What’s Up With Those Subscription Boxes? My Julep Maven Review!

This is not a sponsored post – just my opinions!

I’m sure most of you have heard of or had some experience with subscription beauty and fashion boxes or services. I finally decided to take advantage of one and I thought I’d share my experience with you guys!
Julep is a subscription serves that deals with nail polish and other beauty products. So if you like to switch up your beauty routine or nail color this is the subscription box for you! Since I like to switch up my nail color and usually spend about $8 for one bottle of Essie polish I figured getting up to 3 nail colors for $19.99 was a pretty good deal! Or you can pick boxes with a combination of beauty items and nail color or just all beauty products.

My September Beauty Box!

I decided to sign up for a Julep Maven Box after getting an email for my first box free! Awesome, right? I only had to pay about $3.50 for shipping which isn’t a bad deal for a box that usually costs $19.99.
In my Classic With A Twist Intro box I got two nail colors: a brick red and light lavender, along with a mint pedi lotion. I really like both of the colors. I wouldn’t say they last longer or go on better than other nail colors I’ve tried though. The good thing is they are made without formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene or DBP so I feel good about putting them on my nails. They are smaller bottles than my Essie polishes though at .27 FL oz. But since I usually don’t get through a whole bottle before the color dries out I don’t mind.

For my second box I went with all beauty products with the September Modern Beauty Box. I got the Bare Face Oil Cleaner and Blank Canvas Mattifying Face Primer. I’ve been meaning to get a new cleanser and primer so this was perfect timing!

I already use argan oil as a moisturizer for my face but I wasn’t sure how a oil cleanser would work. I actually love it! You rub the oil on your face WITHOUT water and then rinse off with warm water. Surprisingly, it doesn’t leave any oily residue and gets rid of all my makeup better than my regular cleanser. It is actually great for oily skin as the rosehip seed oil is drying.

I’ve been using Arbonne’s makeup primer, which I love. However, it’s a little pricey so I was hoping to find a cheaper alternative. I think the Blank Canvas primer does the job. My makeup still goes on smoothly and my face feels less oily throughout the day. I also liked how both of these products were made with a lot of natural ingredients.

I had to pay full price for this box – $19.99 + free shipping. But I got a new full size cleanser and primer for basically $10 each which I thought was a really good deal.

Now here’s the downside to these subscription services. They all keep your credit card info so they can charge you each month if you forget to decline. Hence the “subscription” aspect. To become a Julep Maven and get your first box free and take advantage of the $19.99 boxes in the future you have give them your credit card info to pay for the shipping. The deal is between the 20th -25th of each month you have the option to accept or decline your subscription box. If you decline you aren’t charged anything. You can decline as many times as you want. If you accept (or forget) they send out your box on the 27th and you get it within a few days. You get an email notification on the 20th about your box and all you have to do is log into your account and accept or decline.

I had some trouble with this. I didn’t get an email notification (because of a glitch with my gmail account – which is fixed now) and I couldn’t find the section on my Julep account (turns out it’s a separate tab). So I was automatically charged and sent my next months box – which I didn’t want! But I called customer service and they let me return the box and refunded my money.

 What I don’t like about the Julep website is the tab to accept/decline your box is kind of hard to find which is why I missed it. I feel like they didn’t want to make the tab obvious because they are hoping you forget or don’t see it so they can charge you – right? Here is a screen shot of the section so you don’t miss it!

Even though I had some trouble initially with the Julep Maven service I decided to try it out again! And I’m really happy I did. I found some great products at a great price! Like I said, I won’t do this every month but I now know when/how to decline boxes each month and it’s pretty easy. Just set a reminder on your phone or planner to check your account on the 20th to make sure you don’t miss it! And I do get the Julep email notifications now so I definitely won’t miss it again!

What do you think? Would you try this service?

If you liked my review and would like to help me out use my referral link to sign up for your FREE box! All you have to do is take the style quiz and they will email you a coupon code for a free Intro Julep Maven box of your choice – you just pay shipping. You can cancel at any time. If two people sign up I get enough “Jules” or points to get a free box myself! And if you continue with the service you can refer people and get more free boxes too!

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