Julep Maven Review & Coupon – September 2013 Box

I am in love with this bare face oil!
I am a huge sugar scrub fan, especially homemade scrubs. Unfortunately, a lot of recipes call for cooking oil, or oil that is impossible to find in my area (I literally live in the middle of no where…there isn’t a major city for at least 50 Miles, and that one barely rates as major) and I am super picky when it comes scrubs for my face. But this oil is PERFECT! I used it for a week by itself (to make sure it wouldn’t cause any irritation) then substituted it for coconut oil in my favorite homemade scrub recipe. Best. Decision. EVER! It works wonderfully, and, as an added bonus, I use less of it than I would using just the oil, which stretches the deal I already got receiving this and the primer for $20.
Once I did this, I realized the beach tonic body oil they had this summer would work too. So I made a body scrub with it.

Here is the recipe if anyone is interested in giving it a try (& I highly recommend that you do):
Use almost equal parts of sugar and salt (I just used imperial sugar and regular table salt, but sea salt can work too). I put more sugar than salt in my mix, but I don’t think that really matters. Then add ground oats to the salt and sugar (just put some old fashion oats in a blender). The amount of oats depends on the amount of sugar and salt you use. It’s not an exact science, but you want about 1/4 of the mix to be oats and the other 3/4 to be salt/sugar combo. Then add your oil. This may vary greatly, depending on how much you are wanting to make and the consistency you want. I filled a pint container 3/4 full of my mix and added about 1/3 of the oil to it.

The beach tonic has a strong smell, but it wears off the skin quickly, but you can use lemon juice to cut the smell if you want.

I have yet to get my box and I ordered a few things at the end of the month, that I haven’t received yet either. I’m going a bit stir crazy! The colors look great and I am looking forward to giving myself a manicure. In the meantime, I’ll shop the secret store and get excited about those deals. 🙂

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I got my box today, it got here super fast! I chose the Modern Beauty box and added on Reece. The bonus item was a single remover pad. Once again their swatch pictures do not do this color justice, it is simply stunning! It’s a darker metallic purple with real fine microshimmer/glitter of various colors, I think I see some green, silver, yellow and blue specks. I also received Kai from a separate order I placed (which took forever to get here, I ordered it more than a week ago). For a lighter color it seems real easy to work with.

Does anyone else have problems with the Julep formulas, especially the creams? I carefully applied Char to my nails this past week….it is a dark indigo so you had to be super careful. It seemed thick and I wasn’t that happy with how it came out….the next morning after my shower, I looked down and half my thumb nail polish was gone! I was so annoyed!! Now I have a Julep red polish on my toes and it is fine and has lasted. I find most polishes hit or miss with cream formulas.

My tracking email came yesterday, although since I’m in Canada probably won’t get my box for another week. Your review has me excited for my Boho Glam box…Tatiana looks so pretty!

Well, I was torn about this one because it was the first month that I wanted the beauty products…. in the end, I skipped another month because my son decided to get into a fight with his bicycle and the bicycle won!!! Seriously, while on the campus at college last week, enroute to a training session for volunteers who were assisting the freshman class on move-in the next day, he swerved his bike to avoid hitting a student who stepped out in front of him, the bike hit a rock, the chain came loss and wrapped around his leg which ended up ripping through his Achilles tendon. So a week later, missing the first week of college activities and finally surgery today….. not to forget mentioning the hefty price tag of the deductable and what’s not covered by insurance… needless to say that polish won’t be the only thing that I’ll be skipping for a VERY long time!!!

I just got the confirmation email that my box is being shipped. I couldn’t decide and switched from Boho to Classic to Modern because I really want to try the primer. I also added Candace and I think the navy one. I personally don’t like the packaging because I don’t think you need to have additional packaging. (Unless this new packaging is better for the environment then then plastic they used.)

I kept debating on upgrading or not, but I decided not to. $50 was a little more than I was willing to spend, but I got the boho glam box with Daria, Josephine & Padma. I kind of wish I would have upgraded because I like Candace and Florence as well and then I could have added on the sponge and top-coat. Oh well, maybe some people will be willing to swap!

I did the beauty items + Reece this time. Since I’m a new subscriber I am still having fun with my welcome box polishes, mystery box polishes, and a couple of the Revlon polishes that I received in the mystery total Beauty box. I love the polishes but there is no way I can use THAT many 🙂

I am very thankful that there are people who provide reviews for beauty products!!! At the same time I find myself a wee bit envious that you are able to subscribe to so many sites! I wish I could find a way to afford all these subscriptions every month! Are there any secrets you can share with us so we can get all these goodies every month?!?

I upgraded as well, I kept changing my mind from Modern Beauty and getting the sponge, Kristy and Katrina as add ons to upgrading to the full collection. I’m excited and can’t wait to get my box! Still waiting on shipping info but I figure it’ll get here when it gets here!

This month I went with the Bombshell collection because I HAD to get Darla, plus Karmen looks cute too. (But now that I look at your goodies, I sort of regret not upgrading it. Candace, Josephine, Tatiana and Kristy look really nice too!)

This box is such a good deal. The maven price on the cleansing oil alone is more than the price of the box.

I picked the konjac sponge as the add-on. I’ve heard good things about kongjac sponges, so I’ve been wanting to try one anyway. Plus it should pair well with the oil. The add-on deal made it cheaper than the cheapest one I could find on Amazon, so another good deal there.

My box just shipped today, so it could be Monday before it gets here. Can’t wait!

so fast! what was the “bonus” item this month? I see a little packet hiding in the first photo but I wondered. thanks!

Wow, you got yours so quickly! I haven’t received a shipping notice yet, but maybe it will magically appear? This was my first month upgrading and now seeing the colors in person makes me SO excited! They are even prettier than I originally thought!

The Daria color looks a lot like the Julianne color that they had awhile ago. I think it was back in February? It is a very pretty color though!

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