I love body scrubs and have recently been using Julep Pomegranate Body Scrub which came with my Julep Mavenbox in January. I purposefully chose the Julep Maven Bombshell box in lieu of my It Girl box because I wanted to try this body scrub…and the polish colors suited me better.

Upon first opening the jar, there was a foil seal. I love when products have an inner seal, I’m more likely to purchase! I somehow feel more comforted in the thought that it hasn’t been tampered with and the product seems fresher being that the ingredients were sealed & protected. The downfall to inner seals though, is that they can often be hard to remove. That was the case with Julep Pomegranate Body Scrub. I had difficulty removing the foil seal, even after puncturing it with a butter knife.

Have you tried Julep Pomegranate Body Scrub? Let me know what you think of it. If not, what is your favorite body scrub?

Welcome to the Share the Love Giveaway Hop hosted by ShePromotes. From February 7th-14th at 11:59pm EST you can enter great giveaways at participating blogs. There are many great prizes offered to share the love with you. The prizes are not all love or Valentine’s Day themed, we are simply bloggers sharing our love for great products with you!

One of these could be yours! Make sure to enter to win!

The brushes are soft, do not shed much and are easy to clean. They are great for newbies or seasoned makeup lovers! Easily enter using the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win. Good luck darlings!

It’s now February and many of us are gearing up for Valentines Day! So I’ve teamed up with a group of generous bloggers for the Capture The Love giveaway. Up for grabs is a 4GB Flip Cam Ultra video camera and $60 Paypal cash! This will provide a great way for one lucky winner to literally “capture the love” whether it be a romantic date, family bonding or friendship day. I actually have a Flip cam and I love the compact design, quality and ease of use! For your chance to win, enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Each entry method is optional but the more entries you have, the better your chances of winning! Good luck darlings!

January has been crazy busy so I’m a bit late posting this month’s Julep Maven Box. I didn’t love my It Girl selection this month so I opted for the “Try Another Box” option and chose Bombshell. The January It Girl maven box was in popular demand as it was sold out but it just wasn’t what I wanted, so ditching that box made someone else very happy to get a chance to snag it!

Julep Maven Bomshell - January 2012

Anywho, the contents of the January 2012 Bombshell box from Julep Maven are:

• Carrie – Cotton candy pink
• Megan – Shimmery aquamarine
• Julep Pomegranate Body Scrub (4oz)
• Nail polish remover pad (1)
• Bonus:  Demi – Burgundy, wine

Julep Left-Right: Megan, Carrie, Pomegranate Body Scrub, Demi & Nail Polish Remover Pad

Retail Julep total: $60 , Price via Julep Maven Program: $19.99 (I do not know the price of the remover pads)

I chose the Bombshell box because I actually have no pink polish and I like the look of Megan, it reminds me of the blueish-green water in Turkey. I also love body scrubs and wanted to try it. The first Maven box members were able to select a bonus item and I chose Demi because I also have no burgundy polish. I was asked about the polish chipping and honestly I couldn’t say much about it at this point being that I use a long-wear topcoat that prevents my polish from chipping for several days. I will try these without my favorite topcoat and write up a post about how long the polish lasts on it’s own. Of course I will include these nail polish colors in NOTD posts in the near future. FYI, I skipped the February Julep Maven box so there will not be a post next month. Hopefully there will be a March box post though!

Julep Maven is a monthly subscription program in which you receive new Sneak Peek Box of Julep products. Each month you’ll receive an email letting you know your box is ready and a preview of what it includes. You’ll then have until the 25th of the month to request a different box, send your box to a friend or skip the month for no charge. If you want the box chosen for you, you’ll be charged $19.99 and the box will be shipped to you.

Julep Maven often gives the opportunity to try the first box at a deep discount, sometimes just 1 cent! I think the program is worth enrolling in simply because you can try it out cheap, there is no obligation to buy since you skip months without being charged and if you do purchase you get over $40 worth of Julep products for $19.99 which is a good saving. Of course everyone has their own preferences so check out Julep.com and decide for yourself.

After a conversation on Facebook with fellow bloggers, Bre from Baubles, Accoutrements & Garb and Marla from Makeup By Marla, I realized I hadn’t posted my Julep Maven box from December and already have my January Julep Maven box post scheduled for tomorrow…yikes! So I decided to quickly give my darlings a glance at last month’s Julep Maven box.

