Make your Mani "Fall Fabulous" with Julep

Hello loves!

If any of you have been paying attention to my Twitter or Instagram, I have been obsessing over how pumped I am about fall being here!  SRSLY guys. I love all things fall, especially nail polish. 

 The beautiful people at Julep and I want to help YOU find the perfect nail color to take your mani from fun in the sun to fall fabulous! 

Check out my outfit inspiration based off of Julep's Roc Solid.  

Relaxed Roc-er

Based off Julep's Roc Solid 

Leggings...H&M

Jumper...TOPSHOP

Shoes...Vans

Necklace...JCrew

Looking to shift your style into Autumn? Use this helpful chart from Julep to pick your perfect fall polish!

What color will your nails be rocking this season? Let me know in the comments!

With love,

Traci J

Manicure Monday

Brrrrrrr. It is -37 degrees here in Wisconsin, and I am NOT A FAN.  So, in protest of these low temperatures, I decided to do a bright, summery manicure today.

I applied two coats of Lily by Julep.  This is my first ever Julep nail polish - and I like it quite a bit.  I find it easy to work with - a bit runnier than most of my other polishes - but that's not really a bad thing.

It is a nice fuchsia color that reminds me of warm weather and makes me forget about the frigid temperatures that are just outside my door.

For my base coat and top coat routine click here.

How are you keeping warm today?

With love,

Traci J

I shared this post on the Your Whims Wednesday blog link up. Check it out here:

Christmas Outfit + Manicure Monday

Hello and happy Monday!  This past Saturday we had my Mom's side of the family over for a Christmas celebration - and I had been planning my outfit for weeks (as any good beauty blogger would do).  So, with only 2 days until Christmas - YAY- here is my Christmas outfit (and a Manicure Monday squeezed in at the end)!

I think the combination of the long sweater, liquid leggings, and gold necklace is super festive and cozy - while still incorporating the right amount of holiday glam.  I found the sweater a few weeks ago at Marshalls, and I am obsessed with the way it fits tightly on my arms and flows out at the bottom.  Plus, it has the right amount of a hi-lo cut so it covers my behind in my leggings :P  

I first bought a pair of shiny floral print black leggings at Marshalls - and swore up and down that I didn't need to try them on because they were spandex and they would fit... Of course I got home put them on and they were SUPER baggy.  So feeling embarrassed and discouraged, I set off to find the perfect pair of liquid leggings.  I found them rather quickly at Rue 21 ( I don't shop here often becuase I usually don't find many items that are worth purchasing - however these leggings were only $5)!!!  This time I went into the dressing room and tried them on - they were a perfect fit.

The behind is covered! 

First - check out the cute Christmas cat in his little red collar. How cute!  

For shoes - I have on my black and brown boots from Boston Store.  I purchased these for only $20 on Black Friday - so worth it.  They are very comfortable and go with almost anything.  

For make up I did a black/grey/gold smokey eye with a cat eye liner and big lashes. I used the same plum blush as in my Christmasy baking look, a plum shade with a little bit of shimmer.  On my lips I tried out a new shade from NYX - Violet Ray.  The camera doesn't do it justice - it is a deep violet shade with enough of a red undertone to make it wearable.  This is the darkest shade I own - and I am loving it.  Playing around with lipsticks is one of my favorite things to do.

As for my hair I just curled the bottom layer randomly using my 1 1/2 inch barrel iron and used some sea salt spray to add some texture and volume - I was pretty satisfied with the overall look.

Manicure Monday!

For my Christmas party manicure I wanted something that just screamed "CHRISTMAS!!!"  I think that the green color paired with a colorful glittery polish looks just like a Christmas tree with colored lights.  It added the pop of color that my outfit needed.

*I never mentioned my necklace - it is a few years old and from Forever 21.

I used my usual base coat by Essie, and then put on two coats of Wild Cactus by the Color Club.  This color came to me in a Birchbox a few months back, and I love it.  It is a true green - perfect for Christmas. The formula isn't streaky or thick, and it goes on perfectly with two coats.  

For the glitter or "the lights" on my Christmas tree inspired nails, I used one coat of a rainbow glitter polish by Cynthia Rowley.  I can't find the polish online anywhere - I purchased mine last year at TJMaxx.

Then - I topped it off with my current favorite top coat, which you can see here on my first ever Manicure Monday!

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas outfit and manicure.  If you have done a holiday look put a like in the comments - holiday season is still here and I need some more inspiration!

Merry Christmas - with love,

Traci J

Manicure Monday | Hot Chocolate Colored Nails + I'm Featured!

Hello everyone!

Can you believe that there are only 9 days until Christmas!?!  It's ridiculous.  As someone who thoroughly enjoys basking in all that is the holidays... I'm a bit sad that the end is creeping up so quickly.


First, I want to start off by saying that I have arrived at my family's house for the holidays.  I love being here, my mom (Bluebird1959) always has the house so amazingly festive and smelling like Christmas. (If you didn't know already, today is her birthday so you should click the link above and visit her blog).  However, the nail polish remover selection in our household appears to be devastatingly slim...

I pulled a bottle of Cutex Non, Acetone Nail Polish Remover out from underneath my mom's sink in her bathroom.  I assumed it would do a fine job - WRONG.  It took me about 15 minutes of scrubbing at my nails and 10 cotton pads to get my nail polish off.  Usually, with the polish I had on my nails it would take about 5 minutes and 2-3 cotton pads... Yuck.

I just needed to vent about my nail polish struggle... Let's move on to the actual manicure.

To add a Christmas-y flair to my Manicure Monday, I decided to go for a hot chocolate color.
I started off with the same base as I did in last week's Manicure Monday.

After applying the base coat, I applied two coats of Very Structured by Essie.  As usual, I picked mine up at Ulta (however I couldn't find it on the Ulta website anymore, so I linked to where you can buy it on Amazon).

This color looks just like milk chocolate - and I know Essie has a shade called Hot Cocoa, but this to me looks more like true hot chocolate.  When you mix the whipped cream and marshmallows in it is less of a dark chocolate, and a lot more like the color Very Structured creates on my nails.

Lastly I finished up with my go to top coat.

Let me know what you think about my hot chocolate inspired manicure in the comments.

Oh, I almost forgot!  I am going to be featured in this Wednesday's Grow your Blog Link Up over at One Chocolate Box!

 Check out the blog and (if you have less than 500 subscribers) join this weeks link up!

Thanks for checking out this week's manicure, and enjoy the countdown to Christmas!

With Love,

Traci J

Manicure Monday

Nail polish is for sure my guilty pleasure - and I love starting off my week with fresh polish! The color I have on today has become my fall/winter staple. I love dark berry colors for this time of year, they are just so amazing.

I always start of my manicure with a good base coat. My favorite is Protein Base Coat by Essie. I picked mine up at Ulta - the bottle in the link has a green label, while mine has blue - but I'm pretty sure it is the same polish.  This stuff really keeps the polish from staining my nails, while nourishing and strengthening them.  Before I started using this base coat, my nails were super flaky - and now they are healthy and flake free!

For today's color - I put on two coats of Carry On by Essie.  I also picked this up at Ulta - actually all of the polishes I used today are from Ulta. This color goes on well and it looks sleek and ready for the cold months!

On the top, I have been using the Super Duper Top Coat by Essie (surprise).  Again - the label on the bottle is completely different than the one I have - but I swear... same stuff!!! This is a nice finish that prevents chipping and seems to dry quickly - I have a bad habit of messing up my manicure as soon as I finish it...

Let me know in the comments what your fall/winter signature nail polish is!

With love,

Traci J