Julep #4

I received my fourth Julep Maven box on Monday and have been enjoying and experimenting with new polish colors and the brand new Plie Wand. To be honest, I was a little on the fence with this month and I thought long & hard about canceling my subscription altogether. Not because I'm unhappy, just because I'm a girl on a budget who wants to keep getting my Stitch Fix. Plus, I didn't really see the draw to the wand and I am getting a little full on nail polish. But, the great thing about Julep is that they run specials and promotions ALL the time. So I was won over on a double points promotion that ensures my next box will be free. And you just can't argue with free. 

This month's box included 2 polishes and the Plie Wand. I added on a third polish that I was particularly smitten with. Paulette is a light mauve color with a gold shimmer. I was really surprised to love this color, which goes on smoothly and is opaque in 1 coat. I currently have it on my nails! Jeanne is a bright sky blue that is pretty close to the wall color in Isaac's room. I really love this color (it's on my toes right now!), but it was a pain to apply. It was opaque in 2 coats, however, the polish seems thicker and gloopy and difficult to get smooth. Thank goodness for Seche Vite topcoat. Iona is a hydrangea-esque purplish blue; in some light it looks more purple and in others more blue (but it's not a duochrome). This is opaque in 2 good coats. Iona was the polish I added, because I really loved the color and don't have anything similar in my bag already.

Jeanne, Iona, Paulette

Iona (on my pinky & birdy finger), Jeanne, Paulette

So I've been reading about this amazing wand since March and wasn't really all that jazzed about it at first. Basically, it allows you to hold your nail polish like you would a pen, which is supposed to give you much more control and less paint where it doesn't belong. Personally, I couldn't see how it would really improve the way I polish my left hand (I'm right dominant and with some patience, can do a pretty fantastic job painting my left hand), nor did I see how it would make a huge difference in the terribly haphazard painting of my right hand....

And when I finally got the wand in my hand... I was pretty disappointed. Which is hard to do when my expectations are already low. I did feel like it might have been a little easier to paint my nails, but not by much. The attachment brushes that were sent with the wand (it comes in 2 pieces that can come apart and be swapped out for other brushes or attachments) are SO cheap they are literally worthless. Because the wand can attach to the Julep polishes, I assume the attachment brushes that were included are for non-Julep polishes... but what do you do then with the brush already in your non-Julep polish? And then you've got to clean the attachment brush? Nail polish everywhere! Such a mess. No thank you.

Julep brush and unpainted fingers

Julep brush (it bends & twists to fit your hand better) and Paulette on the nails

As always, if you'd like to join Julep, you're welcome to use my referral link here. Use the code FREEBOX to get your first box for free!