A Review: Hooray For May! Julep Mystery Box

Welp, I fell for it again. I ordered this month’s Julep Mystery Box, which I’m assuming is a monthly thing.
This is going to be a problem if it keeps happening.
I’m going to try to stop!

YES, THEY ARE, JULEP.
That’s what will get me in trouble.

But for now, here’s a peek at the box I received (which was version 4).

As always, the package was presented with pretty paper and confetti filling.
The blue satchel has one color in it that is already packed and easy to present as a gift.
It has the only dupe in the box…Zelda from my last box.
I’m not sure whether I will give it away or keep it, I’m sort of in love with that color and I’m going through the bottle like crazy.

The two polishes were wrapped together, which I find appropriate. They are very delicate and girly.
The top one is Audrey, the bottom Emmanuelle.

The final three polishes were (top to bottom) Kylie, Vera, and one of the two special brights that was guaranteed to be in the box,
Korin, which is an awesome lime green crème.

I decided to do swatches of each polish. This isn’t the best photo of them, but whatever.

So it seems that this box was just polish. From some of the other boxes I’ve seen, they all seem to be polish-based (unlike last month, which included creams and scrubs and the like). There’s nothing wrong with that. None of the colors particularly shouted to me aside from Korin (and my backup Zelda). But that’s part of the game…and part of the reason I’m probably going to stop doing this for a little while.
The regular monthly boxes and occasional deals on singular polish (as well as the secret store) are enough for me.

I mentioned this last time, but a reminder: You pay one price (24.99) and get $70-200 worth of product.
As a non-maven, 6 polishes would set you back 84 bucks.
As a Maven, about 68 bucks.
The good thing about this is that you’re obviously saving some money to build up a stash,
and the mystery box is open to anyone, not just Mavens. No subscription necessary!

A Beautiful Mess: The Photo App

If you’re an avid blog reader like I am, then I’m pretty sure Elsie and Emma’s A Beautiful Mess is on your bookmarked daily must-reads. The blog has everything…DIY tutorials, fashion and style tips, recipes, photography, little inspirational slices of life…it’s kinda perfect.
So when the news broke about a week ago that they were releasing a photo editing app, I knew I would immediately be purchasing it and using it. It took a while, but the moment I saw people talking about it on Instagram, I downloaded it from the store.
It is .99 cents, and there are a variety of in-app purchases to expand the experience, but the app is fine as is.

Here’s what I did while playing around yesterday (and maybe a little bit at work…it was quiet!)…

In this picture, I utilized one of their borders. The rest was edited on Afterlight and Instagram.

This picture, one from the wedding we attended a few weeks ago, was already edited in Instagram.
I added a border and a cute heart doodle…ya know, cuz we’re in love and all.

This one has one of several phrases written in Elsie’s handwriting. It’s so cute.  This is a watermelon margarita I had a couple of weeks ago.
I love that arrowed border as well.

This one utilizes one of the several fonts they have to offer, I chose what to write. And, of course, another border.

A purple dotted border and some hot pink arrows to point at my Julep collection. Not sure why the photo itself is blurry, I did edit it on Afterlight before using the ABM app but it still didn’t come out for me.

A hand-drawn border and one of my favorite sayings, which I typed as well (so it wasn’t a pre-written phrase).

What I Like:
This app is adorable, just like you’d expect from A Beautiful Mess.

Pretty/funky borders, plenty of colors to choose from, and about 8 additional add-on packages to expand the experience.

You can also change the size of the doodles, phrases, and text.

It’s not just filters and light adjustment…you can add words and symbols to really personalize and amp up a photo.

What I Don’t Like:
This app is like, less than 48 hours old so I think it’ll only be going up from here. These are just face-value.
The borders can be placed wherever on the photo, but they can’t be expanded or collapsed, unlike the text/doodles. Maybe I’m doing something wrong? I would just love if I could make one of the pretty borders (like the one in the coffee, which I would’ve liked around the cup as opposed to into it) bigger or smaller, depending on what I’m emphasizing.

There are a total of 6 filters (3 in color, 3 in B&W) with no expansion pack just yet (although I think that should be automatically included in a future update without additional payment if they choose to add more). Considering there are so many ways to add filters to photos, and you can use photos from whichever app you choose, I guess it’s not that big of a deal. But I like a full experience, and the filters (aside from the gorgeous saturated B&W filter, Vampire) just aren’t doing it for me. I’ll most likely be using Afterlight first.

I’m slightly worried about originality. Elsie’s handwriting and doodles are wonderful but I feel bad taking them for some reason?
I don’t want my photos to turn into posts from their blog…I still want them to feel like me. So many of us edit with filters or use apps like Overgram that allow us to add type/font to pictures. But using someone’s handwriting? It’s so specific, and I feel weird. I’ll still use it, truthfully, but I don’t see it becoming a massive part of my personal space (i.e. this blog)…I still want that to reflect me.

.99 cents is a great price for the app, and I would’ve supported them regardless and purchased it. But 8 additional in-app purchases right off the bat? If you want the full experience, you’re spending nearly 10 bucks in one shot. I know apps like Hipstamatic do this, but it’s over the course of time. They also offer free-paks too. The good thing about this, though, is that the additional packs aren’t necessary to the experience.
They are very specific, and pretty much all the stuff you would want is in the basic app.

And those are my opinions! I do enjoy the app, and I can’t wait for more updates and news about it.
I’m a sucker for all photo apps, and while I’m not sure this will always be a go-to, I think it will be fun for the occasional pop!

