Polish Review - Julep "Zoe"

Today I have a really pretty polish to share with all of you. It was one of my introductory Julep Maven box polishes for "Bombshell". I think I like it a little more than the other, since I'm not much of a pink girl, but I did need a good pink, so I'm not complaining! Julep Zoe is a really bright copper, like a brand-new penny. I wore it with the new basecoat that I also received as a Maven.

I adore the bright metallic colors, especially copper (maybe because my hair has copper highlights all through it). It reminded me at a glance of Revlon's "Copper Penny", but once I looked at the bottles (and I compared them in swatches) I realized that "Zoe" is much, much more metallic and brighter, whereas "Copper Penny" has more of a silver shimmer and is a more muted color overall.

The other nice thing about this color, besides the application (which is only the slightest bit brushstroke-y, is that is lasted pretty well, especially with the basecoat. In reference to brushstrokes, though, I should say that while I think it looks a lot more metallic, they market it as a frost.

I love this color and I think that even if I hadn't received it from Julep, it would have been on my to-buy list. It's a great copper, and very eye-catching. Squared Nails has a great swatch up with a couple of other Julep polishes. Just lovely!

A Couple of Giveaways

Hello, readers!

I have come across a couple of really nice giveaways for nail polish etc. over the last couple of weeks. The first is The Manicured Monkey which is giving away a bunch of really pretty polishes, and to celebrate their first blog-o-versary, Polishology has their giveaway still going as well:

Hurry and enter!

A Visit to a Chanel Makeup Studio - Zagreb, Croatia

This is a blog post that is ridiculously overdue, but I have wanted to take the time to do a really good post on it, so who cares if this all occurred a couple of months ago?

While I was exploring and shopping in Zagreb, I spotted a sign for Chanel. This is never a good thing. It was even worse because I had just seen swatches for Chanel Peridot, and wanted it very much. So, I was trying to find somewhere that I could buy Peridot, and this makeup studio was one of those places.

Unfortunately, I cannot read Croatian, and did not notice a sign that said that the studio had not opened yet, and that the day I decided to go in was the grand opening for journalists and bloggers and other professional types. Here is a link to one of the articles that has some lovely photos of the interior. Sooo... no makeup done that day, though they were exceptionally kind and let me try on the sample of Peridot, even though it wasn't released yet. OMG. It's so ridiculously beautiful!

Three days later I was back in Zagreb when they were open and available to the public. I was treated to a fabulous day-makeover by one of their artists, Kristina, who picked an amazing set of products, which I have listed below.

- Hydramax + Active Serum - A wonderful product; not heavy or greasy like any other moisturizer I have used. I want to get this very badly, along with...
- Hydramax + Active Gel Cream - This feels amazing, and my foundation lasted all day, feeling amazingly light. I adore this product; I finally bought the foundation (below) I tried; this will be the next product I buy.
- Demaquillant Yeux - Makeup remover; works wonderfully. Fairly inexpensive, too!

And the makeup:

- Beige Rose Pastel - Foundation - Gorgeous foundation; feels like you're wearing nothing. Nice application; lasts very well.
- Claire - Powder - This is another beautiful product that adds just a bit of hold for the foundation.
- Brun Cuivre - Eyeliner - A pencil eyeliner; almost looked like a pretty shadow once it was applied, but added a soft definition to the eyes.
- Twilight - Eyeshadow - Finally she added a pinkish eyeshadow that set off the grey-blue of my eyes very nicely.
- Purple - Mascara - Last but certainly not least for the eyes, a gorgeous amethyst-purple mascara.
- Espiegle - Blush - I am horrible about wearing blush; I have trouble finding colors that don't make me look like a clown. However, this one was perfect -- more of a peach than a pink.
- Rebelle - Lipstick - Very last but very not least, Kristina used a rich color of orange-coral-red that looked stunning as a pop of color. I love Rebelle and can't wait to own it.


While my makeup was being finished, I also had a beautiful manicure done, with Chanel's hand cream and Paradoxal. I've always wanted to see Paradoxal in person. It's beautiful -- but I was so surprised by how subtle the shimmer is! Definitely one on my want-list, however. :)

I can't believe how beautiful the whole look was. It had a wonderful summer day feel and look, and it lasted a very long time! My manicure lasted as well -- I was able to wear it all the way home a week later. Chanel's products wowed me, as did the talent of my makeup artist. Many thanks to her!

I did buy a product, though my debit card was in distress so I did not buy anything else (though now I wish I had). I did pick up Black Pearl, finally, the beautiful nail polish that was everywhere last year. They included two samples: the hydrating serum and a Rouge Coco lipstick in 05 - Mademoiselle.

I hope I can return next year; the studio is only open for one year!

Polish Review - OPI "Suzy Says Feng Shui"

Today I have one of my all-time favorite nail polishes to share with you. It's the medium blue-teal, gorgeous, stunning creme...

... Suzy Says Feng Shui, a stunningly beautiful polish with an incredibly rich depth and a beautiful, smooth application. I would wear this polish forever if I didn't get bored with everything after a day or two. :-P

It appears light blue in a lot of swatches, but it is definitely a deeper color -- it may be medium in tone, but the color looks a mile deep, and that is with only two coats! I adore this color. It has just enough of a hint of green to push it to a teal in some lighting (squee!), but not enough to be a full-out teal color.

This polish was part of the "Hong Kong" collection, which I am sure I raved about on one of my other "Hong Kong" reviews. It also is the one responsible for hooking me into nail polish and OPI.

This is a must-have polish. It looks fantastic, wears well, and packs a punch without being too bold; it's an elegant blue.

For swatches, Nikki's Nails has a nice view of the "blue" look for the polish, and All Lacquered Up catches a little of the teal.

Julep Maven - "Bombshell" Introductory Box

So... Many of you have heard of Julep, a Washington-based company that deals in manicure products. I knew about them for their nail polishes, which I had never tried but was very curious about. Recently they launched a new program called "Julep Maven", which is similar to BirchBox but consists of products that are mostly full-size, tailored to your personality profile, and include nail polishes. In spite of some of the drama that has arisen with the program's "add a friend" program, I have so far really enjoyed getting my monthly presents from Julep.

 

Pretty nice haul, isn't it? And only $20!

I got two shades of nail polish -- Samantha and Zoe, as well as a base-coat. I'll review all three eventually, but so far I have used Zoe and the base-coat, and it has adhered pretty well for five days of wear, especially through the body of the nail. 

I also received a wonderful hand-scrub and a couple samples of a glycolic SPF-laden hand creme. I like the scrub a lot and I hope it works to get my hands' skin tone back to even after the summer outside!