March Julep Maven purchase

Bonjour! This month I was SO excited about the Julep Maven box because they were featuring lip stuffs! You could get a polish box with the lip gloss of your choice OR you could get the lip scrub and moisturizer duo. I chose the scrub and moisturizer since I am all polished out from my Cupid Mystery Box (Although I *did* buy the Wizard of Oz polish set for a certain cousin's birthday). I also added on a lip gloss in my favorite lip color (a nude pink). I have just utilized the scrub and moisturizer and can I say, WOW. I have lips of a pretty good size. My lower lip is CONSTANTLY drying out and flaking no matter how much water I drink or carmex I put on. The scrub is great. The applicator is also a little rough and there's a moisturizing balm in it, so it doesn't feel like sandpaper. The intense moisturizer smells of coconuts and is thick without being sticky. I tried to get a good shot of the gloss on my lips, but the lighting is the suck in my house and frankly every picture looked oddly sexual to me. So none o' that. However, here are some shots of the products themselves.

I say it every time. Julep NEVER disappoints me. Love this stuff!

Julep Cupid Mystery Box.

Dang you, Julep! Every time I think I can't possibly want anything else, you present me with something I totally have to have. For Valentine's Day they offered up three different mystery boxes. A Manicure, Pedicure or Make up lovers box. I chose the make up lovers box. THEN they offered an extra addition for $9.99. So I got that too. I also got the Freedom Polymer top coat and a color they offered a few months back named Jillian. I had to, right? Right. It took kind of a long time to get here, but I was SO stoked when it did because what was inside was Awwwesommmeeee!!!

This is what came in the box. The box itself was $24.99 and I got three additional polishes for $9.99. Note the adorable picture of me and my sister as tiny children in the background. So, 6 polishes, an eyeshadow palette, mascara, eyelid primer and rock star hand cream. The top coat and 7th polish were extra things I ordered and weren't part of this promo. I also had a coupon from when I initially signed up, so I paid about $42 for this haul. That comes out to $3.50 per item. Bargain city.

The back side of the eyeshadow palette lists the names of the colors

This is the photo of the palette itself. It's called the Sweep Eyeshadow Palette: Neutrals. I love neutral colors and had been eyeballing this particular palette for a while now. I'm glad I didn't get it. It retails for $24 ($19.20 if you're a maven). The Cupid box was $24.99, so with one product it pretty much paid for itself.

The mascara is no longer available in the store. It's the Boho Glam Lengthening mascara in dark brown. Usually, I prefer blackest black mascara, but I can always use extra mascara. 

This is the Blank Canvas Mattifying Eye Primer. It sells for $22 ($17.60 for Mavens). I used this yesterday with the eyeshadow and this stuff made the eyeshadow stick like glue. It never faded all day. I was really impressed. That was about 18 hours of perfect color. I had no trouble removing it when I washed my face, FYI.

 These were the colors that came in the box. Their names, in order from top to bottom are Lindy, Nan and America. The Lindy is a chunky pink sparkle, Nan is coral and America is a red small sparkle with large white and blue sparkles in it. I wouldn't have chosen these for myself, but they were cute.

These were the extra three for $9.99. Their names from top to bottom are Angela, Kennedy and Stefani. Angela is a great iridescent teal color with a purple tint. Kennedy is...well...not that attractive. It looks yellow-y tan. Not great. Stefani is a nice silvery/gray with a smidgen of gold sparkle. All in all, I liked the colors. Except for Kennedy. It's kind of icky. 

This is the photo of the polymer top coat and the Jillian polish. I REALLY like it. I'm really pleased. 

Like I've said before, I've never been disappointed with a Julep purchase. I'm super excited (again) for the March box because they're featuring a lip scrub and a smoothing/conditioning treatment as well as their glosses. I'm a lip gloss junkie, what can I say? My lips are also super sad from winter, so I'm totally needing the scrub this month. I wasn't super attracted to any of the polishes, so I'll be going with the make up box again.

As always, if you love you're free to use my Julep referral code if you like.

February Julep Box

The one box I have yet to be disappointed by has been Julep. Who'd have thunk it? This most recent box was no exception. This month they decided to feature some gorgeous cream eyeshadows. I had to add on an extra one to this months box. If you're unfamiliar with Julep, you take a quick quiz and they let you know which of 5 styles you fit. 4 of the 5 profiles send 2 polishes and one other item each month. The 5th box, modern beauty, has all makeup/body items and no polishes. This month, they were offering a gel eyeliner and brush in the Modern Beauty box plus an eyeshadow. Every month they add an extra surprise little something that they don't tell you about. This month they made an exception and let everyone know that they'd be getting a special Valentine's themed polish. The basic box is $19.99. I added on an eyeshadow and a polish. I applied some Jules (the points you earn by purchasing or referring friends) and got the added on polish for free. I paid a total of $31 and change for the whole box.

Here's the contents of my box. The eyeshadows I received were the pale nude and warm fig shimmer. I also have the jet black gel eyeliner with stiff angled brush. I added on the Glam Roc polish which is a midnight purple with gold stardust shimmer. The Love Polish is an multi colored sparkle with red, pink and gold flecks.

A close up of the brush.

I used the eyeshadow and liner last night and it looks fabulous. Another great month. 

AMAZING Nail Polish Recommendation

I'm not sure if you're aware, but there is a website called My Subscription Addiction. This woman reviews EVERY SINGLE KIND OF SUBSCRIPTION BOX THERE IS. And there are a ton of them. I'm addicted to her website. It's pretty great. Anyhoo, I'm telling you about her because I found the best nail polish EVER through her site. I might be the last woman in the world to discover Julep, but I am telling you nothing has ever lasted on my nails this long without chipping. I work in a hospital and wash my hands eight bazillion times a day and nail polish usually chips in less than a day. This stuff took three days to chip and even then it was only two nails. It's a bit on the expensive side, but there are numerous discounts on their site. They also have a monthly subscription box that send polish as well as make-up and other beauty products. They also sent me a sweet small reusable grocery bag that I'm using for lunches in my introductory box. P.S. I got the intro box free. You can too. Check it out here. I wouldn't recommend it if I hadn't experienced the awesomeness for myself. They have no idea that I like their polish and I'm getting no compensation for this at all. I just want to share my awesome find with anyone that might be checking this humble little blog out.

Speaking of Treats....

So, I may have a bit of an addiction to beauty boxes. I'm now in love with anything you can order and all sorts of fun products show up on your door step. ESPECIALLY if it means a lot of savings. I just ordered the Hautelook Beauty Bag (http://www.hautelook.com/event/40320). I haven't received it yet, however, I did check out all the products and the fall bag is a $110 value for the low price of $20 plus tax and shipping. The grand total for me wound up being about $27. The sale ENDS Saturday @ 8am pacific time. I wanted to let you guys (if anyone IS indeed out there) about the sale before it ended. I will review the products once they arrive. I have posted the value of the items below if you decide to check out the link and are wondering.

hair spray: $2.96
nail polish mini: $3.50
face serum: $17
body cream: $2.50
kabuki brush: $14.95
dr. brandt microdermabrasion: $8 (I got this in my birchbox and LOVE it)
headband: $18
mascara: $12
full size eye shadow: $23
full size lipstick: $6
perfume: 2.50
Value: $110 not including the bag all these items come in.