Items were packaged in a black Julep bag secured with a cute red ribbon bow.

After completing my quick style quiz, I was dubbed an It Girl. The contents of my December 2011 It Girl Box from Julep Maven were:

• Julep Nail Therapy – Can be used alone or as base coat
• Christina – Shimmery orange
• Kim – Gunmetal grey, metallic
• Trina – Deep purple…very deep

Julep Left-Right: Trina, Nail Therapy, Kim and Christina

Retail Julep total: $58 , Price via Julep Maven Program: $19.99

There were also two hand care samples which I did not use but I believe they were a moisturizer and an SPF cream. I also have not tried the Julep Nail Therapy nor Trina. I was pleased with this maven box due to not having similar colors already in my nail stash. I do have an orange nail polish but I wanted to try one with shimmer. I will make sure to post photos of each shade in NOTD posts in the near future.

Julep Maven is a monthly subscription program in which you receive new Sneak Peek Box of Julep products. Each month you’ll receive an email letting you know your box is ready and a preview of what it includes. You’ll then have until the 25th of the month to request a different box, send your box to a friend or skip the month for no charge. If you want the box chosen for you, you’ll be charged $19.99 and the box will be shipped to you.

Julep Maven often gives the opportunity to try the first box at a deep discount, sometimes just 1 cent! I think the program is worth enrolling in simply because you can try it out cheap, there is no obligation to buy since you skip months without being charged and if you do purchase you get over $40 worth of Julep products for $19.99 which is a good saving. Of course everyone has their own preferences so check out Julep.com and decide for yourself.

I received an email giving me kudos for characteristics such as optimism, humor, slight sarcasm, honesty and genuine care for others. Of course I have no objections to being lavished with compliments! But the lovely sender of the email also mentioned that I never complain. I replied with many thanks but of course, being the honest gal I am, I had to admit that I do complain sometimes. I simply try not to complain about complete non-sense or complain too often. I also try not complain about the same thing over and over, like a broken record. What does that solve?

Everyone needs to vent now and then. There a millions of gripes but there is a choice of whether it’s necessary or worth it to complain. My tea is too hot, I want an iPod Touch, the tablet I requested is on back order and the closest Cold Stone Creamery is a 30 minute drive away. I could easily complain about those things constantly but they are completely material and not that serious in my opinion. When I have a frustration release moment, I’d rather vent about my real challenges like having Lupus, being in pain 60% of the time and feeling exhausted. I’d talk about health care costs, the education system kiddo is enrolled in and the bad influence the world potentially has on him as he ages.

We may find many things to complain about but surely we have at least 1 thing to be happy about. Venting is okay in moderation but don’t allow yourself to become that person known for complaining all the time. That friend people avoid because your constant complaints ruin their mood…don’t be the one who bums people out! There’s a difference between venting and raining on everyone’s parade. Don’t become the Negative Nancy of your circle! I always advise people that for every negative thing you say, immediately follow that conversation with a positive topic. If you can help it, never end your conversation with a negative topic!

I’ve been sick all week and Mr. Man got on my nerves but I woke up feeling better than yesterday and the mister is behaving like a prince again. Even though I have loads of work to catch up on, I love what I do and am appreciative to have work at all! I’m looking forward to some product reviews, shipments and a new project this week. See…healthy, limited venting followed by positivity. I hope all of you darlings have a wonderful week!

I’ve teamed up with some fabulous bloggers and we’re offering the chance for one reader to win $300 in our Valentine’s Date Night Cash Giveaway Event. We are thankful for our readers and would love for you to win some cash for your Valentine’s Day plans, whatever they may be! This giveaway is open worldwide!

It’s time for an Extreme Cash Giveaway! I’ve teamed up with my blogger friends to bring you an extreme cash prize. One lucky winner will receive $500 in their Paypal account at the end of this giveaway!

You only need to enter this giveaway on one of our blogs via the Rafflecopter form below — good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I recently did a NYX Cosmetics haul thanks to the fabulous team at Social Goodies! There was a hiccup when placing my order with my promo code on NYXcosmetics.com but Social Goodies and NYX worked together to fix it pronto, the same day actually. You can read about that in my post “A Social Goodies Experience | NYX Haul“. I snagged a few NYX Round Lipsticks, NYX Matte Lip Creams and NYX Xtreme Lip Creams as well as NYX Highlight & Contour Powder and YX Mosaic Powder blush in Love. Keep in mind that the items selected would cost at least $50 directly from NYX but would cost $25 if purchased through a Social Goodies deal and 20% of that would go to charity!

