Julep Maven Subscription - June 2012 Box

Each month I continue to be impressed by the customer service, quality of products and the perfect packaging offered by Julep! As a recap, Julep Maven is a monthly subscription service that focuses on nail color and care. You can get a month for a penny by checking out the link to the left or staying til the bottom of this post!

This month, again, I chose to stay with the "Classic With A Twist" box. The card included reads, "It's your time to sparkle. Classic with a twist. This month is all about matching lips and nails. The trend is back and hotter than July! We've done the work for you with our eye catching colors so you can step out with confidence and get your glitter on."

I love the little quotes and treats they include with each package! "We need less posturing and more genuine charisma. It's about a sparkle in people that money can't buy." - Marianne Williamson ... Also 3 yummy fire balls! What a cut throw back these candies have been! Last month pixie sticks, this month fire balls! (How sad some of us can remember when they were just a penny! lol!)

Here are the 3 colors I received with the box. On the left is Audrey, middle is Freida and right is America. Audrey and Freida are part of the subscription and America was included free. Since my husband is from Canada, I also purchased separately "O Canada" which should be arriving any day now and also "Kate". Here are my first swatches of the products, just 1 coat each.

Polishes are shown in the same order as the bottles above. Audrey is a beautiful cream color with a pink hue and some gorgeous shimmer when the polish hits the light. The pictures of Freida online, in my opinion, didn't do it justice. It's almost like a light magenta, more on the pink side than purple, also with that beautiful shimmer when it hits the light! The America is in a class of it's own! I am SO impressed with this polish. I have typically steered away from glitter polish because it never looks on my fingers how it looks in the bottle and I always end up very disappointed. Also, with other glitter polishes, usually they require about 10 coats for me to get the same glitter look you are seeing above. In the picture that is ONE coat. What's even more fabulous about America is that it is still quick trying, however it's not so quick that it is unforgiving. The polish remains tacky for a couple minutes to be able to move the glitter around as you so choose. BEAUTIFUL polish this month, Julep!

This next product is a full size Lip Gloss in the color Camellia that matches the Audrey polish to a tee. I was a little skeptical about this gloss because of the fact that Julep is primarily nail products, however I was pleasantly surprised with the color, texture and packaging of this product. 

It has a very light, sugary scent, but no taste that I can tell. I am very impressed with this gloss and I plan to purchase the one that matches my Freida polish as well!

Total value of everything I got in this box is $60.00 (That is not including shipping). My box, as usual, was $19.99 and that included shipping! Total savings this box was over $40.01 or 66%!

As stated before, I also purchased "O Canada" and "Kate" polishes at a discount to go with my box. Value of those polishes are $28.00 plus shipping and as a Julep Maven, I got them for $9.98 including shipping. 

Total out of pocket cost for my products and shipping was $29.97. Total retail value, not including shipping was $88.00. Total savings: over $58.03 or 65%!

Become a Julep Maven by clicking this link!

HTTP://JULEP.COM/?R=20360627

Use Code: COLOR2012 to get your first box for just a penny!

- Yours - Jessica - 

Product Review: NYX Crimson Amulet Collection

... Inspired by the movie: Dark Shadows ...

I had no idea what this movie was when I bought this beautiful palette by NYX so I was purely going of the fact that I had bought the True Blood palette by Tarte last year and ended up loving it. So far I am 2 for 2 buying palettes inspired by something in Hollywood! 

I purchased this kit from my local Ulta store for $24.99. Now considering my Tarte for True Blood palette was considerably higher priced than this, I honestly didn't expect much. This palette, however, has turned me into an NYX fan for life! (In addition to this palette, I also purchased 4 more NYX products that day, all 4 of which I'm pleased with as well!) The pictures above show the palette from the front and back. It has a magnet snap closure which is strong so it stays together really well. 

When you open the palette, it has 2 sections. The first section is shown above with 24 very pigmented eye shadows, 4 eye shadow applicators and on the right, a mirror. For the following photos, I will show swatches of the eye shadows going row by row from left to right, top to bottom.

Row 1: This row consists of a matte black, a satin finish cream/flesh color, a purple shimmer and a satin finish almost "burnt orange" color, or copper. 

Row 2: This row consists of a shimmer finish lilac color, a matte sage green, a satin finish cream color (this is a tad bit darker than the satin cream in row 1 and is less pink in tone), and a shimmer navy color.

Row 3: This row consists of  a very light shimmered royal blue, a shimmery forest green, a shimmery chocolate brown, and a satin finish warm purple color.

Row 4: This row consists of your base neutral/highlight colors. First is a matte cream color, then a matte light brown/taupe, then a matte taupe/even lighter brown, and a satin finish egg shell white.

 Row 5: This row consists of a light brown with a very light satin finish, a matte dark brown, a satin finish light pink, and a matte charcoal gray. 

Row 6: This row consists of a satin finish pink/light lilac, a satin finish taupe, a shimmer brown and a satin finish light yellow/gold.

With all of the above polishes, I've gotten the best results when using an eyelid primer. Another great surprise is that I have experienced very little fall out so it's nice to finish your eye makeup without having a huge mess to clean up on the rest of your face. Luckily the palette name isn't literal! HAHA!

Now, we turn the "page" to view the rest of the palette. On the left, they give you an example of 3 looks from the movie from Josette, Dr. Hoffman and Angelique. The looks are described but there is no instruction like there was in the True Blood palette by Tarte. On one hand, I appreciate when instructions are included because I like to be able to recreate looks exactly as they were in the move. On the other hand, I think by NOT including instructions, NYX has inspired me to become creative... I feel free to create any look and not just included ones. 

First up in this part of the palette are the HD High Definition Shadow Base and the NYX Liquid Eyeliner that are included with your palette. On the right, I have swatched both of them for you with the base on the top and the eyeliner on the bottom. 

Typically I do not like a liquid liner, just because I have a hard time having a steady enough hand to use a liquid liner when the line is so harsh. I have found, however, that I enjoy putting the liner on and smudging it a little with a precision brush. I love the smoky look it creates. 

I LOVE the shadow base! It is very creamy and has a moisturizing feel which is great because for me, my eye area tends to get very dry. I also can testify to the long lasting quality of this base. My shadows have lasted for hours which is great as a busy mom because I just don't have time to stop and touch up my makeup with 4 kids running around! 

Next up is the highlight and blushes. Here I have swatched the highlight on the top followed by all 5 blushes from top to bottom. 

The highlight is a decent product. I'm not really accustomed to using highlights on a regular basis, but I do really like this one on the bridge of my nose and on my cupid's bow to help my lips look fuller. 

I also am not one to apply blush on a regular basis because my face naturally has a "blushed" look and often times will still show through what ever foundation I am using. The blushes included in this kit, however, are very pretty. First you have a matte pink/peach blush. Next you have a much more vivid color in almost a raspberry pink matte. Then you have a shimmery peach color, followed by a pink shimmer. The largest of the blushes is at the bottom and that is a light almost mauve pink. 

Lastly, we have 4 lip gloss products which are really more pigmented than I expected making them almost like lipsticks. From left to right we have almost a neutral light mauve color. Then we have a very bright blue-toned pink. Next is a very true light pink color. Finally we come to a color I expected to be more red, is actually a hot raspberry pink color. 

So... That's it for the collection! I have a few looks that I have enjoyed doing with this palette so I will try to get those done and posted for you as soon as I can! If you have any questions about this palette that I have not answered here, please let me know!

--Yours-- Jessica