Julep - March 2014

THE RIVIERA COLLECTION

BOHO GLAM SET

(plus add-ons)

Hellooooooo there! Hope everyone's weekend went awesomely, and who is looking forward to the WEEK?! ::crickets:: Well, you know, another weekend will be here soon, haha. I'd like to give a warm welcome to all my new followers! Thanks so, so much for joining me, I hope you enjoy following along with The Charming Cheshire blog!

Julep has certainly taken a huge turn this month towards some bright, vivid Spring/Summer shades! Have you seen April's Maven colors yet? SO BRIGHT! I'm superdupes excited, though, I'm ready to rock some stunning, eye-catching hues. What about you? What bright colors are you ready to show off on those fingertips?

For this month, I decided not to upgrade, but rather stick to my typical profile, Boho Glam, but I STILL couldn't tear myself away from adding on some of their featured polishes. Here are all the colors and products they featured for March's profiles:

 (click for larger image)

*Lip glosses were customizable

Boho Glam

•  Elisa - soft wisteria shimmer
• Harriet - guava coral creme
• *Lip Gloss in Enchanted - sheer watermelon

Bombshell

• Lilou - lemon chiffon creme
• Monaco - dazzling mariner blue creme
• *Lip Gloss in Awestruck - sheer golden blush shimmer

Classic With a Twist

• Myriam - casino red creme
• Soraphine - classic sheer white creme 
• *Lip Gloss in Graceful - sheer pale pink

It Girl

•  Lizanne - sea green shimmer
• Margaret - light periwinkle creme
• Princess Grace - rich papaya creme

Modern Beauty

• Luxe Lip Conditioning Treatment
• Buff Lip Scrub Pen

Featured Add-On Polishes

• Rae - Pantone 2014 Color of the Year, radiant orchid creme
• Tania - multidimensional mermaid teal glitter

and now on to the review of my selections!......

BOHO GLAM - ELISA & HARRIET

Elisa (left) - soft wisteria shimmer

Harriet (right) - guava coral creme

How PRETTY are those colors? I think they're just gorgeous! What's funny, although I absolutely love lilac/lavenders and corals, I don't have a single dupe for either one of these shades! Yay! 

Excuse my poor short middle finger nail. It just ALWAYS loves to break, I swear! Both shades have two coats each, no top coat, and as you can see the colors are vivid, bright and nicely opaque! They applied evenly and smoothly, with no running, pooling or streaking and they both dried relatively quickly, taking about 15 minutes between coats, then 15-20 after the second coat.

The shimmer in Elisa is very subtle, it almost looks more like a cream. You have to look pretty close to see it, but I think it's stunning, regardless. They both have a very glossy finish, but of course, I always recommend top coat to seal. 

I have not worn Elisa for a long period of time yet, but I did wear Harriet last week and it lasted up to five days before I had any major wear and tear with little to no chipping!

LIP GLOSS

in Enchanted

Enchanted - sheer watermelon

Leave it to me to pick the most colorful of the glosses, haha! Although, I'm really happy they made these customizable so you could choose exactly what color you wanted, however, I was pleased with the option selected for Boho Glam already!

The packaging is fairly standard, a rectangular tube with a doe foot applicator wand on a twist off cap. What you see above is amount that comes off when you pull it out to apply.
    

I'm not a huuuuge fan of lip glosses, but if I wear one, it's usually a coral shade. This color is definitely more of a...well...watermelon. It has an absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS berry scent, too, that just makes me want to eat it up!....Don't worry, I won't, I promise. Besides.....it doesn't taste like berries, anyhow.....shhhhh, hush, don't ask how I know that. Just go with it. As you can see it's nicely pigmented for a gloss, it's buildable enough for a pop of color, but still blendable so you can tone it down to just a tint.

I love this gloss on! It's not too overly glossy and there is no shimmer at all. It doesn't feel heavy or sticky on the lips, even with fairly thick application and the color does last a decent amount of time. After fairly thick application, I had strong color and a glossy finish for almost two hours, then it faded to a light coloring for about another two hours (with eating and drinking). Normally, glosses never last that long on me, so I was happy!

