Dupes: Julep "Nellie" and butterLONDON "Queen Vic"

Hello guys and happy Saturday!  Today's nail polish is actual a comparison of Julep's "Nellie" and butterLONDON's "Queen Vic."  Will they be dupes or just similar - you decide!  Here's how they stacked up next to each other in the bottles:

As you can see they looked pretty similar in the bottle.  Next I applied two coats of each polish to my nails.  Julep's "Nellie" is on my middle and pinky fingers while butterLONDON's "Queen Vic" is on my pointer and ring fingers.  Both had a nice formula and applied well.  However once on the nail it became clear that they are not dupes and just similar.  butterLONDON's "Queen Vic" a darker berry color while Julep's "Nellie" was more of a true fuchsia.

If you want to know more about Julep's "Nellie" or butterLONDON's "Queen Vic" check out my previous posts!

Overall these two nail polishes are both gorgeous and perfect for the Autumn/Winter seasons however they are not true dupes.  I plan to keep both in my collection as they are so pretty and look great with my skin tone!

Make sure you follow the blog on Instagram and twitter @PerfPolished12 to keep up with my nail polish adventure!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Julep "Courtney"

Hey all and happy Thursday!  Today's nail polish is Julep's "Courtney" which was actually the 500th bottle of nail polish I added to my collection a couple of years back.  My collection now houses around 900 bottles (not including the ones that have been donated or dried out.)

"Courtney" is a really pretty Spring green color that always makes me happy!  Formula wise this nail polish was fairly good though it leaned slightly to the thicker side.  After two coats "Courtney" was fully opaque and had only one visible streak mark.  As for chipping, I was able to wear "Courtney" for four days before there were some small tip chip.

Overall I really like Julep's "Courtney."  The color is so lovely, it wore well and it looked nice on my nails.  You'll definitely see me rock this nail polish again soon!

Make sure you follow the blog on Instagram and Twitter too @PerfPolished12.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

China Glaze "Let's Shell-ebrate"

Hi guys!  I hope everyone survived Monday - mine was full of crazy drivers and meeting scheduling nightmares!  Today's nail polish is China Glaze's "Let's Shell-ebrate" which is part of the Shell-ebration Time mini collection.  The set looks like this:

"Let's Shell-ebrate" is a pink and purple mini glitter in a clear base.  The formula of this nail polish was thick but that actually made it easy to even spread the glitter out.  After two coats of polish, "Let's Shell-ebrate" was not opaque but it was streak free.  As with many glitters they are meant to be worn as a top coat, so I decided to test that out!

The first polish I decided to try out with "Let's Shell-ebrate" was Julep's "Nellie,"  This combination was shimmery and very happy.  I would definitely wear this combination again!

If you want to know more about Julep's "Nellie" check out my post from earlier this year!

Overall I like China Glaze's "Let's Shell-ebrate."

Be sure to follow the blog on Instagram and Twitter @PerfPolished12 to keep up with all the nail polish and fun!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Try this glitter our for yourself - it's available on Amazon (affiliate link)

Julep "Nellie"

Hi everyone and happy happy Saturday!  It was hot as the sun here today in North Carolina, and I decided to pick a bright pink to go with the weather!  Today's nail polish is Julep's "Nellie."

"Nellie" is a gorgeous fuchsia colored nail polish.  Formula wise "Nellie" was watery but as long as I wiped the brush well it was not difficult to apply.  After two coats, the polish was entirely opaque and had no visible streak marks.  In terms of chipping, I was able to wear "Nellie" for five days before there were some small tip chips.

If you want to see more of Julep's "Nellie" check out my Half Moon Mani from earlier this year!

Overall I really like Julep's "Nellie."  I love the color of this nail polish and how on I was able to wear this polish on my nails.  I can't wait to wear "Nellie" again.  (Also does it remind any one else of Little House on the Prairie?)

