So excited!! I got an email from Julep letting me know what's in my October Maven box!

I'm really excited for this hand brightener! It sounds like an interesting product.  And Brooklyn (the reddish polish) is perfect for this winter!  The description sounds so pretty! "Ruby red with a hint of festive sparkles". Well hellllooooo!!  And Dendre is definitely not like any other color I own, I'm def excited for it!

Any of my fellow Mavens get your email also? What style are you? What are you getting in your October box?

XoXo,
jess

As I mentioned in my review of Julep Alfre yesterday, I had a color in my stash that I thought was very similar.  Turns out, that color is China Glaze Avalanche.  I had bought Avalanche a few months back because I heard it was good for stamping, but hadn't used it til now.  Are Alfre and Avalanche dupes?  Not exactly.  Let's take a look.






I have Avalanche on both my index and ring fingers, and Alfre on my middle and pinky fingers.  As you can see, they're not total dupes. Avalanche is way more on the frosty side whereas Alfre is a bit more mellow in that department.  Frostiness aside, they are spot on in color and application was the same IMO (in my opinion).  As I mentioned in my review for Alfre, I do not like frosty polishes.  In fact,  these 2 colors may possibly be the only frosts I own!  But the color itself is a winner for me, which may mean you might see me giving these babies a try for a full mani.

Anyhoo, what do you think? Similar? Am I way off?

XoXo,
jess

Happy Labor Day!  Hope you guys have some good plans going on for today...here I am, still trying to figure out how to end the summer with a bang...go fig!

Anyways, here is the last of my Julep polish swatches from my sneak peak box.  This one is Alfre, and is part of Julep's Fall 2011 collection which has yet to be released.  To be honest, I really wasn't a huge fan of this color in the bottle, and it looked really familiar to me because of the fact that it's a distinguished color.  Sure enough, when I got home and looked through my polishes, I found one that is M.I.G.H.T.Y. close to Alfre. Hint: It's a China Glaze color.  I'll do a post later of my comparison.








To be honest, this actually isn't a bad color.  It's not my favorite, I'm not a fan of frosty colors, but the shade definitely is nice for the Fall. As with Julep Cameron, application was very opaque after 1 coat, but I did 2 just to even out some of the streakiness.

My camera can't really pick up the color of Alfre, but it's a frosted purple/grey, more purple than grey-toned.  No topcoat for the pictures and it's still very much shiny on it's own.  Once again, another great polish from Julep.  Not my favorite color, but hey, who has ever liked every shade of every color before?

What are your thoughts of Alfre?

Have a Happy Labor Day, guys!

XoXo,
jess

Many of you may have already heard about Julep and their Maven Program, but if you haven't, let me give you a little background.
According to Julep's site:

"We launched our new Julep Maven program to give all of our girlfriends access to the beauty editor Sneak Peek Box we create every month.  As a Julep Maven, you will have access to the hottest trends in nail color and the latest Mani Care and Pedi Care products - delivered right to your doorstep, just like the beauty editors do.  And you'll have access to these trends and products before anyone else."

I received a nail treatment, 2 polishes, a full sized glycolic hand scrub and samples of hand cream.

Nail Therapy. Dries superfast and has an almost floral juniper scent to it.

Cameron- A gorgeous pink

Alfre - one of their yet to be released Fall 2011 colors