ADD-ON NAIL COLOR

in Monaco

Monaco - Pantone Color of Spring 2014 dazzling mariner blue creme


Ohhhhhhhhhh my goodness. Seriously, I, I, I......I just. Well, LOOK AT IT! How gorgeous is that blue? I die. It's absolutely my new favorite blue polish, no doubt!

I just had too add it on from the Bombshell set, I nearly picked Bombshell instead of Boho Glam this month just because of this color, but the second shade was a yellow and I've seen sooooo many yellows from Julep the past few seasons. 

It glides on like silk during application, no pooling or running. Shown above is two coats without topcoat and as you can see, it's perfectly opaque. It was really nearly a one-coater! There were absolutely no problems with streaking and although the drying time took a bit longer than average, I totally did not mind with that much gorgeousness. As you can see it, too, has a lovely glossy finish. I wore it for four days not too long ago, and I only had very minimal chipping on one nail. Love it!

FEATURED ADD-ONS:

NAIL COLOR

in Rae

Rae - 2014 Pantone Color of the Year radiant orchid creme


Seriously, the knocked it out of the park with their Pantone featured colors. This orchid creme is amaaaaazing. The formula is very similar to Monaco, super smooth and silky upon application, glides on with little to no streaks on the first coat, perfectly opaque upon two (no topcoat above). Rae dried just a teensy bit faster than Monaco, closer to the time I had on Elisa and Harriet. I only had a chance to wear this for two days a few weeks ago, but I had absolutely no chips or wear within that time (with topcoat). My only comment on this shade, is that, to me, it really looks nothing like the color they had featured on their website in swatches. Here is the photo from their blog:

Quite different, isn't it? Now, don't get me wrong, this is NOT a complaint, I actually prefer what I received compared to the swatches now that I've seen what it really looks like in person. Their swatches look like they have much more rosy tones, but it really has more of a purple hue to me. 

NAIL COLOR

in Tania

Tania - multidimensional mermaid teal glitter


Once again, another color that looks different in Julep's swatches, but I love more in person! This polish is very different to anything I have, and I have a strange love and...hmmm...I don't HATE it, but I don't, hmmm....I dunno....it's just....odd. 

    

The base of the polish is a beautiful sea-foam green shimmer, but not very densely packed. There are both small and large hex glitters dispersed throughout that match the base. Shown above is two coats (no topcoat) and I'd say I'd prefer three coats if you were to wear it by itself. It's a bit streaky in the base (you can see it best on the tips of my middle and ring nail). HOWEVER, just because it's a three-coater doesn't mean you can apply one coat easily over a solid color polish. The base is packed with enough shimmer to wear it doesn't drag well to spread. I tried several times to get that fading glitter effect (thick on top or at top of cuticle and dragged up or down till faded out) and it always looked too thick or had too much opalescent shimmer that wouldn't fade out. This polish worked best for me as a single polish by itself with three coats, as a french tip, or applied in a solid design (for example using striping tape to block off). The COLOR is absolutely gorgeous, though, which makes me love it regardless!

I wore this shade for a few days, and I did have a teensy bit of chipping (with topcoat), but my glitters normally chip faster than cremes, shimmers, etc. All in all, I'd still say it held up well, I use my hands a lot for work.

WORTH AND PURCHASE:

1) Nail Polish (8 ml) - $14 ($11.20 for Mavens) x 5 polishes = $70 ($56 for Mavens)

2) Lip Gloss in Enchanted (0.25 fl oz) - $20 ($16 for Mavens)

Total Paid for Box: $29.97*

Total Worth of Box:  $90 ($72 for Mavens)

Super happy with my worth this month! I really liked what I received for the amount of what I paid, I actually feel like I paid for the polishes and received a free lip gloss! *My Maven Boho Glam profile, including Elisa, Harriet and the lip gloss, cost $19.99. Each add-on (three polishes) cost $4.99 each but I used my Julep Jules points to take the price off of a single polish, so I only paid $4.99 each for two polishes. ($19.99 + $4.99 + $4.99 = $29.97). 