Be sure to follow the blog on Instagram and Twitter too @PerfPolished12.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Bunde Monster Plate BM-XL358: Gold Geometric

Hi everyone and happy Sunday.  Today's nail polish is actually some stamping nail art!  I decided to try out Bundle Monster's stamping plate BM-XL358.  The plate is called Gypsy Soul and it looks like this:

The stamping pattern I used is in the top right corner.  To create this design I used Julep's "Bess" as the base polish, which is a gorgeous sky blue.  Then I used Bundle Monster Color's "Heart Of Gold" along with Bundle Monster's clear stamper to place the look on my nails.  I finished the design with a quick drying top coat - my favorite one to use is Orly's "Sec'N'Dry."  The polishes look like this in the bottle:

Bundle Monster Color's "Heart Of Gold" and Julep's "Bess."

If you want to know more about Julep's "Bess" check out my post from earlier this year or if you'd rather see some other nail art using plate BM-XL358 check out my Gem Nails.

Overall I am really pleased with how this nail art turned out.  It was fun and Summery and I got a ton of compliments from people over this design.  I will definitely wear this design again!

Be sure to follow the blog on Instagram and Twitter @PerfPolished12 to keep up with all the fun!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Julep "Bess"

Hi guys and happy Sunday!  Today's nail polish is Julep's "Bess."  This nail polish came as part of a duo set called Tarheel March Madness, which was made for the basketball tournament. (The annual March Madness basketball tournament is over 60 university's competing to see who has the best team.  This year the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Tarheels won, which means we have bragging rights until next year's tourney!)

"Bess" is a gorgeous sky blue, or as we call it in North Carolina, Carolina blue.  Formula wise this polish was watery but I found that as long as I wiped the excess polish off the brush then it was easy enough to apply.  After two coats, "Bess" was completely opaque and streak free, which was fantastic!  In terms of chipping, this polish was four days before there were a couple of chip marks.

Overall I like Julep's "Bess."  The color is gorgeous and it wore on my nails really well.  The only thing I would change about this nail polish is to make the formula slightly less watery.  However overall this polish is nice and I definitely wear it on a regular basis!

If you want to see some UNC Nail Art or learn about the other polish in this duo, Julep's "Bunny" check out my post from previous years.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

June Nail Art: Half Moon Mani

Hello everyone!  I can't believe we are halfway through June!  2017 is really flying by and before we know it Christmas will be here again.  Today's nail polish is actually some nail art!  I decided to try out the Half Moon Mani that was so popular a while back.  (And let'snot laugh too hard at my terrible fail!)

To create this simple look I used tow nail polishes: Sinful Colors "YOLO Yellow" and Julep's "Nellie."  They look like this:

Julep's "Nellie" and Sinful Colors "YOLO Yellow"

I started out by painting my nails with Sinful Colors "YOLO Yellow."  Once my nails were dry I place the Avery Reinforcement Labels on my nails, which looked like this:

I them proceeded to paint the area beneath the Reinforcement Label with Julep's "Nellie" to create the final look.  I also applied a coat of Orly "Sec N' Dry" to seal in the look.

Overall all this was a very cute look and it was surprisingly easy to do!  I would definitely be willing to wear this nail art again and try it wit several different color combinations!  And maybe next time it'll turn out better.

Be sure to follow the blog on Instagram and Twitter @PerfPolished12 to keep up with all the fun!

Thanks fr reading my blog!  :)

December 2016 Dupe Post

Hi all!  I realized that it has been a while since I did a dupe/comparison post.  So today I am fixing that by comparing Julep's "Bess" and Rimmel London's "Too Cool To Tango."  Here's how the bottles look next to each other:

As you can see Julep's "Bess" and Rimmel London's "Too Cool To Tango" are not true dupes but they are very similar.  Rimmel London's "Too Cool To Tango" is just the tiniest bit darker than Julep's "Bess."  Both nail polishes apply similarly and were opaque after two coats.  The main difference is that Julep's "Bess" costs $14 (USD) a bottle while Rimmel London's "Too Cool To Tango" retails for around $5 (USD) a bottle.

