Julep New Years Mystery Box!

So, Santa came right on time this year and I got my Julep mystery box.

For those of you who don't know, Julep is a salon which sells monthly subscription boxes for $20 a month (which you can skip).  I'll have information for how to get your first box for a penny at the bottom, but they guarantee $40 worth of product in the box, which is a bit of an overestimate since I think they mark up their stuff at least twice as much.  But, the polishes have been good quality for me so far and if I see a product I want, I'll get the box.  Julep also donates a dollar from each box to Girlfriends, a women's charity and their nail polish is 4-free (their other stuff shouldn't have parabens and such but I saw it in the mascara). 

After stalking blogs trying to find out what everyone is getting, I'm going to assume that the vast majority of people's boxes are worth around 100 dollars.  Mine ended up being around $125, but I don't actually think the products are worth that much anyway, so I'm not upset that I didn't get a "200 dollar box" or anything. It seems like most people are getting a product and 5 or 6 nail polishes, plus 3 remover pads and 2 samples, so I guess I'm lucky that I ended up getting 2 products and no topcoats or anything like that (I have a matte topcoat and it cost me $1.50). 

Here's what I got in mine:
-Julep Sicilian Orange Foot Soak.
-Julep Boho Glam Lengthening Mascara
-2 sample packets of Julep Age Defying Hand Brightener.
-3 Polish Remover Pads
-A nail file
AND 5 POLISHES
-Cindy (Green Jelly with Gold glass-flecks)
-Georgia (Peach with a gold shimmer)
-Sienna (a foil that is probably best described as white gold, but is a light gold that's almost silver)
-Lauren (Classic medium pink.)
-No name New Years glitter (Brown, copper, orange and sliver glitter in a black base)

First off, I'm pretty happy with the products I've gotten.  I was afraid that I'd end up getting the Age Defying Hand Brightener (full sized) and a bunch of polishes that I could get at the drugstore or already had dupes for.  Thankfully, I got things that I'd use or find to be unique.

And now onto the reviews:

Julep Sicilian Orange Foot Soak:  So, I knew that I'd end up getting a product in my box and if I had to pick a number one thing i wanted, it would probably be the pedi-cream or just the pedi-set in general.  My feet are terrible and I've put forth a resolution that I am going to take care of them and at least make them so they are manageable.  Ok, this isn't the pedi cream but this would encourage me to soak my feet and scrub away those calluses.  I think the thing that impressed me the most is that there are actual pieces of orange peel in this scrub and how wonderful and natural this smells.  I'm sure this isn't going to be the end-all-be-all of foot soaks, but I'll post a review of it as soon as I use it.  I haven't used this yet but I'd probably pay $7 to $10 dollars for this, but it actually costs $26.

Julep Boho Glam Lengthening Mascara:  Another thing that wasn't exactly on the top of my list but am glad to get anyway.  I actually don't like black mascara.  I enjoy going for a softer, more natural look and honestly, my lashes are pretty long so black mascara makes them look cheesy so I'm glad I got the brown mascara.  Plus, it's a pretty big and pretty great mascara from the few times I've used it.  It does a good job seperating and defining my lashes and keeps them curled, plus it adds length through little fibers.  I actually really like this mascara and will use it often.  Apparently this mascara retails at $24, but I'd say it's worth about $15 since it is bigger than normal and doesn't have the annoyances of most drug store brands I've tried. 

Yep, this is my crappy eye swatch.  Thankfully, my lashes look pretty good.

 Julep Age Defying Hand Brightener:  The reason why I didn't really want the full-sized product of this is because I'm 23 and still don't need something for age yet.  I did use one of these to test it out though and will tell you that you can probably use the amount in the sample packets 2 or 3 times.  The lotion is thick and absorbs really well, but smells like soap, which isn't the worst thing it could smell like but is definitely not something I'd purchase.  I can't tell you much about how this will work over time because I only have 2 packets but it seems like a good but not great hand lotion, so proceed at your own risk.  Since these are tiny foil packet samples, I'm not going to put what I would pay from them, but a full-sized bottle of this stuff retails at $32, which is ridiculous.



