Big Unboxing Post!

Normally, I would do this one at a time, but this month has been crazy busy for me. Plus, my Birchbox and Boxycharm came literally in the same week. The good thing is some of this stuff I've been able to play with a little. All of the boxes had some sort of sea theme (kind of). Links to get the boxes and the actual products are provided, as usual.

Let's start with Ipsy $10/month (get it here):

The bag is black this month, so it doesn't show up that great against my bedspread

LaVanilla Healthy Body Butter in Pure Vanilla: Honestly, I haven't tried this. It could be the greatest body butter of all time, but I hate, hate, hate vanilla scent. Vanilla fragrance to me smells like cigars. Gross. I'll probably give this to someone.

TreStiQue Color & Smudge Shadow Crayon (color Kona Coffee): The most awful poopy-brown color and didn't blend worth a crap. I honestly can't believe this product retails for $26 full size. 

Ofra Cosmetics eyeliner in Turquoise: I've heard great things about Ofra Cosmetics. This eyeliner is nice and smooth. I'm a little scared of colored liner, so the color doesn't thrill me, but I can find a use for it, maybe with some costume makeup.

Formula X nail polish (I have no idea what color it is): So this isn't labeled with a shade, and I'm not about to sit and color match with the website. It's coral. About a shade lighter than the one I got from Lauren B Beauty in last month's Boxycharm. It's a teeny bottle so it'll probably get relegated to pedicures.

Smashbox Photofinish Primer: I'm already familiar and enjoy Photofinish primer. I have the full size silicone free version (I think the sample size I got has the silicone base) but it goes on very smooth and silky and is an excellent base for foundation. Smashbox products are great, anyway. I have their BB cream and it's awesome.

Now on to Birchbox $10/month (get it here):

Amika Perk Up dry shampoo: As one reviewer on Birchbox mentioned, it's not on hair great past one day. Smell is... meh. Very light though, which is a plus.

Supergoop! Everyday SPF50 With Cellular Response Technology: It's sunscreen, and smells like sunscreen, which isn't unpleasant. It also absorbs really well and doesn't have that weird stickiness that a lot of sunscreens have. I understand the cult following this stuff has.

Real Chemistry 3-Minute Peel: The instructions for this seem complicated, and I'm a little afraid to try it, even though I've had some dead skin issues lately. I'm also worried about it irritating my skin, so maybe I'll wait until after my friend's wedding.

Dr Jart+ BB Night Beauty Balm: This stuff is straight up weird. It applies clear with little white beads and then it color matches. But my question is, why do I need a tinted eye cream for night time? Is it the 50's again and we can't be seen in bed without at least some makeup? Also, this dried with a weird sticky texture. Bleh.

Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Blue Lagoon: Again, a colored eyeliner. I did actually wear this one, and it's a gorgeous color and applies smoothly, but I don't think it works for me as a liner. My eyes range from grey-blue to green, so I think this would be better as an eyeshadow base for me.

L Erickson Grab and Go Pony: It's a hair tie. Why these retail for $18 is beyond me. Next.


Last but not least, BoxyCharm! <3 $21/month (get it here)

Eslor Chlorophyll Lifting Mask: From the website: Skin tightening mask. The dried film of natural milk proteins, plant extracts, seaweed extracts, and minerals tighten the skin, help enhance blood circulation, and help diminish fine lines." I have not tried this yet, but as I am noticing fine lines, I need to. 
Bellapierre Cosmetics Kabuki Brush: I. Love. Brushes! Love love love this brush. It's a super soft, dense kabuki made from synthetic bristles. I love kabukis for powder and blending, so I was stoked to get this (or a brush in general. Have I mentioned I love brushes?).

The Beauty Crop Lighting Crew Highlighting Cream: I haven't tried this yet. Highlighting creams scare me a little, because I'm used to highlighting with powder. I'm afraid I'll get too much on and look... greasy.

Doucce Click Click Lipstick in color 811 Pink Dahlia: So sometimes I'm a little simple and get confused easily. So when the instructions said "click to reveal your color" I couldn't figure it out. The thing is, you click it into and out of the tube... the actual lipstick itself still twists up like any other lipstick. So once I figured that out, things were good. Pink Dahlia is a really pretty pinky mauve color. I haven't tried it on yet (it took me a month to work up the courage to try the purple lipstick from last month!).

ncLA Nail Lacquer: This is a shade from their Nudes collection. Maybe a little nude for me (especially since I'm currently sporting black stiletto nails) but nice maybe for a dressy event or accent. 

