Julep Marion

Sponsored | Bought Myself | Press Sample | Nothing to Disclose | Giveaway Winnings | Gifted

Hello everyone, hope you all are staying safe and warm! We had another round of snow yesterday that brought us around 3 inches and we are expecting yet another round tonight into tomorrow that is said to bring us anywhere from 2-8 inches. I've heard so many conflicting reports of what we are supposed to get, so I guess I'll just figure it out for myself once the storm is over :/

In polish news....... I want to share with you my first ever Julep polish, Marion. I found her at TJ Maxx sometime last year and finally got around to trying her out. Marion is a gorgeous teal green color with some shimmer, has a great formula as well, in my swatches I only applied one coat, yep just one! It dried really fast to which we all know is a huge plus. The only thing that I didn't like about it, is that it stained my nails. I'm not going to place all the blame on Marion just yet, because I'm still trying out  my home made peel off base and that may be to blame for the staining. I'll try Marion out again at some point using a regular base and see how that goes. 

Isn't she gorgeous?! I do wish that the sun would have been out better to help capture the nice shimmer that is in this polish. I wanted to set it off a little more so I did end up adding Salon Perfect Cosmic Dust on top. Of course I was not able to capture all the glittery goodness of that polish since the sun was not out. I can say for sure though that Cosmic Dust is an exact dupe for China Glaze Fairy Dust!

And last but not least in Technology news...... I finally have a new computer!!!! YAY!! I was originally looking for an All-in-One, but my computer savvy friend cautioned me to stay away from them, and after doing some research of my own on them I did come to the conclusion to stick with a tower CPU. I ended up getting a Dell Inspiron 3847, it has all the bells and whistles I was looking for in a computer with the exception of a webcam, but I can buy one to go on it or just keep using my iPhone when I Skype family. But now I can finally get back to blogging and not have to worry about it crashing while I'm working and not have to worry about it working at a snails pace LOL.

It is taking me a little getting used to, I've been using the same computer with Windows XP on it for the last 10 years!

Out with the old:

And in with the new:

Since I'll be snowed in for the next couple of days, I'll have time to learn how to work Windows 8.1 Hopefully LOL

Favorites: May 2014

It has been a while since I've done a Favorites post, February was actually the last one. Within those few months I have found a few new favorites I wanted to share with you, a few are old rediscovered favorites.

We'll start with my new favorite hair product, L'Oreal Sleek It Iron Straight Heat Spray. I got this in my Ulta Haul earlier this year. It seems to shorten my straightening time and really keeps the frizz at bay, the thing I like most about it is you can feel it conditioning your hair while you are styling it. Leaves my hair feel so soft and smooth. Will be purchasing again once I use this one up!

Up next are a few skin/body products. I have been using my Perlier Volcanic Thermal Scrub about once a week to get my skin looking soft and smooth for spring/summer. I love this stuff, it is a little harsh, but not so much that it bothers me. I have also been loving my Udderly Smooth hand cream that I picked up at the Dollar Tree a while back. Hands down the best hand cream I've ever used, does not leave my hands feeling greasy at all and really makes them feel soft. I love my Gud Body Butter in Floral Cherrynova, smells so amazing and provides my skin with a lot of moisture leaving it feeling super soft and smooth. My last skin favorite is one that I've had for a while, the Julep Glycolic Hand Scrub. It got pushed back and hid on my shelf, but it leaves your hands so soft, a nice weekly treatment :)

I had quite a few new eye favorites this time around. The Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeliner is amazing, I can do my makeup in the morning and not have to worry about my eyeliner fading or smudging! For the past few months I have found my self grabbing the same 4 eyeshadows; ELF Jumbo Eyeshadow Stick in Little Miss Thing, Avon Cream Shadows in Champagne and Hazelnut and Avon Glazewear Diamonds in Mauved Metal. I have also switched my eye primer to Primed and Ready Eye Primer from Prestige works amazing! I had to throw in my Maybelline One by One Volume Express mascara, love this stuff so much!

For Face favorites I have one new and one old. My new favorite is Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse Foundation, best foundation I have found for my normal to dry skin. My old favorite is NYC's Sunny Bronzer, perfect shade for my fair skin and it's super affordable.

I have two fragrances that I can't quit using, both from Bath & Body Works. Coconut Water that I picked up last fall at one of their big sales. I have also been loving French Lavender & Honey, went ahead and bought a back up of it!

I do believe that is it for my Favorites! What are some of the products you are currently loving?

Favorites: May

Oh my goodness where did the month of May go? Today I wanted to share with you my favorites from May.

Up first are some Julep products, Glycolic hand scrub, hand cream and Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum and Oxygen Nail Treatment (not pictured). I absolutely love how these products have transformed the condition of my hands, nails and cuticles. If you missed my full review on the Julep products, you can read it here.

I have also been loving my L'Oreal Hydrafresh toner, I got this as a replacement for my Proactiv toner. Love how it leaves my skin feeling very soft and hydrated.

