While Living in Canada

One of the things I love about nail polish is that I can feel glamorous without forking out a ton of money for clothes. The color palettes are endless and can be easily changed to my mood. And with the increased popularity of “nail art” it is even more fun.

A few weeks ago a fashionista I follow on Instagram used the hashtag #julepmaven and implied we all new what that meant. I did not. All I knew was that Julep was a brand of nail polish. I did a quick Google search and found out that the company had a monthly mail order program that allowed fans to sign up for $19.99 (free shipping) and get two “new” nail polishes and a beauty product (all worth over $40) once a month.

The process starts off with filling out a mini survey to give them an idea of your fashion and beauty tastes and they put you into a category (the category can be changed at any time if you think your personality suits another one). The three new products are then based on the category. The great thing about this is it is not blind, the week before they send out the product info in an email letting you know what it will be. If you like it you do nothing, if you do not you can say no and receive nothing or pick something else.

I thought, “Cool, bet they don’t ship to Canada or if they do the shipping is ridiculous.” NOT! I was shocked to find out they do ship to Canada and like in the U.S. the shipping is free. Yes, I was and still am shocked. How awesome is that? I could not help myself. I signed up.

According to their survey I fall into the Boho Glam sense of style: “A dynamic free spirit with a creative eye, your effortlessly chic look pairs earthy neutral tones with fun, vibrant colors.” Well ok, then I can live with that.

On February 26, I placed my first Julep Maven order and was told my Boho Glam order, which consisted of one Petra (sparkly purple), and one Lisa (grey) polish, and an essential cuticle oil would be on its way soon. While going through the process I also had the option to purchase additional items at an amazing price. I think there were at least three polish options for $4.99 but I could not pass up the one called, “O Canada”.

I was expecting my first order to take at least three weeks to pass through customs etc. but on March 5th (seven days), my parcel was here. I excitedly opened the 6″ x 6″ black box to find a welcome card, a style card with list of what I get as a style maven: 3 full-size products, monthly treats, a little surprise, 20% off online store products, free shipping on every order. In the center wrapped in pink paper were this month’s products and a little sample of “pedi creme”.

I was so excited, I took a picture for Instagram. Then it hit me. Where’s O Canada? Does it come in a separate parcel? There was no mention of it. That’s weird.

I sent off an email to Julep to let them know that the bottle of O Canada was missing from my shipment. I waited not so patiently for a reply. On March 7, a Maven Customer Service member sent me the following message:

Thank you for reaching out to us. We apologize for the confusion or concern. Add-ons and Maven boxes are typically shipped out separately. We understand that the gap between receiving each items can be frustrating. But we ship these items out separately in order to get some product, if not all out to our Mavens as soon as possible It does take a bit longer to ship to Canada. We sincerely apologize for the delay. All of our packages are shipped via USPS and unfortunately we typically are unable to track packages any further after they have left the US border. We can’t wait for you to get your hands on O Canada!, we think you will find her well worth the wait. We appreciate your patience. If you have any other questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to ask. Until then, have a great day!

As of March 11 I have not received the add-on but it has only been two weeks since my initial order (and one week since my first package arrived) and as I previously mentioned I was expecting at least three weeks for delivery. I will add an update when the add-on arrives and I will also do an update when my second parcel arrives. In the meantime I am going to enjoy a little bit of Petra and Lisa.

Update: March 12 — The O Canada nail polish add-on arrived today. So that was one week for the Julep Maven order to come and two weeks for the add-on order to come — that is some pretty amazing delivery times from Julep. Here’s what O Canada looks like:

It’s so sparkly:

With this polish came a card to join Julep Maven and offering 2 free polishes. Since I am already a maven I am assuming I cannot use it so if you want to sign up you might as well try the code: “introtwo”. Let me know if it works or not (if it doesn’t I will remove it from this post).

***
Topic Links
* Become a Julep Maven.
* How the polishes tested.
* See what happened with my second box.