I was so excited when I received my March Maven box. It's like Christmas, y'all. The packaging is always so fun filled with crinkled paper in a black box. I purchased the "classic with a twist" style profile. My box came with two polishes, Simone and Debra. Simone is described as a "soft pastel lilac opalescent shimmer". Debra is described as a, "smoky taupe creme". Also enclosed, I received their Rock Star hand creme and a courtesy tube of their strawberry-mint lip balm. Unfortunately, you'll have to stone me. I didn't take any pictures.
After work, I rushed home to delve into my polishes. I opened Simone and there was something intensely wrong with the formula. I would describe it as "old". It was thick, gooey, and streaky. I didn't even finish one hand. I immediately removed it because it was so thick on the first coat.
Determined not to ruin my excitement, I opened up Debra. It wasn't as bad as Simone, but something was definitely wrong with the formula. Again, it seemed like a very old bottle of polish, if you can imagine that consistency. I was barely able to complete a manicure with Debra. Drying time took forever due to the thickness, and some nails had thin spots I couldn't control. I could have applied a second coat, but one coat was really thick enough. You can hold onto your rocks and stones, I actually took a picture.
You can visibly see that the polish is heavy in the bottle. It has already sunk from the top showing empty space.You can see that the polish is so heavy, it can't even stick to the inside of the bottle. This was one coat and there is visible unevenness. You can see it on my pointer and middle finger.
When my manicure with Debra was complete, I tried my Rock Star hand creme. The statement on the tube claims, "Anti-aging, emollient blend of shea butter, glycerin, coconut oil, and vitamin E keeps hands hydrated, even after washing. This non-greasy, fast-absorbing formula will leave you cheering for an encore. Rock on."
I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very nice hand creme. I keep it in my purse. I am a paralegal and deal with a lot of paper. This means dry hands. This creme holds up nicely. It lives up to most of its claims. It is supposed to be anti-aging, but I don't notice any change. It does keep hands hydrated. I can get 1-2 washes before feeling the need to replenish. It is non-greasy and does absorb fast. Will I spend $16.00 when I run out? I'm on the fence. It is definitely a very well formulated hand creme, but the thought of spending $16.00 makes my wallet weep. I'll have to keep track of how long a bottle lasts me to make a final determination.
After a few days, the dissatisfaction with the polishes I received festered. I finally got up the nerve to complain. Side note: I am an easy going person. I really don't like to complain, but I will.
I sent an email and within a day, I received a response. While I won't copy and paste my complaint or their responses, my complaint was light-hearted and basically stated that the formulas were not top-notch. I let them know that I wasn't looking for replacements, since I like the colors, but did not "love" them. I relayed that I would thin the polishes out on my own and that I just wanted to inform them in case they do have a storage/formulation issue. Side note: I don't "expect" a company to replace anything or offer me anything in return. I also don't demand compensation. I feel if you have to demand it, then you need to switch brands.
In their response, they apologized for the quality control issue and offered to send me another polish from their March collection. I obviously accepted the polish and responded with a thank you. I should be receiving Catherine any day.
The speed of their response, and the quality of Julep's generosity should be noted. I definitely felt like they wanted to get it right, and stand behind their product. Nowadays, that is a very hard quality to find.
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