The one with the Julep Maven January box.

I'm getting my January Julep Maven box (my referral link) up a little late (my February one has already shipped!), but I wanted to share some swatches as well as the extra items. For January, I went with the It Girl box.

• Julep Vanish Cuticle Softener & Remover: I'm really pleased with this add-on. It gently removes overgrown cuticles and helps my nail beds look cleaner.
• Julep Cuticle Pusher: From pictures online I thought this was going to be plastic. I was happily surprised to see that it is stainless steel coated with Teflon. It feels very durable and works wonders with the Vanish Cuticle Softener & Remover.

• Julep Farrah (lilac silk) Farrah is pretty - a little lighter than I was expecting. I didn't love the satin finish and chose to put a glossy top coat over the polish.
• Julep Annemarie (warm cocoa creme) Annemarie is a creamy, neutral polish. I wear these colors often, especially during the week. It's a nice work-appropriate color.
• Julep Hope (stark white satin) Hope was another satin polish. The semi-matte white on my nails immediately took me back to putting Wite-Out on my nails in junior high - not pretty. (For white polish I prefer butter LONDON's Cotton Buds.) Even after a glossy top coat, I still didn't like how this white looked against my skin tone. To add a little interest I topped it off with the Formula X for Sephora Demolition top coat.

The polishes weren't my favorite this month, but the add-ons were fantastic. I need to use Vanish for a while longer to see if I prefer it to my Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover, but I love the bottle. I'm looking forward to seeing what Julep has for us in February. The free polish, Love, looks gorgeous from the swatches I've seen so far.