Julep August 2014

[Lily V]

I thought the colors looked familiar. I have all three from Zoya with Amy being on loan to my Mother. I seriously doubt Julep dupes will be just as great with formula consistency. I could be wrong. I would love to see a side by side comparison.

I'd love to see a (real life)side by side comparison! well, for now- from a quick google search...

Hrmm, now I'm wondering if I actually own Amy- I could do a real life side by side- they look close.  But to my eye, Waleska looks darker and way more bluer-green than Zuzu- that looks more seafoam green to me... India cold be different too, but then again it totally depends on what they look like in reality vs if they've been hella photoshopped! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[meaganola]

The colors themselves are great if you don't already have these in your collection, but the more I look at them the more I'm reminded of Zoya colors and I'm pretty sure I have most of these colors from Zoya sitting in my Helmer. What's scary is that I can name off probable dupes for India, Waleska and Kirti off the top of my head without consulting my Helmer drawer of Zoyas being Tallulah, Zuza, and Amy respectively.

Aaahhh!  You helped me put my finger on something that was bugging me but that I couldn't quite pinpoint:  A lot of these collections look like they're slowly trying to build a catalog of Zoya dupes.  If I want Zoya colors, I'll go to a local beauty shop (just off the top of my head, I can think of two non-Ulta stores locally with *great* Zoya selections, including older shades) and get the real deal for nine bucks a pop, and I won't have to wait.  I love Zoya. In fact, I'm going to use one today.  But if I put Julep up *against* Zoya, I'll go for the latter any day of the week.  Better formula, better bottles (and I'm comparing short-and-squat to tall-thin-and-tippy here), better price (and better value!  Less money for twice as much polish, if price-per-ml matters to you). 

 

[mandithomas89]

Definitely relieved they let us pick the eyeliner colors. That made my choice a lot easier. I just stuck with my CWAT profile since I love Katie. I love India too but it actually looks like it could be similar to a Revlon polish I bought at Target last month. I went with the plum eyeliner because while I have a few bright purple eyeliners from UD and BL, I don't believe I have any that are actually that dark purple shade and I love purple eye makeup with my hazel eyes.

 

[Bloodflowergrl]

What is going on here?

First, Core classics box was sold out when I first looked. Now it's not...but all the other things are? All the upgrades? Boho glam box? Julep is so messed up....I wouldn't even be bothering but I scored a deal for a 3 month subscription awhile back and have to take the box. But I actually like these finishes, and am thinking about maybe taking the upgrade? But now it's not there....

Is it for anyone else?

 

[tulosai]

What I find 'Ironic' (to put it nicely) is that Julep said they were going to the no-skips system in large part so that things would NOT sell out.  Clearly, they have royally screwed this up (or else are just liars, which frankly is likely).

Also, I know this has been discussed to death but the increased price of add-ons really continues to tick me off.  Their polishes IMO simply are not worth the $7 add-on price.  I can almost get a non-discounted Essie for that price at my local Target.

If I could not skip, I would definitely quit the program at this point.

 

[itsoliviaaah]

Okay lemme just say it, I LOVE THIS COLLECTION. The overall Middle Eastern theme is so unique to Julep, & I'm having an incredibly hard time figuring out which box I want. I'll most likely stick w/ It Girl because I love orange, & Joyce & Tammi look like a duo I wanted back in the Secret Store a few months ago. Also Tammi is pretty similar to Tatum, but I remember really wanting Tatum & so hopefully the formula on Tammi will be better.

But Katie, Waleska, & the Bombshell box are TO DIE FOR. It's taking all the self control I have to not upgrade. Also I'm very indifferent to the eyeliners this month--they look promising but I'd rather fork out $16 for an Urban Decay pencil. I also wanna respectfully disagree on previous posts; I own Zuza & it is a delicate seafoam green w/ silver microshimmer. Waleska looks like a much darker blue green w/ heavy gold shimmer.

 

[itsoliviaaah]

Posted twice--sorry!

 

[DragonChick]

 I also wanna respectfully disagree on previous posts; I own Zuza & it is a delicate seafoam green w/ silver microshimmer. Waleska looks like a much darker blue green w/ heavy gold shimmer.

No offense taken. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I said probable based on how their swatches tend to look different than in RL. We won't know for sure until someone other than Julep has a swatch for comparison.

 

[GirlyGirlie]

I upgraded to the entire collection. Love exotic colors. 

