This month, we're a little pressed for time as we pre-decorate the eggs we're hiding for our neighborhood. [Shh. The Easter Bunny did it if anyone asks ;D] So, keeping it simple! Click the image you're interested in, and be taken directly to the page! No fancy titles, buttons, etc. Just images, and beautiful links. ;D The Secret SistersFacebook PickApril 2015 Birthstone - Leona2015 Pantone Colour of the YearWonder Maven - Holographic!!!Back from the Vault!
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HOLY SMOKES GUYS..... But September's Sapphire birthstone, Serena, is a KNOCKOUT! Seriously guys, this one has to speak for itself. By far and above the BEST of the collection thus far!! As usual, check out the birthstones you have missed in the last birthstone post! <3
Y'all remember this pretty lady, right? If you don't, it's Julep's August [Peridot] birthstone polish, named Claudia. My birthday was August 1st, so as soon as this polish came out I nabbed it for myself. Now I'm here to share the swatches, and see what you all think!! 1st coat, both hands It's pretty clear right out the gate when you see the bottle that the website swatch IS actually true to colour. Claudia is a yellow/gold leaning green with little emerald flecks of glitter sporadically through the polish. This first coat didn't seem promising at first. You can see my nail lines pretty clearly. I will say it went on so easy though, which is a new experience for me. I'm used to glitter polishes being super hard to control. No such problems here! Second coat, both hands The second coat went on and immediately the difference was clear. NOW it very much resembles the swatch photo; Although if I am honest I would say a third coat would give you absolute unyielding opacity. This I would say is mostly opaque, but by no means perfectly solid. If 3 coats might have been perfect, why not do a third coat? Unfortunately, my bottle arrived with a considerable amount missing. I in no way insinuate I was given a used bottle; Only that the fill line was markedly lower than polishes I am used to receiving. I have already e-mailed Julep asking if this was intentional or accidental, and when I receive a response from them I will go ahead and put it in an updated post for you all to know. :) As an added bonus, this polish ended up becoming a fairly matte finish. Here I have the best cleanup I could do [Microglitter. Good griefers.], and two coats of Julep Oxygen Performance Top Coat over all nails except the middle. If it were my choice, I'd say add topcoat to this baby all the times. Not only is shiny 'In', but there are actually holographic bits throughout this polish. Yes, you read that right, this polish actually has scattered holo! It's very downplayed, but it's there. Without topcoat it does sparkle but only so much as a normal glitter would. WITH topcoat, it's like the magic dust is sprinkled. Every way you turn your hands, the sparkles attack. It's fantastic. And as my off-camera testing revealed, the shinier the topcoat/the more layers you apply, the more it sparkles. Love love love. I do want to apologize for how gold this polish seems to look. It does lean that way but it IS definitively green. And Peridot at that! Glamour shot! [No topcoat]BONUS! Polish in ActionNeed your own? Love it, and need your own? On the fence? Want to see the other birthstones? Head on over to this post, and pick up one for yourself. Or the whole set!!
Meet: CLAUDIA! Named fter mega-model Claudia Schiffer, the blond bombshell and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, here is the August Peridot Birthstone polish! I'm in love, and in honor of my August 1st birthday I have allllreadyyyy ordered mine. ;D Missing the others? Check the links below to pick up any of the released birthstones you have missed, and stay tuned to know when new ones are available!!!
After some strange issues with them getting here, I finally got my July Julep Maven box & Add-ons! And on the same day I got a RAOK from a wonderful lady in a Facebook swap group I frequent. It's OPI's Toucan do it if you try, and I've been searching high and low for this baby! It's just as amazing as I hoped, AND matches the containers for Julep's Bare Body products almost exactly! Made for a great photo op! [Below] The five polishes to the farthest left are my Beau's picks from this batch. In order L-R are:
I could nooooot be more excited to see these in real life. They're sooo close to how I imagined them, which always adds to the excitement. Although, that might just be the extra 2ish weeks I had to wait >_> The three products are the NEW Bare Body Polish, Bare Body Milk, and the wonderful as always Mint Condition Pedi Creme. The Bare Body Polish is described as: "An invigorating scrub that polishes away the rough stuff standing between you and smooth, beautiful skin. The creamy formula is packed with tiny spheres that exfoliate without scratching—and unlike salt and sugar scrubs, it doesn’t crumble under (water) pressure." What makes it work?
