Julep Maven June Box Review

For more information on what the Julep Maven is I wrote an explanation of it late last year. This month though I customized the box so only one item is a surprise. Instead, I'll be doing reviews on the contents of my box.

Here are the promotional cards and extras from the box. If you can't read the 30% off code it is GOWILD.

Candy is always appreciated by me, so these fun lollipops will be eaten at some point.

Finally, they reformulated the Luxe Lip Conditioner, and so I'm interested to see how exactly I feel about it.

Konjac sponges are made from the fibrous root of
the Japanese konjac plant. One of their big boasts is
that these sponges are biodegradable. 

First (because it was the first thing I saw when I opened the box) was an extra I paid for. I've heard a lot of stuff about konjac sponges and I decided I might as well try it.

For non-mavens this sponge costs 12$

For mavens as an individual purchase this sponge costs 9.60$

For mavens as a box extra I think I paid (they won't give me the exact prices of each item in my box history)  7$.

This particular sponge is infused with charcoal. I am a huge fan of the recent activated charcoal movement and I recently had my wisdom teeth out so my cheeks aren't quite up for my Clarisonic yet.

This sponge comes on a string with a suction cup, which is really convenient but means you ultimately create more waste because the string and the suction cup aren't compostable while the sponge is, and you can't buy this particular sponge in any sort of refill pack. It is also wet when you receive it. I tried to get some of moisture droplets off the film plastic for the photo, but they actually wet the sponge and stick it in a sealed container. I don't know about you, but that just sounds like a recipe for mold and mildew.

The sponge itself is an incredibly gentle exfoliant, my skin isn't particularly sensitive, and I don't usually wash my face more than once a day but this would probably be great for people who do. I've used it a few times and it keeps my face clean but I wouldn't say it magically clears up any of my breakouts or clogged pores.

Ultimately, I probably wouldn't recommend that you buy this from Julep. From Ulta you can get alternative sponges that are cheaper (5$ per sponge), including ones that contain charcoal. However I would recommend a konjac sponge to people with very sensitive skin, people who wash their face several times a day, and people who are trying to cut down on waste in their lives.

The next time I decide to pay 12$ for a face sponge that will last me a little more than a month with frequent usage I will probably get it from here because they specialize in konjac sponges, package them dry so the sponges have an unopened shelf life of 3 years, have free USA shipping, and cater to a lot more skin types.

These are the Ta Da! Quick Dry Drops. I have no idea how much I paid for this as an extra. I would say 8-10$ for a full ounce of product.

For non-mavens this costs 14$
For mavens this product costs 11.20$

This product smells very lavendery, so if you don't like lavender this may be an issue for you.

My only other dry drops product I own is the Drip Dry by OPI because upon doing my research they were the most consistently loved drops out of the 5 or 6 options available to me. I am almost out of my Drip Dry because I only got the .3oz version, but I had enough to test my new Julep drops against the OPI version.

The OPI dry drops have little to no scent, and would likely be suitable to people sensitive to fragrance (or who don't like lavender because nail polish is one of the strongest scents ever, lets be real).

Ultimately I would say that OPI dry drops are marginally better. For me its not really enough to pay 26.50$ per ounce though.  Not to mention there are tons of other cheaper drug store options. One of them will probably work just as well for you.

This was one of my box items. I chose higher price items this month so I only got to pick two products meaning I paid 12.50$ to get this brush.

For non-mavens this brush costs 24$

For mavens who are purchasing this brush on its own the cost is 19.20$

I chose this because I didn't own a fan brush, and my first brush experience with Julep was pretty good. I chose the shader brush and while it is really well made I haven't quite worked out the best way to use it yet. I didn't want to go out and get an elf shader brush because so many of their products are hit or miss that I didn't want to be turned off from fan brushes forever because of a poor quality product.

Anyway, this brush hasn't really grown on me much, but that may just be me as the brush itself seems very nice. Ultimately, the bristles are soft, I haven't noticed any shedding and the curved shape helps keep me from putting highlight too close to my nose (there is a fine line between glowing skin and going to the bathroom to powder my nose).

Luxe Up Your LIps in Blushing Rose

The new luxe lip conditioning treatment in blushing rose. This cost me 12.50$ as a part of my box this month.

For mavens and non-mavens it costs 19.20$

So, something that should be noted is that Julep still kept around the clear luxe lip conditioning treatment, but reformulated the colored versions and marketed them out as Luxe Up Your Lips

I have what is technically the original sheer pink Luxe Lip Conditioning treatment (which is now a part of the Luxe Up Your Lips line) and now own blushing rose which is part of the line with more pigmentation.


I am loving the new fuller coverage formula. It is a little thicker, and more pigmented but still not sticky. This is truly the lipgloss for people who hate lip gloss. My only regret is that I like this more as a fall/winter color which means I will likely be sticking with the sheer pink for most of summer.



My final extra that I chose was the Julep Gel Eye Glider in Rich Brown. Basically, I needed a third extra to get a free polish and only have half of a brown eyeliner left.

For non-mavens gel eyegliders cost 16$ each
For mavens the cost is 12.80$ each
As an extra I think it ended up being less than 10$

These are pretty good. They set in 30 seconds which gives you a lot of time to smudge out your eyeliner or whatever else you want to do, goes on smoothly, and is moderately affordable if you happen to be a maven.


Top is Rich Brown swatched (I know its a terrible swatch, I don't even know what happened there), and the bottom swatch is a hand swatch of the Blushing Rose lip treatment.

When you add three extras Julep will throw in another extra for you. I rarely have the need or desire to add three more Julep products to my box so this has only happened twice for me but you can get just about anything. Last time my extra was a lip plumping primer. This time, it was a silk finish polish in Marcy.
I hate this polish, but I am ultimately glad I got it (you know, for free, as an extra).

Silk finish is a fancy name for satin or demi-matte.  The formula is horrendous. It is not good at self leveling, and this photo was taken after three coats of polish. Also, while I know many people love polishes that have matte or satin finishes I personally don't. It's not that I adore shine that much, but I just feel like I could invest in a good top coat

However, I do love the color. The all-white nail isn't for everyone and I think this is a very elegant way to rock a white nail. I will be on the look out for similar colors.