Julep January Box

So my love/hate relationship with the Julep Maven program continues.  I am still getting these boxes.  Some months are total loves, other months make me think why and I doing this?  For 20 bucks a month I ended up with a lot of dupes or polishes I don't like.  The extra products are either fantastic or terrible.  But then I get a box I love and I second guess canceling.

January was a box I wasn't that thrilled about.  It contained Heather, Blake, and a Pomegranate Body Scrub.  I also got a bonus polish called Demi.  While I was excited for a bonus polish, the options to pick from were all reds which made me sad.  I barely ever wear reds so this was not for me.  The other polishes were wins though!

Julep Maven January Box

Julep Maven January Box

Julep Maven January Box

First up is Blake, a really luscious pretty yellow creme.  It went on super easy in two coats and screams spring.  It's pastel and very feminine.  I don't think I will reach for this often, but I'm glad I have it in my collection.

Julep Blake

Julep Blake

Julep Blake

Next up is Heather, a metallic grey.  I expected this to be brush-stroke city but it was surprisingly easy to apply and had minimal brush strokes.  You can see them a little in the third picture.  The color is unique for me though, I don't have anything else like it.  This is two coats.

Julep Heather

Julep Heather

Julep Heather

Julep Demi is a fail for me.  It's a red creme.  Very traditional and on the darker side.  This is just boring and so not me.  Oh well.  This was two coats but it seems uneven to me.

Julep Demi

Julep Demi

Julep Demi

The Julep Maven program is $20 a month and you can sign up at Julep.com!  On their own their polishes will cost you $14.  If you want, you can sign up using my referal link.  You can also use the code SHAREONMAY to get your intro box for 1 cent!

Julep Maven December Box

So obviously I am still getting caught up on my Julep Maven boxes.  This one was really fun, but actually contained no polish to swatch for you guys.  It came with some peacock feather print nail polish stickers which I haven't tried yet, an amazing smelling pomegranate body creme and some Julep Fast Dry Topcoat.  The also threw in some nail polish glitter in a yellow iridescent in a bar shape.  I was pretty happy with this box overall!  The package was super cute too!

Julep Maven December Box - Boho Glam

Julep Maven December Box - Boho Glam

Julep Maven December Box - Boho Glam

I'll have to post a review of the nail polish strips once I get around to using them.  I have tried to top coat and like it a lot.  I use it when I use Julep polishes.  The Body Butter is pretty fantastic.  It smells amazing unlike their hand lotion/scrub/brightener combo.  I'm not into the nail glitter, but it's a cute idea.

Anyway, sorry this is a boring post!  I'm still subscribed to the Maven program and like it.  These boxes are $20 a month.  I keep thinking about dropping it, but then they send me a polish that looks interesting.  Oh well!

Julep Maven November Box #2

You guys!!!! :( I missed a freaking day!!!!!!!!  UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!  I was actually pretty disappointed when I woke up this morning realizing it.  I found out pretty late last week that work needed me to travel for a conference and trade show and demo one of my products at the exhibitors hall M-W.  So late Sunday night I uploaded pictures for the week so I could write my blog posts remotely.  Then Monday morning at 6am Chris took me to the airport and I spent the day traveling, checking in (to the hotel and conference), setting up, demoing for hours, and then going to a networking dinner.  By the time I got home it was after 10pm and I literally passed out.

So let's just pretend this blog post went up yesterday :) for my sanity :).

So my second Julep Maven Box in November was awesome.  I got another makeup bag which I gave to a friend, another plumping lip gloss, and Maggie!!!!!   They even included a cute note to let me know that they messed up.



Julep Maven November Box - Bombshell



Julep Maven November Box - Bombshell

Here is the lip gloss, an amazing shade called Ulta-Violet which is gorgeous and I'm also allergic to.  I has a sad :(.

Julep Ultra Violet

And then there is Maggie.  I LOVE her.  A deep blackened purple with beautiful silver shimmer.  This is the perfect Raven's game day polish.  LOVE LOVE LOVE.  This is 2 coats and it's super shiny on it's own.  The shimmer isn't as prominent on the nail as it is in the bottle, but it's certainly there.

