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My hands are not the best, so I have a love/hate relationship with nail polish. On the one hand (sorry that I could not help the pun), unkempt hands get ignored. That way, no one notices them. At the same time, all hands look better with a nice manicure and a little polish. Yes, more people will notice them, but at least they will look as good as they can. So, I invite all of you on my journey to keep my rough, man-hands polished as much as possible. I’ve joined a nail polish challenge and plan to paint my nails at least once a week for the remainder of 2015.

Nail polish Saturday will be my new “thing.” I started collecting nail polish in May 2013. Prior to that, I only owned a couple of older bottles that I tossed when my new collection started. That means my current collection is all less than two years old with some being very near the two year mark and others that just arrived today. My newest haul from Julep just came in with two polishes and a plush pout. Of course, I will always swatch new items for you.

Here is the Plush Pout in Cardinal. It looks red in the container, but it presents more pink-red on my skin. That probably has to do with my natural pink undertones and the moisturizing center lightening the color. Yes, I know this is a nail polish topic, so I will not spend too much time on this. I will just say that I am in love with these. Magenta Plum was my first, and it is amazing. These wear so beautifully and feel great. I picked up Aurora Pink in October and hope to use it for the first time soon. Almond Nude is the only one I am missing now, but it is coming in my next box. My collection will be complete when it gets here.

Luna was the polish that got away in December. If I could describe this polish in one word, I would call it Frozen. It just reminds me of the movie. I regretted not ordering it, and it was not an option in January. That just meant I needed to place an order outside my box. Julep is clever about getting Mavens to place extra orders. Compare this to my other blue polishes.

Last year, I collected all of the birthstone polishes. I started with my birth month, Aretha. She was so beautiful that I eventually added them all. On top of the fact that they all look beautiful, I love the special bottles with the gold tops. There are a brand new set of gemstones this year, and I have my heart set on collecting them all as well. January’s Geena, named after Geena Davis, is so beautiful that they are off to a great start with this amazing light pink glitter shade. Compare this to my other pink polishes.

I used coupon code COLORFUN to get this nail polish free. It is still good until 01/31/15 with a $15 purchase. Pretax subtotal must be $15 after deducting the polish. My total for this order was $18.39, so each item cost me $6.13! The polishes were $11.20 each, and I got the Plush Pout on sale for $9.99. The coupon took $14 off, because they tend to take off the full polish price of $14, even though I only pay the $11.20 Maven price (which is 20% less than the general public.  Like this deal. View Julep and others in the current deals. When I add the new polishes into my current collection, I have a total of 253.

Of those 253, I’ve only used 31. Some of you are starting to see why I joined a nail polish challenge. The older ones (remember none are older than May of 2013) are starting to break apart. I have one that is probably damaged, but I have put Seche Restore in it to see if I can save it. Luckily, it is one of the 31 I’ve used, even if it was only once. My goal is to only wear new ones until the end of the year and hopefully not to skip a Saturday of painting. If I get adventurous and try nail art, that may even help me use multiple colors at once. Join me this year as I try to complete the challenge and my goal not to skip any weeks. Saturday will be my first painting of the year, and I want some feedback. My list of polishes is attached. Are there any I own and have yet to try that are amazing? The polish with the highest number of votes will be the first one I use this Saturday, so please pick one for me.

