November 2014: Julep "Friendsgiving"

Man, I can't even begin to tell you how much trouble I went through this month to get my Julep box. The box was supposed to be here on the 7th, it never got here. I checked the shipping status, and got that same error message I had gotten before about no such address existing. I called Julep and told them how whatever shipping company they use truncates my address, so the last digit in my apartment number is missing. They said I wasn't the first person to have that issue this month... SO YOU'D THINK THEY'D DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?

They reordered my box for me, and changed my address, so it no longer said "Apt" just a # sign... But the box didn't even send till a week after they said they'd reorder it, and I just got it Wednesday. I really hope I don't have this issue with December's box.

 Eventually it did get to me... in two shipments?

In the pink box was just the mascara that came with my "classic with a twist" beauty profile this month. Nothing else... Just mascara. 

Ignore my marker stained hands- that's what happens when you teach special ed.

It's mascara, I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I feel like the more mascara I have the better, so I'm eager to give it a try and see if it can help me fake the fact that I have no lashes.

This was the second box.

I kept my classic with a twist box, and just added one color. From l to r: Shari, Devon, and Kiki.

I wasn't really wowed with the color selection this month, so I kept my box and  just added Kiki to the order, although I did go add-on heavy with eyeliner :x

Speaking of which, I just realized that I never got a "bonus gift" for filling out all my add-0n spots. 

I don't really care, but it's sort of false advertising to claim you're going to do something and then not follow through with that claim.  It's totally not worth calling them about either... If I did, it would just take another two weeks to send me whatever the bonus product was and who knows if I'd even like it.

Anyhow....

Shari is a very light white pink color. I don't know if I'll ever wear it. But it isn't hideous.

Devon is pretty nifty, it's a gray color with a pink sheen:

[That was the best pic I could get that you can sort of see the pink sheen]

Kiki is a light blue glitter. It's nothing special, but I do like cooler colors like greens, blues, purples, etc as opposed to other colors.

This is every single gel eyeliner color minus the black one, which I own already.

I actually really like their gel eyeliner. It goes on smooth. I barely need primer. And it has amazing staying power, it's definitely up there as one of my preferred eyeliner choices, and it goes on the waterline quite smoothly.

Graphite Shimmer is a really dark gray color that looks more black than gray, and it's pretty awesome. I dig anything that is either black or gray.

Smokey Plum is a black purple. It's more black than purple, but it does have a hint of violet, it's a good color for when black is boring and I want something with a little more color but still dark. 

Bronze Shimmer is a nice neutral dark brown. I lack neutral colors for eyeliner aside from basic blacks, so it's an every day color that I can wear to school.

Regal Teal Shimmer is blue-green and bright. It's a nice wild color.

Smokey Taupe is a pale golden color, it has a nice sparkle, and it's also nice for every day neutral wear.

So as usual I spent far too much money on my monthly Julep box, but I would say I'm satisfied with the products I got, once they eventually got me.

Here's hoping December has far less shipping difficulties. 

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.

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.

Julep: Jewel Heist Mystery Box

Last week, I ordered another Julep mystery box.

The theme was "Jewel Heist", and 50 random subscribers would get a box filled with all the birthstone nailpolish colors, and some sparkly earrings. 

I ordered the box, knowing I wouldn't win, but hoping maybe I could score some of the jewel birthstone polish, since I don't own any of it.

This was the first look at the box.

Ajani wasn't impressed.

I added one "mystery polish" add on, and these were the three colors I got. 

From l to r:  Kristen, Emilie, & Kam.

Kristen is a combination of blue and silver glitter. I want to say I have it, but if I don't, I have one just like it, but either way, it's a pretty color, and if I do have it, I don't mind a second bottle of it.

Emilie is a turquoise green color. I really like it a lot.

Kam is a pastel mint color. I also really adore this color.

Each nail polish retails for 11.20 with maven prices.

So the total retail value for those three polishes was $33.60 with maven prices. I initially paid $9.oo-$14.00 for the add on, I don't remember which, but either way, the value of those three polishes was far more than what I paid for it, and I really love all three of those colors.

This was the inside of the box.

Julep mascara, in brown, worth $5.99, since it's currently on sale.

Eh. I have several Julep mascaras that I've acquired from various mystery boxes throughout the years. It's not the worst mascara I've owned, but it's nothing awesome either. It's also brown, and I tend to only wear black mascara. This is a fail.

Julep Mask Noir, $25.60 with maven prices.

I love facial masks. In college, my best friend B and I would buy all sorts of face masks in hope of making our skin look better. 

I'm excited to try this because I do love masks, and I tend to love what they do for my skin. So the verdict is: win.

A bronzer brush, worth $22.40 with maven prices.

