Julep Plié Wands: thoughts, rants, raves, confusion, and hopefully not too much panic or expense.

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Let's give this a dedicated thread, so the February thread can focus on February things.



http://www.julep.com/idealab/plie-wand

Julep is releasing their Plié Wand and Plié caps in May. It is possible to use the new Plié caps without the Plié wand. They are round, slightly shorter, and grippier than the current square caps.

Plié caps are all one piece, as opposed to the current caps which are two pieces (brush and snap-off cap for swatching). They have rounds magnetic tops with a hole in the middle. The current "swatch me!" stickers will not fit on top of Plié caps.

Plié caps will be available for purchase in sets of 5 or 10, so that people can use their old Juleps with the new Plié system. Maven discounts were mentioned, but I don't know if it was the usual 20% discount, or a bigger discount because long-time Mavens probably have dozens or hundreds of bottle caps to replace.

Mavens can pre-order their May box now, which includes a Plié wand, extra Plié cap, and two new colors from the May collection. If Mavens want Plié-compatible dotting and striping tools, they can be purchased as add-ons to the May box during the normal selection window.

Other crowd-sourcing options are available, but they are completely separate purchases from your May Maven box. These purchase options are open to non-Mavens, and include dotting and striping tools and a big magnet that can hold Plié-capped Julep bottles.

As far as we know, the Plié system is only compatible with Julep bottles. It does not appear to be a universal tool.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by TooMuchElectric /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Other crowd-sourcing options are available, but they are completely separate purchases from your May Maven box. These purchase options are open to non-Mavens, and include dotting and striping tools and a big magnet that can hold Plié-capped Julep bottles.

As far as we know, the Plié system is only compatible with Julep bottles. It does not appear to be a universal tool.

It's a pass for me. I saw the crowd-sourcing and actually laughed! LOL

As for the "plie" system, I'm speculating that the caps will be heavy due to the magnet and the length of the handle may not be properly balanced. I'd love to get my hands on one now just to see but I won't be rushing to pre-order one.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by zadidoll /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
It's a pass for me. I saw the crowd-sourcing and actually laughed! LOL

As for the "plie" system, I'm speculating that the caps will be heavy due to the magnet and the length of the handle may not be properly balanced. I'd love to get my hands on one now just to see but I won't be rushing to pre-order one.
From what I understand, they say that the wand is counter balanced so that it won't be tip heavy. I'm very curious, but I wish I could just get 1 to try it out. I've already perfected painting with my non-dominant hand, so it's not that much of a necessity for me.

 
I'm in the "don't care" crowd on this one. I'll eventually get the wand when I have some spare cash and use it on my wand-compatible Juleps. I'll use the other ones like normal. No biggie. 

Is anyone else impressed that they've already had $60,000 worth of preorders?

 
I have to give it to them that they're smart in getting people to pay for it. I wonder how much it's costing them to make these wands. I know what they pay for polish, well a rough idea based on numbers, but these plies I have no clue.

 
Add me to the wait and get later. I have no issues painting my nails now and don't usually do fancy nail art save for the occasional glitter accent nail :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Maybe I'll change my mind and pre-order in March if the option is available since I have enough Jules for a box after this month. But since it isn't something I totally need I can't justify the extra cost just having been billed for February's box and planning to get the mystery box coming out soon :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
I think it is a good idea and the only reason people are so against it is that they have so many polishes and it would be a bit ridiculous to try to buy all those caps. If they had done this a lot sooner I could see it being more well received.

I have been painting since I was 10 and I remember always choosing the long brushes because I could paint left handed with them if I was doing a huge background. The short brushes felt too light and unbalanced to paint with and rarely got used.

The thing is I could see a tool like this being more useful to someone who works doing nails than a regular consumer. The fatter weighted handle would help keep your hands from cramping up. 

I do like this picture they show of a storage option with the magnetic tops! I could see it being a disaster waiting to happen so the spot would have to be over a table or something where no one would knock them off.



 
I'm so torn about the wands. I have perpetually-shaky hands (thanks, chronic low blood pressure!) and doing my own nails hurts my wrists so i have to take a break after, say, two minutes (thanks, early onset arthritis!), so I think the wand itself would help me a lot. I also think I would do a lot more nail art if I had a system that accommodates my polish-limitations. HOWEVER, I think it is incredibly side-eye worthy that they had to change the "vanity cap" (the square one), and that the wand isn't compatible for old bottles/caps in any way. I'll probably end up getting it, and see if it indeed will help my ability for DIY manis, but as it is, I don't paint my own nails anyway (I have acrylic nails and always take my own polishes into the salon, instead of using their polishes.), so at the end of the day, as of right now, I'm annoyed at the change in design of the cap (a circular cap on a square bottle? Really? Was everybody high when they thought that would be a good idea) and the lack of ability to put the "swatch me" stickers on the cap to keep my polish collection looking consistent.