A new product that I used quite a bit last month is my Maybelline Eyestudio gel liner in charcoal. I won this in a giveaway hosted by Lori Ann over at Bat an Eyelash a few months ago, and have just in the last couple of  months been using it regularly in my make up routine. It applies so smoothly and seriously lasts on me all day. I love the charcoal color too, it's not as harsh as black and a nice alternative to always wearing brown.

I can not get enough of my Gud Orange Petalooza body lotion. Love the way this smells and it leaves my skin feeling super smooth and moisturized.

My last favorite this month is Earth Therapeutics Tea Tree Oil Foot Repair Balm. I use this quite often since I live in flip flops during the spring and summer. Does a great job at moisturizing my feet. I also like that the fragrance of this has a hint of mint to it.

What were some of your favorites from the month of May?

Review: The Pink Panel & Julep Nail Products

A few months ago I signed up with The Pink Panel, what is The Pink Panel you ask? Well they are a consumer panel for beauty products. It is super easy to join, just go to their Facebook page, click on the 'JOIN' tab and follow the instructions to fill out your information. Once you have signed up you are automatically entered in to their weekly giveaways and it gives you the opportunity to receive information about up coming testing groups. If you get in to one of the testing groups, not only do you get to test out some products, but you also get paid for it! It's a win win situation, right?

About a month ago The Pink Panel had posted on their Facebook page about an upcoming testing group for some nail products, directed specifically at weak, peeling nails and cuticles, an area that my nails were in much need of some help. I filled out the survey and I qualified for the testing group! At the time I was selected and sent the information about the testing group I had no idea what brand or type(s) of product(s) I would be receiving. Much to my surprise when I opened the package it was products from Julep! I've never used a single Julep product in my life so I was doing a happy dance! After I received my package I was sent an email with all the information that I needed to complete the product testing, such as how and when to use the products.

The products that were included in my testing kit were:
A tube of Glycolic Hand Scrub, a bottle of Oxygen Nail Treatment and Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum. These were the products that I was testing out. In addition to those products I also received 5 One-Step Polish Remover Pads and a tube of SPF30 Hand Cream.

I was not allowed to use any other items in my hand and nail care regimen for the next 14 days!

I would like to share the before pictures with you now. I will share the after pictures on down in this blog post after my review of the products.

As you can see I had some serious peeling going on with my nails and my cuticles looked pretty rough too.

Glycolic Hand Scrub

Up first is the glycolic hand scrub, it is described as a facial for your hands, with natural apricot seeds. Claims it will whisk away dirt and oil, noticably softer and younger looking hands after one use, promotes cell growth, glycolic acids provides chemical exfoliation, while the apricot seeds provide manual exfoliation, gentle enough to use everyday. Does not contain parabens, sulphates or phthalates. 

I enjoyed using the glycolic hand scrub. I felt like it did a good job at cleaning my hands and a great job at gently exfoliating them. It left them feeling very soft and smooth. My hands also appeared brighter. The scrub has a light floral scent to it. It smells very fresh and clean.

The glycolic hand scrub comes in a 3oz tube and retails for $23

Quality: 5/5

Price: 2/5

Packaging: 5/5

Scent: 5/5

Overall: 17/20

Glycolic Hand Scrub Ingredients

Oxygen Nail Treatment

The oxygen nail treatment allows nails to breath while conditioning and restructuring nails in just four weeks. Has anti-aging properties and a protective UV filter.

I like the oxygen treatment a lot, it gives my nails a very nice pale pink tint and leaves them looking super shiny. It also camouflages any peeling that I had had going on, on my nails! It was not too bad about chipping and given the thickness of the oxygen treatments formula, it has a decent dry time.

I only used the oxygen treatment for two weeks not the four weeks that it states on the packaging and I seen results. I still have some peeling, but not as bad. I do not feel like it has made my nails stronger. I will continue to use the oxygen nail treatment once a week till it's gone.

The oxygen nail treatment comes in a .27oz bottle for $18

Quality: 4/5

Price: 3/5

Packaging: 5/5

Formula: 5/5

Pigmentation: 4/5

Longevity: 4/5

Overall: 25/30

Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum

The mighty nail and cuticle serum contains peptides that help build keratin and collagen to transform dry and damaged cuticles, plus get visibly stronger, smoother nails with fewer ridges and less splitting and brittleness in 2-3 weeks.

I used the nail and cuticle serum once in the morning and once at night and seen a big transformation in my cuticles. Honestly I don't think my cuticles have ever looked this good. I don't think it really did anything for my nails though.

The only thing I don't like about this product is the packaging, it's a twist click brush pen. The outside of the packaging looks great, love the silver. The brush is great too. My problem is with the twisting/clicking, it seems like either nothing much comes out or too much comes out. I would rather have just had it in a bottle like the polish came in.

The Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum comes in a .09oz tube for $28

Quality: 5/5

Price: 3/5

Packaging: 3/5

Overall: 11/15

Overall I am very pleased with the performance, quality and results of these products. I will do a separate review on the hand cream and polish remover pads.

Now time for the After photos:

Have you tired any of these three products from Julep? What were your thoughts about them?

**All the products were sent to me by The Pink Panel for testing**