Julep Monthly Box

Lately, I feel like all I've heard about are subscription boxes such as Birchbox and Ipsy. One that I haven't really heard being talked about is Julep.

I saw an ad for it on Facebook and figured I'd check it out! Here's a link to the website.

For the first box, I only had to pay for shipping which was $3.99. A regular box costs $19.99 plus shipping.

I first took a quiz about how I accessorize and with what colors. Then I was given a style profile. There are five different "Mavens" that you can be and I am a Modern Beauty Maven I was assigned a box but you can definitely pick your own!

This is the box itself. 

When I opened the box, this is what I saw along with two little information slips. 

The items I got in my box were the Julep Rockstar Hand Creme and The Julep Sea Salt Texture Spray.

The Sea Salt spray is what I am most excited for! It smells very fresh and clean and not salty like some salt sprays smells. That's a tongue twister, huh! But the product is a green liquid.

At first I wasn't that excited for the hand creme but once I tried it, oh my goodness. It is so moisturizing but not greasy! It leaves a sheen on your skin but it makes the skin look very healthy and moisturized. It definitely has a scent but not too perfumy. It smells elegant, if that's possible!

The packaging has one of those caps that you twist and then when you squeeze the bottle, product comes out. It looks like this.

Definitely not a greasy product and don't let the thinness fool you!

As for shipping, I felt like it took a very long time for my box to get here but then again I was very excited for it so it may have just seemed like a long time because of that. 

I liked that the box had something other than tissue paper lining it. Those little black zig zags deals were something I had never gotten in a package before so very cool!

Hope you guys find this review helpful! Follow me on instagram at natalieb0813 or on twitter @budigbabe. If there are any products you would like for me to review, either comment below or email me at natalie.budig@comcast.net. 

Top Ten Nail Polishes for Fall

Fall is right around the corner! It's almost time to break out those comfy sweaters and gorgeous boots, but don't forget about those fall nail polishes! I have comprised a list of my top ten nail polishes for fall.

I threw a red polish in there because I think a red nail is classy at any time of the year.

All nail polishes can be found at the drugstore and are in no particular order!

Wet n Wild's Wild Shine "Night Prowl" 

 Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro "Stiletto Red"

Ulta

Wet n Wild's Megalast "Sea Change" 

This polish is exclusively at Dollar General.

Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear "Grey Area"

Ulta

Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure "Pat on the Black" - this could easily be a dupe for OPI's "Lincoln Park After Dark"

 Ulta 

 Revlon Colorstay Longwear Nail Enamel "Midnight"

Ulta

 China Glaze "Designer Satin"

This color comes off a lot darker than the bottle shows. It's a nice deep pink. 

Amazon

Nicole by Opi's - "Nicoles Nickle"

 Ulta

NYC In A New York Color Minute Quick Dry "Sidewalkers"

 You can find this polish at any Target, even though it is not featured on their website.

Orly's "Wild Wysteria"

Amazon

Hope you guys find this list helpful! Follow me on instagram at natalieb0813 or on twitter @budigbabe. If there are any products you would like for me to review, either comment below or email me at natalie.budig@comcast.net.

AKBracelet on Etsy

One of the big trends over the summer were layering bracelets and wearing wrap bracelets.  I fell in love with this trend! However, what I didn't fall in love with was the price. I scoured the area looking for a store that would sell a nicely made bracelet for under $15. I wasn't willing to pay more than that for such a simple bracelet. 

After about a week, I gave up. My family was going on vacation so I figured I'll look when I go to Tennessee and Florida. Then I remembered that my cousin makes bracelets like these and she sells them at a reasonable price!

Here is a picture of the bracelet. This bracelet is also on the Etsy website and is going for $13.

 

Most bracelets cost $13, however, for a bracelet like the one below with the special beads, that's going to cost a little more. 

I wear my bracelet almost every day (Allie if you're reading this then I wear it every day) and i have not noticed any wear or tear. From experience of attempting to make bracelets, I know that sometimes it's hard to make a knot in the chord to either tie a bracelet together or prevent beads from sliding off. I have not experienced my bracelet becoming untied or any beads falling off. 

