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!