Oh Julep, How I Love Thee.....

     AND A FREE WELCOME BOX!!!!!

Meet your Welcome Box

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Hi there, we know you're a friend of our friend.

We love celebrating girlfriends at Julep, so we're giving you our brand-new holographic heart glitter top coat, plus three more beauty treats.

Join Maven now and this 4-Piece Welcome Box is ON US!
$58 Value

Use code BEMINE

In my May Bombshell Maven Box:

 Nail polish in ‘Sarah’, a sheer pink coral with iridescent and glitter (value: $ 14)
 Nail Polish in ‘Fina’, a sky blue metallic with a mod chrome finish (value: $ 14)
 The Best Pedi Prep Ever! (value: $ 20)
 Sample of the Best Pedi Creme Ever!

Foot File $6.00


So one box was a $54 value! You CANNOT beat that..... I ADORE their polishes and their pedi products are mind blowing. Oh, how I need to give myself a pedicure tonight. I'm never without their pedi creme now, it's a necessity. Julep polishes are consistently the ones that I use so much that I actually finish the bottle instead of it drying up and gathering dust. Fina might be one of the most gorgeous polishes ever. 

Ipsy- Party Perfect product reviews- Nailtini, Chella, Bare Minerals, theBalm, Starlet

this is a look back at a previous Ipsy bag and what I thought of the products inside. Ipsy is an amazing deal, this bag was valued at almost $50, not including the Just Fab $20 gift card. At only $10 a month, you can barely buy even buy a single drugstore item for that price, let alone a cosmetics bag with 4-5 items, mostly full sized!
If you'd like to join, I'd LOVE for you to use my LINK. Thanks!

I absolutely ADORE this Nailtini polish in Millionaire. Stunning and reminds me of the Nail Inc Feather Effect  polish that I'm wearing today but they had the look first! Long wearing, applies like a dream and is truly a showstopper. I've got a number of Nailtini polishes, and they always become a favorite in my mani arsenal. This is one of those polishes that makes people examine my nails up close and go "ooooh!" Simply put, gorgeous.                         

Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel
Is fantastic. I have very fair brows, but they also rival Ernest Borgnine's in sheer voluminousness.  While thicker, natural brows are in,Wilford Brimley with caterpillars glued onto his forehead is not. This stuff tames them, makes them look groomed and glam, keeps them in place and in general gives a more polished look. It's also excellent for using with brow powders to keep it from giving you fallout. Now a staple in my beauty bag of tricks.

Bare Escentuals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss - # Dare Devil 4.5ml/0.15oz Contains natural ingredients exotic oils botanical extracts & antioxidants With a refreshing formula that nourishes lips for exceptional comfort Provides sheer vibrant color Creates a full satiny shimmering & mirror-like pout that lasts for hours This is not only a gorgeous color, but it feels fantastic on your lips. It has a lovely minty tingle that has the added bonus of sweetening your breath while also giving a slight plumping to the lips. They really DO look fuller! Not Angelina or anything, but they definitely make a difference without causing agonizing pain like some lip plumpers. Extremely shiny and smooth with a nice slick, non sticky feel that lasts and lasts.

theBalm Meet Matt(e) Eyeshadow Palette by theBalm Cosmetics 1 Eyeshadow Palette theBalm Meet Matt(e) Eyeshadow Palette by theBalm Cosmetics 1 Eyeshadow Palette

This is a regular use color for me; I keep it on my makeup table and am constantly grabbing it. I'm amazed that I haven't panned it out yet. A rich sable brown that goes on silky smooth with no fallout. It plays well with others and also makes a great basic day to day fast application 'out the door' shade that you can slap on and look like you tried. It has awesome staying power and will still be just as rich at the end of the day as when you started. And the retro packaging? Adorable.


There was also an eyeliner by Starlet Cosmetics, but they appear to have gone the way of the dodo..... Guess that sums up the general public opinion fairly well, eh? I thought it was fine. Nothing to write home about (and with my mom being who she is, we actually DO that, she just mailed me an article on the influence that the right shoes can have in the workplace) but a decent, inexpensive liner that didn't smudge too bad with a primer. Trust me, it definitely didn't smear as much as my hated bane-of-my-existence Elizabeth Arden eye pencil.

Sephora Haul with full product reviews (including Urban Decay and Nails Inc.)

I so miss last year's Pantone Color Of The Year. Sigh...... These orange tipped brushes have been delightful. Top of the line quality, no shedding, excellent application, and I love the roll for easy travel. These guys go with me everywhere. I particularly love the fan brush for removing any debris from mineral shadows. So light and delicate! Of course, you can still get Sephora brushes, just not my pretty orange ones. Jealous?

 The Pantone set for the Emerald color of the year is quite lovely too.


Sephora Hot Hues Mini Train Case is another staple in my travel arsenal. The perfect size for all of the necessities without being too big and bulky. I love that it locks so I can take it on a plane or the bus without worrying about it getting monkeyed with. The inner dividers are removable, so I took mine out to have room for longer items. Incredibly sturdy and the aluminum is lightweight and not at all bulky. Seriously one of the best investments I ever made.

I don't see that they have the minis like this currently, but if you're looking for a bigger one, this one is totally groovy. 

