Subscription Addiction: Julep Maven

So, here's the thing: Julep is my new obsession. It's hard to argue with the idea of getting some really awesome nail polish every month. Here's the tough part. The Maven box is $24.99 a month. I love Julep nail polishes, and I love that they also include something fun (a full sized face serum? YES.), but yikes. That pricetag is a little bit of a shocker. I did get my first Maven box ("welcome box") for just the price of shipping. I also got my October box already!

I have also traded for a ton of Julep polishes on eDivv or purchased them on Yerdle. Here's a picture of my Julep collection so far:

The colors on these are gorgeous. My beauty profile says I'm "Classic With a Twist" (accurate) but the colors on the other profiles are so much fun, too! I mean, "America" (second from the top on the left) is perfect for July 4! Would I ever use it otherwise? No. But is it still gorgeous? Heck yeah!

I'm so excited to get more into Julep. I'm becoming a Julep addict. To me, the price of the monthly box is worth it, especially for the bonus items that come inside. This month, it was a face mask. Last time, I got a fabulous topcoat.

Basically, just give me Julep and we'll all be okay. I'll be posting some fun nail designs in the next few days, since the school I work at is on fall break, and I'm sure I'll eventually get sick of this Model Co Nail polish fail.

Subscription Addiction: Subscription Boxes are my Beauty Gateway Drug

I've always wanted to educate myself on makeup. I've just really been lazy about it for years. When I was in middle school, we weren't allowed to wear makeup to school (Catholic school, for the win!). In high school, I went to an all-girls school (again, Catholic school, for the win!). In college, I was never an early riser, and just did some quick lipgloss and mascara, if that.

More recently, throughout graduate school, I've been a tiny bit better. I'm a teacher's assistant three days a week to help me pay for school, so now I have to be an early riser. And my body clock usually wakes me up about 20 minutes before my alarm: just enough time to put on some makeup.

I wanted to learn more. My mom has been getting me BareEscentuals every holiday for years, but I wanted to learn more about other brands as well. About a month ago, I subscribed to Ipsy and Birchbox. Both services are $10 a month and they are beauty subscription services. Once a month, they send you a box or a bag with an average-ish of 5 deluxe beauty samples (hair care, skin care, makeup, etc) or, in Birchbox's case, lifestyle stuff as well (tea, snacks, etc).

I was obsessed with my Ipsy and Birchbox, so I started googling. The more I googled, the more I learned. I came across My Subscription Addiction, the worst/best thing ever. I could figure out which boxes were free for your first month with a code, which gave you money off, and which were expensive as crap. I started watching YouTube unboxings, and that was where I ended up getting sucked in. My cat and my dog both have subscription boxes. My boyfriend doesn't yet, but he hasn't finished the one month Mistobox gift I gave him last year. But he will.

So, this post is going to kind of be an introduction to the subscription boxes I have tried or want to try. I will make a new post for each unboxing (including pricing, contents, etc), but this will be an overview.

Boxes I have tried (and received a box):
Birchbox
Julep Maven
BeautyBox5
KitNipBox (this one's for my cat, haters gonna hate)
Nadine West (technically not makeup, but it's fashion. I'll make a new post on that later.)
RocksBox (jewelry subscription box)
Toothbrush Subscriptions (um, I forget to change my toothbrush, okay?)

Boxes I Am Expecting Any Day Now (but have not yet tried):
BarkBox
Ipsy
Boxycharm
Love With Food

Boxes I Would Love to Try (but am too broke, let's be real):
Glossybox
Scratch
Sample Society
Loot Crate
Wantable
Beauty Army
Beauty Test Tube
Whimseybox
LipFactory
Total Beauty Collection
Bonjour Jolie
Beauty DNA
BezelBox

Obviously there's a box for almost everything. In my next post, I'm going to answer the obviously looming question: What the hell am I going to do if I hate what's in the box?