Julep is a company who offers monthly Maven boxes, which can contain either two polishes and a product, three polishes, or two beauty products. You take a quiz on their website and after answering a few questions (mostly about your style preferences) you will get a style profile and it will show you what polishes/products will be in your box. You can then choose add-ons (polishes that are available at a special discount price, but only if you order with your box.) For more info about this program, you can visit the Julep website. If you're going to sign up, please feel free to use my Julep Maven referral code: 9251627.
When I first signed up, I was profiled as Boho Glam, which came with two polishes plus a beauty product. You can change your style profile after you order your first box, and because I didn't like the DD Cream that comes with this month's Boho Glam box, I changed to It Girl. It Girl comes with three polishes.
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| My June Julep Maven Box |
This month's collection is named Nantucket Nostalgia Collection. (Reviews at the end of the swatches.)
First up: Bess.
Bess is described as a baby blue creme. I think it's a bight brighter than your usual baby blue. It's not as creamy as I expected, more like a crelly (a cream that's not quite creamy.) I have issues with applying light colors, so it took me three coats to cover up bald patches, plus top coat. If you notice, this one has a different lighting because when I tried to capture it using my usual light, the color was so off.
Next in line, Char.
Char is a gorgeous "nautical navy blue creme" that has a hint of purple in it. Very shiny without top coat. It drove my camera crazy! Color looks familiar though, doesn't it? Similar to Sinful Colors Into the Blue (I think they're total dupes!) Now, I've noticed that some darker blues tend to smell like a skunk dumped a load in the bottle (with Sally Hansen Pacific Blue being the worst offender) and this was no exception. It must be the pigments or something. Shown is two coats with top coat, but you can get away with one thickish coat and no top coat.
The namesake of the collection: Nan.
Nan is described as "Nantucket red creme," and if I remember from the emails, it was inspired by those faded red pants worn by ladies from Nantucket or something. Anyway, it looked gorgeous to me when I was checking it out, but when I applied it, I didn't really like the way it looks on me. It was described as a creeme, but it actually felt like a crelly to me when I was applying it. Shown is two coats with top coat.
And now for the add-ons. We have Dianna, from the Bohol Glam box.
Dianna is described as a "seafoam green creme" and seriously though, it just looks minty to me. Nevertheless, I love this shade! This is one of my favorites from my order. It also applied easier than its siblings. Shown is two coats with top coat.
And here's Lexie.
Lexie is described as a "dandelion yellow creme" and I sorta agree... It's a bit less brighter than it shows on the pictures. Think txicab yellow but not that orangey-yellow. Like I said, I'm really digging yellows lately so even if I think I have a dupe for this one in my stash, I'm still happy to add this to my collection. It did apply better than most yellows, because this only need two coats, plus I added top coat.
Last but not the least, the special add-on: Bunny (It Girl.)
Bunny is described as a "crisp white linen with fine gold shimmer." Now, it's not a very stark white like a Wite-Out white. The fine gold shimmer is visible in the bottle, but sadly, you have to really stare at it on your nails if you want to see the shimmer. I still like it though, because this was one of the easier whites to work with! I used two coats for this swatch and in my book, if a white polish takes only two coats to be even, it's a winner. There are one-coater whites out there, but I have never encountered them yet so a two-coater is still a winner for me. I just wish the gold shimmer was more prominent, because that was what made me take this month;s box. Oh well.
Thoughts on this month's box? I have only purchased two boxes ever since I signed up (the starter box plus the March box) and I think it's safe to say that Julep polishes' formula is a hit or miss. Some polishes are a joy to work with, while others are just a PITA. Most of the polishes in this box went on fine on the first coat, but they tend to get a little goopy on the second coat. It wasn't really a big issue; the polish still applied well even if it thickened a bit during the second coat. If I was to pick a favorite, it would have to be between Dianna and Bunny. The ones I didn't particularly care for were Bess and Nan. As much as I wanted to love Nan, the color just didn't suit me.
Overall, would I recommend these polishes? Yes and no. Yes, because as a polish fiend, I say you can never have too many polishes! Lol. Plus I also like receiving nail mail every month. But if you can find dupes (or something really, really similar to the colors) that have a better formula and are cheaper, just get those.
And there you have it! I hope this post wasn't too long-winded for you. Til the next post! <3
*These polishes were purchased with my own money. Julep Maven boxes start at $19.99, and add-ons are $4.99 with free shipping.*
*Disclaimer: Due to variations in screen resolutions, polishes may appear different to each reader. I try my best to capture colors as accurately as I can, and if I can't, I try to describe as much as I can.*
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