Julep November 2012 Maven's Choice Box

So I am finally posting what I got in my Julep box this month and my review of the products. It took a bit since I actually had the box mailed to my boyfriend's house. He's been looking for a good foot scrub and I wanted him to try Julep's since I know they have really great products all the time. On to the box...

So as most of you know, Julep has a Maven program where they send out a box of polish and/or products each month for $19.99. It's a great deal because every month you get about $40 worth of product for half the price.

Honestly, however, I would not have ordered any of this month's boxes since I was not super into any of the boxes (the majority contained suede polishes which are all the rage this fall but I am not a fan of them) nor do I need any more polish. I just wanted my boyfriend to have a nice food scrub. Initially, I was so-so/sometimes excited about my box and this quickly gave way to a bit of disappointment. My Youtube review will probably be more positive than the review I am about to do here only because now I have had some time to try the products and have had some time to observe the product. I ordered the Julep Maven's Choice box this month and it came with the following:

Julep Pink Grapefruit Body Scrub
A Scrub Towel and Mitt
Trina Nail Polish
Donna Nail Polish
Matte Polish
3 Trial Sized Nail Polish Remover Pads

Here are my individual reviews:

Julep Pink Grapefruit Body Scrub-I have no picture of this product because it is actually at my boyfriend's house. I like the smell of this scrub since pink grapefruit is my favorite scent and I was hoping this product would remind me of Neutrogena's grapefruit face wash (which it does). Also I looked forward to this product since Julep did a scrub in the past as well (that one was pomegranate). The product is very grainy and smells wonderful which are both positives when it comes to a scrub. The downside to the product is that after using it, there seems to be a bit of residue left behind. I don't know if this is normal just so that the product sinks in so it can work better. I don't mind the feeling. However, my boyfriend who uses the product as a foot scrub dislikes the "extra residue" feeling and washes his feet with soap after using the product. In his mind, this is an extra step that he should not have to do. Overall, this product is great and meets it's purpose, but there is something lacking with the left over residue that must be washed off.

Scrub Mitt and Towel- At first I was excited about the scrub mitt and towel. I thought it was a great and thoughtful addition to each box. However, when I recieved the towel and mitt, I was a little disappointed. The two are very pretty and a bit rough (they are for exfoliation). The roughness might be a little excessive for some individuals. Also, the towel and mitt are not thick or comfy which leads me to believe that they are cheaply made. They definitely are not things I would proudly display in my guest bathroom since they are not as nice as my bath towels. At first this might sound a bit holier-than-thou to say that I would not put these out for others to use since they are better than my regular towels, but I am a student on a budget so I have nice towels but they aren't towels from Bloomingdale's or Barney's. I don't think it would have been super difficult to make a nice scrub towel.

Trina Nail Polish-I think this is a good polish, good quality, and it holds up to the usual Julep standard of good polish. I was not a fan of the color for me personally since they added a bit of shimmer. I compare the polish to OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark. Julep's Trina is a tad bit lighter plus the shimmer. Overall, a great winter color. The only thing I dislike about this polish coming in one of the boxes is that it is an older polish that can be bought on the website and has been debutted before. The point of the Maven program is to be able to get access to NEW polishes that have yet to be mass marketed. The insert in the picture is the polish on my nails with my new striping tape! :) (not part of Julep)

Donna Nail Polish- A new-to-Julep polish that I was very excited to get. I was a bit let down when I actually received the polish since it seemed a bit more blue online in the initial pictures that Julep posted. I still love the color. It is similar to OPI Nicole's collaboration polish with the Kardashians, Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam. The OPI polish is more green-blue whereas the Julep polish is more blue-green (does that make sense? :P ). My BIG peeve with this polish is that after I set it on the shelf for a day and it wasn't rolling around, I realized that Julep didn't fill the bottle up and I recieved a partially empty bottle. It doesn't bother me since I have never finished an entire bottle of polish in my life so I probably don't need the extra polish. However, I feel that it shows a big hole in the Julep product and customer service since technically, I paid for a full bottle. This used to never happen with the company so I feel they are on a downward trend for right now. I think they should continue to do what they do best and just stick to polish. I have talked to Julep customer service about this and have yet to recieve a response from them about this issue. Normally they are very on top of this kind of situation so I do not know what is going on. :(

 

 

Polish Remover Pads-I haven't tried these yet, but I hope to get a chance over my Christman break when I will be traveling to visit family.

Matte Polish-I love this product! It made my nails look super cool. Check out the pictures below for a comparison of Donna with and without the matte polish.