A Review: Julep Sea Salt Mystery Box

About a week after making my Julep Maven video, I received an email from Julep advertising their Julep Sea Salt Mystery Box!
The mystery box is something they run on a regular basis…I believe they had one in February and March as well.
The deal: For one price (24.99), you get a package with anywhere from $70-200 worth of products from Julep.
How could I pass it up?

I ordered it on Thursday night and got it on Wednesday…this is the longest it’s taken for anything from Julep, but I think it’s fair because it was still less than a week and it was bigger than the typical package I get from them.

Here is my box and a review on the mystery box itself.

As always, the Julep box is decorated with bright tissue paper and fun confetti-like packaging.
It’s like unwrapping a present you bought for yourself! Super fun.

First in the box were these toe separators and an emery board. Will I use them? Sure. I feel like pretty much everyone is going to get this in their box. It’s simple accessories that will always have a place in your supply stash.

Next, Pomegranate body scrub and body crème. I don’t have anything like these, and I think they will be perfect for a DIY spa day, especially for getting my legs and feet ready for shorts and sandals. The scent is really lovely and, once again, perfect for summer.

Finally, these are my polishes. Each box is guaranteed to have one of their new Sea Salt Texture polishes. There were 3 possibilities.
I got Sadie (middle), which is black packed with silver glitter.
I also got Ally (right) and Melissa (left).

And here is a final photo of all of the contents together:

Considering the boxes contents range in price, there are obviously going to be bigger boxes. I’m pretty sure I got one of the smaller, if not the smallest, boxes. That’s the luck of the draw, so it doesn’t discourage me. It’s part of the mystery, after all! I will say, I was bummed that I got the black Sea Salt color…there was a beautiful beige and a beautiful pink as the other possible options and I would’ve loved one of those.
Again, not a big deal…that’s what you’re bargaining.

Complaint: I got Ally in my box. I know it’s a mystery and that they don’t personalize the boxes based on what your Maven profile is or what you might have purchased in the past. However, I already own Ally because it came in my April box. I don’t think they should’ve included polishes from the latest collection in the mystery box because of the large possibility of overlap.
I guess that could happen with anyone, though, whether it’s a newer polish or one from their constant collection.
Luckily, it’s a beautiful color, so I don’t mind having an extra.

Praise: No matter what, the mystery box is an excellent deal. The total price of everything in the box hovered around $80 dollars. Even if you’re a Maven and get the discount on pricing, you’re still saving at least $40, and that’s just with a small box like mine. You can imagine the savings if you were to get a bigger box! What’s even better is that this is open to everyone, Maven or not. I believe Mavens get a day notice before the general public, but anyone can buy one. There’s no subscription necessary and it’s an excellent way to treat yourself.
I can complain about getting dupes, but there’s the chance I might not like a product at all, which is a risk you’re taking. And in that case, you can save those products (unused, I would hope!) as presents or hand-me-downs to friends who would put them to good use!

Overall, I’m pleased. It’s a fun way to treat yourself, and this will not be my last mystery box!

The Sea Salt Mystery Box is still available on the website, and you can purchase it here.
If you’re interested in becoming a Maven, you can visit the site here, or you can click the Bombshell link at the top left of the page.

And don’t forget to check out my video if you’re curious about what being a Maven is like!

Bridesmaids

Yes, I had to jump on the bandwagon and talk about Bridesmaids. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, please do! I’m a huge Kristen Wiig fan, but when I first saw the trailer, I really didn’t know what to think. This probably sounds awful coming from a woman, but I had a tendency to feel like women-driven comedies don’t really work. Before everyone freaks out at me, I have realized why I thought this. Comedies with a woman in a lead role tend to go down two paths, in my opinion: The Romantic Comedy and the Raunchy Sex Fest.

Romantic Comedies shouldn’t even count as comedies. Are there funny ones? Sure. But is it usually the lead woman playing the funny role? No. It’s usually her quirky best friend sidekick who is only on the screen for a quarter of the movie or her best guy friend who is sweet and awkward and inevitably wins the girl. Whatever, the formula is old. I still enjoy these movies, but they are usually just entertaining, popcorn and couch movies.

Then there’s the Raunchy Sex Fest. I won’t name movie names, but it seems that Cameron Diaz has a lot to do with this genre. In these films, it’s my belief that women go above and beyond the call of duty, trying to outdo the men in sex and fart and excrement jokes. I guess it can work for some people, but not me. It’s not real. Women are funny, but in a different way. Why try to prove how funny you are by acting like one of the guys?

Which is why I loved Bridesmaids. I found this movie completely relatable. I don’t want to give the movie away to those who haven’t seen it, but prior to seeing it, I heard a lot of reviewers applaud it’s approach to female friendships. And that was my favorite part about the movie. The relationships, the insecurities, the jealousy, the competitive nature that runs in our blood. It’s silly, but it’s true. As for the humor, it was pretty perfect to me. I saw a lot of reviews call the film “raunchy.” And yes, there is one particularly nasty part. But it didn’t really change the movie for me. It was silly, but it did it in it’s own way. I guess I found it realistic. Women curse, but don’t have to be potty-mouthed sex fiends all the time to do so. Women talk about sex, but it’s usually a mix of Samantha and Charlotte (Sex and the City, obvz). And friendships and other women, though we may hate to admit it it, are really important to us, sometimes to the point of insanity.

The movie was great, but for many reasons aside from comedy. I choked up at a few parts. I found it relatable, for funny and serious reasons. And, it should be mentioned, I want to shop Kristen Wiig’s wardrobe.

Don’t knock Bridesmaids ‘til you tried it, guys. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you will too!