Julep Diamond Mystery Box Review

On Columbus Day, Julep announced a new mystery box! Based on the two guaranteed polishes, and the promise of a value of at least $120, I bit.  This cost $24.99 and took 11 days to get to me.  Way to go, DHL, way to be slow.

What's inside?!

I got Mystery Box #1.  The pink thing under the little catalogue is a Scrub Mitt ($2.99 on sale).  I have mixed feelings on this.

Scrub Mitt

The Contents!
All polishes in little pink bags

First up is a familiar item:

Julep Pink Grapefruit Body Frosting, 4 oz

I received this in an earlier mystery box, so this will be saved for a holiday gift.  This smells like grapefruit and has a whipped texture.  It's on sale for $9.99.

Julep Mini Eyelash Curler

This mini eyelash curler is so cute!  I like that it is nice and compact; my big one takes up a lot of space in my makeup bag.  I may have to switch it out for this one!  I couldn't find this by itself, it is sold as part of the "travel essentials" set with a foundation/concealer brush and a makeup bag for $28.  I'll estimate this at $2.99.

Julep Doublestep Foot Treatment & Friction Stick

The doublestep foot treatment is for hydrating and preventing blister-causing friction on your feet.  This smells like peppermint and comes in a twist-up stick applicator.  I'm hoping it works, I have some pretty uncomfortable shoes!  Maven price $17.60, regular price $22.

The "extra"!
Grape Rock Candy

Sooo this lasted all of 40 seconds before I devoured it.  It was grape-flavored sugar and made my mouth purple...just like I had hoped.

Now, on to the polish!

The Polishes!

Left to right: Antonia, Helen, Coco, Kristy, Reece, Geo, Marion

Diamond Mystery Box #1

Let's see some swatches!

Julep Marion, 2 coats

Marion is from February 2013 It Girl.  It is a blue-leaning teal with a silvery shimmer.  This is super-pretty, but it will stain!  I'm glad the shimmer is as apparent on the nail as it is in the bottle, often times the bottle looks so much prettier than the dry polish.

Julep Reece

Oh my gosh, you guys, I have Reece!  I have wanted this polish *so* badly, but couldn't ever bring myself to buy it on its own.  This was an add-on in September 2013 and was part of the It Girl collection.  I got the September box, but didn't have the money or the Jules to get this as an add-on.  I was so glad to see it in this mystery box! It's even prettier in person.

Reece is a purple/green holographic duochrome.  It's amazing.  I am in love.  It looks muted and gray in some lights, but then other lighting brings out the purple or green and all of the sparkles.  Pictures don't do this one justice.  Ok, I'm done waxing poetic.

Julep Kristy

Julep Kristy is a midnight blue creme from the September 2013 Boho Glam collection.  This is a very, very dark navy, so of course I love it for the winter.  I've been using OPI Russian Navy a lot, but this is not shimmery at all, so I'm going to justify keeping it.  Yeah, it looks like some of my really dark purples, but it's technically blue, right? So I can keep it?

Julep Coco

I know this is blurry, but I've featured Coco before.  I got this color in my Popsugar Must Have for October, so it's nice to have a polish to give away.  I love this oxblood creme!  It's such a classy color to me.  This was from the It Girl collection in May 2013.

Julep Helen

Speaking of classy colors, I think my second favorite of this box is Helen.  This is from the Classic with a Twist from February 2013 and is a smoky lavender, according to Julep.  I think it is a great pink for my skin and I'm surprised I don't have anything like it already!  Two coats was almost unnecessary, I think I could pull off one with a top coat!  Even better.

Julep Marion, Reece, Kristy, Coco, and Helen

All in all, there was not a dud in the bunch! I was afraid I'd get a weird yellow or other unpopular color, but these were all amazing.  I am so happy that I bought this mystery box!

The two promised polishes were two diamond top coats.

Julep Geo

Geo is a lavender holographic diamond glitter top coat.  Whew, that's a mouth full.  It has a clear base with holographic and lavender glitter and lavender holographic diamonds.  It's so sparkly!

