Julep Dominique

I have a thing for teal tones and holographics. I don't know if any of you have noticed this, but it is pretty clear to me that I can't seem to stay away from these. Today I have on the blog one that is exceptionally gorgeous. It is Julep Dominique. The color is rich and unique and I've been wearing it so much lately! Dominique has a really unique holographic glitter throughout that really reminds me of the holographics in polishes like Zoya Dream. Dream has a lot more glitter packed in whereas Dominique is more scattered. I still love the effect though.

Julep Kimberly

I'm doing a bad thing. I am sharing something that is unavailable, yet again. I am so sorry! I am trying to get my polish organized and I am discovering polishes I may have worn but never shared on my blog. So, today I have Julep Kimberly. I think I got this around a year ago, but it was definitely in the spring time. This is a lavender purple with black speckles that remind me of a robin's egg! I know robin's eggs are blue, but same concept, right?

Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment and Nail Butter

I have some nail care products to share with you today. In the winter time I always feel the need to nourish my nails and take better care because the cold is so harsh on my skin. I have been trying a new to me product called Nail Butter along with Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment today. I have tried Oxygen Nail Treatment before but this is in a new shade called Sheer Shimmer which has sort of a white tint to it. 

Fall Chevron Nail Art

I admittedly haven't done much nail art lately, at least not as much as I am used to doing. I decided to change that! I have a fun and easy nail art look today using all fall colors! I have some recent finds along with some old favorites incorporated into this design.

Nail Art: Turquoise Stamping

I have been eyeing stamping plate QA88 from the Born Pretty Store for a little while now, so I decided to order it! It was only $2.99 plus 10% off (code: HANDX31) and free shipping! It is a great plate that has a ton of different types of designs you can use to stamp on your nails! I used a base of China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise and stamped with Julep Celia.

Nail Art: Pacific Blue Glitter Gradient

So, I wan't sure if I wanted to share this look with you today. I wouldn't call this a successful manicure. I had a difficult time getting the gradient to look right for some reason, probably because I was creating this look for a purpose. Sally Hansen recently changed the formula on a well loved polish called Pacific Blue, but are still marketing the new color/formula as Pacific Blue. From what I gather, it seems similar to Blueberry Blast, which I reviewed a little while ago. I didn't buy the new formula because it seemed so similar. The problem is the new formula takes several coats more and is a much darker shade with shimmer. Regardless, getting rid of a cult classic color just seems wrong to me. I collaborated with a large group of other nail polish fanatics to create this awesome collage! Can you pick mine out?

Swatch and Review of Julep: Celia

I have a Julep polish to share today! I mentioned the Julep Maven Box subscription in this post previously. There you can learn how to receive your first box for free! I find the monthly fee to be a bit much for the colors offered, but sometimes there are a few beautiful, unique ones. Celia, below is a nice foiled green color.

Nail Art: Chinese New Year Nails

Happy Chinese New Year!! Chines New Year was January 31st and yesterday I celebrated with family. This year is the year of the wooden horse. I decided to do some red nails with gold glitter to celebrate the occasion! I used butter LONDON Come to Bed Red and three different glitters: Julep Paris, Sinful Colors All About You and the best Chinese New Year glitter: China Glaze Electrify! I created a glitter gradient from the bast of the nail and went a little overboard!

Swatch and Review of Julep: Candace

Today I have Julep: Candace to share with you! It was in my first (FREE+shipping) Julep Maven box that I posted about here. Candace is a brown-black based polish with gold glitter throughout. It looks more like a foil when it is applied on the nail. I was pretty excited about this because of all the gold glitter you can see from the bottle. The color I think is meant to be part of a fall collection. I am still acquainting myself with Julep, but I'm pretty sure this went out in the October boxes. Check out Candace:

This kind of reminds me of an olive color in some lights, but I am pretty sure it is supposed to be more brown-black. I was actually disappointed that the gold glitter really wasn't dominating in this polish. I would have liked it to be more gold. I'm not sure that I love this color so much anymore, but it went on smoothly like the other Julep I tried in this post. I only used two coats and it was like butter! Just maybe not my color. What do you think? Do you like these ambiguous multi-tonal polish colors? Thanks for reading, as always!

Swatch and Review of Julep: Ciara (It Girl Starter Box)

Julep is a monthly subscription service which focuses mostly, but not entirely, on nail care and nail polish. They have this ongoing promo of getting a free first box, you just pay shipping ($3.99). There are a few different style profiles, you take a test and it classifies you as one type. You don't have to stick with that box if you don't like it, but it is meant to be a guide. I tested as an "It Girl" and got some pretty awesome colors. Turns out, you also get free shipping if you spend $10, so I added on another color polish and the oxygen treatment. I ended up getting Ciara, Candace, Josephine and Blakely as well as the Oxygen Nail Treatment for $11.98. When the polish retails for $14.99 each, that's not a bad deal! In addition they sent me a glass nail file, nail decals and some candy corn. I must say, the candy corn was a little random, but I appreciated the extra effort. The box normally is $19.99 each month and in signing up for the free box, you are signing up for the subscription. I'm not sure how easy it is to cancel, but I do know it is super easy to skip boxes. To become a Julep "maven"sign up here and use the promo code: FREEMAVEN. Now that I've explained Julep, let's get on to the polish! I tried out Ciara first, because it reminds me most of fall and it is a unique mixture of plum-purple with royal blue micro-glitters throughout. On the nail, it is difficult to discern what color it actually is because it shifts so much in the light. I wouldn't call it a duochrome, but it has an interesting parallel quality.

Here's the whole box:

Ciara:

They come with this cool little swatch sticker too:

 

I was surprised at how thick this polish was straight out of a brand new bottle. My second surprise was that it applied well despite the thickness. I only applied two coats and was amazed at how smooth and rich this color looked. The base color reminds me of a lot of colors I've seen before, but with the addition of the blue mico-glitter, it makes it a whole new polish. I was very pleasantly surprised by Julep and this polish. Let me know what you think!