March 2014 Julep Maven Box

This month's Julep Maven Box was the Riviera Collection with warm and tropical hues to thaw us out of this frozen Winter. My Bombshell Box had two gorgeous polishes and a great lipgloss, plus candy like Julep often does.

This month's gorgeous colors are both rich cremes. Monaco is a richly bright, deep blue with very slight purple undertones. Lilou is a light pastel egg yolk yellow. It is very similar to Bea from a previous month. I think these two would be very pretty marbled. I'm only a little disappointed to receive such a similar color, especially since I barely wear yellows. It's still a very pretty addition to my collection.

 And now for this gorgeous gloss. I was originally a little nervous to be getting a gloss this month. So many glosses promise to be smooth and not sticky and yet all you get is goo.

The color I received was Awestruck. It's a lovely slightly mauve pink and is very flattering. I think it could work on many skin tones especially since it is a little on the sheer side.

What I'm really in love with though is the texture. This gloss goes on smoothly and stays gorgeous. My lips felt soft and smooth and not sticky at all. I was shocked to be honest. It has a superfine glitter that comes off more as a sheen and not sparkly. They've also added their hydrating, anti aging Power Cell Complex. You can get 25% off the glosses through March 31st using code: GLOSS25.

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February 2014 Julep Maven Box

I was really happy with this month's Julep Maven Box, not only did I get my two polishes and beauty product, but there was a bonus polish as well! This is one of the few months that I remembered to log into my Julep account on the 20th to scope out the selection. I was super tempted to do the biggest upgrade since the polishes this month were all gorgeous! I'm attempting to be low buy right now, so I didn't, but this box didn't disappoint.

 This month Julep introduced their new Eye Sheen Liquid Eyeshadows. I thought this would be like some cream eye shadows I have tried in the past, but they are totally different. These are truly liquid and I used a very stiff flat brush to apply it, but you can use your fingers. The pigment is very rich and I had great color density with just one thin layer. It does feel a little funny while you're applying it and as it dries. I kept my eyes closed while it dried because I was afraid of it creasing. Julep included a look card on how to use some of the colors together, but I only got the one so I tried combining it with some other products I already have. My color was warm fig shimmer which is a plummy brown and is really gorgeous on, I think it would work well on any skin tone and it is extremely flattering. It held up really well and didn't crease through the day. It did start to fade along the upper edge by the end of the day (I used no primer to test it.) The following day I tried it with one of my Makeup Forever Aqua Shadow pencils as a highlight in the inner corner and they played well together. I hope the Julep expands their color range with these. I think these would be awesome for more talented makeup artists who create those amazing works of art like liner art.

 On to the nail colors! The photos just don't do them justice. I really loved this month's shades. Can we just talk about the fact that until this month I kept complaining that the Swatch Me was on the top and I had to use q-tips to swatch them... and then this month I figured out that the top pops off... I'm human, I make mistakes.

So first up is Judi! It looks a little bright in the photo, but they call it an English Violet Creme and I would say that's pretty close. This is one of the few Julep polishes I would recommend at least two coats on to achieve the true color. One coat looks fine, but isn't quite as deep as the bottle color.

Next up is Kristen! Julep describes this as a deep sea teal. It's a really gorgeous deep teal color with a silvery microglitter. The picture truly doesn't do it any justice.

The bonus color is Love. I couldn't even find it on the Julep site and I think it may have been for Mavens only. It's a gorgeous glitter shade with microfine pink and champagne gold. I think this would be great alone or over another color. It's just such a happy little glitter polish and I absolutely love it!

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Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault February 2014

I feel like every month of my Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault is a present! they always wrap them up so nicely and include a hand written note. I know I mention it each and every month, but it's just such a nice little touch in a time where so few people take the time to do anything hand written anymore.



















This month's box included a Colour Core Moisture Stain Lipstick in Ibiza ($32 value.) The photo doesn't do this color justice, the flash sort of washed it out a bit. It's sort of a warm pink with some coral undertones. I'm very fair so I have to be careful with these sort of shades. Depending on the rest of the makeup determines whether it's hit or miss. I love coral toned lip colors, but they don't always love me.

Also in this month's box were two of their nail lacquers, Riviera and Cocoa Cabana ($18 value each.) Riviera is a punchy red with some slight coral undertones that is pretty universally flattering. Cocoa Cabana is a milk chocolate brown that I don't know what to do with. Brown is one color I've never really rocked, but I'll give it a try.

