Jolly With Julep: A Review

In case some of you did not know, awhile back I became an affiliate of the cruelty free beauty brand, Julep. However, I personally did not start using their subscription box service myself until last month, which is why this is the first time I am posting about them! More over, I am very pleased to say, unlike my last beauty review post, Julep is quite the little beauty box and I am very impressed with the products I have received. And since I did not have the opportunity to post last month's box (a combination of my February calendar being booked and wanting to make sure I wanted to continue the subscription after my second box), for this post today, I will be reviewing both my February and March Julep boxes. But before I get to that, let me tell you a little bit about Julep!

About Julep 

The company Julep began back in 2007 and is the brainchild of founder and CEO, Jane Park. Jane began the company with the vision that beauty should be a fun and fearless experience for all women. She highlights in her bio that all types of women are beautiful, whether you are the type of girl who commands attention by simply stepping in the room, or the plain Jane girl next door. And if you ask me, that is definitely a stance on beauty that I can back fully. So, what is Julep exactly? Well here's the scoop:

As I mentioned earlier, Julep, is a subscription box, much like my popular sponsor Rocksbox, that costs 24.99/Month. However, unlike Rocksbox, Julep is a beauty subscription box, is monthly, but the good news is you get to keep all the goodies that they send you. So lets see how it works!

First, much like Rocksbox, you simply take Julep's quiz so your beauty concierge can pick the right products for you. The quiz only takes about five minutes. 

As you can see above, you then just make a wishlist of products that you would like to try and then it ships right to your door for free! Not a half bad deal huh? Well it gets better because as I stated earlier, Julep is a 100% cruelty free brand, meaning none of our furry friends are harmed during testing. Also, all of Julep's nail polishes are vegan friendly, which is pretty sweet too. Now that I gave you all the deets, you're probably wondering what exactly comes in a Julep beauty box. Well wonder no more, because here are my reviews for my February and March Boxes!

February Box

Green Tea Konjac Sponge

The first thing I tried out of my February box is this green tea konjac sponge. The sponge itself is very soft and feels very nice to the touch, which is great because it is not rough at all on your skin. After using this sponge, my face felt very clean and refreshed.

April Boho Glam Nail Polish

Next up, I received this boho glam nail polish in "April" (you may recognize it from this Instagram post). I really liked this color nail polish because it is very bright and looks great on. This color is perfect for just about every occasion, and is also a great color for spring!

When Pencil Met Gel, in Sunset Gold

The last thing I received in my February box is this gorgeous gel pencil eyeliner. I first have to say I absolutely loved this color and that this eyeliner applies so easily. Once I get back from John and I's spring break vacation, I am hoping to do some fun makeup looks with it, as well as the other color liner I received in my March box! 

March Box

It's Balm, in Brandy Wine

So this lip balm/lipstick has hands down become my favorite color to wear! The balm also is very soothing for your lips and has totally kept mine from getting cracked and chapped from the cold weather.

When Pencil Met Gel, in Deep Raisin

This is the second color of eyeliner that I mentioned earlier, and much like that eyeliner this pencils color is very vivid and applies with ease. I really can't wait to combine these two colors for a bold, shimmering look.

Ange Boho Glam Nail Polish

This month, I received a cooler toned nail polish color, and absolutely adore it! The color is a bit darker than the photo but it still looks lovely on and is a great shade for fall or winter.

Sample Party's Over One Step Nail Polish Remover

Lastly, I received a sample of Julep's "Party's Over One Step Nail Polish Remover" and I have to say these little pads really do the trick and your nail polish really does come off in one swoop. And to top it off, it only takes 3-5 minutes!

Final Thoughts

After having Julep for two months now, I am happy to say that I will be keeping this service. I have been pleased with everything I have received from Julep thus far and strongly encourage anyone who is looking for a beauty subscription box to give Julep a try! And since I am one happy customer, you can expect monthly beauty posts about my new boxes. Pretty sweet, huh? 

Have you ever tried Julep and love them as much as I do? Let's chat about it in the comments below or you can tweet me at @StarkRavingChic! Later, dolls. 