#	Name	Used Yet
1	100% Pure Forever	No
2	Butter London Fairy Lights	No
3	Butter London Fruit Machine	Yes
4	Butter London Inky Six	No
5	Butter London Knees Up	No
6	Butter London Lovely Jubbly	No
7	Butter London The Old Bill	No
8	China Glaze Isle See You Later	No
9	Ciate Caviar Pearls Cupid Arrow	No
10	Ciate Cha Cha Cha	No
11	Ciate Fit For a Queen	No
12	Ciate Sequin Glitter Grip	Yes
13	Clinique hot date	No
14	Clinique Really Rio	Yes
15	Color Club Gold Struck	No
16	Crabtree&Evelyn Clementine	No
17	Deborah Lippmann 2 Second Nail Primer	Yes
18	Deborah Lippmann Chain Reaction	No
19	Deborah Lippmann Girls Just Want to Have Fun	No
20	Deborah Lippmann Good Girl Gone Bad	No
21	Deborah Lippmann Magnetic Wave Big Red Machine	No
22	Deborah Lippmann Mermaid’s Dream	No
23	Deborah Lippmann Mermaid’s Eyes	Yes
24	Deborah Lippmann Moon Dance	No
25	Deborah Lippmann On the Beach	No
26	Deborah Lippmann Phoenix Rising	No
27	Deborah Lippmann Prelude to a Kiss	No
28	Dermelect Moon Kissed	No
29	Dior Delice	No
30	Dior Porcelaine	No
31	Essie nothing else metals	No
32	Essie vanity fairest	No
33	Face Stockholm Dance Party	No
34	Formula X Arctic	Yes
35	Formula X Atom+Eve	No
36	Formula X Base Coat	Yes
37	Formula X Bond, Ionic Bond	No
38	Formula X Crash	No
39	Formula X Dark Matter	No
40	Formula X Invincible	No
41	Formula X Mr. Positivity	No
42	Formula X Voodoo	No
43	JinSoon Coquette	Yes
44	JinSoon Nostalgia	No
45	JinSoon Voile	No
46	Julep Abbie	No
47	Julep Alexandra	No
48	Julep Ally	No
49	Julep America	No
50	Julep Annemarie	No
51	Julep Annika	No
52	Julep Aretha	Yes
53	Julep Ariana	No
54	Julep Avery	No
55	Julep Bergen	No
56	Julep Betty	No
57	Julep Beverly	No
58	Julep Blakely	No
59	Julep Brielle	No
60	Julep Candace	No
61	Julep Cara	No
62	Julep Cassie	No
63	Julep Catrina	No
64	Julep Celia	No
65	Julep Claudia	No
66	Julep Coco	No
67	Julep Coretta	No
68	Julep Dahlia	No
69	Julep Daria	No
70	Julep DeAnn	No
71	Julep Dendrie	No
72	Julep Devon	No
73	Julep Eliana	No
74	Julep Emerald City	No
75	Julep Farrah	No
76	Julep Fast Dry Topcoat	Yes
77	Julep Fazia	No
78	Julep Fiore	No
79	Julep Freedom Polymer Topcoat 1	No
80	Julep Freedom Polymer Topcoat 2	No
81	Julep Freedom Polymer Topcoat 3	Yes
82	Julep Freedom Polymer Topcoat 4	No
83	Julep Gabrielle	No
84	Julep Gayle	No
85	Julep Geena	No
86	Julep Gianna	No
87	Julep Glam Roc	No
88	Julep Glinda the Good Witch	No
89	Julep Gretchen	No
90	Julep Harley	No
91	Julep Helen	No
92	Julep Hermoine	No
93	Julep Ilsa	No
94	Julep Jane	No
95	Julep January	No
96	Julep Jessie	No
97	Julep Joanne	No
98	Julep Joni	No
99	Julep Joyce	No
100	Julep Julie	No
101	Julep Kathy	No
102	Julep Kendra	No
103	Julep Kiki	No
104	Julep Kim	No
105	Julep Kimberly	Yes
106	Julep Kirby	No
107	Julep Kristen	No
108	Julep Lena	No
109	Julep Lissa	No
110	Julep Logan	No
111	Julep Lola	No
112	Julep Lorenzana	No
113	Julep Luna	No
114	Julep Maddy	No
115	Julep Malala	Yes
116	Julep Marjorie	No
117	Julep Martha	No
118	Julep Martina	No
119	Julep Mary Lee	No
120	Julep Marzia	No
121	Julep Nan	No
122	Julep Nancy	No
123	Julep Nic	No
124	Julep Noelle	No
125	Julep Oscar	No
126	Julep Oxygen Base Coat	Yes
127	Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment 1	No
128	Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment 2	Yes
129	Julep Oxygen Topcoat 1	No
130	Julep Oxygen Tpcoat 2	Yes
131	Julep Phia	No
132	Julep Phoebe	No
133	Julep Priscilla	No
134	Julep Queen Anne	No
135	Julep Ramona	No
136	Julep Rochelle	No
137	Julep Rooney	No
138	Julep Rosa	No
139	Julep Ruby Slippers	No
140	Julep Sandi	No
141	Julep Savannah	No
142	Julep Sawyer	No
143	Julep Scarlett	No
144	Julep Serena	No
145	Julep Shari	No
146	Julep Shoshanna	No
147	Julep Sienna	No
148	Julep Silk Effect Topcoat	No
149	Julep Soleil	No
150	Julep Something Blue	No
151	Julep Stevie	No
152	Julep Sunny	No
153	Julep Sydney	No
154	Julep Tatiana	No
155	Julep Teri	No
156	Julep Tilda Topcoat	No
157	Julep Tin Man	No
158	Julep Veronica	No
159	Julep Zora	No
160	Lancome Rouge in Love	Yes