May 2015 Ipsy Unboxing

This month's Ipsy was a big ol' "meh" for me. As I'm getting more into beauty boxes that give me what I want, I find myself more and more unimpressed with Ipsy, and this is only my second bag. I'm going to keep my subscription and see where it goes, but I was largely unimpressed this month. If you would like to try it out, here's an invite link to join. I will say, though, that when I picked up my shiny pink bubble mailer, I was surprised at the weight, and finding a full-sized hair product in there. So let's start with that.

Oscar Blandi Hair Lift Mousse

This month, I got a full size mousse, which retails at $23, so right there, I got my money back for the subscription and then some. Ipsy uses a series of questions to determine your products, and since I described my hair as "needs volume," they sent this mousse, which I'm not completely unhappy with, because I was going to need to buy some soon anyway for a wedding, and as far as product goes, I've heard good things about the Oscar Blandi brand.

Glamglow Thirstycleanse Daily Hydrating Cleanser

Again, another product I've heard great things about. The instructions are intimidating though... rub into my dry skin, then get it wet, then keep rubbing, get it more wet, then rinse. It seems... complicated for a face wash. However, I've been told though (and this is a direct quote from my friend Palmer) "If their cleanser is half as good as their mask, Angels will straight up fly out of your pores and start singing and shitting kittens." It smells great...

Jesse's Girl Pure Pigment Eye Dust

Way to fucking cheap out, Ipsy. I have better quality eye products and feel like something you can get at a drug store for a dollar isn't great. Also, the color is poopy and unflattering. Pass.

Klorane Soothing and Relaxing Patches

I do tend to get tired, baggy eyes, so these might actually work okay for me. We'll see.

Luxie Beauty Tapered Blending Eye Brush 205

This was pretty much the only thing I was looking forward to this month, since I'm a makeup brush addict. It's cute, soft, and fluffy. It basically feels like your standard blending brush but I think it might be gentler than what I'm currently using. Would have liked it to be a tad bit denser, but over all, decent.

Birchbox May 2015 Unboxing

Since I don't have the ability to do videos, here's a blog post! I've been subscribing to Birchbox for three months now and this is the first box I've been disappointed in. If you would like to subscribe, here's a handy link.  Read on...

L to R: Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream, Naobay Oxygenating Cream Moisturizer, Number 4 Super Comb Prep & Protect, Coastal Scents Revealed 3 eyeshadow quad, Front: Harvey Prince Sincerely perfume

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream
I actually kind of want to try this, since I've been thinking of moving from full-on foundation to a CC or BB cream, especially for summer where wearing full foundation is heavy and gross feeling.

Naobay Oxygenating Cream Moisturizer
I don't mind getting moisturizers, since I'm realizing I need to take better care of my aging skin, so the fact that I got a moisturizer isn't bad. The scent, however, is awful. It smells like oranges. I like to eat oranges, but I absolutely hate the smell of oranges. The fact that it smells like oranges does not make me want to rub it on my face, so it's going to be relegated to hand cream. It does absorb quickly, which is nice.

Number 4 Super Comb Prep & Protect
A detangler/leave in conditioner. Yay. I don't use detanglers/leave in products and no longer have long hair, so this will probably not get used. At least it doesn't smell horrible like the last one that got sent. Meh.

Coastal Scents Revealed 3 Eyeshadow Quad (Desert Bloom)
The colors in this are nice and rich, each a good compliment to the other, however I would definitely need a different highlight color as the gold in this quad is going to be too much for the browbone.

Harvey Prince Sincerely perfume
I hate getting perfume samples. Hate it. I don't like this fragrance, and a huge issue I have with getting perfume samples is Birchbox doesn't ask scent profile questions, so I keep getting all these gross florals and "soft" scents, and regardless of me choosing the options to get fewer perfume samples, I think they're putting them all in up front. I hate the scent, and I'll probably see if my niece likes it.


So this month was meh. I've already gotten a glimpse at my Ipsy and I'm already not impressed, so I'll write about that when it comes. I also signed up for Boxycharm, but I haven't gotten shipment confirmation so we'll see when that comes too.