FINALE

Even though I didn't choose to upgrade this month, I think the featured add-on polishes totally made this month's box a fabulous one! I'm definitely not disappointed with any one of them, and really am obsessed with Rae and Monaco (Pantone shades!). Julep cremes usually blow me away, and I'm so glad they put in some awesome effort with those Pantone features. I'll be wearing them often and will probably just stare and stare at my nails. Come to think of it, it could be dangerous. ::giggles::

Become a Julep Maven today! Join Julep Maven's program and receive first access to new polish shades and beauty innovations in Julep Maven monthly boxes. Take their style quiz to find out if you're a Classic With a Twist, Boho Glam, Bombshell, Modern Beauty or It Girl and receive products that match your personality! Want it all or want to customize? You can change your profile style at any time, try out something new or add on products to your monthly box (for additional price). Monthly base price is $19.99 for over $40 worth of products. Enjoy free shipping and 20% off at Julep's website once you're a Maven! 

Interested in signing up? Click HERE to use my referral code and become a Maven! Use the code FREEMAVEN to receive your first month's box free with free shipping! (Expires 4/12/14).

Happy Polishing! Much love,

    

       

Beauty Spotlight - Ft. Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

URBAN DECAY
NAKED3
EYESHADOW PALETTE

      

"Experiment with 12 NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN (and insanely beautiful) rose-hued neutrals—from pale, shimmery pink to deep black matte with rosy red micro-glitter." - urbandecay.com

My post is here! My post is here! ::dancedance, dancedance:: FINALLY! Am I right? Hahaha. Ya'll have been waiting so patiently, thank you! What's funny, is it's not like I haven't been USING this palette, in fact, it has become my go-to palette when I don't have any eyeshadows I need to review or any colors in mind that I want to wear. I just grab this Naked3! Every girl has her base palette that she wears often....this has definitely become mine. 

I love my Naked and Naked 2 palettes, so when I heard they were going to make a third and it would feature rose-tones, I was so very beside myself with absolute joy (and I'll admit, so much obsession). I LOVE rose-gold shadows and tones and especially since I have very fair pink undertones myself, I knew I'd just fall in love with this palette even before I saw it.

As you can see from picture above, the palette has a very similar packaging to their Naked 2, which some people love and some people hate. I've heard so many complain that it should have been made more similarly to the Naked, with that velvet-like finish on the outside and magnetic closing. The Naked 2 and Naked 3 both have a tin-style case, with clasps on the outside edges, however the main difference between the two (aside from color) is that the Naked 3 palette has wrinkle indentations on the front, reminding me somewhat of draped silk. It seems fairly durable, although, I will admit, I do lean a bit towards loving the Naked packaging a teeeeensy bit more. There's just something luxurious about that velvet look!

Hooooooold your breath....here comes the pretty....

      

Ok....you can stop holding your breath now, you have to breathe at some point. However, you DON'T have to stop swooning....I still haven't. 

Couldn't you just DIE, it's so fabulous.

   

      

There are twelve shades total - two matte, one matte-satin, three satins, five shimmers and one matte with heavy sparkle. Each shadow is 1.3 grams, which is very close to the size of a single eyeshadow Urban Decay carries (1.5 grams). The top of the palette has a full-length mirror, which I think is awesome, it's very easy to use and see a good portion of your face if you don't have a larger mirror handy. It also comes with a dual-sized brush that matches the tone and color of the packaging (rose gold) and says Urban Decay Naked 3 on it. One side of the brush is similar to their Good Karma Shadow Brush, made for multi-purpose shadow use, such as shading, sweeping or patting on. The other side is similar to their Good Karma Blending Brush, which is, of course, for blending shadow.

