Birchbox August 2015: Soak It Up!

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Hi Friends!  Even thought it's late, I wanted to hop on and share what I got in my August Birchbox, because I like it so much, starting with the cute box!  It's a swimming pool, fun for the end of summer, isn't it?

Most importantly, this month the box was an overall hit with just one miss, I think it might be the one I self selected - spoiler alert, it was the Coola product.

RUSK® Volumizing Mousse - Full Size 8 oz., $18:  I haven't used mousse in awhile, but this one worked surprisingly well.  I have naturally way hair and on humid summer days it just isn't worth the hassle of trying to straighten it out.  I liked how this gave me hold without crunchiness and leaving my hair with a wet look once dry.

Air Repair Complexion Boosting Moisturizer - Full Size, $20: I used this moisturizer at night, as it doesn't contain SPF.  Instead, it has antioxidants and humectants to hydrate and revitalize skin, and Birchbox mentions that it's helpful with minimizing how travel can affect your complexion.  I happened to go away for a quick overnight trip to Chicago so beyond using at night, I also tried it for intense treatment, sort of like a mask.  I liked both uses, as it has a light formula and clean scent.  I think it's perfect for summer, but I probably need something heavier for winter.

Beauty Protector Protect & Oil, Full Size: &25.95: This brand is a favorite of mine, love their shampoo & conditioner.  I was really looking forward to their foray into the hair oil field and it did not disappoint!  It has the same light and slightly sweet scent as their other products and works great as to protect before heat styling or as a finishing product.  Only a few drops are needed per use so this sample will last me at least a full month.

LAQA & Co. Charm School Kit - Full Size Set of 3 with Clutch $20:  All subscribers got one of the three shades in this set of lip and cheek crayons.  At first glance it's a nicely sized sample, but upon rolling it up, it's really only half a inch or so of product.  That was a bit of a bummer, but the larger sized container does make it easier to apply than if they'd sent a bitty one.

I received the shade Humble Brag and I love the color.  It is a really lovely and flattering neutral, kind of a your lips but better shade on me.  It's great for and everyday color, so I'm bummed that the sample wasn't bigger.  I would consider purchasing this shade in a full size, but Birchbox only carries it in sets and I know I wouldn't use the other ones.  I'd also have to carefully research how big the full size actually is, because no way would I pay full price for a half inch lip crayon!

COOLA® SPF 30 Organic Makeup Setting Spray, Full Size $36: This was my self selected product, chosen because I really like the other COOLA products I've tried.  Unfortunately, I didn't like the texture of this finishing spray.  It felt kind of sticky, not pleasant on the skin when it's already hot and humid!  I'm still really glad I got this, as I was super curious about it!  Nice I could try it and get several uses without having to purchase.

If you'd like to join me as a Birchbox subscriber, please consider using my referral link.  Thanks!

Birchbox July 2015: Beachy & Bright

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I've already got my July Birchbox!  I came on the 6th, so really early.  I selected the curated box this month, so since those all have identical contents, perhaps that helps them get sent out quickly.  Doesn't the box really fit the theme "Beachy & Bright"?  I love hot pink and aqua ♥

Since I already knew what the contents were, I knew I'd be happy this month!  Here's a first look inside the box.

theBalm cosmetics Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush (full size, $21): theBalm always has really cute packaging, even for their samples!  It's been a little hit and miss with this company but I always enjoy samples from them, because the presentation is just too fun!  This color is on the darker side of bronzers that work for me and it's a little shimmery.  The color is just so so pretty, that while I'm a little pale to use it how it's intended, it's been a very flattering eye shadow shade.

stila stay all day liquid lipstick (set of 3, $20): Every subscriber got to try one of these, the only difference is which color.  I really wanted Bella, and probably would've been disappointed if I'd gotten another color.  Knowing that this was the shade coming in the curated box, made it all the easier to hit select.  Bonus is, it's really pretty, both the packaging and color.  I love berry shades all year round and this brighter shade is a perfect seasonal swap out for the darker wine shades I gravitate toward.

