Julep - April 2014

THE VIVID COLLECTION

ULTIMATE UPGRADE

Hello my lovelies! I just have a couple more April items to share with you (Summer cannot come too soon, I can't wait till my work schedule slows down!) and this was one that I've been super excited about. When I saw all of the shades for Julep's April Vivid Collection, I KNEW I just couldn't say no to a single one, they looked FANTASTIC! Plus, they featured blushes, bronzer, and makeup brushes?! Be still my beating heart. ::makeup swoon::

So here are all of the products featured in this month's Vivid Collection...

   

*Blushes and bronzers were customizable in profiles

Boho Glam

• Sunny - overexposed yellow chrome
• Phoebe - vibrant jungle metallic
• Glow Pore Minimizing Blush - Peach Bellini*

Bombshell

• Kayla - electric iris sheer with violet sheen
• Tatum - neon chartreuse chrome
• Glow Pore Minimizing Blush - Petal Pink*

Classic With a Twist

• Caitlin - shocking hibiscus with gold shimmer
• Mariska - juicy tangerine shimmer
• Glow Pore Minimizing Blush - Peach Bellini*

It Girl

• Flora - exotic dragonfruit with blue shimmer
• Bailey - hyped cobalt sheer
• Maren - electric bubblegum sheer with blue sheen

Modern Beauty

• Glow Pore Minimizing Blush - Peach Bellini (not customizable)
• Glow Pore Minimizing Bronzer - Light Golden Bronze*

Featured Add-Ons

• Julep Blush Brush
• Julep Bronzer Blush
• Felicia (polish) - bright green creme with dashes of black

POLISH LOVER UPGRADE (+$25)

• All nine polishes in Vivid Collection - Bailey, Caitlin, Flora, Kayla, Maren, Mariska, Phoebe, Sunny and Tatum

DELUXE UPGRADE (+$35)

• Includes all nine polishes in Vivid Collection
• Glow Blush shade of your choice (Peach Bellini or Petal Pink)*

ULTIMATE UPGRADE (+$55)

• Includes all nine polishes in Vivid Collection
• Glow Blush in Peach Bellini
• Glow Bronzer shade of your choice (Light Golden Bronze or Medium Tan)*
• Julep Blush Brush
• Julep Bronzer Brush

On to what I received!.....

BOHO GLAM - PHOEBE & SUNNY

Phoebe (left) - vibrant jungle metallic

Sunny (right) - overexposed yellow chrome

These two shades are definitely very unusual, but if you're looking for some fun and funky Spring into Summer shades, I'd say look no further!

All swatches were done with two coats each, no top coat.

Sunny - Out of all the shades in this collection, Sunny was definitely the most difficult to work with, but I still love it. It's incredibly streaking, even when working slowly, carefully and with as few brush strokes as possible, you're going to have stroke lines. It's fairly opaque with two coats, you can barely see through, and it has a nice glossy finish. My Hubby wasn't too keen on the color, I think it's a little too crazy for him (what, darlin', it's not like this yellow isn't a stinging shade that completely overpowers everything else in the room, haha!). I think the name is perfect for so many reasons, not just because it's yellow and bright like the sun, but it makes me think of egg yolks splashed on my fingertips! Sunny side up anyone? ::giggles:: I didn't have any problems with it being runny (hardeeharhar) or pooling, just a lot of brush lines.

Phoebe - This shade is just beautiful. It too, is streaky and will have brush lines even after two coats, but to me it's not quite as bad looking as Sunny. The color is rich, vibrant and so flattering. It was perfectly opaque with two coats (nearly a one-coater) and I had no problems with running or pooling. It has a light glossy metallic finish.

BOMBSHELL - KAYLA & TATUM

Kayla (left) - electric iris sheer with violet sheen

Tatum (right) - neon chartreuse chrome

Haha, so this is actually my favorite combo, as well as my Hubby's for one very specific reason....he took one look at it and said: "Oooooo, do a Ninja Turtles mani!" I looked down at the colors and replied: "Oh yeah, Donatello!", then he said: "See, that's why I love you." ::blushes:: what can I say, I'm a geek (proud of it!). 

I have to say, this picture does NOT do them justice by far. These shades are AMAZING. 

Kayla - I adore this polish so much, I JUST took it off after wearing it for a week! I had so many compliments on it, as well. People even asked me if I had fake nails on or had gone to get them done, the color is so amazing and with a glossy top coat, it just has this beautiful shine and finish. I could go on, really. In this picture, it appears that it's not completely opaque, but in person, I really didn't notice at all. It glides on like an absolute dream and I did not have any problems at all with running or streaking. It has a soft demi-gloss finish.

Tatam - Somewhat in between Sunny and Phoebe, it's streaky, but still manageable. The brush lines are visible but the color is so vibrant and well enough opaque that it doesn't look bad (I think yellows are just difficult to begin with). It applies nicely, and has a beautiful glossy metallic finish.

