Monday, February 25, 2013

My first swatch-a-palooza with Julep!

Hi everyone! So today I have my first real set of swatches. Twelve of them! I will do them in 2 parts.  Swatching is much more difficult than I had thought it would be, but honestly, it was also much more fun than I thought too. The pictures leave a LOT to be desired I know, and my cuticles look like hell in most of the pics, but I really tried to get as accurate as possible color of all the polishes and I feel like I did that. With a few exceptions. I think I will be doing a lot more swatches because while I love nail art, sometimes a polish is really art itself. The polishes I'm showing you today are Julep from the February Maven box. It's inspired by iconic actresses and I think they really hit the nail on the head with these. There is something for everyone, and all of them are a little bit unique. Good job Julep, you have REALLY stepped up your game lately! Anyway, on with the massive amounts of pics, shall we? Lets start with the cremes.
This is Claudette.
Claudette is described by Julep as: Smoky Brick Red Creme. I agree with this and while the photo is pretty close, there is a touch more brick in it than in the picture.
The second pic is pretty much right on the money. This was 2 coats and surprisingly for a red, it didn't stain my fingers during removal. Yay!

Next up is Ingrid.
Julep describes this one as: Burnt Orange Creme. Again, I would completely agree.  I love this color!  I think it's unusual and a little edgy but VERY wearable.
This is 3 coats. Ingrid is one of those creme/jelly polishes and is super duper shiny!

Next up, Sally.
Julep describes this as Antique Ivory Creme. I have to disagree on this one. I also had a hard time capturing the true color of Sally. I would describe it as Barbie flesh. Really. It looks like the plastic "Barbies" you get at the dollar store, you know what ones I'm talking about? Yeah. I REALLY wanted this to be ivory, as I don't have an ivory colored polish and thought it would be fabulous. But expectations aside, it's a very interesting color.  One of those ugly pretty colors, which I love. Maybe not so much on this one though.
This pic is awful and blurry but a little bit more accurate. I think if you have a deeper skin tone this would look pretty damn cool on you! Three coats for this one.

Next we have Laura.
 Julep describes Laura as: Olive Khaki Creme. Yep, it is and I love it! Great formula on this one too. These kinds of greens are my favorite, but I know they aren't for everyone. But I think this one is really chic and wearable.
This was two coats.

Next, Julianne.

Julep describes this one as: Smoky Gray Blue Creme. I agree. This color reminds me of the blue that people loved to decorate there house in the late 90's. Do you remember that blue? Seems everyone had at least one room painted this color. And geese. There was always geese with it. I don't know why.
This was 3 coats.  Good formula.

Next, Helen.
Helen is described as Smoky Pastel Lavender Creme. It is, but there is also a lot more of a taupe-y color to it.  It's a very nice neutral color and I think it would look great year round.
This was three thin coats. You could probably be able to do two if you applied slightly thicker coats.  With the exception of Claudette and Laura all of them needed 3 coats. If you are a master of the three stroke application and do not overwork the polish at all, then these are 2 coaters.  The rest of us will probably need to do 3.  I have six more polishes from this set which I will post tomorrow, because I'm exhausted. LOL!  I will also post my 31 day Challenge manis, there are two that I haven't blogged yet, today or tonight. Whew! Ya know this nail stuff is a lot of work! But I love it! ;)
What so you guys think of the polishes? How about my swatches? I am very open to constructive criticism, so feel free to let me know what I flubbed or what I did right. See you all soon! :)

Edited to add that I bought these polishes myself and they are my honest opinions. I was not paid or given these for review.

4 comments:

  1. I have Claudette and hesitated to wear it because I feared it would lean too orange. You might have changed my mind; I might give it a shot now.

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    1. It's definitely a warm red but not orange-y at all. Give it a shot, it's really pretty and unique for a red creme. Thank you so much for stopping by!

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  2. Such pretty colors! Julep's formula does not agree with me, but I sure do love looking at swatches :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I'm so glad you liked the swatches, it's my first time really doing this. Hopefully my pictures will get better over time :)

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