Julep’s February maven boxes featured their new Dramatic collection and introduced their “stardust finish” along with some interesting new makeup products like eye sheens and gel liners.” If you want more info on Julep’s maven subscription service, lots of important changes at Julep and a coupon code, jump down below.
But now let’s get to the box.
While I liked many of the polish shades and was intrigued by their new “stardust” finish, most were just too similar to colors I already owned so I opted once again to go for the Modern Beauty box and this time I passed on the add-ons.
THE MODERN BEAUTY BOX:
Typically the Modern beauty box doesn’t come with polish but the freebie in all the boxes this month was a polish called “Love”.
Love: (Retail $14.00/Maven Price: $11.20)
Verdict: Hit!
Description: Gold, pearl & fuchsia microglitter
This isn’t available for individual sale yet so I just based the cost on Julep’s regular polish costs. It’s a very nice freebie and isn’t like any other polishes I have so it’s fun addition to my ever growing polish collection. I do think it will work best with nail art or as an accent nail, versus doing an entire manicure with it. Also included was a 2 for 1 coupon for Julep polish.
A-List Eyeliner Duo: (Retail $40.00/Maven Price: $32.00)
Verdict: Love!
Description: A creamy jet-black eyeliner packed with encapsulated pigments that deliver intense lines with a silky-smooth, smudge-proof finish. A precision brush with angled synthetic bristles designed to deposit color close to the lash line.
Let’s start with the brush. It’s really nice quality and has a wonderful weight to it. I think it will work great with all kinds of gel and cake liners. Gel is my favorite style of liner so I was super excited to see this in our boxes. It goes on smoothly and dries quickly. It stood up very well to my smudging tests. My only wish is that they had this available in brown, grey or dark green since I rarely wear black liner.
Julep Eye Sheen in Dusty Taupe:(Retail $18.00/Maven Price: $14.40)
Verdict: Hit!
Description: This gorgeous liquid eyeshadow glides on easily and sets to a satin finish that stays put all day. The buildable, blendable formula is enriched with our proprietary Power Cell ComplexTM
The eye sheen was the beauty product featured in all of the February Maven boxes. Julep allowed us to customize our boxes and choose whichever shade we liked regardless of the box category we chose. Because I was afraid some shades might be too warm for my skin tone I went with the Dusty Taupe since that seemed pinkish. These sheens are quite liquid, but they go on nicely, dry quickly and did extremely well with the smudge test. The finish is quite shimmery.
Here are swatches of the eyeliner and eye sheen on my extremely pale skin.
Overall
The retail value of my items was $72.00 and the Maven value was $57.60. Since I had some jules from referrals (thanks!) and my birthday I was able to get this box for free. Despite the small size of the eye liner and sheen, I thought this box had a great value. The polish was a wonderful freebie, the brush was high quality and I know I’ll enjoy trying out the eye products.
What do you think of Julep’s new makeup options? Worth a shot or forgettable?
CHANGES AT JULEP
So Julep has had a lot of change brewing lately, much of it quite contentious.
Maven Policy Change
The first is a policy change for new Mavens that apply to those who joined after December 18th. (Existing mavens are “grandmothered” in and the previous rules still apply to them).
New Mavens after the cut-off date (12/18/13) will only be allowed to skip once every six months and they will have to subscribe for six months to *earn* a skip.
To make it more appealing to take a box every month Julep has added some new box options and are starting to allow more customization for makeup selections.
Personally I was not impressed with this policy change, particularly how the announcement was handled. It was mentioned on their blog *after* the cut-off date and that’s pretty much the only “official” place I could found it. Julep asks us to refer friends and has a huge referral program yet they made a drastic rule change without a formal email or announcement to mavens.
While I think it’s perfectly fine for Julep to decide to limit skipping, I’d like to see a simpler approach. Just let mavens skip twice a year whenever they want. It’s still a skip every six months but this way Mavens can opt out when they hate a collection or funds are low that month.
New Bottle Design
So Julep has decided that the reason we suck at painting our nails is because we really need a longer handle on our polish. So they’ve designed a “plié wand” that’s currently available for pre-order. Julep has pretty much decided to bet the farm that this will be revolutionary and we will all embrace it wholeheartedly because they have completely changed their bottle design to accommodate it. Say goodbye to the sleek square caps and the adorable swatch me stickers. Say hello to magnetic round lids (on square bottles??) with a hole in the top to click this oh so revolutionary plié wand into. Swatch stickers will no longer be available.
As you can imagine there are many angry mavens out there since not everyone wants to use this wand and many people prefer the current bottle design. Personally it seems like quite a gamble to redesign your entire line around a product that you aren’t sure is going to be successful.
Frankly I love the current design of the Julep bottle and I adore the swatch me stickers. I have limited storage space and Julep’s current design works perfectly for me. I am quite sad it’s changing and I really don’t understand why they couldn’t design this “revolutionary” wand to fit with the existing bottle design.
THE BACKSTORY
If you love Julep’s products, you can try out a box for free just use the code FREEBOX
Just remember this signs you up for a monthly subscription. If you don’t wish to receive boxes you will need to call Julep to cancel .
Julep specializes in toxin-free nail color but also features beauty products. They are a small company based in Seattle and have been featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things List.
They have a monthly maven box that costs $19.99. You simply take their beauty quiz and it will match you up with a specific style.
The options:
Modern Beauty – (For those who prefer beauty items over nail color) – “You’re a savvy tastemaker obsessed with the art and science of beauty.” Get two full-size beauty products in every box.
Boho Glam – “You’re a dynamic free spirit with a creative eye.” Get two limited-edition nail colors and one full-size beauty product in every box.
Bombshell – “You’re a confident frill-seeker with magnetic appeal.” Get two limited-edition nail colors and one full-size beauty product in every box.
Classic With a Twist – “You’re an iconic beauty with a timeless aesthetic.” Get two limited-edition nail colors and one full-size beauty product in every box.
It Girl – (For those who want polish only) “You’re a colorful trendsetter who’s not afraid to be bold.” Get three limited-edition nail colors in every box.
The real beauty of a maven box is that you to choose what you want. You can change profiles each month and choose whichever box tickles your fancy. Julep will email you with the contents of your regular box selection, and at that time you can opt to keep it as is or change it. Every time you purchase a box you get the option of add-ons at a huge discount along with access to Julep’s “Secret Store” that lets you get other products at great prices. Another perk is that when you’re a maven you get 20% off anything you purchase from Julelp’s website along with free Shipping. Julep polishes retail at $14.00 each, so a Maven box of two to three brand new polishes for under $20.00 is a great steal.
Julep also has a rewards program that gives you “jules” for taking your monthly boxes, referring customers and on your birthday. You can use jules to pay for monthly boxes and some other items chosen by Julep.
Coupon: To try out a box for free, use the code FREEBOX
(you’ll just have to pay for shipping this time). Just remember this is a subscription service so your free box will sign you up to get a box every month.
Lisa Preziosi 
Great review, I like that box…I didn’t get one (again) this month LOL and WOW at the new skipping policy. Luckily I am grandfathered in because I have been skipping a lot lately! Kind of stinks for new members and not a good selling point ;/
It’s unfortunate because I believe Julep’s skipping policy was something that really set it apart from a lot of subscriptions.