On my other account, I bought the eye palette, the Plie' wand and tools and the pots of eye shadows. I was kind of over all the polish since I had just signed up for it. 

Not sure how long I'm going to stay with Julep. Either they've changed their polishes a lot or I missed the discussions years ago where people stated they didn't like it.

It used to be quite popular. Makes me wonder why people buy it at all if it is that bad.

 

[tulosai]

It used to be quite popular. Makes me wonder why people buy it at all if it is that bad.

Frankly, many of the 'older' customers are very rarely buying at this point. With that said. there are good things about the polish and the program, at least as it used to be.

For many those of us who are grandfathered into the skips, this is/was a huge draw.  There is no real downside to keeping the sub because you can get it when you want it and need not get it when you don't.  I am among the people who would not sign up for the program now because you can't skip now. This was a major draw to me in signing up, because I already have so much polish and don't want/need dupes.

The bottles are small, but the quality of the polish itself tends to be relatively good and consistent.  Every so often a member or members will complain about one particular polish but this is not a regular thing.  You more or less know what you are getting in terms of polish quality.

The customer service (other than for those trying to cancel) tends to be good or better than good.  it may take a while, but I have never heard of them not making a situation right when something arrives damaged or even if a customer complains a certain polish is, for example, too thick.  The worst thing I can say about their CS is that they do make you send pictures if you say something is damaged and won't just take your word for it.  I am okay with that though.

It was also a great/fun sub initially because it was one of the first polish subs (before rainbow honey and black sheep laquer and virtually all others). Now, though, they have competition. I do think a lot of the complaining stems from the fact that the competition is, frankly, better, at least based on what a lot of us want. The competition tends to be:

Cheaper per ml of polish.

Actually using fun finishes/colors/glitters instead of just using creams (mostly) and shimmers (once every 4 months or so) over and over again with indistinguishable reds and pinks every single time.

Seeming to care about retaining customers rather than just trapping new ones into a flawed program.

This is a little intangible, but I am going to say not quite so PRETENTIOUS. This might not quite be the right word but Julep seems to think they are the sun and moon, and we should all just feel grateful to be mavens and stick with them no matter what crap they try to pull. Something about their philosophy (at least like it currently seems to me)  is rubbing me the wrong way.

 

[meaganola]

This is a little intangible, but I am going to say not quite so PRETENTIOUS. This might not quite be the right word but Julep seems to think they are the sun and moon, and we should all just feel grateful to be mavens and stick with them no matter what crap they try to pull. Something about their philosophy (at least like it currently seems to me) is rubbing me the wrong way.

Boom.  There we go.

 

[Kelly Silva]

To go off what you said @@tulosai, I absolutely hate their science-y explanations for their products. "Clinically proven" makes me want to punch someone. Here are the dupes I have for this collection and why I skipped:

Waleska=Rainbow Honey Waves, which I just got a full size bottle of

Neha=Rita which was limited edition, but I have

Katie=shimmer version of Flora

I don't mind the rainbow collections, but not every month. And I'm just so sick of looking at every new collection and seeing dupes immediately. There are a ton of unexplored finishes and colors Julep hasn't done, and they just do the same thing over and over. I shouldn't be able to look at a collection and name Julep dupes! Other brands dupes, sure, but Julep dupes every month is not good for business. It's almost like they're taking an Ipsy approach to their subscription where they piss off older customers to cancel, and have new people ready and waiting to drink the Kool-Aid. Retaining customers should be more important, and when it's not a priority eventually everyone will stop lining up.

 

[DragonChick]

It used to be quite popular. Makes me wonder why people buy it at all if it is that bad.

@@tulosai summed up a lot of my feelings right now, but one of the initial draws for me to Julep was the bottle shape. I love that you could fit more of them per square inch than normal bottles in a space. But I also joined Julep before I discovered indie polishes, and Ifind myself gravitating towards those more now as they consistently have the colors and finishes I love.

I want to say that Julep was the first company to offer a monthly polish subscription, but now there's Square Hue, Rainbow Honey, Llarowe, Black Sheep to name a few. Several of the indie lines I follow are also offering monthly collaboration boxes now. So the competition is more fierce, and that should be driving Julep to be more creative, but it doesn't seem to be.

I'm also finding it harder and harder to want to spend money on a brand that cannot accurately represent its product through swatches. I get that Julep has their own marketing and promoting, but how hard is it to find hand models, regardless of their skin color, given that at one time they /did/ use different hand models and were less reliant on Photoshop than now. That's the part that annoys me greatly is that I want to see what I'm going to be buying, not a heavily Photoshopped version that may or may not be what I'll actually receive.

