Julep - April 2012

Hey guys!

As I continue to get caught up, I have my Julep April Bombshell Box to share with everyone. I have been skipping Julep more than I like lately. The colors have been really similar to others that I already own, and although I feel a little bad skipping, I am badly behind on putting up swatches and reviews of the Juleps that I have, so until I am caught up, saving the money seems like a good idea.

Anyway, on to the box!

 

It came in this amazingly cute color-blocked box. I just loved this when it was open! So spring and so colorful.

 

I received:

1. Julep "Best Pedi Creme Ever".

2.  "Parker"

3. "Annette"

4. Toe Separators (2)

Not a bad little box! I traded the pedi cream since I can't really use exfoliants on my feet, but both colors are gorgeous.

I also ordered two add-ons:

 I picked up "Susie" and "Allyson". I loved the neutrals and I liked getting a few extra shades.

I hope you like these box openings. If you by chance are not yet subscribed to Julep, I would LOVE it if any of you would use my referral link: http://www.birchbox.com/?raf=qtjvd. You can receive the box for a penny with ShareOnMay as a coupon code. If two people use my link, I can get a box to share for free. :)

Thanks everyone!

Julep Maven - March 2012 "Boho Glam"

Hello, everyone!

First off, today, I have the March 2012 "Boho Glam" Julep Maven box. This was honestly the first time I ever considered skipping a month of Julep fairly seriously. Some of the colors appealed to me, but none of the combinations -- I definitely did not like all of the three in the It-Girl box, but I didn't really want another argan oil product, since I have Orofluido already. I did go ahead and get it, though if the selections are similar next month, I might actually break down and not buy the month! :O

It came in a cute little purple bag with an extra nail file. I lost my glass file, so I sort of wish they had sent another of those, but this is still handy. :)

You can see that Alicia looks very orange on this card...

Not so much in real life. It's a salmon pink, not a salmon orange, if that makes sense.

As for Portia, Portia is not only a teal-tinted clone of Vanessa, but I have a dead-on dupe for it. I'm going to save swatches for when I do a solo review of Portia, but as a teaser:

 

Yes, kids, that's a cheap Wal-Mart Pure Ice over there. Oh well. Hopefully next month will wow me?

Which style did you guys get?

Julep Maven - February 2012 "Boho Glam"

I realized that I have yet to have skipped a month of my Julep subscription, or have even been tempted to skip! This month's was no exception. I do, however, tend to switch out my usual "Bombshell" boxes based on the colors of the polish, and I did so this month.

For February, I received the "Boho Glam" Maven box, which included Oscar, Marisa, a chocolate Oscar statuette, and a bottle of the Essential Cuticle Oil. My cuticle oil had gone missing for a long time, though I love the product and had hardly seemed to have used any of it. So, while I was really tempted by and curious about the Topcoat for Hair, I also recognized that my cuticles are torn up again -- and that I had been wanting to buy some of the oil anyway, so this was a better investment. :)

I thought the Oscar was really cute. The statuette design shows up a lot better in this picture than in real life, though!

Who got this box this month? Who got something different?

Polish Review - Julep "Leah"

I just received my new Julep box, which means it's time for me to kick myself in the rear end and finish up last month's polishes!

Today for you, my darlings, I have Julep's "Leah", the last of the It-Girl January 2012 Maven polishes. This is the grass green, with a strong lacing of shimmer.

 

Grass green with a hint of shimmer describes this color well. It's surprisingly unique in my collection, and it is going to be a great color for summer. I'm not such a fan of it in winter, but hey, worse things have been worn out of season, right?

The color actually did last pretty nicely. Application was a little difficult; it did not want to dry, and it did not want to go on evenly after two coats, even though it definitely was a three-coater. In spite of this, I was glad that I got it, and it filled a hole in my colors. :)

Product Review - Julep Nail Polish Remover Pad

What's on your nails? Right now I have OPI "Mermaid's Tears" on my right hand. I had one of the Color Icon glitters over it on my left hand, but managed to pick off all the glitter at work today, so tonight I need to add another coat to my right hand and actually paint my left hand from scratch.

