Julep Mystery Box: Jewel Heist

[boxesandboxes]

and I've done spring, jewelry heist, some other promotion.  each time got the same awful orange - never tied to the themes.  i should know by now. 

 

[Lolo22]

I get that we may/will get older polish colors that are in savvy deals, but it's not hard for them to keep a theme with it (jewel tones, sparkles).  They have plenty of sale colors that would've fit nicely and overall I think the beauty products were pretty good.  BUT, 2 year old lip glosses and mascara is nasty.  I don't care if it's "safe" to use, the ingredients don't work the same way anymore.  Expiration dates usually have little to do with safety, and more so with effectiveness.

 

[kawaiimeows]

And to me, decreased effectiveness makes them worth even less, which really doesn't justify the products counting as their original non-sale price.

If I wanted old makeup at a discount i would just go to allwholesalecosmetics.

 

[zadidoll]

For those that DID purchase the Jewel Heist would you consider reporting it to the WA BBB for false advertisement? I know I did because I truly felt that I was mislead by the ad campaign showing all the pretty jewel tone/birth stone polishes and thought the Jewel Heist box would contain products fitting the theme. I also complained about the fact I was sent a gloss made prior to June 2012 and almost everything can be found on their "sale" page so the current retail value is not in align to the "over $100 retail value"!

I have YET to hear back from Jane which is starting to irritate me since she told me to email her and I did but feel I'm getting the brush off and her post was merely to pacify me on Facebook. Problem is I get more irritate if not replied to within 24 hours and it's been more than 72 hours since I originally sent the email.

 

[AshleyBeauty13]

Basically, this is why I refuse to be conned into these mystery boxes.  I see old, ugly polishes in ALL of the reviews for just about all of them.  No thanks. 

 

[deactivateduser232015]

Basically, this is why I refuse to be conned into these mystery boxes.  I see old, ugly polishes in ALL of the reviews for just about all of them.  No thanks. 

The sad thing is, they used to be pretty good. Not amazing, necessarily, but a lot better than this one.

Julep really  has gone downhill since i joined. I think it was like January of this year they got a whole round of venture capital funding ($7M I believe) and they removed a lot of the perks mavens who've been around liked. Even small things like getting a good bonus for taking the box. It seems now that Julep is just about the bottom line to these investors :/ But it is Jane's name and reputation on the line. Does she think she's reached a critical mass? sigh.

 

[zadidoll]

@ is right. The mystery boxes, when first launched, were amazing and contained unique polishes not released during the monthly boxes then somewhere along the line the mystery boxes became a dumping ground for Julep to sell their "sale" products. Newer subscribers wouldn't realize that the items in the mystery boxes are OLD products but older subscribers would.

 

[sparkles595959]

hello, I always keep up on these threads but never usually comment, but thought I would throw one in today. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I also got the jewel heist box and contacted them, bc the gel eyeliner I got was dried up. I also expressed my concern w/ nothing being "jewel" themed. They offered me a polish of my choice since the gel eyeliner is out of stock. Then today I was looking at the mascara (thinking about giving it to my mom since I like black), and on the box and tube it also says manufactured 2012.When looking up expiration dates for mascara almost everything I read says 1 year for unopened. Its so gross that they are giving out expired beauty products in boxes. I understand about mystery boxes being a mystery, but they should at least include products that aren't expired.

 

[zadidoll]

Please take pictures and send it to them. You could also file a report with the BBB and the WA ATG since this is ridiculous that Julep is sending out old and expired product.

 

[boxesandboxes]

I'm not even bothering.  I bought 3 mystery boxes before (around $50 total) and fought with them for months. They gave me enough points for 1 polish.  All the mystery boxes were against the theme.  It actually caused me to quit.  Oddly, ironically enough, the jewel heist pulled me back in.  I actually thought we would get at least a birthstone in the mix.  Stupid me.  Fool me once,.... I have no excuse.

 

[zadidoll]

See and that's how companies win by people NOT complaining.

 

[boxesandboxes]

I am telling you - I went round and round and round on it the last time. They gave some people $15 credit (for $15 mystery box) and all 3 of mine were not on topic.  They just ignored every email.  And finally said that they offered me the points for 1 polish. I gave up and quit. can't believe this stupid jewel heist got me back.  And I got makeup.  And some horrible orange polish I got in 2 of the last 3 boxes.  At least it's near halloween time this time around. 

