My round-up of the Julep Maven nail polish/beauty subscription box is later than usual this month, mostly because my order came late. It came so late that I'd already made my decision for next month's box before this one came in the mail. That said, July was one of my favourite collections in months, read on to learn why.

What is Julep Maven?

Julep Maven is a monthly beauty/nail polish box that sends nail polish and beauty products. Every month they release a new collection and you get to choose what box/products you want!

To give Julep a whirl, use my referral link for a free box, using the code FREEBOX. These boxes change every few months but offer a few neat polishes and products for you to sample before you want to dive in. There's also a summer box that may still be available with the code HELLOYOU. If you like it? You can join Julep by paying $19.99 a month for a quarterly subscription, or $24.99 for a month-to-month subscription. You can also use the code POLISHPERK from now until July 31 to get a free polish with any order of $15+. So get polishing!

Don't want to subscribe after getting your welcome? Call Julep and cancel. Easy peasy, but I'd try a few months to build up a small arsenal of their products. I'm particuarly a fan of their Oxygen base/top coat.

Julep Maven, July 2014: Poolside Collection

When I think about nail polish in the summer, I think of brights and neons, blues and yellows, colours that look fantastic in direct sunlight and that reflect a fun, light-hearted approach to beauty. I was less than enamoured with June's offerings, but July more than made up for it. The colours were stunning and I was particularly taken with the It Girl box for the combination of Linden, a 'poolside' blue creme polish, and Dawn, a citron yellow creme. These colours scream SUMMER to me, and reflect that happy-go-lucky look that I desire. Also added in the It Girl box was Braiden, a graphite coloured Stardust polish (it leaves a rough, sandy-looking finish.) All in all, a nice playful collection for summer.

My Add-On? Tegan, a brick/rustic red Stardust polish!

Julep Maven, June 2014: Three Wishes Collection

Most of the colours in June's collection were metallic/shimmer-y and I have more than enough of those in my collection as it is. So I opted for the Core Classics box which comes with two full-size beauty products from the Julep collection, Beach Tonic dry body oil which leaves the smell of summer on your skin, and the ever-popular Bare Face Cleansing Oil. I've been very impressed with Julep's beauty products and these two are no exceptions. I've used the Beach Tonic after every shower and the Bare Face as part of my cleaning ritual. Great stuff.

The shipping problem

Last month and prior, Julep has come under massive fire for being unable to handle the shipping requests of all their Mavens. My Julep Warehouse purchase took a month to get to me, and one of my polishes was open and dried out. It took almost three weeks of emailing customer service for a response. Add my late-shipping for the next Julep box on TOP of that and I was an unhappy Maven. Since I still hadn't received my July box when the August window opened, I opted to skip next month. They rewarded us Mavens with bonus Jules and have offered a replacement for my damaged polish, but I just needed a month on 'break' with them, so to speak. Since then, I received this box in the mail and was reminded as to why I continue buying their polish, so I expect I'll be back to normal come September.

Are you a Maven? What did you get this month?