A couple of weeks ago, I used my sample nail polish remover pad, which came in my January 2012 "It-Girl" Julep Maven box as a little extra. It was a great product -- a red felt nicely saturated with remover -- and it certainly removed all ten nails worth of polish. It probably could have done more, but I only had ten! I did use it to remove a creme, though, so it might have met its match with glitter.

I don't have a photo of the pads, but they're little red felt squares. :)

I hope they put these up for sale, because they would be a really nice travel supply.

Polish Review - Julep "Megan"

Wow, a hundred followers! This publicity is going to go to my noggin if you keep spoiling me! XD

I have a crazy busy day, but I wanted to knock out a couple of reviews, so keep an eye on this page today. Also make sure that you are entered for the Essie Color Cube giveaway! I will be ending this giveaway on the 29th, so enter soon! For now, I have Julep's "Megan" to share with you. This came in my January 2012 Maven "It-Girl" box, and was indeed the reason that I selected this box. It's a beauty!

 

Megan is #4, in the middle.

I loved this polish online on the Bombshell Julep Maven box, but I knew I would never wear its counterpart, a light pink. Luckily, Megan was available in It-Girl with two other lovelies. 

However, after I ordered, I started to worry that it would be a dupe for Revlon "Ocean". 

However, you can see Revlon Ocean here (#17) compared with Megan (#4) and you can tell that Ocean leans a little more green/teal, whereas Megan has more blue. You can also see that Megan applies with a lot less brushstrokes.

Megan is, however, definitely a metallic more than a shimmer. It's not quite a frost, but it leans a little in that direction, too.

While I admit that I had some nail carnage prior to wearing Megan, and I couldn't leave my nails alone, I did not think that it wore really well. However, it was really pretty while it did last (for about 2 days).

I love this color. I recommend it to everyone as soon as it comes available!

Product Review - Julep "Fast-Dry Topcoat"

 

I had one more quick review I wanted to get out to you guys today. For my December Julep Maven "Bombshell" box, I received a bottle of Julep's "Fast Dry Topcoat". 

I first used this with Julep "Demi". I had sort of thought that the topcoat was intended to be used as a topcoat to get the polish to dry faster, as many people have done with glitter sandwiches, etc. However, I had a bit of a rude shock when my topcoat turned a permanent shade of light-Demi as a result!

The topcoat itself seems to last nicely, though I don't know how much I can say for the durability-affecting qualities. Polishes (mostly Demi, since they seem to be a perma-pair) dried quicker than they would have normally, though as I said, beware, because the polish will tint the topcoat if they are not completely dry. The other way to get around this is to wipe off the brush between dips into the bottle.

The other strange thing about this topcoat is that it has the distinct eau of "skunk" during application. Afterwards, there is no trace of this, but it is kind of amusing to have "skunk" topcoat, I think. Unless you are diametrically opposed to anything vaguely skunklike, it isn't too bad.

... and why would you be diametrically opposed to skunks??

Polish Review - Julep "Hayden"

Hey guys! I have one of the polishes I chose to receive in my Julep Maven January 2012 "It-Girl" box. This month, "It-Girl" came with three lovely polishes. I was so happy to receive them because my usual style box, "Bombshell", had the Megan color I loved, but I knew I would probably never wear the pale, powder pink that accompanied it.

Julep 'Hayden" is one of their new colors coming out for the summer collection. It is a neon pastel peach creme, with strong orange undertones. It looks electric on my skintone -- I am very pale. I actually got some compliments on this one from some unexpected people (including a friend who's a guy!), so that was a nice bonus. It does definitely make a statement, and much more than you might think at first glance.

These were my only other orange-coral-pink cremes that presented any relationship (plus one random blue that joined the fun on the wheel), and as you can see, I do not have any similar shades. "Hayden" is very unique.

"Hayden" lasted on my nails fairly nicely, actually. I wore it for three days with only a little edgewear, though once it went, it went pretty quickly, with some nasty flaking halfway down my (short) nails.

Application was not too bad for a pastel. It was a little streaky -- this is definitely a three or four coater, depending on how thick your coats are. I let it dry overnight, because I did not space my coats very much. My experience is usually that these kinds of polishes take awhile to dry, so beware the pastel formula in general if you have to polish and go quickly.

Overall, this was my unexpected "like" out of my Julep box for January. :)

Julep Maven - January 2012 "It Girl"

Ooh! My first non-Polish Lover, non-Bombshell box!

