Julep: Trick or Treat Mystery Box, Take Two

Last week, I wrote about my Julep Trick or Treat Mystery Box that was apparently sent back to them because of a mistaken address, and how I called them, and raved about their awesome customer service, and they said they'd send me a second box, with no questions asked. Then the next day, my box did show up, very beat up, but it got here regardless. So this week, I ended up with a second Trick or Treat Mystery Box and I was eager to compare them... So off to box two.

The inside of my box, at a glance.

My mystery bag add-on and mystery color add on: Payton, Leah, Roc Solid, and Millie, the exact same colors as I had gotten, last time, as an add on. No randomness there, so onto the box.

This was the inside of my box, already it was different, at a glance.

Mint Condition Pedi Creme, worth $16.00 [and more candy corn, yay]

I've gotten that in a box before. I still haven't used the last tube I had of it. It does feel refreshing, it's a product that I just forget I have... But it's also almost winter, so it's not really going to be flip flop season anytime soon, even in Texas, it's more like Ugg season, so this product isn't something that I'll be using very often.

Verdict: Meh

Mighty Nail and Cuticle Serum, worth $22.40

This doesn't really interest me. I'm not really into nail care. I mean, I like how polish looks on my nails, but I'm a special education teacher, and my day is far too active and hands-on for me to obsess over my nails.

Verdict: Meh

Julep Vanish Cuticle Softener & Remover, worth $14.40.

I just got this in either my September or October Maven Box, I don't remember. I don't need another when I haven't even opened the first.

Verdict: Meh

from l to r: Beatrix, Lacey, Chloe, and Veronica, each worth $11.20, for a total of $44.80

I got Beatrix in my last Mystery Box. Still a cool color, but I don't need two of them.

Lacey is a pretty shimmery indigo blue, I needed a color like this in my life.

Chloe is a cross between red, brown, bronze, and gold. It's not a color that I would have picked for myself, but it's not awful.

Veronica I have already, it's a coral pink color that came in one of my monthly boxes.

Verdict: Okay, I really like Lacey, and Chloe isn't awful, but I preferred the colors I had gotten in my last Mystery Box.

Total Value: $97.60

About a dollar cheaper than my last box, but still more than what I had paid for it.

I also liked my last box, a lot better.

The moral of this story is:

1. Yes, Mystery Boxes do have some randomness.

2. I need to stop spending my money on Mystery Boxes because they just haven't wowed me lately. Unless there's an exclusive color I need, I just need to say no.

Monthly reveal closes today, BTW, I added on every single eyeliner pencil... I think I have a problem.... But you can never have too many eyeliner pencils!

Julep: Trick or Treat Mystery Box

Before I get into the brink of this entry, I'd just like to take some time to write about how awesome Julep's customer service is. I was expecting this box on Friday, and when I when to check on the delivery status of the package, it said that the package was being returned to sender because no such address existed. I was confused, I've gotten millions of packages here from Julep and other places... Maybe Fed Ex was fed up with me because my apartment accepted a package addressed to me, the other day, where I totally put the wrong apartment address, and they didn't want to delivery it, but the office people recognized my name, and made them leave it here... who knew...

So anyways, I called Julep up on the phone, told them what happened, and they had no problem resending my package to me, no questions asked, and told me to expect it sometime this week. They were so nice and sweet to me.

Then this showed up in the mail today:

 I'm not quite sure if my picture accurately portrays how beat up that box is. It's re-taped back together, bent in, and my address was wrong... I don't know what happened, the last number was left out, and hand-written in, and I got it today. No wonder they wanted to return it to the senders...

But in the end, the vanishing box, still got here. I think my replacement box got sent out yesterday, so we'll see if I get another box. If I do, it'll be interesting to compare the contents of the two boxes. If I get repeats, no biggie, I promised our landlord that I'd give her some of my doubles, which I have several of, as it is because she's interested in sampling their polish since she sees how many packages from them I get a month. 

The first look at the Trick or Treat Mystery Box.

Now, tons of people were PISSED OFF [me included] about the lack of "jewels" in the September Jewel Heist Mystery Box, and were quite vocal about to Julep on their facebook.

Julep  said they learned from the feedback, and were eager to make a more pleasing Mystery Box, so even though the Trick or Treat Mystery Boxes would be recycled colors, they would be more theme related. So I was eager to see what it would contain. I was expecting a lot of oranges, yellows, greens, and blacks.