Here are some other bracelets that AKBracelet offers. 

 

I love the blue beads in the above bracelet!

The above bracelet would be perfect for fall! 

The owner of the shop, Alison, does accept custom orders so feel free to email her in regards to making a bracelet completely custom for you! The combination of chord and bead colors are endless!

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with my bracelet from AKBracelet and definitely recommend this shop!

Hope you enjoyed this review! Follow me on instagram at natalieb0813 or on twitter @budigbabe. If there are any products you would like for me to review, either comment below or email me at natalie.budig@comcast.net.

e.l.f. haul!

Recently, elf cosmetics - Eyes Lips Face - had a sale. 50% off all studio products. I jumped at the chance to try out some of the new products I had my eye on for the past few weeks. I try to only order from them when they have a 50% off sale. Their shipping can sometimes be expensive and of course right after I ordered, they announced that now on orders $35 and up, shipping will be free! 

 

Anyway, back to my haul. I got a lot of great stuff that I'm really excited about. After swatching everything, I noticed that a few things could be dupes for others. Those will all be in a separate post.

This is just an overview of what I bought. 

These were the items I was most excited about! These are the Studio Long-Lasting Lustrous Eye Shadow. The texture is very soft and wet. These would be perfect as a base. 

Left to right: Confetti, Party, and Festivity.

My next most excited for item were these baked eye shadows. At first I was concerned that they didn't seem soft enough to be really pigmented. These were swatched dry. 

Left to right: Chocolate Dreams, Burnt Plum, Pixi, and Passion Purple. 

Here are the baked eye shadows swatched with a damp finger. 

 

 Left to right: Chocolate Dreams, Burnt Plum, Pixi, and Passion Purple. 

SOOO PIGMENTED! The bright purple could be kind of a cool eyeliner. 

I really enjoy the Studio Pigment Eyeshadow's and this is no exception. A tiny amount of pigment goes a long way! So pigmented and soft. I'm really excited to use this.

 

Color: Naughty Noire

I bought these shadows after seeing Emily Noel 83 from YouTube talk about them. Unfortunately, I can not seem to find the video. These shadows have potential I'm just a little disappointed with the Pebble color. Maybe I could use it as an all over the lid color or transition color. I guess I'll just have to experiment! Loving the Raspberry Truffle color tho.

Left to right: Raspberry Truffle and Pebble 

I bought the Studio Waterproof Lengthening & Volumizing mascara which seemed like a tiny tube compared to other mascaras but for $3 I'm not terribly disappointed. The wand reminds me a lot of Maybelline's Great Lash Mascara wand. 

 Color: Black

Then I bought the Mineral Infused Mascara. The wand is very flexible and has a TON of tiny little bristles that I think will be good for really getting in there and coating the lashes with mascara. 

 Color: Black

This next item I have had my eye on for quite some time. I've heard so many people talk about it so I finally decided to try it. I don't typically fill in my brows, that's why I was wary of trying it. But first impression was good. I'm going to have to check out a few brow tutorials before I give a review on this product. 

Color: Light

Color: Passion Pink

 DISCLAIMER! I DID NOT RUB A PINK HIGHLIGHTER ON MY HAND!

These next products are so pigmented! A very very very little bit of the Studio HD Blushes goes a long way. This color payoff was achieved with the amount the size of a pin head. Holy cow. I'm still in awe of the color payoff. I wonder if you could use these on your lips? 

 Left to right: Diva and Headliner

Next up is a baked highlighter, this one is in Moonlight Pearls. I swatched it both dry (left) and wet (right) because this product could double as an eyeshadow as well. Lots and lots of shimmer tho so probably use this with a light hand.

 Color: Moonlight Pearls 

I'm a huge fan of the Studio Mineral Infused Face Primer in clear so I figured I'd try one of the other ones they had. I picked the purple one because, well, I love the color purple. This one definitely seems thicker than the original. It's very soft so I'm excited to really compare the clear and lavender!

 Color: Brightening Lavender 

This concealer was a lifesaver last year at school. I was constantly staying up late and had the dark undereyes to prove it. This is the Studio Maximum Coverage Concealer - Oil Free. A little bit goes a long way. It is a little darker than pictured online but once you set it with powder it's not as bad.

