Julep Sienna - www.julep.com

Julep Sienna has been out for a while, but since the August Maven box's theme is Metallics & Chromes, Sienna was offered in one of the boxes alongside some of the new polishes released this month. It wasn't in the box I chose this month, but I added it on for $4.99 and it shipped seperately. I have all sorts of gold metallics, foils, chromes... You name it, but the photos I've seen of this intrigued me. It seemed almost like a silver/gold hybrid. It's a foil finish, but it's a very fine foil, so it's got great reflective qualities and is a real eye-catcher, so I'm happy I got it. Especially considering I didn't have to pay the $14 I'd have paid at Sephora. Honestly, I probably just wouldn't have bought it at all if I couldn't have gotten it at the price I did. However, for the price it's a great polish. It's got a nice texture and I had perfect coverage at two coats. 

My August Maven box, as I said, shipped seperately, but I will post about it when it arrives. I ordered the American Beauty this time which had a rose gold chrome and a gunmetal chrome with gold shimmer, so we'll see how that goes. 

If you're interested in reading more about the Julep Maven program, you can do that here. 

If you'd like to join the Maven program and get your intro box for one penny (free shipping included!) Click here and don't forget to use code COLOR2012! (this is a referral link. Referrals help you to earn free months of the Maven service. If you click, thank you! And be sure to share your own referral link with your friends and you'll earn credits too)

Click for more photos...

RGB Doll - $16 at RGBcosmetics.com - 

I've been casually yearning for some RGB polishes for a long time, and so I was very pleased when the first PopSugar Must Have Bag showed up with the top two RGB polishes on my wishlist inside. It was beyond serendipitous! Then again, they're probably the two most popular RGB among everyone, so it's not such a shock. Regardless, I was stoked. 

Just really quick, if you don't know what the PopSugar Must Have Bag is, it started this July and is the newest entry into the subscription service world. The only other service I belong to is Julep, but since my blog has been happily residing on the OnSugar network since the beginning and I'm a fan of BellaSugar and several other "Sugar" sites, I felt I NEEDED to at least try out their service. It's $35 with free shipping (less if you buy more than a month at a time) and this month there was a pretty high quality custom PopSugar beach bag, $32 worth of nail polish, $48 worth of really nice lip products from Ilia, plus some really delicious KIND bars, and Body Drench scrub and lotion. I'll do a review of the bag in the next couple days, but it was pretty awesome and I'm going to keep getting the boxes in the future. 

Click to read more about Doll and see more photos...

L'Oreal Brit Invasion -limited edition - $6 at most drugstores - 

Last week I showed you pics of another polish from the L'Oreal "London Fall" collection, Tea and Crumpets. This polish, Brit Invasion, is the other that I picked up at that time. I picked up T&C because I'm always searching for The Perfect Nude Polish, and I keep thinking I've found nirvana, but something better always comes along. Or I hope it will... I picked up Brit Invasion simply because it looked sort of unique. Well, that and the name, but I think I've covered that before. 

Brit Invasion is a smoky plum, a la Chanel Paradoxal, China Glaze Jungle Queen and Essie Smokin' Hot, but it's got a little something extra. Namely a generous glaze of bronzey shimmer. The coverage is excellent, you'll only need two moderate coats and wear is pretty good. I think it's the epitome of Fall polishes, and since metallics are big this summer, it'll make a nice polish to wear during the transitional period that comes in August between Summer brights and Fall vamps. 

Nails Inc. Special Effects Sprinkles in Pudding Lane - $9.50 at sephora.com

The Sprinkles range of polishes is a relatively new one in the Nails Inc Special Effects line and they're beautiful! They consist of semi-transparent bases with a range of glitter polishes. With the rise in popularity of glitter polishes, especially those like Revlon Whimsical/Lippmann Glitter in the Air that show the glitter through the different layers of polish that give it more depth. In these cases the glitter isn't about sparkle; it's about texture, depth, and color. 

