New Julie G NEW Core Collection Shades!

While at Rite Aid, I also got a hold of the new shades Julie G has released from the core collection. There are 9 new beautiful shades! First impression of these is that they all are very Zoya-esque! Meaning that they are super shimmery, glittery, and have amazing formulas! After I started swatching, I found 3 that could serve as Zoya dupes! I'll have those pictures up after the initial swatches!

Julie G Core polishes from L to R: Obsessed, #nailsoftheday, Molten Lava, Supervillian, 

Poker Teal-er, Brady Bear, More Karats Please, Albuquerque, Pin-up Girl

This first polish is called Pin-Up Girl. It is a satin-y/metallic fuschia. The formula is pretty smooth and it applies evenly. It is a little thin, but it is buildable. (Shout out to my Cinderella hand for being decent enough to swatch on! hehe)

This polish is called Albuquerque. This is a bright orange with a golden shimmer. The formula is great - it is very smooth and easy to apply. This swatch in the photo is two coats. The nail line is still pretty visible, but I believe it can be built up. The shimmer in the sunlight is unbelieveable! 

This polish is absolutely fantastic! I didn't get too worked up on this polish initially. I figured it would be like a gold "topper" but I literally gasped when a applied this to my nail - no lie! I was completely blown away. This gold is spectacular! It's a more yellow gold than any gold that I have in my collection. The formula is solid it's completely opaque in 2 coats. I think it has one of the best formulas of this whole batch. Oh yeah, the name is More Karats Please. <drools>

The next polish is #nailsoftheday. This is a plum with gold shimmer. I think this formula was a little tricky - it ended up getting a little gloopy on my middle finger, but it smoothed out just fine. The plummy base also has a little black in it which gives it a lot more depth. Again - very Zoya-esue with the formula. It reminds me of something that was in the Zoya fall collection - India maybe? I don't have it to compare to though, so...:(

This polish is called Molten Lava. It has the same formula as #nailsoftheday, but this is a medium berry base color. It has the same beautiful golden shimmer and extra dimension. This one may be pretty close to Zoya Teigen. 

The next polish is called Supervillian. This is a sultry red with golden shimmer. This has a great formula like all the other polishes. It is a great red with dimension and depth. This is probably a dupe for a Zoya polish, but it's another one I don't have in my collection. :(

Next is Brady Bear - affectionately named after her sweet doggie Brady! This is a beautiful bright blue with golden shimmer. It is so much brighter than what it looks like in the bottle! It was almost as exciting as More Karats Please!

This is a shot of what it looks like indoors. Still a very striking blue!

I did manage to go through my Zoya collection and find something I thought was similar - and it was the much praised and much talked about Remy. Remy is such a beautiful pigmented blue. Brady Bear is just slightly lighter and brighter. It is also a lot more pigmented. The swatch is 2 coats of Remy and 3 coats of Brady bear. Both are absolutely beautiful though! 

Pictured on the pointer and ring finger: Zoya Remy. On the middle and pinky finger: Julie G Brady Bear

Just look at the shimmer on both of these polishes!! Ugh. Beautiful!! (Zoya Remy on pointer and ring. Julie G Brady Bear on middle and pinky)

This next polish is a shimmery teal dream! This is called Poker Teal-er. It has the usual amazing formula! It is a bright teal with a golden shimmer. The swatch above is in sunlight, and the below swatch is indoor lighting. Two coats will get you opaque with this one.

This polish happens to be a dead-on dupe for another Zoya polish! This is a dupe for Charla. Charla is one of the first Zoya polishes I ever bought and I love it so much! You can look at the side by side comparison below. They both have the same teal tone and shimmer.

Zoya Charla is on the pointer and ring finger and Julie G Poker Teal-er on the middle and pinky finger. This is a shot in the sunlight.  

 Here is a swatch in indoor lighting. Zoya Charla on the pointer and ring, Julie G Poker Teal-er is on the middle and pinky finger.

Last but definitely not least, Obsessed. This is a deep smoky purple with golden shimmer. It is absolutely a stunner! The shimmer just looks awesome against the dark purple!

This is a shot of Obsessed in direct sunlight.


 And once again, Obsessed is a dupe for another polish in the Zoya Ignite collection - Sansa. This is the only one that is an EXACT match - down to the way the formula applies! None of the other two were as close as these two! I get so excited when I find dupes like this! Especially for colors that are as dynamic and unique as Zoya!