While I watch my Steelers obliterate the Broncos (which are the local team, but I've never liked them and I despise Tebow), I will share with you. :)

Today I have the January 2012 "It Girl" box from Julep. I LOVED Megan at first sight, but I knew I would never wear it with the pale pink that Bombshell was supposed to come with. Then, perfectly, I found the It Girl box with Megan and two other, unreleased shades.

Some of you also may recall the obituary for my Julep Nail Therapy. Lucky enough, the first Mavens enrolled in the program also received their choice of a few free products, and Nail Therapy was among them. Can you say "yay" loud enough?

 

They also included a sample of their nail polish remover pads, which I am anxious to try sometime. If I like them, I think they would be a great addition to my travel kit. I am not sure if they are available for purchase yet, either!

This set included Hayden, Megan, and Leah as the basic run of polishes, and then, as I mentioned, the extra Nail Therapy and polish remover.

Did anyone else get this one? I thought it was sort of like the Polish Lovers set from November, leaving out the body scrub etc. On the other hand, I would really like to see the pomegranate body scrub!

Product Review - Julep "Glitter Pot"

I have pot to share with you all today. LoL.

Specifically, I have this little pot to share with you, the Glitter Pot that came in my December 2011 Julep Maven "Bombshell" box. Isn't it cute? And sparkly? I tried this out with Demi as an accent nail earlier this week. It looked super festive and pretty.

The way that I found works best for a cute little glitter pot like this is to take it in your fingers and sprinkle it on the wet polish of whatever nail you want. Then, you should wait (as I did not) for the polish to completely dry, then add topcoat. I was impatient, and ended up with Demi-covered glitter.

The nails with the glitter did tend to peel more than those that did not have glitter, but I again used the mysterious Julep fast-dry topcoat that may be responsible for peeling...

Please, Julep, put these on sale! I would pay a lot for them. They're a really nice little product, and I want to try the others!

Polish Review - Julep "Demi"

I have a polish that I have worn a few times this month. This one, Demi, came in my December Julep Maven "Bombshell" box. :)

Here, with a flash, you can see it (11) with a little bit of shimmer. :)

 

As you can see, it is a fairly bright burgundy, though a lovely color. Everyone knows I can never keep my hands off anything in the dark crimsons + burgundy family, so this was a welcome addition and my favorite choice out of all the Maven selections for the month -- and I already am a Bombshell! :)

Now, Demi does seem to have a mystery around her.

... where is Demi?

She's not under reds, pinks, purples, or anything else on Julep's website. Is she an unreleased color? Out of stock? Discontinued? Where is Demi? LoL.

Demi lasted pretty well. It tends to peel, though, and it peeled in some spots pretty quickly. I did apply it this time over my Color Club basecoat, though I think the first time I wore it, I put it over the Nail Therapy one. Both times I used the Julep fast-dry topcoat that also came in my Maven box. Now my topcoat is slightly tinted Demi. Haha. I am kind of tempted to try it over a tried and true polish and see if it makes that one peel as well. Short story: I love Demi, but I'm not sure about this topcoat buddy she brought along. But that's a review for another time...

Overall, I am really glad I picked this color out of my Maven choices. :)

Product Review - Julep "Everyday SPF Hand Cream - SPF 30"

 I have another product from Julep to share with you guys today. I have the "Everyday SPF Hand Cream - SPF 30," which I think came in my October Maven box. I was a horrible blogger all those months ago (lol) so I didn't do a complete post on the whole box at once.

This is a really nice hand cream. I had received a few packets of it in my first couple of Maven boxes, and had been trying it after using the "Facial for Hands" glycolic scrub, which I dearly adore. I like using it in the morning before I head out, though during winter I try really hard to minimize sun exposure altogether via gloves + pockets. I like to use the Glow On Age Defying Hand Brightener in the evening, and this in the morning.

The smell is not too bad, though the SPF adds a little bit of the "sunscreen" scent, though I cannot complain given what it is doing for my skin. It has a nice texture, again with a little bit of sunblock quality, but hey, it is a great product. I have not seen any drying of my hands from using it.

I will more than likely buy another of these when mine runs out. I am liking it for fall+winter -- I might need my Neutrogena SPF 90+ for spring+summer because I am transparent and vampiric -- but for now, it's in my "using daily" stash. :)

Julep Maven - December 2011 "Bombshell"

A few weeks ago, I received a Christmas present in the mail!

