Julep Maven

So this is what I got in my Julep Maven Intro Box! I got all this for a penny (value ~$60)....well worth it! I apologize for the poor lighting - believe it or not I took this photo under a lamp....

 If you haven't heard of Julep, it's nail polish company based out of Seattle. The company history is actually really interesting - the founder went to Law School at Yale, but after graduation decided she wanted to do something that made her happier and went for it. The polishes are all named after inspiring women, and 1$ of every sale goes towards charities that help to empower women. The polishes are “4-free” and do not contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, or DBP. All in all, it's a not just great quality polish ("vernis") but a great quality company. 

Julep has a program called Julep Maven where you can sign up to get monthly boxes of polish for $19.99 (shipping included) with a value of $60+ worth of products. As a Maven, you also get 20% off all purchases. Unlike other beauty boxes, they show you what the upcoming months boxes contain. There are several "styles" based on what style you are deemed to be based on a style-quiz - but you can choose the boxes from the other styles if they contain colours/products you prefer. Also,  you can choose to skip a month (or more) if you don't want the products in the upcoming box without compromising your membership. If you are scared about the commitment, you can always cancel after your first 1 cent box...if this wasn't already amazing in itself, they seem to have a promo running where you can sign up for your first box for 1 cent. Yes, $0.01. Including Shipping. The program is available to both Americans and Canadians, with no extra shipping charges to Canada - it's always free. Considering Canada is doing away with the penny......what better way to make use of the last of your pennies before they are phased out?!  

If you would like to sign up for the Penny Promotion you can use my referral code here: http://julep.com/?r=20045475 and type in "COLOR2012 in the promo box! (I would really appreciate if you heard about /were inspired to sign up because of my post if you used this link, I used the referral code of the blogger where I first read about the program -> pay it forward) Alternatively, if you have a strong aversion to doing so, you can still sign up to be a Maven on the Julep Website.


My style was "Classic with a Twist" and so I was sent "Jennifer" (the demure pink) and "Charlotte" (the muted eggplant), along with Glycolic "facial for hands" scrub and an emory-board.

Charlotte  is described as "Demure Lavender. Sophisticated with a Twist. Elegant on a Manicure." However it is much darker in real life than it appears on thier online catalogue - I would describe it more as a Muted Eggplant or Heavy Lavender. It goes on amazingly smooth, the brush/consistency is amazeballs (not the most "demure" of adjectives on my part - sorry.) It is actually SO smoothe though. I am in love. I also only needed one coat, and it appears to fine. I may put on another coat later, but point is, it can hold it's own with just one. It also dries very quickly. I can't say anything in terms of staying-power/chipping since I just got it today, but based on the quality in other areas my guess is it will hold out pretty well.......

This is my photo from my Glymm Box Blog Post  - but here you can see Charlotte on the nail!

Jennifer is described as a "beautiful, sheer polish with just a hint of pink. Effortless elegance. A manicure favorite in our parlors and a must-have for every woman, from brides to working girls. One coat does the trick when rushed for time." I agree that it is incredibly sheer and that it's only a mere hint of pink. I had to double check to see it wasn't just a top-coat. It looks much darker in the bottle than it goes on. I think it would be lovely as "natural" manicure look with just a hint of pink. Right now it doesn't look very good on me because my nails are a little yellowed from having my old polish on for so long (does anyone have any tips on super-quick-fixes for that by the way?!?) but I have a feeling when that's not the case this will be a gorgeous sheer polish (with some of the great qualities found in Charlotte - that is nice application, smooth, drying time, etc). 


Overall, I am super happy with this box! Especially since I only paid a penny! I can't wait to see what next months boxes hold and pick what to get (or not get) next!!