Bottle shot of Julie G Obsessed and Zoya Sansa

Sunlight shot of Zoya Sansa on pointer and ring finger, Julie G Obsessed on middle and pinky,

Close-up shot of Zoya Sansa (top) and Julie G Obsessed (bottom)

Shade/indoor lighting shot. Zoya Sansa on pointer and ring finger, Julie G obsessed on middle and pinky.


This entire group of new polishes is spectacular! I always get excited for new Julie G polishes, but these were unlike anything that's ever been released from her! Overall, the formulas were consistently good - and very comparable to Zoya polishes. Some I didn't have to compare to, but they share the same glass fleck characteristics of the Ignite collection. So if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to Zoya, here you go!

Standouts for me are definitely More Karats Please and Brady Bear hands down! 

 Dupes for Zoya!

Julie G Candy Shoppe Colors Collection

Another weekend, another nail polish adventure! This weekend we set out to Shreveport to scope out our closest Rite Aid store for the newest Julie G nail polishes! And at last, we were successful! I came home with the entire Candy Shoppe collection as well as the nine new polishes from her regular nine. Today, I want to share swatches and first impressions of the Candy Shoppe Collection. I was really excited about trying out a new texture of polish. This collection features a jelly bean finish. I've seen "waxy" finishes before and they seemed pretty intriguing - so I'm glad to finally try these out!

What it looks like right in the middle of a Rite Aid adventure! hehe. Scoping out the clearance section. We had good luck the last time - but not so lucky this time!

Polishes L to R: Lollipop, Sour Grape, Pixi Stick, Sour Apple, Licorice Twist, Candy Shop, Sweet Tooth, Wild Cherry, Lemon Drop

The first polish is Candy Shop. It is an orange creme. It's a tad bit brighter in the sunlight. This is two coats, and my nail line is still visible. I think three coats would be enough to eliminate that.

This beautiful yellow creme is Lemon Drop. I think this one was a sleeper for me. I didn't expect it to be one of my favorites, but I think it's one of the nicest sunny yellows. I think the finish makes it that much prettier!

Next up is Licorice Twist. This is a light black - if that's even possible. It's like a smoky black lol. I think the finish offers a more sophisticated spin on the classic black nail.  

Now on to the first of the two purples in this collection. I must confess I am slightly disappointed that these two purples are so similar. Maybe one of them should have been a pastel purple or even a fuschia. Anyway, the first one is Lollipop. I've been calling it the juicier looking purple haha. It is a red-toned almost berry-like deep purple. Again the two coat swatch still has visible nail lines, but three is enough to eliminate that. 

The second polish is Sour Grape. This is Lollipop's dusty sister - seriously! This is also a deep purple, but it has a lot less red tones in making it a dusty purple.

This next polish is probably my favorite out of the bunch - Sour Apple. It's a bright springy green that in the bottle reminds me of Holla-Peno also from Julie G. I think it may be slightly darker. 

Next up is the pink from the collection, called Pixi Stick. It is a bright bubble-gum pink.This one also shows up brighter than what the picture is showing. This is a really nice pink, but nothing too special. =/

This beautiful blue is called Sweet Tooth. This probably had the most pigmented color of all the polishes and it did seem a bit thicker. I am a sucker for any bright blue like this, so of course I love it!

Lastly, is Wild Cherry. A beautiful blue toned cherry red - duh! I had to take the picture in a different light, because it came out looking very similar to Pixi Stick. Really nice formula though, as will all of these polishes!

Overall, I liked the concept of this collection, I just wish there was more color variation in the collection. Aside from the two purples, the pink and the red looked almost similar in some of the photos I took for swatching. I also wish there was a way to topcoat these without losing the effect. The formula for all the polishes is consistent across the board - smooth and easy to apply. The first coat of course, will be sheer - even Julie acknowledges that in her video - but it is very buildable to an opaque finish. Even though it is sheer it isn't runny at all. It applies very evenly!

After wearing it for two days, there is no chipping or tip wear, however I am seeing scratches and dents on the nail. I'm sure there is a waxy topcoat out there somewhere though! Standouts for me definitely are Lemon Drop and Sour Apple. There are a bunch of spring/summer looks that can be created using these polishes - even having them contrast with other textured polishes. I will definitely post looks I come up with here on the blog! This is the initial one I did using Lollipop, Sour Grape, and Lemon Drop.