APPLICATION & SWATCHES:

We'll start with the left side of the palette (lightest shades) and work our way across...

   

Light shades

   

Strange: pale neutral-pink matte-satin

Dust: pale metallic pink shimmer with iridescent micro-glitter

Burnout: light pinky-peach satin

Limit: light dusty-rose matte

(shades listing from urbandecay.com)

To note, each swatch is 2-3 dry swipes each. This section of the palette are probably my most used, aside from one shade. 

I love using Strange as a highlighter in the inner corners of my eyes, or on the brow bone below my brows. I've also used it patted over a white eyeliner on my waterline so the white wasn't quite as harsh, and it looked much more natural and even stayed a bit longer compared to just using the pencil alone. It's a teeeeensy bit powdery but still very workable and smooth, and the pigmentation is great for such a light shade. 

Dust is probably my least favorite out of the entire palette. It's has SO much fall-out and even though it LOOKS decently pigmented here, it really isn't. It barely provides any color, just a "dust"ing (if you will, haha) of pale pink slightly iridescent glitter. It's gorgeous OVER another shade, but still very tricky to work with, as I said before, it can get everywhere. The best way I found to apply this with less mess is either to dampen a brush first so it will adhere better or use your fingertips, barely pick up the product and press in place. Either way, you will still have fallout of some sort, unfortunately.

Burnout I do absolutely love, though. I love the slight peachy tone, I think it's gorgeous. The color is rich, has great pigmentation and looks beautiful blended with any color on here for a slightly warmer effect. 

Oh Limit, Limit, Limit, where have you been all my life! Limit is definitely my MOST USED out of this entire palette. It's a STUNNING matte. It has some light cool undertones, but can easily be warmed up by adding, say, Burnout to it or another warm pink. It's very pigmented for a matte, gives excellent color payoff and is super soft and easy to blend. This is so gorgeous as a all-over color, blended into the crease, blended with other shades....oh everything. I worship it, it's gorgeous. 

Medium Shades

Buzz: metallic rose shimmer with silver micro-glitter 

Trick: light metallic pinky-copper shimmer with tonal micro-sparkle

Nooner: medium pinky-brown matte

Liar: medium metallic mauve shimmer

This section is also a well-used area for me. It contains some of the more vibrant shades, but not necessarily very pigmented.

Buzz is probably the best out of the more vivid looking colors in the entire palette. It's very warm and rich when applied, easily buildable and and is very smooth in texture. It can be very metallic looking when built up, but blended in with one of the matte shades tones it down a bit. SO PRETTY!

I will have to say, I'm a bit disappointed in Trick. It LOOKS so pigmented and gorgeous when swatched, but it just doesn't come out that coppery on the lid. In fact, when used with Buzz, there's not a HUGE difference between the two, except a slight gold shift from the pink, but it's not very noticeable except when looking closely. I'm not saying it's not pretty and great to use, it's actually very smooth, buttery and easy to blend, I just wish it came out as vivid as it does here!

I really adore the two mattes in this palette and I love that they can be used together for a full matte-eye look or used with other lighter or darker satin/shimmer shades. Nooner is just as fabulous as Limit, highly pigmented, super soft and blendable. It also has a very subtle rosy warmth to it, that I think it beautiful. It can be a teensy bit powdery, but nothing too noticeable, as it's still very blendable and smooth.

Liar is one of those rich neutral, nicely pigmented shades that every girl should own. It's got a lot of metallic finish to it, without being a full-on metallic but it's still easy blendable and looks stunning used with other shades in this palette. It has warm tones underneath and slightly cool tones on top with the light catches it. It's one of the most pigmented shadows of the lot, and has a super creamy soft texture.

Dark Shades

  

Factory: pinky-brown satin

Mugshot: metallic taupe shimmer with slight pink shift

Darkside: deep taupe-mauve satin

Blackheart: smokey black matte with rosy red micro-sparkle

This section is probably my least used section, although I really do love the shades, but they're the least pink/rosy out of the twelve, with a lot more brown in tone, however, I do love these for an evening out or blended over my eyeliner to soften it.

