Julep: August 2013 (Spoilers)

[angismith]

Has anyone thought of forming a Bondi group? Seems like a lot of the Julep posts last month and now this month are all pro-Bondi and anti-Julep. Those comments would probably be more appreciated by a Bondi Girl than a Julep Maven.

 

[MissTrix]

Originally Posted by angismith /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Quote: Originally Posted by MissTrix /img/forum/go_quote.gif


Holographic polishes give off a prismatic effect. There are 2 types, linear and scattered. A linear holo polish will have a rainbow halo effect in certain lighting whereas a scattered holo looks more glittery and has kind of a rainbow sparkle effect. Some holos kind of fall in between the two basic types (i.e. they appear very glittery yet give off a linear effect).

A & B are linear holos, C & D are scattered holos

A very strong linear holo by Layla

A scattered holo, Orly Sparkling Garbage
WOW!, MissTrix, thank YOU so much for going to such detail to explain holograms to me, including pictures! So have you seen Kyla and Monica? I am leaning toward thinking that they are almost holographiic instead of glitter ... there are no indiviual pieces of glitter in them. 


Kyla and Monica are microglitters in a jelly base. They do have individual pieces of glitter, they're just teensy and there are tons of them! They do have some holo glitters in them though. They're gorgeous polishes but until I get a thinner, they are unusable for me. 

 

[angismith]

After thinking all day and going back to look at swatches, this is my new thought regarding the Garden Party Collection: posted on FB a few minutes ago:

viewed all the swatches and once the shock of this month's box NOT being an anniversary collection, I definitely WILL NOT BE SKIPPING. There are some gorgeous new colors here! Maybe not appropriate for August, buy still gorgeous colors to add to your Julep Collection! Esp. entire set of pink tones: pale rose frost, modern mauve, and medium-to-- dark berry. And the Champagne Trio is a TRIFEcTA. If you look at all the together, I can see some beautiful floral nail art coingg together! So, Julep, thanks for the invitation - consider this my RSVP that I wll be attending the Garden Party!

And what would a Garden Party BE without the addition of CHAMPAGNE!

 

[MissTrix]

Originally Posted by angismith /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Has anyone thought of forming a Bondi group? Seems like a lot of the Julep posts last month and now this month are all pro-Bondi and anti-Julep. Those comments would probably be more appreciated by a Bondi Girl than a Julep Maven.

There is a Bondi thread. Two of them, in fact. 

Here is the current one:

https://www.makeuptalk.com/t/136639/bondinyc-august-2013-1st-new-subscription-box

 

[MissTrix]

Originally Posted by angismith /img/forum/go_quote.gif

After thinking all day and going back to look at swatches, this is my new thought regarding the Garden Party Collection: posted on FB a few minutes ago:

viewed all the swatches and once the shock of this month's box NOT being an anniversary collection, I definitely WILL NOT BE SKIPPING. There are some gorgeous new colors here! Maybe not appropriate for August, buy still gorgeous colors to add to your Julep Collection! Esp. entire set of pink tones: pale rose frost, modern mauve, and medium-to-- dark berry. And the Champagne Trio is a TRIFEcTA. If you look at all the together, I can see some beautiful floral nail art coingg together! So, Julep, thanks for the invitation - consider this my RSVP that I wll be attending the Garden Party!

And what would a Garden Party BE without the addition of CHAMPAGNE!

There are definitely some pretty colors in this new collection but, for those of us that have been Mavens for a while, there aren't any stand out shades that we haven't seen before. There are only so many shades of pink before you start repeating yourself, you know? I may pick up a couple of shades when they hit the store later, but none of the boxes appeal to me at all. I also need to see some comparisons with older Julep colors that look similar to be sure I'm not repeating anything. 

 

[jessicalriley]

Julep has to come up with a new collection of 9-12 colors each month. I've been a maven since May 2013, so, yes, I've seen different shades of similar colors. However, considering that there is a brand new collection each month instead of seasonally like many nail polish companies, I think they come up with some real gems. That being said, I have signed up for Bondi after hearing so much excitement & seeing swatches! I love Julep because I am always able to choose exactly what I want or skip, so if Bondi doesn't offer that sort of flexibility, I'll have to stick with Julep.

 

[greatbleuheron]

Originally Posted by jessicalriley /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Julep has to come up with a new collection of 9-12 colors each month. I've been a maven since May 2013, so, yes, I've seen different shades of similar colors. However, considering that there is a brand new collection each month instead of seasonally like many nail polish companies, I think they come up with some real gems.

