been a clue. Shame on me... never again will I use this product. 

The next product I'd like to talk about is Revlon Photoready Airbrush Makeup. If you follow my other posts about foundation, you'll note that I purchased this the same time as my other Revlon Colorstay foundation. The colorstay has been working really well for me for the most part, but I figured I would give the airbrush foundation a try since I already purchased and swatched it. There is nothing I like about this foundation from the packaging to the application to the coverage. 

 To start off with, the pump for me is very difficult to push down while having any kind of control as to how much product comes out. If you have any kind of arthritis, shaking or pain in your hands, this pump is very difficult to use with any kind of accuracy. 

Next comes the application of the product. As with the other Revlon foundation I use, I used the Sonya Kashuk blending sponge to apply this foundation. Not only was the product very difficult to blend and not look splotchy but the coverage wasn't very good at all. It seemed like the more I applied to try to increase coverage, there was no difference in actual coverage at all. It just looked more splotchy!

The next thing that is kind of annoying about this foundation is that there is a shimmer to it which is borderline
"glittery". I say this because some places even seem to have pieces of glitter as opposed to a shimmer. This is personal preference, but I believe any shimmer or glitter should be left to other products as opposed to being directly in your foundation. 

So, that's my take on these 2 products. I hope at least someone has had a better experience than I have!

-Yours - Jessica - 

Oysters, Burgers and Wings... OH MY!

Not much to say about Jefferson's other than YUM! My husband and I took our 4 children out yesterday in search of a restaurant that might be open. It was 4th of July so pretty much everything was closed. Then, we were pleasantly surprised to see a newer restaurant in Opelika was OPEN! What made is awesome is that I love oysters, my husband loves burgers and we all love wings... so, in we went to try it out!

Let's start with the surroundings and staff. We were the only ones in the restaurant. I'm assuming that we're the only ones that grill out on a regular basis so not grilling out on the 4th was no big deal. All the staff welcomed us and our waitress came over immediately and was very attentive during our entire visit. She was kind, helpful and just had a great over-all personality. We also were able to chat with the owner who was kind and gracious as well. Upon walking into the restaurant you'll find booths to your right, high-top tables each with 6 tall stools to your left, tables and chairs in the center, and the bar straight through to the back. We chose to sit at a booth on the right and one thing that's great is the tables are movable to accommodate those growing bellies! It frustrates me when restaurant booths are all glued down therefore forcing all larger guests to only sit at the tables in the center. Our table was very clean as was the floor and any other surfaces we came in contact with.

One of the interesting things in the restaurant, is the collage of dollar bills on the wall. You can read the story about how that got started in their menu which contributes to some interesting meal conversation!

This restaurant would also be great for sports enthusiasts! I counted about 6 flat screen televisions that each boasted a different sporting event.
As usual, we began our ordering with drinks. The drink specials on the table said "June" but our waitress said they would honor them because they were still on the table. 

I ordered a Bahama Mama and water and my husband a Lima-a-Rita as well as sprites all around for the kids. The drinks were properly made and tasted fantastic. Our waitress came out with the drinks and explained that my husband's drink was the last of its' kind so that was disappointing, however, there is definitely something to be said for her telling us right away! There is nothing worse than having a drink and going to have another only to find out they are out! Along with the kids' drinks, they all received a balloon that came with their meals! SO CUTE and BRAVO to Jefferson's for realizing how a child can be glued to a balloon for hours thus allowing the parents to enjoy meal time too! HAHA!

Next came the ordering of our appetizers which came out VERY fast from time of ordering! We ordered a 12 piece hot boneless buffalo wings with blue cheese and a full size order of fried pickles with blue cheese dressing. 

For a minute there, I almost forgot that fried things were supposed to be crispy! Jefferson's hit it out of the park with both of these appetizers. The chicken was crisp yet still soft and full of flavor and I had yet to even taste a fried pickle that was crisp until now! The boneless wings we ordered were "hot" flavor and I'd say they were that. There was one level of heat above what we ordered which I probably would have enjoyed even more! The blue cheese dressing they used was great as well offering pungent chunks of blue cheese in a rich and creamy mayonnaise based dressing. 

For our entrees we ordered 6 meals, one for each of us. Two of our children had corn dog kids meals and two of them had chicken finger kids meals.  Each basket had the choice of french fries or apples and of course all 4 of my children chose fries. Their meals looked fantastic with all items appearing crisp and juicy!

