First Impression: Julep Maven Introductory Box

Pics and full review to come! So when I first get a product or service I will do a "First Impression" and it's going to be exactly what it sounds like. Then I will use the products and do a full review. I cannot find my camera of course and it's dark so the pictures would have come out like crap anyways.


So first things first. I found about Julep Maven by watching YouTube videos on Birchbox and other monthly subscription services. There originally was a code to get the intro box for Julep Maven for $10 I think it was, but it was no longer a working code. And I don't have the money to spend $20 on a service that I have no idea if I am going to like it or not. So I have watched videos with girls getting their intro. box as well as subsequent months' boxes. There is now a code to get your first box for $5. Actually, I think there are a few of them. I used the one advertised on Facebook. And to get at least 2 nail polishes and a handscrub for $5 was WELL WORTH IT!


So I went through and did the style quiz and I think I first came up with American Beauty and I just didn't like the colors that I would have gotten. So I went through and did it so that I saw all the personalities I could get and finally decided on "Bombshell". I don't consider myself a bombshell, but I like bright, fun colors. So I knew the two colors I was getting.


Now, the one negative for the INTRO. BOX. From watching YouTube videos, I thought I would be getting a cuticle oil or a base coat which it seems that most people got. So I was actually quite surprised and bummed when I opened it and only got the two nail polishes. So I am actually going to email them and just ask why. I think the response that I get to that will influence how I continue with this program. But I'll include that in a future post with my decision on what I will do with the program and the response to my email in my review post. Can't make a decision without knowing how the product is!


So, onto everything else. It seems like they have made their packaging smaller from when they first started the program based on what it looks like in the youtube videos. And by PACKAGING, I mean, the box and bag the products come in when mailed. Not the actual nail polish sizes. I'll try to at least get a phone picture so you can see what I am talking about. But I have nothing to compare the size to. I am a fan of recycling and trying to reuse and save paper, so the extra bag that it comes in, while cute, I don't know how to reuse it really and it just seems like extra paper.


You get a letter that has your name hand written and "signed" that welcomes you to the program, as well as a paper explaining the ins and outs to the program. You also get a little card that explains the products you got and their retail value. I say "signed" because Jane (the ceo and founder) is printed and only the first name, but it also says Welcome!! I'm sure she actually signed it herself, but who knows. I'll explain the actual details to the program and what I think of it in the review because I really, really do like how the program is set up.


Onto the fun stuff!! So I got the "Not yet released, Fall 2011" color Zoe. Now, it's November, if it's not yet released and is a fall color, then when do they release it? Hmm....not a big deal though. So this nail polish and the other came wrapped in pretty pink tissue paper. Super cute. It matched the bow on the bag. Now I don't know how large they are, it doesn't say on the bottle but from what I remember it is half the size of an Essie or OPI nail polish (and retail value is twice the price of those at $14 - more on that later).


ZOE - FIRST IMPRESSION - Um, SUPER IN LOVEEEE! Lol. I thought they would be bigger, but I knew they would be on the smaller size. Zoe is a metallic copper/orange. My new thing of course with fall is metallic metal colors, especially copper/orange/bronze/gold. I almost got a metallic bronze at ULTA but didn't, and have been thinking about it ever since. While this is not a very bronze/brown color it is beyond pretty. I'll end up trying this out probably Monday or tomorrow night when i have time to do my nails. Definitely a perfect fit for Fall.


SAMANTHA - FIRST IMPRESSION - Another super pretty color! I knew I was getting a bright pink, and boy do I love my pink nail polishes. This one is a super bright, almost neon pink (not fuschia). Yupp, NEON. I don't think I have anything similar to it. I'll have to check. I'm almost thinking they did it after Samantha from Sex in the City, but not 100%. Are they worth the $14 each, we'll see. I highly doubt it. I don't ever see how things are worth as much as they say they are, but they really could be! My nail polish usually chips or creases the first day even with light coats, fully dried and with a top coat.


PACKAGING (of the polish) - FIRST IMPRESSION- Love the square bottles! So different and so fun. Oh, just found the size...8 mL. I don't understand why one size of the bottle is painted black with like, an oval hole so you can see the polish.....It's kinda cool just don't understand the reasoning behind it. And onto my OCD, nit picky things. Three of them. On that painted side (and I will do pictures, promise!) on both polishes there is a spot on the black, that is clear. Like there was an air bubble and it popped and the black paint didn't fill it in. It's on both of them in the same spot and the same "bubble". So hard to explain and I want to fill it in with a sharpie, it's annoying. Second super nit-picky thing is that the UPC sticker with the UPC and name, is not in the same place. Zoe's is on the cap, and Samantha's is on the bottle (on the only side that has no writing on it!!!!). And if I take this sticker off it's going to leave the sticky residue which is even more annoying. And three, because it's square, the cap will never line up with the bottle ever again. And I know I don't feel comfortable not tightening it all the way, even though it would line up. Now I watched a video review and you can actually remove the top of the cap so that you can re-align it. I'll show a picture of this too because I sound stupid writing it because I can't explain it very well. ("Duh, the cap comes off, it's nail polish" - not what I mean :) ).


Super excited about the hand scrub because my hands are really dry. I'll probably even use it on my feet. Probably don't think it's worth the $32 they say the retail value is, but it might be. You also get two samples, one of the SPF 30 hand cream which I love the idea of this because of what someone else mentioned in their video which I'll add in later. The other is a sample of the hand scrub that I just got the full size of which I am not understanding why. I'd rather have two samples of the hand cream which is what a bunch of people originally got.




