Julep Leslie

And the last polish I have for you from my October Maven's Choice box is Julep Leslie. Again, this was a new polish introduced with the October Maven boxes and I decided to add it to my box. Julep describes Leslie as a "black and silver specked shimmer." I would go farther and say Leslie is a black creme based polish that is packed with silver flakies (I think, and it's definitely not glitter) because the silver all seems to be irregularly shaped when you look at macro shots.

Leslie is just slightly on the thicker side in terms of formula, but is definitely easy to control and apply.  I used two coats here and not top coat. What's interesting is the way Leslie dries down. With all the shimmer, it dries down smooth, but to a sort of semi-matte finish. It's still got a little bit of gloss to it, but definitely isn't as shiny as say a jelly or some creme polishes. I'm a little bit flummoxed on how exactly to describe it, actually. I guess I'll just stick with semi-matte, even though that might not be the proper term.

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This feel perfect for a Halloween inspired polish. It's dark, but not necessarily goth (in my mind, anyway). I kind of like that the silver isn't in your face but definitely doesn't disappear into the black base. However, this shade is definitely not unique in the world of nail polish and several brands have very similar polishes (though perhaps not dupes)-- Orly, Sonia Kashuk, Sephora by OPI, China Glaze and Sally Hansen have all produced similar shades in the past.

Julep Caroline

The polish I have for you tonight is Julep Caroline, another polish I added to my October Maven's Choice box. This was another new polish that was introduced in October. Julep describes Caroline as the "darkest burgundy shimmer" and I can't argue with that. Well, mostly. This polish is very dark but has a gorgeous shimmer. My only minor quibble is calling this burgundy, mainly because to my eye it has such strong brown tones. Don't get me wrong, this polish definitely has a red hue to it-- but I feel like my camera picks up the brown tones!


As much as I love Julep creme polishes, their shimmers run a close second in my book. I don't know why they don't make more shimmer polishes-- because Caroline was great. Formula was perfection and it applied smoothly and without any issues. Julep should make more polishes like this. I used two coats here and no top coat. 

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You can definitely see the red-burgundy in the bottle in my last picture. This is gorgeous and perfect for fall. This really reminds me of OPI Germanicure, except perhaps a little darker and browner. I need to do a side by side comparison!

Football Friday: Beefalo Edition

Seriously, I couldn't think of a good name for this post. We're playing the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder this weekend. It's a weird kick-off time-- 10:30PST-- so we're planning on heading out to brunch with our friends to enjoy the game. Even though Colorado is entering their second year in the Pac-12 (along with Utah), they're no strangers to UW. These schools have meet several times before in the past and even shared a head coach (of course, not at the same time). Right now Colorado is really struggling and is currently in last place in the Pac-12, while UW is hopefully on the upswing while finishing out their season. Given this, UW should be able to get a huge win here, but given our road woes I'm not sure what expected. I hope the close win over Cal on the road and our great win over Utah last week can propel us to a win here.

I decided to try a new technique (to me) for this week. I decided to sponge purple and gold on my nails. I used Sally Hansen Purple Pulse, which is a gorgeous shimmery purple and then American Apparel Gold Flash. Even though it's recommended to start with the lighter of the two colors, I decided to put Purple Pulse on first because it's on the sheer side. At first I just sponged Gold Flash on my tips, but then I finally decided to mix both together. I love the way the purple and gold looks. This seems almost like a sunset, in a way.

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I do like the way this looks in theory, but I definitely need more practice. Purple and gold look so good together!

Go Dawgs, Beat the Buffs!

Next week it's our annual rivalry game, and I'm trying to think of an epic manicure-- so if you have any suggestions, let me know! 

Julep Kate

Tonight I have one of my add-on polishes, Julep Kate. This was released back as part of the Bombshell Maven Box in July, so I didn't get it when it was first released. But since it was $4.99, I figured why not! I like white polishes more than I used to, and I thought this would be fun to try out. Julep describes Kate as a "pearly white frost," which was a little off-putting. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that that Kate is not actually a frost (hooray!) but a creme with some pearl shimmer in it.

Sadly, as happy as I was that Kate wasn't a frost, I was not impressed with the formula. I probably shouldn't be surprised, since white polishes in general seem to be very problematic in terms of formula and tend to be uneven and streaky. Kate fits the bill exactly. The polish is a little on the thick side, but man is it ever streaky when you get it on the nail. I used three coats here, but I can still see some streaks. However, it was pretty close so I made the decision to skip the fourth coat. My brush was a little wonky also (splayed bristles) which didn't help matters either.

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I did have some issues with this polish as you see. I think I did get some bubbling  on my index and middle finger due to using thicker coats, but that bump on my ring finger was from something that got on my finger and not due to the polish. I think this polish has potential, but the formula definitely leaves a lot to be desired. It's too bad, because it'd be nice to find a white polish that applies more easily.

Julep Eloise

Tonight I have the last of the polishes from the October Maven's Choice box, Julep Eloise. This is another new polish that was introduced last month. Julep describes Eloise as a "smokey indigo blue creme" and I can't really argue with that! Eloise definitely has a subdued and smokey feel to it, and almost has a demin feel to it when it's on the nail.

Eloise doesn't disappoint in terms of formula. But it's a Julep creme, and this is what I've come to expect from these types of polishes. Eloise was incredibly well pigmented and went on incredibly smoothly. She practically painted herself on my fingernails! Because Eloise is so pigmented, I would definitely make sure to use a base coat to help prevent any staining.

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Ahh, Eloise. Be still my heart! This shade is so gorgeous. This is a perfect shade for fall and winter.

Also, today is World Diabetes Day and the color for diabetes is blue! So a lot of polish bloggers have been showcasing blue manicures in support of diabetes awareness. My grandfather suffered from Type II diabetes in the years before his death, and had to eventually stop driving because of neuropathy in his feet. So be aware!