Ajani took a liking to the box it came in.. He's still in there, and doesn't seem to be leaving any time soon.

from l to r: Payton, Leah, Roc Solid, and Millie.

They were my "Trick or Treat" add on and mystery color. 

Payton, Bombshell, is a bright mint green. I feel like my nailpolish collection lacks some good green color polishes, and green is my favorite color, and I'm very happy with this color.

Leah, IT GIRL, is a shimmery green. It's a different shade of green than Payton, as you can see in the picture, and it has a greenish silver shimmer. I like it.

Roc Solid, IT GIRL, is sort of a teal colored gray. It's very much a me color. 

Millie, Boho Glam, is a cross between gray, blue, and purple. It's also very much a me color.

Love these four colors, they're the sort of colors I tended to buy in bulk when I used to get my cheap drugstore nail polish back in the day. 

Verdict: LOVE THESE COLORS

Four colors, each worth $11.20, at maven prices, total value, $44.80, definitely way more than I paid.

The inside of the big box.

Nail mask, worth $2.o0

I have never used one of these and never plan to use one of these. I'm sure they're great, they're just not really my thing. 

Verdict: FAIL, only because it isn't a "me" product.

Julep's Blank Canvas Eye Primer and Candy Corn, worth $17.60.

I have nothing against eye primer. I've used it before, although I tend to use strictly Urban Decay's eye primer, but I think I now have a total of three of these Blank Canvas Eye Primers... so maybe it's time to switch loyalties? 

I just rarely have a time, where I can sit down, and really work on making my eye makeup look pretty. I'm too busy. For school, I put on enough eye liner and mascara to make me NOT look like a corpse, and run out the door. 

And my friends group consist of a bunch of awesome geeky nerds, who care far more about what MtG cards they're going to get in their booster packs than what my makeup looks like, so I don't really have any social opportunities where I can really find a reason to dress my makeup up. Therefore, I just don't really have a reason to use primer.

Verdict: Like, just don't have much time or reason to take advantage of such a product.

The Candy Corn is already gone.

Verdict: LOVE[D]

 Luxe Care Hand Creme, worth $16.00

Hand Creme is useful. I swear between Julep and Ipsy, I'm never ever going to have to buy hand creme ever again. 

Verdict: Neutral, I don't love it or hate it.

Brilliance Glycolic Hand Scrub, worth $18.40.

I'm intrigued by this product. I totally prefer a hand scrub to a hand creme. As a special education teacher, everything I do is very "hands on", so it'll be a nice little treat for my hands that I can use to wash school  off of them, and I always love the way exfoliating products feel on my skin when I use them.

Verdict: Very Curious

from l to r: Beatrix, Valerie, Josephine, & Faye.

Beatrix, bombshell is awesome. It's a black polish with thick chunks of silver glitter in a pool of rainbow glitter. It's very much a me color. 

Valerie, bombshell is a turquoise with a gold shimmer in it. You can also see the gold shimmer in my picture. It's also very much a me color.

Josephine, IT GIRL, is more of a navy color than my picture shows. It may be a really good color for my wedding since my bridesmaid dresses are all navy blue.

Verdict: LOVE THESE COLORS

Faye, boho glam is a shimmery golden sand color. It's not the ugliest color I've ever gotten, but it doesn't wow me either.

Verdict: Meh

Again, four colors, worth a total of $44.80.

Total:  $98.80, with Maven Prices.

Well over what I paid for it, and I'm actually very satisfied with this box. I love basically all the nailpolish colors that I received, and I wasn't wowed with all the beauty products that I got, but there's really nothing [except maybe the nail mask] that I would call a waste of space. So Julep did redeem themselves for the Jewel Heist Fiasco with this box. Everything fit nicely, for the most part, with the Halloween theme, and I very much like the selection of products that I got in this box.

Ipsy: October 2014, Beauty Candy.

Today has been a day of many packages in my household... My new rainbow keyboard came from newegg, my Halloween costume came despite me putting the wrong address on it [thank goodness, the apartment people, who work in the office, know Justin and I by name], my new workout bathing suit came, my new work clothes from Old Navy came... Oh and Ipsy came.

 

Ipsy  is a subscription bag service. It's ten bucks a month, and you get a makeup bag sent to you every single month full of full-size and sample size beauty products. It's probably, one of the best subscription services, as getting the most bang for your buck, in my opinion. 

