365 Days of Color Spring Exclusive Box

Whew, I'm finally getting this up! As per usual, the box is currently sold out, but I was sick with my thousandth cold when this box arrived and wanted to be actually able to smell the products before I posted my review. Now I can breathe again, so here we go! 

As per usual, everything looks wonderful. I also love the labels that Sunny chooses for her products. This box are were some slight packaging changes, and I'm not sure if that's a permanent change or if it was just this time. The lip balm is now in a clear tube and several of the tubs of product, instead of having rounded edges on the lids, now have a straight edge.

All over body balm: Rainbow.  This scent is described as "a very unique fragrance beginning with top notes of pear, green grapes, kiwi, raspberry and peach; followed by middle notes of jasmine and lily of the valley; and well rounded with a base note of white musk."

 This is super sweet and fruity smelling, but to me it recalls some scent from my childhood. It's maybe a little on the sweet side, but overall I like it. 

Bath Whip: Clean Crisp Air. Sunny says that this is scent "reminds you of fresh clean air filled with hints of greenery and soft florals. This complex fragrance begins with top notes of fresh clover and ivy. Middle notes of baby's breath, periwinkle, and lily of the valley. Base notes of ozony fresh notes."

The scent of this in the jar is very light and hard to place-- I haven't used it yet in the shower so I'm not sure how much I love it, but I will try it out soon! 

Cuticle Oil: Sun Moon Stars. This scent has "fresh green notes of clover and ivy followed by notes of jasmine, and vetiver. Bottom notes of green stem notes. Fresh!"

I've been using this a lot lately with my Neutrogena Norwegian Hand Cream to keep my hands happy and I really like this scent. It's a nice balance between floral and green, without leaning too much either way. 

Hand Butter: Butterfly Flower. This scent has "fresh ozone notes that lead to this light hearted green floral bouquet. A blend of lily and sage is twisted with shimmering greens as tangy tones of cassis create a bright accent for the floralcy. Sweet amber and crisp orange flower are blended with musk at the base of the scent."

 This one definitely has a more green smell to it, but I really like it as a contrast to the florals in this box. It has a fresh, clean scent. The hand butter is pretty much my favorite product, so this is probably my favorite. 

Sugar Scrub: April Showers. Described as having "the aroma of fresh powder, light musk, and just a hint of fresh spring flowers of lavender, jasmine, and tulips."

This one smelled a lot like laundry detergent to me, and unfortunately it was a little overpowering to me. Not a bad scent, but a little too strong for me. I loved how it felt on my hands otherwise, but the scent is not my cup of tea.

Intensive Cuticle Therapy Oil: Spring Rain. This scent is described as a "musky accord enhanced with a fresh floral bouquet of carnations, tiger lilies, alyssum, orchids, and roses, with hints of fresh greenery."

This has a nice light clean smell, just like a fresh spring rain! I really like this.

Lip Balm: Honeysuckle Mandarin. This is scent is described as "a fresh blend of sweet blooming honeysuckle and juicy ripe sour mandarins!"

This was a nice blend of fruit and floral with this one-- the citrus keeps it from being too perfumey. I like it! 

Miracle Balm: Chance: This fragrance is a blend of citron, water hyacinth, jasmine, iris, teakwood, vetiver, patchouli, amber, and white musk.

 This scent of this is pretty light, but nice. Not my favorite, but not bad! 

On the Go Hand Lotion: Breezes and Sunshine. This scent "begins with top notes of blood orange blossoms and sea waves; followed by rose, and sitting on base notes of sea lily flowers and woody notes."

Love the smell of this one! I love this lotion during the day and this smells wonderful. 

Triple Thick Body Cream: Innocence. This scent is described as "a wonderful aromatic blend starting with top notes of powdery peony petals, romantic alyssum, jasmine, and fresh strawberries. Bottom notes of lily of the valley, Egyptian musk, and vanilla beans." 

