Julep Nail Polish: Alwaysuttori.com

Julep Branded Meetup Experience + Birthday Nails: French Ombré

Birthday Nails: Alwaysuttori.com
It’s my birthday month! In the past, as a treat to myself, I’d spend a few hours doing an intensive nail design. This year for my birthday, I wanted to do a design I have tried a few times in the past, but had not ever gotten quite right: the French Ombré, or natural French. I’ve watched videos and looked at pictures on Pinterest, but when I tried it on my own nails, it always turned out like a striated, or choppy looking.

By chance, I discovered this video by Nail Career Education. The video shows how to achieve the natural French on acrylic nails. My nails are natural, but I still found the tips very helpful. I learned that the secret is to have a transition color; so while it looks like you only need two colors, your soft pink or natural color and white, you also need a softer white color so to eliminate that choppy effect. I just happened to have a really sheer white that I never use because of the Sheerness. It turned out to be the perfect transition color. It was the first time that I have been so happy with the results!

Julep Nail Polish: Alwaysuttori.com

The overall process may take a little more time than your typical manicure, but it’s a fairly easy process, and well worth the effort. Be sure to check out SelinasNailArt’s video for the basic process on natural nails. Note that she only uses two colors, so make sure you add a transition color. And if you don’t have liquid latex (like me), nail polish remover works just as well!

By the way, I use Julep nail polishes because I am what they call a Maven, which is what they call their subscribers. I don’t have a sponsorship with the company, but I did recently attend a Maven meet-up in Minneapolis. Julep will be introducing their products into Ulta, so if you have an Ulta store near you, it’s a good place to try out their stuff. I attended the meet-up because I have a lot of admiration for Jane Park, the founder of Julep, as I do for many other female entrepreneurs.

Me with Jane, the CEO of Julep.

Me with Jane Park, the CEO of Julep. Photo Credit: Alwaysuttori.com. All Rights Reserved.

As an introvert, I found going to a meet-up to be quite interesting. I know that these types of activities are pretty common, but I’d never been to one. After attending this one, I’ve thought of writing about the experience from the introverted intuitive’s point of view. I can’t help but wonder if Always Uttori readers have ever been to brand meet-ups? If you have, what did you think of the experience? Was it cognitive aware? Was it organized, or free-form? As for me, I felt intensely uncomfortable, and almost left before getting to hear Jane give her talk. Luckily, my marketing director (mom) insisted that I go up and at least introduce myself, because I am such a fan of Jane’s. I’m really glad I did, as I found out that Jane would be speaking, something I would have missed had I left the meeting. So, even though I was a bit uncomfortable, I stayed to hear what she had to say. She shared the inspiring story of her father overcoming the sudden loss of his father due to the separation of North and South Korea. She also spoke about her struggles with acceptance and fitting in as a young immigrant in Canada.

Jane Park, the CEO of Julep. Minneapolis Mavens Meet-Up. August 2016. Photo Credit: Alwaysuttori.com. All Rights Reserved.

Jane Park, the CEO of Julep. Minneapolis Mavens Meet-Up. August 2016. Photo Credit: Alwaysuttori.com. All Rights Reserved.

I don’t think I’ll go to many meet-ups in the future, but what I learned from attending that one was to remember that everyone has a story. Judging a person from the outside, or from where they appear to be in their lives at any given moment in time is one of the worst things that we do to each other. We get comfortable in our assumptions, certain that we know everything about another’s life as viewed from the outside. Making assumptions limits us in ways that we don’t see. It limits us in ways that we may not ever realize. I think this is one of the reasons that many introverts prefer solitude over the constant judgement directed at us for thinking; and not just thinking, but thinking differently. Others make assumptions, and rather than explain over and over, we choose to retreat. It was a reminder worth the bit of discomfort associated with getting out (we got lost while trying to get to the event, and ended up being late, which added to the overall stress and adventure).

It was cool to hear about the #bravepretty slogan that Julep promotes to encourage others to share the ways in which bravery can be beautiful. Bravery is beautiful.  For the introverted intuitive, bravery can be many things — trusting our instincts, sharing ourselves with others outside of our solitude, being unashamed in our need for that solitude, and the list goes on for the introvert.  I’m inspired by #bravepretty, but more than that, I’m inspired by the #femmedangel, by being not only a woman, but a dangerous woman. Many of our readers have said we should promote Femme Dangel as part of our brand. You know what, readers, you’re absolutely right. We’ll get to work on that, because it’s time for femme dangels to realize that some of the most beautiful, most dangerous women in the world are also introverted, intuitive, AND thinking. We may be quiet, but that doesn’t mean that our impact on the world has to be.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.  And, to all the other September babies, have a great birthday month!

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