There are good things about the polish, but I want to say Julep seems to be more interested in wowing new customers rather than their long-term subscriber base who can spot the duplicate, renamed colors and who feel cheated when they're receiving a "new" color that's really the same one they received in a box over a year ago. I get that there are only so many colors in the rainbow, but there are endless combinations once you introduce finishes and textures to those colors, I also get the feeling that they try to jump on a particular bandwagon after its' popularity has waned. (The crackles are a huge example of this.)

 

[GirlyGirlie]

Thank you to all who have told me the truth today. I've cancelled both my Julep accounts, after changing various parts of the billing info, and adding a debit card that I no longer use and making it the default so they can't bill me " by mistake". 

I remember when I got fed up with Julep and cancelled before. It was when they released some polishes they called " Suedes". Like I said, I ordered a Misery Box that had a bottle of " suede finish" top coat in it. It was sheer, colorless, and it had spilled all over my other items, which at that time were higher value items than the polishes they throw in the Misery Boxes  now. ( body products, Pedi products).

The CS person was beyond rude when I sent the photo in email and there was nothing to see because the broken polish spilled all over my other products was CLEAR. And dried and hardened. 

They had thrown the suede top coat into the box without any protection at all.

When I offered to send the box back, the snarky girl actually accused me of trying to get" a high value Mystery Box  for free AND a refund because  I didn't like what was in it". It was ALL LIES. I couldn't believe she was talking to a long-term customer in that way. 

I could have cared less except that the products were ruined. I don't remember what they were, but I know I wold have used them and that the box had a fairly good value for a Julep Misery Box.

I called back later that day, after thinking about her extreme uncaring and rudeness to a person who had over 100 bottles of their polish way back then, and I told the CS person that I wanted to cancel. They were again very rude to me.

SO glad there is an email option for canceling now. I wouldn't talk to one of their CS rude people for anything now. My serenity means a whole lot more to me now than it did 3 years ago or so. 

Square Hue, on the other hand, is a very nice company. I just don't get that excited over the colors I see from their boxes. 

 

[mandithomas89]

Thank you to all who have told me the truth today. I've cancelled both my Julep accounts, after changing various parts of the billing info, and adding a debit card that I no longer use and making it the default so they can't bill me " by mistake". 

I remember when I got fed up with Julep and cancelled before. It was when they released some polishes they called " Suedes". Like I said, I ordered a Misery Box that had a bottle of " suede finish" top coat in it. It was sheer, colorless, and it had spilled all over my other items, which at that time were higher value items than the polishes they throw in the Misery Boxes  now. ( body products, Pedi products).

The CS person was beyond rude when I sent the photo in email and there was nothing to see because the broken polish spilled all over my other products was CLEAR. And dried and hardened. 

They had thrown the suede top coat into the box without any protection at all.

When I offered to send the box back, the snarky girl actually accused me of trying to get" a high value Mystery Box  for free AND a refund because  I didn't like what was in it". It was ALL LIES. I couldn't believe she was talking to a long-term customer in that way. 

I could have cared less except that the products were ruined. I don't remember what they were, but I know I wold have used them and that the box had a fairly good value for a Julep Misery Box.

I called back later that day, after thinking about her extreme uncaring and rudeness to a person who had over 100 bottles of their polish way back then, and I told the CS person that I wanted to cancel. They were again very rude to me.

SO glad there is an email option for canceling now. I wouldn't talk to one of their CS rude people for anything now. My serenity means a whole lot more to me now than it did 3 years ago or so. 

Square Hue, on the other hand, is a very nice company. I just don't get that excited over the colors I see from their boxes. 

That's awful CS. I'm sorry. That sucks. Also, I had no idea you could cancel by email now!

 

[latinafeminista]

I've been a member of Julep for a year and a half now and I am still relatively satisfied.  I however have not gotten into indies so I feel that my expectations are different than what alot of people have expressed here; I enjoy their mostly creme and shimmer finishes and definitely get excited when they have more "exciting" finishes like their satins, stardusts and glitters but I just don't expect Julep to do those type of finishes more regularly than they do now.  

