SWATCH: Zoya - Blu

I Bought This 

Third time's the charm!  The first time I tried to swatch this, the pictures came out tinted green. >.<;  The second time, fuzzies (from I don't know where) seemed to be get stuck in the polish on my fingers while I was applying top coat.  That was frustrating, but it finally looks like it's going to work out!

I received Zoya Blu in my May ipsy bag and was really happy because it was one of the colors I've wanted since the Lovely collection was released.

I feel like I've had a big influx of light blues like this to my polish collection lately, but that doesn't stop this from being a pretty color.  Even though it's not that unique of a color, I still like it.  Application was okay.  I had a bit of a problem with streaking and the polish did not self-level, but I fixed that with a coat of Seche Vite (my mani saver!).  I used 2 coats of polish and 1 coat of polish for the swatch.

 

Julep Maven: April 2013 Classic with a Twist (Avery, Jackie) Swatches

I Bought This

I veered away from It Girl this month because I only liked 2 out of 3 of the colors.  Instead, I opted for Classic with a Twist, because I liked both colors and I wanted to try the cuticle serum.  And then I added on the 2 colors from It Girl that I did like, haha.  I'm quite happy with these colors because I don't really have brights and these will be great for the summer season. 

Classic with a Twist came with 2 polishes and the Nail and Cuticle Serum, plus a rock candy lollipop as an extra little something.  The 2 polishes in my box are Avery and Jackie, both cremes and both seem perfect for the upcoming summer!

Click for swatches.

Squarehue April 2013: Bloom Collection Swatches

I Bought This

SquareHue is a nail polish subscription box, like Julep Maven, except everyone gets the same colors and the colors are limited edition.  They are exclusive to that month and you can't get those colors any other way except through that box.  The box is $21 per month and a portion of your subscription is donated through their HueGive program, which is currently focusing on human trafficking.  The donations go towards prevention awareness, protection of trafficked victims, and prosecution of human traffickers.

After seeing all the great March SquareHue boxes, I was really tempted to sign up...so I did.  So I have swatches of my first ever SquareHue box today!  When I saw the theme of this month's SquareHue box, I was expecting at least 1 pink polish, so it was quite surprising to find none when I opened the box.  Nevertheless, these colors are still very Spring-y!

Click for swatches. :)

SWATCH: Julep - Joy

Just a short little post about my add-on from my March Julep Maven box today!  This is Joy, a dusty mauve creme polish, and she was part of the Boho Glam box for March.  I loved this color after seeing Julep's swatches, but didn't love the other color in Boho Glam, so I passed on that box.  But I couldn't pass on Joy, so here she is!

  

in the shade & in the sun

And with a matte top coat on middle and pinky fingers:

  

in the shade & in the sun

I used 2 coats of polish for the swatches above.  I also used a glossy top coat for the first two pictures.  This one applied really well with no streaks!  I'm very happy with it, and it will be a great work-safe addition to my collection. :)

Julep Maven: March 2013 It Girl (Shenae, Simone, Teri) Swatches

I finally received my Julep box for March!  It was delayed due to an error in their system, according to an email Julep sent me on March 8th.  I was quite annoyed because they waited so long to let me know, all the while I was waiting and thinking it got lost.  Anyway, I'm glad they fixed it and that the box finally got here!

I almost skipped this one, but in the end, my love of pastels overcame my willpower.  Julep also advertised this collection with a matte top coat, saying that it made the polishes look like sidewalk chalk from our childhood.  I really liked the look of it with the matte top coat, so that was another point in favor of getting it, haha. 

Click through for hand swatches.

SWATCH: Sinful Colors - Sugar Rush and Candy Coated

I stopped by Walgreens on Saturday hoping to find the Sinful Colors Sugar Rush collection because I love pastels and they would be great for Spring!  Also, I wanted to take advantage of the $1 off coupon since it was the last day.

When I got there, I didn't see the display and thought I was out of luck.  But good thing I looked in the regular display!  I don't know about your Walgreens, but the Sinful Colors display at my Walgreens always seems to be in disarray.  Anyway, I picked up 3 from the collection, and I have 2 to show you today!

Click through to see the swatches!

