Julep Maven: February 2013 It Girl (Joan, Marion, Rebel) Swatches

The amount of photos I have from London/Paris is quite intimidating, so I haven't taken the time to sort through them just yet.  While I'm procrastinating on that, I thought I'd share with you my February Julep Maven box.  This came while I was away, so it was nice surprise when I got home.

I actually debated getting the full collection this month because I liked quite a few of the colors AND there were several holographic polishes.  Also, I kind of wanted to try that Oxygen base coat thing.  But in the end, I decided on the It Girl box because it had the color I really wanted (Joan) and the holographic color that I really wanted (Rebel), and also because an upgrade wasn't quite in the budget for me.

(Side note: my profile is supposed to be Boho Glam, but I can't even remember the last time I got that one. I'm really glad they let you choose which box you want, and also that they let you skip.)

Anyway, on to the pictures!

All the February boxes came with the Freedom top coat which is supposed to be like a gel top coat without all the hassle.  I think all the boxes also came with an eyelash curler (in the pouch) and some chocolate (hidden under the eyelash curler, lol).

I think these Swatch Me stickers are quite handy, but you can't really tell from the swatch that Rebel is holographic.  You can't really see the pretty gold flecks in Joan either...But I still like the idea of these stickers. :)

And this time around, I actually had time to swatch all of the colors.  I feel so proud that I'm really working on swatching more now.

First up is Rebel.  I had a hard time photographing this one.  It's a silver holographic polish, but I find the holo-ness to be quite subtle compared to other holo polishes I've seen.  Still very pretty though!

Click through for more swatches of Rebel, plus swatches of Joan and Marion!

January 2013 Ipsy Bag

I meant to post this when I got this last month, but I got busy planning for a trip that I went on at the end of last month.  It was an amazing trip, and I had so much fun!  I will definitely be doing a post on that, with a few pictures.  My destinations were London and Paris, if you can't wait for the upcoming travel post. ;)  These are two cities that have been at the top of my bucket list/travel list, so I'm really glad that everything worked out and I was able to go with a good friend of mine!

But anyway, here is the January IPSY bag:

The bag was navy blue and a starry night sky type of pattern on the inside.  Ipsy has really been stepping it up with their bags.  I feel like they're better quality now than when they started, and I really like this one.

Inside was a Pacifica Body Butter, Big Sexy Hair Hairspray, Nailtini Nail Lacquer, Josie Maran Argan Oil, and an eyeliner brush from SoHo.  I know that not everyone got the same brush.  I think some people got a blending brush, and I would have very much preferred to have gotten the blending brush compared to this eyeliner brush.

As you can see, the bristles stick out every which way.  This eyeliner brush is quite thick and the bristles are not even.  I haven't tried it yet, but I don't think this will be a very good brush to apply eyeliner with.  I just don't think you'd get a nice, even line with this.  After I give it a try, I'll update here and let you know how it did. :)

Overall, I'm pleased with this bag.  The sizes of these samples are really great, as they are pretty much travel size (and not packets/itsy bitsy samples)!  Ipsy has definitely stepped it up in that area (compared to other subscription boxes *coughbirchboxcough*).  I have been wanting to try Big Sexy Hair products, so it was great to receive the hairspray to try out.  The body butter is nice and I love the scent!  Citrus scents are so refreshing.  I haven't tried the polish, but it looks like just a classic red (and is called Bloody Mary).  The Josie Maran Argan Oil is something I've been wanting to try too, so I'm happy to have gotten this also!  The brush is the only thing that I was really disappointed with this time.

I didn't get the card, so I can't give prices or true descriptions, but I hope my descriptions will do! 

What did you think of this IPSY bag? Let me know~