Best of all, it carries Julep's signature "summery" scent! It's a light scent with just a few hints of floral, and an indescribably sunny scent added. I'm not one to favor florals, but this is light enough that I really do love it - And the Milk, which has the same scent! ;D I've tried both Bare Body products, and they both are a vast improvement on Julep's old scrub-type products [I'm looking at you, Pomegranate and Grapefruit body scrubs!!], which were [and are, since I still have them >_>] extreeeemely oily. As in, fall down in the shower oily. Or get stuck in the bathroom until you have to yell for 5 minutes for someone else in the house to come rescue you because you can't grip the doorknob and soap/water just made it worse oily. Neither of which are fun; I Promise. These, however, have no such problems!! The exfoliant in the Bare Body Polish is subtle like a raw sugar or salt scrub, but just as effective, if not more so! TamaraVickiLissaLindenTeganDawnBeverlyKelseyLorenzanaBraiden Godmorgen alle! [That's good morning everyone, in Danish! :D] Apologies for the silence, but I've been slowly working on swatches from July's Julep Maven box in between resting after a slight issue a couple of weeks ago. I'm feeling great now though, and working hard to get some great swatches of those [amazing!] polishes for you. Look for that post soon. In the mean time, it's time to see August's Julep maven box and I am SO EXCITE! Why am I excite? August 1st is my birthday! This collection has only ONE polish I'm not head over heels in love with, but the add-on polish more than makes up for it! Meet: The Wanderlust CollectionFeatured Polish Add-on?Limited Edition Anniversary Polish!Featured NEW ProductEYE GLIDERS! Unforseen circumstances mean I'm not able to share swatches of the new collection - Yet! I am, however, able to introduce July's BEAUTIFUL Ruby Red addition to the Birthstone Collection!!! Meet: Martina! Martina is a tribute to the big-voiced, huge-hearted, country crooner Martina McBride. #TeamMartina! Missing the others? Check the links below to pick up any of the released birthstones you have missed, and stay tuned to know when new ones are available!!!
I am so so so SO excited to review this box. I ventured forth away from my usual It Girl, and instead went for [I believe] Bombshell, with an It Girl polish added on. This means I also got the Plie Wand, the "Revolutionary new polishing tool" from Julep. I've been against getting it simply because I actually don't have any difficulties polishing with my non-dominant hand, as I am ambidextrous, but I figured since I got it anyway, I might as well try it. And I'm glad I did, for surprising reasons!! ***Disclaimer*** Let me apologize for the lack of cleanup in all of the following reviews, I left the mess to show how much was left behind while using the new Julep Plie Wand. This gorgeous apricot shimmer is Julep's Saaya. Mangoes, and apricots, and peaches all come to mind with this beautiful shifty colour, and prepare you for a day of beach strolling under the palms with a coconut in your hand. Saaya practically BEGS to be worn for just such a vacation, and while she was a little difficult and streaky with application, she eventually settled to be less noticeable. I firmly believe if I had used a fourth coat, they would have disappeared all together. :) With Saaya, the Plie wand performed okay, although I did not use it for the first coat so this might have given it an unfair base to stand on. As a note, with Saaya, I did like many and tried to firmly attach the plie cap. Do NOT do this! It's just not designed for it. You'll risk breaking your beautiful polish, and/or the plie cap itself if you do, because you'll ultimately need to resort to pliers. Just lightly press the Plie cap over the brush cap, and it will hold just as well! This, surprisingly [Or unsurprisingly?] was hands and nails down my FAVOURITE polish to swatch today. Even though I was painting with my non-dominant hand, WITH the plie wand, the colour didn't fight me one bit during application, and I was legitimately saddened that it got ruined when taking off the polish from my other hand. Truly, having to wave adieu to this polish... One should never experience it. Laree is a BEAUTIFUL soft tulip pink cream with a subtle but obvious golden peach shimmer shifting its way throughout. With two coats it was opaque enough to wear, though three coats is shown, and