... I mean, my Julep Maven box. :D

I stuck with Bombshell for this month, tempted though I was by the appliqués of some of the other boxes. But most of you know that I cannot get enough of rich burgundies and crimsons, and since Demi was one the polish of the month, I was lost in its creamy burgundy-ness. Also, and maybe someone can prove me wrong, but I imagine appliqués do not work so well in little, not-grown-out nails? I want to try them... but when I have some visible nail line. ;)

Soooo... I got...
 

OMG, the prettiness. I just love how it all color-coordinates... both with the items themselves and their wrapping and, magically, my couch!

So I received the polish, Demi, their fast-dry topcoat, a pomegranate body crème, and a special little glitter pot. I am not too lotion-happy, but this smells divine, and I was fortunate enough not to have mine leak at all!

So that's my December box. As always, it was just lovely. :)

Product Review - Julep "Nail Therapy"

It is with sad regret that I announce the death of my first bottle of Julep's "Nail Therapy" treatment/basecoat.

 

My Julep "Nail Therapy" lasted from my first Julep Maven box, months ago, and came with me all the way into this holiday season. This is an amazing product.

You can use it, as the website suggests, either as a separate "therapy" treatment or as a basecoat. It dries really quickly -- I would often toss on a coat of this before I headed out for the day, and then actually polish my nails over it that night. I also could always tell if there was a nail that missed its Nail Therapy basecoat, because polish would not adhere as well, and the nails often would be weaker.

This is also a great choice to solidify a small tear in the nail. In some ways it seems more solid than even a mere nail polish, but it is super thin and does not overly build up a manicure.

My only comment to frequent users of this product is that you should be very careful to seal  your bottles carefully between uses to preserve hydration. Near the end of my bottle it got it a little bit gummy, probably because I am the worst at sealing my polish/treatment bottles.

I loved using this product underneath all of my manicures, and I am grateful to my little bottle for months of great work! Hopefully I will be able to pick up another one soon -- this is the best product I have found as a basecoat, especially for my Maven reviews. :)

Polish Review - Julep "Trina"

The last polish from the November 2011 "Polish Lovers" Maven box for you guys is Julep "Trina". Trina is a very pretty dark purple with a soft shimmer running through it.

The polish, shown here with a flash, is a very pretty color, though the shimmer is nowhere near as apparent in person. I ended up actually wearing it with a topcoat of Julep Vanessa in person because I wanted something a little bit more sparkly, and judging from the bottle, I was thinking Trina would be very sparkly on its own. No such luck. :( You can see this in the next photo, number 7 below.

 

Application wise, it's a little bit thick and difficult to get to dry.  Because of this and its color, it reminded me a lot of China Glaze "Lofty Ambitions". While they are not dupes, they are definitely cousins.  They are 7 and 10 in the next picture, just for comparison purposes:

It lasted very nicely, especially with the Vanessa as a top coat. There was very little chipping for the first couple days, though I must say that once it went, it was whole-nail flakes coming off!

Very pretty color. I like how Julep takes classic tones and makes them really special.

Polish Review - Julep "Diane"

Hello, guys! Today I have a polish from Julep, from the November "Polish Lovers" Box. I am so glad this month is almost over. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break, but otherwise, I really can't wait to have this semester be in the rearview mirror. You guys will remember "Diane":

That murky and mossy green over at left? That's "Diane". :)

Here are some close-ups of the swatches of this polish. I wore it for about two days, and while it didn't chip too badly, I wish that I could say that the appliucation made me happy. The application was painfully bubbly. It was difficult to get it to dry, so it smudged and fingerprinted. I wasn't too happy with how it looked because of this, so I took it off pretty soon after I started to wear it. I'm not sure if it's just a really thick polish, or if something else is awry with it.

Number 9 is "Diane", followed by 10, "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow."

Another interesting thing is that it is indeed a dead-on dupe for OPI's "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow". You do not need both. The application may have been slightly better on the OPI, or I might have just been distracted and given it more time to dry between coats. Both polishes are definite two to three-coaters; one coat is a streaky green mess.