Julep Maggie

Julep Maggie

Julep Maggie

Julep Maggie

Julep Maggie is available from Julep.com for $14!  If you don't have her and have some Julep credits saved up, this would be a great way to spend it.

Julep Maven November Box #1

Getting there with catching up on Julep Maven Boxes!  We are up to November, which was full of wins and losses for me.  So the first thing that happened is I got my email telling me what was in my Julep Maven box for November.  And this light mossy green creme, Selena, was included and SO not what I am in to.  So for the first month I request a new pull and asked for the Bombshell Box instead.  So disappointingly when I opened up my box - Boho was still staring me in the face?  What gives?!?!  FAIL! So I emailed Julep and within a few days they let me know they had some issues with the system for requesting new pulls and I would get another Box (the correct one this time) immediately and for free and that the Boho Box was mine to keep.  WIN!

So let's start with the first box I received, the wrong one.  It came with a Julep Maven bag, which is a black cloth bag with the Julep logo quilted into it (super cute - WIN), a plumping lip gloss in Extravagant (WIN for now, beautiful color), and Selena (FAIL! more on that too).  They also threw in more sample of their hand/skin care products which I'm not a fan of on scent alone (FAIL).

Julep Maven November - Boho

Julep Maven November Boho

So Extravagant...  I actually never got this on my lips, only my hand.  The color is actually gorgeous.  It's a pinky taupe neutral with soft gold shimmer.  It was really lovely and would have been great for work.  However when I got box number 2 I decided to try it's plumping lip gloss and subsequently found out I was very ALLERGIC to it.  The skin around my lips got red and huge.  It was so weird looking.  I wiped it off and about 40 minutes later my lips were back to normal.   So Extravagant never made it to wear, no more swollen red lips for me please.  I mean I know this is plumping, but plump my lips not my entire mouth region! FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julep Extravagant Plumping Lip Gloss

 So then I gave Selena a shot, knowing I would hate it and I was correct.  There are a lot of people that would go nuts for this polish.  It was a 1 coater, the formula was great, and the color is unique and interesting.  But it's just SO NOT ME!  So here she is, love her or hate her (FAIL) - Selena.

Julep Selena

Julep Selena

Julep Selena

So there is the November Box I wished not to get, and now you know why!  At least Julep sent me the correct box for free, so I'll show you that this week as well.  The Julep Maven program is $20 a month and you can sign up at Julep.com!  On their own, a polish like Selena will cost you $14.

October Julep Maven Box

OK, another month closer to getting caught up on my Julep Maven boxes.  October was actually a pretty awesome box.  The colors aren't revolutionary, but they are beautiful and perfect for when I need some more professional nail polish at work.  I actually did wear Malin when meeting my business unit's President (super exciting!) and just recently wore Gayle.  This month also included Glow On, a hand brightener.

I have to admit, after getting the hand lotion and scrub, I was pretty disappointed to see the hand brightener. I've really got no use for this and it's got the same weird smell.  At least I've got 2 amazing polishes to make up for it.

First up is Gayle, which I wore last week.  This is so beautiful.  I'd call it an eggplant or aubergine.  I think I'm so smitten with this because I'm considering a color like this for one of my wedding colors.  This is bright and vampy at the same time, and unlike any other purple I have.  This was two coats, but I could have easily done one.  And although my pictures show a bump on my ring finger, it was my fault not the polishes.  Gayle is a straight up creme, and she is special. 

Malin is a soft pale pink champagne with some beautiful shimmer in it.  You do get brush strokes with application (this is 2 coats), but I don't even care.  I don't have very many nudes, pale pinks, or "work appropriate colors.  So not only is this something I don't have - but I love it! It's so feminine and soft and pretty.  If you need a pale pink or nude, definitely consider picking Malin up.

These polishes are full of win!  You can pick these up on Julep's website for $14 each.  I highly recommend you check these out.

September Julep Maven Box

You read that right... September.  I have been getting Julep Maven boxes since I signed up and they have literally been piling up.  The only thing I have used since September from any of these kits are the cuticle oil.  I grabbed it out of my "box" and took it to Germany with us.

So this month's box is still delivered in a huge retail bag (don't worry - Julep fixes this soon).