Factory is listed as a pinky-brown satin, but I found it to be more of a medium brown with a warm auburn undertone. It's very soft, very blendable and nicely pigmented. It gives off a rich, warm tone that's gorgeous all over the eyes or blended with other shades. It's not quite as pigmented as, say, Liar, but it still gives full coverage, just not as deep in shade. It has more of a smooth, pearly finish that a straight-on satin.

Mugshot is a gorgeous warm taupe with a beautiful soft pink shift that is SO easy to work with and blend out. Out of these four, it's probably my favorite. It's not too super dark that you can't wear it in the daytime, but it's easily transformable for a nighttime look as well. It's nicely pigmented without being too heavy or rich looking, and it gives full coverage with a beautiful soft shimmer finish.

Darkside is another gorgeous deep tone, and in my opinion, really stands out in this palette. It's one of the more cooler-toned shades out of the twelve, but still with a gorgeous mauve, almost lilac shift. It's very pigmented, super smooth and buttery in texture and blends so easily. You can warm it up a bit using a rosy tone shade with it or keep it cooler by using it on it's own or with Nooner. 

Blackheart....I really want to love it, and it's not bad, but it's quite one of my favorites. The matte is a little powdery, and not as pigmented as I would like, although I love the pretty deep darkened red tone shift in it. The rosy red micro-sparkle is pretty, but not very packed in it, so barely any shows up when blended on. What you're seeing in my swatch is probably the most sparkle you'd see, and even when applied on the lid, it's not going to be quite as sparkly as that. Not that I want HUGE sparkle, but it's really not very noticeable. It's still fairly soft, the sparkle doesn't make it feel rough or harsh when touched with fingertips or blended onto the lid. My favorite way to use this shade is blended over my eyeliner for a softer line.

LONGEVITY AND WEAR:

I always love the longevity and wear of most Urban Decay shades, they're usually quite pigmented, very smooth and soft and used along with their Primer Potion and Setting Spray, I can get at least 9+ hours of full color! The only shades in this palette that tend to fade or fall-out would be Dust (major fall-out), Blackheart (some fading and slight sparkle fall-out) and Trick (a little fading).

PURCHASE:

This palette has been out for a while now as IS a part of their permanent line. It's available at Urban Decay's website, as well as Ulta and Sephora. It retails for $52 (plus applicable tax, shipping, etc.). It does also come with a Primer Potion sampler that contains samples of Original, Eden, Sin and Anti-Aging eyeshadow primers. Here are the links for purchase:

Urban Decay's Website - Naked3 Palette

Sephora's Website - Naked3 Palette

Ulta's Website - Naked3 Palette

    

FINALE:

Well, there's no denying it, I'm absolutely smitten with my Naked3 palette. As I said, it's absolutely my favorite of the three, and is my most-used neutral palette. I think it can be so flattering on so many different skin tones and if you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend finding a Ulta or Sephora to try and swatch it out for yourself.

I had originally done three looks using the Naked3, and if you've been following me for a while, you'll know that I put off writing this post for quite some time since between then and now as I bought a new and better iPhone (which I use to take my photos)! My original photos weren't quite as clear and high quality as I would have liked, so I put off writing the post so I could retake the photos! So heeeeeere are some of the looks I came up with using the palette!....

Look #1 - No-Makeup Neutral Day Look

 

   

Are you freaking out? Haha! This is probably the most neutral-looking makeup you've ever seen me wear! I had never written a No-Makeup Makeup Look, so I decided using the Naked3 would be the best time to do it!

   

   

I am actually wearing BB Cream, concealer, powder, etc., and I went with very soft contouring, as well as a super soft, nude-pink blush just to give my face some dimension. For the eyes I'm wearing Limit all over my lid, and Nooner lightly blended into my crease and outside corners of my eyes. I also used Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Mushroom veeeery lightly lined above my lashes and slightly winged out. I used two coats of mascara to finish the eyes. I'm also wearing an Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Naked. 