not a streak was to be found anywhere. With this polish, the wand neither made it easier, nor more difficult to polish. It was definitely comfortable to hold, but because it's an entirely different way to polish with my non-dominant hand, it was a bit shaky trying to apply without making a mess. I think another try or two with this hand would make such an improvement; And I do see how this tool would help someone who isn't otherwise able to paint neatly, with either hand. Kam was my added-on polish, from It Girl, and the one I was most excited to get. A smooth surprisingly minty green cream, Kam applied with a fantastic shine and smooth, even layers, with no streaks whatsoever. Although the wand got a little awkward with my thumb, I blame my posture, not the wand. I was so fascinated by the minty hue [I'm a sucker for mint greens] that I was practically hovering over my nails during application lol. The wand felt a lot more natural to hold by this time, the second time using it with my dominant hand. Very pleased by this point, and had a realization about the Plie Wand. So, what about the Wand? My original outlook was that it would be redundant, and highly unnecessary for me and my polishing fun. I can paint perfectly fine, with minimal cleanup required; On either hand. Prior to the style release, I had no intention of purchasing the Plie wand. Then the colours I wanted were not together, and in order to get them I had to have a style that included the wand. During use, my outlook actively changed. While I was stubbornly refusing to admit it was comfortable, the fact remained: It really was. The diameter wasn't as large as I had thought, so it was much less like a jumbo kids crayon, and much more like your favourite pen in middle school that came with the gripper attached. While this has no such thing, [it should!] it was the same feeling. After use? Have I changed my mind? Maybe. I don't know that I'll jump right into daily use, simply because sometimes I really don't have the extra 10 seconds it takes to swap the caps out and attach the wand. I just want to put a quick coat of polish on and go. However, much of my painting is leisurely, and so I could be very open to using this wand quite often. My realization though? This wand is ESSENTIAL for nail art. Every single time I used this wand, my mind kept reeling with ideas of how this wand could SO improve nail art I've done in the past; And now I'm absolutely kicking myself for not getting the creativity kit when I could. I AM very glad Julep listened to feedback and made the plie cap fit over current brushes, and did not make them mandatory to all new polishes. I love my swatch stickers, and this cap just looks awkward on the julep bottles when the wand is not attached. Overall, I do think this wand would be a HUGE benefit for ALL polish fiends, even if you don't use it 24/7. Those with hand-related disabilities will have no problem I can see with finally getting to [comfortably!] enjoy polishing their own nails. The best news, is it's actually affordable! The wand itself goes for $20.00 [$25.00 for non-mavens] here: And that Creativity Kit? It goes for the SUPER awesome price of $8.00 [$10.00 for non-mavens]!!!!
Julep Maven's subscription program has entered its 3rd spring palette [My 3rd Maven Anniversary is tomorrow!], and I'm still as in love as I was on day 1. This month is the "Vivid Brights" collection, and I can PROMISE you I was not the least bit disappointed. Some of these are in fact SO bright and vivid, they threw the saturation levels off on my camera! As a result, I had to edit the saturation in a few shots to put the polish back as close as possible to its actual colour; And in the process my skin morphed into some pretty strange colours. Aurora Lacquers has put together this Pantone colour palette as a teaser to the TEASER! These 9 beautiful little squares are the inspiration for the new Spring Release scheduled for the end of March. Can you say excite? As if that weren't exciting enough, there's currently a giveaway running where you can win not one, not two, but THREE polishes! Two you have already seen on my blog: The Dusty Fairy and Shimmer Orchids [Love!]; The third is a mystery from the new Spring Collection! Not to mention all the other goodies thrown in. Why wait? You might just win one of the colours pictured above before they're released! |
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