JUARA Radiance Enzyme Scrub, (full size, $38): I've used this twice so far and thought it worked really well.  Sometimes after using certain pore minimizers it feels like I have to work extra hard to get it all off.  The scrub felt gentle but effective.

Supergoop! Anti-Aging City Sunscreen Serum SPF 30, (full size, $42): I've received this before and used it up while in Texas for the week.  It kept me from getting sunburned and unlike regular sunscreens it didn't feel heavy or smell funny.  It was a great substitute for daily moisturizer.  While it' might not be super exciting, it's very useful and works well.

Oribe Après Beach Wave and Shine Spray, (full-size, $38): I love beach sprays and this is the time of the year they start to show up in subscription boxes, yay!  I just finished another sample from last year and am glad to have a new one to try.  It's been getting more humid and not worth the bother of straightening my hair, and this has been helping pump up my curls and volume.  Works nicely!

Sometimes getting a curated box leads to feeling less excited, since the element of surprise has been taken away.  However, this is a terrific box for me.  It's got a great range from skin care to color and even the perfect seasonal hair product.  Since I will review each of the five products and earn back a five dollars to spend in the Birchbox store, it means I got a great box for only $5!

As always, if you'd like to join me as a Birchbox subscriber, please consider using my referral link! I'd really appreciate it!

Birchbox June 2015: Adventure

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I'm really pleased with June's Birchbox!  It has some great products and a nice mix of skin care, color, and fragrance.  Let me start by saying, I'm sorry for the picture quality in this post.  It really overcast and I had a hard time avoiding shadows and good images of each sample.

Here's a look at what I got.  This month's theme was Adventure and my box has "Say Yes" in printed in silver foil on the top lid.  I could't agree more.  I definitely do say yes to all of my June samples!

Coola, SPF 50 Sport - Mango (full size, $32): Price aside, this is one of the very best sunscreens I've ever tired,  EVER.  A big reason why is the scent, because I can't stand the way sunscreen normally smells.  On top of the fun, fruity scent it is also very moisturizing.  You could totally skip applying lotion when using this.  It has the perfect texture and a very sheer formula so you barely notice it's on. It's a bit of a splurge for me, but I am planning to pick some up for sure!

Marcelle, Waterproof Eyeliner - Electric Blue (full size, $11): The first time I got a blue eyeliner in a subscription box I was thrilled. Oh how different and exciting.  Well now that I have several I was less enthusiastic to see this.  Turns out, I really, really like it!  This shade is slightly different from all of the others I have and it's beautiful.  Plus it has great staying power.  It's available in a cute travel set that I think is a very good value for such high quality eyeliners.

Real Chemistry, Luminous 3-Minute Peel (full size $48): This is the only sample I've yet to try.  I'm currently using up a Vitamin C treatment so I don't want to add something new into the mix just yet.  I also need to give my skin time to recover from our road trip to TX.  All the time in the car, longer periods spent in the sun, the different climate...for me it all adds up to skin that needs a little extra tender loving care.

Once things are a back to normal, this is first on my list to try!  It's an acid free peel that gently exfoliates.  You massage it onto a slightly moistened face and as you rub it, the gel should combine with your dead skin cells and take it away, leaving softer, smoother, brighter skin.  Sounds cool, right?

TOCCA, Eau de Parfum, Bianca (full size $68): Normally, I would not be super excited to get a fragrance sample for the second month in a row.  However, I really like both of the TOCCA Crema da Mano Luxe - Hand Cream samples I've received in previous Birchboxes.  The scents have been lovely and I really like the Bianca scent as well.

Described as, "A light sparkling citrus blend of lemon Orpur and Mandarin.  Fresh Green Tea and Rose Petals bloom, leaving a dash of Musk and Sugar to linger on the skin."  I think the combination of citrus and tea is what appeals to me.  For a fragrance sample is pretty generous, but I do wish it had a spray top.  I'm actually really happy that I got to try it!