NYX Haul via Social Goodies

Today, I have 2 quick swatches (on lips) of NYX Xtreme Lip Cream in Bonfire and Buttery Nude. I really love the shades selected and the consistency of these lip creams. I am new to the lip color world as lipstick has never been a love of mine. Fortunately these do not feel like lipstick or gloss so I highly prefer them over the other lipsticks I have tried. They also last several hours for me, do not dry out my lips and are build-able colors.

NYX Xtreme Lip Cream | Bonfire

NYX Xtreme Lip Cream | Bonfire

I really love the shade Bonfire, the color is build-able and has a nice shine to it. I forgot which lip liner brand I used but the color was Rose. I somehow goofed up and deleted or lost the swatch for Buttery Nude but luckily I do have a profile photo in which I used it. So here you go!

NYX Xtreme Lip Cream | Buttery Nude

On My Lips: NYX Xtreme Lip Cream | Buttery Nude

I will try to update ASAP with a close up swatch of Buttery Nude. It’s the first nude lippie I’ve found that looks fabulous with my skin tone! I love it! Anywho, stay tuned for swatches from the rest of my NYX order. I hope to get them posted over the weekend! In the meantime, be sure to check out SocialGoodies.com and follow them on Twitter @socialgoodiesco!

Disclosure: Products or services mentioned in this post may have been provided for post consideration. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

I love shopping, I love giving back and I love trying out services! Thanks to the fabulous darlings at SocialGoodies.com I got to do all three at once! Social Goodies in simple terms is a daily deal site offering vouchers to shop at many cool retailer websites at a fraction of the price. The best part is that 20% of your Social Goodies purchase goes to charity!

Before I get into listing what I selected in my NYX Haul, let me tell you the story of my purchase. I received a NYX voucher from Social Goodies and immediately headed to NYX to shop. Selected my items and everything was running smoothly. Upon checkout, I entered my Social Goodies voucher info in the promo code box per Social Goodie’s instructions. The thing is, the voucher was supposed to bring my order total to $0, which it did, however NYX still required me to enter payment information. Whatevs, I entered and moved forward. Oops! Apparently I entered a wrong digit for my card’s expiration date. So I was bounced back to the payment screen, I re-entered the info and…”The discount code xxxxxx has used it’s max number of uses”. Umm, say what?!

I emailed Social Goodies back to let them know what was happening and within moments received a response letting me know they would be contacting NYX on my behalf to help straighten the issue out right away. Shortly after, I was contacted by a NYX representative who let me know the system error had been fixed and re-issued a discount code for me. Though the error was fixed, I entered my info very carefully this time around, triple checking for mistakes! Fortunately everything went through without a hitch and my order was confirmed. Also that same day, Social Goodies followed up with me again to make sure everything worked out and that I was all set.

I really appreciate the hands on approach that Social Goodies has. From start to finish, they really took care of me and were sincerely concerned and helpful when I had an issue. Many companies are quick to give the “Well ma’am that is “ABC Company’s” error so you’ll have to contact them” malarkey. Social Goodies did not do that, they took the initiative upon themselves to work with NYX to rectify the situation and make sure I was satisfied. Customer service is a key factor in what makes me return to a company and become a loyal customer and Social Goodies has that perfected!

Now, on to the shopping! Here is what I got from my NYX haul via Social Goodies:

NYX Haul via Social Goodies

NYX Round Lipstick in Doll, Frappucino, Topaz, Eros and Pumpkin Pie.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in San Paulo and London.

NYX Mosaic Powder blush in Love.

NYX Xtreme Lip Cream in Bonfire and Buttery Nude

NYX Highlight & Contour Powder

I really like the Highlight & Contour Powder and I chose Mosaic Powder Blush in Love because I heard it is a close match in color for Nars Taj Mahal plus I needed a peachy/orange blush as I only have pinks. I will have swatches up of the lip products posted soon! In the meantime, be sure to check out SocialGoodies.com and follow them on Twitter @socialgoodiesco

Disclosure: Products or services mentioned in this post may have been provided for post consideration. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.