Awful packaging :)

In September, I got Amy, a fun blue, the cuticle oil, and SPF Hand Cream.

September Box

You'll see more about Amy in a minute.  Lets start with the bad.  I do not like Julep's base hand products.  In my intro box, I got the Glycolic scrub, and while it made my hands soft, I was totally turned off by the smell.  And just like the sample of the hand lotion, this smells just the same.  Oh well!

The cuticle oil on the other hand - :)!!!!!!!!  I LOVE this stuff.  One, its super moisturizing.  Two, it smells good.  Three, it soaks in quickly.  Four, it has a freaking roller ball applicator!!  It makes it perfect for travel or putting in your purse.  I will repurchase this one-hundred times over.

Amy, Hand Cream, and Cuticle Oil

As a bonus for being one of the first Julep Maven's I got a glass file (which I admittedly have no used yet) and a mirror/lint brush.  This is a nice extra.  Maybe one day I can give up my traditional file and try a glass file.  They are supposed to be better for your nails right?

September Freebies!

So now to what we all care about - the polish!  Amy is an awesome turquoise that reminds me a lot of butter LONDON Artful Dodger.  I did a quick search and it appears they are dupes.  Check out squared nails post here.  I agree with her assessment.  It isn't as shiny and the formula isn't as good as some of my other Julep polishes.  You can tell from my pictures below I had some application issues, but I think that most of that is due to my inability to wait between coats.  Oh well.

Julep Amy

Julep Amy

Julep Amy

It's been a while since I wore Artful Dodger, but since they are both $14, I'd pick butter LONDON.  If you prefer, you can pick up Amy at Julep.com.

Julep Maven Introductory Box (Boho Glam and It Girl)

So the Julep Maven program has been surrounded with quite a bit of controversy.  Several nail polish lovers signed up for the program, only to find out that their referral links were bogus.  The controversy had to do with the fact that Julep seemed to have no intention of informing people of it before their corrected the problem.  After enough internet complaining, Julep sent out an apology letter to all the Mavens and gave us free October boxes.  Not a bad apology if you ask me.

So if you aren't already turned off on Julep, then this post may be for you.  I signed up for the Julep Maven program for a few reasons.  

1. It was kind of like BirchBox (a love of mine) for nail polish.
2. It allowed me to try a new brand.
3. It was half price to sign up.

So I figured what did I have to loose.  The normal price for a box is $20, but I got my introductory box at $9.99.  I was guaranteed to get 2 polishes, plus some other goodies.  I figured that was a good enough deal.  I'll keep getting the boxes every month, but I can cancel or just skip a month any time.  Also they promise to send your polishes ahead of time, and if you don't like them, you can opt to have another box instead.

So the first step to signing up was to take the beauty poll (warning! this link is a referral link that gives me a $15 credit if you sign up).  I ended up taking it 3 times to get the Boho Glam box, which had the polishes I was most interested in.  About a week later (boo on ground shipping from Washington State) I got my Boho Glam Introductory Box.  I was unfortunately dissapointed to find that they actually sent me the It Girl Box, which apparently happened to more than one person.  I called Julep the next day and they immediately sent me the correct polishes for free.  So this post has the benefit of two boxes worth of polishes!

So first up was my "It Girl" Introductory Box.  I got a full size Facial for Hands Glycolic Scrub, a few samples of their hand lotion with SPF30 (sweet), a nail therapy (supposed to be good for peeling nails - sweet), and 2 polishes.  Emilie and Sienna.  I wasn't thrilled with either color (which is why I picked Boho Glam), but at this point I was getting free polish.  Time to stop complaining and start swatching.

Julep Maven It Girl Introductory Box

It comes with this unnecessary bag in the box...

Let me start off by saying the Facial for Hand Glycolic scrub is nice, but nothing special.  I wouldn't repurchase it.  Smell is so so, and I have something similar from Mary Kay that is WAY better.  Same with the lotion.  I do love the 30 SPF, but the smell isn't particularly great.  I'll use these guys up, but I won't repurchase.

