The name of this month’s collection was The Riviera Collection. I really wanted to love it. I love the name, I love the beachy vibe… But in the end I decided to pass on the polish shades for this month, and went with a special added box that Julep named the Core Classics Box. It had a bottle of their nail treatment and a bottle of their topcoat, both of which I’ve been wanting to try. So I gave it a shot! It also came with their new cleanup tool which I totally didn’t need but hey I’m not gonna say no to more nail tools. (Anyway, it’ll come in handy for something exciting I have in the works…!) Let’s take a look!
I loved the vibe of this month’s collection, but as I’ve said the colours just didn’t inspire me. The combination of the cool, beachy feel and the quote make me really upset I’m not going anywhere warm on vacation this month, though… Damnit, Julep! Hahah.
The free gift that came with the boxes this month was a stick candy flavoured like cotton candy. I’m not gonna lie, this was pretty much completely gone the moment I took these pictures. Om nom nom.
Since I didn’t get any of the regular boxes I can’t really speak to the quality of the cosmetic items, but I can still share the discount codes I got for them incase you want to give them a try anyway. The regular polish boxes came with a tube of lip gloss in some new shades, and I can say from the last time they included lip gloss as a cosmetic item that they’re pretty nice quality. If you want to pick one (or more) up, you can use the code GLOSS25 until March 31, 2014 to get 20% off. The Modern Beauty Box had the Luxury Lipcare Duo which includes the Buff Lip Scrub and the Luxe Lip Conditioning Treatment, and if you want to give those a try you can pick up the set for 35% off with code LIP35 (valid until March 31, 2014).
Now let’s get a closer look at these products!!
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| Julep Cleanup Tool beside a bottle of Julep Valerie |
Description: Teflon-coated pro tool designed to clean under nails and fix polish mistakes
Individual Price: Currently unavailable unless you got it in this box
Instructions: Use the rounded edge to clean under nails. Use the the straight edge to wipe stray lacquer off skin during polish application. Sanitize in the dishwasher, or by boiling in hot water for 2-5 minutes.
My Thoughts: I guess the main benefit to this is that I can clean up any nail-edge goop quickly without having to use my thumb nail, but I have lots of non-specific tools I could technically use for that same purpose. The same goes for cleaning under my nails. I photographed it beside a regular bottle of Julep polish for a size comparison, and as you can see it’s pretty small (smaller than I expected, anyway). I’m not super pumped about this item but it’ll probably come in handy when I do other people’s nails.
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| One coat of Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment |
Description: A perfecting pink tint and strengthening treatment that lets nails breathe
Individual Price: $18 US ($14.40 Maven)
Instructions: Apply to clean nails once or twice a week for high-gloss coverage and strong, healthy growth. For best results and to promote nail plate oxygenation, do not use with any other polish.
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| One coat of Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment |
My Thoughts: This went on really nicely and gave my nails a (very slight) pink tint and a bit of shine. Basically it made them look a bit healthier, which I really appreciate since I’ve been skimping on using a base coat and so my nails are a bit stained. It claims to make nails “stronger, thicker and smoother” so maybe I’ll have to do a comparison with OPI’s Nail Envy in the future. My one complaint would be that it took a bit long to dry, and while it was drying it was sticky and seemed to attract dust and hair in ridiculous amounts. Thankfully I cleared them up before taking these pictures, but it was a bit annoying just so you know. Julep calls this “makeup for your nails” and I think that’s a cute idea (if we ignore the fact that any nail polish is technically ‘nail makeup’). Julep suggests using this for your midweek mani to give your nails a rest before the weekend, and I think that’s a nice idea. I’ll let you know how it goes! 🙂
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| Two coats of Julep Valerie with a coat of Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat on the ring and pinky fingers |
Description: A high-gloss top coat that dries smudge-free in five minutes
Individual Price: $18 US ($14.40 Maven)
Instructions: Apply a single coat over dry polish; cures in five minutes in natural light. For longer-lasting results, cure under a 60-watt bulb for two minutes. To remove, use regular polish remover.
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| Two coats of Julep Valerie with a coat of Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat on the ring and pinky fingers |
My Thoughts: This went on easily, and as you can see it in the comparison pics it did give the polish a nice gloss. Julep polishes already have a pretty decent gloss on them so I’ll be curious to see how this works with non-Julep shades. Maybe the difference will be more noticeable. The box claims that this product works like a gel but goes on like a polish, but since I have no experience with gel products I can’t really comment on that. Overall I’m content with this product since it never hurts to have extra topcoats laying around. I would have to do a wear test to see if it lasts to a point where it’s worth the price… But I can tell you from wearing it for a day it’s doing pretty good so far. 🙂
And that’s my box for this month! More practical than exciting, but I think we all need that once in a while. Anyway, I may have picked up something else from the Secret Store this month that can suffice for our Julep swatches for the month… Ouuu… What could it be?? (Do I sound mysterious? That’s what I’m going for. Haha.)
As always this monthly box program is $19.99, though this time I’m sorry to say this particular box is unavailable for post-Maven purchase. It was a one-off, though maybe they’ll offer it again in the future. 🙂 Julep ships to
Canada and the US and as a Maven you get free shipping.. If you’re
interested in signing up for the Julep Maven program you’re welcome to
use my referral link, and remember to use the code FREEBOX at the checkout to get your first month free!
Do you have any of these products? Love them? Hate them? Let me know what you think!!
Thanks for visiting! xx
