Swatches - LA Colors "Craze" and Julep "Vanna"

Hi guys!

I know it has been forever since I posted. I'm still finishing my degree, I've picked up a new pet snake (Horace Slughog, who has his own Instagram), and I have lots of hair and makeup responsibilities for the wedding of one of my dearest friends. But today's post has nothing to do with any of those things!

My heart has been torn for the past five years or so between gel manicures, which really protect my nails and stop me from biting, and the 800+ bottles of regular nail polish that live in my closet. This summer, I've been trying to save a bit of money and start using the polishes that I've collected and love, which of course, for this girl, means inventorying and organizing them. I've been using a cool free app called YourCloset to organize all of my wardrobe. I'm hoping to post some outfits that I've been able to put together with it -- but of course I have a separate folder of nail polish in there too!

So why all of you are here -- in the process of adding a particular nail polish, LA Colors "Craze," to my app, I realized I could not find a good swatch from other nail bloggers. So, you guys get to see my nails for the first time (cue the giggles and eyerolling). I have horrible nails that I will cry about in another post, but they aren't completely abominable at the moment, and the manicure I came up with for this post is actually kind of cute, pop-art nails.

I paired this with Julep "Vanna" underneath and on the other nails. As you can see, "Craze" is a multicolored, round, metallic to flat glitter in a pale frosting pink base. I don't think the pink would come through on a nude nail, but you can see the color over the white. This is three coats of "Vanna" with "Craze" on the accent nails. No topcoat.

This is an older polish, but it dried pretty nicely as a glitter. I think it probably looks best over white -- the glitter is pretty maneuverable and place-able, but you have to swirl the brush a few times to gather up the glitter. LA Colors goes for about $1.00 at Dollar Tree, but it may be discontinued. I saw a few up on eBay this morning.

"Vanna," on the other hand, is a Julep product. You can find it here: Vanna . It's described as a "magnolia creme."

And without further ado, please see my swatches and manicure!

Updates and the Quest to Update Beauty Routine

Hello to all!

I apologize again for not being as in touch with all of you lately. I have a few questions for all of you!

How do you connect with your favorite blogs and, for those of you with blogs yourself, how do you connect with readers regularly without the Google blog search feature? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

My current quest is to reactivate and improve my own beauty routine. As I get deeper into the pit that is my twenties, I am trying to transition from active breakout prevention over to more of an anti-aging focus. Do you have any favorite moisturizers, serums, and most importantly for me, eye creams that you swear by?

Finally, I am on the hunt for a new toner! I have been using drugstore toners for a long time, but I think there must be better.

Back from Hiatus

Welcome back to Caryatid Couture!

The author has relocated to beautiful sunny California, though today we have some much needed rain. Keep following, because there are lots of fun things on the horizon!

In the meantime, please check out my Instagram -- FlyerJen25 , and comment below what new regular features you would like to see on the blog!

Welcome back!

Coffee Lovers' Cravebox

Today's Cravebox is the Coffee Lovers' Cravebox, which was released late in 2012.

This was a pretty decent Cravebox, and I was certainly able to use/eat all of the components, but I thought it could have had a few other sorts of items included in it -- other coffee-related snacks or maybe a mug.

1. Tully's French Roast Ground Coffee - 12oz - $11.00

2. Torani - Sugar Free French Vanilla - 12.7oz - $3.99
3. Biscotti Brothers - Cranberry Blueberry Almond and Almond - 2 biscotti - $1.50
4. Barbara's - High Fiber Cranberry - 1.94oz - $0.83

= $17.32

The Tully's coffee (which is excellent) almost makes this box worth it alone -- I paid $12.00 for the whole thing (including shipping, as usual with Cravebox). I definitely like Craveboxes. I need to pay attention to see which ones are coming out in the near future!

Booklovers' Cravebox

Hello! In the continuing series of Craveboxes I have received, I today have for you the Booklovers'  Cravebox. This was a particularly fun one because it came with an advanced copy of a novel. I am embarrassed to say that I have yet to read the novel, but that has been typical for me lately. I am deeply behind on my reading. :(

This one was $11.00. It was nice, especially given the book, but I think many recipients were hoping for more "book-y" items.

1. How I Came to Sparkle Again - Kaya McLaren - $10.00
2. Alexa's Angels - Gratitudes Bracelet - $10.00
3. Natural Vines - Strawberry Licorice - 8oz - $3.03
4. Crum Creek Mills - Soy Nut Mix - 1oz - $0.89

= $23.92

Not bad at all -- and hopefully I will be able to include a book review here someday.

Knorr Ultimate Thanksgiving Cravebox

Today's catchup Cravebox post is a little out of season, but worth posting regardless.

I tried the Knorr Ultimate Thanksgiving Cravebox when it came out in November. Unfortunately, it did not ship in time for me to receive it and head home, but I did have it (and its tasty components) when I returned.

 

I should have expected it with the Thanksgiving theme, but unfortunately a few of the ingredients were not vegetarian and will be passed along to non-vegetarians I know.

Inside were:

1. Duncan Hines - Frosting Creations Frosting Starter - $2.75

2. Duncan Hines - Frosting Creations Frosting Flavor in Strawberry Shortcake - $0.01

3. Knorr's - Homestyle Chicken Stock - $5.38

4. McCormick - Turkey Gravy - 2 packets - $2.53

5. Del Monte - Whole Green Beans - 2 cans - $1.00

6. Brookside - Dark Chocolate Pomegranate - 7oz - $4.99

= $16.66

I paid $14.00 for the box, so the value was okay, but could have been better -- especially if I could have used the non-vegetarian products. I believe there were several coupons inside -- including for free Pillsbury dough, which definitely increased the value!

Cooking Light Cravebox

Hey guys!

I must apologize for the delays since my last post. I will attempt to get caught up soon, but I have been running crazy for the past few months. The next few months probably will not be much better, but I will do my best to post a lot of boxes and some fashion posts soon.

First of all, I have for you one of the Craveboxes I received at the end of last year: the Cooking Light Cravebox.

 

I have not posted Craveboxes before, but this was one of my favorites. I liked everything in it, and I can use almost all of it! I paid $13.00 for the box, which was a good value as you will see.

1. Tully's French Roast Ground Coffee - 12oz - $11.00

2. Splenda Nectresse - 40 packets - $3.48

3. McCormick - Perfect Pinch Garlic and Herb - 2 2.75oz bottles - $8.99

4. Torani - Sugar Free Salted Caramel Syrup - 25oz bottle - $5.78

5. Dole Fruit Crisps - 3 crisps - $7.99

= $37.24

I have seen another Cooking Light Cravebox making the rounds in 2013. Did anyone pick that one up? If you received both, how did it compare to this one?