That being said, I have signed up for Bondi after hearing so much excitement & seeing swatches! I love Julep because I am always able to choose exactly what I want or skip, so if Bondi doesn't offer that sort of flexibility, I'll have to stick with Julep.

Yes--that's the one thing I'm worried about with the new Bondi box--I need to be able to skip, and *after* seeing what's on offer.  As far as I know, Bondi hasn't yet explained the details of how their subscription box will work (although they have said a little bit about content and pricing).  And you're completely right that being able to skip and being able to pick from a number of different configurations is one of the things that makes the Maven program work.

 

[lexxies22]

Julep has to come up with a new collection of 9-12 colors each month. I've been a maven since May 2013, so, yes, I've seen different shades of similar colors. However, considering that there is a brand new collection each month instead of seasonally like many nail polish companies, I think they come up with some real gems. That being said, I have signed up for Bondi after hearing so much excitement & seeing swatches! I love Julep because I am always able to choose exactly what I want or skip, so if Bondi doesn't offer that sort of flexibility, I'll have to stick with Julep.

If you have a FB acct, go on their fan page, it explains all questions you have. Because they are a small company so they are starting off easy which is a mystery box for August. Yes, you will have an option to skip or not. September will feature Fall colors and more options to do. Then, October, they will start on exclusive colors solely thru subscription box that won't be sold thru the public, additionally, they will offer gift subscription option and more selections. Remember, this is a common practice when a company is starting out so they go slowly thru the process to make sure everyone are happy which is their #1 priority, right? I like their business plan as the time goes on. I will expect a soft launch but who know if they get lucky. I have every once of confidence that they will go thru challenges and tackle one of each issue with a care. They truly care about the company and have a differently vision than many 'corporate greeds'. I feel bad for Julep on a several levels. I could go on from a business perspective from my retail/product development/merchandising management experiences. I'm gonna keep it to myself LOL I just don't want cause a drama. I do like Julep; I just hope they 'know' what they're doing. I may not agree with their business plan or whatever direction they're going at on certain pace.

 

[DragonChick]

There are definitely some pretty colors in this new collection but, for those of us that have been Mavens for a while, there aren't any stand out shades that we haven't seen before. There are only so many shades of pink before you start repeating yourself, you know? I may pick up a couple of shades when they hit the store later, but none of the boxes appeal to me at all. I also need to see some comparisons with older Julep colors that look similar to be sure I'm not repeating anything. 

This in a nutshell. I've been with Julep over a year now and have hit saturation point with the colors. I'm appreciative of their themes, but many of their colors they're releasing now are very similar to existing shades, which is a shame this month since I really like the Champagne Trio thats only an add on.

 

[angismith]

Originally Posted by DragonChick /img/forum/go_quote.gif

This in a nutshell. I've been with Julep over a year now and have hit saturation point with the colors. I'm appreciative of their themes, but many of their colors they're releasing now are very similar to existing shades, which is a shame this month since I really like the Champagne Trio thats only an add on.

Dragon Chick and others who have been with Julep for a long time, please bear in mind that you are setting the standard for us "newbies" that will be reaching a saturation point a year from now. I hope we remain as satisfied and pro-Julep in a year as we are now, but that does not seem to be the case for a lot of people posting who have reached a certain saturation level. They do have good ideas and things that you are probably taking for granted by now and it is all fresh and new and feels good to us new subscribers. The Secret Store always has curated sets that sometimes are better than the monthly Maven boxes. And flash sales like Oxblood this month and Something Blue in June.  JMO, don't want to start a war, just want to point out that you all are setting a standard for Mavens.

 

[deactivateduser232015]

Originally Posted by angismith /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Dragon Chick and others who have been with Julep for a long time, please bear in mind that you are setting the standard for us "newbies" that will be reaching a saturation point a year from now. I hope we remain as satisfied and pro-Julep in a year as we are now, but that does not seem to be the case for a lot of people posting who have reached a certain saturation level. They do have good ideas and things that you are probably taking for granted by now and it is all fresh and new and feels good to us new subscribers. The Secret Store always has curated sets that sometimes are better than the monthly Maven boxes. And flash sales like Oxblood this month and Something Blue in June.  JMO, don't want to start a war, just want to point out that you all are setting a standard for Mavens.

DragonChick is also just voicing her opinion too. It's fine, everyone can have their opinions, and clearly there are still mavens who've had their accounts for a while and are still very impressed with the collection. I don't think anyone doubts Julep works very hard, but sometimes hard work doesn't always translates to products we want to see.