 Color: Porcelain

I've had my eye on the Studio Eyeliner and Shadow Sticks for a while so I picked one up in Purple and Plum (two swatches towards the left) and then another in Black and Smoke ( two swatches towards the right). Very creamy; however, the eyeliners you kind of have to put some work into them because their colors aren't as deep as you would expect. The shadows are very nice tho. 

 Left to right: Plum, Purple, Black, and Smoke

This eyeliner is the Studio Kohl Eyeliner and I wasn't too impressed. It was very hard and almost hurt my hand as I was swatching it. I had to apply some pressure to get color payoff. I'm kind of scared to put this near my eyes so we shall see!

 Color: Black

I'm really excited about this next product. This is the Studio Precision Liquid Eyeliner. It definitely is liquid-y so I'll probably have to wait for this to dry a little so it doesn't smudge all over. But I'm excited since this is very pigmented!

 Color: Black

Well that concludes my novel of a post! Hope you enjoyed my haul. I'm very excited for my upcoming posts involving these products so make sure you check back to my page!

Hope you enjoyed this review! Follow me on instagram at natalieb0813 or on twitter @budigbabe. If there are any products you would like for me to review, either comment below or email me at natalie.budig@comcast.net.

Candle Alternative - My Secret Weapon

Being a college student, I have the luxury of staying in a dorm which unfortunately does not always smell the best. I've tried room sprays and misting my perfume around but don't find that it makes that big of a difference. 

Then, on one of my many random trips to Target, I came across this.

*cue triumphant music*

Ta-da! This is an electric wax warmer! It's similar to a Scentsy, just a Target version. There is no wick, therefore, no flame, making it a little safer to have in the home. I was unable to find the exact one I found in store on their website. If I remember correctly, it was around $20. 

What's great about having a candle warmer rather than an actual candle is that the warmer is warming the wax which is what contains the scent. There is a light bulb inside that is warming the wax evenly, rather than a candle that is warming from the inside out.

Here is where you put the block of wax. 

The scent I currently have in my warmer is called "tahitian vanilla". This scent smells just like a warm sugar cookie. It's incredible! I constantly receive compliments about how good my room smells. This scent I picked up at Target for I believe $3.99.

I haven't tried any other scents but I do have a scent from Scentsy called Vanilla Cream and then I also have one called Baked Apple Pie which reminds me of how the restaurant Cracker Barrel Smells. The Baked Apple Pie scent will be perfect for fall. I also have one other scent that I picked is called Jasmine Bouquet which is a very floral-y scent - perfect for spring!

The only difference between the Target brand and Scentsy brand wax is that the Target brand comes in the form of blocks separate from each other. With the Scentsy wax, the wax is somewhat melted together and you have to break the blocks apart. Below is a picture ofwhat the Scentsy wax looks like.

Switching out the scents is very easy! If I'm just adding in another block of the same wax that is currently in the warmer, I just let it melt and then pour it into the garbage can, typically into a box or some type of container that is being thrown out. If I'm switching out the scents entirely, then I do the same, just wiping out the warmer before putting in the new scent. Be careful, tho! The warmer will be hot!

Overall, I am very pleased with my electric warmer. I recently browsed the Scentsy website and saw a few scents I'm itching to try!

Hope you enjoyed this review! Follow me on instagram at natalieb0813 or on twitter @budigbabe. If there are any products you would like for me to review, either comment below or email me at natalie.budig@comcast.net.

Red Carpet Manicure - Red Carpet Worthy?

With the latest fad being gel nails, I figured that I would try out both the salon version and the at home version. After visiting three different salons, I went to Ulta and purchased the Red Carpet Manicure Pro 45 Starter Kit for $79.99. Thankfully, I didn't have to pay full price because I had a 20% off coupon.


Photo Cred: Target

The box contains a UV light, a red gel polish, polish remover, a purifying liquid, a base coat, a top coat, a prepping liquid, and a revitalizing oil. The polish remover and purifying liquid are both smaller sizes while everything else is full size. As for the polish remover, I don't find a difference between that and just regular acetone.  