W3LL PEOPLE, The Expressionist Mascara (full size $23.50): I currently have so much mascara but the chic white packaging was just beckoning me to try it!  My natural lashes are so sparse and stubby that I need a little help and this gave me the perfect amount of oomph for lovely natural looking eyelashes.  Definitely a yours but better kind of look.  The real draw for me is that it's all natural, since it's not too pleasant to think about putting yucky chemical or dyes right next to your eyes.

Bonus! Emi Jay, Hair Tie (Pack of 5: $13): This style of hair tie are all the rage and like most of others, is made out of a soft and flexible material that doesn't leave dents in your hair.  Basically, you can wear your hair up in a pony tail and then take it down without the tell tale crease left.  We have a number of this style hair tie and I would not say this one is unique, but it is nice how 20% of the profits are donated to charity.

This was a bonus item and as such, I think it's a really nice one to include!  I'd much rather get something like this than a piece of chocolate or another foil pack sample.  While ours is a kind of boring brown color, it's just perfect for my daughter.  It blends in nicely and almost gives her that no tie pony tail look, without having to leave out a few strands to wrap around the pony as a last step.

I've already gotten my sample pick email from Birchbox for July and opted to get the Beachy & Bright Featured Box.  It will include the following: JUARA Radiance Enzyme Scrub, stila stay all day liquid lipstick in Bella, theBalm® cosmetics Balm Desert® Bronzer/Blush, Supergoop! Anti-Aging City Sunscreen Serum SPF 30, and Oribe Après Beach Wave and Shine Spray.

If you'd like to join me and receive Birchbox each month, please consider using my referral link, I'd really appreciate it!

Birchbox May 2015:Cupcakes and Cashmere

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I've been meaning to share what I got in my Birchbox, but somehow almost the entire month is gone and I never got around to it!  The May box was curated by Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere, and while I'm not sure what exactly that means - perhaps she picked the samples that were pulled from to make up all the various box combinations?  What I do know, is that I really like what I got!

To be honest, at first glance the box looked a little light.  Especially since two of the samples came inside the pillow box.  But after a closer examination, I realized I got samples that I am really excited about.  Plus...there are NO shampoo or conditioner samples, YES!  I clicked on my profile and unchecked every.single.hair description.  Hope that will prevent them from coming in my box for at least a few months!

I did get one hair related sample, but it's the one I selected.  I do like hair styling products and have really liked all the hair oils I've tried so far. I've heard really good things about Macadamia Professional, and this sample of their Nourishing Moisture Oil Treatment will last me a long time.  It works really well too, worthy of all the hype in my opinion!

I don't know quite what to think about the various kinds of water sprays.  While I'm intrigued by Smashbox's Cosmetics Photo Finish Primer Water is it just mainly water?  I mean most water sprays like this one, say things are added, in this case it's electrolytes, and Smashbox says that during the production process it's passed through positive energy fields too.  But is this all enough to justify paying $32 for 3.9oz?  I mean, that's some expensive water!  While doing some online searching for the ingredients, I found this interesting discussion.

It's supposed to help prime the face for makeup and help it stay in place.  When I used it, I definitely smelled a faint scent, it was pleasant.  I didn't notice a real difference in my make up application or wear time.  I do think that it would be refreshing to spritz on during the course of a hot day, but so would some regular ol' water from the fridge.  Still a cool sample to get and try.

I am really enjoying this Marcelle Hydra-C 24H Energizing Hydrating Gel.  While the sample looks small in my hand, a little big goes a long way and I did feel like my skin was more hydrated when I used it.  It certainly felt more so vs using my regular moisturizer.  It's nice and light going on and absorbs quickly.  It doesn't have SPF so I'm undecided about switching over to using it full time.

My opinion of Coastal Scents would be better if they'd package their samples in a nicer manner.  I got one of their samplers before, last June.  While the eyeshadows from their Revelaed 3 Palette are nice, I plan to pass this along to a friend.

As I know from past experience, these will make a big mess when being used and I don't feel like getting fall out all over my makeup bag again.  Mess aside, this is a nicely sized sample to receive and I know my friends' teen aged daughters will be very excited to get this. The shadows themselves are nice quality and they'll have fun playing around with them.