For example, Lacey is newest dark blue shimmer/frost they've done as many months. Previous to this, we've had Ally and Ivy within the last 6 months or so. If you look at the Blue page on Julep, their dark blue selection is overwhelming: Millie, Michelle, Marisa, Gunta, Eloise, Donna, Char, Angela -- along with new Ally, Ivy, and Lacey. That's 11 of the 23 blues they are, all being the same variety of dark blue. Comparatively, Zoya's blue page shows a complete gradient of blues: http://zoya.com/content/38/category/Blue_Nail_Polish.html, both in terms of saturation, darkness, and on the green<-->violet spectrum.

Julep's green page is much better, but it's still suffering from a similar problem. Do we all really need pale green cremes in Adrianna, Courtney, and Francis? Or Hoch, Leah, Payton, and Popova? I'm not saying they're the same colours, but why are there so many in the same "style" when green is clearly missing some dark shimmers/frosts. Again compared to zoya: http://zoya.com/content/38/category/Green_Nail_Polish.html which has so many different ranges. I love love love pale purple polish, but even I only need so many, thank you Alice, Helen, Joanna, and Simone.

There are only so many colours under the sun, yet many other companies manage to not repeat nearly as much as Julep does.

 

[meaganola]

Originally Posted by DragonChick /img/forum/go_quote.gif

This in a nutshell. I've been with Julep over a year now and have hit saturation point with the colors. I'm appreciative of their themes, but many of their colors they're releasing now are very similar to existing shades, which is a shame this month since I really like the Champagne Trio thats only an add on.

I think that nine to twelve new colors per month is far too many from a development perspective.  They really seem to be stretching their creativity thin, especially since they tend to rely heavily on creams.  Out of 225 colors in their current catalog, 106 of them are creams.  I am not a cream fan.  At all.  I will buy every silver or acid green metallic/foil/chrome I come across even if it appears to be a dupe of something I already have because I can't be *sure* until I get them side by side, but if I even *think* that two creams are similar -- not even actual dupes!  Just close! -- I'll skip them.  It also seems like they just kind of went to their colors in development, picked out a bunch that went together, and slapped a theme together based on the colors.  I prefer collections that seem like they took a theme and developed the colors around that.  We might have ended up with a brown with holo microglitters (kind of like Zoya's Storm) to represent soil (because freshly-turned soil always seems to have this *sparkle* to it) instead of the espresso cream, or a shimmery topcoat to make the floral colors look like they have been lightly dusted with dew, or a deep, deep slightly blue-leaning green for stems and leaves.  

I also wish that they would go punkier and edgier with the It Girl boxes.  If this month's IG box had been the Bombshell colors with Francis instead of the blister stick, I would not have skipped, but brown cream, fuschia cream, and an orange frost that doesn't really seem to have much shimmer to it are not what I am remotely interested in.  They're just really, *really* classic to me, and it just doesn't make sense for them to be putting them in a box purported to be for trendsetters.  Or if each style had one of the Champagne Trio colors, I probably wouldn't have skipped. 

(And then there's the fact that their catalog is almost half creams, and for their prices, I expect more metallics, chromes, foils, duochromes, and glitters.  Zoya can get away with lots of creams because they also have lots of foils, metallics, and duochromes, *and* they're eight bucks for 15ml versus $11.20-for-Mavens-$14-for-non-Mavens for 8ml.  Even at the Maven box price, it would cost $12.50 for 15ml of Julep, calculated with the 3-bottle It Girl box price.)

Originally Posted by angismith /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Dragon Chick and others who have been with Julep for a long time, please bear in mind that you are setting the standard for us "newbies" that will be reaching a saturation point a year from now. I hope we remain as satisfied and pro-Julep in a year as we are now, but that does not seem to be the case for a lot of people posting who have reached a certain saturation level. They do have good ideas and things that you are probably taking for granted by now and it is all fresh and new and feels good to us new subscribers. The Secret Store always has curated sets that sometimes are better than the monthly Maven boxes. And flash sales like Oxblood this month and Something Blue in June.  JMO, don't want to start a war, just want to point out that you all are setting a standard for Mavens.

