Friday, August 01, 2014

- - Julep | The Poolside Collection | July 2014 Review - -


Hi everyone,

It's been way too long since my last Julep review! As always, I'm working on fixing that. Just before the July Maven collection was revealed I realized that there are usually spoilers a day or so before the Maven window opens, so for anyone who can't wait to check out the new colours each month definitely see if you can find something on Google in the days leading up to the Maven reveal.

For July's Poolside Collection there were a lot of really nice basic crèmes. I loved the colours and was pretty tempted to get the whole collection, but I decided to hold out and save my Jules. The two colours that were my favourite this month were Lissa and Kelsey, but unfortunately they were in different boxes. Since I wasn't willing to part with my Jules just yet, I gave up my original subscription of $19.99/mo and signed up for My Maven ($24.99/mo) just so that I could customize my box and pair those two colours together. Then, just before the August reveal I asked customer service to switch me over to the 3-month prepaid subscription so I could go back to paying $19.99/mo.

Finally, after waiting for what seemed like forever to get my box, it arrived at my doorstep! Let's take a closer look at what I got right after the jump...
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Julep Subscription

Frequency: monthly
Subscription Plans:
          My Maven: $40+ worth of polish & products for $24.99/month, or $19.99/month 
           with a three-month prepaid subscription.
          Maven Luxe: get $60+ worth of polish & products for $39.99/month, or
           $34.99/month with a three-month prepaid subscription. 
Customization: boxes are fully customizable for Mavens who sign up after 4/29/14
Add-ons: available at checkout and with monthly Maven boxes
Products: at least two nail polishes and one beauty product 
Promo Code: use code HELLOYOU to get your first box free! ($2.99 shipping fee applies)
Shipping Cost: FREE (7 - 10 days)

 Thank you kindly if you decide to use my referral link when signing up.

Previous Maven reviews:
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Just as the tracking numbers were sent out, a note was attached to the shipping confirmation emails saying that since Julep isn't allowed to ship nail polish by air, they have to rely on ground transportation, which takes much longer. As a way to compensate for the shipping delay, 100 additional Jules were given out for the July box. Even if it wasn't much, I thought that the notice and the Jules were a nice gesture.


The shipping did take a really long time this month. Early on in the year I used to get my Maven box by the 6th of each month. For the July collection, I ended up getting my box on July 18th - a mere 2 days before the August reveal. In any case, Julep did warn us.

Actually, I'm pretty excited to see what the shipping will be like now since Julep announced on July 23 that they will no longer be using DHL to ship their packages. In addition to this, Julep stated that they will be sending out boxes from a "more central location in Ohio." Hopefully this means that we will be getting our packages faster!



* Please note that all of the prices are in US dollars.*

1 || Kelsey & Lissa || $14.00 (Non-Maven) / $11.20 (Maven) each



Lissa is described as a "tumbled turquoise crème."
Kelsey is described as a "powder peach crème."

I fell in love with the online swatches of Kelsey because I loved the soft pink undertone that I saw in its shade. Unfortunately, in person Kelsey has more of an orangey rather than a pink undertone -this orangey-ness becomes more prominent with two coats of polish like you see in the photos above and below.


Lissa is a really nice shade of turquoise; however it may be just a little too stark for my skintone. I'll update this post with a preview of the August Manicures featuring Lissa and Kelsey soon so that you could judge for yourself.


By the way, did anyone notice that Julep polishes have been vegan for a few months now?

Edit: here is the promised photo!

Photo taken indoors and with flash
  
2 || Bare Body Milk || $24.00 (Non-Maven) / $19.20 (Maven)



Julep debuted their two newest products in July - the Bare Body Milk and the Bare Body Polish. I was pretty interested in trying out the former, so I selected it for my box. Taken straight from Julep.com, the following breakdown of ingredients in the Bare Body Milk shows how this lotion is supposed to benefit your skin:
  • Milk thistle locks in moisture and helps protect against environmental factors
  • Olive oil delivers essential fatty acids to hydrate and repair
  • Grapefruit oil promotes cell turnover
  • Orange peel oil brightens dry, dull skin
Although some Mavens haven't found this lotion moisturizing enough, in my opinion it does exactly what it promises to do - at least in terms of moisturizing and leaving your skin silky smooth. I often talk about how I hate that certain hand creams leave my skin feeling greasy, so I'm pretty happy that I don't have this problem at all when I use the Bare Body Milk as hand cream since it's so lightweight and absorbs very quickly.

By the way, did I mention that this lotion smells amazing? The scent is the same as the Beach Tonic Dry Body Oil and it's the perfect summer fragrance.

Also, I didn't expect this product to be so big! At 200 mL/6.8 fl oz, the Bare Body Milk towers over not only two Julep polishes, but also Thorin Oakenshield! :)



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|| Total Value: $52.00 (non-maven) | $41.60 (maven) || 

So there you have it - my July box! Overall I'm fairly happy with what I selected even if Kelsey wasn't exactly the shade I thought it would be. Also, I didn't receive any of those patriotic candies (wrappers were coloured as the American flag) that I saw many people get. As nice as it would've been to get candy again, maybe Julep just didn't want to offend Canadians?

Anyways, I'm super excited to get my selections for the August box. Here's hoping that my box comes in soon!

If you would like to subscribe to Julep and would like to use my referral link, you can find it here. Thank you kindly in advance!

 Thank you for reading! -A.~

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