161	MAC Pearl Highlight	No
162	Nails Inc Alexa Lace	Yes
163	Nails Inc devonshire row	No
164	Nails Inc edinburgh	No
165	Nails Inc Old Park Lane	No
166	Nails Inc Sheraton Street	No
167	Nails Inc Sugar House Lane	No
168	Nailtini Bloody Mary	No
169	NARS Disco Inferno	No
170	Nicole by OPI Cinna-Man of My Dreams	No
171	Nicole by OPI On What Grounds?	No
172	Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Chimera	Yes
173	OPI Go on Green	No
174	OPI Happy Anniversary	No
175	OPI Hey Baby	No
176	OPI I Can Teal You Like Me Topcoat	No
177	OPI I Have a Herring Problem	No
178	OPI Lay Down That Base	No
179	OPI Let’s Do Anything We Want	No
180	OPI Lincoln Park at Midnight	No
181	OPI Push and Shove Topcoat	No
182	OPI Are You Calllin’ Me a Lyre?	No
183	Orly Unlawful	Yes
184	RGB Oxblood	No
185	Rococo Flower Child Creme	No
186	Ruffian Blue Lagoon	No
187	Ruffian Endless Love	No
188	Ruffian Sahara	No
189	Sally Hansen Big Matte Topcoat	No
190	Sally Hansen Dry Kwik	Yes
191	Sally Hansen Punch Drunk	No
192	Seche Clear Crystal Clear Basecoat	Yes
193	Seche Elegant	Yes
194	Seche Restore	Yes
195	Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat	Yes
196	Sephora 1st Night	No
197	Sephora by OPI What Aura Gonna Wear?	No
198	Sephora by OPI White Blasted	No
199	Sephora Cross The line	No
200	Sephora Drive men wild	No
201	Sephora Full Moon Party	No
202	Sephora in bed with	No
203	Sephora Myrtille	Yes
204	Sephora Pantone Brick Dust	No
205	Sephora Pantone Universe Fairy Tale	No
206	Sephora Pantone Universe Orchid Chrome	No
207	Sephora Pantone Universe Radiant Orchid	No
208	Sephora Pantone Universe Rhododendron	No
209	Sephora Psychedlic	No
210	Sephora X Ariel (Turquoise)	No
211	Sephora X Devotin to Floatin (Ariel Teal)	No
212	Sephora X Hotter Under the Water (Ariel Purple)	No
213	Sephora X Life is the Bubbles (Ariel White)	No
214	Sephora X Off the Hook (Ariel Silver)	No
215	Sephora X We in Luck Here (Ariel Coral)	No
216	Sinful Colors Face the Facets	No
217	Sinful Colors Nail Junkie	Yes
218	Sinful Colors Sheer Genius	No
219	Spa Ritual Copper Shimmer	No
220	Strange Beautiful Color Bloc July 4th Blue	No
221	Strange Beautiful Color Bloc July 4th Red	No
222	The New Black Metallic Silver	No
223	The New Black Miami Vice Gold	No
224	The New Black Miami Vice Pink	No
225	The New Black Silver Glitter	No
226	Ulta Baby Doll	No
227	Ulta Basecoat	Yes
228	Ulta Green and Wear It	No
229	Ulta Oh!	Yes
230	Ulta Professional Black Diamond	No
231	Ulta Professional Crown Jewels	No
232	Ulta Professional Fairy Dust	No
233	Ulta Professional For Bitten	No
234	Ulta Professional Get a Grip Bonding Basecoat	Yes
235	Ulta Professional Happily Ever After	No
236	Ulta Professional Nails of Steel	No
237	Ulta Professional Runway Rose	No
238	Ulta Professional Vampire Kiss	No
239	Urban Decay Addiction	No
240	Urban Decay Deep End	No
241	Urban Decay Goldmine	No
242	Urban Decay Mrs. Mia Wallace	No
243	Urban Decay Naked Creep	No
244	Urban Decay Naked Hustle	No
245	Urban Decay Naked Naked	Yes
246	Urban Decay Naked Sidecar	No
247	Urban Decay Naked Smog	No
248	Urban Decay Naked Toasted	No
249	Urban Decay Vice	No
250	Urban Decay Woodstock	No
251	Wet n Wild Through the Grapevine	No
252	Zoya Maya	No
253	Zoya Rayne	No

Julep Iman was missing from the lsit above. It was the July 2014 birthstone. I do love Julep, so I am hoping to start with one of those 114 (well 112 new ones). I will try whichever brand you decide on, so I am open to suggestions. How many polishes do you have? Are you planning on painting your nails more this year?

If you want to join Julep, visit my Julep Maven page to see all start-up offers. Visit my regular Julep page to see more offers for shopping. All polishes above are swatched once. They get darker with more swatches. See all Julep or Subscription articles. Tips For Getting the Best Deal lays out every way I can think of to save money at Julep. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

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