Julep: May 2014

I actually had a dream about nailpolish, last night. 

I was in a hotel room, with my co-worker, and I don't remember what we were doing, but I was painting my nails with this candy scented nail-polish... WHICH BY THE WAY WOULD BE AN AMAZING IDEA... And I was using the JULEP PLIÉ WAND™ to paint my nails. Except I kept on getting annoyed because the nailpolish I was using wouldn't stay on my nails. It wouldn't dry. Like the second I finished painting a nail and went onto another nail [because I was totally painting them rainbow colors] the color would vanish from the nail I had just painted. My brain is strange.

Anyways Julep is primarily a nail-polish subscription service. They make other makeup and products, as well, and a lot of their makeup is decent, but they're mainly known for their nailpolish.

They've recently changed around their subscription service. I've been a member since March or April 2013, so I'm grandfathered into their old subscription, which was pay $20.00, you get two nailpolish colors [or three if you're an IT girl] and a beauty product. 

Now there's My Maven, which is $24.99 per month or $19.99 with a paid three-month pre-paid subscription and you can completely customize everything in your box, and you get $40.00 worth of product.

Then there's Maven Luxe, which is $39.99 per month or $34.99 with a three-month pre-paid subscription. It is also completely customizable, and comes with $60.00 worth of product. 

In Julep,you can skip a box with no penalties every six months, if you're a new member.. If you've already been a member, there is no change to your skip options. 

I'm just sticking to what I have, for now. My Maven sounds interesting, but I don't know if I'll make the change, I sort of like how it is. 

I was actually surprised with how big the box was this month. I didn't upgrade and get any add-ons, so I was confused. Usually the monthly boxes are so small that they fit into my apartment mailbox. My fiance had to pick this up from the office.

Ajani would not let me have a good first look at the box, we fought for control of it.

Julep is the second subscription, alongside Ipsy that I chose to keep, when I was ending subscriptions due to money issues with me being on FMLA. Julep was literally THE FIRST subscription box I ever subscribed to, and I love nail polish, so it was a definite keeper.

This is the Julep Plié Wand that was the BIG PRODUCT for all mavens this month. They started a kick-starter campaign for it back in like November to raise money to produce it. 

This is what Julep says about it:

What it is:

An ergonomic nail polishing tool designed to solve common polishing pain points and give you better results. Imagine if you’d spent your whole life writing with a pen cap and then someone finally handed you a full-size pen. That’s what it feels like to polish with the Plié Wand.

What it does:

Long, balanced design improves leverage, comfort, and control

Flexible handle twists and bends so you can get a better grip

Plié overcap fits on any Julep nail polish and attaches to Plié Wand

Precision brush lets you polish closer to your nail

I haven't tried it. I guess I don't care enough about my nails to try it. I mean I like painting my nails and nail polish, but it's not really a work of art to me like it is to some people, especially when I'm a pre-k teacher, and constantly working hands-on with kids, and I'm lucky if my manicure lasts a day as it is.

I'm also lazy, and don't want to clean the nailpolish brush after I finish using it, which also turns me off from using the  Plié Wand.

I'm not saying I'll never try it, I just haven't yet. Maybe, when the right occasion pops up, and I need super pretty nails, I try it, but I don't know when that will be. However, I do think it is a cool product.

from l to r: Maddy & Ramona

I went with my usual classic with a twist profile this month. I didn't upgrade and none of the other colors really appealed to me, and the big May product was the Plié Wand, so perhaps that's why the May color profiles didn't appeal to me.

Maddy is a bright pink color with a sparkly pink sheen. It's a pretty pink, but I also think it's a lot like some of the other pink polishes I have, just a different color shimmer. It doesn't strike me as a unique pink like some of the others have been.

Ramona is a very pale lavender pastel color. You can't quite see the purple that well in the picture, but trust me, it's a pastel purple color.

Does anyone remember Hard Candy Nail Polish? Or am I the only 90's baby left?

They were like the COOLEST things when I was a junior and senior in high school and I spent all my babysitting money on their nailpolishes, which came with a matching plastic ring, which went great with jelly platforms, which were also COOL back then.

[see my nailpolish addiction started early on.]

Anyways Ramona reminds me of the color on the right, minus the sparkle, but it's the same sort of shade of purple.

Man, now if only hair mascara would come back.

Anyways, so if you're a nailpolish freak like me, feel free to check out Julep.

I don't know much about their new subscription programs, but I can totally vouch for their products :)

Ipsy: May 2013, Fresh Picks

Since I had been in the hospital and then hadn't been home for about two weeks because I wasn't allowed to climb stairs... and third story apartment, no elevator, made it pretty impossible to get home, I had no idea that my Ipsy bag had even been mailed. I didn't even know any of the spoilers, for once, since I hadn't even really been on facebook or social media, so when this turned up in my mailbox, I was pretty surprised.

Ajani was pretty curious about it too.