Xx, Bree

Spring Cleaning: Updating The Blog

Ahhhh, it's the beginning of March which means only 15 more days until it is officially spring. (Which means it will also be my second blogiversary too!) In light of the change in season, I am sure many of you are like me and this means some heavy duty spring cleaning is about to take place! And though it is not spring quite yet, I have been doing some early spring cleaning of the cyber variety.

As I am sure some of you may have noticed, my blog looks slightly different than it used to, and that is because I decided, since my whole living space is getting a revamp, my blog might as well too (I mean I spend enough of my time on here, right?)! And though nothing too crazy has changed here, I just added some easier navigation features which gives my navigation bar a sleeker, less cluttered look, as well as some coding and copyright updates. But I figured why not walk through my changes with you all and explain some of the choices I made. I also figured this post would be a good precursor for the other three spring cleaning posts I have planned for this year. (Recall the room revamp that I mentioned earlier this week? Yep, it's going to be a three part post once everything is finished and organized to my liking!) So without any further to do, here are the changes I have made:

1. No more "What's In My..." Section

Yes, I know, the "What's In My..." section was a reader favorite, however, I just did not see the point in keeping it any longer, and here is why: You see, when I first started my Stark Raving Chic on March 20, 2015, I originally started it as a hobby and intended to only do style based posts such as "outfit of the day" posts along with a couple beauty articles here and there. Really, I just started my blog for something fun to do, and since I was solely focusing on fashion and beauty at that time, I thought the "What's In My..." page was a cute touch. However, my blog has flourished so much since then (Like really, really, flourished from my very first post, which was a simple lip balm review.) that I have now branched out into many different genres of blogging, ranging from lifestyle/travel, charity events, and even occasional blogging tip articles. So, needless to say, I am no longer solely a style blogger, but a jack of all trades, which is why I decided a "Categories" menu would be more fitting.

Aside from no longer concentrating only on style and beauty, I also felt that adding a simple categories menu gave my blog a more "grown-up" feel than the one it had when I first started it as a 21 year old undergrad (and considering I am now on track to get my masters, I'm feeling awfully grown up). I felt that this decision made my blog look much less cluttered as well as making it more organized and ultimately easier for my readers to navigate. And though I'm sure the "Categories" menu speaks for itself, I did want to point out that I did in fact keep my "Look Book" page which was formerly a part of the "What's In My..." section, just so my readers could have easy access to photos of my past outfits. Which leads me to a new feature that I added because I felt it would be helpful to my readers, and that feature is an archive!

From Personal Style 2017

The reason I felt an archive of my posts would be beneficial is because while organizing my categories menu, I realized I have a ton of posts, so if someone wanted to find something even from a month ago, they could be paging through one category forever. So, for my archive, I decided to split it up by year and category. And as you can see in the example photos above, you simply just pick the year, then the category, and you are then directed to a complete index of your selected category which includes the post titles and dates, along with links to the specific articles. 

2. No More "Badges" Page

So even though this isn't a huge change and all of my badges are still on here, I just figured I would point out where they are now and what I changed the name to. You see, all the badges I have acquired are due to all of the blogging communities that I  am a member of, and urge other bloggers to join. Each of these communities are a great way to build your following and many of the people within them are super nice and helpful! With that being said, I just wanted to let everyone know that now my badges are now simply listed under my "Contact" menu as "Blogging Communities". And as I stated earlier, I am a member of each of them so feel free to sign up and reach out!

3. "LIKEtoKNOW.it" is now just "Shop"

In case you haven't heard, I am now part of rewardStyle and am one of their Instagram influencers on the site LIKEtoKNOW.it. That means my readers can shop my outfits, beauty products, and decor straight from my Instagram feed, and all you need to do is go to my "Shop" page and click whatever photos in my feed interest you. And much like my "Blogging Communities" page, this shop will open in a new tab so you don't lose your place on whatever you were reading! 

4. Updated Coding

Due to actually having my current photography portfolio on here as well as my other work, I decided it would be best to have some coding that would not allow people to plagiarize my work. Okay sure, this does not prevent individuals from taking screenshots of my images and text, however it does prevent individuals from all of the following: 

• Right clicking to save images and right clicking to copy/paste.
• Dragging and dropping to save images.
• Highlighting text to copy/paste.

