Review & Tutorial: Julep's Party's Over Glitter Gel Nail Polish Remover

Hello!!! I'm baaaacccck.... (maybe...?)
I'm back with a review of Julep's Party's Over Glitter (Gel) Nail Polish Removal Kit ($28 or $22.40 as Julep Maven, or I believe $19.99 as an monthly add-on).  If you are clueless as to what I'm talking about, I'll discuss down below.

I had gel nail polish on so I thought it'd be the perfect time to put these in to use and show you guys how it's done.  It really caught my eye because most of glitter and gel removal involves aluminum foil.  I've tried that in the nail salons and at home and I just don't dig it.  And these look so much cooler!

It comes with 10 finger nail caps which seems to be made of rubber/foam?  5 packets of nail polish remover infused pads (10 each).

So here are my gel nails before my removal.

The instructions in the back.  You open the packets and place each of the nail polish remover infused pads and cap it with the caps.

But first, you should file away some of your gel polish so the nail polish will remove the gel or glitter faster.

Then put the polish remover infused pads on your finger.
Tip:  You may need to kind of wrap it around your finger to keep it in place.  And put the cap on your finger.  There are two big ones for your thumbs.

You can tell the thumb is a little bigger.  Now keep it on for few minutes...

Check to see if the polish has separated from your nail bed.  If it has not, DO NOT force it off your nail bed.  It can take a layer off your nail bed.  Instead file more and put the pad and the cap back on.

If it has separated, it should like below.  Take a wedger or cuticle pusher and push the polish away from your hands and it should pop right off very easily.

And Voila!

My thoughts on the nail caps: I liked the nail caps a lot.  It saves me from using and cutting up foil and trying to wrap it back on to your hands after you check to see if your gel polish is coming off.  And the nail caps are totally reusable and washable.  Only bad thing is, I'm kind of SOL if I lose one. :(  I have to make sure to keep all of them in a bag.

Acetone, aloe-vera infused pads:  These suckers are definitely not strong enough for gel nail polish remover.  You definitely need something stronger like 100 % acetone.  I ended up soaking the pads in acetone for more efficient removal.  I have tried it with regular glitter polish and it worked a lot better, but I still prefer my good 'ol 100% cotton and acetone.  I still have 2 packets left, but I'll probably save those for when I'm traveling.

Pricing:  It is a little pricey.  But considering there aren't anything out there that looks like this, you are basically paying for the idea.  I have to give it to Julep tho.  They do come up with really cool ideas (like the Plie wands that are coming out in May!)

Overall:  I paid $19.99 as a monthly add-on.  I think it's totally worth it at low $20 something price.  Especially if you do a lot of glitter or gel polish AT HOME.  If you get them done professionally, then you won't need them.  For me it's worth it.  And I dig it!

If you are not a Julep Maven (which basically means you signed up as a member of Julep monthly program), you have to pay the full $28.00.  But if you want to sign up, you can sign up and get the first box FREE.  You can cancel at any time, but if you are just signing up, then you can only skip the monthly boxes every six month.  Before this change, you were able to skip at anytime.  I signed up early on when Julep just launched, so I can skip whenever I want.  But if you want this as your monthly add-on, it may be worth it to sign up and cancel later.  Monthly boxes are $19.99 with free shipping.  You get nail polishes to eye shadows, scrubs, lip gloss, eye liners, etc... And are all created by Julep!  It's a pretty cool program.  Go check it out.  Also I get referral points, so please use my referral link if you'd like.  No pressure! :)  And who wouldn't want to get a box for free right? Also I should add, since Julep is sold at Sephora Stores, maybe there's a chance it may hit the stores directly?  We shall find out.....

Referral link:  http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/22710/

And if you follow me on instagram, you probably saw my Marc Jacobs Daisy inspired nails.  Here's a close up!  I used the Nicole by Opi- Carrie Underwood collection in Carrie'd Away.  Super glittery and beautiful shade of gold.  It almost mimicks a gold gel polish!

BATTLE OF THE BLACK LIQUID EYELINERS

I have been meaning to do this post for so long and I'm so sorry I'm just getting to it.  I posted a picture on my instagram & facebook when I was testing out some new liquid eyeliners and everyone asked which one I liked the best... I held out because I wanted to write a blog post and didn't think it was going to take me this long.  So here we go.