I'm not sure I see what the problem with that is.  People jump up and down about how FRESH! and NEW! it all is, and then those of us who have been around from the beginning just kind of squint at it and think, "Uh, not seeing why this is so exciting and different from what appears to be this exact same other stuff they released last spring."  I think the opinions of long-time subscribers are just as valid and useful as those of newbies.  It helps me to figure out why I have an issue with a color if someone else says, "Oh, that looks just like Daphne/Alfre/Trina" -- and also identify why there's *something* about some random thing that is annoying me.  

I really think they are trying to do too much all at once (nine to twelve new colors a month equals 108 to 144 per year), and that's making everything seem lackluster and repetitive, especially since there are newer nail polish subs coming along that have looked at the Julep program and decided that they can improve on it by tweaking certain things.  It's frustrating because I know there are more things that can be done with polish because I'm *always* finding new stuff to buy that is nothing like what I already have (duochromes!  microholos!  jelly glitters!), but Julep just seems to do variations on what they've already done.  The idea behind a subscription is to have people hang in there for the long term, and if they're having problems hanging onto longtime subscribers, something is going wrong.

(Also, the Secret Store might have really good deals on curated sets, but they first have to convince me that I should shell out the money for the current box, and that's something that has to be done by the box itself, not a tease of what might be coming in the Secret Store.)

 

[deactivateduser232015]

Although, in defense of the friction stick -- Julep knows how to market, and that's why their prices are incredibly inflated.

For a box with two colours and a product, you'd be paying $7 for each, which makes the stick ~$7 (or if you want to make it so the polishes are less $6 for two polishes and $8 for the friction stick). It's not that absurd compared to what you usually pay

Keep that in mind, because that's what Julep is keeping in mind. Most of their profits are going to be through special sales

 

[deactivateduser232015]

One more thought: Julep has to be risk-averse since most of their profits come in through subscription boxes (then probably through mystery box sales). I don't think we're ever going to get a complete collection without at least any cremes because that's what Julep's core fanbase likes -- and they've also been burned in the past from releasing collections too heavy on certain finishes (shatters in Oct 12, suedes in Nov 12). Dec 12's glitter collection showed they could do it as long as they released something more generally liked instead of "trendy", but they're still probably not going to jump the gun now which makes for BORING collections

 

[Lolo22]

Originally Posted by angismith /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Dragon Chick and others who have been with Julep for a long time, please bear in mind that you are setting the standard for us "newbies" that will be reaching a saturation point a year from now. I hope we remain as satisfied and pro-Julep in a year as we are now, but that does not seem to be the case for a lot of people posting who have reached a certain saturation level. They do have good ideas and things that you are probably taking for granted by now and it is all fresh and new and feels good to us new subscribers. The Secret Store always has curated sets that sometimes are better than the monthly Maven boxes. And flash sales like Oxblood this month and Something Blue in June.  JMO, don't want to start a war, just want to point out that you all are setting a standard for Mavens.

Hopefully you can stay as excited as you are now, but also there is a reason so many people have the same feedback after a year.  I've only been a maven since December and Julep has been boring me for a few months now.  I think a lot depends on whether you are trying to build a true collection of colors, or if you are just looking for fun new stuff to come every month.  If you're after the collection, you will probably be happy for quite some time; but if you're after excitement and uniqueness than you will probably have more success finding it elsewhere (if you want to).  I think the collections are beautiful every month, the mystery of the mystery boxes always tempts me, and of course I love the deals they throw out randomly too.  But there are so many other places I can put $20 into and get a color, finish or glitter I have never seen before.  I want to give them my money, but they'll have to give me something new.

I agree with meaganola, that they are possibly doing too many colors at a time.  Some of them just seem like they are there just to be there and I happen to be a cream lover, but it's definitely too much.  My other thing is that ever since they got rid of American Beauty I don't feel like any of the styles capture my tastes anymore. 

 

[DragonChick]

Dragon Chick and others who have been with Julep for a long time, please bear in mind that you are setting the standard for us "newbies" that will be reaching a saturation point a year from now. I hope we remain as satisfied and pro-Julep in a year as we are now, but that does not seem to be the case for a lot of people posting who have reached a certain saturation level. They do have good ideas and things that you are probably taking for granted by now and it is all fresh and new and feels good to us new subscribers. The Secret Store always has curated sets that sometimes are better than the monthly Maven boxes. And flash sales like Oxblood this month and Something Blue in June.  JMO, don't want to start a war, just want to point out that you all are setting a standard for Mavens.

The problem with the secret store is its gated by purchasing a box that particular month. Yes there are some great sets there. But you have to have access. I love the Champagne box and I think that should have been the It Girl choice, that feels more like a box choice to me than the current choice for this month.