SWATCH: Julep - Lisa

I'm going to IMATS LA today, and this polish is what I'm wearing.  It's Julep Lisa, which is a green-based gray.  This polish is a bit of a chameleon in color, changing depending on the light.  Sometimes, it looks olive green, other times it looks taupe-y. Either way, it's a pretty neutral creme!

The formula for this was kind of watery, but it still applied pretty well.  It was smooth going on, and I used two coats to achieve the opacity in the pictures above.

I'm hoping to catch up on a bunch of swatches this long weekend, so expect a bunch of posts coming up! :)  Also, look forward to an IMATS haul post.  I love seeing other people's, so I thought I would do one too.  Stay tuned!

SWATCH: OCC - Something

Getting back into the swing of things, just as school is about to start!  I've actually been sitting on these swatches for a bit...again with the laziness of not wanting to crop/edit pictures.  I really need to stop with that.  But anyway...

I bought this polish from the OCC booth at IMATS.  It was on sale for $5/polish, so I ended up buying 2: this one and Chlorophyll, which is the one I originally wanted.  OCC's Something is a gorgeous sky blue with a dusty quality to it.

in the shade

in the sun

I loooove this polish!  It applied really well, with not much work to it and no streaks at all!  That's quite unusual for pastels...at least for me.  And I think I used 2 coats for the opacity above.  The color is gorgeous, as mentioned.  Plus, the name is cute!  (You know, "something blue"...get it? ;P)

Definitely impressed with the quality of this OCC nail polish and can't wait to try Chlorophyll.  I think I might get some more polishes from OCC at next year's IMATS!

Have you tried OCC nail polish before?

SWATCH: Julep Daphne

Ok, let's start swatching my July Julep Maven polishes! :)  First up is Julep Daphne which is a pretty dusty teal color with a creme finish, but it's not very unique.  I've already found a dupe for it in my collection, and it's a polish from Julep too!  Post on that coming soon~  But for now, here's is Daphne:

This applied very well!  It took two coats to reach this opacity, and the formula was neither too thick or too thin.  I like it, but it's not a must have for me, especially because I already have a polish like it.

Swatch: China Glaze - Dress Me Up & Luxe and Lush (Colours from the Capitol)

Tonight (well technically tomorrow morning) is the premiere of The Hunger Games movie.  Who's excited?  I am!  Unfortunately, I am not going to be a part of the midnight screening.  I have class tomorrow, bright and early.  BOO!  But hopefully I'll get to watch it soon...maybe even this opening weekend?  Who knows...I didn't buy my ticket early, so I'm not even sure if there's any left for this weekend, lol.

Anyway, to celebrate, I have swatches of 2 of the polishes from China Glaze's Colours from the Capitol (or Capitol Colors)!  Here are Dress Me Up and Luxe and Lush.

please excuse the boo-boo on my ring finger

Dress Me Up is a dusty brownish rose creme polish.  I hadn't originally thought to get this one.  But after seeing swatches, I thought it looked pretty.  Though nothing too special, it's still a nice nude color and perfect for work!  This color is meant to represent District 8 from The Hunger Games, which specializes in textiles.  The formula was great on this one, and it applied really well!  This is two coats.

And then I decided to try adding Luxe and Lush, to try and jazz it up!

Luxe and Lush, as you can see, is a flakie.  White iridescent flakes that flashes orange, green, blue, pink, you name it...the color depends on the polish underneath.  This was one of the ones I was excited about when I first heard that a Hunger Games collection was coming out.  But when I saw swatches, I was underwhelmed.  I decided to get it anyway, after seeing a pretty good swatch somewhere (can't remember now).  Though I love flakies, I'm not as much in love with this one.  I still like it, but it's more work.  This is one coat, but I had to maneuver the flakies to get a good scattering of them.  I think it looks nice with Dress Me Up, though.  This polish is supposed to represent District 1, which specializes in Luxury.

I have 3 more polishes from this collection, so hopefully I'll get to swatch them all this weekend, and post one every day in celebration of opening weekend. :]  But for now, I leave you with this:

I wore this ring today without thinking anything other than it would go with my outfit.  But then, when I got bored in class and started fiddling with it, I realized that it reminded me of the Mockingjay on the cover of the book, on Katniss' pin.  I'm definitely gonna wear this when I go watch it, now! :]

HAPPY HUNGER GAMES!