Overall I had a lot of fun comparing these two nail polishes.  If I had to pick between the two I'd probably go with Julep's "Bess" because it is just the tiniest bit lighter.  However I will probably wear both nail polishes again!

I've already done a post on Rimmel London's "Too Cool To Tango" so be sure to check it out!

Be sure to follow the blog on Instagram and Twitter @PerfPolished12 to keep up with all the nail polish-y fun!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Fave Polishes of 2015!

Hi everyone and happy end of 2015!  I cannot believe that this year will be over in just a few hours! It feels like I blinked and 2015 flew by!  To celebrate the end of the year I decided to put together a list of my favorite nail polishes that I tried out this year!  (The polishes are in no particular order!)

1. Nails INC's "Tate":

For more about Nails INC's "Tate" check out my post from earlier this year here.

2. Sally Hansen's Triple Shine "Pink Coconut":

For more about Sally Hansen's "Pink Coconut" check out my post from earlier this year here.

3. Essie's Pinking About You":

For more about Essie's "Pinking About You" check out my post from earlier this year here.

4. Nicole by OPI's "Sweet Daisy":

For more about Nicole by OPI's "Sweet Daisy" check out my post from earlier this year here.

5. Ciaté's "Strawberry Milkshake":

For more about Ciaté's "Strawberry Milkshake" check out my post from earlier this year here.

6. Formula X for Sephora's "Starfish":

For more about Formula X's "Starfish" check out my post from earlier this year here.

7. Claire's "Ducks In A Row":

For more about Claire's "Ducks In A Row" check out my post from earlier this year here.

8. Zoya's "Rooney":

For more information about Zoya's "Rooney" check out my post from earlier this year here.

9. China Glaze's "Stoked To Be Soaked":

For more about China Glaze's "Stoked To Be Soaked" check out my post from earlier this year here.

10. Sinful Colors "Under 18":

For more about Sinful Colors' "Under 18" check out my post from earlier this year here.

11. Julep's "Nan":

For more about Julep's "Nan" check out my post from earlier this year here.

12. OPI's "Lunch At The Delhi":

For more about OPI's "Lunch At The Delhi" check out my post from earlier this year here.

13. butter LONDON's "West End Wonderland":

For more about butterLONDON's "West End Wonderland" check out my post from earlier this month: here.

14. Nails INC's "Prince's Garden":

For more about Nails INC's "Prince's Garden" check out my post from earlier this year here.

15. Piggy Polish's "Vincent's Stars":

For more about Piggy Polish's :Vincent's Stars" check out my post from earlier this year here.

16. Beautifully Disney's "You Wish":

For more about Beautifully Disney's "You Wish" check out my post from earlier this year here.

17. Sinful Shine "Skinny Dipping":

For more about Sinful Shine's "Skinny Dipping" check out my post from earlier this year here.

18. Rimmel London's "Mind The Gap, Victoria":

For more about Rimmel London's "Mind The Gap, Victoria" check out my post from earlier this year here.

19. Julep's "Kimberly":

For more about Julep's "Kimberly" check out my post from earlier this year here.

20. Sally Hansen's Sugar Shimmer "Berried Under":

For more about Sally Hansen's "Berried Under" check out my post from earlier this year here.

Overall I tried out quite a lot of nail polishes and these were my top picks for 2015!  I settled on twenty polishes but honestly I tried a lot more fantastic polishes!  I hope everyone has a wonderful new year and I look forward to another year of great nail polishes!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :) 

Julep "Nan"

Hi guys!  It's the middle of September and all the leaves are changing colors and it is very pretty!  So to celebrate the pretty Autumn leaves today's nail polish is Julep's "Nan."  Also sorry this post is a few days later than I meant!  I went to the mountains and there was no wifi or cell signal!

"Nan" is a dusty terracotta orange colored polish.  Formula wise "Nan" is fantastic and extremely easy to apply.  After two coats the polish was completely opaque and streak free.  As for chipping I was able to wear "Nan" for four full days before there were some minor tip chips.

