June Julep Maven Mystery Box Review

I recently bought my first Julep Maven Mystery Box, and it seemed like everyone was getting theirs before me.  I was getting really worried, because I was checking other peoples' unboxing posts and I wasn't impressed by what they received.  The boxes cost $20 and Julep promises you'll receive at least $60 worth of merchandise.  But their items are a bit overpriced in my opinion, so $60 could mean you get only 4 bottles of nail polish (they retail for $14 each).

Aside from the box taking forever to get to me (it shipped from Washington state, I'm in New York), I was really happy with it.  I lucked out, I got a bunch of merchandise and I really like most of it!  When I plucked it out of my mailbox, I instantly knew that I was getting more than a few nail polishes because it felt pretty heavy.  Here's what was inside:

• Nail Lacquer in Amy - $14
• Nail Lacquer in Megan - $14
• Nail Lacquer in Alyson - $14
• Nail Lacquer in Sienna - $14
• Fast Dry Top Coat - $14
• Julep Basecoat - $14
• Julep Nail Growth Revitalizing Serum - $38
• The Best Pedi Creme Ever - $22
• Pomegranate Body Creme - $18
• Pomegranate Body Scrub - $18

So I paid $20 and received $180 worth of product.  HOLY, mother.  I didn't even realize the total retail value of this box until I added it all up just now!  And I forgot to include the Nail Growth Revitalizing Serum in the photos here, but I promise I did actually get one.  I'm kind of blown away by the prices of some of these items, though, because honestly I don't feel that the quality reflects the high price.  The Pomegranate scrub and creme are nice, but they remind me of those off-brand ones you might find at the dollar store!  In all seriousness, they smell extremely artificial and I definitely wouldn't buy them on my own.  The Pedi Creme is interesting, but it's a small bottle and I wouldn't pay $22 for it.  I haven't used the Nail serum enough yet to make any sort of comment on whether or not it works, but for $38 I hope it does some good!

L to R: Basecoat, Topcoat, Megan, Amy, Alyson, Sienna

I was most excited about all of the polishes I got, because that's the main reason why I was interested in the box.  The other products are just bonuses to me.  I was in need for a new top and base coat, so those were great.  Aside from Alyson, I really love the other colors.  Julep's formula is not my favorite, their creams are kind of streaky in my opinion, but Sienna went on really well.

Bottom Line: Would I buy any of these products individually?  Probably not.  Would I buy another Mystery Box for $20?  Probably yes.  I know not all boxes will be like this, but hey, it was fun to be surprised!  Want one for yourself?  Julep releases them every once in a while, visit their website and sign up for their email list to be updated (that's how I found out about this one).

Photos of the other products are after the cut.

Julep Maven Review

When I came home from work today I had a present waiting: my first Julep Maven box! And my last, for now, but more on that later.



Julep's Maven program is a subscription service much like Birchbox, Eco Emi, et al where you are billed monthly and sent a package in the mail. Julep Maven costs $19.99 a month, but I was able to get this box for only $5 (and there is no extra charge for shipping). How did I get it for so cheap? Read this post.

According to their website, each box contains $40+ worth of merchandise a month, but from what I've seen that translates into two nail polishes and some other gift. I am not a huge nail polish girl, so I feel like for $40+ worth of product I should get much more. But since this trial offer was so cheap, I figured, why not?



This is what the box looks like when I first opened it. There were some sheets on the top with details about the program, and the products were underneath inside of a black bag (photo of that behind the read more cut). I liked the introductory letter, it was actually kind of cute. The first line says "We jumped and cheered when your order came through (I hope you heard us!)." The English major in me wanted to tell them to just leave the exclamation point outside of the parenthesis; that would eliminate the need for a period. BUT I digress.



My box came with the above polishes: Lindsay, the dark burgundy shade, and Shania, the frosty silver/white/whatever it is. I knew that I would be getting these colors before I ordered, since when you join you fill out a survey that matches your style to a specific profile. The people at Julep then select colors to fit that style. I wasn't crazy about the silver, but I did really like the burgundy. I wear mostly reds and pinks, so I thought it would be a great fall/winter shade. There was also a hand scrub in my box which was 3 fl oz. To be completely honest, I bought the box mostly for the hand scrub! It's a decently-sized bottle (unfortunately no pictures of that one, the ones I took were too blurry and then I was too lazy to take another).



Here's the "Lindsay" shade. Pretty color, but see how streaky it looks? I wasn't happy with that at all, and I'm fairly certain that it's not due to my nail polish technique. The polish itself seemed very thick and gloppy to me. This is with two coats, no base coat or top coat. I think Julep's nail polishes cost something like $18 full priced, which definitely is not worth it to me (for any kind of nail polish). For a view of what the "Shania" shade looks like on, click the read more cut.

Bottom Line: I will not be continuing with Julep Maven. In fact, I already cancelled my subscription via email. I knew I was going to cancel right away anyway, since I don't have the budget for Birchbox and Eco Emi and another $20 box. Plus, like I said, nail polish isn't something I go crazy for.
That being said(!!), if the polishes were a better quality I would probably consider signing up again sometime in the future. Julep does have a cool feature where you can choose to skip a month, you just have to log in to your account and tell them so before the 25th of each month.
Read more about Julep Maven here, and more photos behind the cut!

Great Deal on Julep Maven

If you couldn't tell, my newest obsession is monthly product subscription services. It all started when I discovered Birchbox back in August, and it has snowballed from there. I never realized there were so many services like these! I've already subscribed to Eco Emi as well. There are a few more I'm interested in, namely Blissmobox and Conscious Box (more eco-friendly boxes).

Anyway, I had heard of Julep Maven through my box explorations, but nail polish isn't really something that interests me. This service is $19.99 a month for a box that is supposed to contain $40-$60 worth of merchandise, but when I look up peoples' reviews all that's in their boxes are a few dinky nail polishes and one other item. Julep's nail polishes do retail for $14, which is a bit ridiculous if you ask me. But like I said -- I'm not really into nail polish.

But yet, I still decided to buy a Julep Maven box! Why? Because it only cost me $5 with free shipping. $5! I couldn't pass up the opportunity--instead of paying that much for a slice of pizza and a Coke on my lunch break this Friday, I'll get a fun box in the mail. If it had just been nail polishes I probably would have passed, but what got me was the hand scrub.

Let me backtrack for a second: when you sign up for Julep Maven, you fill out a survey that categorizes you into a beauty profile. I got "American Beauty," which was spot on for my style. So I'll be getting the American Beauty sneak peek box, which contains:

• Lindsay, a deep, dark burgundy polish
• Shania, a pearly silver-champagne polish
• Julep "Facial for Hands" Glycolic Hand Scrub, which contains glycolic acid combined with apricot seeds for double exfoliation that leaves your hands noticeably softer after just one use.

I'm pretty stoked for the hand scrub! I love products like that. I've been considering ordering the Mary Kay Satin Hands set for $30, but $5 sounds much better! I watched an unboxing video from a girl who got that product and I'm pretty sure it's a full-sized bottle. If not, it looked like a pretty huge sample bottle.

I used the code FB at checkout in the "discount code" box. I found it via Retail Me Not (another great site--never buy something online before checking to see if they have any discount codes!).

The code was posted a month ago as of 9 November 2011, so I don't know how much longer it will be active for. I hope it works for you!