Ipsy is a ten dollar a month subscription bag service. They send a mixture of 4-5 products... hair products, skin care, makeup, perfume, etc, in a makeup bag every month, in both full-sizes and sample sizes. 

There's a waiting list to sign up for it, but I think you can skip some of the waiting if you connect Ipsy to your facebook account... at least that's what I did. 

Ipsy is one of two subscription boxes/bags that I decided to keep when I needed to cut down on spending money, when I went on FMLA for my surgery. 

Pacifica Mineral Eyeshadow Duo in Duo 1, estimated to be worth about... $3.00.

I can't really find any comparable prices on their website, there's not really a similar product, but it's a decent size, so I'll estimate it to be about three dollars. Pacifica's products are 100% Vegan and cruelty-free as well.

My picture doesn't do my swatches justice. The color on the right of the palette is a glittery bronze color with sparkle, and the paler color is a beautiful pinkish purple shimmer. They're both completely gorgeous colors and look NOTHING like they do in the container they came in. 

Just goes to show that you can't judge a makeup, by first glance.

I really like these colors, they're nude enough for every day wear, but glittery enough to make a statement. 

Eau Thermal Avene, Thermal Spring Water, worth $9.00,based on an internet search that showed me the same product in the same size for that price. A full-size is twice the size of this, and costs $18.00, so that $9.00 does seem accurate.

But... WHAT THE HELL IS THERMAL SPRING WATER?

These are the directions that came with the product. Apparently it has a lot of uses... makeup removal, after hair removal, razor burn, diaper rash, reducing facial redness, itching, after a surgical procedure, damaged skin, after exercise, during travel, and in summer, and I do like the special illustrations that came with my directions.

I sprayed some on my face, out of curiosity, and it was cooling and refreshing. So, this will probably be something that will go great after being outside in Texas sun during the summer and working up an awful sweat, just walking to and from my car... LOVE THAT 105 DEGREE HUMIDITY!!

Nailtini nailpolish in Bloody Mary, full-size, worth $13.00

I don't like really like bright red and slutty nailpolish, no offense to anyone, who does.  It's just not me, I prefer cooler colors as opposed to warmer colors. It's a very very bright red. I do love nailpolish though. I wish I had gotten one of the other colors offered this month because they're more "me", but then again, you never know when I might want a red nailpolish for some reason, so I am satisfied with this.

Hang-Ten Classic Sport Sunblock, SPF 50, let's estimate it at... $4.00? It's a decent sized sample, but not full-size, which retails at $13.00.

This will go to use. I don't use SPF that high, I have medium skin, and I really like to tan over the summer, but I do tend to use stronger SPF on my face [I'm partial to Coola cucumer scented facial sunscreen in SPF 30, which I got in a birchbox, last summer] just not SPF 50.

However, my fiance is very pale, and burns very easily, and requires a high SPF, so I will pass this on to him, and I'm sure it will be very useful when we take out summer pilgrimage down to New Braufels/San Antonio for Schlitterbahn and Tubing :) 

Pur-lisse hydra balance moisturizer, worth about $13.75. To get this price, I did math. I got about one fourth of the full-size product, and figured out what 25% of the full-size product, which is $55.00 would be. 

I'm slightly excited about this product. It claims it helps with anti-aging and redness, which are two things I like. I also like moisturizers because my face gets awful in Texas heat, and I like any product that makes me look younger than I am, although, most people say I really don't look my age anyways... BUT STILL. 

I plan to try this after my shower later today.

Sorin was watching me the entire time that I wrote this and unbagged my products.

And Gandalf was watching me from behind. 

My cats are so freaking curious whenever I get a subscription box. I should get them like a Cat subscription box. 

Anyhow, my total for Ipsy this month is: approximately $42.75

I paid ten smackers for this bag, and the value was $32.75 over my initial purchase. 

Ipsy always gives you great value for your money. 

I was very happy with this month's bag. I will actually use probably all the products in it... even that weird thermal water.

So... ten dollars, great value, generous samples, check Ipsy out.

Nerd Block: April 2014

 Just for the record, I got the April 2014 Nerd Block a long time ago. I think I got it in the second or third week of April, and life, on my end started to get crazy, and I never got to post about. I took these pictures, when I got the box, but since then the box, itself has vanished and been thrown out, so I'm not even sure I can calculate or estimate a price on most of these items since I don't know what some of them are. 

Nerd Block is a subscription box that sends "nerdy" themed items from Canada for about $20.00 per month. I got Nerd Block for about four months, and a lot of the items in it, I had no idea what fandoms they came from, which makes me think that I'm less of a nerd than I thought.

Nerd Block also has Nerd Block Jr, which is cheaper, and has more fandoms that little kids may know such as My Little Pony and Star Wars, and is about $14.00. I actually like Nerd Block Jr then Nerd Block, and there's an option for girl's or boy's boxes. 

This was the first glance into my box.