I am one of the happiest girls in the world that someone invented nail wraps. They are the easiest thing on the planet to use and always elicit oohs and ahs. My husband likes that I can do my nails in the car on the way somewhere without possibly killing us both with noxious fumes. So awesome that OPI makes these! There are some out there in the drugstores that start to veer way off into cheap topless bar dancer land and these are unique and interesting while still retaining a bit of modish style. I can make these last for about 10 days, usually.


Givenchy Mister Light 
I was really impressed with what a wonderful concealer this is. It takes just the eensiest tinest bit for amazing and natural looking coverage. I put this under my eyes when I had shadows worthy of a horror movie and actually had someone at work comment on how refreshed I look! You seriously can't tell that you're wearing a concealer. 
 

Nails Inc Magnetic polish in Kensington Palace is the best magnetic polish I've used thus far. It's super easy to use- it has a double cap so you remove the part with the magnet before painting your nails. There's a lip on it so you can rest it on your finger directly over your nail with no worries about trying to hold it steady or accidentally touching the polish. Some I've used barely even showed a ripple, but this gave perfect results the first time. I wore this polish last weekend and got tons of compliments. One girl asked me if it was "an optical illusion". She just couldn't believe that polish could do that so easily. Of course, she was also drunk, but hey, a compliment's a compliment :-)

Nails Inc. Islington Crackle Topcoat is super purty. Pictured is the top coat used over SpaRitual's I feel The Earth Move. This look so fabulous over a dark color. I had previously been perfectly happy with Sally Hansen's crackle coats, but now I'm spoiled. It applies really well and does a perfect crackle no matter how thick or thin you apply the polish. It dries quickly and lasts forever. I just love the color- the first pink one I'd seen. 



UD Super Saturated Lip Color Adrenaline is just insane. Seriously, it's so freakin pigmented that your lips can be seen from other planets. I love how easily and perfectly it applies, and despite being absolutely insanely glittery, it's quite smooth and doesn't have that glitter grit feel at all. Don't know how they do it, but Urban Decay seemingly has magical elves working for them or something. I also adore how the pencil barrel is the same color as the pencil itself, so if you have multiple colors it's easy to grab the right one. It also lasts FOREVER. I can go pretty much all day without reapplying unless I eat lunch, and even then it sticks around quite a bit. I got some mad love for this stuff. I probably wear this about once a week, because even if you're in a hurry, you look like you put a bit of effort into things with such an insane lipstick color. 


Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in Woodstock is a natural companion piece to the Adrenaline lippie. Well, if you're into bright colors like I am, that is. It's totally waterproof (love!) and has a super skinny applicator so you can do really thin lines or you can do layers for a thicker look. It's sparkly so with a razor thin line it looks subtly fabulous. Best part- despite being glittery there's absolutely no fall out. YAY! Again with the matching tube. In a dream world they'd all do it that way.

Sephora Full Action Extreme Effect mascara is okay, but not the absolute best. It's what I call a "daytime mascara". It defines your lashes and does a great job of separating and not clumping, but I am not sure why they refer to it as 'Extreme Effect" or "Full Action". It doesn't do much for me as far as thickening and I don't really see anything too dramatic in the results department. Like I said, it's okay, but if you want something at all dramatic, you should look elsewhere. This one is perfect for a workday when you want something a bit subtle. 



Make Up Forever Smoky Lash Extra Black however is FOR SURE dramatic. It makes your lashes look both extra thick AND extra long.  Even without a curler you get sky high lashes. I wore this over the weekend and had to actually wear my glasses lower on my nose because my lashes were rubbing on the lens. Since discovering this brand, I am a huge devotee. 

Boscia BB Cream SPF 27 is one of the highest rated BBs out there, and I love that it's a natural alternative to traditional BB creams. It actually has a pretty good coverage- it's slightly thicker than some other BBs I've used. I recommend rubbing your hands together with it to warm it up a bit- I found I got a much smoother application that way. When you first put it on it seems a little too thick, you have to wait a few minutes for it to warm up to your skin and suddenly it disappears and you look flawless. I turned a friend of mine onto this while she was visiting and now she's a total convert. it may seem pricey at first glance, but you're replacing a serum, moisturizer, primer and foundation with one single product. Don't know how I lived without it. It's SPF 27 too! When it's time for my next tube, I want to get the one step essentials kit- it has a full sized BB cream, PLUS includes their bad ass eye gel and face cleanser/makeup remover for little more than the cost of the cream all by itself. 

Bumble & Bumble thickening shampoo & conditioner really works! I was absolutely STARTLED by how thick and full my hair looked with just one shampoo. I asked my husband if he noticed anything different, and I actually got a "Wow!" This duo is on my shopping list as we speak. 



Especially Escada is an absolutely delightful scent. Elegant, delicate and with a hint of playfulness. It's subtle enough to wear to work or close quarters like the theater, but distinctive enough to not fall into a generic blah category. I think I wore this stuff every single day for like a month! 

The fragrance opens with a sparkling top note of pear and combines with the exotic notes of ambrette seeds. A luxurious combination of rose and ylang ylang radiates a fresh and natural aura of floral joy and happiness. Light musky notes complete the scent, adding a subtle touch of femininity.

Yay for Sephora having it as one of the choices in the Favorites sampler! These are always such an awesome deal, since you get to trade in your certificate for a full sized bottle of your choice while also getting to try out a bunch of different scents. I am addicted to these samplers. 



Why can't they do goody bags like this all the time?!?!?!?!?!