Julep Maven - September 2014 Unboxing

The Julep September collection was called The Art Walk Collection.  Lots of fun nail colors and moisturizing lip colors (among other stuff - I swear they have so many fun options).

Here is what I got in my 'My Maven' box...

The box with the inserts removed

It should be noted that there was no bonus candy or little treasure or anything in this box.  A first for me!  I wonder if that's a product of My Maven...need to look and see if others had the same thing and were surprised.

 

The contents:

 

Since this is a My Maven box, I didn't have any particular collection, I was able to pick all of my colors.  The Lip Crayon is in Aurora and is much brighter of a pink than I expected.  It does feel good though!  The polish colors are Fifi and Lupita.  I loved Lupita when I wore it (good for fall).  I think Fifi was kind of thin going on so I should have done a better job with nail prep before I put it on.  Ooops.  I ended up putting pink chunky glitter sparsely over it to give it a look I liked.

 

Since this box only had 3 things, I ended up just taking a lot of pictures of what I did have.  :)

 

Here is the lip crayon after I used it (on the right, already smeared):

Going back, I like the It Girl colors and should have done my tried and true Julep box.  Ha!  I had to experiment though - and apparently I was very into pink this month.  No regrets!  I am sure I will end up with the colors I missed anyway. ;)


Need to just remember...

:)

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e.l.f. Beauty Bundle - Back to Beauty School (September/Fall 2014)

Here is the description of my latest Beauty Bundle from Eyes Lips Face.  The theme of this box was Back to Beauty School! 

 

It was actually raining the day my beauty box arrived, and the box was soaking wet (pink tissue paper and all) when I got it.  It was the first time the pink tissue paper wasn't exciting!  I opened it up and was pleasantly surprised that my black beauty bundle bag was completely dry!  Not only is it fun but also functional!

 

 

The bag that you get in each bundle (which was perfectly dry and extra pleasing):

 

The stash inside the bag is all described below.  Since it's been a few days, I am also going to put what I have used so far.  I love getting into my beauty bundle and starting to use stuff right away - it makes it a lot more fun to see what I can use right away! 

 

The first thing I pulled out was the brush set.  It was 12 pieces and just a general set of a bunch of brushes bundled in a plastic bag.  Included were:  (1) Eyelash & Brow Brush, (2) Blending Eye Brush, (3) Lip Defining Brush, (4) Concealer Brush, (5) Brow Comb & Brush, (6) Defining Eye Brush, (7) Eyeshadow Brush, (8) Smudge Eye Sponge, (9)Eyeliner Brush, (10) Foundation Brush, (11) Bronzing Brush, and (12)  Total Face Brush.  They are all from the Essential Line (so they run $1 each to buy in stores).  I have already used the brow & comb brush so they order listed may not be exactly what was in the package, but it's close.

The next large item in the bundle bag was this face and lip palette.  I think palettes are fun for travel or work, but the lip stuff always irritates me because I feel like I get all of the powery make up in the lip stuff and then don't want to use it.  The palette is pretty big and mostly lip stuff so I now have it at my desk so I can apply fun lip colors while I work.  The mirror in the case is huge which is also awesome.  The value was stated as $8.  I don't think I would pay that for this palette, but it's definitely fun as part of the beauty bundle since I am getting $40 worth of product for $20 anyway.  It's something that I love because it's just so much fun and something I totally don't need.

The next items were the eyeliner set and the eye primer and liner sealer set.  I haven't used the primer/sealer yet, but it looks like fun and great for travel.  The eyeliner set has liquid brown & black and a shimmer liner.

 

Next up was some powder puffs and a smudge pot.  I have used the blue smudge pot before but wasn't feeling it.  I decided to go all out on this one and use it all over my eyes (after priming).  It looked great!  I didn't even add contracting color.  Lots of fun.  Now I want to get back into the blue with the liner brush and see what I can do.  The smudge pot is moist but not super wet. I don't have an immediate need for the powder puffs, but tools can store for a while.  