CLASSIC WITH A TWIST - CAITLIN & MARISKA

Caitlin (right) - shocking hibiscus with gold shimmer

Mariska (left) - juicy tangerine shimmer

I'm happily surprised at Julep at their Classic With a Twist color selection! I'm used to seeing nudes, reds and tans for this profile, so when I saw this vivid orange and hot pink, I was pretty much screaming Yes Please! 

Caitlin - It's funny, because they're both listed as a shimmer and they both DO have shimmer slightly showing in the bottle, but it doesn't translate to the nail much at all. In person, you can barely see the gold shimmer in the polish, unless you look very, very close. Mainly you can just tell there's shimmer because it doesn't look completely smooth and glossy. It does apply beautifully, though, and it's opaque in two coats. In has a nice semi-gloss finish.

Mariska - Again, where's the shimmer? Haha! The finish is nothing like any shimmer I have, it has an almost satin or matte finish. It applies a little thick, but workable, no streaking or running and is perfectly opaque in two coats. If you want to keep it more like a matte, you can use a mattifying top coat, but you could also add a super shiny top coat to gloss it up! Even with the lack of shimmer, both of these shades are gorgeous!

IT GIRL - BAILEY, FLORA & MAREN

Bailey (right) - hyped cobalt sheer

Flora (left) - exotic dragonfruit with blue shimmer

Maren (center) - electric bubblegum sheer with blue sheen

Cobalt, dragonfruit and bubblegum...can you imagine a better trio of colors to put together? So gorgeous!

Bailey - I love wearing cobalt shades in the Spring and Summer, it's so fresh and one of the deeper colors that still translate well into all seasons. The polish glides on very smoothly, but it definitely more sheer. Even with two coats, you can see the white of my nail, but it still looks lovely. If you'd prefer a more opaque look, you can easily wear three coats, it's smooth and applies easily, and evens itself out so it won't become too thick looking. It has a nice semi-gloss finish.

Flora - This was another favorite in the collection for me, I just have a thing for dragonfruit! The color is sooooo pretty. The shimmer in this is subtle as well, but much more visible than Caitlin and Mariska. It glides on smoothly and evenly, and is nearly opaque in one coat. 

Maren - This was definitely the sheerest of the collection, even with two coats (shown above) you can still easily see through to the nail. Frankly...I don't care, it's gorgeous! It needs about four coats to be completely opaque, but that is very doable, it's thin, evens itself out and doesn't streak. I love, love, love the blue sheen it it!

MODERN BEAUTY - BLUSH & BRONZER

GLOW PORE MINIMIZING BLUSH

in Peach Bellini

"Glow’s groundbreaking formula diffuses the appearance of pores and imperfections, while diamond powder gives cheeks a luminous shimmer. Packed with vitamin B6 for a truly healthy glow." - julep.com

First of all, this packaging is so gorgeous! It's a snap shut case with a matte lid and full cover mirror on the inside of the lid. The inside plastic sleeve has a beautiful leaf design the the letter J (I'm going to take a wild guess and jump out on a limb here saying that it stands for Julep, teehee). I really couldn't bring myself to throw the sleeve away, it's too pretty! The case is very sturdy and well built, not at all plastic and cheap feeling, which I'm very happy about. 

 The shade is just lovely. It a soft peachy-pink with very subtle shimmer that is much more apparent in the pan than when applied on the cheeks.

The product is SO smooth. As I said, the shimmer isn't very apparent when applied on the skin, instead it looks more satin-matte with a veeeery soft shimmer dispersed throughout. It's easily buildable and can be blended out beautifully without looking splotchy, streaky or dry. On my skin it looks much more like a soft babydoll pink than a peach. The peach tint is very minimal. 

As for it's wear, worn with a primer, over a foundation or BB creme, the color will last at least 4-5 hours before beginning to fade. With a setting spray on top, it extends the full-color wear time to around 8 hours. Afterwards, it begins fading softly, but it still remains smooth looking and natural. I do believe I need to get my hands on the other shade, Petal Pink!

GLOW PORE MINIMIZING BRONZER

in Light Golden Bronze

"Glow’s groundbreaking formula diffuses the appearance of pores and imperfections, while diamond powder gives cheeks a luminous shimmer. Packed with vitamin B6 for a truly healthy glow." - julep.com

Bronzers have always been tricky for me. I'm very pale with peachy pink undertones and rosacea, so any yellow undertoned or warm bronzers end up looking very dirty on my skin.

The packaging is very similar to the Blush, except it's a tad longer (having 0.01 oz more).

 I had a hard time deciding between the two shades Julep had available for customization (Light Golden Bronze and Medium Tan). With no swatches, it was hard to tell if the Light Golden Bronze was for fair and light skin and the Medium Tan for medium to dark skin, but I was also thrown off by the fact that the Light Golden Bronze looked more yellow and the Medium Tan looked more pink undertoned. I was so torn! Eee! I went ahead and went for the Light Golden Bronze, because I'd rather it have a bit of a yellowish undertone that I could probably work with than have something too dark.