Sienna, Nail Therapy, Emilie

For swatching both of these polishes, I used the Nail Therapy as a base.  It was nice, went on easy, but I felt it took a little long to dry enough as a base to add the color.  Once I get through with my current base treatment, I'll use this on a regular basis and see if it does anything for my peelies!

Actually, now's a good time to talk about Julep's bottles and brushes.  Since they are relatively unknown, I'm guessing most of you haven't used these puppies yet.  They are long, skinny, cute bottles, but have way less mL of polishes than most $14.00 bottles of polish.  The brush isn't wide, but it's large enough and the polish flows well on it.  My only issue, is that since the bottle is so long, a lot of polish ends up on the brush stem, and I find I have to swirl the stem against the side of the bottle as I pull it out.  Otherwise while applying the polish with the brush, the polish soaked stem drips!

So Sienna is a core polish available on Julep's website.  It's a shimmery gold foil with tons of brush strokes.  I don't like gold, and I don't like brush strokes, so this was a miss for me.  Oh well!  This is two coats, which was necessary for total opacity.

Julep Sienna

Julep Sienna

Next up is Emilie.  I did actually like this one.  As soon as I put it on, I immediately thought of OPI's Jade is the New Black.  It also went on in two coats.  I really loved the finish on this.  Super shiny without top coat. I was surprised.  Emilie is a new Fall 2011 color, so it was fun to get a sneak peak with the Maven Box.

Julep Emilie

Julep Emilie

So turns out my suspicions were right. While Emilie isn't a dead on dupe for Jade is the New Black, it's AWFULLY close.  Jade is the New Black is a bit warmer.  It always reminded me of pool table green.  Emilie is a bit cooler, which instantly made me like it better.  What's funny in my comparison pictures below, the middle finger looks likes it's a totally different polish, but it's just the lighting.  Sorry about that!  Both pictures show, left to the right, OPI Jade is the New Black, Julep Emilie, and Julep Emilie.  As you can see, its really hard to tell the difference.

From Left to Right
OPI Jade is the New Black, Julep Emilie, Julep Emilie

The blue background makes it even harder to tell!

From Left to Right
OPI Jade is the New Black, Julep Emilie, Julep Emilie

So then a few days later, I got my corrected Boho Glam polishes.  I got Mirana, Olivia, and two more samples.

Julep Maven Boho Glam Box fix

Miranda and Olivia

I put on Miranda first, and I really really loved it.  It did remind me a lot of Butter London Artful Dodger though.  This one was different enough, but I threw in a quick comparison anyway.  It also went on in 2 coats.  This is without a top coat, again, super shiny.  Another creme, it's pretty seafoam green.  

Julep Miranda

Julep Miranda

Here is my comparison.  Artful Dodger is on the left, with the right two being Miranda.  Miranda pulls more green, but Artful Dodger doesn't looks this blue or bright in real life.  It's actually pretty dusty.  Miranda is totally dust free :).

From Left to Right
Butter London Artful Dodger, Julep Miranda, Julep Miranda

Olivia. Hmmm.  Ok, I know people love chocolate brown polishes, especially super shiny ones like his.  But I just don't get it.  I tried it.  It's not for me.  It doesn't look bad, I just don't like it.  Oh well.  Again 2 coats, no top coat.  Beautiful chocolate brown creme. So not for me.  Olivia is also part of the Fall 2011 collection.

Julep Olivia

Julep Olivia

So, was I blown away with my box(es) - No.  I hate gold, I'm not super into cremes right now.  Do I like the Julep formula - yes.  Was my full size facial for hand scrub, 4 polishes, and 1 base coat worth $9.99 - hell yeah!  I've already received the September box, but I haven't gotten around to it yet, so you won't see that for a week or two.

The polishes themselves are all available at Julep.com for $14 each.  Or you can sign up for the Maven program, just make sure you read the program details and FAQ first so you know what you are signing up for.  You can sign up with my referral link if you like here (again - warning, I get a $15 credit if you sign up with way) or sign up on your own by going to Julep.com.  Based on my September goodies, and my incoming free October box, I'm super happy, but I honestly don't see me continuing with this much longer.  I need more sparkles, shimmer, glitter, flakies, and other more fun-than-creme-textures in my life :).