Here is the big reveal of what was drawn on my hands.  (just FYI the Sephora one is only "smudgeproof, not waterproof")

Typically I use Japanese brand liquid eyeliners (dollywink, 24 hr tattoo) with a felt or pointed tip in liquid form but I've been using gel liners on a daily basis that the liquid eyeliner that was in my makeup bag had already dried out.  Liquid eyeliners are much more easier and faster to use because you don't have to clean your brushes and you can easily use them on the go.  I've been kind of lazy and wanted to switch out from gel from time to time, so I went into Sephora and picked up whole bunch and started testing it on my hand.

Here's the break down of the pictures:  Stila ($20), Marc Jacobs ($30) and NARS ($27) have slight shine to it, while Make Up For Ever (MUFE) ($23) and Sephora Smart Liner ($14) are very matte.

Waterproof test:
I ran my hand through a running sink and none of them bled right away.  Sephora Smart Liner was the first one to disappear when I started rubbing it.  But as I said before, Sephora doesn't claim that it's waterproof, but regardless not too bad.

Smudgeproof test:
When smudged without water, none of them really seemed to smudge.  They all stayed intact.  But after a long time of rubbing, they start to flake off and MUFE was first to flake off.  But you shouldn't be rubbbing your eyes like that expect your eyeliners to survive (just sayin').

Color test:
They were all pretty dark.  I've seen some liners that claim that they are black but they are not black enough for me.... But the five I chose was amongst the darkest eyeliners I've seen.
Color wise Darkest was:
1. Sephora Smart Liner (matte)
2. Marc Jacobs Precision Liner (shiny)
3. Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner (matte)
4. NARS Eyeliner Stylo (shiny)
5. Stila (shiny)

Miloberry Picks:
From the 5 eyeliners tested, I liked Marc Jacobs and the Sephora Smart Liner the best.  But this could be matter of preference, because I like certain type of felt tip and my expectations may be different from yours.  For me the important factors are that they are long wearing (because my eyes water) and they are super black, and the tips give me precision and control when I draw my cat eye.  But between the two, I'll pick Marc Jacobs Precision Liner.  I love it.  When I tested two of them, this is what happened on one eye watering morning.  I was testing Sephora first and this happened.  I tried reapplying but below kept happening.

So I tried applying Marc Jacobs Precision Liner and I was able to fix the problem.  Yay!

Here are my quick thoughts on each of the liners.

Marc Jacobs Precision Liner ($30): 

1. It was super black in color (it is on the shiny side)
2. Waterproof... survived my watery eyes
3. The packaging of this eye liner feels like a Monte Blanc of eyeliners.  Yes it's pricey, but it's super duper nice on your eyes.  The felt tip is just perfect.
I'll try to do more detailed review later if you'd like.  Please let me know!

Sephora Smart Liner ($14):

1. It's cheap and performs well at $14!
2. Super black and matte
3. The handle takes a little getting used to, but I can deal with it.
4.  I didn't like the packaging (i.e. tip and the cap, felt very cheap)

MUFE Aqua Liner ($20):  (I HATED THIS- RETURNED IT!)

It was nice and black, waterproof, but it got crusty on my eyes and started flaking off when I tried to reapply after it was dried.  And the cap got crusty and flakey on my second use.  I returned it. Also the tip kinda hurt my eyes. :(  I have this in another color and I'm okay with that... may be cuz I don't use it everyday....

NARS Eyeliner Stylo ($27)

This one was nice, but for the price, it felt a more over priced version of the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner with bigger felt tip and the color was a bit more darker than Stila.  I'd probably pass on this if I could pay $3 more and buy Marc Jacobs.

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner ($20)

I think this is a good performing eyeliner at a good price point.  But I wish the color was a little bit more black and the eyeliner seems to dry out fairly quickly.  This one is very very very similar to the Japanese Eyeliners I get  (dollywink, 24hr. Tattoo) except I think the Japanese ones are bit more black.  And they are both priced very similar to one another.  I wouldn't be surprised if they are made by the same company!