Square Hue Feb. 2014 The Passport Collection: Tokyo

Purchased by Me

Wow, that's a long title for a short post! As one could guess, this is a swatch and review of my very first Square Hue subscription box. I have February 2014 The passport collection and the city is Tokyo, which is fun because I'm currently taking a Japanese linguistic class in college! :) I should ask the Japanese students if these colors represent Tokyo. ;)

Square Hue is a monthly nail polish subscription service that is $14.99 a month plus about $5.00 in shipping. (It equals out to be about a dollar more than Julep each month.) All the colors are full size 0.5oz polishes, 5 free and made in the USA! One last thing I can mention in their favor is the shipping was lightening fast. I mean seriously, skin falling off your face fast. I was charged on the first of February and I received my box on the third! I couldn't believe it! The company also donates a portion of the proceeds from each box sold to the prevention of Human Trafficking, you can read more about that here.

 I should mention that I did pay for this box myself, but I got it at a heavy discount due to a sale that Square Hue had at the end of January, so my first box was a mere $5.00. 

Onward! To the Polish!

Here is how my box arrived, except I turned the bottles on their sides to better show the colors! Each polish has a little cardboard area that keeps it snug and in place. :) from left to right - Roppongi, Shibuya, and Ginza. I looked up these names and I believe they are each a place in Japan, like small cities. 

If I can be completely honest, I will say that when I opened the box, I was disappointed with the colors. They reminded me of Lisa Frank! However, I was surprisingly pleased when I actually painted my nails. Keep reading to find out más!

Roppongi was the least favorite of mine. No matter what I did I couldn't get it to flatter my skin tone, even with layering! (See swatches over black and white at the bottom) I'm an extremely yellow person and this didn't play well with my yellows ;) This is two coats. I probably couldn't get it opaque if I tried because it's rather sheer, I think it's meant more as a glitter topper. 

Shibuya was a super surprise for me. I really didn't expect to like this color because of how metallic it is, but it's awesome! Even my fiancé commented on how great it looked. I felt like I was on a space ship or wearing a metallic futuristic dress. It applied like a dream. This is two easy coats.

Ginza is a stunning fuchsia with mircoglitter bits. This is three easy coats as well. This is such an interesting polish. It's definitely pink, but it's also a duochrome and is extremely purple in some lights. Tricky glitter! :) Anyway, it is super beautiful and I was delighted that I liked it so much more on my fingers than in the bottle. Another winner!

This is a quick swatch of Roppongi over black and white to see the different effects. If anyone knows a good way to wear this, please enlighten me!

Overall I was very pleased with my first Square Hue purchase! Their shipping is faster than lightening, the bottles are square and extremely stable, the polishes apply like a dream, they are made in the USA, they are 5 free, and you get 3 "on trend colors each month."

Square Hue is only slightly more expensive than Julep, however, you receive three colors instead of two and they are almost double the size at 0.5oz compared to Julep's 0.27oz. (Also, did I mention the fast shipping?)

Every Square Hue subscriber receives the same colors. For me, this is the biggest reason that I probably won't continue my subscription. I really dislike dropping twenty dollars on something that I may or may not like. Normally, I'd rather pick up two OPI's and a file a Sally's for the same amount and get colors I KNOW I want. However, for some this might be a plus! It definitely encourages you to use colors that you may not have picked yourself! (The pink and blue this month!)

The bottles are awesome and extremely stable (especially compared to Julep's tall thin bottles, and the width of the brush is a perfect in-between of OPI's wide one and Zoya's thin one.

For the $5.00 I paid for this box, I am extremely satisfied with the quality and colors. 2/3 that I really love is a great deal and I am very happy to have had the chance to try a new brand, especially one so deserving of the support! I probably won't continue my subscription after this next month (March) ((I forgot to cancel! :P )) because I can't afford two polish subs a month.  So good news! There will be at least one more review on the blog of Square Hue products.
Till next time!

♥ Pooka