 
Quote: Originally Posted by hrhvittoria /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I'm so torn about the wands. I have perpetually-shaky hands (thanks, chronic low blood pressure!) and doing my own nails hurts my wrists so i have to take a break after, say, two minutes (thanks, early onset arthritis!), so I think the wand itself would help me a lot. I also think I would do a lot more nail art if I had a system that accommodates my polish-limitations. HOWEVER, I think it is incredibly side-eye worthy that they had to change the "vanity cap" (the square one), and that the wand isn't compatible for old bottles/caps in any way. I'll probably end up getting it, and see if it indeed will help my ability for DIY manis, but as it is, I don't paint my own nails anyway (I have acrylic nails and always take my own polishes into the salon, instead of using their polishes.), so at the end of the day, as of right now, I'm annoyed at the change in design of the cap (a circular cap on a square bottle? Really? Was everybody high when they thought that would be a good idea) and the lack of ability to put the "swatch me" stickers on the cap to keep my polish collection looking consistent.
it would have been so simple to just make the inner cap the plie compatible and keep the same outer plastic vanity cap the same. 

 
Quote: Originally Posted by gypsiemagic /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  it would have been so simple to just make the inner cap the plie compatible and keep the same outer plastic vanity cap the same. 
Exactly!

 
I don't get why they needed a hole in the new caps to put the tool into.  It is magnetic, couldn't they have just made a solid top with magnet in it?  The new caps look so ugly and unfinished...like they just forgot to put an over cap on them.  It doesn't help that it is silver color magnet on a black lid, sticks out like a sore thumb.

I don't see how these are going to sell well at outside stores (Sephora, Nordstrom--which they just signed on with recently!).

I also don't like that they are essentially forcing people to buy the wand/use the system.  You can't say "being a girl is hard, painting nails is such a chore for girls, ALL because the handles are so short" in one sentence... and then turn around and promote how you're new caps are shorter and stubbier!  So hey, buy this wand, buy all new caps, it'll be easier, your complicated life as a girl will be so much better...

It basically reminds of stupid tampon commercials, if you catch my drift.  ;) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

This is the same as chopsticks to me.  Most people can't use chopsticks, or don't like using them.  Why?  Because they are long and awkward to hold and move around, and they also give you wrist/arm/neck pain if you're not a natural with them.  This wand is just a big chopstick.  It looks awkward to hold, and it will be hard to control for many people.  Even in the video Jane is awkward with it, her nails still look sloppy.  And now you'll have to stick that big long brush into that skinny tall bottle, without toppling it over or dripping.  LOL.  I'm sure this will help somewhat for those that have issues painting.. like shaky hands, illnesses, arthritis, etc.  But at the same time, I still think this contraption is going to be pretty awkward to control still, for other reasons than a short stubby cap.  I mean, is a weighted thick diameter pen/pencil easier than a stick-pen to write with?  NO!

It is also plastic, and I doubt it'll last a long time before breaking.  Ooohh, they partnered with such a great company to design it!?  I'm sorry, but you shouldn't need 200+ prototypes of that wand to get a successful one.  It isn't rocket science what they came up with.  And the company they used is famous for designing and making shit you have to replace in a year, year and a half, constantly update, or is full of bugs... So I don't get the hype on that one either.  I'm sure they paid a pretty shinny penny to even work with them in the start, and contributes to why they claim they can't afford to mass produce this "best idea yet" product!  If this is their best idea yet, they'd be shilling out the dough on their own to mass produce it, because it is the "coolest thing since sliced bread".

Having said all that... I don't need this product for my nails.  I wont pre-order or pre-pay anything.  Part of me wants to bet May colors will be horrible or repeats, since they have the money in the bag already from so many mavens, and the newest ones can't skip, lol.  Seems easy shortcut to lazy-ville.  This is also another step to push many older mavens out.  Piss them off, they cancel their membership.  New ones sign up in their place--but can't skip for 6 months.

You know the only truly useful thing I see this wand for?   Painting toenails.  I got giraffe arms and legs (I'm average 5'6'', and cartoonish-ly proportioned, 35" inseam, tall size sleeves are still only 3/4 sleeves)...  I hate squishing into a ball to reach my toes!  So...IF they come in a maven box regularly...IF the month's colors are amazing... then I'll own one to paint my toes-ies.  I wont pay extra for it though.  (and the art tools are useless to me, I'm not patient enough to do that stuff)  I bet the art tools they'll sell as add ons will be 10-15$ each, maven pricing, too, just to rub more salt into the "julep-wound".