Overall I am very pleased with Julep's "Nan."  Everything about this nail polish is fantastic and I received several compliments while wearing it.  So I definitely plan on wearing it again very soon!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Julep "Bunny"

Hi everyone!  While it is still Summer and acceptable to wear white I decided to pull out a white nail polish to brighten up nails!  So today's nail polish is Julep's "Bunny."

"Bunny" is a bright white polish with a minor gold shimmer in it.  Formula wise "Bunny" is watery and it is a bit difficult to apply.  After two coats of nail polish "Bunny" was completely opaque and streak free.  However because of the watery formula the polish was pretty thick on my nails and it had a hard time drying!  In fact I struggled so much that I ended up only wearing "Bunny" for a few hours before removing it.

Overall I am disappointed with Julep's "Bunny."  The watery formula made it difficult to apply, thick coats of polish and it took an eternity to dry!  Basically the color is pretty and that's it.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Nails INC "Prince's Garden"

Hi everyone!  I hope everyone has enjoyed their Sunday!  I had picked this nail polish out a few weeks ago to prepare to celebrate the new royal baby, I guessed Prince, but instead it is a Princess.  But regardless I am thrilled about a new royal baby so to celebrate, today's nail polish is Nails INC's "Prince's Garden."

"Prince's Garden" is part of Nails INC's Special Effect collection and is a multi-sized glitter polish,  There is very fine glitter in white and larger glitter pieces in lime green, white, silver, and sky blue.  It is very pretty and was surprisingly easy to apply.  I decided to test "Prince's Garden" on a couple of creme polishes.

The first combination I tried was "Prince's Garden" over Ciaté's "Sugar Plum."  The combination of pastel colors screams Spring and looked great on my nails!

If you want more information on Ciaté's "Sugar Plum" here's a post from March: http://perfectlypolished12.blogspot.com/2015/03/ciate-sugar-plum.html

The second combination I tried was "Prince's Garden" over Julep's "Bess."  With the sky blue background it made it difficult to see the blue glitter, which really took away from how pretty "Prince's Garden" is.

The third and final combination I tried was "Prince's Garden" over Nicole by OPI's "Live In The Momentum."  The dark blue base color made the glitter pop and it was super pretty!  This was my all time favorite of the combinations I tried.

Overall I really like Nails INC's "Prince's Garden."  The formula is nice and easy to apply and it looks great on a variety of different colored nail polishes!  "Prince's Garden" will definitely

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Julep "Kimberly"

Hi all!  With Spring brings all sorts of birds and each year in North Carolina the birds lay nests all over.  So to celebrate the birds I pulled out an eggshell polish!  So today's nail polish is Julep's "Kimberly."

"Kimberly" is the most gorgeous lavender nail polish with black glitter mixed in to create an eggshell look.  Formula wise "Kimberly" is fantastic and super easy to apply!  After two coats "Kimberly" was completely opaque and had no visible streak marks.  As for chipping "Kimberly lasted four days before I saw some minor chips.

Overall I am very pleased with Julep's "Kimberly."  Everything about "Kimberly" is great from the color to the formula to how long it lasted before chipping.  This nail polish will definitely be getting worn a lot more often!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Easter 2015 Nail Art

Hi everyone and happy almost Easter!  Since it is almost Easter I thought I would do a fun Easter Egg nail art to celebrate!  Growing up the Easter Egg hunt was always my favorite part!  The fun thing about Easter Eggs is that each egg is different and you can go as easy or as difficult of a nail art as you want!

To do this nail art I used nine nail polishes.  (Holy cow that's a lot of polishes!)  Here they are all lined up:

Now I'm going to break down each nail since I think that'll be the easiest way to explain how I did them.  However I started out each nail the same and that was with two coats of Finger Paint's "Dream I Can Fly" to create the sky background.  Then I added the eggs.