I don't wear bronzer, I have no desire to ever wear bronzer. I wouldn't have minded an eyeliner or eyeshadow brush, but a bronzer brush?

Verdict: Fail

Green tea facial blotting papers, worth $5.00ish. It's not listed on the website, I based this over similar products on the internet.

I love these. I live in Texas, land of humidity and sweat, and man does my face get oily. I love when Julep sends me these in boxes.

Verdict: WIN

Julep ink gel eyeliner in black, worth about $14.40 with maven prices.

I already own this, I got it in the February Julep box, I believe.

I'm indifferent to this, I tend to prefer pencil eyeliner to liquid or gel, but I don't hate gel eyeliner, and I do like black eyeliner.

Verdict: Indifferent

Nailpolish in Alma, worth $11.20, with maven prices.

Verdict: HATE IT

I hate yellow. I hate yellow, and I hate orange. This nail polish is the fucking color of mustard and disgusting. 

Total value: $84.59

Not even close to the $120+ value that they promised.

Verdict on the Box: Meh

This wasn't a special box. If it wasn't for the three add-on colors I got, I would've been very disappointed with this box.

There were no stand-out products for me.

I was satisfied with some of the products I got, but not wowed, at all.

I also don't understand how they advertised this as a "jewel mystery box", yet didn't send even one of the birthstone colors.

So this was a so/so mystery box, not the worst I've ever gotten, but not the best either.

On another note, October Reveal opened today! The October collection looks good, very much Halloween themed :)

I may or may not have upgraded to the entire collection

Julep: August 2014, The Wanderlust Collection.

I've been gone for a week. I went to New Jersey, to do tons of wedding stuff... like say yes to a dress... picking out flowers for the centerpieces. Picking out bridesmaid dresses... And while I was gone, my fiance apparently never checked the mail, so I'm not sure how long this was sitting in my apartment complex's office,.

My August Julep box.

Julep is a makeup subscription box. They send nailpolish and beauty products to you on a monthly basis. They also have also sorts of mystery boxes and warehouse sales, and sometimes you can score stuff for dirt cheap. There are two subscription options, My Maven, which is $19.99 with a three month subscription and allows you to customize a box full of products and Maven Luxe, which is $40.00 a month, and allows you to customize an even bigger box. 

As for me, I'm still grandfathered into the old subscription, which is where you pick a style profile, and you get whatever products are in that without customization except for say an eyeliner or lip gloss color.

This month was the Wanderlust Collection. I really loved a lot of the colors in this month's collection. I didn't love all of them enough that I wanted the ultimate upgrade or anything, but I loved them enough that I added on three other colors.

This was the inside of the box.

This was the extra. A cell phone screen cleaning thing. I got something similar from Birchbox once, and never used that one either. 

This was what was under all the wrapping. 

Since I had three add-ons, I got a bonus beauty gift. They send me an eye makeup primer. As extras go, that's really not a bad one. I do wear a lot of eye makeup and I do use primer, sometimes, so I don't mind having an extra primer lying around. It's a lot more useful to me than say something like lipstick or foundation. 

Anyhow, I actually kept my usual classic with a twist box this month.

The beauty product this month was a gel eyeliner pencil.

Classic with a Twist came with the black one, and I saw no reason to switch that to another color. The other choices were a brown color, a purple color, and a taupe color. The pencil went on my hand well, it had a nice point, and it's really waterproof. I took a shower after testing it on my hand and I still have hints of the color on my hand. 

I'm actually very excited about this product, I find Julep really does make excellent eye liner pencils. I love their Kajal eyeliner and I also bought some mini eye liner pencils back during their Christmas sale, and those go on great too.

from l to r: Avni and Katie.

Avni is a bright purple color with a hint of pink shimmer. I really like the color a lot. I also don't have many purple polishes, oddly enough, so I'm very happy to add a purple to my nailpolish collection.

Katie is a mulberry pink color with a purple shimmer. It's sort of the opposite of Avni. It's a really nice shade of pink. I don't think I have many pink colors similar to it.

from l to r: India, Waleska, and Neha.

India is a bright blue color with a green shimmer that you can't really see in my picture. It reminds me a lot of Caribbean Ocean water with the contrast of the blue and green, and I really like it a lot.

Waleska is gorgeous. It's a turquoise color with gold glitter. My picture doesn't do it justice.

Neha is actually not as red as it looks in my picture. It's a dark cranberry with a neon pink shimmer. It's more pink than red. It's also a gorgeous color.

I was very pleased with  Julep this month. The color selection was great. I'm excited to see what September brings from them. They totally made up for the July box that I hated.

So check them out, if you're so inclined. 

AND OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE SCHOOL STARTS ON MONDAY.

I don't know if I'm ready for another year yet!