April Birchbox

This month’s theme was natural wonders, hence all the green paper. I love any box with nail polish to be frank, but I like the cuticle salve and the convenience of the face cleansers, so you win this month Birchbox. You get my ten bucks another month.

1. Willa Gentle Cleansing Lavender Facial Towelettes – Pretty good, but it’s more lavender! I wish I’d gotten the Yes! To Blueberries face towelettes instead, but it’s not a total loss. They dry my skin out a little bit, but I usually moisturize after washing my face anyways. I can’t lie though, they don’t get everything. I still have to use eye makeup remover. A little pack like this would be great to take on vacation, way more compact than my bottle of Cetaphil facial cleanser. If only I were going on a trip soon…

2. J.R. Watkins Hand and Cuticle Salve – I like the way this turns from a solid to oil so easily. I have a cuticle salve from Burt’s Bees that was always too waxy to really make my nail beds feel moisturized. As I’ve mentioned before, lavender is not my favorite scent, but it isn’t overpowering in this product.

3. Wonderstruck Fragrance by Taylor Swift – It’s very fruity and floral, and as much as I’m not a fan of Taylor Swift the musician, I can’t help but like it. The only reason I wouldn’t buy a full size is because it doesn’t have a distinctive scent. It smells a lot like a more concentrated version of some fruity body spray from Bath & Body Works. I can’t identify a specific fruit or flower scent either, BUT the sample is great for my purse because I haven’t been crazy about the last couple of fragrance samples I’ve received. Even if it’s nondescript, it is lovely and sweet and seems fitting for the summer months.

4. Zoya Nail Color in Bevin – So happy I got this! I was really taken by the new spring colors from Zoya, and this one hits the nail (haha) on the head. It’s a soft green-blue with just enough grey to make it feel less pastel or Eastery. Like most Zoya polishes I own, it has great staying power even without a top coat. I do a lot of typing at work, so I usually start to lose polish on the tip of my nail pretty evenly, but Zoya does the best job at sticking it out with me. I’m wearing it in this post, and that’s after a few days on my nails.

(Not Pictured) dropps Laundry Detergent – To be perfectly honest, this was not impressive. It used it to wash a load of clothes, and they didn’t come out any cleaner or softer. I know it’s supposed to be more eco-friendly, but it’d be nice if it cleaned as well or better than the detergent I regularly use.

That’s it for this box! Becca also gave me the Zoya nail color she got in her box (Lotus), and I’m thrilled because I love all the swatches I’ve seen from the TRUE Spring Collection. It’s a muted purple with sparkly red-violet throughout. I think I see a nail swatch in my future y’all.

March Teen Vogue Birchbox

I opted for the TeenVogue themed box this month because I just wanted to feel special. A themed box! This was my haul for March.

1. twistband hair tie // I’ve already got one of these in dark green, and now I apparently have one in bright green. I’m not really that into green. I’ll go for a nice hearty avocado green, but that’s about it. On the bright side, I had something to stick in my hair on St. Patrick’s Day to avoid pinches. I finally took matters into my own hands and ordered a pack of these in black because they don’t crimp my hair if it’s in a ponytail all day, and the little tie detail makes them just a tad classier than your garden variety hair tie.

2. Annick Goutal Petite Chérie // Don’t get me wrong. This smells nice, but it’s a weird mix. You’d think that grass and roses would go together, but I wasn’t overly impressed. It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten a fragrance sample from BB that made me swoon. Give me another sample vial of Twirl and we’ll talk Birchbox.

3. essie luxeffects in Set in Stones // I love this polish but I was bummed out because Becca bought this exact one for me on Valentine’s Day last month. The glitter is intense, and after 2 coats my nails look dazzling and fancy.  I would’ve loved to get one of the gold ones instead, but now I have two I guess. At least it’s a color I like, and I bet it will look amazing on top of a lot of colors.

4. tarte Lipsurgence lip tint in Amused // This stuff is awesome! I’ve had my eye on all of the chubby stick makeups coming out lately, and this one is a winner. I thought it was a lip gloss, but it’s actually a stain. Usually stains settle in the creases of my lips and fade really unevenly, but this one is different. It feels hydrating and goes on glossy, so there’s no tight, dry sensation. The color is lovely too. It’s a sheer fuchsia and when the gloss fades, there’s still a nice even wash of pink. Plus it’s a full size and that always makes my day.

5. Shiseido Pureness Oil-Control Blotting Papers // I’m not a fan because I have super dry skin, so shininess isn’t really a concern for me. They’re different from most blotting sheets I’ve seen because they’re very thick. I’ll keep them in my make-up bag to blot lipstick, but this isn’t something I would buy.

Here’s what the lip tint and nail polish look like. The shiny silver accent nail is Set in Stones. Sorry for the gloomy face. I’m a little under the weather today so it was all I could do to put on some tinted moisturizer and under-eye concealer for pictures. Also, holla Boots No7 Soft and Sheer in Fair! It’s the first one to match my skin and not make me break out!

Back to the box – I can’t complain about two full-sized products in one box, but I can’t lie that I’ve been keeping my eye on the new Sample Society from BeautyBar.com and Allure. I’m on the wait list to receive an invite. I didn’t realize how new it was, so my search for reviews has turned up nil. Has anyone gotten a Sample Society subscription?

P.S. Another thank you to Pugly Pixel for the tutorial I used to make the bunny brush in my inventory picture!

February Birchbox

I got my birchbox for this month! Sometimes I wish they wouldn’t give you sneak peaks of what you could get because they had a couple of goodies that I was keeping my fingers crossed for (I’m looking at you, Violent Lip tattoos and  new Zoya nail polish line).