I love the color of the polish. It's chic and autumn and a beauty vampy green. I just wish it weren't such a bitch going on my nails -- it's pretty once it's there properly!

Here is one more odious photo for you guys: I have no idea how that hideous dent happened, and they look awful, but it gives you a better sense of the green and some of the mossy look with the flash:

You also can see that for some reason it was a dust magnet. Ow!

That's all for now -- look for "Diane's" sisters sometime soon!

Polish Review - Julep "Vanessa"

Hello again!

I have another Julep polish for you guys. This one also came in my October 2011 Julep Maven Bombshell box. Today I have "Vanessa" for you.

Vanessa is a really pretty, micro-glittery polish suspended in a clear base. It serves best as a topcoat, but I swatched it on its own below.

I think this picture is about 4-5 coats to get the maximum opacity that I could out of it, but as you can see, the glitter is really too fine for it to stand on its own and have full coverage. This picture does have a clear topcoat to bring out the glitter.

I like this polish a lot. When I wore it I wore it over an old, goopy, "never come off your nails" kind of L'Oreal white because it was the only white that I had. It never dried, but at least it was pretty until I had to take off the whole manicure. It looked like snow that has just melted a little bit, so at night it sparkles -- pretty!

Drying time is very quick on Vanessa itself, like any good glitter. It seemed like it wasn't very chippy, though I didn't get to wear it for very long before the bottom layer of white polish got squishy and started sliding off the nail. Ew.

My biggest problem with it is that it's a very goopy polish. For some reason this doesn't equal an impossible drying time, but it does equal going through a LOT of polish, very quickly! You can see that I've used almost a third of the bottle in the bottle picture above. I swatched it on the nail wheel, and I did a two-coat manicure. Eeps! I hope I don't have to buy another round of Van really soon. :(

Overall this is a pretty polish. I think I like it a little more than Chloe, which came in the same Maven box. This one is definitely easy on the application, and much more versatile.

Polish Review - Julep "Chloe"

   While I get caught up, I have one more polish review for you today. For my October 2011 Julep Maven "Bombshell" box, I received a couple of nail polishes. One of them was "Chloe". Chloe is part of their Holiday 2011 collection, and currently unreleased. I love getting the advance "copies" of the nail polish -- it's the same thing that I do for advanced copies of books and other products. It makes me feel like the ultimate VIP, hehe.

   Chloe is superb-looking in the bottle. It is a gorgeous magenta shimmer/micro-glitter suspended in a black base. It sparkles in the bottle, and the magenta is very apparent. However, and this picture with a flash was the best I could get that showed the shimmer at all, once you get it on the nail (or nail wheel, where it is pictured next to Hard Candy "Beetle", which I thought would be more of a sister color when I only had Chloe to compare to it in its bottle), it loses a lot of the glow that is in the bottle. I added a top coat on my manicure, which zests it up a little than in the above photograph (without the top coat), but it's still nothing like in the bottle.
   I hate to say it, but this had some of the most difficult application I have tried in a long time. The manicure I have with Chloe right now is actually its second attempt. The first time I did my real nails with it (which are admittedly a little short right now after a very stressful couple of weeks), I was so irritated with how it looked that I peeled off every nail. Long story short: when Chloe arrived, it had a consistency somewhere between glue and congealed blood. It got a little better after I shook it up, but I still had the urge to put a drop of thinner into it -- and it's brand new! It goes in in big, chunky coats that are difficult to control, and I had it dripping everywhere on my cuticles. The Polish Paradigm has a good view of what tends to happen with this polish. (I'm glad I found the pic, because now I know I'm not the only one!) The second time I put on Chloe, I spent a lot of time and concentration getting it on in tiny thin coats. I was a little more happy when I did it this way, and then I plopped on a top-coat which brought back a little bit of a shine. I would say that it dried just a bit shinier than a satin -- sort of like if you have a really heavy glitter (except of course, Chloe doesn't appear to have once it's on the nail...).
   Although application is ridiculously difficult to control, it looks very nice once the whole process of getting it on the nail and top-coated is finished. It looks very darkat a glance, but not completely black -- almost a very dark chocolate, which is probably a result of black base+purple shimmer. Once the light hits it, it almost looks like the glitter is deeper than the base color, so it has a little bit of a jelly-like finish, but not a lot.
   On the whole, I like the polish and I am glad that I received it. I think it is a good holiday color, but just plan to take a little time putting it on, and focus!