The Light Golden Bronze definitely has a yellow undertone, and although it looks just....woo...yellow here in these swatches...it really looks fantastic on my face! I was shocked! I seriously had to do a double-take! It's very, very buildable and easily buildable if you wanted to deepen the shade, however I always contour softly and lightly because I'm so fair. 

The bronzer has just as great of longevity and wear as the blush. My contour is one of those things that I really hate to wear off during the day, it just leaves my face looking tired, flat and lifeless. Even after teaching class and dancing for hours, the bronzer still stayed relatively fresh looking! I'm so curious about the Medium Tan, now. As blendable and smooth as they seem to be, even if it's a bit darker, I'll bet it can be blended out nicely and hopefully will look less yellow than the Light Golden Bronze!

ULTIMATE UPGRADE ADD-ONS

JULEP BLUSH BRUSH

"Designed for specific use with Glow Blush, the angled bristle design hugs the contours of your face--a natural pairing for a beautiful finish." - julep.com

Is it silly to love makeup brushes as much as makeup? Naaaaaah. And if you like makeup brushes, I'm here to tell you, you would LOVE these. The handle of the brush is very thick, but it's strong, nicely weighted and easy to hold for me, however, I have larger hands. If you have smaller, more dainty hands you may not feel as comfortable with it. One side of the brush says JULEP, while the other side says Blush.

   

 I've never typically used an angled brush for blush, usually I use this type of design for contouring, but I really enjoyed using this with the Peach Bellini!

The brush is VERY densely packed, and so soft. I've had absolutely NO issues at all with bristles falling out, even after several washes. (Although, it does take a bit longer to dry because it's dense). Another thing to note because it's so full, is that you end up getting quite a bit of product on the brush when swirling or dabbing it in, so I do recommend tapping it to drop off excess powder before blending it on the cheeks. You can even swirl it lightly on the back of your hand to build up the product even slower on the cheek. I haven't tried it as anything but a blush brush yet, but I think it's a nicely versatile brush! I'd definitely use it for contouring as well as powder foundation!

JULEP BRONZER BRUSH

"Our comfortable, weighted handle and the unique tulip shape evenly pick up & distribute bronzer for a natural, sun-kissed glow." - julep.com

Also, another must have if you're a makeup brush lover. I just can't believe how gorgeously packed and soft these bristles are! The design is very similar to the Blush brush, except one side says Bronzer instead (well, obviously, haha).

 This brush has a dome shape, with a softly rounded peak. It's just so...so fluffy!

What's funny, if I hadn't looked at the names written on the brushes (Blush, Bronzer), I would have totally used them the other way around. I have a couple of blush brushes that were MADE to be for blush that were similarly shaped to this. Just goes to show you that brushes can be very versatile in their use, regardless of their design! 

I loved using this for my bronzer, it made it so very easy to blend out and I felt I had good control of where I was applying product. I could lean the brush more on it's side for larger coverage or angle it more straight on dome for narrower application. I even lightly used it for contouring on the sides of my nose (with the dome tip) and it worked fairly well! Again, no issues at all with bristles falling out. Well done making some awesome brushes, Julep! I'd absolutely purchase a brush set if they had one (nudgenudge, hint hint).

WORTH AND PURCHASE

1) Nail Polish (8 ml ea.):

• $14 ($11.20 for Mavens) x 9 polishes = $126 ($100.80 for Mavens)

2) Glow Pore Minimizing Blush (0.25 oz) in Peach Bellini - $24 ($19.20 for Mavens)

3) Glow Pore Minimizing Bronzer (0.26 oz) in Light Golden Bronze - $28 ($22.40 for Mavens)

4) Blush Brush - $24 ($19.20 for Mavens)

5) Bronzer Brush - $28 ($22.40 for Mavens)


Total Paid for Box:  $74.99*

Total Worth of Box:  $230 ($184 for Mavens)


I did pay a pretty penny for this set, but I feel I got my money's worth, especially with the fabulous brushes and blush and bronzer. They're all excellent quality! Definitely an awesome month! (*$19.99 for the monthly sub + $55 for the upgrade). 

FINALE

So we've already seen the polishes, but here's a quick little makeup finale in which I used the Peach Bellini (with the Blush Brush) and the Light Golden Bronze Bronzer (and Bronzer Brush)!

I lightly contoured my entire face with the bronzer, including the hollows of my cheeks, lightly below my bottom lip, on the sides of my nose (with a small contour brush) and jawline. As you can see, it really doesn't look that yellow on me at all when blended out well! Like I said, I contour very lightly. But OOOOOOOHHHH my goodness, isn't Peach Bellini just to die for! Gah! I adore it so much. It's so sweet looking! It's perfect for a buildable, soft flush! Seriously, in love. 

    

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 FREEBOX to receive your first month's box free ($19.99 value, however, shipping may apply). 

    

Well it's a good thing I'm not! Teehee! 

Happy Makeuping! Stay Vivaciously Vivid!