They supposedly some kind of Ipsy match service to pick your products for you, but I don't really believe that since I do tend to get a moderate amount of stuff, I'm just "meh" about.

This is what was in my pink envelope. This months theme is "beauty candy."

 

 The bag this month was nothing special, it's a nice color, but I'm quite disappointed that a bright teal bag has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Halloween.

 

  Acacia, Protein BB Cream, by ECRU New York, worth $12.00, which seems quite expensive for a 1 fl oz bottle, but that's what the website claims.

My hair is a wreck. I swim every single day, except for the next five days because I sliced my finger open cutting carrots for a salad, and had to go to the E.R. yesterday, and they told me pools are off-limits for the next few days due to germs :(

 

But I digress, the point it, my hair is wrecked, thanks to the glorious chemical known as chlorine. So... If this product can somehow minimize all the damage to my hair, from swimming, it's a product, I don't mind trying. 

 

This is the contents of my bag.

 

 Noyah lipstick, Deeply in Mauve, worth probably about $8.00 because it looks like it's half the size of a regular lipstick, the picture is out of focus, purposely, to show you the glitter.

It's more purple and darker than my picture shows.

Meh. I hate lipstick, and I would never wear a color this dark. 

Rose Berry, Figs & Rogue, Hand Cream, worth $3.00.

I'm indifferent to this item. I don't like nor dislike hand cream. It's something I use, especially in winter, so it's a useful sample, just not something I would have chosen for myself.

Skyn Iceland, glacial cleaning clothes, worth $5.00

I like facial cleaning clothes, especially if they help get makeup off of my face. Very useful item. Maybe it'll help my skin in some shape or form.

NYC BIG CURL MASCARA, full-size, worth $4.99.

I love mascara, I'm excited about a full-size mascara product, especially since it seems one of my mascaras are always empty, so it's nice to have a refill. Very happy with this.

Total Value: $32.99

Not the most expensive bag I've ever gotten, but not the worst either, and still over what I paid for it.

Overall, this bag was "meh", I guess with it being October, I was hoping for more Halloween themed products. I wasn't very happy with what I received this month.

If you're interested, check Ipsy out.

Influenster: Aussie Box

I got the following products, free of charge, from Influenster, in return, I am going to provide an honest review of the following products that I received. I repeat, I paid NO MONEY, for these products, they were complimentary from Influenster, in return for an honest and fair review of them.

Like two weeks ago, I got an email from Influenster wanting me to fill our some kind of pre-product survey to see if I qualified for a certain Vox Box. I had totally forgotten about it, forgotten I had even filled out the survery, heard nothing from them, nothing about whether I qualified or didn't qualify, so I was quite surprised to find this in my mailbox today:

So this took me completely by surprise.

This is what was in the box, two full-size hair products from Aussie.

I love hair products, I hate my hair. Texas heat and humidity and naturally curly hair that has a tendency to frizz, really don't mix. In fact, the only time I can slightly tolerate my hair is when I pay to get a keratin treatment for it, which I do maybe 1-2 times a year because it makes my hair somewhat manageable.

I was also not blessed with an ability to style hair. I can't braid without it looking stupid. I can't do anything that looks nice like a messy bun or some sort of fancy pony tail or half up/half down look, which means my hair is usually up in a clip and in a head band to keep it out of my face. 

Plus, I swim 5/7 days a week, as a workout, and chlorine and hair are definitely not bffls.

Therefore, this box is a welcome box, in hopes that it can tame my evil hair.

I actually really do like Aussie products. I used to use their shampoo and conditioner, as well as their mousse for quite some time. My fiance still used their mousse.

I had an ex, who ONLY used Aussie hair products, and I would drive to his apartment, in Philly, every other weekend, sometimes every weekend, for almost a year, and that's what he had in the shower, so I used it for my hair, as well, and I was always pleased with the things it did to my hair. 

So Aussie and I have a history, you could say.

I received Instant Freeze Hairspray, full-size, worth $3.44, and Sprunch spray, worth $3.44, as well, also full-size.

I'm excited to try both these products, I've never been much of a hair-spray type girl, I tend to prefer gel or mousse, but I'm eager to see how these do with my hair. I hope the sprunch spray can help me hair stay curly without frizz, pending Texas humidity goes away, and I hope the hairspray can maintain my updo.

