Julep Maven "It Girl" Starter Box + "Julianne"

I apologize in advance for the fact that my swatches will be less than amazing for the next couple of weeks, a bunch of my nails have cracked and broken and are now quite short again. Reason being - I was hasty in the past couple of gel removals, and now I pay the price. Oh well.

I recently decided I was going to join Julep's Maven subscription service (hooray!) and then decided for my first free box I wouldn't go along with their recommendation (you take a "style quiz"), but rather with the one that caught my eye the most...of course, the one with the chunky holographic glitter top coat, right?

In addition to the starter box I also ordered 2 colors, "Julianne", a dusty blue creme, and "America the Beautiful" which I'll be saving to swatch for July 4.

Here's what I got:

• Paris - Chunky Holo Glitter top coat - LOVE
• Alice - "Vintage" lavender shimmer
• Mackenzie - Bright lime green shimmer
• "Rock Star" hand creme sample
• A Julep emery board
• A Julep nail polish remover pad (barely enough for what I needed)
• A whole bunch of literature on stuff I don't care about.

  

  The three colors from the starter kit came wrapped all cute-like in that pink paper.

"Alice" "Paris" "Mackenzie" "Julianne" and "America The Beautiful"

Alice is described as a "Vintage Lavender Shimmer" - it's definitely on the more mellow end of purple, definitely a great spring color. Within the formula itself is the subtle pearly shimmer with some barely there specks of purple shimmer within. Great formula, this is 2 coats below, no topcoat. The edges just look a bit off since my nails are so darn short :(

Next up is Mackenzie - This actually surprised me a little, I didn't think I would like this green as much as I did. Similar formula to Alice above, same sheen. This might take 3 coats in some spots depending on how you apply it, still a great color nonetheless. Nothing like it in my collection yet, definitely unique.

This is a layer of "Paris" over "Mackenzie". This glitter, just like any other is a little temperamental, but should place fine if you have a little patience for it. I currently have a complete solid layer of it on my toes and it looks just so freakin brilliant in the sunlight.

This is one of the colors I ordered separately, "Julianne". Its a dusty pale blue creme, definitely high-gloss. Kind of reminds me a bit of OPI's "I Don't Give A Rotterdam" minus the shimmer - 2 coats.

I'm saving "America The Beautiful" for swatching on July 4th - believe me, it's tough staying away from it. I will however have even MORE Juleps to swatch soon, as I just learned my recent warehouse sale purchases got shipped today! I got TEN new colors, so stay tuned for all of those lovely beauties! And if you're not a Julep Maven yet, I would definitely recommend it if you're into saving big on high-quality nail lacquers (and other beauty products).

Happy polishing!
- Maggie