February Julep Maven Box-Bombshell

My February Julep Maven box arrived at my door yesterday.  I have skipped for a few months because the colors didn't appeal to me or I felt like I already had something in my collection similar.  This month, their theme was glamour, and Hollywood.  I typically go for the "It Girl" box because the colors tend to be fun and you get 3 polishes rather than 2 polishes and a product.  Normally, I prefer the extra polish.  This month, however, I switched it up and chose the "Bombshell" profile.  Anyone who knows me can tell you I adore holographic polish.  A couple of the boxes had holo polish.  This was the one that stood out to me, though.

I was very pleased when I opened my little black box.  As usual, the packaging was amazing.  They make sure the presentation is appealing.  There was golden tissue paper on the top sealing everything in.  The ribbon holding my black polish bag closed was gold, and the packaging paper at the bottom was black and shiny gold.  Very lovely, if I do say so.   This month, they added in some goodies; a couple we knew about, and others we didn't.  They even added in a couple red foil wrapped chocolate hearts (Valentines Day is in just a couple of weeks!).

This was an item I wasn't expecting to see.  It is a little compact eyelash curler. While I am happy with the curler I already have, it doesn't hurt to try out another (especially since it is free).  If it works well, I can even toss it in my purse!

To use this, you simply flip down a little "leg" at the back.  That is the handle to squeeze the curler around your lashes.

This next product was one that they announced would be included in the boxes.  It is their new top coat.  They have another top coat, which I have used.  I don't care for the original...  it isn't anything special in my opinion.  This one is supposed to be a fast drying top coat.  It claims to dry under natural light in 5 minutes, or you can cure it for two minutes under a lamp (60 watt bulb).  As long as it really will dry fast and hold up like a gel (as it claims), this could be a potential replacement to my Seche Vite.  It has to be pretty amazing to do that, though.  However, something that does stand out to me is that it is free of formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toulene, or DBP.

*EDIT: So, I was reading the box more thoroughly, and now I'm a bit confused.  I don't think it is actually a dry fast top coat.  It says to "apply a single coat over DRY polish."  Hmm...so maybe it just protects and lasts like a gel manicure, but won't actually cure your polish.  If anyone knows for certain, please correct me. 

This is the bottle.  It is nice, black, and sleek.  

The extra product for the Bombshell box (instead of a 3rd polish) is their Oxygen Nail Treatment.  This is supposed to help with nails that are prone to breaking, peeling, and/or are thin.  It says in four weeks you will  have a significant improvement to the health of your nails.  It also says for the best results you should go polish free for the period that you are using this treatment.  This would be quite hard, however, I am coming into a period of probably 2 months where I will be rough on my hands and I'm certain polish won't last but a single day.  This will be a good time for me to try this out.  I'll come back to you on how it works out.

This is the bottle.  I really like the way this one looks.  The product itself is a very pale pink color, which seems like it could look lovely on the bare nails. The bottle is frosted glass.  Something about frosted glass I find to be beautiful.....even in my nail products.  HAHA!  I'll admit, I'm kind of excited to try this treatment out.

Finally, the products you are most interested in seeing, I'm sure.  The actual polish!  The two colors for this months Bombshell box are Laura and Ginger.  Laura is a lovely khaki green.  Looking at it in the bottle, it has a sort of dusty look to it.  This is a color I'd typically wear in the fall, but perhaps I'll see how I feel about it for this spring.  Ginger is the holographic.  It is neutral sand colored with hints of pink to it.  This appears to be a very finely milled scattered holographic polish.  It has the potential to be absolutely amazing.  The color is very wearable but the holographic specks give it interest. I'm anxious to try this baby out!

Laura Dern

Ginger Rogers

**As a tid-bit: Laura has been named after Laura Dern who was a Golden Globe winner for Enlightened (2011).  Ginger was named after Ginger Rogers who was an Academy Award winner for Kitty Foyle (1940)

Something new they seem to have started doing on their bottles (since the last time I received a box) is to place a little sticker at the top of the lid.  You can then swatch the polish onto it so you can see the color.  For me, this would be nice to have on all of my bottles of Julep.  The way I store them right now only allows me to see the lids, unless I reach into the container and pull the bottle up.  You may think, "But how is someone going to be able to swatch that sticker if it is on the lid, where the brush is attached?"  The thing about Julep polishes is their lids pop off and away from the brush portion.  I was easily able to pull off the black covering portion by simply pulling up.  Not even very forcefully.  That allows the brush to be separate from the covering where the sticker is.  Just brush on, and pop the covering back onto the wand.  Voila!

Don't forget, you can still get a good deal on your first box.  Sign up HERE! and use code FREEBOX at checkout. 

*Laura Dern Photo from watchdontwatch.com
*Ginger Rogers Photo from watchtheacademies.wordpress.com