Julep Cocktail Glam Winter Collection Swatch & Review

HEY PEEPS! I was hoping to do an indie swatch post today, but my mailman hates me (the feeling's mutual right now). So, since I don't have any indies to swatch , how bout some long over-due Julep swatches to tide us over till then? Well, let's get to it! Here's Julep's Cocktail Glam Winter Collection, yeah a little late in the year but I still really dig this set. I won it in the Fashion Bug From Florida's Facebook flash giveaway about a month ago, pretty sweet right? I've been wanting to write a post on this collection since I got it, but really didn't feel comfortable doing so till I got some photographing advise.


First up is Sharon. Julep describes it as a "dark, bold red shimmer". It reminds me of garnets, I love it! There's 2 polishes in this collection I was dying to have, and this is one of them :)  Besides Julep's Cocktail Glam Winter Collection, Sharon can be bought separately here. The formula is nice, not too thick or too thin. Coverage is good, it's opaque after one coat but I used two for complete coverage. Julep's brushes are on the slender side, which I find a little harder to work with. I like the wide brushes, makes shimmer application smoother in my opinion. The swatch below I used two coats of Sharon with 1 coat of Out The Door Top Coat...

Next up is Melissa. Besides being included in Julep's Winter Glam Collection, you can purchase Melissa separately on Julep's website here. If you're interested in becoming a Maven, it's also included in their It Girl Maven intro box. You can check it out here. Julep's description of Melissa is a "sheer opalescent shimmer adds a soft glow when used alone and a high-fashion holographic effect when used over another color". Again, the formula was nice, not too thin or too thick. Julep's polish doesn't seem to have a strong smell to it, and dry time is okay. I just hate that damn brush, and the skinny bottles are easy to tip over if you're a tard like me ;)   My photo below shows 3 coats of Melissa with a coat of Out The Door Top Coat...Love the green shimmer!

This is Kathleen. Julep describes it as a "honey-gold flecked, champagne shimmer". I am not a fan of anything bright yellow or gold, I don't think they work well with my skin tone. The one thing about Kathleen that makes me like it is the gold shimmer, I guess micro-fine gold glitter would be the accurate description. It is gorgeous, and I caught myself staring at my nails quite a bit while I rocked Kathleen. Again, the formula of this one is awesome, I just hate Julep's slim brush :(  Am I the only one that hates their brushes? Seems to make application a pain in the ass for me, maybe it works better applying cremes? Kathleen is still an awesome shade, but I do think it would look better on someone with a darker, less yellowish skin tone. If you're interested in trying Kathleen, it can be purchased separately on their site here, or get it with the Julep Maven Bombshell intro box by signing up here.

And now I'm gonna tell you other reason I wanted to win this collection so bad...O' Canada! It was released back in July along with America. Maven's received one or the other as a bonus depending on their location. If you're interested in purchasing it separately you can do so here. I love the small iridescent glitter and the medium red hex glitters. It's the perfect addition to Julep's Winter Glam Collection! Unfortunately it was the hardest of all to get decent swatches of. Also, the formula is extremely thick and goopy which made it rather difficult to smooth out, but it did make it a bit easier to place the red hexes where I wanted them. When I use this polish, I find myself letting it dry just enough it's not sticky, then smoothing out the lumpy stuff with the tip of my finger. Then I have to add at least 2 coats of top coat to get it as smooth and shiny as I want it. I'm a little OCD-ish about the smoothness of my nails, so that adds to my frustration. But, it's so pretty I can't help but love it! Here's a swatch of O' Canada! over 2 coats of Sharon...

Like I said, I had a horrible time trying to get a decent photo to show y'all :(  So, I got frustrated and decided to try O' Canada! over a lighter shade. The photo shows 2 coats of O' Canada! over 2 coats of Maybelline Color Show Green With Envy in natural light (please ignore my silly accent nail)...

Now here's the last polish in the collection. Hilary is described by Julep as a "full-coverage copper multidimensional glitter". If you're interested, Hilary can be purchased separately here, or if you're a Maven you can get it with the December Bombshell box here. The base isn't clear, more like a brown jelly, and the multidimensional glitters are gorgeous! I decided to try it over Kathleen. I'm glad this came in the set, it transformed Kathleen into something semi-wearable for me :) To be so packed with glitter, this one is not as thick as O' Canada, which made it a lot easier to work with. I used 2 coats of Hilary and 2 coats of topcoat for the swatch below...

 

So there you have it. Julep's Cocktail Glam Winter Collection is a pretty awesome set. I love all of them except Kathleen, but I decided I do like it under Hilary and I may implement it in some future nail art. Regularly $70, this set is a great buy right now at $34. If you're interested in trying it out yourself you can do that here. Julep's 4-free formula is okay, some are harder to work with than others but beauty is pain right? Overall I'm pleased with this collection, but I do have some gripes...That damn skinny brush! I read a lot of reviews, and opinions always vary when it comes to wide brushes vs. slim brushes. It's all a matter of personal opinion, and mine is the damn skinny brushes need to go! It wont keep me from purchasing Julep in the future though. Another thing that I dislike is the skinny bottles. I'm a clumsy oaf who's known to tip bottles over and the slender design of Julep's bottles make it even more precarious than normal. You don't get much polish for the price either. Julep's bottles are .27 fl oz, versus the .5 fl oz bottles I'm used to. In all fairness though, it doesn't take much to achieve the desired opaqueness. Now I don't feel good about closing my post on a gripe session, so here's some of the things I loved about getting Julep's Cocktail Glam Winter Collection...The packaging. It's a little pricey, but Julep packages are always adorable from what I've seen. Gives each Julep package a little personal touch, I like that. Here's how this box was packaged...

Cute huh? I like the shreds of colored paper and the Pedi Cream sample is really good, just wish they would've stuck 2 packs in there. Did anyone else who got the Pedi Creme sample notice there's only enough to do one foot? Lmao, I guess that's why it's a sample but still...I'd rather had enough to do both feet or none at all. So, what's your opinions on Julep? Are you a Maven? Like 'em, love 'em, or hate 'em? Let me know in the comment section if ya want to...mmmkay?