First up is my pointer finger and ring finger.  (Since they are similar I've decided to put them together.)  For my pointer finger I used Nicole by OPI's "Live In The Momentum" as the royal blue egg color and for my ring finger I used China Glaze's "Stoked To Be Stoked" as the bright orange egg color.  On both of these nails I used dotting tools to add the polka dots and stripes.  The polka dots and stripes are done in Julep's "Bunny."

Next up is my middle finger which has a nice simple sold color Easter Egg with glitter on top.  For the base color I used OPI's "50 Is The New Fabulous" and the glitter is Sephora Formula X's "Over The Moon."

The last finger is my pinky finger which has the simplest Easter Egg of all!  For this nail I used Julep's "Kimberly" which is a purple polish that has black glitter in it to create an eggshell look.

To finish out my Easter Egg nails I applied Maybelline's "Lime Accent" to the tips of my nails to create the look of grass.

I love this Easter Egg nail art because you don't have to be great with nail art to do it!  You can do complicated designs on the eggs, simple glitter, or find glittery or textured polishes to create eggs.  Also each egg can be a slightly different size and oval shape and still look great!

If you want more information about the polishes I have already reviewed on my blog here they are:

OPI's "50 Is The New Fabulous": http://perfectlypolished12.blogspot.com/2015/02/opi-50-is-new-fabulous.html

Formula X's "Over The Moon": http://perfectlypolished12.blogspot.com/2015/02/sephora-formula-x-over-moon.html

I hope everyone enjoyed my Easter Egg nail art!  Thanks for reading my blog and have a fabulous Easter!  :)

Nail Art: March Madness!

Hi guys and happy March Madness 2015!  Every March in the United States (and mostly the Southern United States) there is a major college basketball tournament to see who will take the title.  In North Carolina we have two major teams that compete, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC Tarheels) and Duke University (Blue Devils).  In my house only one team is worth anything and that's UNC.  So I decided to do a nail art featuring the UNC logo.

To start off the UNC logo is an N and a C combined together so it is pretty simple to do.  UNC's school colors are a sky blue (known in North Carolina as Carolina blue) and white.  I actually lucked out on finding the perfect colors because last year Julep sold duo sets featuring many college teams colors.  The polish names are Julep's "Bess" (blue) and Julep's "Bunny" (white).  The bottles look like this:

To do this very simple nail art I first applied a base coat (Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in "Invisible") and then on my pointer, middle, and pinky finger I applied two coats of Julep's "Bess."  Then I applied two coats of Julep's "Bunny" to my ring finger.  After giving my nails time to dry I used a dotting tool to first apply the C and then to apply the N in Julep's "Bess."  The dotting tools look like this and were purchased on Amazon:

To finish off my nails I applied a good coat of Orly's "Sec'N'Dry" which is a quick drying top coat.

Overall I think my March Madness nail art turned out great and it is a fun way to represent my favorite team!  This nail art can easily be changed to represent any school and I can also wear this during football season not just during the basketball tournament.

Thanks for reading my blog and may the best college basketball team win!  :)

Julep "Leah"

Hi guys!  So now that Autumn is in full swing and the leaves have started to change and the weather has gotten cold I am already dreaming on next Spring when the weather warms back up!  So today I decided to pull out a Springtime nail polish and pretend that Winter is over (before it even starts!)  Today's polish is Julep's "Leah."

"Leah" is a gorgeous grass green polish that has a very faint shimmer to it!  It reminds me of Spring when everything turns green and comes back to life!  Formula wise "Leah" is good and it was very easy to apply.  After two coats of polish "Leah" was completely opaque and only had a couple of minor streak marks, which was probably because of the faint shimmer.  As for chipping "Leah" lasted for about a day before it started to nick and chip, which was definitely disappointing.

Overall I like Julep's "Leah."  The color is so pretty, the formula is nice and I am always happy when a nail polish is opaque after two coats of polish!  However it was disappointing that "Leah" chipped so quickly!  I will probably give Julep's "Leah" another chance and see if it chips as easily the next time around.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)