This Yogini perfume sample was the only one that was a bit of a miss for me.  Described as: The light, clean fragrance features top notes of purifying sandalwood, refreshing grapefruit, and sensual Egyptian myrrh. Subtle cues of golden amber, incense, and star jasmine turn each spritz into a mini aromatherapy break.  

I'm trying to expand my fragrances from straight up citrus and thought this sounded promising since it's supposed to be light and clean.  It's okay, but feels like a fall scent to me.  I'll put it aside for the summer and break it out when the kids go back to school.  I like it enough to finish the sample.

That was May!  I've already selected my June sample - it's sun care related, and am excited to get some summery samples!

Birchbox Upgraded Beta Box Review: April 2015, Featuring Rifle Paper Co.

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This month's Birchbox was extra fabulous, because the print was designed by Rifle Paper Co.!  Even though the curated boxes were AMC's hit television show Mad Men themed, and had pretty fabulous contents, I already knew I wouldn't be getting one.  I HAD to get this pretty box, which will be perfect for repurposing as cute storage.

Turns out, since I decided to give the upgraded beta box a try, I couldn't have opted for a curated box anyway.  It's not an option when you get this new option Birchbox is trying out.  The upgraded beta box is an extra $20 a month, for a total of $30 a month ($10 month to month charge + $20 upgraded fee).  For the additional cost, you receive two full size products.  The extra products did make this a really full box!

Yet more shampoo & conditioner samples, BOO!  At this point, I've received so many samples like these that they could be the best ever and I would still be over it.  I unchecked every single hair description on my profile so fingers crossed I don't get more next month.  I recently went through an used up all of my samples, which resulted in a rather itchy scalp due to too much switching around.  I went out and bought new super sized Redken Clear Moisture products at my saloon and things have since returned to normal.

I was excited to see a Jouer sample of their Tint in Petal.   It's really sheer and buildable, but not a good lip color for my coloring.  On the cheeks it was a little drying so I'm glad I got to try it, but it's not something I would purchase.

Even though upgraded beta box subscribers don't have the option to select the monthly curated box, I did still get to pick one of my samples.  This is what I choose, a very pretty trio of eye shadows from the POP Portfolio Eyeshadow Palette.  The colors are shimmery but neutral so I think I'll get good use out of it.

One of the first Birchbox finds I actually purchased was by Paula’s Choice and I like the brand a lot.  This is the RESIST 25% Vitamin C Spot Treatment and it's meant to brighten skin tone and banish brown spots.  I would LOVE for this to work, and hoped it would be amazing, since the full size is $55 I was hoping to be really impressed.  The sample is just so small though, and with a week's use and not seeing much difference...

UPGRADED BETA BOX  FULL SIZE PRODUCT: Oh yay, mascara...said almost no subscriber ever.  I have so many mascara samples that even though it's one of my most used products, it will be quite sometime before I can go through them all.  On the plus side this Back in Black High Performance Mascara by Lord & Berry (listed as $23 but only available on Birchbox in a set) does recoup the upgraded price, in theory.

In reality, I would never spend $23 on a mascara, mainly because I think this kind of product is one thing drug store brands do really well.  Also, since you need to switch them out pretty frequently to avoid eye infections this is one spot in your beauty routine it's nice to save.

I do have a high end favorite that I do think is worth the money, Tarte's Lights, Camera, Lashes and this does not replace it.  It is however, a nice mascara.  I like the small brush for getting into my short stubby lashes.  I'll enjoy using it, since I have it.

UPGRADED BETA BOX  FULL SIZE PRODUCT:  I'm such a nail polish junkie and I love trying different brands.  This one I'd never heard of and wow did the bottle immediately grab my attention!  The Smith & Cult Nailed Lacquer - She Said Yeah ($18) is in such a beautiful bottle!  It's looks and feels like a luxury product, but upon closer look there are some drawbacks to it's gorgeous appearance.