 

[flynt]

Now this thread has me paranoid on expiration dates of unopened cosmetics.  My unopened mascara stash is pretty sizable and I regularly use mascara that's over a year old unopened (after I open them I toss them after three months).  Now I've been googling unopened mascara shelf life but the answers range from 1-5 years with most saying 2-3 years.  That's not even getting into my unopened lip products (def have some from 2012). :/  The lack of clear guidelines is kinda frustrating.

 

[zadidoll]

Now this thread has me paranoid on expiration dates of unopened cosmetics.  My unopened mascara stash is pretty sizable and I regularly use mascara that's over a year old unopened (after I open them I toss them after three months).  Now I've been googling unopened mascara shelf life but the answers range from 1-5 years with most saying 2-3 years.  That's not even getting into my unopened lip products (def have some from 2012). :/  The lack of clear guidelines is kinda frustrating.

I absolutely agree. I'm also confused by it because we'll all taught that the guidelines are for opened product and unopened product lasts longer HOWEVER the more I researched the more I found that there is no science behind the guidelines as the guidelines were either from manufacturers OR from magazines who came up with it. I can't find ANY studies what so ever that proves or disproves that the guidelines we all know are accurate. I guess this is also why manufacturers and sellers state if it looks or smells funky to toss it.

 

[tulosai]

. I guess this is also why manufacturers and sellers state if it looks or smells funky to toss it.

This is pretty much my guiding principle period.  The minute something starts to look or smell off, it's out of my life. Other than that, the only thing I keep a VERY close tab on is open mascaras (which go after 4 months no matter what and which I almost always toss after 2-3 months). I also pay more attention to anything liquidy that has been open for more than 1 year or that I know has been sitting for more than 18 months even unopened, but I have no hard and fast rules on tossing those... I abide by the look/smell test above all.

Maybe this is a bad strategy, but so far so good.

I DO toss anything at all, no matter what it is or how good it looks/smells, if I'm reasonably certain it's been sitting for more than 3-4 years, whether opened or not.

 

[zadidoll]

Just got this reply from Julep a short time ago but not one from Jane.

Hello,
I am very sorry to hear of the challenges you have had with Julep. This may sound a bit crazy, but your original email on Saturday was not received in our Press inbox. We have multiple people on this list, and none of us received it. I am extremely sorry for the delayed response. It does appear to be the right address, so I will investigate further. I have also passed your message on to Jane.
Our CS team will happily process your refund request
Related to your Mystery box, I am sorry that you were disappointed. My team will send you a selection of our favorite things.
Please let me know if you need anything else.

 

[acostakk]

Just got this reply from Julep a short time ago but not one from Jane.

"My team will send you a selection of our favorite things." I'm sorry, but that just made me snort water out of my nose. Who knows what horrors you'll be sent now since it's THEIR "favorite things." Half a dozen bottles of America the Beautiful?

 

[DragonChick]

"My team will send you a selection of our favorite things." I'm sorry, but that just made me snort water out of my nose. Who knows what horrors you'll be sent now since it's THEIR "favorite things." Half a dozen bottles of America the Beautiful?

If I was drinking when I read this, there'd be liquid all over my keyboard. You know the only reason they're sending anything at all is because of the huge stink Zadi made. All I got was the equvalent of a head pat. *chortles*

 

[zadidoll]

If I was drinking when I read this, there'd be liquid all over my keyboard. You know the only reason they're sending anything at all is because of the huge stink Zadi made. All I got was the equvalent of a head pat. *chortles*

Pretty much how I feel. What I said on my FB wall, "Yup, nothing I sent was addressed. While a box of items is nice the fact is 1) I'm not the only one affected by the Jewel Heist box and 2) Will everyone who bought a Jewel Heist box and received either the lip gloss OR the mascara (which apparently expired a year ago) get something? What about everyone else?"

 

[disconik]

Thank god I'm not the only one that ended up with a crap mystery box!

Mine had the Luxe Repair Skin Serum, Blank Canvas Plumping Lip Primer, Zoe (a now sold out 4.99 clearance item that isn't even swatched properly on their page), Fiore (I like this one), Sunny (a dupe for me), Valerie (I like this one) and a neon green hair tie.

I went to use the skin serum this morning and it was RANCID.  Totally foul.  I wrote a big long blog post about why I'm breaking up with Julep and made sure to tag them in it on twitter.  Hopefully word will get around.  The CS rep admitted to me that they use old stock for the MBs and I just find it appalling that they would send out skin and lip care that is totally rancid.  

Zadi, I will absolutely writing the WA BBB.

ETA: The lip primer was also rancid.  The CS rep said they'll be sending me replacement products and I asked if they would be coming from the new stock or the old stock and she assured me it would be from newer stock.  We'll see...