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I wasn’t totally sure that I would receive my January Julep Maven box this week, but it actually arrived on Monday! Which was actually the day I got my shipping notification as well!
Julep ships their monthly maven boxes via USPS Priority Mail. All other orders are shipped via DHL Global Mail, but happily, they do not ship Maven boxes that way. My box took the promised two days.
When I opened this box on Monday, I had no idea what the collection was for January. I JUST made my selections for this box on the 20th of December, but that was like a lifetime ago. You could have given me a multiple choice quiz which included the name of this collection and I still wouldn’t have been able to guess!
The January 2014 Julep Maven theme was “The Boudoir Collection” and included “fancy finishes & top-drawer products”. I actually opted for the “Ultimate Upgrade” this month, which included everything in the Boudoir Collection PLUS the Resort Collection. It looks like my Resort Collection is coming in a separate shipment, but since I can easily grab those pictures online, I didn’t want to hold up my review for it. My comments on the polishes are going to be brief, because I realized when I opened this box that I don’t love this collection at all. I actually should have just gotten the products plus the Resort Collection add-on!
~Julep Hope ($11.20 / $14): Hope is a stark white satin and I am kind of loving this. It’s snowy if that makes sense?
~Julep Farrah ($11.20 / $14): Farrah is a lilac silk and while I love these finishes, the color isn’t my favorite. I don’t hate it, but I tend to go for darker polish colors.
~Julep Annemarie ($11.20 / $14): Annemarie is a warm cocoa crème and meh. I don’t love this. I NEED to get my polishes organized so I can figure out what to do with all these polishes I don’t love.
~Julep Margot ($11.20 / $14): Margot is an old Hollywood gold shimmer and I am loving this one. It’s probably my favorite of the collection. It’s got good coverage and can be worn alone, which is different than the other gold polishes I have.
~Julep Mona ($11.20 / $14): Mona is a storm cloud grey crème. I like this color in theory, but I know it’s not one I would grab.
~Julep Abigail ($11.20 / $14): Abigail is a light peony pink silk and while gorgeous, just isn’t a polish for me.
~Julep Mae ($11.20 / $14): Mae is a soft lavender satin. It’s actually super similar (to me) to Farrah. Maybe too similar for the same collection?
~Julep Noelle ($11.20 / $14): Noelle is a sandy beach silk and I actually thought it was quite similar to Abigail. Yes? No?
~Julep Hannah ($11.20 / $14): Hannah is a sage crème and I think it’s fair to say I do not have any polishes like this. I probably wouldn’t do a full set of nails with this, but it might come in handy for something.
~Essential Cuticle Oil ($18 / $14.40): Totally love cuticle oil and I need to make it a point to use this more. I am going to leave it out because my cuticles could use some work.
~TADA! Quick Dry Drops ($11.20 / $14): I don’t know that these are any better or worse than the OPI drops I use now, but I like them! I wouldn’t paint my nails, use the drops and then like, go to bed because I know I would get sheet marks, but I also know that some people have luck with it, so who knows. It could be that I use too many coats of polish when I do my nails as well?
~Julep Vanish Cuticle Softener & Remover: This is supposed to soften / loosen overgrown cuticles. It’s to be applied with an orangewood stick or a cuticle pusher, neither of which I own, so I need to wait to test this one out. Tell me, if you got this product, did it come with either one of these?
~Resort Collection: The resort collection (which I’ll add a picture of later when it arrives) includes three polishes – Lani (a mediterranean teal blue creme), Anita (a berry sorbet creme) and Malia (a brilliant coral creme). It also includes the “Freedom Polymer Top Coat”, which I can always use more of!
Did you get a Julep Maven Boudoir Collection box this month? Julep boxes are $20/month, but like I mentioned, I opted for the Ultimate Collection this month, which added an additional $55 to that. So for $75, I received $204 worth of products. I, however, should have paid more attention to the colors and opted for a different box this month because I totally didn’t need the full collection!
What was your favorite color (or product) in the box and what collection did you opt for? Did you get any add-ons? If you are interested in signing up, or just want to learn more, click here. And, as always, you can use code “FREEBOX” to score your first box FREE (you pay shipping which I think is $3.99). If you want to see if how you like the Julep colors / formulas, this is the best way!
Mine should be here tomorrow. I can’t remember which one I ordered though. LOL I didn’t get the upgrade but I added the Vanish. I saw some people say their sticks were mixed in with the filler and you have to dig through to find. So take a look there and then let them know if its not there. Oh and I ordered the swatch stickers but got an email saying that they are backordered and will be shipped next week. Seems odd that email came days after my shipping email did.