  

Polish Review - Julep "Stefani"

   Today, as promised, I have for you Julep's "Stefani" nail polish. I received this in my September 2011 Julep Maven "Bombshell" box. It is a gorgeous steel-gunmetal base with gold and olive shimmer coursing through it. It's a lovely color, very trendy, but classic at the same time. It is really keeping with some of the olive tones that have been on the runways and in a lot of the Fall 2011 nail polish collections, but the fact that the olive seems to come more from the shimmer than the base is very different than any of the other polishes I have seen.

   I wore this to a business casual-y event a couple of weekends ago, and it was lovely. The application is pretty smooth, and for being almost-a-frost it wasn't too brushstroke-y. You have to pay attention when you put it on, or else it will be a little bit brush-stroked, but it's not too bad overall. I wore it over the Julep base coat I was sent in August, and it seemed to last very nicely. It did take forever to dry. This one is definitely a "apply before going to bed" or you risk gouging it.

   This is a very nice color, and it seems to last well. Although this is not to suggest that it is in any way dupe-y, I spent a lot of time staring at this polish and trying to figure out why it seemed so familiar. For some reason -- and I think it's the dull-gunmetal-turns-greenish-in-some-light aspect, it reminds me a lot of Chanel Black Pearl. Black Pearl is much greener and much darker, but this one is a nice, shimmery sister shade in some ways. It also reminds me of some of the "dud" photos of OPI "Not Like the Movies". The TraceFace Philes has a beautiful set of swatches and macros of the bottle.

  Did you get "Stefani"? Did you get another shade and wish you had "Stefani"? Share!

Three Boxes in the Mail

I have a few goodie boxes to share with you today!

I'm running a little behind, so my first is my September 2011 Julep Maven "Bombshell" box. I'm kind of jealous of some of the ladies who got that gorgeous teal creme this month, but I had some pretties in here too. :)

   This box contained a nail polish -- Stefani, a really pretty gunmetal-steel grey with gold and olive shimmer, the roller-ball essential cuticle oil, the SPF 30 hand cream that Mavens received a small sample of in their introductory box, and a very nice little nail file. I'm very behind on posting, so I admit -- I have already used all of these products except for the hand cream, though I need to try that out soon. I'll have a forthcoming review of Stefani, but I'll say here -- the nail file and the cuticle oil live in my purse now, and are not likely to leave any time soon. I think this was a very costworthy little box -- I think it about breaks even with what I would like to pay for the Julep products, and all of them were very usable, so I was very happy.

   So I broke down. I admit it. I finally bought a bottle of the Vitalumiere Aqua in Beige Rose. It's just slightly darker than my usual preference for foundations, but it looked so nice when I tried it in Croatia that I had to have it. I was originally going to buy Peridot at the same time, but it was sold out, and I'm not positive that I am going to buy Graphite, so I stuck with just the foundation. It did also come with a sample of Blue de Chanel, which I'll send to a (male) friend, and little samples of Mousse Confort and Sublimage Serum. I've hardly had time for my usual beauty routines, so these have gone untested so far. But I'll confess to you, my readers, that there may now be another Chanel box on the way very shortly, because something restocked just as I needed a bout of retail therapy...

   Lastly I have my newest Maven box, for October. This was really a nice little box and it was even nicer because it was a freebie that was released to combat some of the negativity surrounding it. I won't comment on that, since it did not involve me, though I was not too happy to see that any of the other lovely Mavens had been shortchanged at all. In this box are three pretties: Age-Defying Hand Cream, which will be awesome because I have very pale skin that freckles (especially on my hands) very unattractively, and two nail polishes. The first polish is Vanessa, a very pretty snow-like glitter that reflects all different colors and is suspended in a clear base. It reminds me of fake white shiny-snow that you get in a garland. It makes me wish it were Christmastime! The second polish is Chloe, which is a pink/red/magenta microglitter/shimmer that is suspended in a black, jelly-like base. I admit that I nail-wheeled (and wore Chloe) both of these prior to the above photo, so don't judge the bottle content-level!

   That's all I have for you right now. I'll hopefully have a couple of polish reviews up sometime soon, but for now, it's back to football!