For one, the design is pretty impractical.  The silver top is too bulky and unwieldy to leave on while polishing, I did give it a try just to see, but it was so large it completely blocked my view of my nails.  Good thing it comes off and there is a little black cap underneath.  However, this is small and since I'm used to an OPI bottle top to grasp - something similar, I could never quite get comfortable holding it.  

The bottle itself is nice thick glass but so short and wide, I have doubts as to if it would easy to get polish on the brush once the level begins to dip.  No, I have not ever finished a bottle of polish but for $18 I want to feel like I could, without having to pick it up to tip it around during application.

The polish itself went on so sheer and streaky for the first coat that I was immediately thinking this wasn't a good sign.  But the second coat I applied a little thicker and it went on beautifully, leveling things out, and fixing things on all but two of my nails.  I could see a faint bit of visible nail line on those but all in all, the formula was good and if the price point was lower and the bottle a little different, I would consider buying more.

I have to confess, I've already called to downgrade my subscription back to the $10 monthly charge.  I just wouldn't have spent $10 on each of the extra item so I didn't find it to be a good enough value for me personally.  While the polish is a beautiful color and the mascara fairly nice, I would rather take $20 and choose my own products to add to my collection or try a subscription service like Glossybox ($21 a month).

This may have also been a bad month to have as my first month for the beta box, because the Birchbox Plus items were also of high interest for me.  These are a preselected items you can add on to your box each month for a discount.  I am not usually tempted by them but I did once add a Ruffian set.

In April, you could add on either a Rifle Paper Co. tote bag for $28 or a set with Rifle Paper Co. notebooks and a cold drink tumbler for $20.  I REALLY wanted to order one of them but because of the already increased base price of my box, I had to restrain myself.  That plus not being able to select future curated boxes and not loving the full sized items just made this not for me.  What do you think of the upgraded beta box?

Julep Maven: April 2015, The Paradise Collection

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Last year, the April 2014 Vivid collection was my favorite and I sort of regretted not getting more of it.  This April, Julep once again did a bright collection and I decided to splurge and get a few add ons with the Jules (Julep's reward program) that I had.  When my box arrived, everything was so colorful and happy looking!  These colors were just what I needed to perk me up when the tail end of wintry weather hit Michigan.

I selected a different style profile that my default and got two Bombshell colors but mainly for this gorgeous fuchsia creme called Drew.

I was also really drawn to Cassidy, which is described as a Bondi blue crème.  I'm not sure what Bondi means, but I do know this will be perfect for summer!

The third non-nail polish item for April is this brow powder with built in angle brush called, Don't Leave Your Brows at Home.  I don't like ordering this kind of product on line, as I find it can be hard to pick the correct shade.  My brows are so non-existent, it's hard for any kind of make up to not look really noticeable.  I need to play around a bit more with this, but as far as make up products go, I'm more in the market for something like this than the highlighter or mascara that Julep has done previously.

Now let's get to add ons!  I haven't ever been able to find a good yellow to add to my collection.  I don't really need one with a super good formula or even very much as I really only need it for nail art.  Addison is a happy sunny color and "free" with point redemption so I decided to give it a go.  Like I mentioned, I don't plan to wear it as a full mani so I was satisfied with the swatch I did of this color, although the reviews on the website seem to lean more to dissatisfied, so if you're considering picking up this polish you might want to skip it.

My other polish add on was this tangerine burst crème called Jenna.  This is ORANGE, really bright and exactly what I expected.  Again, this is something I got for nail art so I'm pretty happy.

The third add on I got was the little nail decals shown in the top and very bottom photos.  I've been enjoying the ease of using the decals I've previously received and using them to give my accent nail a little something extra.

Because I got three add ons this month, I also got a free gift!  I love a good lippie so this lip gloss in Vivid was a fun bonus to get.  It's a more of a fall/winter shade but pretty and something I'd totally pick out for myself.

That's it, what came in my little box of nail goodness this month!  I was very happy with it and if you'd like to sign up for Julep, I hope you'll consider using my referral link :)