I love the way this smells! So good! It's light and sweet and just delightful. Definitely a favorite from this box.  

Overall another great box-- I really hope Sunny does a summer box, because so far that's been my favorite.

Julep Lip Buff Scrub and Luxe Lip Conditioning Treatment

This is a slightly different post than normal for me. I have been a Julep subscriber for a long time-- basically since they started their Maven program. I know a lot of people have issues with Julep for various reasons; fair enough. I am not one of those people, so feel free to skip this post if you are. I initially joined Julep for the nail polish and was a bit put off when they started expanding their line to include other beauty products-- especially when they turned the American Beauty box into the Modern Beauty box. I wanted nail polish, damnit! Yet, as I have gotten more into makeup thanks to the gateway drug of polish, and the fact that I have limited time to wear and swatch polish these days, I find myself glad that Julep has expanded their horizons because I can pick to get beauty related items instead of polish that will lanquish in a drawer until I have time to get to it (though let's not kid ourselves-- I still buy polish of course!).

I haven't talked much about my personal beauty regime on this blog, but I'm a relatively simple person. My biggest beauty struggle is probably my lips-- they dry out extremely quickly and I usually exacerbate the problem by picking at them and making them worse. I try and wear chapstick constantly, but will absentmindedly pick at my lips (and not drink enough water), leading to a chronic problem of ugly, scarred, flaky lips. Pregnancy (and now post-partum), to my surprise, has actually helped solve this issue to an extent-- I am constantly drinking water and this has definitely improved the condition of my lips. So when the March Modern Beauty box had these two lip products in it, I decided to take a chance and try them!

Julep Lip Buff Scrub is described as an "exfoliating, hydrating scrub makes it easy to de-flake on the go—just massage on and wipe off. Your lips will look and feel better right away." The scrub has fine sugar crystals, vitamin B5 and shea butter to exfoliate, heal, and moisturize. It's a pen/wand with a felt applicator and you twist the bottom to get product.

It took me quite a few twists to get any product out (like 10+ at least)-- at first I thought I had a dud because nothing was coming out! So if you got this and got really ticked off (I was getting there, believe me), try twisting it a few more times. Now that I've gotten it started I only need one twist to get product out. Once it comes out, it goes on the lips smoothly and has a nice consistency-- slightly on the thick side but thins out as it is absorbed into the lips. There doesn't seem to be a ton of sugar crystals in here (or they are very very fine) so my personal opinion (not in any way verified) is that this is gentler on your lips than a normal sugar scrub and you could probably use this every day if you wanted to. Julep recommends leaving this on for five minutes and then wiping off. After wiping it off (which I do gently with a tissue) there is still some residual moisture on my lips.

Julep Luxe Lip Conditioning Treatment is basically a fancy lip balm. It is described thusly: "enriched with natural ingredients that soothe, hydrate, and plump lips, this silky-smooth moisturizer sets a new bar for balm." This has a metal applicator and a slight coconut smell to it (at least to me).

The balm comes out easily and goes on smoothly. It has a slight pink color to it and doesn't feel too thick on the lips. I usually apply both these products before bed so I can let them work their magic while I sleep, but they are a nice size for throwing in your purse if you feel like you would use them during the day. When I put it on at night, I can't necessarily feel it on my lips the next morning but my lips don't feel dry.

Overall, I'm not sure if these products have miraculously made my lips better, but I like how they feel on my lips and they certainly do seem to moisturize, which is what my lips need.

These two product are available individually or as a duo on Julep's website. Quite honestly, I'm not quite sure how the prices compare to other similar products on the market-- many companies make lip scrubs, and you can even make your own if you're a DIY kind of person. Lip balms are almost a dime a dozen, depending on what you prefer. Since Julep is a boutique brand, I think the prices are a little on the high side, but since I got them together in a Maven box, the price was okay with me! Will I purchase these in the future? Well, maybe if there is a sale on the set. While I do like them, I think you can find similar products that work for less money, depending on what you like and what your budget is!