So that was my Vox Box.

If you're interested in getting a Vox Box, feel free to check out Influenster, it's 100% free, and you can get free samples and/or full-size products. I've gotten three Vox boxes since I've joined.

Julep: October 2014, Black Magic Collection

Wow, my October Julep box came really early this month! I wasn't expecting it for another week or two. Maybe... they gave me a shipping upgrade because I upgraded to the entire polish collection? Who knows.

I don't really feel like I need to go into detail about what Julep is anymore since I'm pretty sure I only have two readers on this blog, and they both already get their own Maven box. So here's a quick 411, you pay money every month, you get nailpolish and/or beauty products every month. The more money you pay, the more stuff you get. Subscriptions start at about $20.00 and go up to $40.00 depending on what box you choose to receive. The  boxes are completely customizable, so you can swap in and swap out whatever you want, then when you're done doing that, you see all the extras you can get, and you spend more money on those.  That's Julep for you in a nutshell.

This month's theme was "Black Magic", and believe me, when I say, I am such a sucker for anything Halloween themed. I love Halloween. Therefore, I felt it necessary to upgrade to every single nailpolish color.

And of course I added extras... That buy three extras get a free product deal gets me every single time...

My first extra, black cat stickers for my nails... Only because I am a crazy cat person.  Hell, I'm thinking of dressing as the Cheshire Cat for a Halloween costume party that I am going to.

My second extra, the TADA Quick Dry Drops because they work wonders, and totally pwn over sticking my nails on the freezer to get my polish to dry, and I was almost out of them. I don't really have a use for the cuticle softener stuff, but it was sort of a buy one, get the other sort of deal, so oh well.

Lastly, Casper, a glow in the dark nailpolish, that's white and glittery. I don't know if it will glow in the dark, but we shall see. I'm a sucker for white and glittery shit anyways because it reminds me of New Jersey aka home, and how the snow looks after it first falls down over winter.

My freebies were two polishes: Catrina and Karmen.

I know I already own Karmen, but I don't mind, I think it's the perfect fall color. It's an apple red color with a bronze glitter that reminiscent of leaves changing color and fall.

Catrina, I don't own, but it's yellow, and I FUCKING HATE YELLOW, oh well, it was free.

I've also already devoured the candy corn extra that came with the box this month. Yum.

Moving onto this month's colors:

From l to r: Ledi, Nancy, and Dana.

Ledi is a black color. Just plain black. Nothing more to describe. I actually don't think I own a good black nailpolish color, so it'll be a nice add on to my already humungous nailpolish collection.

Nancy is a silver glitter with a hint of green in it that you can't really see in the picture. I am a sucker for silver nailpolish.

Dana is apparently black light reactive, not that I own a black light to test out that theory. Otherwise, it's a white color, with a blue ultraviolet like glow and glitter, and I assume it would turn that color under a black light. 

from l to r: Shailene, DeAnn, and Logan.

Shailene is a brown and gold glitter. I don't think its true color is that apparent in my picture. It's a cool color that sort of brings me visions of a witches broomstick or something.

DeAnn is a dark pink creme color. It's more red than pink, it looks pink in my picture, but to me, it's more of a cranberry pink color. I like it, it sort of reminds me of blood, which makes me think of vampires, which makes me think of Halloween.

Logan is a cool color. It's purple black, and I've never seen anything like it. It reminds me of the night sky during twilight. [not the stupid movie with the glitter vampires, like the real sky.] It's a very much a Halloween/Fall color. I love it a lot.

from l to r: Marla, Briana, and Margarita.

Marla is a crimson color with a purple glitter that's not that apparent in this picture. It sort of reminds me of red wine, and Cayuga wine that I used to bring back from Ithaca back in the days when I used to go wine tasting.

Briana isn't as bright as my picture makes it out to be, it's more navy than cerulean. I love a good blue polish.

Margarita makes that Jimmy Buffet song start playing in my head... wasting away in Margaritaville... It's a bit darker than my picture implies, it's more of a dark purple than a bright purple. I also love a good purple polish. 

Here's every single color I got this month, including the add-ons.

I liked this box a lot, I thought the colors fit the Halloween theme nicely, and they're colors that will definitely get some wear from me.. except that fucking yellow color.

So overall, great October box,

So anyways if you're so inclined, check our Julep, your nailpolish collection will never be the same after you do.