Face-Off: KBShimmer You Go Ghoul! vs. China Glaze Howl You Doin’

I've swatched China Glaze Howl You Doin' multiple times now, and it's just one of those polishes that, at least in concept, I keep wanting to come back to. The main issue with this polish is that the formula and execution was never my favorite, and it's gotten extremely clumpy with age in a way...

Face-off: Julep Ellis vs. L’Oreal Masked Affair

A couple years ago, in February 2015, I went through considerable trouble to track down a bottle of L'Oreal Masked Affair and was elated when I succeeded in obtaining this drugstore polish that was, for whatever reason, popular enough to be a bit hard to find. A few months later, in September 2015, Julep released its...

Face-off: Sephora Formula X Riotous vs. Julep Nellie

On my birthday last month, my pet human husband gave me Sephora Formula X Riotous as part of my birthday present, just because he liked the color. When I saw it, I couldn't help myself. I had to sprint to my stash, immediately dig out my bottle of Julep Nellie (from my October 2014 Julep box), and do a...

Nuance Nightshadow | Face-off: Julep Desiree vs. Revlon Holographic Pearls

Here's a quick comparison of Julep Desiree, a holographic top coat that came as a free gift with this month's Julep Maven monthly box, and Revlon Holographic Pearls, which I previously tried over a shimmer polish with less dramatic effect. (They're not all that similar, and I may even own other holo toppers that are more dupe-y,...

Face-off: Julep Becky vs. OPI Peace & Love & OPI

It's face-off time! This time, I've got Julep Becky and OPI Peace & Love & OPI to compare: INDEX: two coats Peace & Love & OPI topped with Julep Silk Effect Top Coat MIDDLE & PINKY: two coats Julep Becky, no top coat RING: two coats Peace & Love & OPI topped with Essie Good to Go Top Coat (glossy) This is in...

Face-off: Zoya Dillon vs. Julep Francine vs. Julep Shay

This past week, I thought I'd compare a couple similar recently released green-blue Julep polishes, Julep Francine from this May and Julep Shay from January, in case you (like me) were wondering if you'd accidentally bought two nearly identical polishes. I threw Zoya Dillon in there, too, just for the heck of it. In the bottle, they...

Face-off: LynBDesigns Time and Relative Dimension in Space (TARDIS) vs. Essie Starry Starry Night (Retro Revival version)

Been too busy to post for a while now, so I'm playing catch up today. 🙂 Going to try to make it quick! Quickie comparison between LynBDesigns Time and Relative Dimension in Space (TARDIS) and Essie Starry Starry Night (SSN), this year's Retro Revival (RR) collection version, not the original. Index and ring are TARDIS,...

Face-off: Essie Leggy Legend vs. Julep Luz

Quick comparison post! I mentioned earlier that I thought Essie Leggy Legend and Julep Luz might be fraternal twins. On a closer look, though, I think they're probably more like cousins - not too alike, but maybe with some general similar features. Here they are in outdoor natural light, two coats each (Leggy Legend on the index and ring,...

Face-off: Zoya Marion vs. Julep Phia

As promised, here it is - a comparison of Zoya Marion (index and ring), from June 2015's Zoya Mystery Trio Box, and Julep Phia (middle and pinky), from last June's It Girl Maven monthly box. This is two coats of each, topped with Essie Good to Go top coat, in direct natural light: Marion and Phia are very similar neutral...

Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus | Face-off: Julep Freedom Top Coat vs. Julep Matte Top Coat vs. Julep Silk Effect Top Coat

I picked up this beautiful Target-exclusive polish, Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus, some time ago and hadn't had a chance to try it out yet. Today was the day! Iceberg Lotus is a stunner of a color - peacock blue-green glass fleck-y shimmer, with a dichroic teal-to-purple shift - but it's very sheer. For your...