Julep Maven: February 2015, Smitten Kitten Box

*Referral Link Included

I was excited to see Julep Maven's were offerred a special themed box this month because I enjoyed the October one so much.  I felt that in February, I got an especially great value for the monthly subscription price.  Besides the usual two polishes + third additional makeup/polish/treatment item (I consider the top coat to be filling this spot this month), all subscribers also got a free holo glitter top coat!  The third item this month would've been their Glow Highlighting Powder, which I wasn't interested in at all, even though it has gotten some good reviews.  I glad those that did get it, seem to enjoy it.

I also used some of my Jules, which is Julep's reward system, to add on Ada, the glitter polish on the far right above.  I've been a subscriber since before the rate increase, so I got everything you see above plus some cute red & white heart decals for $19.99!  If you don't mind that they include older polishes and not the monthly releases, the special themed boxes Julep periodically offers are really fun options.

This is Karissa, a holly berry crème.  Considering how much polish I have, I actually don't have very many red crème without any kind of shimmer or glitter.  As in this is  my only one!  It's pretty and it's the right season to have it for Valentine's nails.

This is the main reason I really wanted this box!  Vivien is a champagne bubbles full coverage multidimensional glitter.  It. Is. Gorgeous!  I love the larger glitter within the polish.  This was a retired polish, brought back from the vault so I'm not sure how long it will be around.  I'd hurry up and snag it!  

I gave my daughter a Valentine themed mani over the weekend with Julep's Maren and we used the decals included in the Smitten Kitten box but now I can't find them anywhere!  I hope they didn't get accidentally thrown away because they are cute and we only used two, one of each accent nail.

To round out the box, we also got an Oxygen Performance Top Coat.  I have mixed feeling about this top coat.  My first bottle got very clump and thick about half way through.  Now that it's harder to apply, the thickened version also leaves little strings as I brush it off the end of my nail.  These often go everywhere and fall back on top of my freshly painted nails and leave a very undesirable texture as they dry.  They do not dry down and self level into the top coat as it dries.

I would not purchase this top coat again as an add on, but when it's thrown into my box I'll take it.  It worked well at first, and I my first impression was that I quite liked it.  I'll be curious to see if the quality of this second bottle goes downhill as I use it.

Julep founder Jane says that they put the heart in Hartleigh just for their Mavens, and gave their subscribers this as a free bonus.  It's super fun and packed with glitter.  I dabbed on the large hearts for better control of placement but this looked super stunning on.

Ada was my add on polish, I can't remember how much extra it would've have been if I paid for it because I redeemed some of my Jules points, which I get for referrals & for each month I take a box.  This one has a new finish and is described as: Fizzy looks just how it sounds: Adorable.  Bright rhubarb fizzy with multi-sized pearl glitter.  The jelly base makes it look like the glitter is suspended within the polish and gives it so much depth.  Absolutely gorgeous!

Show above from left to right: Karissa, Karissa with Ada layered over, Karissa with Hartleigh top coat.

I loved my Julep Maven goodies this month, it's great how it almost always ships early in the month so you get your hands on it right away.  It's usually the first monthly subscription box to arrive.  I wanted colors that would be great for Valentine's and Julep really delivered!