I also have it set up that if some one does attempt to steal my work, a pop up message (pictured above) with my copyright notice appears. Pretty nifty, am I right? (Also note, if you would like any of this coding just email me and I'll send it your way!)

5. New Copyright Statement + DMCA Certificate 

To follow up my new preventive coding, another thing you may have noticed is that I now have a copyright statement at the bottom of my blog. Many of you are probably wondering why I want this big clunky legal thing in my footer, and truth is I honestly don't. However, due to the notoriety my blog has gained in the past two years, I was advised that it would be best to fully protect my work, and along with working with the DMCA, a copyright statement is a good thing to have. Which leads me to my next point:

If you do (and you should) choose to put a copyright statement on your blog or website, it is important to have a well written, full coverage, copyright statement. The reason I say "full coverage" is for example, if my copyright only said "© Bree Fesh and Stark Raving Chic 2017" that makes any articles on my blog prior to 2017 vulnerable to theft, even under certain copyright laws. Where having the full "© Bree Fesh and Stark Raving Chic 2015-2017" prevents this, due to the fact it includes all the dates that I have published work.

So I mentioned the DMCA earlier and you're probably wondering what that is. Though I will be covering this topic again in my upcoming blogiversary post, I cannot stress enough how important it is to protect and copyright your work, especially if it is online. With that being said, I am proud to announce that Start Raving Chic is 100% protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. And though I will discuss it more in my post on March 20th, I just want to point out that the DMCA only cost $10/month and guarantees that if someone steals your work and tries to claim it as their own, and/or makes defamatory statements about you online, the DMCA will investigate and have the stolen or defamatory material taken down.

6. New Branding 

And lastly, while we are talking about very important things to have on your blog or website, I wanted to take a minute to talk about branding, and share with you my new addition of it to my blog! Though I have had my business cards and logo for some time now, as well as incorporating my logo on my Facebook page and Twitter, I hadn't included my logo anywhere on my actual blog. So, now I do I not only have my logo in the footer of my blog's pages (which if you click on it, it will take you right back to my home page!) but Stark Raving Chic also has it's very own favicon now! And in case you don't know what a favicon is, it's simply just the little icon next to my URL that is displayed in your address bar. I know, it's super dorky, but I'm totally stoked about it. And the reason I am so excited about it is because by placing my logo in these two places, it gives the public one specific image to associate my blog with, therefore making my brand even stronger and gaining it even more recognition.

So even though these changes were rather minor, and my blog still has its original chic, minimalistic look, I felt many of the changes were worth sharing with you guys to hear some thoughts and feed back, so fire away!

Also, what are some of the things you are updating and revamping this spring? Let's chat about it in the comments below, or you can tweet me at @StartRavingChic! Later, babes!

Xx, Bree

Living Proof: Restore Hair Care Routine (Compliments of Influenster)

As we all know, I am always up for trying out new beauty and hair care trends, even though as of recently doing so has semi-overflowed my bathroom's medicine cabinet. However, this sponsored opportunity I had from Influenster was just too good to pass up considering it included products from the wildly popular hair care brand, Living Proof's, new Restore Hair Care line. And since I am one to definitely to mix it up and try new brands (especially with all the rave reviews I have read and heard about Living Proof), I made some more space in my shower caddy, and gave Restore a whirl.

Living Proof

Considering I didn't know much about this company, I am assuming a handful of you might not either, and normally, this is the part in the article where I would give you background information on the company. However, much to my dismay, there wasn't much of that on Living Proof's "About Us" page, aside from their origin story, and by looking back at their press and awards page, I am assuming the company started sometime in the year 2007 or 2008.

And those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that another topic I try to cover about beauty companies when I review them (think Amika, L'Oréal Paris, Caress,  and Harvey Prince to name a few) is if they are or if they are not cruelty free. So for this post, I decided to email Living Proof and ask them since this information was not listed on their website and this is the response I received:

"Thank you for your inquiry. Our policy is as follows:

Safety is our top priority and we use the best and most advanced tools to achieve that. We do not test our finished products on animals, nor do we ask our suppliers to test them on our behalf. 

