Up for review today, three nail products from Julep! I’m reviewing the Oxygen Nail Treatment, Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, and Oxygen Performance Top Coat. The photo shows the Oxygen Brightening Nail Treatment in the center instead of the base coat, because I accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle. Unfortunately I have not tried that product yet so no review for you.
To be honest, I don’t really understand the beauty science behind Julep’s oxygen claims, I don’t know if it actually does anything or is any better for your nails than other formulas. I just know that I like their products. Julep does seem to dry a LOT faster than my other favorite brands, to the point where I don’t even need to use drying drops sometimes. I’m not sure if that’s because of the Oxygen technology or some other part of the formula, but whatever it is, I like it.
Oxygen Nail Treatment is a stand-alone product that gives your nails a clean, shiny, healthy look. I like to use it when I want a natural nail for the stage, as sometimes I find that — because I have long nails — colored lacquer draws too much attention to my fingertips when they’re not the star of the dance. Because it only needs one coat and dries within minutes, it’s really easy to apply and gives me the appearance of a nice manicure for performance and photos. I have the sheer ivory one, there’s also apparently a sheer pink option which might be even nicer.
Oxygen Bonding Base Coat provides a good base to apply nail color over. I haven’t really tried it with any insane colors so I can’t say how well it prevents nail staining.
Oxygen Performance Top Coat gives a smooth, really shiny finish to your manicure. It apparently has caviar extract and platinum in it, making it the fanciest thing ever painted onto my nails.
I’ve had a lot of trouble with base and top coats over the last couple years, they seem to get goopy, sometimes within just a few months of purchase. I don’t know if it’s because of the heat or the dryness. Either way, I’ve taken to keeping my entire Julep collection in the fridge. I bought a cute little narrow fridge drawer from The Container Store (aka my favorite store that doesn’t sell makeup) and whenever I get a new Julep box, I put my nail products in there. I’ll probably start transferring some of my other favorite colors into the fridge, too.
As a reminder, while you can purchase these items normally from the Julep shop, you can also sign up for the Julep Maven box, a beauty box subscription that also nets you a discount on any Julep purchase, and access to special sales. If that sounds good to you, click on my referral link, which will give me a small bonus when you join!