My husband chose the double burger with Jack cheese and bacon and it was HUGE! He described the burger as juicy and filling. I've never seen him not be able to eat his whole platter before, but alas, the left the french fries!

 *He apologized for plopping the mayo before I could take a picture! HAHA!*

And OH, happy day for me! I ordered the Jefferson Baked Oysters. 12 fresh oysters baked to perfection with Parmesan cheese, hot sauce and jalapenos served with cocktail sauce and lemon. This was the perfect dinner for me, as I still am on a no-chew diet and everything else I had to chop up very fine in order to taste to make this review. The oysters themselves were so soft and delicious while the hot sauce and jalapenos added just the right amount of heat and the Parmesan cheese provided a creamy tang to the oysters. I chose not to eat the jalapenos so that I didn't have to chew them, but the flavor was very much there even through the hot sauce flavor. 

In the end, we truly enjoyed our experience at Jefferson's and will be all too happy to eat there again! I can't wait to try the other flavors of oysters as well as some of the other flavors of wings! Next time you go to Jefferson's check out our contribution to their local collage... a couple booths down on the right!

Check out http://www.jeffersonsrestaurant.com/ for menu, locations and more!

*This blog post serves as an unbiased restaurant review of Jefferson's in Opelika, Alabama.*

*For just over $70, we purchased 2 full size appetizers, 3 bar beverages, 4 children's meals with 4 soft drinks, and 2 adult entrees.*

Julep Maven Subscription - June 2012 Box

Each month I continue to be impressed by the customer service, quality of products and the perfect packaging offered by Julep! As a recap, Julep Maven is a monthly subscription service that focuses on nail color and care. You can get a month for a penny by checking out the link to the left or staying til the bottom of this post!

This month, again, I chose to stay with the "Classic With A Twist" box. The card included reads, "It's your time to sparkle. Classic with a twist. This month is all about matching lips and nails. The trend is back and hotter than July! We've done the work for you with our eye catching colors so you can step out with confidence and get your glitter on."

I love the little quotes and treats they include with each package! "We need less posturing and more genuine charisma. It's about a sparkle in people that money can't buy." - Marianne Williamson ... Also 3 yummy fire balls! What a cut throw back these candies have been! Last month pixie sticks, this month fire balls! (How sad some of us can remember when they were just a penny! lol!)

Here are the 3 colors I received with the box. On the left is Audrey, middle is Freida and right is America. Audrey and Freida are part of the subscription and America was included free. Since my husband is from Canada, I also purchased separately "O Canada" which should be arriving any day now and also "Kate". Here are my first swatches of the products, just 1 coat each.

Polishes are shown in the same order as the bottles above. Audrey is a beautiful cream color with a pink hue and some gorgeous shimmer when the polish hits the light. The pictures of Freida online, in my opinion, didn't do it justice. It's almost like a light magenta, more on the pink side than purple, also with that beautiful shimmer when it hits the light! The America is in a class of it's own! I am SO impressed with this polish. I have typically steered away from glitter polish because it never looks on my fingers how it looks in the bottle and I always end up very disappointed. Also, with other glitter polishes, usually they require about 10 coats for me to get the same glitter look you are seeing above. In the picture that is ONE coat. What's even more fabulous about America is that it is still quick trying, however it's not so quick that it is unforgiving. The polish remains tacky for a couple minutes to be able to move the glitter around as you so choose. BEAUTIFUL polish this month, Julep!

This next product is a full size Lip Gloss in the color Camellia that matches the Audrey polish to a tee. I was a little skeptical about this gloss because of the fact that Julep is primarily nail products, however I was pleasantly surprised with the color, texture and packaging of this product. 

It has a very light, sugary scent, but no taste that I can tell. I am very impressed with this gloss and I plan to purchase the one that matches my Freida polish as well!

Total value of everything I got in this box is $60.00 (That is not including shipping). My box, as usual, was $19.99 and that included shipping! Total savings this box was over $40.01 or 66%!

As stated before, I also purchased "O Canada" and "Kate" polishes at a discount to go with my box. Value of those polishes are $28.00 plus shipping and as a Julep Maven, I got them for $9.98 including shipping. 

Total out of pocket cost for my products and shipping was $29.97. Total retail value, not including shipping was $88.00. Total savings: over $58.03 or 65%!

Become a Julep Maven by clicking this link!

HTTP://JULEP.COM/?R=20360627

Use Code: COLOR2012 to get your first box for just a penny!

- Yours - Jessica -