Julep One Time Use Nail Polish Remover Pad:  This pad is supposed to have enough remover to get all 10 finger and even remove glitter.  Well, it doesn't.  I was removing my previous manicure with this and it did about 5 fingers before completely drying out.  I still have 2 left so I'll keep them in my purse, but if i need to remove glitter polish then I'll just buy some remover.  These pads retail for a dollar each but they work about as well as CVS pads, so 50 cents is what I'd pay for them.

Julep Nail File:  I didn't get the crystal nail file so I'm a bit sad, but I'm sure this'll work, especially for my toe nails.  I don't think you can buy this on the site so we'll say this is worth a dollar since it seems a bit better than the ones they sell at Big Lots.

A few general notes about the nail color:  I ended up using 2 coats of each although I'll put individual notes on opacity.  All of the brushes were long and thin except for the mystery glitter, which has a much thicker brush.  I had all of my complaints on the bottles and brushes on my intro box review, but it boils down to the handle is a bit too long so you have to be quick with your brush.  Overall, I thought the formula was good for these but will make note of them during the individual colors.  These polishes retail for $14 but I think a more appropriate price for them is around $6.50. 

Let's start with my favorite:

Julep Cindy:  I...LOVE...THIS....GREEN!  It's a lime green jelly base with gold glitter or glass-flecks or something and it's just super sparkly without being over the top crazy.  I have a few shimmery greens like this (such as Sinful Colors Show Me the Way), but this is what I want all of my shimmery greens to be.  The formula was great and you get pretty good coverage after 2 coats or one thick one.  Anyway, this one's awesome and makes the box really worth it for me.

Julep Georgia:  This one made me apprehensive when I first took it out, but is unique and a nice spring to summer shade (when my skin will get more light).  There's a gold shimmer in that peach color that really turns it up a notch and makes this weird pastel color a bit more wearable for me.  The formula was ok.  You need 2 coats to even out the streakiness that the first one brings.

Julep Sienna:  So, this a an interesting little foil in that it looks like it's 2 parts silver and one part gold.  I actually really like it this way and think it makes it more wearable (with a pattern or stamp or something) than normal silver or gold.  If you do want to wear it on it's own, you need 2 coats but the polish was pretty shiny after the first one so you can probably use it for a slightly transparent stamp.  The formula was really smooth too.









Julep Mystery New Years Glitter:  An interesting mix of brown, copper, silver and maybe some orange glitter in a black base.  I really like it.  It kinda reminds me of the inside of a change purse.  It dries matte so you'll need a topcoat but OH GOD, THE SPARKLES!  Anyway, there is a weird new brush on this and it makes applying this glitter a bit more annoying than it needs to be.  But, the formula is good and surprisinly, it only needed 2 coats for full opacity but you can probably use a thin coat for layering.

Julep Lauren:  This is one of your more basic pinks that isn't too bright or dark or pastel or neon, but I have pinks like this (lots of them.  One even smells like raspberries).  I think this one is a bit lighter than most of the ones I have though so that makes it a bit more wearable from winter to spring.  The formula on this was solid and less streaky than Georgia, although I felt like i still had viable nail line after 2 coats so maybe do a thicker 2nd coat or three coats.







Here's a price breakdown from the Julep Website:

26 + 24 + 3 + 5(14) = $123 (for a $20 mystery box)

And here's how much I think it's worth.

10 + 15 + 1.50 + 1 + 5(6.50) = 60

So, I still made out good in the end.  Plus, I can buy an 8 oz or whatever foot cream at Sally's for 7 bucks so guess it's not a big deal that I didn't get my must-have thing.  Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my box and if anyone wants to join Julep for a penny just to get these mystery boxes, here is my referral link or you can type in 7383222 for the invitation code.  There are a variety of codes to get your box for a penny (I've seen PENNY2012 and JULIPVIP) and Julep is a subscription service but you can skip boxes you don't want and just get the mystery boxes,  Anyway, have a happy holiday whether it be Christmas or Yule or Kwanza or no holiday at all!