 Look #2 - Party Princess

 Haha, surprise! Are you confused? Thinking...Hmmmm...I could have sworn, I've seen this look already. You'd be right! This was the look featured in my February Glossybox review! I was reviewing this black eyeliner, but I neglected to mention exactly WHAT eyeshadows I used. ::winkwink::

   

For these eyes I used Burnout all over the lid, as well as Buzz and Trick lightly blended into the crease. I also used Strange on the inner corners of my eyes, and under the brow bone as a highlight. I lightly patted some of Dust on the center of my eyelid to give it some sparkle as well as lightly towards the inner corners of my eyes (doesn't pick up too well in photos). I finished the look with a heavy black cat-eye, as well as lined on my waterline (you can achieve the same look using Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion) and three coats of intense black mascara.

Look #3 - Romantic Night Out

   

Why hello there....::flutter eyelashes::. Haha, so this is my final look, and obviously using the darker shades in the palette. I tried to do a look featuring each section that I swatched. This look is definitely more glam, and suitable for nighttime but still can be easily adjusted for a more simple, daytime look.

   

For the eyes I patted Nooner all over my eyelid, then blended Darkside over it. I used a bit of Factory in my crease, as well as the outer 1/3 of my eyelid, then blended Blackheart over it, as well as blending it lightly underneath my bottom lashes on the outer 2/3 of my eyes. I used Urban Decay's Naked 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil (Blackheart side) as my eyeliner on both my top lashes and outer 1/3 on the bottom, and lightly blended the Blackheart shadow right over it for a stronger pigmented and softer, more romantic finish.

Just to note, I'm also wearing their Revolution Lipstick in the shade Catfight, which I am OBSESSED over. I'll be doing a Bag Full of Beauty review soon that includes the Double-Ended eyeliner and Lipstick, so keep your eye out for it ::winkwink::

     

Well that is it for my review on Urban Decay's Naked3 Palette, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for being patient and waiting. Just so you know, I have another Urban Decay palette (oooooo, I wonder what it could be?!) that I'm going to be reviewing soon. ARE YOU CURIOUS?! YOU SHOULD BE! Any guesses?

Happy Makeuping!

    

The Charming Cheshire's One Year Blogiversary Giveaway!

THE CHARMING CHESHIRE IS 

TURNING ONE!

It's the Charming Cheshire's One Year Blogiversary! And of course, I want to share the love that you've given me the past 12 months with a fabulous giveaway including my FAVORITE brands and products that I absolutely adore.

Included in this giveaway is:

• Coastal Scents 120 Palette Two - my favorite 120 palette from their line!
• Real Techniques Eyes Starter Set - my favorite eyeshadow brushes!
• Smashbox Try It Sample Kit - includes my favorite face primer and more!
• The Aloe Source Instant Radiance Sample Set - my favorite brand of skincare and all-time favorite facial cleanser! (link is to my review)
• NYX Cosmetics Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk - my favorite eye primer!
• My three favorite Glamour Doll Eyes eyeshadows - Tattooed, Super Nova and Chocoholic as well as two bonus shadow - Mistletoe Makeout and Lustrous
• Julep Nail Color in Evelyn
• Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Nail Polish in Suspiria
• Zoya Nail Polish in Odette (featured in my February Ipsy Glam Bag post!)
  
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Mini in Desperation

 

Plus, there will be little extras included in this awesome giveaway package ::winkwink::

This giveaway is open to US ONLY, and will run from 7pm today until midnight (central time) of March 31st. There are multiple ways to enter, all listed below in the Rafflecopter widgit. Just to note, you can tweet about the giveaway every day till the end of the giveaway period. 
    

If you're curious about any of the products and what they are, all of the items above are linked to the product's brand's website and product info.

GOOD LUCK! and thanks for a fantastic first year! Here's to another great one! The winner will be selected and announced on APRIL 1st.
     

a Rafflecopter giveaway