My first Manicure Monday of 2013 was Pantone’s color of the year, emerald nail polish, followed by the color of the month, garnet nail polish. I’m keeping the new year / new month theme going today by unboxing and swatching January’s Julep Maven box.

This month’s Julep theme was Neon & Nudes, and they always make the entire box on theme from the neon polish, to the neutral shredded stuffing (it was glitter shred for the holiday sparkle polish boxes). It’s all about the little touches that keep me coming back for more. They also offer up fun “extras” and this month it was 3 neon yoga hair ties and a sheet of 16 swatching stickers. Place a sticker on top of your polish, swatch it with the polish, and then you can find it easily from above in your nail polish storage.

I have to admit, when I got the invitation to choose a Julep Maven neon and nude box in December, I wasn’t in the spirit for brights just yet, but when the box arrived in the new year, it SO put me in the mood for spring! The box I chose was Boho Glam containing Fiona, a bright, yet drab creme green. It definitely has a Fiona/Shrek feel to it and pairs so nicely with Teresa, a slightly metallic creme pink. I also love the Hand and Cuticle Stick. It’s thicker than a lotion, so it lasts a little longer, perfect for my dry cuticles and knuckles.

If you caught my Instagram over the weekend, I posted a pic of Teresa as a potential dupe for the new Chanel spring 2013 nail polish, Emprise, a beautiful pearly pink nude nail polish. I actually picked out 3 colors from my collection that may make good dupes for the entire 3-piece Printemps Precieux de Chanel collection, but it’s hard to tell until I can swatch the colors in person someday.

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Last week in Manicure Mondays, I kicked off 2013 by featuring the color of the year Pantone’s emerald green nail polish, and this week, I thought I’d cover the color of the month for us January babies, garnet. I have been looking for the perfect metallic garnet nail polish for about a year now, and all of a sudden, I realized I have three that look pretty similar {nail polish addict problems lol}, so I thought I’d share a few dupe comparison swatches.

Deborah Lippmann’s Through The Fire is a gorgeous deep garnet red nail polish that goes on perfectly in only one coat! I loved the formula and I loved the brush; however it’s a little pricey at $18 a bottle!

Zoya Blair was most similar to Deborah Lippmann’s Through the Fire in its deep garnet hue and metallic sparkle. I have never had complaints about Zoya’s brushes because the formula goes on so easy that it didn’t matter. However, you realize size does matter in brushes and you get what you pay for in formula when you swatch Zoya immediately after Deborah Lippmann. With that said, unless you are comparing the two back to back and have never disliked Zoya’s formula or brush, then Blair is a great dupe and comes with a price tag of only $8.

Julep Sharon was almost identical to Through the Fire in the bottle; however, it was a bit lighter and had less shimmer when swatched. You probably wouldn’t notice the color difference unless you were comparing, so I think this is another great dupe. Julep Sharon is $14 a bottle, not much less than Through the Fire, or get it for $11.50 if you are a Julep Maven.

From left to right: Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, Zoya Blair, Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, Julep Sharon.

So what do you think about the color of the month, garnet nail polish? Are any of these shades for you?

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