Thank you,
Living Proof"

So, in other words, once everything is formulated they no longer test. Which is why they don't talk about it on their website and why they are not rated as "cruelty free". And though I am guilty of using non-cruelty free products, I found this revelation to be a bit disappointing. The reason why I find this disappointing is due to the fact they have unclear policies, no mention of their suppliers on their website, and seemingly beat around the bush in their automated responses, which just leads me to believe they are not cruelty free. Which to me, seems like a bit of a let down when their motto is "We are the science, you are the living proof." In my opinion, for a company with such an innovative statement, should perhaps be more innovative in their testing practices.

However I was still semi-eager to give the products a go because they were free after all, so here are my thoughts:

Restore Shampoo

The first thing I noticed about this shampoo is that it smells pretty good, though I still prefer the scent of the Amika or L'Oréal Paris products that I have, however this shampoo still had a light and fresh scent. However, unlike the other hair care products I have reviewed here, this shampoo did not lather as nicely and did not feel like much on my scalp. Then to top it off I found it to be a bit challenging to really rinse it out of my tresses, in my opinion the shampoo just seemed to cling to my hair, which is not a quality I look for in shampoo. So my consensus is at least it smells good.

Restore Mask Treatment

After finally getting the shampoo rinsed out of my hair, I proceeded to the next step which was the treatment mask. This mask did feel nice on my scalp, applied easily enough, and had the same fresh scent as the shampoo, so it was an enjoyable 5 minute "restoring" period. Unlike the shampoo, the mask surprisingly rinsed out easily and did leave my hair feeling smooth and refreshed. However, to be completely honest, I still prefer my Harvey Prince Keravegan Hair Masque  opposed to this one.

Restore Conditioner 

To follow up the mask, the directions called for the use of the Restore Conditioner. The conditioner, like the other products, smells great but its consistency is actually a bit thick and kinda goopy for my liking, which also made it a bit hard to apply. The reason I think this is, is because of the products thickness, which makes it a bit tricky to evenly spread throughout your locks. And then, much like shampoo, this conditioner took seemingly forever to rinse out of my hair and also seemed to just cling to my tresses.

Restore Perfecting Spray

Lastly, I finished this hair care routine with Living Proof's Restore Perfecting Spray, and was unsurprisingly, disappointed. I thought maybe, just maybe, this would be the one product I really liked out of the kit, but it turns out, in my opinion, all four products are duds in my book. The spray itself smells nice just like all the other products, however after applying it, it didn't seem to really do anything. Meaning I did not feel any of its smoothing effects to the touch like I had with L'Oréal Paris' lustrous oil, or Amika's leave in cream. 

Final Thoughts

As I am sure you can tell by this article, I am not overly impressed with Living Proof's products, and am certainly happy that I received them complimentary from Influenster and did not actually purchase them out of pocket (more on that in a second). And though I don't think these products are completely awful, I personally would not recommend them to my readers and here are my reasons why:

1. As you can tell by my reviews of the products above, I felt that they were hard to work with and I also feel there is little to no difference in my hair, which to me seems to be a lot of work with no payoff, which leads me to my next reason...
2. For the price (I'm talking $28 for an 8oz bottle of shampoo) it just seems like a waste of money. Honestly my kit from L'Oréal Paris that costs roughly $30 for all 4 products, works better for my hair than these Living Proof products did.
3. As I stated earlier, I am pretty sure Living Proof is not cruelty free, which though I am guilty of using non-cruelty free products (duh, I use L'Oréal), I personally feel if you are paying that much money for hair care products, you might as well shop at Amika or Harvey Prince Organics. The reason I say this is because all three are within the same price range (Harvey Prince Organics actually being the least expensive of the three) but Amika and Harvey Prince Organics  both are 100% cruelty free, vegan friendly, and in my opinion work much better than Living Proof's products.

So, even though my personal experience with Living Proof was disappointing, I'd love to hear you opinions and experiences whether they are positive or negative! So let's chat about it in the comments below, or you can tweet me at @StarkravingChic. Later, dolls.

Xx, Bree

P.S. If you happen to like Living Proof, or want to give any of the other products I talked about in this article a try,  just head over to my SHOP page and click the corresponding Instagram image for this post to shop all the products!