Collection: Julep 2017 Summer, June “Bask In the Heat”

I didn’t realize it before, but I really ended up with a lot of the shades from Julep’s June 2017 collection: Elsie, Kaitlyn, Marisol, and today’s polish, Signe. I’m only missing Fran, a hot red cream, and Jaydra, a sheer pink-mauve holographic. Think I’ll have to pick them up along the way; Julep has a tendency to discontinue shades (“back in the vault,” as they like to call it), though they do bring them back on occasion.

Signe is described as a “Red-Hot Coral Shimmer.” I have to warn you that this shade actually photographs brighter than it looks in real life. It’s still quite vibrant, but it’s not so fully saturated as it appears in my swatches.

I also find that it pulls more orange than coral-pink, at least on my hands. This is disappointing, as I hoped for the picture color! But on me in actuality, it’s a reddish-orange, like a persimmon, with gold shimmer. It’s still pretty, but it’s not what I expected. Worse, the photos really make it look quite different!

Julep’s brush is very nice: a little wide, a little paddle-shaped, and really well-sized for my smaller nails.

The gold shimmer is very pretty, though the polish does dry to a slightly matte finish. I did find that if I put a coat of shiny top coat over it (I used SinfulColors’ SinfulShine), it made the finish shiny but also toned down the gold shimmer quite a lot.

The polish formula was also on the thicker side, and I had a little trouble with it. It would catch my cuticles (you can see this on my index and middle fingers), so in the end I just left a gap (on the other two fingers). Coverage was also not very even, which is annoying considering the thickness of the polish!

Overall, Signe’s a bit of a dud. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re looking for this shade specifically, and are willing to go sans top coat to keep the shimmery gold effect.

•••••

Julep Nail Color* retails for US$14 ($11.40 for subscribed Mavens) and contains 8 mL. However, they very often go on sale for around $5–7. Julep nail polishes are vegan and free of toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and camphor. They are made in the USA.

Julep Beauty, Inc.* was founded in 2007 by business executive Jane Park. It started as a chain of nail salons in the Seattle, WA, area; by 2008, the company was online. The Julep Maven subscription service was launched in 2011. The company is cruelty-free, its products are made in the USA, and it remains based in Seattle, WA, USA.

* referral links
** Nail Colors are vegan; other cosmetic products are not necessarily vegan.