This is Julep Geo over Kristy (middle nail)

Twinkle, twinkle, little star....

Julep Antonia

Antonia is a pale pink holographic diamond glitter top coat.  This is very similar to Geo, but the glitter is all pink-based, and the diamonds are not holographic.  It's a little less flashy than Geo, but just as pretty.

Julep Antonia over Helen (bottom)

As with any other chunky glitter polish, it takes a little bit of effort to apply.  You need to dab on and position the diamonds without getting too much of the polish base on your nail.  It takes a little practice but is hardly rocket science.

Each of the 7 polishes is worth $11.20, Maven pricing, or $14 without. ($78.40 or $98)

Julep Marion, Reece, Kristy with Geo, Coco, and Helen with Antonia

This was a very nice mystery box, especially for $25!  I got $111.97 (Maven pricing) worth of goodies, including a polish I had been drooling over for months.  Not quite the $120 promised, but I did estimate on the eyelash curler, and with full pricing would have been way over the stated value.

Of course, I changed my polish to Reece after I swatched everything... how could I not?

Way prettier in real life! Yay Reece!

Julep is a monthly nail polish/beauty product subscription service.  They also do mystery boxes just about once a month, and members get special pricing on any products from their website.  If you are interested in trying Julep, please consider using my referral link here.   I will get 1000 Jules (Julep's point system for purchasing items).  You can get your first box for free using code FREEBOX.  If that doesn't work, FREEFB might.  You can skip any months you want and cancel at any time.  Their polish is great, and is 4-free.  

This post contains items I purchased myself.  All opinions are my own, and no compensation or special consideration was received for this post.  This post contains a referral link.

Phone Case of the Month, November 2013

I like phone cases, but I tend to get bored with them pretty fast.  At only $10 per month, Phone Case of the Month is an affordable way of changing up my case.  If I don't like the case that month, I'm sure I can find someone who will... and it's only $10 anyway.  I spend more on coffee for the week.

Case, Button, Bag

The cases are listed as "gender-neutral" but I think most of the ones I've seen lean toward the more cute/feminine side.  This one is in the middle.  It is a geometric print in shades of blue, and PCOTM has dubbed it, "watching the waves."  #thesea.  (yeah, I know).

These are some of the more appropriate NIN lyrics I've seen...

They even included a little card with some lyrics from "La Mer" by Nine Inch Nails.  Ok.  Thanks.

I like this case though!  I'll definitely use it.


Phone case of the month is $10 and you can suspend or cancel your account at any time.  If you wish to try it out, here is my sign-up link.  If you use it, you will get your first case for only $5! Plus, I will get a 5$ credit, too :)  Winning for everyone!  Right now they have iPhone cases only (4, 4S, 5, and 5S).

No special consideration or compensation was received for this post and all thoughts and opinions are my own. All items mentioned within were paid for by me.

The Week in Nails, November 17

Julep Meryl

Grey Nails are my favorite.  I love this color, and it was the first Julep I ever received!  Unfortunately, that means it is old and on the goopier side since I've used up more than half of it.  Oh well.  It's still pretty!  2 coats, no base and Julep Polymer Top Coat.

I may or may not have taken that picture whilst TAing, hence the dry-erase marker.  I wore this for 3 days.

Geometric Taping

My boyfriend and his friends were watching a hockey game and this is what I did.  It took most of the game to finish, but it was worth it.  I used OPI Russian Navy on most of my nails, with Julep Alexandria over the ring fingers, then taped off triangles and painted them.  The triangle colors are Nailtini Mai Tai, OPI Russian Navy, Julep Sienna, and NYC Tudor City Teal.  No base, no top (it needed one, but oh well), and I wore it for 3 days.

Zoya Mason

2 coats of Zoya Mason.  No base, no top, and I'm on day 2 of this (it is Monday).  It's a little chipped but I don't feel like taking it all off.  I might just do some designs over the chipped tips?  You will have to find out next week.

The opinions in this post are mine; all items mentioned within were paid for by me.  No special compensation or consideration was received for this post.