Oh, I DUG through there!! I thought that I may have missed them too. Nope. That does seem odd about the e-mail!
Sorry to hear you weren’t a fan of the collection. I agree that there were many similar colors though; I think this month’s collection may have been geared more to the individual style profiles with less focus on how the colors looked as a unit. Like this was hyped as a finish-heavy collection, not so much color-heavy. Either way I’m happy with my box. I got the It Girl box & I’m simply in love with the polishes!
I’m actually kicking myself for not adding on Vanish, but I guess I’ll just wait until there’s a tester at Sephora for me to try haha. I heard that there was a backorder on the cuticle pushers so you should be receiving that someday soon. For the extras most people got the little sticks, but I got these adorable orange nail buffers. 🙂 Lemme know how you like Vanish & if it works well!
I totally agree on that. I should have opted for an individual box and not the full collection! They aren’t bad colors by any means, but yes, lots the same!
Oh, that makes sense. I got the buffers too! Not the sticks.
Do y’all think Julep is worth the normal
19.99 a month ? And the nail polish is good quaility ? I’m considering canceling and just wanted some opinions ! Thanks in advance !
I think the polish consistency varies by color. Every once in a while I will get one that I am just not pleased with. But for the most part, I am happy with them. Now, I wouldn’t pay retail ($14) for a bottle though!
According to my tracking I should get my first Julep box tomorrow! I am so excited! I went with Classic With A Twist. I love nail polish! I have a shoebox full of OPI colors. Unfortunately, with my job I can’t wear nail polish. It’s only 3 days a week so I can wear it on my off days.
I love your website and all of your reviews! I really want to try a lot more boxes, but most restrain myself! Keep up the great work and reviews!
Thank you! That might not be bad though because it forces you to change up your polish more frequently, which is fun!
I didn’t do polishes this month – just the drops, cuticle oil & vanish. I was wondering if the orange blocks were buffers. Mine seemed a little too rough for that. What did you think about them?
I think that’s what I should have done.
I am pretty sure they are buffer blocks!
Where does it say that you need the cuticle pusher or orange wood stick for the Vanisher to apply? Mine said I could apply it right on the nail. I used some weird looking thing in an old nail kit I had around the houseto push the cuticles back and that worked well. When I did it, the solution formed into some thick texture. At first I freaked out because I thought it was my cuticles!
I was looking at the stuff online???
http://www.julep.com/shop/collections/january-the-boudoir-collection/vanish-cuticle-softener-remover.html
You probably don’t “need” one, but it sounded like it was recommended? I am going to run out and pick some up this week.
I thought it was just me – I couldn’t for the LIFE of me remember what I’d ordered.
turns out I got a box with the cuticle oil, the cuticle softener, the quick dry drops, and then two add on polishes – margot and abigail. I’m usually not a pink kinda girl, but this one just looked so nice I couldn’t resist. I have used nothing yet (busy day), but the oil smells really very pleasant to me.
It had to be the holidays. I had NO IDEA what to expect from that box!
This was the first month I skipped! The colors just weren’t for me and I don’t spend enough time on my nails to need cuticle products. I prefer darker color polishes as well.
I don’t know what I was thinking!
Your Julep referral links seem to be broken, they’re resolving into gibberish urls that don’t exist.
Thank you! I will look into that!
That’s so funny that you say that about not knowing what the hell you ordered because that’s exactly how I felt for December’s box. I had to have been superrrr caught up with the holidays/early shopping? who knows … and I actually didn’t even choose the box at all. I realized this about a day later and then realized that if you don’t actually pick exactly what you’d like that month, they just revert you back to your original profile when you first signed up for Julep Maven.
I wasn’t totally disappointed, especially because I really really thought I wouldn’t be receiving anything at all … I have become so used to picking out my Maven box every month that I kinda thought one just wouldn’t come if I didn’t manually pick it. I wish I had ordered maybe some different colors and more stuff, but I was happy enough to receive a Maven box for December at all ..!
LOL!!!! I must end up in a Julep daze when I order. I am just too attracted to all those pretty colors…
Yes!! It’s so difficult!
I’ve just been browsing the blog world, trying to read up on people’s opinions of the Ta-Da drops, since I was going to purchase them soon. I’m still on the fence. But I do already own Vanish and if you haven’t already tried it, you should! I really like it in conjunction with using a Vit E oil. I’m sure you’ve already tried it out by now, since it’s already March but if not, girl give it a go! I have really rough cuticles that grow out very quickly and just pushing them back on their own never looks as clean as when I use Vanish.