Every Nerd Block box comes with a unique tee-shirt. This was April's tee-shirt. I actually like it. It's a nice color. Blue matches my eyes, and it's the type of shirt I'd see and want, but probably wouldn't buy for myself. The tee shirt is probably worth about $10.00 because that's how much shirts for for on sites such as Tee Fury, where I spend way too much money because they always have Doctor Who themed tee-shirts :x

I have no idea what the Bravest Warriors are or who Beth Tezukka is. It reminds me of the animation of Adventure Time, which is a show I cannot stand. I googled her, and sure enough, it is by the same creators of Adventure time. It says this about her:

• Beth Tezuka : The female member of the Bravest Warriors. Her weapon animal is a cat which can form into a cat o' nine tails with cat heads. In the episode "Hamster Priest" it's discovered that Beth's father, Ralph Waldo Pickle Chip's dimension hopping machine is directly linked with Beth's brainwaves.

I don't have an opinion of the brainwave part, but as a self-proclaimed crazy cat lady, I can appreciate her weapon animal. 

Lego Transformers, pretty cool.

These will make very nice additions to our D&D games, or if I ever build the Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts castle that I have, the transformers can invade Hogwarts and it will be bad-ass.

I have never seen Alien. My fiance stole this from the box, and brought it to his high school, where he teachers, to sit at his desk. So he thought this was pretty cool. 

I don't even know what this is. It's a cross between Jar Jar Binks in drag or Roger from American Dad in drag.

A tiny Captain America: The Winter Soldier skateboard toy.

This is what I don't understand about Nerd Block. CA:TWS was a HUGE ASS MOVIE in April, and all I get is a tiny little skateboard? I feel like they're not in tune with what's "cool" for whatever month it is. They should've sent like a Marvel bobble head as the big price item to go with the movie that came out that month instead of sending me a stupid rabbit in drag or somebody from a TV show I don't even watch. 

Anyhow, that was April's Nerd Block. I wasn't a big fan. The tee-shirt was cool and the transformers were pretty cool... My fiance liked the Alien figure... But overall, NOT IMPRESSED. 

I'm really not that impressed with the last three boxes I got [although the first one I ever got with the My Little Pony and Iron Man bobble head was legit]. I don't know if I will renew this subscription when I am working and making money again. I wish Nerd Block was slightly more personalized, or into more popular fandoms. 

I will, however, probably renew Nerd Block Jr because with the items I don't want for myself, I have an adorable little girl, who's the daughter of a friend, who loves them.

But, I need to be able to work and make money first :P

Anyhow, off to the doctor today, hoping for good news :)

Wantable: April 2014

My April Wantable box came a few days before my surgery, which by the way I survived. It's been two weeks since my surgery, and while I don't know if I'm cancer free [though the oncologist seemed very confident after surgery] yet, I'm doing okay. 

I have pain on my stomach, where I have 5 incisions [I had it done via a robot and laproscopically] and bruising and swelling associated with that. But other than that, I'm mostly okay. The pain sort of feels like when I do way too many sit-ups at the gym, and I'm achy. I can't really bend over too well. But really, I survived.

But I digress...

 

Wantable  is one of the pricier subscription boxes, at $36.00 per month, but unlike the others, you can literally pick what products you like and don't like. And you can always get ONE box for about $40.00, but the subscription saves you some dough.

They also have an accessory box and an intimates box. I get their makeup box... Or rather I got it before I canceled most of my subscription services prior to surgery to save money until I'm working and making money again.

This was the first look at my box.

A Retractable Kabuki Brush from Real Techniques, worth $10.00.  The brush is pretty nifty, you turn the handle and it either grows or shrinks back into the container. However, I think if I resubscribe to Wantable, I'll put tools under "dislike" because they just haven't sent me any tools that I actually find useful. 

Hex nailpolish from Liberty Republic, worth $14.00. I really like this color. In fact, I painfully painted it on my toenails today [bending over with five stitches in your abdomen... not the most comfortable thing ever] and it looks awesome. It's a cerulean blue with silver glitter, and it's nice and thick, one coat was all I needed. 

Eye Cordial Frothe from Tini Beauty, worth $18.00. It's an eye-shadow base. It's sort of a yellowish white color. I don't really like the color. I'm not sure if I'll use it. I might, or I might not. But I'm "meh" about this. 

Extreme Volumizing Mascara Black from Sorme, worth $14.00.  I actually used this mascara yesterday, when my fiance took me out for dinner and I felt a desire to look human and wear makeup. It gave my lashes some nice definition, length, and color. It's not the BEST mascara I've ever used [that honor goes to Golden Rose from my original Wantable box back in like December], but it's a pretty good mascara :)

Opaline Cream Eye Definer by Three Custom Color, worth $22.50. It's a very nice and dark color that would make a good eyeliner. I haven't tried it yet, but I do like black and darker colored eyeliners, so I'm sure it will eventually be used.

The total value:  $83.50

WAAAAAYYYYY over what thirty six bucks I originally paid back when I was actually earning money.

It's not the best Wantable box I've ever gotten, but it's not the worst either. I've already used two of the products, and may or may not use a few more. 

So if you feel so inclined, check out Wantable.