 

The next two items were the volume pumping mascara and the HD undereye setting powder.  I used the powder right away since I was going out and had a long day.  I have also been using the mascara.  I feel like it needs a few coats and it's not super long lasting, but it's definitely worth the $3 price tag!

 

And the lips.  I also pulled out a lipstick which I also immediately used.  The color is 'Barely Bitten' and I have another pic below.

A few more views...

I hadn't seen this packaging before so I decided to snap a couple of pics of the front and back:

And a better view of the lip color, barely bitten.  Sounds kind of fun for Halloween!  e.l.f. also has Halloween specific beauty books for certain looks which I think it pretty cool.

And the insert descriptions...

 

Overall Contents:  (in order of insert, not order I pulling things out as shown above)

• $3 Eye Primer & Liner Sealer
• $3 HD Undereye Setting Powder
• $3 Liquid + Pencil Eyeliner Set
• $3 Smudge Pot in Back to Basics
• $3 Volume Pumping Mascara in Black
• $5 Mineral Lipstick in Barely Bitten
• $8 13 Piece Face & Lip Palette
• $1 Powder Puffs Set of 4
• $12 Professional Complete Set of 12 Brushes

This is actually my first beauty bundle that totaled over $40 - we have $41 worth of stuff here.  I double checked the prices on the insert.  Very nice! I suppose they didn't have to add the powder puffs, but I am not complaining. Love it!

Very happy with this Beauty Bundle. 

Julep Maven Unboxing - July 2014 (The Poolside Collection)

This month I once again went with the Classic with a Twist box.  When it arrived, the tissue paper was definitely poolside!  :)

The month's beauty item was the bare body milk.  I like this stuff.  it's great for summer - lightweight and great subtle smell.  It makes me happy when I use it because it's just so fresh.

Apparently the nail colors for Classic with a Twist were pretty color coordinated with the body milk.  I like it though!  The colors in the box were Kelsey and Vicki.

And the polishes out of the box with the standard black Julep lids that don't quite match the body milk as well.  ;)

Here are the colors on their side so you can see the bottom stickers and information.

 

 

My favorite thing in this standard Classic With a Twist box is definitely the body milk.  

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Julep Maven August 2014 Unboxing

This month's collection was called "Wanderlust" and definitely had an Indian flare to it!

I started using the My Maven subscription this month which allows you to swap out polish colors form your box.  It's great but to get the same price of $19.99/month you have to pre-pay every three months.  Not a huge deal.

This month's box had patterned tissue paper!

When I opened the tissue paper, I was pleasantly surprised to see the fun bonus item wasn't candy!  It was a tiny phone screen cleaner that was sitting on top of the box:

 

And under that and the usual collection card with huge discount on featured item, fun quote (I do believe it's time for another adventure...", and coupon code for a regular order was my selections for the month:

 

My selections this month were the following:

• Gel Eye Glider in Smoky Plum
• Katie
• Neha

Here is the screen cleaner in more detail:

It's tiny and cute and just sticks right on your phone.  You can wash it to regain tackiness if it loses it.

My selections in their boxes:

 

And here they are ready to play!

I just want to mix these two into some pinky swirl or something. ;)

Overall lots of fun!  I think there was another polish in this collection that I liked but it was sold out so I couldn't add it on.   I will check it out again when they are available on the website.

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Click HERE for a link with a referral and promo code to get your first Julep Maven box free!

Julep Summer Break Mystery Box - Elana (2014)

When I saw that the Summer Break Mystery Box had a pink nail color with gold glitter, I couldn't resist.  It looked so cute!

For $24.99, this mystery box had $100+ (estimated retail value is $109 from the description) of nail polish and beauty products.  I knew I liked Elana, the pink nail color, so I decided to go for it.

The box had gray filler material.