In Pudding Lane the semi-sheer medium blue-leaning aqua is filled with gold and purple (maybe it's blurple) glitter. It's surprisingly pigmented, so two coats is all you need for full-coverage, but I did use three for a little more glitter, hence the more densely speckled look you see here. This dried slightly gritty, but not nearly as bad as I expected and a coat or so of topcoat should fix things. I only used one and it's not glassy, but it's not gritty at all. I am already eyeing up the other three polishes, but can't find a great reason to justify it considering I've had two Zoya orders, a Sephora order (for this and the LORAC Pro palette which is AMAZING, btw!) plus my Julep stuff this month. I really need to get around to that blog sale...

What do you think of this polish? are you interested in any other other polishes available in this range? Let me know!

Click to see a close-up of this polish...

Zoya Carly - $8 - zoya.com - 

Just a reminder: there is still a sale at Zoya for BOGOFREE Beach & Surf polishes with the code SUMMER7 and will run through tomorrow as well. It's a great time to get some fun, bright polishes to enjoy the last month or so of summer with. 

Carly is one of the Surf polishes, so it's part of the BOGOFREE going on right now. It's berry-magenta with an intense color payoff and a very dense foil finish. It sort of reminds me of China Glaze Steppin Out, which has been discontinued for a looooong time. Wow, that photo is so old, it really takes me back, lol. Carly is a great polish, and if you're taking advantage of the BOGOFREE, I highly recommend adding it to your cart, along with Zuza which also very excellent. 

If you're interested in seeing some other Zoyas (that aren't part of the BOGOFREE) to add to your order, check out some of my Zoya swatches! 

Zoya Zuza - $8 - zoya.com - 

Before I begin, I just want to make you guys aware that Zoya will be having a BOGOFREE on Beach & Surf polishes this weekend, using the code SUMMER7. Gianna posted this info over at NouveauCheap (one of my favorite blogs!) so check that out. 

If you want to add any other polishes to justify the shipping, check out all my Zoya swatches! 

Zuza is from this summer's Surf collection by Zoya. It's a aqua with a weird blend of muted and punchy. With a creamy base and zingy silver and aqua microparticles, it's got a look that's almost textured even when you add a glossy topcoat. It's such a fun color that will be great all the way through the rest of the Summer and into the Fall since it's sort of a washed down version of the Ultramarine Green that Pantone Fashion Color Report says will be big. Incidentally, if you're looking for one, China Glaze Exotic Encounters is the epitome of Ultramarine Green polishes, going by Pantone's swatch. I'll be posting Exotic Encounters next week but google it, there are tons of pics. 

Tomorrow I'll have up Carly, which is also from Surf. I just ordered a few more polishes myself tonight: Kimber, Myrta, Shelby, Wednesday, Lara and Arizona and I'm so excited, though I just got my last Zoya order last week, haha. 

L'Oreal Tea and Crumpets - $6 at most drugstores - 

L'Oreal's new Autumn Colour Riche Nail collection, entitled London Fall, has hit the shelves, and I don't know about you, but this freakish Anglophile is doing the Arsenio Hall fist thing all up and down the drugstore aisles. I picked up two polishes from the collection, leaving the other four indignantly huffing at me from their adorable display. Don't worry girls, I'll probably be back for you later, I can't help myself. Tea and Crumpets is a creamy, fleshy beige, which sounds super boring, but there's nothing I like more than sexy nude nails. I can't wait for my nails to be ready for ovals again, this polish will look like pure sex on those bad boys. Even if T&C were less sexy, I know it will find it's way into the sentimental corner of my stash where I'll encounter it while on a purging mission and say to myself, "You can't get rid of this, it's called TEA AND CRUMPETS, you ninny!" 

The formula isn't exactly like buttah, but in three coats I got a pretty even look. I'll level with you, if it wasn't called what it is, and if it wasn't from the collection it's from, I may like it less, but I have spent a lot of money on polishes that look a heck of a lot like this, so I must really like them anyway despite what they may or may not be named. BTW, the other polish I picked up from this collection is called Brit Invasion... swatches soon. 

