Here’s my slightly belated review of Laguna Beach Mystery Box. I somewhat regret buying it, because right after I received it, Julep announced their huge warehouse sale, and I would have been able to pick up these same polishes for a lot less money. But, whatever, what’s done is done.
The products I ended up getting:
- Julep Natalie
- Julep Nikki
- Julep Simone
- Hand and Cuticle Stick
- Strawberry-Mint Lip Balm
I’m rarely impressed with solid hand and cuticle salves, but this stick is actually great. It smells wonderful, and instantly softens any rough skin around the nails. As for the lip balm, I have a lot of them already, but it’ll definitely get used eventually.
Both Nikki and Natalie had very goopy, streaky formulas, and I didn’t like that part at all. But the colors are bright and cheerful, which is perfect for summer. I have an overload of neutrals, so it was refreshing to receive something out of the ordinary for a change. Nikki is described as electric highlighter neon yellow , and Natalie is a chic retro honeysuckle pink.
On the contrary, Simone was very runny and still streaky, but at least it didn’t bubble up. The color is alright, but I already have a couple very similar ones in my collection. Simone is described as a soft pastel lilac opalescent shimmer.
| Product | Retail value |
|---|---|
| Julep Natalie | $14.00 |
| Julep Nikki | $14.00 |
| Julep Simone | $14.00 |
| Hand and Cuticle Stick | $22.00 |
| Strawberry-Mint Lip Balm | $6.00 |
| Box Retail Value | $70.00 |
Ugh…. I keep waiting to see someone with a box worth $100, I’m having a hard time believing the $200 box even exists! Mine wasn’t even $70! And I thought the same thing about the warehouse sale… Oh well! :-/
Yeah, I was wondering about those high value boxes, too. I feel like it was all bait-and-switch tactics, or people who got those just aren’t bloggers.
the yellow looks really lovely! i have so many polishes that I can no longer justify something like a warehouse sale. :
I kind of decided to stop buying polishes too for the time being, I feel like I always only wear them once and then they just end up collecting dust. This mystery box was my last nail polish purchase for at least another several months.
I really like Julep colors! THe ones that you got were really pretty too. I quit getting my subscription to Julep for awhile though because I have way more polish than I can handle.
http://www.reviewsuntilyoudrop.blogspot.com/
Julep carries lots of gorgeous colors, and I heard they recently won an award for being the best indie startup! 🙂 A well-deserved recognition, indeed.
I really like Simone and that’s the only one I own. I don’t have anything too similar at the moment but I’m sure I will eventually. Luckily Julep polishes are small and I don’t mind have an extra since I love the shade so much. I was VERY glad I skipped these mystery boxes though, and I spent way too much money at the warehouse sale instead. I need to skip Julep mystery boxes in general, they always have other great promotions where I can actually pick my polishes I’d rather use 🙂
Great blog and as a fellow polish lover/blogger I am definitely subscribing!
writingwhimsy.com
When I found out about the warehouse sale I soooo wished I didn’t purchase these mystery boxes! Oh well, at least I got several gorgeous colors, some of which were unavailable during the sale anyway.
Subscribed to your blog as well, and looking forward to reading your posts! 🙂
Thank you 🙂 Yeah I have purchased several mystery boxes in the past and it’s still a good deal especially if you love your colours which you did, I just ended up with 4/6 colours in my last box (polish only, I still need to blog it so I am even later than you!) that I swapped or am trying to swap which is when I decided no more mystery boxes! It is good to hear about the cuticle stick too, I didn’t purchase that because I wasn’t sure about it, if it’s ever on promotion again I will have to check it out!
Meh…I got a very nice Mystery box back at Christmas, and I think the value was well above $100. But I’m so glad I haven’t signed up for any more of them, because I haven’t seen any others remotely worth that much!
Yeah, the Christmas ones were great, and as far as I remember, they were cheaper, too. I’m totally not getting any more of these 🙁