The bottle on the left is full size that I purchased separately and the bottle on the right is the size that came with the kit.  

The packaging itself was good. Nothing fancy, just a simple box; not too big, not too small. Everything inside fit neatly in the box. Was it durable enough to last for a long time? No. I did end up purchasing a plastic container to store everything in. Part of the problem was that I had purchased a bunch of different colors to go with so they didn't all fit in the box. 

Color selection is pretty good. I'd love it if they came out with a few more pastel colors. I feel like most of the colors that they have are very dark which would be perfect for fall or winter; however, I purchased this product in the spring so it probably didn't work out as well as it could have.

Above are the brighter colors that I have.
Left to right: Nervous with Anticipation, After Party Playful, Star Power, Candid Moment, Paparazzied, Ooo La Liscious, and White Hot. 

 

Above are the darker colors that I have.

Left to right: Publicity Stunt, Scandalous, My Inspiration, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Red Carpet Ready, Black Stretch Limo, Midnight Affair, and Plum Up the Volume. 

As for mixing different polishes from different brands, I would not do so. I tried using the brand FingerPaints, and found that the polish would goop up and be bumpy and thick. My nails also did not look as shiny. 

The application of the polish is very nice. The polishes are very pigmented and apply very nicely to the nail. The polishes are pretty thin except for the base and top coat. They're a little bit thicker but not to the point where the polishes are unusable. I noticed with the top coat, the brush can sometimes pick up the color from the polish on your nails. That doesn't ruin the polish, tho.



The color on my nails is called "Midnight Affair". Depending on the lighting, the color appears either more navy or more like a dark turquoise. 

It takes some time to get used to painting with the polish because certain colors sometimes shrink under the UV light and now you really need to be careful because unlike regular polishes that can be easily touched up, once you cure the polish with the UV light, you're basically at the point of no return. 

Removal is not bad at all. I have found that if I take a small tupperware container and fill it with enough Acetone to cover my finger tips and nails, and let my nails soak, that's the easiest way to remove the polish. Then, I take an orange stick and scrape the polish off. However, most of the polish peels off itself and the rest comes off with little to no effort. 

Is the Red Carpet Manicure system red carpet ready? I'd say so! I love how easy it is and how shiny it looks. When I would go to the salon to pay for a gel manicure, it would cost me between $30-$35. With this system, I've gotten my money worth in just two manicures!

Hope you enjoyed this review! Follow me on instagram at natalieb0813 or on twitter @budigbabe. If there are any products you would like for me to review, either comment below or email me at natalie.budig@comcast.net.

Tuesday Night Walgreen's Haul!

Although I am 19, I still love 17 Magazine. Is there an age limit on magazines really? Well, anyhoo. I was flipping through 17 and came across a coupon from Covergirl for $4 off any two eye products from them.

Goodbye boredom, hello Walgreen's! Here are the products that I picked up at Walgreen's with my $4 off Covergirl coupon and then an in-store coupon for a Revlon eye product.

First thing I picked up were two of the Covergirl Flamed Out Shadow Pots in "Blazing White" and "Melted Caramel".

Swatches were ehh. I was expecting something incredibly pigmented. I figured the white shade could be a great highlight but after swatching, I'm thinking it'll be better off as an all over the lid color. The brown was nice. Both have a decent amount of shimmer in it.

Next, I was in need of a good black eye liner that I could use to make a very thin line on the upper lash line, just to add a little definition. The brand that instantly came to mind was Jordana and I picked up their Easyliner for Eyes in Black.

I am super excited about this one. It just glides right on and doesn't budge.



Lastly, I picked up a Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in "Sirene". I figured I could do a smokey eye with this but after swatching it, I'm not too impressed.




It took forever for me to build up enough color for it to show up in the picture, but maybe it'll be different if I use an eyeshadow base or primer and use an eyeshadow brush instead of my fingers.



Hope you enjoyed this mini haul! Follow me on instagram at natalieb0813 or on twitter @budigbabe. If there are any products you would like for me to review, either comment below or email me at natalie.budig@comcast.net.