Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Julep CARRIE and ALFRE Nail Polish Swatches and Review

In August, I signed up for the Julep Maven program. Since that time, a lot of things have gone down. In a nut shell, Julep was not living up to their end of the deal on referrals and some people were being double charged. You can read more about that HERE (right click/open new window) on The Polishaholic's blog. She posted everything very eloquently and truthfully.

I got my Maven box pretty quickly after my initial sign up, and was really pleased with the packaging and the contents. If you're interested in seeing my initial review of the box and program, please click here (right click/open new window).

Because of everything happening as outlined in The Polishaholics post, I cancelled my Maven subscription. I wasn't double charged, and I did receive credit for 3 referrals, though I have no idea if that is accurate. The reason I cancelled was as a preemptive measure so that the things mentioned WOULDN'T happen. I figured once I tried everything I could sign back up if I liked the products and the company got their act together.

I will not be signing back up for the program. I have no idea if Julep has redeveloped their program or fixed anything, but I wasn't pleased with the quality of their polishes. You can get a much better quality polish for a lot less $$ wise. AND I've tried to email them twice and neither email has been answered. This says to me, that as of now, nothing has changed. Hopefully, they're working on it, because this program is a GREAT idea and a GREAT deal. They need a re-vamp on their program AND their customer service.

Now, on to the swatches!


Even though I wasn't pleased with the polishes or the program, some of you out there might be! What good do these polishes do if they aren't swatched?! Might as well, right?!

Carrie

I love the Barbie/bubble gum pink that is Carrie. But I found that this cream polish did not coat evenly, and was RUNNY as all get out. I had tip wear within a day and a pretty decent sized chip on my pointer finger. I used 3 coats for the swatch photo.

Alfre

I really love the color of Alfre as well. But as a frosty polish it was streaky and runny, though it did coat much better than Carrie. I also had tip wear rather quickly with this one, and for some reason it wouldn't dry. I used 3 coats for the swatch photo.

Julep does recommend two coats with their polishes, but 2 coats was still REALLY sparse and I felt it definitely needed a third coat. As a side note, they are a 3-free brand.

The quality just isn't there. For $14 you could go to Ulta and buy almost 2 of another polish (from OPI, Orly, Zoya, China Glaze) that is better quality and has more product in the bottle. If the polish is quality, regardless of the price, I'll sing it's praises. (For example, Le Metier de Beaute polishes are $$$ for their size BUT the quality is outstanding).

Julep Nail Polish retails for $14 and can be purchased on their website.

ETA - I did just email them regarding using my credit and a possible overcharge, I received a response within 5 minutes. That's what I'm talking about, Julep! Awesome! Very happy with that =)

4 comments:

Sophie said...

Weird. Mine are REALLY good quality. I have about 4 Julep polishes not including the base coat. They all apply opaque in 1-2 coats, are easy to apply and last long. I have Alfre but haven't worn it because I don't like frosts.

Danielle said...

It is unfortunate what happened with the Maven referral program. They offered me a free box for October even though I wasn't involved in the referral program disaster, and I accepted their good will gesture.
So sad that your polishes were duds! I got mine yesterday and I am so pleased with how they applied. They are watery, or more thin than OPI, etc. but I only needed 1 coat for Emilie and it looked fab :) it might be one of those case by case things unfortunately, but I will give them another chance especially since it isn't costing me any money :)thanks for the review and swatches!

Brooke @ Blushing Noir said...

aw =( I'm sad my polishes were duds. I loved the actual colors, and thought they fit me well. A bad batch, I suppose =(

Jeanne’s Creativity Spot said...

I canceled mine as well. I got the exact same tip wear and chips within a day or two! I got Cameron instead of Carrie. I like Carrie better! it is a cool concept but not well executed!

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Labels

Acqua di Parma (1) Addiction NV Cosmetics (1) Anastasia (1) Announcement (11) ArtClub (1) Aveeno (1) Avon (1) Awards (7) Bare Escentuals (6) Barielle (2) Bath and Body (3) Bath and Body Works (1) BB Couture (2) BeautyMint (2) Benefit (5) Birchbox (7) Blogazon Roundup (2) Bobbi Brown (9) Born Pretty (2) Brows (1) Brushes (3) Bumble and Bumble (1) Burberry (1) Butter London (5) Carsi (1) Causes (1) Cellnique (1) challenge (1) chanel (56) China Glaze (43) Cleaning (1) Clinique (7) Clothes (1) Coach (4) Color Club (10) comparison (12) contest (65) coupon code (1) Cult Nails (7) Deborah Lippmann (7) Dior (59) Duri (6) DuWop (1) ebates (1) Edward Bess (2) EOTD (46) Essie (7) Estee Lauder (1) Events (1) Eyeko (2) Facebook (1) fall 2009 (1) Family (7) Fashion (2) Finger Paints (3) Flashback Friday (6) FOTD (54) Friends (3) Funky Fingers (1) GingerKitty Designs (1) Giorgio Armani (2) Golden Rose (1) Gondola (1) Good Times (1) Guerlain (17) Guest FOTD (5) Guest Swatcher (2) Gymboree (1) Hair (3) hair care (1) Halendi (1) Halloween (1) Hard Candy (1) Hauls (12) Hourglass (3) Illamasqua (2) Influenster (1) introduction (1) Jenna (1) Jessica Simpson (1) jewelry (1) Jon and Kate Plus 8 (1) Juicy Couture (2) Julep (2) Kids (3) Konad (4) Korres (2) L'Oreal (20) Lancome (7) Laura Mercier (2) Le Metier De Beaute (42) Liberty Of London (1) Lippmann (1) Living Proof (1) LORAC (1) LUSH. Review (1) MAC (246) Make Up For Ever (3) Makeup (6) Marc Jacobs (1) Mary Kay (2) Milani (2) Missha (1) MUFE (1) Nail Polish (131) NARS (67) Neova (1) NFU Oh (1) Nicole by OPI (8) NOTD (27) Nubar (2) NYC (4) NYX (9) OPI (55) Orly (11) Overall Beauty (7) Philosophy (1) Photography (1) Physicians Formula (3) Poll (1) Poshe (1) Press Release (198) Promotional (1) Random (1) Remover (1) Renovation (2) Review (497) Reviva Labs (2) Rock and Republic (1) sale (5) Sally Hansen (10) Scentsy (1) Sephora (8) Shapercise (2) Shopping (1) Sinful Colors (3) skincare (5) Smashbox (1) Soap Hope (2) spider (1) Stila (5) Storage (1) Sunday Dump (2) swatches (497) Tarte (11) theBalm (3) Tini Beauty (1) Too Faced (31) Top 5 (11) Trial (1) Troy Surratt (1) Twilight (1) Twist Band (1) Ugg (1) Urban Decay (46) vacation (1) Victorias Secret (2) VoxBox (1) Weddings (1) Wet N Wild (30) What's In Your Purse (1) Wordless Wednesday (1) Work out (1) YBF (1) YMCA (1) YouTube (3) Yves Saint Laurent (3) Zoya (31) Zumba (1)