JULEP: Holiday Glitter Collection - Part II

In Part I of this post, I showed off five new polishes in the Julep Holiday Glitter Collection.  Here, without further adieu, are the remaining six....

First up:

Hilary, Patti and Jordan...

Top to Bottom:  Hilary, Patti, and Jordan

Jordan is clear jelly with suspended blue-steel gray glitter. To build up opacity, I dabbed the glitter onto the nail (as opposed to painting it on), until it reached full opacity.  That's the only way I could avoid polish "lift".  Hilary is a very sheer pale brown jelly with lots of suspended copper chunky glitter.  I didn't try reaching opacity (my best guess is 4 coats).

Oh, and just a head's up...be prepared:  I broke two nails this week, ergo the reason for my bizarre asymmetrical nails. They'll grow.

Top to Bottom:  Jordan, Hilary, and Patti (2 coats over basecoat)

When I first saw Patti, I wasn't prepared to like her.  The first coat was an ugly sheer greenish black with dull silver chunky pieces of bling. Did nothing for me. At the second coat, I was taken in by this oddly beautiful black jelly glitter.  There's nothing overtly feminine or sparkly about Patti.  She's actually kinda grunge.

Of the three, Jordan was the least cooperative when it came to application.  The formula was a bit gunky.  Biggest annoyance came when I carefully painted a second coat, and found the first coat dissolving with every light brush stroke.  Polish lift!  I dabbed out the rest of the nail to avoid further lift.

T to B:  Jordan, Hilary, and Patti - Hilary and Patti applied easy; Jordan required glitter resurfacing

Harper, Vivien, and Barbara ...

To to Bottom: Harper, Vivien, and Barbara 

Harper is a light turquoise jelly with lots of tiny gold, green and blue glitter.  For total opacity, we're probably talking 4 thin coats.   Vivien is an exquisitely sheer platinum shimmer with loads of small gold glitter discs suspended therein.  Both glitters are build-able, which makes for versatility with layering. Further down this post, you'll see what I mean.

To to Bottom:  Barbara, Vivien, and Harper (2 coats over base coat)

I'm particularly enamored of Harper and Vivien.  Gawjuss.

Barbara?  Meh.  Nothing that I couldn't pick up at a local discount store.

L to R:  Harper, Vivien, and Barbara (2 coats)

At two coats, Harper and Vivien are still sheer.  But Barbara....?  It applies like wet cement, and is perfectly opaque at two coats.

MIX & MATCH

Now that you've seen each of the polishes on its own, let's mix things up a bit.  

L to R:  Vivien over 2 coats of Scarlett, and 2 coats of Vivien on its own (middle)

Harper gradient over 2 coats of Cindy

Hilary gradient over two coats of Julia

Barbara gradient over three coats of Ivy

WHAT I LIKE:  Cindy, Harper, Vivian, Scarlett, Ivy, Julia, Hilary and Patti. The colors and formulas are super!  I'm pleased I went for the entire collection this month.  There are some unique colors among the group, and 11 Julep blingies for $50US is a great deal, considering their basic monthly subscription gives you up to three polishes for $20US.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE: Two things:  1. Julep's bottle.  It's an accident waiting to happen, and that accident has happened to me lots of times. Still, I can understand why Julep wouldn't be chomping at the bit to move away from the iconic design, which brings me to my second gripe:  2.  This towering test-tube-like bottle holds half as much polish as a competitor's brand (think OPI, Essie, China Glaze), and costs more.  The difference in volume isn't so readily noticeable when you're glancing at this nail polish skyscraper.  But if the brand were to move over to a standard polish bottle, the difference would be dramatic:  mini vs. standard size containers.

I'm interested in hearing your comments on this collection, on Julep polishes in general, and on the Julep subscription model.  Lemme know your thoughts.

In the meantime....thanks for stopping by! :)