 It's like chocolate covered strawberries in nail polish form. It might actually make for some cute nail art.


This month's total value was $68. The subscription only opens in July and is $348 for one year of monthly boxes

January Julep Maven Box

Are you ready for the new year? I am. I'm excited to see where it takes me. This month's bombshell box has just the right feel for new years. The color collection is called Boudoir and it has that feel with soft colors and satin satin finishes. 

Also check out the new box color for the new year! I love it, it's very fun.

My box came with Ta Da quick dry drops and the colors Mae and Margot.

Mae is a satin finish grey toned lavender that is simply stunning. It's a very pretty subdued color that just feels vintage.

Margot is a light gold color with micro glitter, like Mae it's a more subdued color. It's like the quieter sister of last month's brighter gold Andrea. 

 

There are also 2 little orange blocks that look like firm sponges, but I don't know what they are for sure, maybe they're buffing files. I tried finding them on the Julep website, but no luck.

Julep Cyber Monday Secret Store

Julep has some crazy deals right now in their secret store. These deals are up to 80% off!

Check out the Cyber Monday deals early.

December Julep Maven Box

December is my favorite month of the year, not just because of Christmas and snow, but because it's my birthday month! It's like Julep read my mind because everything in this box is so me. This month colors are Cara and Andrea. Cara is a fun deep rose pink with a high sheen that almost looks a bit metallic. Andrea is a dense gold glitter polish. I would have expected it to be like a top coat from looking at it, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much glitter coverage you actually get. I love these colors so much! This has probably been my favorite color duo I've received to date.

Also included in this month's box is the Sweep Eyeshadow Palette in Neutrals. its a nice range from champagne to chocolate and the formulation is very soft with good pigmentation. It's small size is something I also like because I can bring this to work or on the go. I only wish that it came with some kind of brush.

I also got two twistbands which are those non snagging, non damaging hair bands that have been really popular. I got one lavender and one silver. I'm curious to see how these hold up with my thick hair since I'm always breaking elastics.

This month also includes a 40% off entire purchase coupon which is nice.

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November Julep Maven Box

This month's box is full of warm, rich Fall colors. Both a lip gloss and nail color in deep dark cherry/plum tones as well as a true pumpkin orange polish. I'm particularly loving the vampy dark cherry color as we move into cooler weather.

$10 off $25 at Julep

 Julep already has a bunch of colors on sale, but get an additional $10 off a $25 or more purchase with code TENTEN.

Expires tonight at midnight Pacific time.

Go grab some new polish!

October Julep Maven Box

Hey guys and happy October! To me this is officially the start of fall. September here was still fairly hot so it still felt like summer. October arrived with chilly weather and turning leaves. What else arrived? My Julep Maven Box. I've had kind of a craving for candy corn, but I only ever like a little bit and can never finish a whole bag. Oh Julep, you know me too well. I was done with their mini bag of candy corn before I even swatched the polishes, but it was perfect.

This month's beauty product was a Kajal Eye Glider in Carbon Black/Brown Shimmer with a sharpener. To be honest I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I've been really sick and my eyes have been very puffy so I haven't used any eye makeup for about a week.

When I opened the nail colors I was in love with Valerie at first sight. It's a gorgeous teal/blue/green color with a slight gold glitter it's a very duochrome shade. You can see in the pictures that it's not sure what color it wants to be and that's what makes it gorgeous. It's different depending on the light. 

At first I was disappointed in Cleopatra. My first thought was: "Really Julep? You sent me a plain black polish?" But it's not. It's a black latex polish. The finish is like leather. I'm going to be comparing it to the Nails Inc leather polish later this month.

This month's box value was $50 and it only costs $19.99/month so that's a great deal!

Use code FREEBOX to try one month free. 

September Julep Maven Box

September's Julep Maven Box looks like Fall as soon as you open it. The packaging is reminiscent of Fall leaves ready to be jumped into. Julep changed up a few elements of their packaging this month with a new box and new wrapper for the polishes. This month's Bombshell colors were Karmen and Daria. Karmen is a reddish burnt orange shimmer with gold glitter. It SCREAMS Fall. You look at it and just know it's the color of Autumn in a bottle. Daria is fashion's Fall color. A grey creme with a slightly blueish hue, 90s kids rejoice, it's perfect for it's namesake, moody and dark and right up my alley.

This month's beauty product is Bare Face Cleansing Oil. I'm anxious to try this since I've noticed my skin already getting a bit drier as we move towards the colder months.