NOTD: Julep Sofia and Essie Absolutely Shore

I finally got around to trying Julep’s Sofia, a sheer green colour with micro glitter (so many nail polishes, too little time!). Because this colour is so transparent I layered it over Essie’s Absolutely Shore, a soft sea foam green shade, as I thought that by layering it it would make the actual colour pop.

Julep’s Sofia goes on more pigmented than I originally thought.  I used two layers over Absolutely Shore to achieve a good pigmentation of the colour.  It does, however, dry matte, which is something I absolutely hate.  If I still had a bottle of my beloved Seche Vite topcoat this wouldn’t be a problem, but I’m trying to use up my OPI Topcoat which doesn’t dry as shiny as the Seche Vite.

Overall, I thought this combo was okay.  I wouldn’t necessarily do it again.  I’ll probably try this colour again over China Glaze’s In the Lime Light (which also dries matte), maybe I’ll like it a little more a second time around.

I also want to say that Julep’s Sofia glows in the dark.  I don’t know if all Julep shades do this but I was quite alarmed when I turned off my lights to go to bed after I painted my nails and they were glowing back at me.  I haven’t read anyone else commenting on that detail when I read reviews of this polish but I guess it’s a cool effect, perfect for Halloween.

This is my first time using Julep nail polishes.  I have another one as well which I haven’t tried yet (Natasha).  The application was quite nice and I love the packaging and shape of the bottles.  In terms of colour though, I would probably skip this one.  It’s pretty in the bottle, but the fact that it dries matte and you have to layer it because it’s transparent, I dunno, that’s a con for me.  I’m sure I can find a combo that I absolutely love, but first impressions aren’t the good. I’m glad I only paid a penny for it (which also included another polish, a hand scrub, and nail file).  Julep polishes are also quite pricey compared to their counterparts.  The retails for $14 USD for 8 ml of product, whereas by comparison, OPI and China Glaze both had 14 ml of product for less money.

Have you tried Julep’s Sofia?  What were your thoughts?

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