I’ll probably post up that Julep March 2013 monthly box unboxing soon (very late, I know!), but in the meantime, here are the new polishes from this month that I chose for my box: Julep Yvonne (index & ring) and Julep Jesslyn (middle & pinky), no top coat.
These polishes are two good examples of why Julep’s flowery marketing language isn’t my favorite, though I understand with the number of new polishes they put out a year that there may be at least a handful of polishes that could be described as pale pink or peach-gold shimmers. Still, it’d be great if the words they used were a bit more descriptive of the actual color!
Yvonne is a pale cool-leaning, almost slightly lilac, pink matte shimmer. Julep calls it a “moonbeam matte shimmer,” and moonbeam makes me think more of pale blue, aqua, and white, but this one is definitely light pink. Julep’s product photo led me to think it’d be almost white, and maybe it’s just my complexion, but it looks more visibly pink than I expected.
Jesslyn is a peachy gold matte shimmer. Julep calls this one “honey gold matte shimmer,” but at least for me, honey brings up more a mental image of jewel-toned liquid amber, and the creamy pastel tone of this polish just doesn’t look like honey to me. I still like it all right, even though it may not be the most flattering color on me. I liked it on Julep’s hand model better, where it looks more like a soft, glowy gold.
Both colors are almost opaque in one coat but probably require a second for evenness. They have a tendency toward some streakiness, but it’s not too obvious when dry, maybe because of the matte finish. Glossy top coat may bring the streaks back out, but I haven’t tried.
Formula on both of these was fine, but a little thick and somehow also runny, which, in combination with the long stem on Julep brushes (which takes extra effort to remove excess polish from) and that clumsy wide, flat-tipped brush (too wide and stiff for me to easily skirt the cuticle curve) that I keep griping about, takes some care to work with. I could have been more careful, of course, but I flooded two cuticles while using these two polishes even with typical caution.
Dry time was roughly average – not as fast as I’d come to expect from matte polishes. The surface dried to matte relatively quickly, but the polish stayed smudge-able for at least an average amount of time. Durability seems average, too. I painted these three days ago, and most of the nails just show visible tip wear, but my more heavily used index fingers are chipping pretty significantly.
I expected these polishes to look differently based on Julep’s product photos, but they’re all right. 🙂
Lacquerfiend 