Mail Time: April Julep Maven Box

This month's theme is "Turn on the Brights" which is ironic because it's been raining and dreary here in Northeast Florida for two days. I usually love this kind of weather, but lately it's just bleh to me. I'm really feeling Spring colors this season and the gray skies are a bummer! But at least I get to break out my zebra-striped umbrella, so it's not a complete hardship. Accessories make all the difference, right?

My style profile is Classic with a Twist, and I ended up sticking to it this time. I love the colors, but I'm most excited about the Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum! I'll have more information about the serum after we take a quick look at the box...

How gorgeous and fun are these colors?

The goodies inside

Information about Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum from the Julep site:

"Kapow! Peptides – super-charged amino acids that build keratin (for your nails) and collagen (for your cuticles) – are our Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum's secret weapon to transform dry and damaged cuticles almost overnight. Plus, get visibly stronger, smoother nails with fewer ridges and less splitting and brittleness in only 2-3 weeks.

To use: Apply to cuticle area twice daily for two weeks, then once a week for maintenance. This serum is so powerful, you only need one half-turn per hand. Can be used on bare or polished nails. Allow serum to dry completely before applying polish."

It sounds like just the thing I need for my sad cuticles! I'll test this bad boy out for a couple weeks and let you all know what I think. Until then, bright sunshine-y days to all of you out there! 

PS: Can someone pass me a towel? 

Mail Time: March Julep Maven Box!

Just a really quick post here because it's super late and I need to get some rest. I've been down with the flu and a majorly craptastic sore throat, but tonight I feel a little better and thought I'd give you all a little peek at what came in the mail this afternoon!

This month I chose the Bombshell box rather than the Classic with a Twist my style profile recommended. 

Ready to dig in! 

The new Rock Star hand creme, colors in Adrianna and Minnie, and the bonus lip balm in Strawberry-Mint

Just look at that pastel-y goodness!

I haven't had a chance to check out any of the products except the lip balm, of which I'm already a fan. More on that later!

And now, I'm off to bed. But don't worry, I'll be back soon. We have so much to catch up on!

Review: Revlon Colorstay Gel-Smooth Base Coat

I'm not great at nails. I mean, I try, but it gets frustrating when my polish chips off or peels off in sheets after a grand total of 2 days wear -- if I'm lucky! For a long time I didn't bother doing my nails at all because the wear time on me is ridiculous. I've pretty much always worked jobs that are hard on my hands, like serving, bartending, and for the past three years I've been co-owner of a very small house cleaning company. My poor hands take abuse at work, then I come home and do everything a mother of two needs to do to keep the home running. So as a result I haven't done much with my nails except curse them for sucking so much (thin, peeling PITAs that break easily) and curse myself for having craptastic manicure skills (filing sets my teeth on edge so I'm lazy about it and my cuticles are a hot mess). But the past 8 months or so I've really been trying. The first time I got 4 days wear out of a polish I almost threw a parade.

Oh little did I know! 

I read about this Colorstay Gel-Smooth Base Coat Longwear Nail Enamel being great, but I was skeptical. I mean, obviously these people don't know my nails or my life. I bought it anyway -- what can I say? Hope springs eternal and all that. They were right; this stuff is AWESOME.

It smooths ridges, protects nails from staining, and just look at this picture! This manicure is 8 days old! Whaaaaaat!?!?!?

Not too shabby for 8 days, right? There's some unavoidable tip wear, but it isn't too awful. The new growth and ugly broken nail (ouch, BTW) on my pointer finger are the worst of it, but I'm still really impressed.

Unrelated to the base coat, I wanted to mention that this is the first time I've ever had so many compliments on my polish, which was pretty cool! I used the Colorstay base coat, Julep Nail Color in Meryl, Color Club Professional Nail Lacquer in Snow-Flakes, and Orly Glosser (on clearance at Marshall's for $4.99) as a top coat. I wish the holo flaky showed up better here, but you get the idea from the bottle. I'm absolutely loving this Color Club polish -- and it was on clearance with a red polish for $3.99 at Sally's. Score!

I love this color combination, but I'm definitely ready to change it up now that I've done my due diligence with the base coat. If it wasn't for the growth and my boredom with wearing the same color too long, I could even stretch this manicure a couple more days.

Price: $4.99 at Walmart and Target, and around $7.99 at drugstores

Mail Time: February 2013 Beauty Boxes

Is there anything better than finding your mailbox stuffed full of  goodies? No, I think not. Today I received two subscription boxes and a Hautelook order. All fun stuff and not a bill or junk mail in sight? It must be my lucky day!

I'll have a review on the Hautelook order later, but for now I wanted to focus on the three beauty boxes I subscribe to and received this month: Ipsy (formerly MyGlam), Birchbox, and my very first Julep Maven box. I'm sure most of you know what these services are all about, but if not be sure to click on the links and check them out for detailed explanations and ordering info.

On to the boxes!

First up, Ipsy. And can I just add that I absolutely love the metallic hot pink mailer these come in? They instantly brighten up my day when I see them gleaming in my mailbox.

From left to right:

MICA Beauty Cosmetics gel liner 

Lash Card -- 4 individually wrapped mascara guards

Pixi Flawless and Poreless primer

pop beauty mascara in Smoky Black

Coastal Scents eyeshadow in Glitz &Glamour (Candlelight, Gunmetal, Incognito, and Ashen)

I haven't tested everything out, but the eyeshadows are pretty pigmented. They're the same quality as you would get with the 88 Palettes (and the like). I've used the Pixi primer once. I'll have a more thorough review on it later, once I've had a chance to really give it a spin.

I'm generally pretty satisfied with all of the Glam Bags I get from Ipsy. They've been pretty good about sending deluxe sized samples with products I actually get use out of, from brands I wouldn't normally try. In my opinion this service is worth the $10 per month. 

Birchbox:

Left to right:

SKIN & Co Roma Cleansing Body Gel with Olive and Sicilian Orange Extracts

Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips (Yep, really!)

Color Club mini in Wild Cactus

Ghirardelli Milk and Caramel Square

twistband hairband

First, I think it's interesting that both Ipsy and Birchbox went with the "Red Carpet Ready" theme, but considering all the award shows this month it's really not that hard to understand the reasoning.

So. The products themselves. I haven't had a chance to review the products thoroughly (except the chocolate, which was yummy, of course!), but my initial impressions is that this box is kind of underwhelming. I guess this month just felt kind of chintzy compared to past months; there are no "wow" products included and I'm not impressed with the tiny sample of lip balm. The Dr. Lipp's looks like an okay size for a balm sample, but tube is only filled from the bottom pink line down. I will say that I have it on my lips right now and it is very soothing to my dry lips. If you've ever breastfed before then you know the texture and scent breast balms have. This one is no different. Who'da thought about putting that on your lips? It makes a lot of sense. 

The shower gel has a very unisex scent and contains about two to three shower's worth of gel. You're mileage may vary, of course. The twistband headband works better for me and my super thick hair than the twistband ties. I think the item I'm most excited about is the Color Club polish. It's a color I somehow don't already own! As a bonus, the Pantone color of the 2013 is emerald green, so I suspect we'll be seeing as much of that color as we did tangerine last year. 

Okay, onto the the newbie of the bunch!

My very first Julep Maven box (Classic with a Twist):

Left to right:

Julep Nail Color in Meryl

Julep Nail Color in Barbara

Julep Facial for Hands Glycolic Hand Scrub

Julep Essential Cuticle Oil

Can't wait to give these a whirl!