 

[Lolo22]

I will always like julep for their tiny bottles lol. I just hate things that take up a lot of space and SH or BL bottles are a nightmare to me. I could take or leave all the products. I love, love Julep glitters but they barely have any anymore and I've never much liked Zoyas formula but they don't seem like that close of dupes to me anyway. I do think Katie looks like a shimmery Flora but Floras formula was so god awful I would still like to get my hands on Katie too. Pretty much all they have to do to keep me happy is keep the glitters/shimmers coming and throw in a few products that mildly interest me. Honestly I'm glad I don't like every collection, that would be way too much polish haha.

 

[cari12]

I'm a 2 year maven and I love the company, love their polish and products, and have no personal complaints. My CS interactions have been few (because I rarely need to contact them) and very fast and pleasant. I definitely think they can improve on things and wish they did certain things differently though. I get the frustrations and don't doubt that people have had much different and less positive experiences however. 

This month is my birthday month and I freaking LOVE the collection so I got the polish upgrade on one account and then the mani-versary box with the clean up tool, mighty stick, ta da drops and Queen Anne on another account and then added on the taupe glider, sushmita, and the core classics box. 

 

[Lyllis]

I've been a member of Julep for a year and a half now and I am still relatively satisfied.  I however have not gotten into indies so I feel that my expectations are different than what alot of people have expressed here; I enjoy their mostly creme and shimmer finishes and definitely get excited when they have more "exciting" finishes like their satins, stardusts and glitters but I just don't expect Julep to do those type of finishes more regularly than they do now.  

I'm coming up on a year now, and I've been satisfied, too.  I think I'm also a different sort of customer than many of the women here.   I'm a middle-aged software engineer who works in a fairly conservative office environment; since I do occasionally meet with customers, glitters and orange or yellow polishes will not be happening.   They're not really my taste anyway.   (And not just because I'm an Old; I wouldn't have worn them when I was younger).

I came to Julep because I was always a pink/beige/neutral/metallic wearer, tame stuff. I started seeing all these newer colors and started wanting to splash out a little.   I'm pretty much the definition of Classic With a Twist.    I won't be wearing lime green glitter anytime soon, but I love polishes like Cynthia and Greta (micro glitters) - classic colors with something different and interesting about them.  I love Sera, the 'dense fog' irridescent chrome.  Or Fina, the powder blue metallic. Or the pink, beige and lavender silks.....I forget their names.

I'm also pretty close to the example of the subscription box customer as Birchbox defined it - a busy woman with little time to shop, who wants someone to curate cosmetics, skincare, polish, etc, and send it to me to try at home.   Between work and helping my elderly parents, my shopping-for-fun time is really limited.  Sephora and Ulta are rare treats, and they're kind of overwhelming.  More stuff than I will ever have time to look at.

I love Julep because I have a nice, curated selection of colors to choose from every month.  All I have to do is pick what I want and it arrives at my door.  It satisfies my need for something new and different, and I don't have to dig through 200 polishes at Sephora to find it. 

I don't know how 'indie' Julep was when they started out, but they're clearly trying to grow into a larger company.  And they must have been pretty successful at it, seeing as they just raised $30M in venture capital.   That growth means they have to serve a much broader customer base.  Does that mean they won't be doing cutting edge stuff like Rainbow Honey does?  Possibly.  Or they'll do a much smaller amount of it.

If so, they may leave some of their 'indie' customers behind, and cede that business to companies like Rainbow Honey and Black Sheep. That's a business decision they'll have to make. 

 

[Moonittude]

My window is open as of 8:30 a.m. EDT - insomnia FTW!

(Edit:  Am I missing something or is taking Happy Mani-versary or Beauty Trailblazers the only way to get Queen Anne?  I don't see it as an add-on, even with the polish upgrade.  I'm on the $19.99 regular Maven plan - not the "My Maven" or "Maven Luxe" plans.)

OMG! You are right. I misunderstood, and thought that Queen Anne was an anniversary gift to everyone, the way we got a 4th of July color, that one time. Now that I know that, I am tempted to go back and skip. I had picked out the teal, the red, the magenta, and added on the precision kit (I have been wanting) and the hot pink add-on color. I feel totally justified to just skip and see the real world swatches first, then pick up the ones I like on sale, later. Poorly played, Julep.

If you're curious, I have a grandmother account, and switched it to a customizable, which is $25 when I take a box, but I can still skip, and I can switch out the eyeliner or whatever for another polish, or some other item, depending on what they offer me.

I'm waffling a bit, because I am pretty bored with my nail polish collection, as porky as it is, but I'm just not as excited now that I won't get the glitter polish.