REVIEW of Julie G Nail Color in Shimmer Island With SWATCHES

Hello my archipelago of faithful readers,

OK, I know that one was a stretch. Anyway, this is the last Julie G polish I have to review for you (unless I go out to Rite Aid and get a few more of them). I know I haven't really had many nice things to say about these polishes in the past but Shimmer Island was a nice change from the two creme polishes I tried. I'm not saying that it's inspired me to go out and stock up on Julie G polishes but I might think about picking up some more of the unconventional shades the next time I go to Rite Aid (whenever that is).

Color: Julie G Shimmer Island is a yellow green foil polish. I hemmed and hawed over how to categorize the finish and I've decided to go with a foil. Really, it reminds me a lot of Zoya Seraphina and a little of Revlon Carbonite. I'm not sure if it's a true foil or more of a flakie/foil/glitter hybrid. The first layer appears to be more of a flakie where small flakes of glitter are suspended in a sheer green-tinted base. As you build up the layers it appears more like a foil or a glitter. I definitely want to try this as a top coat. The color reminds me of Tinkerbell or Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. It has the light springy, grassy green quality. Sometimes the polish appears more like a true green and sometimes it seems to be more like a gold polish with a slight green tint. It can look a bit more textured like Revlon Carbonite or Butter London Wallis or it can look more like a glitter or foil with little flecks of sparkle depending on how it catches the light. I find that in brighter lighting conditions it looks more like a foil or glitter polish and in the shade under dimmer lighting it appears to have more of that Revlon Carbonite look.

Formula: The formula is on the thinner side as the polish consists of glitter suspended in a very thin transparent base as opposed to glitter suspended in a creme polish. 

Application: The first coat applied smoothly. This isn't a polish that is really going to drag as it's a very thin base with a glitter suspension so it's almost like applying a thin top coat. It is very sheer though. The second coat also applied smoothly but while it was very shimmery it was far from opaque. At three coats, the polish was still not fully opaque so I added a fourth coat. With the fourth coat, the polish still wasn't fully opaque but it looked fine because of all the shimmer. I think it came across better than Seraphina (you'll remember that I had issues with how sheer that polish was) because it seemed more like a thin, sheer polish than a patchy one. Shimmer Island applied very evenly so the sheerness seemed intentional.
Wear: I only wore this polish for a few days. Maybe three or four. I'm still disconnected from my laptop so I can't be certain. It was relatively easy to remove for a glitter though those little pieces of glitter were impossible to get off. It's two manicures later and I still have one or two pieces of glitter stuck to my nails. It really is the herpes of art supplies. I might use glue as a base coat if I wore this again.

CONCLUSION: It really is a very pretty polish. I got lots of compliments on it on the few days I was wearing it. I would say that if the idea of a Tinkerbell/Tiana polish appeals to you, go ahead and get Julie G Shimmer Island. It's only $4 at Rite Aid and it applies nicely if you don't mind the sheerness. So far it is the only Julie G polish that I've tried that I can say that I genuinely liked.

SWATCHES

REVIEW of Julie G Nail Color in Cabana Boy With SWATCHES

Hello chickadees,

I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this review up. I've been having issues photographing some of the polishes I've been trying lately so I attempted a bit more editing. Nothing fancy. I just used Picasa. Anyway, today I'm reviewing another one of the Julie G polishes I picked up at Rite Aid. I had a pretty bad experience with Holla-Peno so I was definitely hoping that was a fluke and that I'd have better luck with Cabana Boy as it's always nice to discover an expensive drugstore polish brand like Confetti.

Color: Julie G Cabana Boy is a medium blue creme polish. It's closest relatives are Essie Avenue Maintain and Essie Butler Please. Cabana Boy is somewhere in the middle. It's not quite a light as Avenue Maintain or as dark as Butler Please and I hesitate to call it a cornflower blue though it is a bit muted and perhaps has a bit of a purple undertone.
Formula: The formula started out smooth but by the second coat the polish started threading. (The polish started forming strings.)
Application: The first coat applied smoothly though the brush was inclined to form streaks if there wasn't enough polish on the brush. The second coat applied smoothly though the brush was still creating ridges in the polish and the polish was threading. It didn't look awful and thankfully it applied much more smoothly than Julie G Holla Peno but it was still noticeable if you were looking closely. At two coats the polish was opaque though a few spots in between brushstrokes were not filled because of the streakiness and ridges so I went back in and did a third coat on some of my nails.

CONCLUSION: I can't enthusiastically recommend this polish but if you think you have good control with polishes or if you just want to try out a cheaper blue polish before committing to more expensive brands, go ahead and try it out. The formula isn't terrible but it isn't great. If you already have a lot of blue polishes or you'd rather spend a little more for a blue with a perfect formula, I would purchase a blue polish from another brand. The color is perfectly dupe-able.

SWATCHES

REVIEW of Julie G Nail Color in Holla-Peno With SWATCHES

Hello my little chili peppers,

Guess what I have for you today... That's right! Another green polish review! If you're already tired of all the green polishes I've reviewed in the past because you don't wear green nail polish, I'm sorry, but it's a very flattering color for my skintone and I've bought a ton of green polishes so I have to get around to reviewing them. Perhaps I can tempt you to stick around by telling you that this is not just a green nail polish but the first Julie G polish I am reviewing. I've just never been attracted to any of the colors in the collection until I saw this polish reviewed on The Polishaholic. Also, they only sell this polish at Rite Aid and I have to go way out of the way to

Color: Julie G Holla-Peno is a medium green creme polish. I don't own Essie Mojito Madness but I wonder if it would be a dupe. The exact shade of green is somewhere between a bright spring green and a kelly green. It doesn't have enough yellow to be a spring green and it isn't as dark as a kelly green. It's a somewhat leafy, grassy green. I find it very flattering with the yellow undertones of my skin and demure enough to wear if you're a bit wary of louder green polishes.
Formula: I found this polish to be a little thick.
Application: Get ready for another long explanation. OK, so starting with my left hand (painting with my dominant hand), the first coat was smooth but a little sheer. I found that the polish applied a little streaky and the brush dragged a little on the thumb. When I applied the second coat I experienced more dragging. The polish wasn't very thick at this point but it would not apply evenly. By the third coat the polish was thick and threading slightly (forming threads of polish when the brush was pulled out of the bottle). The polish looked opaque at this point though under close inspection (I used a flashlight for the light test) I could see that the application was still patchy as the polish hadn't applied evenly. After I applied a layer of Seche Vite the polish looked better though it still had that slightly lumpy appearance of unevenly applied polish. Working on my right hand, the polish was thick, streaky, and difficult to even out. The polish wasn't super thick and gloopy like some of the worst polishes I've tried but it would not apply evenly and had a slightly lumpy appearance. The polish applied smoothly, without dragging but it just didn't apply evenly and it was impossible to smooth out with the brush without making matters worse.
Wear: I wore this polish for six days, experiencing the tiniest bit of tip wear but nothing that significant. If you're wondering why the nail on my middle finger looks like that, it's because I tried out a new top coat on that finger and it didn't dry properly.

CONCLUSION: This polish is very cheap. I bought my bottle at Rite Aid for $4. But even so, I can't recommend it based on the poor application. However, I do like the color so if you don't mind the poor application, I might give this polish a try if you are just looking to try out a green polish. However, if you already have a few greens in your collection, you don't need this one.

SWATCHES