Alright guys, it’s Julep Maven time again! The April collection brought a few really exciting things for me, and I can’t wait to show you. Julep maven is a box that both Lauren and I receive – and we both consider one of our absolute favorites. For $25/month (or $19.99 if you pre-pay for 3 months at a time), you are able to customize a box of high-end nail polish and beauty products (check it out here). We are finding that more and more now Julep is developing solid beauty products that are just as quality as their awesome polish.
Since both Lauren and I receive this box, we will do this review jointly (it’s always more fun when we do this together).
Julep introduced the Paradise Collection for April, full of juicy tropical colors and…. drumroll please…. eye brow products! Without further ado, our scores:
JILL’S BOX: Don’t Leave Your Brows at Home in Cool Brown, polish in Drew, O2 Nail Treatment in Ivory
Don’t Leave Your Brows at Home – I have been waiting and waiting for Julep to develop a brow filler. I wear zero makeup daily except for filling my eyebrows, so when I heard that they were finally giving me what I was waiting for, I literally fist pumped. I’ve been using Tarte’s brow mousse for a while now and it’s great but I wanted to try a new product. Guys. This stuff is legit. It is The Perfect Brow Filler. I look like a melon without my brows filled, but to get my point across about how great this stuff is, I’m going to show you a before and after of me:
They look SO GOOD. Totally natural. The product is a mousse that firms into a wax, so it stays put and covers evenly. The product screws into the bottom of the brush (which is firm and nicely angled) so it’s very compact. I can’t wait for this to go on sale because I am going to buy so many to have on hand. I can’t foresee this lasting as long as the Tarte mousse, but it works so much better that I don’t mind replacing it more frequently when my brows look that hot.
Drew – I wasn’t knocked out by any of the Paradise Collection’s polishes – except Drew. Apparently this was an old color that had long since been discontinued that they brought back for a limited time. I absolutely love it. Drew is an intense hot pink that is just shy of bright red – it’s basically a perfect summer color. Sometimes red is too serious and pink is too fun. Drew is the perfect balance of both and I can’t wait to put it on my nails.
Oxygen Nail Treatment in Ivory – I rounded out my box with a bottle of the O2 Nail Treatment in Ivory. I like to take a break from polish every once in a while and wear this on my nails instead. The ivory option is new as of last month, until now there has only been a pink option. Both look totally natural like a nice enhancement to your natural nail color, not an opaque color at all. The idea is to strengthen your nails and give them a break from being smothered by polish.
That’s it from me, no add-ons this month (getting married in 6 weeks and have to limit my spending until then!), so Lauren’s up!
LAUREN’S BOX: Danielle, Danica, Don’t Leave Your Brows At Home – Warm Brown, Angie, Fluid Eye Glider, Light On Your Lips – Chit Chat, Plush Pout – Vivid (bonus gift)
First things first. We all have to recognize and bow down to how amazing Jill’s brow’s looks with the Don’t Leave Home Without Your Brows. I was the one who told Jill that she needed to start filling out her brows. I’m bossy like that. But this is sort of my mission in life: get everyone’s brow game on point. However, everyone wins because they get great brows and I get to look at great brows. Anyway.
Danielle – So, I’m going to bring up some old annoying Julep stuff. I think it was around July or August of last year but Julep went through this really terrible shipping situation. There were probably hundreds of boxes messed up. Lots of people didn’t get their boxes either. I was one of those who had a messed up box. I called customer service to see if they could send me the colors later but they were all out. It was a dark time. But since then, Julep has righted itself and I don’t think there have been any major issues like that one. And in a bright spot, they came out with a color called Danielle which is very similar to the color India that I missed from that snafu. Matt loves blue so I tend to buy a lot of blue polishes in his honor and he likes this one too.
Danica- I don’t have any stories about Danica except that I really love it and I think it is going to look awesome in my Spring pedicure. I bring my Julep polishes to the salon with me, and I might as well put this one in my purse now. Though let’s be real– I’ll paint my nails myself before I get to go to the salon again!
Angie– So, as you might have learned from Windy’s blog, “holos” are a Big Deal in the Polish World. Julep has only dabbled in the Holo Game but I have never experienced one before. So this is my Very First Holo and the polish I am most excited about trying. Then I can keep up with all the cool girls and their Holo Talk. It looks SO PRETTY. I might paint my nails with it right now. *Abandons blog*
Don’t Leave Your Brows at Home – Warm Brown – (See pic above in Jill’s section) I’m still trying to decide if I like this one as much as Jill loves it. It’s possible that I need the shade that Jill got. There is something just a little “off” about it on me right now but I am going to continue to experiment to see if my first try was “User Error.” (Always a possibility with a new product.)
Light on Your Lips – Chit Chat – After Jill’s glowing review last month, I had no choice but try Julep’s lipstick for myself. I think the formula is pretty good but this color wasn’t a win for me. It’s not horrible, like those colors that make me look dead. This one just makes me look meh. That’s kind of a low bar. I like to rise above the “meh” line. So while it would be a nice work color, I think it would look better with someone else’s coloring.
Fluid Eye Glider- After my own glowing review of the Fluid Eye Glider, I had to buy myself another one. Enough said.
Bonus Gift: Julep Lip Gloss in Vivid: I actually bought this lip gloss in a previous box. I like it ok but it’s kind of more grainy/glittery than my favorite lip gloss by Julep, Posh. That said, it’s not the worst thing to have more than one of. But I do think it’s a bit more suited for Fall than Spring. I’ll hold onto it.
Jill’s Rating: A+ I am super happy with this box because of how amazing the brow filler is. Drew is a great color and I’m looking forward to trying the O2 nail treatment. I could not be happier with this box! Once again Julep nails it (pardon the pun).
Lauren’s Rating: A: I’m thrilled with my polishes this month! They are so pretty. And Danielle filled a void. And I got my first Holo! I love the Fluid Eye Glider like no other, but the eyebrow product and lipstick may not be my cup of tea.
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