June was the first month we were able to customize our Maven boxes with Julep, so I took the opportunity to swap out my beauty product for an older item I’ve been wanting to try for a while – Julep’s Essential Cuticle Oil. Today I have the results of a 7 day usage test to share with you, as well as some general info about cuticle oil and my thoughts on the product. Overall I’m pretty happy with the product but not so much the method of getting it from in the bottle to onto my cuticles…
Julep Essential Cuticle Oil
Price: $18 for 8.2mL ($14.40 Maven)
Availability: Julep.com (also available at Sephora and Nordstrom)
Details/Instructions: All-natural blend of essential oils and Vitamin E hydrates and strengthens nails and cuticles. Extends the life of your manicure while leaving a glossy sheen. Use daily to soften rough cuticles and strengthen nails. The convenient roller-ball application allows you to take your Julep Essential Cuticle Oil everywhere you go.
Ingredients: Jojoba Seed Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Castor Seed Oil, Rosewood Oil, Vitamin E, Lavender Oil, Ylang Ylang Oil.
Cuticle Oil 101
Cuticle oils on their own aren’t a hydrating product, but they do help to prevent the loss of any moisture that’s already there and they can penetrate the nail bed to help condition the nail. And from what I understand Vitamin E mainly acts as an emollient in skin care products, which means it “smooths skin by filling spaces between skin flakes with droplets of oil.”1 Again, not necessarily moisturizing. Cuticle oils tend to vary a bit when it comes to ingredients, and the ingredients Julep chose for their oil each provide their own benefits to your cuticles beyond holding in moisture. For example: jojoba seed oil can be used to help reduce inflammation, sweet almond oil can help protect your skin from UV rays, castor seed oil helps to soften skin and deal with growths like warts and corns, and rosewood oil can help to deal with infections.*
For more info about mosturizing and cuticle oil check out these articles:
C. W. Lynde, MD, FRCPC (2000) – Moisturizers: What They Are And How They Work (1)
Mont Bleu’s beauty blog (June 2014) – Nail Treatments
NAILS Magazine (Feb 2014) – Chemist’s Corner: Cuticle Oil
(*none of this should be taken as medical advice, please talk to your doctor if you are having skin issues)
The Test
The instructions told me to use this daily so that’s exactly what I did. At least once daily for a week (as well as each time after I had used acetone to clean up a manicure) I applied the oil to my nails and cuticles. This was the only nail care product I used in this time as the instructions don’t suggest using it in combination with anything else and I wanted to test the product on it’s own.
Here’s a look at what my nails and cuticles looked like the first day I used this product as well as how they looked 7 days later:
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| Before and after a week of using Julep’s Essential Cuticle Oil |
And from another angle…
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| My nails before using Julep’s Essential Cuticle Oil |
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| My nails after using Julep’s Essential Cuticle Oil for 7 days |
My Thoughts
I mean, those pictures speak for themselves. Note that in this time I literally did nothing else to my cuticles… no pushing, no clipping, no nothing. My cuticles are soft and conditioned and my nails feel a bit stronger (though that might just be in my mind). 100% satisified! I’m terrible at keeping up with basic care of my nails and cuticles but hopefully these pictures will help me not to slack again.
The scent of this product is quite strong but not unpleasant. In fact, Julep suggests using this product as an aromatherapy tool by cupping your hands near your face and taking a few deep breaths after applying it. I tried using it in this way a few times and it was very nice! Lavender is often used for sleep an calming, and ylang ylang can be used to relax the mind. I can smell a bit of the lavender (one of my coworkers even though this was perfume!) but mainly it smells like earl grey tea to me… Mmmmm.
Overall I’m fairly pleased with this product itself, though the roller-ball for application isn’t my favourite – I found it difficult to get enough oil around the sides of my nails. I prefer a nub like on my tube of Essie Smooth Trick Deep-Conditioning Cuticle Oil or a plain ol’ brush. That being said I recognize the roller ball is best for preventing leakage in your purse. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
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| Julep’s rollerball tip vs Essie’s soft tip |
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| Oil flow from one swipe with Julep’s Essential Cuticle Oil and Essie’s Smooth Trick Deep-Conditioning Cuticle Oil |
Would I buy it again?
The short answer is no. I don’t like the roller-ball and I would prefer something unscented. There are so many cuticle oils on the market that I’m sure I’ll be able to find something that fits me just right, so with that in mind I know I won’t be buying this again. That being said there’s nothing wrong with the product itself, and it worked exactly as expected/advertised. So if you’re interested in it give it a try!
Those are my thoughts – what are yours? Have you tried this product before? Thinking of giving it a try in the future? Want to add to/correct any of my “science talk” about oils and moisture? Let me know! 🙂
Thanks for visiting!! xx