This was the month of near misses. Everything had great potential, but only a few are things I would consider repeat buying.

1. BLK DNM Perfume 11 // I want to like it! It’s trying to be spunky and peppery, but I just don’t love it. It’ll go in my make-up bag for olfactory touch-ups during the day, but I won’t be picking up a full size. It’s so close though! I’m not opposed to more masculine perfumes, but this one is too similar to Marc Jacob’s Bang for me (another scent I wanted to love because I adored the bottle).

2. Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint in Pearl // Remember when I said I’ve never been able to find a tinted moisturizer that I liked? This would have been so perfect if it wasn’t so yellow!

It feels good. It gives even coverage and has a light, luminizing shimmer that isn’t reminiscent of middle school body glitter. Unfortunately for me, this is the lightest shade, and as you can see, it’s a no go for my skin tone. This bummed me out so hard because the formula is great otherwise.

3. Supersmile Powdered Mouthrinse // Some Supersmile toothpaste came in the Birchbox Man set that I got Mark for Christmas, and I love using that, so I hoped their powdered mouthwash would be a slam dunk that I could keep in my make-up bag at work. No dice. The design is very convenient, but the powder doesn’t dissolve very well and has an awful, sweet fluoride taste. What a boner.

4. Eye Rock Designer Liner // Not something I would wear everyday, but it was surprisingly fun. Some of the leftover ones are a little too wild for me, but I figure I can trim them down to a more classic cat eye.

I got a lot of compliments when I wore them to get my hair cut, and no one knew they were stick-ons. The cons are that they started to lose their sticky on the inner corner of my eye pretty early on and that they are kind of hard to apply. The application process might be what made parts lose their adhesive, because I had to adjust them a few times. Overall though, it was fun and I’m looking forward to using them again for some special occasion.

5. Benta Berry G-1 Moisturizing Face Cream // Another face product with these mysterious mattifying properties. It doesn’t work as a day cream for me because it makes my beloved Primed & Poreless Primer pill (sorry, that’s a mouthful). Still nice to put on as a after-work-but-before-bed moisturizer.

6. Birchbox Digital Download of Green River Ordinance // I listened to a few songs and they just aren’t my cup of tea. They’re from Texas so I’m glad they’re apparently about to hit the big time, but I couldn’t get into them.

So there’s February for ya. Not the best but still a good try for Birchbox.

Birchbox: January

Ever since I subscribed to Birchbox last year, I have something that I look forward to in the middle of each month. I can’t stress enough how much I love good packaging and boy did they ever get me the first time I found one in my mailbox. The samples come in a really charming brown box with their logo embossed in metallic pink, and then inside everything’s wrapped in crisp fuchsia tissue paper. I don’t even like pink so you know they done good.

Here are all the goodies I received this month:

1.       C.O. Bigelow Lavender & Peppermint Shampoo and Conditioner

I just told you in my last post how much I loved the C.O. Bigelow lip balm that my friend Becca gave me, so I had high hopes for this set. It smelled really good in the bottles, but when I used it, the shampoo didn’t lather very well and it was all lavender and no mint. Don’t get me wrong. Lavender is a pleasant smell but it really overpowered the mint and me. The conditioner was decent. Same smell and it left my hair feeling pretty nice, but it wasn’t anything special. I read that this was originally a hotel shampoo & conditioner line that became so popular that they produced full size versions. I think hotel shampoo & conditioner is a very accurate way to describe the quality.

2.       Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Fragrance

This has great top and middle notes—tops are wild berries & mandarin and middles are honeysuckle, gardenia & jasmine. It’s the bottom that throws me off a little. I’m not crazy about sandalwood and vanilla, but that’s the bottom notes. BUT I always need an extra mini for my make-up bag, so even though I probably won’t buy a full size, I’ll be wearing it from time to time.

 3.       A Birchbox magnet

Kind of self explanatory. It’s a nifty little magnet and I’m going to put it on my fridge to display the cute notes Mark has been leaving me as of late.

 4.       stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Purple Tang

I love this! It’s a full size and it really does stay put. I tried to smudge it a little bit and it wouldn’t budge even then. It’s a twist up so there’s no product loss with sharpening. The color is a dark purple, so it’s a gentle move into colored eye liner. I’ve almost always used black, brown or gray, so the idea of foraying into more dramatic colors was pretty daunting. Baby steps.

5.       Tay Safflower Seed Night Cream

I promise that I don’t just like it because it says Tay on it, but I can’t say that I didn’t wonder if they sent it personalize or something like that. Of course that’s just the brand name, but it smells nice and it’s really thick. I have very sensitive skin (dry/mild rosacea) that I keep under control with my Clairisonic Mia and very fancy moisturizers like Cetaphil (sarcasm). This has jojoba and safflower oil, and my skin did feel very soft and refreshed the next morning. If I could afford it, I’d love to pick up the full size, but at $112 a pop, this might be a temporary indulgence.

This month the top pieces were the Tay Safflower Seed Night Cream and the stila Smudge Stick waterproof Eye Liner.

I fully recommend trying out Birchbox if you have an extra $10 a month to spare. You can unsubscribe any time, they have a cool point system where you rate items and save up to get discounts, and you can personalize your profile so you get samples relevant to you. It’s a great way to try out samples of new products if you don’t have the budget to buy new beauty products all the time. (Oops, I went to link this image and it says they are currently on a wait list because they are so popular!)

I hear they are also working on a Birchbox for men, so that’ll be exciting. I got Mark the big Birchbox Men gift set for Christmas, and once he’s tried everything I’ll probably do a post on those as well.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!