Julep #5

It's time for another Julep showcase and review. This month I was particularly bummed by the color choices in each box. I think they were going for some sort of "genie in a lamp" vibe, but seriously? It's June. I want fun, bright, summery colors that I can wear on my fingers and my toes. Give me corals and pinks and glitter bombs that will look great with my non-tanned/occasionally-fake-tanned skin. Forealz.

 I opted for the Classic with a Twist box, because I either had similar colors in the other boxes, or just thought the options were ugly. It came with Bergen, a foggy, shimmery blue shade which is opaque in 2 thin coats. On the website it appears much more gray than it actually is in person. I found this disappointing, as I was really more interested in a gray-blue than a blue-gray... if that makes any sense at all. #nitpicker

The other color was Ariana, a glittery plum color. It is opaque in almost 3 coats. Seriously, the bottle looks so dark, but the polish goes on very lightly, which I actually really like. It could easily be layered over a different color polish for a little extra shimmer without impacting the overall base color. I put two good coats of this polish on for the photographs I took. I like the color, but just like Bergen, it's suited more for fall or winter nails than a fresh June manicure. Regardless, it'll get plenty of use.

Lastly, they included the Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat. Apparently, there's quite a bit of ruckus --good ruckus, not bad ruckus-- over Julep's original Oxygen nail treatment. I don't own it myself, but I've read several glowing reviews of the product and it's ability to transform a nail bed. So the folks over at Julep got together and created a similar product that can be used as a base coat (they also created a top coat version too), because you apparently aren't supposed to put polish over the Oxygen Nail Treatment. So I got the base coat. Previously, I had been using Essie 3 way glaze as my base coat, but I gave the OSBC a try this go around. I can't say that it's a miracle product yet, as I just painted my nails Tuesday evening, but I think anything can go under a coat of Seche Vite and be pretty fabulous. That stuff is incredible.

As always, if you'd like to give Julep a try, I'd get some fancy referral points if you use my linky here. Use code FREEBOX for your first box for free.