Minx #1 in Technical Tribal - Available at Ulta stores (not available online) - $18 for a full mani/pedi set - 

A few weeks ago Minx announced a new at-home applique called Minx #1. Unlike traditional Minx, there is no need for a heat lamp, nor a licensed manicurist to do it for you. As a manicurist, this should probably irk me, but honestly I am not the world's biggest fan of appliques in general and would prefer to do the art myself. Alas, there are just some nail looks that can't be achieved by traditional methods alone, like the quintessential Minx look: chrome. There are chrome polishes galore, but none come close to the mirror-shine of Minx. That said, I really only like these for a short-wear look; a Friday night out and the lazy weekend to follow. The original Minx is no more a long-wear product than their new at-home invention. 

Traditional salon Minx needs intense heat to "shrink-wrap" the nails. This product just needs to be stuck on, smoothed out and the excess filed of. The price is a steal considering that salon Minx will cost you north of $45 to be applied, and in this package you get enough for both a manicure and pedicure. 

The designs are just as cool as salon Minx, but they're all new, and there will be new designs launched quarterly, according to the company. 

Click for more pics and info...

You may have heard of Julep Nail Vernis at some point recently, be it on the Sephora site or one of their stores where the polishes are $14 a pop (for a .27oz bottle, whoa). Or you may have seen the name on Twitter, or Facebook, or Pinterest, jeez man that name is everywhere. I watched the Julep Mania for a few months with a jaded eye until I finally gave in. If you haven't heard the name Julep, well, it started with a salon in Seattle, then grew to include a nail polish line, and now there is a monthly subscription box where you can have a selection of these polishes delivered to your door at a much lower price than their retail stickers. 

If you'd like to join, here's a referral link if you click it, thanks in advance, that's awfully nice of you:)  (if you refer people, it counts toward getting a free month, pretty nice) Don't forget to enter your code COLOR2012 to get the intro box for a penny. There are other codes to only pay $5 and $10 but I used the penny one and it worked just fine.

You can get the gist of what's going on here on their site, or on their freakishly busy Facebook page, but here's basically what happens:

• Take a quiz about your favorite things and Julep will magick up your perfect style profile (you don't have to buy the one they choose for you)
• You pay $19.99 (or a penny if you use the code COLOR 2012, duh which one would you rather pay?) and they send you your intro box. This box at this point comes with your two colors and a fairly amazing pedi creme, or three polishes and no creme if you choose the It Girl style profile).
• If you like it, every month afterward you will have a four day period, between the 20th and 24th of each month to decide if you want to skip that month's box, or if you'd like to choose another style profile.
• If you continue past the intro box, you get billed your $19.99 for your first monthly on the 27th of the month, which is the day the box is sent out. 

Here are some interesting things to add:

• Each month has a new theme, and there are several new polishes added to the line each month, so there's nearly always something new.
• Recently they have been doing a thing where you can add on two (sometimes more) items to your box for $4.99 each (which is way cheaper than you pay at Sephora). 
• You get a 20% discount on anything that's not "new" that month in the Maven Boutique. (In my opinion the price on these items is still pretty steep, though I did purchase Taylor at retail price so who's stupid now, lol).
• Each month in addition to polish there is another product. Last month it was a lip gloss (which I really liked) and this month it is a tote bag and a polish remover in a pump.
• They always send little extras which range from files, cuticle oil, creams, to free polish vouchers, to candy, so it's sort of fun to open each month. 
• Each month tons of "Golden Boxes" get sent out randomly to subscribers and they include the polishes from every style profile box that month which is actually a pretty rad idea. 
• The customer service is very fast, very nice and very effective. 

Click to read more and see the swatches...

China Glaze Jungle Queen 

Another one of my favorites from the new China Glaze On Safari collection, Jungle Queen is one you probably should at least take a look at. Besides the fact that it's a reasonably close Chanel Paradoxal dupe, it's just plain pretty. It's slightly darker than Paradoxal but it's still got the gorgeous clay-purple base and the elusive violet shimmer, plus the formula is just better. It's more pigmented than Paradoxal and it has just a bit more staying power... at least it did on me. I still LOVE Paradoxal, but I'll probably hang on to Jungle Queen. Because, you know, I'm nuts like that. 

PS I'm probably going to do another blog sale soon, I am absolutely out of room in all my drawer units and I am absolutely unwilling to buy another one, so I went through my polishes and will probably be putting the sale up this weekend. 

Click for more pics...