Julep Maven Subscription Box Review + Coupon– August 2016

Julep Maven is a monthly nail polish and beauty subscription box. They make all their own products, so subscribers get a good value each month – over $40 retail worth of product for $24.99 a month.

And, if you sign up for 3-months up front, you get the $19.99 rate.

Each month Julep releases a new collection on the 20th, and you can decide which box you want, you can upgrade to the entire collection, or you can skip that month.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Julep Maven

The Cost: $24.99 a month ($19.99 a month with a 3-month subscription)

If you haven’t signed up for Julep Maven yet:

ACTIVE DEAL: Get a 12-piece Polish Gift ($160+ Value) with your first box!
CODE: POLISHGIFT

OR

Use this link and coupon code HEYSUMMER for a free Summer Brights 6-piece gift set with your first box!

OR

Use this link and coupon code COLOR8 at checkout to get the 8 piece Beauty Set pictured here FREE with a new subscription.

The Products: Nail polish plus beauty items.

Ships to: US and Canada

Check out all of our Julep Maven reviews and the Beauty Subscription Box Directory!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your Wish List or Subscription List!

Julep always includes a quote of some sort.

This month there was an informational card telling subscribers about Julep’s launch at select Ulta Beauty locations and offering 20% off an entire Julep purchase in-store or online.

Here is what I selected this month. Looks good!

I first want to mention my add-on this month. It is one of my favorite Julep products of all time. Somehow my previous bottle managed to vanish (no joke) over the July 4^th holiday so I grabbed another one this month.

Vanish Cuticle Softener & Remover – Retail Value $18

Julep has used this in over a quarter of a million manicures in their salons. I use it regularly myself. It is amazing. Julep says it instantly loosens overgrown cuticles, removes stubborn color stains from nails, and reduces regrowth with regular use. I can vouch for that.

To use it, you put a couple of drops on your bare nails at the cuticle, wait a few seconds, and then gently push back your cuticles with Julep’s Cuticle Pusher or an orange stick. I want to mention that if you wait too long—for example, a couple of minutes after putting the drops on—you may think it doesn’t work. This is what happened to me the first time I tried it. If this happens, just add a couple more drops and try it again. One bottle lasts a really long time. (Side note, I also recommend the Cuticle Pusher, but an orange stick works as well.)

That is enough talk. Let’s see it work.

BEFORE using Vanish: (Fair warning! I purposely did not touch my cuticles for a couple of weeks in order to get an effective before shot.)

AFTER using Vanish:

Okay! Let’s get back to the box itself!

After seeing these colors in person at a recent Julep Maven LA Meetup, I decided I could not just pick a couple this month. I went with the Polish Lover Upgrade which cost an additional $20 on top of my regular monthly subscription box price. (Side note, if you want to see swatches for the Julep 5^th Anniversary items coming up in the September box, you can see some of those here, too.)

This may be my favorite month of Julep colors to date. I am not sure, but I love it SO MUCH.

In order:

Julep Nail Color in Stephanie – Retail Value $14 (juicy cherry holographic)

Julep Nail Color in Adeline – Retail Value $14 (azalea blossom multidimensional shimmer)

Julep Nail Color in Pam – Retail Value $14 (tigerlily holographic)

Julep Nail Color in Zori – Retail Value $14 (cotton candy holographic jelly)

Julep Nail Color in Dominique – Retail Value $14 (hummingbird teal holographic)

Julep Nail Color in Eliza – Retail Value $14 (infinite ocean holographic)

Julep Nail Color in Alysha – Retail Value $14 (vivid pansy holographic)

With the sun shining through. (I may have gone a bit overboard with all these pictures.)

Here are swatches the nail colors:

The upgrade also came with these nail decals that are popular right now.

Gold Triangle Nail Decals – Retail Value $6

Following the instructions worked perfectly.

Here are the colors on me in the sun:

(Please forgive the less than perfect focus. I am trying to show the holographic effects.)

And some final additional shots because it is difficult to take pictures of both of your hands at once (and my husband is a keeper).

Value: This subscription box cost $24.99 + my $20 upgrade + Vanish (1 add-on at $9.99) for a total of $54.98. Based on my selected options, it includes $122 worth of beauty items and polish at retail value (or $97.60 if you are a Julep Maven and can enjoy the pricing discount) + the candy. Either way, I think this is a great value! 

Verdict: I’m so happy with my selections this month. What do you think of the August 2016 Julep Maven box? Which items did you pick?