 

Hope you guys enjoyed your boxes! What was your favorite product?
XOXO,
Haylee

Covergirl Lip Find

I was browsing magazine websites this weekend when I read an article on Allure about some tips to get the perfect lip color and how to maintain nice lips. The article talked about nude lips which I have been dying to try but just have not been able to find the perfect color for me. The article recommended Covergirl's LipPerfection lipstick in Delish for olive to medium skin tones. So what do I do? I stopped by my local Target to pick up a tube while running some errands. I went home and tried it out and have not been disappointed. I like the how the color compliments my skin and gives me a great look when I do really dramatic eye looks. The tube design is useful as well. I like how the bottom of the tube is a "swatch" of the color; however, I think the swatch is a little more red than the actual lipstick. The price was a great deal as well since Target carries it for $5-7. I only wish that when I swatch it on once on my lips I get enough color to cover my natural lip. I have to use two coats but this might be because my natural lip is a bit darker than this shade of lipstick. I cannot wait to try out more of Covergirl's lipsticks especially in the nude range.

Also as you guys might have noticed, I have added a "What I Want NOW" tab to my blog to kind of serve as a page of things I am craving right now (to my friends and family: these make great gifts, hint!hint!) Also check out my Current Giveaways tab for two giveaways that are currently ongoing.

Have a wonderful day! XOXO,
Haylee :)

PS What Covergirl products do you like? Is there a product in particular I should review?

Weekend Nails!

This is just a quick post to share what I'm wearing on my nails right now. I was inspired by my nail artist at my local nail salon.  The colors are 2 For Tea by PIXEL which, unfortunately, chips very easily so I don't recommend this particular color from their line and Butter London's West End Wonderland. Enjoy!

 

XOXO,
Haylee :)

P.S. I have no idea why some of my pics upload backwards/upside down :(

MAC Haul: StyleSeeker Collection and Other Finds

So I know it is a little late to review the StyleSeeker collection since I got the products in September; however, I really like these products and MAC in general so I really want to spotlight my finds.

What really attracted me to the collection was their promo poster with two of the models. I liked the look on the dark skinned model and asked my local MAC counter to recreate the look for me.

(picture found online)

 

Unfortunately, the eye palette on the model (Marche Aux Puces) was sold out like so many of the MAC collection products are. But my amazing artist at the Los Angeles MAC counter helped me recreate the look using other colors that are part of their standard line. I know these colors are a good representation of the actual look because we used the demo palette from the acutal StyleSeeker line to come up with the comparable colors.

(picture found online)

The gold color on the palette is very similar to Goldenrod from Mary Kay which I currently own. For the reddish-brown color in the palette, I was recommended MAC's Swiss chocolate. To get the model's eye look, apply the gold color to the lid and then apply the brown color to the outer edges of the brow and drag out. Line the eyes with a dark eyeliner or a MAC kohl pencil  and apply mascara. :)

 

(MAC's Swiss Chocolate,  Mary Kay's Goldenrod plus swatches (left is Swiss Chocolate))

The model on the left is wearing Hidden Treasure on her cheeks. I love how bright and foreceful the color is on her face. I did manage to buy the cheek color and I have wore it EVERYDAY since the purchase. In fact, this was  a great collection. I have worn at least one product from the collection since buying it and the artisit helping me at the MAC counter told me the same thing when I bought the collection so I HIGHLY recommend it.

(Hidden Treasure blush; swatch is below, the first one on the left)

I also picked up the On The Hunt shadow duo from the collection. I put the color on the right on my lid and apply the color on the left to my crease and kind of drag it out. It flatters/compliments my olive/brown skin well.

(On The Hunt eyeshadow swatches)

(Hidden Treasure blush, On the Hunt pink/red swatch, On The Hunt shimmery mauve)

My final find is a blush in Gingerly(NOT part of the styleseeker collection). It's a peachy/ligh pink blush that is great for when I want to wear blush but don't want something too overpowering.

(Gingerly blush and swatch)

What are your favorite MAC products from the collection or otherwise?

Have a great day! XOXO,
Haylee :)

P.S. Be sure to check out MAC's current holiday collection Glamour Daze (Days?) which is out in stores now and selling fast! :)

October's Breast Cancer Awareness Nails

Again another late post...I need to really get these up in time :(. This one is in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Ladies go get yourself checked! Also sorry the clean up job on the nails did not turn out as well as I had hoped. I am still trying to get over messed up nails from my trip to the salon.

XOXO,
Haylee

Halloween Nails!

So here are some Halloween nails I did for October 31st. Sorry this post is late guys :(. I have been busy with life outside of blogging, but I hope you enjoy! Also stay posted for my upcoming Julep Maven November 2012 Box review. Until I post my review here, you can watch my impression of the box on Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxXr9wWJ2aY&feature=colike

XOXO,
Haylee :)