Super Nova Mystery Box #1 by Julep

 Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

In addition to the monthly Maven subscription box that Julep offers each month for $19.99, they also usually have a "mystery box" each month for purchase.  I got a few mystery boxes when I first subscribed a year ago, but then relied on the regular subscription box to acquire Julep's polishes and beauty items.  Recently however, Julep has revamped their mystery boxes by offering different tiers, and the value has been good enough  that I decided to take a chance on one this month!

Julep really is a master of marketing, as they usually sweeten the deal with an offer of some some that is not readily available elsewhere.  For example, the September mystery boxes featured a galaxy theme and included an exclusive polish called Estelle that looks like an inky star studded view of the cosmos.  Three different boxes were offered at different price points  ($19.99, $24.99, and $39.99) and only the two more expensive boxes included Estelle.  I told you, savvy marketing!

I chose the Super Nova option at $39.99 but was fortunate enough to find a code that gave me $5 off, so the final price was $34.99 plus tax.  There were two different versions of the Super Nova box and I received box #1, which turned out to be the box that appealed to me the most.

I received 8 polishes, and there is always the risk of receiving polishes I already own, which happened with 2 of the polishes - the dark pink Raegen and the gold top coat Adele.  I love Adele enough that I'm happy to have a backup, and the second Raegen can always be gifted, so no problems there.

Raegan, Adele, Dakota

I like all of the colors and the two beauty related items I will either use or give as Christmas gifts.  The boxed set in particular may be going to my mother, as she will definitely use the hand cream and suffers from flaky nails, so maybe the oxygen nail treatment will appeal to her. 

Tracy, Amity, Nicolettte

There is a nice mixture of finishes in this set of polishes, as Tracy is a sand (textured) finish, Adele is a gold shimmer topcoat, Estelle is a holographic glitter, Amity and Stefani are metallics, Dakota is a suede, and Nicolette a cream.

Estelle, Stefani

Value of the box at full retail for each item would have been $157, but take that with a grain of salt as Julep's items are overpriced and discounts are usually available.  Still, quite the value for $34.99 and I'm happy with one caveat - shipping took 10 days since Julep used DHL.  But, considering I decided to skip October's maven box, this made for a very nice alternative :-)