Julep Jennifer: I Feel Like a Lady

I usually have bright, obnoxious colors on my nails - or dark vampy ones - but I rarely have something delicate and feminine and soft or neutral. I think those shades are kind of hard to find, though, since they depend so much on finding the perfect complement to my skintone. However, I have found a lovely soft pink that doesn't bore me or feel blah; it makes me feel ladylike. That's hard to do.

Julep Jennifer on nails; Zoya Get Even base coat, 3 coats of Julep Jennifer, one coat Zoya Armor. I needed a black base to show the color off better, so I used the fuzzy one walking around my apartment :)

Introducing, Julep Jennifer. I tried out the Maven box during the $0.01 promotion they were running during the holidays (clearly, these photos are from a long time ago, when it was cold!); my style was "American Beauty," so I got a box with Jennifer and Demi. They are both classic, timeless colors; Jennifer is this soft, milky pink, and Demi is red. I only got the one box and canceled my subscription, though. The box was nice but didn't wow me, and that $20 can go toward other, better things.

I love fingerless gloves. :D Here you can see that even with three coats, Jennifer is not completely opaque. I don't think it's meant to be, though. From afar, it looks opaque enough; up close, you can see the nail line, but it doesn't really bother me. It almost gives my nails a French tip look, and I rather like it.

Even with three coats, Jennifer is not completely opaque, but that doesn't really bother me here - I think that's the style of this polish. The formula is easy to work with and dries beautifully. I did notice some weird things going on after four or five days - it didn't exactly chip, but it was sort of cracking? - but I'm not sure if that is a result of the Zoya top coat or not. Both brands are 3-free, so I'm not sure what the issue is. I may have to try it with a different base/top coat to see, or see if I have the same problems with Demi. Since Jennifer is a really pale color, you can't really tell that it starts to crack, so it's not a huge issue, and a few days wear is decent.

One thing to mention: the bottle. Yes, it's cute, but it's square, and the cap doesn't always realign with the bottle afterward (actually, it seems that it never does). Annoying.

Julep polishes are $14, and are available online and at Sephora, though if you live in Seattle (where they are based), you can go to a Julep salon, as well. I like this color and I got it for a steal, but I don't think I'd bother. $14 could get you practically two Essie/China Glaze/Zoya polishes, and they are just as good, if not better.