 

[meaganola]

Originally Posted by Kyuu /img/forum/go_quote.gif

One more thought: Julep has to be risk-averse since most of their profits come in through subscription boxes (then probably through mystery box sales). I don't think we're ever going to get a complete collection without at least any cremes because that's what Julep's core fanbase likes -- and they've also been burned in the past from releasing collections too heavy on certain finishes (shatters in Oct 12, suedes in Nov 12). Dec 12's glitter collection showed they could do it as long as they released something more generally liked instead of "trendy", but they're still probably not going to jump the gun now which makes for BORING collections

I would be fine with an overall boring collection if they would just step it up and go experimental for the It Girl boxes!  It feels like they have forgotten their own profile description for this one ("You're a trendsetter who's not afraid to be bold") and just toss in three colors without really giving any consideration to the fact that this is the profile for people who do take risks when it comes to polish.  Ideally, they would add another profile and throw all of the traditional polish rules out the window: Punk Rock Girl (yes, I'm a Dead Milkmen fan).  It would be a great place to get their creative ya-yas out while not alienating the rest of their subscriber base.  I keep my sub around for things like Tracy, Etta, and Adele, but the crowd-pleasing stuff?  Not for me.  

(And the suedes were a bust?  I loved those!  What was the big problem?  The fact that they weren't long-wearing?  One of my favorite things about suedes -- and these were not my first -- is the fact that you just slap another coat on, and there you go, but I do tend to change my polish daily Wednesday through Sunday.  I'm usually too fried Mondays and Tuesdays -- really big days at work -- to redo my nails, but even if I don't want to start from scratch, I can just add another coat if they're looking a little dinged up and I'm wearing a suede.  I'm really looking forward for autumn to kick in so I can break them out again.  It's a very seasonal finish for me, and I feel weird wearing these when it's outside of their season.)

Originally Posted by DragonChick /img/forum/go_quote.gif

The problem with the secret store is its gated by purchasing a box that particular month. Yes there are some great sets there. But you have to have access.

I love the Champagne box and I think that should have been the It Girl choice, that feels more like a box choice to me than the current choice for this month.

This exactly (if I don't see anything I want in the main collection, I'm not going to buy a box to gamble on liking what's in the Secret Store), down to the fact that the Champagne box seems like it should have been It Girl.  I really, *really* want Amity.  I love silver metallics.  Give me robot nails any day!  As a side note, I did a double take at *that* name because I saw _The Conjuring_ Friday night, and it was about the paranormal researcher couple that also investigated the Amityville house, so the name was fresh in my mind.

 

[jessicalriley]

Yes! 9-12 new colors per month plus developing new beauty products is spreading them too thin. Totally agree with that. Also, too many crèmes. I really like the strategy that Zoya seems to be using: 3 different finishes (crème, foil/metallic, & pixie dust) in 6 coordinating shades per season. Perhaps perusing a variety of finishes would help Julep out.

 

[gypsiemagic]

It's weird, they have the ability to do so much, why not push the envelope, do a collection of glitter bombs, the black and white + cream freckle polishes, uv changing (would have been awesome for summer) temperature changing, holographic, multi dimensional glitters in interesting combinations, jelly glitters, crelly glitters, I feel like America was such a tease, it was the color that made me subscribe. I also just switched all 64 of my colors and surprisingly I didn't have any dupes from boxes, my only two different but similar colors, one came from my intro box, the other came from a mystery box, so I won't count them against them.

 

[r4chel77]

i don't really understand the obsession with the bondi subscription. people are always freaking out over any issues with julep but at least they're a VERY transparent company: you know who founded it, who runs it, who invested, the names of the women in CS (short list even though i certainly can't rattle them off), that you can see colors/swatches beforehand/you can skip, rules on returns, rules on jules, etc. there's very little info on the bondi website and almost nothing about the subscription itself.

i agree that julep does a little bit of mundane things by having too many cremes or whatever, but i absolutely love who they are as a company, their transparency and what they do. plus, you are supporting women, and that really is remarkable. i get that the foot stick is ridiculous when we go to julep for pampering/luxurious products and that's why i'm skipping, but i'll bet you that the stick ROCKS just like the hand scrub/cream that i found boring a few months ago when they came out and i'm now obsessed with them. they got investing to try out new products and my speculation is they don't know exactly which types of products their market is interested in. lots of skips this month will help show that, in comparison to may and july when there were varieties in texture and shade.