Julep "Stefani" Swatch and Review

Julep "Stefani" 

Recently I purchased my first bottles of Julep nail polish. Julep has a program called "Julep Maven" and they send you 2 nail polishes a month and a full sized beauty product. This polish is part of the "American Beauty" maven package. At $14 dollars a bottle, I only bought the subscription because my first box was free! :) You can get your first box free here, with the code "freebox" it only costs shipping which is ... $4 I think. But buyers beware! It IS a subscription, so if you don't want another box or don't like the polish you have to cancel or skip. Just a warning :)

Okay, now for the swatches! Stefani is an awesome metallic gunmetal grey with gold micro glitter in it. These swatches are without a top coat, so the good news is if you don't like the "gritty look" that these pics have, a quick coat of Seche Vite smoothed the whole thing out.

I adore this shade because I think it's a more unique color. It's probably best suited for Winter or Fall, but throw caution to the wind, be cray, or whatever... I'm using it in the Summer. I'm a rebel...

This being said, I don't believe this polish was worth the (full) price. The application was less than smooth. It has a gold micro glitter and created almost a "bubble" effect, or gritty. One coat would probably have been sufficient, but I had a few bald spots and went for a second coat. It dried pretty slowly too. I had to be pretty cautious about smudges for over two hours. Yikes!

One note about the bottles. They are tall and thin and this makes it difficult to dip the brush back in the bottle while balancing it. I literally had to hold the bottle every time I needed more polish. This is just a minor annoyance. 

Application 4/5 Good. Went on decently smooth and didn't show too many brush strokes.

Pigmentation 4/5 Opaque after one coat. I used two to cover a few bald spots.

Drying Time 2/5 Slow. This polish dried much slower than I had anticipated, but probably could be reduced with three extra thin coats rather than two regular coats.

Finish 2/5 I wasn't thrilled about the "grit" from the micro glitter, but it was quickly remeidied with a top coat of Seche Vite.

Top Coat not added

Verdict 3/5 I adore the color, but I wouldn't purchase it at full price. 

If you are interested in their Maven program, I'd give it a try though. It's a good enough polish if you only have to pay shipping for the first box! :) Plus, who doesn't love to receive a package? ^^ Lastly, the links to Julep help my Maven program and I do get free boxes with two others who subscribe. When you become a Maven you can refer friends, earn points, and get free polish, too.

Hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start. Happy painting!

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