 
Quote: Originally Posted by wadedl /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I think it is a good idea and the only reason people are so against it is that they have so many polishes and it would be a bit ridiculous to try to buy all those caps. If they had done this a lot sooner I could see it being more well received.

I have been painting since I was 10 and I remember always choosing the long brushes because I could paint left handed with them if I was doing a huge background. The short brushes felt too light and unbalanced to paint with and rarely got used.

The thing is I could see a tool like this being more useful to someone who works doing nails than a regular consumer. The fatter weighted handle would help keep your hands from cramping up.

I do like this picture they show of a storage option with the magnetic tops! I could see it being a disaster waiting to happen so the spot would have to be over a table or something where no one would knock them off.


Living in a prime earthquake zone area... all I see when I look at that picture, is a beautiful piece of dangerous artwork, that eats up hundreds of dollars of deposit money!  :p /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> 

And since when are the new caps angled?  Those polish bottles are not stuck to that magnetic bar, lol.  They're all angled, with colors flashing against the one in front at the cap area.  Their photoshop department needs some new people that know what perspective is.

 
Wow all these comments are making me feel inadaquate. I love polishing my nails, and have been doing it for years, but I still haven't mastered applying polish to my dominant hand let alone my dominant hand. I usually spend about two hours doing my nails (about twice a week) one hour for priming, polishing and top coating, then another hour doing clean up on my cuticles. Am I the only one that hasn't perfected my mani after several years of 'practice'?

 
I like the idea of it. My ADD medication makes my hands SUPER shaky.. my left hand is the worst. Anything that cuts down on the amount of acetone I have to put on my cuticles after is fine by me. I'm not real fussed with the cap change.

 
I can't decide whether to pre-order or not.  I don't have the best polishing skills, so the idea is intriguing, but I am also miffed about the new cap issue and not being compatible with the old caps.  I was leaning towards a watch and see plan to see how other mavens like the wand before I bought it myself, but I'm worried that if I don't do the pre-order now, how much is the darn thing going to cost to get later.  At least if I order it now, I won't be out any additional money.  I'm still a little confused as to whether the wand is included in the May box regardless of whether we pre-order or if it will be an add-on for those of us who don't pre-order and therefore cost more money.  Anyone have any clue?

 
I give Julep props for being innovative.  It does sound like this one has the potential to be a problem solver for at least some users.  I'm not particularly envisioning the new caps to be a problem to use, so I guess I'm neutral about the whole thing.  I'll probably preorder just out of curiosity.  Not sure about the nail dotting and striping tool, will depend on the cost to add on.

 
I find the idea intriguing, but I've been a maven for over two years...no way am I ordering new caps for all of my polishes. Not to mention colors I purchased, mystery boxes, etc. I have way too many juleps to bother. 

 
I can't decide whether to pre-order or not.  I don't have the best polishing skills, so the idea is intriguing, but I am also miffed about the new cap issue and not being compatible with the old caps.  I was leaning towards a watch and see plan to see how other mavens like the wand before I bought it myself, but I'm worried that if I don't do the pre-order now, how much is the darn thing going to cost to get later.  At least if I order it now, I won't be out any additional money.  I'm still a little confused as to whether the wand is included in the May box regardless of whether we pre-order or if it will be an add-on for those of us who don't pre-order and therefore cost more money.  Anyone have any clue?
I have a feeling that anyone who waits to buy it will be able to pick it up dirt cheap on the swap pages after 50% of the mavens who preordered try it and dont like it/decide its too much of a hassle for their collection.
 
Why would everyone feel the need to buy new caps for the old bottles though, when they've been using the old system all along?  If the Plie is worthwhile, you've got it for the new bottles going forwards, but I'm not anticipating a huge enough difference that I would want to replace all my old bottle caps. 

I do think Julep's propensity with hyperbole regarding their new products (DD cream, anyone?) tends to bite them in the butt.  OTOH, they've almost met their $75,000 goal, in what, two days?  So maybe it's working for them. 

 
I'm really excited about it just because of chronic joint/muscle pain and being willing to try anything that might bring relief.  Plus I love new gadgets.

That said, I'm one of the suckers who bought one of these before my wedding 18 years ago, so I'm probably not the best person to judge what the 'latest and greatest' is.  
wink.gif
 

 

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