August Julep Maven Box

 

How cute is Julep for sending these forget me not seeds along with this month's box?

 

I was intending on trying this Doublestep Foot Treatment before my figure skating lesson this week to see how well it helps guard against friction, but I left in a hurry and forgot. I'll definitely be trying it this week. I'm interested to see how well it works since I was looking into buying a similar type of product.


This month's colors are Lacey and Bea.
Lacey is one of my favorite nail colors. I adore deep blue polish with a sparkle. This falls somewhere darker than royal, but lighter than navy. It's got a great sparkle, without being glittery or chunky and give great coverage with one coat.
Bea is a light egg yolk yellow, slightly pastel and very creamy. I like that they sent me this, since it's different than what I normally choose. I don't usually go for yellow with anything, I literally only own one other yellow polish and it's OPI Need Sunglasses. I actually like this one though and can see myself wearing it.


Let me know in the comments if you what you think of these colors and if you subscribe to Julep, what did you get this month?

Le Metier de Beaute Beauty Vault

Makeup and beauty products are the bane of my existence. I adore them and spend WAY too much money on them. In recent years I have reduced the amount that I buy and increased the quality of what I buy. For example, I used to buy $5 drugstore foundations that never quite looked right, while now I buy $42 Make Up Forever foundation which works perfectly. I may spend a little more upfront, but I know that I'm getting a better deal in the long run since I'll actually use it.

This brings me to my current dilemma. I've heard lots about Le Métier de Beauté and lots of good things. It's definitely a more expensive brand, but one that has a lot of credit. So when I heard that they were launching the Beauty Vault (i.e. ANOTHER subscription box) I got pretty excited. It is a little pricy, but when you look at what you're getting it's not a bad deal. The only downside is that you must pay for the year upfront. It's $348, which comes out to $29 per month.

From their site:

"Want a new pre-release, exclusive or limited edition product in your hands every month? We invite you to become a Beauty Vault VIP. Gift it to yourself or gift it to a friend. We promise: you won’t be disappointed. Liberate your inner Beauté and share the discovery of something beautiful every month.
How it works:
For a one-time fee of $348 ($29 dollars a month, for 12 months), become a Beauty Vault VIP. At the beginning of each month, our Le Métier de Beauté experts will send you a carefully curated full-sized product or assortment of products shipped right to your door. As an added bonus, Vault VIP Subscription shipping is free. All you have to do is sign up, receive your complimentary gift, and anticipate 12 exciting months of LMdB surprises. Savor the perks of insider access, and start discovering beauty with us.

• One full-sized item or an assortment of items shipped to you at the beginning of every month
• Curated mix of our favorite Color, Skincare, Pre-release Sneak Peaks, Lab Previews, and Vault Exclusives
• Receive a bonus gift just for signing up
• Shipping is free
• Share your feedback, we want to get to know you better

This offer expires on 7/31/2013, and is valid for US customers only. The first VIP shipment goes out on 8/1/2013."

So while $29 per month (or even the $348 upfront) sounds like a lot, when you consider that the masks and beauty products range from $50-350 and typically the makeup ranges from $32-75 (with some beauty items higher than that) it really is fairly reasonable.

I kept trying to tell myself I didn't really need it, but I know that I really want it, so I'll be purchasing mine this week. If you're interested, you don't have long to sign up, so hurry!

July Klutchbox

July's Klutchbox just arrived and I'm super excited. Not only was this box an amazing value, but it's Celiac friendly.  I don't personally suffer from Celiac disease (or any food allergies thankfully) but one of my closest friends does. I'm so happy that the world is becoming more aware of different food sensitivities and becoming more and more accommodating. I like that I'm able to compare gluten free foods to "normal" foods so that I can gauge how close it is. Check out the photos below to see all the great products in this month's box.

KlutchClub Best of Box

So if you're subscribed to KlutchClub they sent out a special very limited offer for 4th of July for a free Best of Box of your choice (Women's, Men's or Mom's) and you only paid for shipping. I love free stuff... I mean who doesn't? But I REALLY love free stuff, so I got it. I'll be trying all the stuff out this week, but it looks like a really good assortment, plus it was FREE! KlutchClub has been really great. It's all been products and services that I can use and they have sent me some really amazing deals. I highly recommend it, even if you just try it for a month. You can sign up here.

Love With Food Box

Scrolling around Facebook today I found a new box! Love with Food is a gourmet food box service and online shop. $12 a month (+$2 shipping) or $120 for the year with free shipping. I'll be ordering a box to try it out. I'll let you all know what I think when it arrives.

Description from their website:
"Get 8+ NEW gourmet foods delivered to your door for $10/month and we'll donate a meal to a hungry child."

Click below to get a discount on your first box:

Have you tried this box before? Let me know what you thought in the comments below!

July Julep Maven Box

This month's theme was the California Coast and while the Dry Oil spray got me feeling the sunshine, the colors didn't scream summer to me.

I haven't had a chance to try the blotting papers yet, but with this sticky, hot weather, I'm keeping them around since I know I'll need them soon. 

I was actually pretty impressed with the Beach Tonic Dry Body Oil. It has a nice light citrus scent and was fairly moisturizing. Other dry oils I've tried in the past have had a funny feel to them and left an oily residue. This one absorbed quickly and felt great right after the shower.

 

I tried to get pictures of the polishes with and without flash because they look so different as they reflect the light. Blakely is a definite purple green duo-chrome, it's a really pretty color, but I feel I would wear it more in the Fall. Joanna is a beautiful color somewhere between French blue and lavender and I immediately put it on. It's a cool color that would be great in Winter, but also pretty in Spring. Both gave a good coverage in 1 coat, as I've noticed most Julep polishes do. 

I've been pretty happy with what I've been receiving from them so I'm going to keep my subscription going. 

If you want to try them for yourself click here.

June KlutchBox

Somehow KlutchClub ended up sending me 2 of the June box and they are a slightly different, which means I get to try a few different flavors of a few different products.

I'll have reviews up soon, but here's just an at-a-glance of what came in them. This month's theme was a spa stay-cation.

Subscription Boxes: Updates

I'll have reviews up as soon as possible, I've had a combination of no wifi and a 3rd job, so blogging has not been easy. If you guys can bear with it, I'll keep using my phone (and phone photos) for now.

I wanted to give a quick update on which boxes I'm currently subscribed to, each one will get a dedicated post of it's own.

NatureBox: So far I'm loving it, except I bought the Summer box and there were a bunch of repeats (not too happy about that.) Other than that, it has opened me up to great new healthy snacks and ideas.

Olfactif: About to receive my last box. I have mixed feelings about this one. I really loved 2 out of 3 scents last month, but $18/month for 3 small samples is a bit out of my budget right now. I love the fact that they give you an $18 credit each month, but that is only a small dent when the perfume is $250+ at times.

Julep Maven: Still pretty happy with this one, but playing it by ear for now.

KlutchClub: I have been very satisfied with this box so far and actually went ahead and bought a whole year with a coupon code. It ended up at about $12-13/ month after everything, but I paid it upfront. The products are all things I have been able to use and curious to try and I have received tons of coupons with it. The value has been extremely good and the products are fairly easy to find if I want to buy more.

As budget allows (and deals arise) I will get new boxes. Hopefully I will be back to videos soon!

Thanks for your patience and have a happy 4th of July!