julepmaven

Yes, a new post already! I just received my Julep order and wanted to talk about it.

Julep is a nail polish/care brand based in Seattle. They have salons but you can also order products from them on their website. The polish retails at $14 so it's higher end nail polish.  They just started this thing called Julep Maven. If you are a member, you will receive a "sneak peek" box like they send to beauty editors! It is worth $40.

Right now you can sign up and get a sneak peek box for only $4.99 (free shipping). Each month after that, it would be full price at $20 but you are getting $40 worth of products. Also, future purchases will be 20% off with free shipping! You can cancel at anytime, as long as it's before the 26th. You can also opt to have your sneak peek box sent to a friend instead; how sweet! Besides cancelling/gifting, there is also the option to skip a month or request another "shelf pull" which means they will offer you different products! You get a $15 credit each time a friend signs up! So if you want to make my day, you can just sign up using my referral link, even if you don't want to purchase anything. :)

Here is how you do it...

1. Go to Julep.com
2. Take the style quiz so that they can customize a sneak peek box for you.
3. Add the box $20 to your cart.
4. Add the code smh9oxu and select free shipping so that you only pay $4.99.

Now here is my review of my $5 sneak peek box!

So when I opened the package, there was this nice letter addressed to me from the CEO/Founder, Jake Park. :) 

Then there was an explanation of what being a Julep Maven means.

When I did my style quiz, I got "American Beauty" (which is funny because I'm Canadian). I suppose I could have changed my answers to get something else but I decided to go with this! It explains what all I received.

The products actually came in a Julep bag. Makes me feel like I really went shopping!

Here are the products, all packaged.

For nail polish, I received the base coat, Cameron and Alfe. These retail for $14 each.

I also received a full size gycolic hand scrub. I haven't used this yet. I've never really exfoliated my hands but it sounds like a good idea, haha. It is 3oz/89ml.

There were also two samples. One is the scrub so I'm going to save that to give to someone (or put it in my next giveaway). The other is an spf 30 hand lotion. I love that they put SPF in a hand lotion! I am so good about applying sunscreen, especially to my face, but not necessarily my hands. They generally get whatever is leftover. Now, I would have just stuck to a regular greasy sunscreen but then I tried this... o.m.g. I am in love. It's rare that I fall for a product so fast, especially a hand lotion when I'm only 24 and don't have dry hands, but I adore this. I didn't know my hands could feel so soft! They look/feel moisturized but not at all greasy like my other hand lotion (Mary Kay Extra Emollient Night Cream) is. They feel satiny. I want the full size product!

 My only complaint is that when I went to screw the lids back onto the polishes, in order to get it tight I had to leave them uneven. My elf poishes often do this as well. It seems to be common with square caps. It's not a big deal, just kind of irks me. You can see the two on the left are crooked while the right is not (because I hadn't opened it yet).

The polishes only have 8mL/.27oz in them. I compared it to a 9mL essence bottle to give you a better idea. The shape of the Julep polish threw me off. I have to say though, I really like the bottle! It's unique, easy to hold and looks very high end.

Here is Alfre. This colour is not yet available but will be this fall, so it's not listed on the website. I would describe it as a frost, maybe metallic polish. It is a very grey purple.  I'm not a big fan of frosts because of the brush strokes but I will say they are very minimal on this polish. It is totally unique to my collection. I will have to do a full mani to see if I want to keep it for myself because I can't quite tell. 

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Not a very good picture. It's really not similar to the one next to it which I think is Finger Paints "Whose Hue?" with gLORIous topcoat.  "Alfre" is much much lighter than the one next to it. 

This is "Cameron". It is a creme polish. Julep describes it as "Energetic, summer pink. Professional quality "3 Free" nail polish formulation. Shine on! $1 will be donated to organizations that support women through our Powered by Girlfriends program."  I adore pinks and have a ton... so I thought I'd for sure have a dupe for this. I actually don't and the one that is closest is almost empty so I will happily hold onto this! It's such a perfect shade of pink.

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No dupes! "Cameron" is next to my finger, unlabeled. It is similar to the NYC one but lighter.

 So there you have it! Once I use the base coat and scrub, I will review those.

Other codes that work on the website:
Use code 2011FB for $5 off and free shipping.
Use code girlfriend for $15 off $30
Use code TWITTER to get the first sneak peek at 50% off