A quick swatch of Julep's Sofia

Since I liked Julep Maven's Natasha polish, I decided to do a quick swatch of their varnish Sofia. The polish is a springy green with fine, blue glitter. From looking at the bottle, I wished I would of had it on St. Patrick's Day.

But, I'm sad to be the bearer of bad news. I really disliked this polish. The formula was very thin. My swatch is three coats and you can still see through the polish. For those who don't mind translucent polishes this probably won't bother you. Just make sure to apply a topcoat, after I let the varnish dry the color was a little dull. 

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Julep Maven Varnish in Natasha

 

I've got two different kinds of pictures taken by my iPhone (DSLR was dead! I hadn't noticed till I went to go use it!) of Julep Maven Varnish in Natasha. The top photo is in indoor light with a little sunlight filtered through a window. The lower photo is out in direct sunlight. 

Natasha is very similar to Essie's Meet Me at Sunset. It is very opaque, even with just one coat of polish and has a fairly good sheen to it. The color didn't chip at all during the three days I was wearing it. Really, the only reason I took it off was because I painted my toe nails with Essie's Ole Caliente and ruined my Natasha manicure in the process! 

My only minor gripe was the formula was a little drippy! When I would take the brush and dip it into the bottle and pull it out polish would drip every where! Even when I tried to regulate the amount of polish that got on the brush and the stick it would still run and drip down from the plastic stem. I accidentally dripped a few dots of orange onto my carpet! Oops!

In non-Julep Natasha news, I have got a major sunburn on my chest. Which, for me, is my number one burn spot other than the part of my hair. I need to be a little more vigilant about applying sunscreen if I don't want to age my skin so much! For some reason the burn is just absolutely itchy and it is driving me insane!

 

 

 

 

Essie and Julep Show down!

L to R- Essie Ole Caliente, Julep Maven Natasha, and Essie Meet Me at Sunset

I decided to swatch my three orange-y polishes. Obviously, Essie Ole Caliente is much more of a reddish pink than the others who are a little more "true" orange. I haven't tried out my Julep Maven Nail Varnishes just yet, so I'm not sure what their wear time is like. The Natasha shade was pretty opaque with one layer and went on smoothly. 

In the picture below, Natasha is a little lighter than Meet Me at Sunset. Natasha is more like the color of an orange traffic cone.They are very, very similar shades, almost dupes, but I'm not sure I would categorize them as dupes for sure. I think that Meet Me at Sunset has a little more depth and shine and Natasha might be redder, but only by the tiniest amount.

 Soon, I'll do a long wear test on Julep's Natasha, then we'll see who the winner is! Since, Ole Caliente is much different than the others, it already wins for being a gorgeous orange red. 

L to R: Ole Caliente, Natasha, Meet Me at Sunset

  

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My Introductory Julep Maven Box

 

I recently signed up for Julep Maven, which is a company similar to Birchbox, where you get a monthly subscription to beauty products. In addition to the subscription, Julep Maven also has their own range of products you can buy individually. Once you are signed up and officially become a "Maven" you'll receive 20% off those orders among other benefits.

 

First thing I opened in my box was the hand-scrub and nail file. I've been needing a nail file lately, so that is a nice little addition to the box. I haven't tried the glycolic acid hand-scrub yet, so we'll see how it works. I've never been one to use scrubs anywhere other than my face, but I'm willing to give this product a shot!

 

Now, the real meat of the package, two Julep nail varnishes. When you signup for Julep Maven they have you take a quick little personality test to cater to your orders. According to them I was a "Bombshell", so the company added the two colors you see above into the box. The orange creme is Natasha and the green with light blue sparkles is Sofia.

 Just for a little reference, I compared Natasha to Essie's Meet Me At Sunset. I'm not going to say they are dupes till I compare them side by side on the nail. But in their bottles they seem very similar. Meet Me At Sunset may be a tad darker than Natasha, but we'll see how they hold up when I swatch the two next to each other!

 

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