Jesse's Girl Julie G Collection (Part 2) - Beauty Guru, Girl's Night Out, Stilletto

Look what I have!  More swatches of the Julie G collection! :)  These are the other 3 polishes that I got from this collection. (You can see the first 3 swatches here.)

First up is Beauty Guru:

in the shade, natural light

in sunlight

This is a dusty orange creme that is still quite bright, if that makes any sense.  Love this color!  And I don't own anything like it, so it's a great addition to my collection.  The formula and application was terrific!  Applied 3 coats + Seche Vite top coat.

Next is Girls Night Out:

in the shade, natural light

in sunlight

This is a straight-up-blue creme that is gorgeous.  Again, don't own anything like it.  I have a lot of teals and a few navys, but no blues like this.  This one also had a great formula and great application!  Applied 3 coats + Seche Vite.

And finally, we have Stiletto:

in the shade, natural light

in sunlight

in sunlight

This is a taupe color with subtle shimmer, creating a gorgeous polish that is work safe.  Since I'm now job hunting, I am always on the look out for colors that are pretty yet wearable in a professional setting.  If you're looking for something like that, I definitely recommend checking this color out!  This one also had terrific formula and application!  Applied 3 coats + Seche Vite.

Overall, I'm loving the Julie G Collection.  The colors are pretty and the formula and application are great!  I only had problems with All Things Girly, with it coming out streaky, but otherwise love it.  Fashion Friday and Stiletto are my favorites out of the bunch, which is funny cuz I wasn't going to pick those up initially.  Glad I did!

All swatches are 3 coats of polish and 1 coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Jesse's Girl Julie G Collection is LIMITED EDITION.  It retails for $3.99, which is $1 more than regular Jesse's Girl polishes.  This collection is EXCLUSIVE to Rite Aid.

Do you have any favorites from the Julie G Collection?

Jesse's Girl Julie G Collection (Part 1) - All Things Girly, Fashion Friday, Mermaid's Lagoon

Today, I have swatches of 3 polishes from the Jesse's Girl Julie G Collection.  I was super excited when I heard that Julie G would be collaborating with Jesse's Girl to release her own nail polish collection.  In case you don't know, Julie is a beauty guru on YouTube and a nail polish lover, creating makeup tutorials as well as nail tutorials.  She was one of the first gurus I subscribed to, when I started my makeup adventure, and I think she's great!

There are 8 colors in this collection, and all were created by Julie personally.  Each color and the name of each have meaning, which Julie talks about in her video.  Though all the colors are pretty, I only walked away with 6 out of the 8.  I didn't get Party Dress, because I don't usually wear red, and Cupcake, because I feel like I have that color already.  Anyway...I actually only wanted two at first: Beauty Guru and All Things Girly.  But after looking at swatches, I decided I liked other ones too, lol.

First up, All Things Girly:

in the shade

in the sun

This was one that looked absolutely gorgeous to me, when I first saw Julie's video revealing her collection.  It is a nice peachy creme color.  Unfortunately, I didn't love it so much on me.  My nails did not want to play nice with this polish, and I ended up with streaky polish on.  It did kind of even out after I applied Seche Vite as a top coat.

Next is Fashion Friday:

in the shade

in the sun

Fashion Friday was not even on my radar, when I first saw this collection.  But after seeing some swatches, I changed my mind.  And I'm glad I did, because now I love it!  It's a bright magenta purple creme, and I think it's gorgeous.  I don't usually gravitate towards this type of color, so I don't own anything like it, but I may need to rethink which colors I pick up, haha!  The formula and application with this one was great!  No problems here!

Last, but not least, Mermaid's Lagoon:

in the shade

in the sun

trying to capture the shimmer

Mermaid's Lagoon was another one that I thought was pretty, but didn't plan on picking up.  I wasn't going to get this because it's a bright teal color that I feel I've seen a lot, and also own a lot of.  BUT, as I saw in several swatch pictures, it has hidden golden shimmer which makes it different!  The shimmer gives it extra depth, and makes it that much prettier.  The formula and application with this was okay.

All swatches are 3 coats of polish and 1 coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Jesse's Girl Julie G Collection is LIMITED EDITION.  It retails for $3.99, which is $1 more than regular Jesse's Girl polishes.  This collection is EXCLUSIVE to Rite Aid.

What do you think of this collection? Have you picked up any colors?