This month's box from Julep wowed me big time. I was happy to see a designer collaboration this time, and some really good shades. Some in the collection looked dupeable to me, but the ones I got were exceptional, and pretty unique. I went for the Bombshell box this time which included Alma (the greeny yellow) and Annie (the creamy electric blue) as well as a volumizing mascara which is a new product for Julep and which I will review seperately, though I will tell you now it's better than decent, but not anything heart-stopping. I also added on Otte, which is a weird-cool camel color. This month there was the opportunity to buy the whole collection (every box) for $50 as opposed to $20 for just one, which is a really good deal if you were interested in all the colors. I passed on this option as I have shades that look comparable to the rest that were available, but they all did look pretty solid and nice. 

Before I go on to the swatches, so you know, you can join Julep Maven and get a pretty sizable discount off their website/Sephora price by opting for the monthly subscription box. I have been a member for several months now and I like it a lot, myself. You can read my review on the service here, or you can view all my Julep swatches so far here. And if you're interested in joining, you can click this link which is my referral link, and I will get credit towards my subscription if you join (or just click to join at Julep.com if you'd rather.) Don't forget you can get your first box for one penny plus free shipping with the code COLOR 2012 or PENNY. Either one I believe works. 

ALMA - "retro dijon creme" it's pretty much that with a bit of POW in it. It's pretty zingy, but it's also a little "off" and weird, which I like. The formula is pretty standard Julep; it's very. very pigmented, and dries sort of matte. 

ANNIE - "electric blue topaz creme" pretty spot-on description again. This is a super-saturated bright blue creme with a really crisp edge to it. It was opaque in one coat and dried slightly matte, so it would benefit from a nice coat of top coat. 

OTTE - "rich camel neutral creme" whatever, this would be a neutral if it were pants, but this sucker is on the warm side so caveat emptor. However, it's pretty strange and different and I can see this looking amazeballs on someone with medium to dark skin. It would look like creamy caramel on deeper mocha or cocoa skin. On me, it's sorta meh, but the color is awesome. Pigmentation was also very saturated on this one. 

Overall, this Trina Turk collaboration is a smashing success to my eyes. I hope we see more designer collaborations or even just more cohesive and on-trend monthly boxes. I felt like the August chrome stuff overall was a bit wishy-washy, though I did like some of the shades, a lot of swatches I saw made the colors and finishes seem just so-so. This month all the colors are bold, saturated and slightly "off" making them different than other similar polishes. This month the polishes all seem to stand out, even the white and black seem like really quality shades. Even the mascara was pretty good and a nice addition to the box.