OVERALL FIRST IMPRESSION - Awesome deal for the $5 that I paid for it with the code, program seems like a really good program (explanation with the review) but I am bummed that I didn't get the base coat or cuticle oil like people started out getting in their intro box. I really don't see it being worth $20. If it was $10 or $12, maybe even $15 then yeah, totally worth it so questions asked. I still won't even buy OPI or Essie at their full value. I'm not a huge fan of OPI based on my first true application and wearing of it the last two days (that's another day). So I'm going to see what my box will be next month, see what the shelf pull would be if I don't like it and decide what I want to do. My son's birthday and christmas are coming up so I don't even know if I can afford it for the next two months, I'll have to see.


Okay, that was super long and not meant to be at all! Apparently I had a lot more to say then I thought!!! Haha. Have a good night and don't forget to turn those clocks back and get an extra hour of sleeep!






EDIT: So, I went to view some videos of the polish lover's box that was the shelf pull for november, and besides that I didn't find any, I was watching a video a girl made and she showed the letter she got and totally different handwriting. Not even close to whoever wrote my letter....which would have been fine if they were not "signed" by the same person which is Jane the ceo. I understand you know that it's hard to sign all of the letters especially now that they are getting more popular, but I would have rather seen a stamped signature, then knowing that someone that was not Jane was signing as her........yeah. 

Pink/Gold Look

I have a black and orange halloween look as well that I did a week or so ago that I will upload as well. I'll add products used a little more of a description later. I need to some how complete a take home exam and it's midnight. Ugh. Just saw a preview for "In Time". It looks soooooo good! Finally a movie with such a different plot and an interesting idea/thought. Makes you contemplate what life would actually be like if you knew how long you had left and you had to pay for everything with time. 

ULTA Eye Crayon - Quick, Quick Review

Not so much a review, but for now the thoughts I had on his product. I haven't figured out how I am going to do these reviews and what sort of rating system, so just my thoughts while I put off studying for a lit. exam.


Link to the product online: 
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod3000333


I got the color Fairy Tale which is just SUPER amazing. I love color shifting makeup and this is just that. It's this gorgeous bright, light to medium pink that in the light is peachy-orange-gold. I am just so in love to the point where I would but this color a thousand times over!


Since it is a cream-type it doesn't blend very well. There is a sponge on the product but it pretty much erases it instead of spreading it. I used it to "erase" the product if it got in a place I didn't want it. It may be this color, but if I used it, it got rid of the color shift and left a very muted pink color. I didn't try using my fingers to spread but I'm sure doing this would do the same thing. I'm sure it would be fine on other colors to mute and spread them, but since it color shifts, it got rid of this property of the color.


I put a decent amount on to color my entire lid and make the color noticeable. It is a lighter color, but I wanted to see the color shift very easily. I need to find a product to either go in the crease or blend it out so its not just on my lid. I put it a little bit past my crease, but need to figure out a better look. I didn't have the time to do that today.


It last all day!!!! HUGE!! Like this is awesome. It's 10:30p and at 10 when I looked in the mirror, it had only faded on the eye I had been rubbing because it was itchy. There was an itty bitty, unnoticeable spot on the other lid where it might have creased, but also almost looked like I had missed a spot putting it on. My eyelids are pretty oily and "wrinkly" so this was a HUGGE MAJOR YEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! So excited. Oh, P.S. I did use an eye primer, but it was the ELF $1 one. Not sure if this made a huge difference. Will test without primer.


I'm going to buy the white next in hopes of using it underneathe eyeshadows to brighten them up and maybe it will cause them to stay on just as long! Will also buy a darker one to see how it does as well. 


No rating until I try it more than once. And when I figure out how I am going to rate them. Oh another thing, applying it was a little tricky to get it even and in all the places I wanted. I guess comparable to any cream stick when not using your fingers or another applicator to put on. 

Brand new to this - Trying things out

Hmm, well after reading through some of my favorite blogs, and contemplating this for awhile, I have decided to start a blog. Not sure why. Don't know who is ever going to see/read it. I'm not sure about the direction this is going to go yet. I have two concepts in mind, so I probably will end up with two because they are such completely different things I don't want them combined. Readers of one would probably get bored with the other and vice versa. 


SOOOOO..


It mainly started out because Ulta opened up a store 5 minutes down the road from me (SO EXCITED! But there goes my weekly paycheck). And I felt the need to share my little mini haul after seeing many youtubers and bloggers do such a thing. My camera is currently lost so pictures would come later. I also ran to Walgreens because I LOVE HALLOWEEEN and they have Face Makers makeup by Wet n Wild and I bought a 9 pan glitter eyeshadow palette. So a mini review on that and all the other makeup I purchased with swatches to come!


I am quite excited for this, I hope it works out and I get some followers as well as maybe doing some videos if I can bare to share my voice. Also am hoping for some tutorials because the look I did today was AH-MAY-ZING if I should say so myself. I cannot afford to buy expensive makeup, so as for right now, and probably for a bit into the future, all makeup is affordable, drugstore, store brand, large palette makeup. 


Introductory post up soon. Still unsure of what I am going to call this and such. Not feeling so creative at the moment.


Sweet Dreams!