Julep Maven - April 2015 - Unboxing

This is my second Julep Maven Box review (you can find March here).  I'm a little late on this review, as I actually did my unboxing last Friday!  I had a big, busy weekend and I needed a chance to recover!  I did end up using everything in this box this week though, and I am excited to be able to give solid reviews on each item as a result. 

Every Month starting on the 24^th Julep gives you the chance to view your Maven box and customize what you are going to receive.  You can also opt to skip your box all together, or send it as a gift to a friend.  Customizing your box is easy and you can pick and choose all 3 items you receive from about 30-40 products each month.  Julep usually has 10-15 nail polish colors you can select (including “mystery” colors and top-coats), a few choices of tools for manicures, and a selection of their hair and makeup options.

I have received a total of 4 boxes from Julep (the "welcome" box, January, March and April).  I skipped February due to financial concerns and the process was very easy.

I customized my box this month.  I needed to customize because the brow powder they were going to send me would have been AWFUL for my skin tone, so I'm glad I changed (more on that below!).  I also opted to not get a nail color this month for some reason, I for sure will be getting 3 colors next month.

Opening the box:

I love the color choices for the box this month!  The tissue paper really makes me think of Spring.  I was already excited about this box because it came a week early (again!).  I am starting to like that Julep always arrives early.  A girl can get spoiled!  As always everything is packaged beautifully, and this month my surprise candy was gobstoppers, which I love.  I'm reasonably convinced these gobstoppers did not survive an hour outside of this box.

Item #1:  "Don't Leave Your Brows at Home"  

All in one Brow Powder and Brush

 This was the main thing I wanted to try this month.  I've been working on the "perfect brow" and I think this product might just nail it.  I like that it is all inclusive, and I can just throw it in my makeup bag if I need to travel.  The color is an almost perfect match for my brows, just a little warmer, which really makes my brows look great.  I wore this for the first time for my confirmation at the Easter Vigil services this weekend, and it has already made it into the regular rotation.  My only concern is that the powder side seems small, but I use so little of it to make a big impact that I'm sure it will last a good, long time. 

If Julep has this in the add-ons next month, or in the (secret!) maven store I will probably pick up a back up.  That's how much I like this!

Item #2: Oxygen Nail Treatment in Sheer Ivory

 I got a similar item to this in my FabFitFun box, but I do really like that Julep's polishes allow oxygen through to the nails so that is why this is the color that is currently on my nails (yeah, that's right, as I type this blog even!)

This is a slightly peach ivory color.  It is a durable single coat nail treatment.  The box says they don't recommend wearing it with any other color or topcoat.  It holds a great shine by itself.  The first coat looks nearly transparent, with a second coat adding just a touch of ivory color.  I've worn it for 3 days now with no chipping (a practical miracle in my life).  Only time will tell if this actually helps my nails, but I will probably wear it between mani's for the next month or so to see how it does. 

This is a great product if you hate having naked nails.

Item #3:  Freedom Polymer Top Coat

 This top coat promises a gel-like shine over any standard polish.  For the Easter Vigil service and my confirmation I layered this over a cheap polish and it looked FANTASTIC.  And I was particularly impressed because it dried so fast.  I didn't give it much time to wear out, as I decided to strip my mani two days later (pastel green nails are SO "Easter" and I wanted something more basic).  But I will say this gave a great high shine.

Final Verdict:

I think I have one last month of Julep before I skip a few - I would like to get some brighter summerier colors.  Right now I have some fantastic dark winter colors, but I would love to be able to do a full rotation of Julep colors.  I also have a decent number of Jules (reward points) to spend, so hopefully I can get something nice for those. 

If you would like to subscribe to Julep you can use my referral code and get a free welcome box!