 

Here are the contents of the box including other some items that I purchased:

Here is everything from just the mystery box:

 

 

Here you can see the contents of just the mystery box:

• Nadia - sunkissed golden frost ($14.00/$11.20 Maven)
• Noelle - sandy beach silk  ($14.00/$11.20 Maven)
• Rooney - walnut bark crème  ($14.00/$11.20 Maven)
• Elana - roseate crème with gold glitter  ($14.00/$11.20 Maven)
• Hand & Cuticle Stick  ($22.00/$17.60 Maven)
• Glycolic Hand Scrub ($23.00/$18.40 Maven)
• Color Fan  ($8.00/$6.40 Maven)
• Forget-Me-Not Seeds

 

All of this adds up to $109 plus the bonus of the Forget-Me-Not seeds!  So much fun!  When I opened the box, it was clear to me that this was a manicure in a box in my mind.  What a great deal for $25!!





Here are the other items I ordered:

  

There things were all on sale at the time I ordered my mystery box:  neon nail dips, magnet, and Kimberly (a speckled purple).  Emerson (a speckled blue) went on sale right after I ordered this, and I didn't place another order to get it.  I would have added it had it been in the sale when I placed the order.  Select lacquers were on sale (including these) for $2!  The neon nail dips were $4 - I couldn't resist them because they sounded fun.  The magnet was $1.

 

 

The mystery box items:

Overall, this was a great mystery box!  I really liked the items and that when I opened it all up I could instantly see a manicure in the making.  Maybe I should plant the flowers and then work on the manicure.

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Click HERE for a link with a referral and promo code to get your first Julep Maven box free!

e.l.f. Mystery Monday Collection (2 June 2014)

Yep, I am a sucker for the surprise!  When I saw the e.l.f. had a mystery collection at the start of June, I had to go for it.  What did I have to lose?    It was free!

When my order came in, everything looked good with the order and the box contained the $21 mystery collections!

 

Here is what the bag contained:

• Essential 5-Piece Duo Eyeshadow Collection in Day - $5
• Essential 3-Piece Nail Polish Set in Vacation Trio - $3
• Studio Lash Extending Mascara in Black - $3
• Studio Mini Eyelash Curler - $3
• Essential Nail Polish Remover Pads - $2
• Mineral Lipstick in Party Pink - $5

As expected, the value comes out to be $21 with a good mix from the different lines.  See some pictures of the contents below -

  

 

 

 

 

 

 



Julep Maven - June 2014 "Classic With a Twist" box with add-ons!

The June Maven reveal was another difficult decision because it was the first month where you can swap out colors, but I decided to stick with the standard box.  I knew my favorite color was in the Classic with a Twist box, and I thought I would get another color that sold out pretty quickly during the maven reveal.

I also decided to get a few add ons.  I wanted the clean up tool, but the Mystery Grab Bag looked like a lot of fun, too. The website also said, "Choose three add-ons and we'll send you a surprise gift this month!"  I saw some of Julep's swatching nails so I decided to go for that.

The overall package wasn't as pretty as I normally receive.  I actually got everything in a brown box and the actual monthly box was inside with the rest floating around on brown bundled up paper on the bottom.

Here is everything that was inside the brown box: 

Contents:  cleanup tool add-on ($6.99), surprise gift for having 3 add-ons, mystery grab bag add-on ($17.99), nail color fan add on (650 Jules from previous box purchases), June Classic with a Twist box (in the box they would normally ship in).

The overall views of the monthly box:

The 'treat' this month was pixie sticks (3).

Contents of monthly box:

The nail colors in the monthly Classic with a Twist box:

• Oxygen Base Coat - This was the item that was the beauty product in the style boxes (except "It Girl" which contains 3 colors).
• Ariana - Enchanted berry iridescent chrome
• Bergen  - Hazy blue-grey shimmer

More about the Mystery Grab Bag HERE (Kajal eye glider, two nail colors, and lip gloss).  I made it a separate post because I wanted to get it posted more quickly.

The surprise gift for getting three add-ons:

Marjorie - Citrus orange frost
Veronica - Modern mauve crème

All of the colors I received in this month's box (including add-ons):

Cleanup Tool:

It was smaller than I expected.  You can see the box in the picture above and the tool compared to everything else in the bottom two pictures.

Nail Color Fan:

The entire stash:

 

Overall the packaging didn't earn any style points, but the overall set of everything was great!  Lots of fun, and I love the bonus surprises!!

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Click HERE for a link with a referral and promo code to get your first Julep Maven box free!