Essie's Penny Talk (Mirror Metallics) & Stroke of Brilliance (Luxe Effects) Review

For the last few years, I have been really into nail polish. I think even more so after my twin boys were born in 2009 because it's something small I can do for myself at home, even when I don't have a lot of time. I love trying new colors and new brands (provided that they use a 3 free formula- have to keep things toxin free for my boys and their older sister AND my husband and me as well!)

Essie has teamed up with Klout several times this year to hand out some of their polishes to Klout users who are influential in beauty. I wanted to share some of those polishes with you- because I am pretty impressed!

I have seen Essie in the stores and I love the bottle they come in. It is just easy to pick an Essie bottle out from across the store. I have been a pretty devoted Zoya fan and haven't really stepped outside of that box until this year, so I was very happy to be able to try Essie without having to buy it.

A while back Klout & Essie sent me Stroke of Brilliance- a fun blue glitter polish from their Luxe Effects collection. Today I received Penny Talk- a copper color with a tiny hint of pink from their new metallics collection. I am usually not a fan of copper nail color because I am pretty much ghost white and it washes me out and looks odd on my nails. Not so with Penny Talk, it is a lovely light copper that shines and looks awesome on my nails. Something I really love about Essie is it's pretty much the fastest drying polish ever. I am always impressed out how fast it dries! That makes it easier for me to not mess up what I've painted and easier to paint my daughter's nails!

Penny Talk from Essie's Mirror Metallics collection.

I will definitely use Penny Talk as a go to for every day polish. It's just gorgeous!

I thought it would be fun to layer Stroke of Brilliance over Penny Talk so you could see both of my Klout perks from Essie in action together!

It looks much better in person! I like the combo of colors!

I will say Essie definitely has me as a fan! I can not wait to try more of their gorgeous colors from their great collections. Thank you to Klout & Essie for allowing me to try both of these great polishes and share them with you! If you are not on Klout yet, what are you waiting for? I have got to participate in so many cool perks from some many different categories! Check it out and start getting your own free perks!

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*Disclaimer- I received both of these Essie Polishes through Klout perks. I was not required to post a review.

$40 worth of nail product for ONE PENNY!

I haven't written a review on a beauty products in a while and I love them so much that I have to make it a point to do so now. I have already written about Julep and their Maven program several times on this blog. It is another subscription box, but the cool thing about the Julep Maven program is that it gives you lots of options. This box is full of nail polishes and other products for your mani/pedi needs. They send you a preview email of what the polishes and products are going to be sent out each month and you can choose whether or not you want to skip the month or even gift your box to a friend. I like that you have the option to skip a month, as far as I know Julep is the only subscription box out there that gives you that option. There are also several boxes to choose from. When you first sign up, you take a quiz and the result will tell you what box they think you will like and that is what you will be subscribed to, but you have the option to switch which box you get which is really cool because each box is usually really different from the rest. Another really awesome thing about being a Julep Maven is that you get 20% off at the website and free shipping if you want to buy products outside of the boxes. And if that all wasn't enough the Julep Maven subscription box is unique is that you get rewarded when you refer your friends. If just 3 of your friends sign up to get the Maven box, you get a free Maven box! And there is no limitation on how many friends you can invite, so you could get plenty of free boxes! And they are always new colors which I think is super cool. I loved last months metallics. I got a beautiful pearly white that I am just so in love with and a pretty minty green, along with Julep's polish remove (the best remover I have ever used.) I can't wait to see what is in store for September!

If you are not yet a Julep Maven and want to try it, but don't want to sink money into something you are unsure about- they offer new Maven's their first box for just ONE PENNY! That's right, one cent! Just enter the code COLOR2012 at checkout. If you end up not liking the program, you can cancel at anytime. Join Julep Maven for One Penny!