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!