Friday, October 19, 2012

Influenster Beauty Blogger Vox Box

The kind folks over at Influenster chose me to receive another Vox Box!!!!  The last one I had was so fun and this one is no different!  I love the variety, the amount, and the size of the products!  I will hopefully get full individual reviews on most of these products in the up coming weeks.

Here's a closer look at what I was sent in this box:


Sorry for the glare in the picture!  This is NYC's IndividualEyes Custom Compact.  I'm not a huge fan of using black or grey for a dramatic eye, but I'll try these out for sure.  It comes with a primer, highlighter, all over lid color, two crease colors, an illuminator, and a dual ended sponge eyeshadow applicator.  This is full size.

False lashes!!!  These are so much fun.  I rarely use them because I'm not the best at applying them, but they are great for special occasions.  I love the look of these ones!  The best part is that it comes with the glue and a little applicator tweezer.

Before I even opened up the box, there was a strong smell coming from it.  That smell was from this little gem.  I was super impressed to see this in my box.  I already own this particular scent in the 3-wick candle, so now I have a little baby one to burn too!  Mahogany Teakwood is a scented candle by The White Barn sold at Bath and Body Works.  These candles along with the Slatkin and Co. candles that are sold there are my all time favorite candles.  The scent fills up an entire house and the scents are indescribably amazing!  I love this one because it smells just like Fierce which is the cologne that Abercrombie & Fitch sprays their stores with.  It is one of my favorite smells.  Included was a coupon to get a 3-wick candle for $10.  Soooo worth it.

EBoost health booster drink!  I hope this tastes good.  I'm always up for getting a little extra vitamin dosage in my daily life.

These look so fun!  They are like bobby pins, but twisted and they will hold much more hair than a bobby pin ever would.  Influenster sent ones that perfectly match my hair color too!  Awesome job!

This is Not Your Mother's "Kinky Moves".  I am almost out of my Paul Mitchell "Round Trip", so this might be a great alternative.  It smells yummy.

I was lucky enough to receive one of the bonus items!  I got this "Green Apple & White Lily" body spray from Vitabath.  This body spray actually has vitamins in it to help nourish your skin.  This smells like fresh laundry.  I like it and happy I was chosen to receive this.  I know some other people got a cake scented one. 

Stay tuned for reviews!

-polish. impress. repeat.

October 2012 Birchbox

Hello faithful readers!  It's that time of month... BIRCHBOX time!  :)  Birchbox is a great little gift in the mail, and it brightens my day!  This month, Birchbox teamed up with GOOP to make a special themed box.  I didn't get that box, instead, I got the regular October box.  It had a theme of transformation to go along with Halloween.  It wasn't really a 'Halloween' themed box though.  Make sense?  Okay.  Anyways, I was pleased with this month's box. 


 First up is Lucy B Pink Frangipani & Wild Jasmine Roll-On perfume oils.  This was an extra treat to get TWO perfume samples instead of the usual one!  I like the spray bottles better, but at least these have long plastic applicators rather than nothing.  I'm not a huge fan of jasmine for a scent of perfume, so I'll probably give that one away.  The Pink Frangipani one smells great!  Too bad it was half full and the jasmine one was over flowing...

I also got Mox Botanicals Pomegranate & Fig Lip Butter.  I LOVE me some lip products, so this was great!  It smells tasty too!  It is super tiny, which is perfect to fit in my pocket to carry around!  I can't do that with my EOS lip balm.

This is NUXE Fondant Body Scrub.  I'm not sure why is is categorized as a 'fondant' body scrub versus a normal body scrub, but I am a huge fan of scrubs nonetheless.  This one smells fantastic by the way.  I am excited to use this!  It was a little disappointing to find out that this tube is only about half full of product when I opened the lid to smell it. 

I got Mary-Lou Manizer from theBalm.  It is essentially a highlighter.  It is a gorgeous color as swatched on my hand.  I like that it is in a little magnetic book.  Perfect for travel!  It is a pretty good amount of product in this sample.

My lifestyle extra this month was tea!  Birchbox has given away tea in boxes many times, but I have never gotten any. I am a tea snob, and I was stoked to see these in my box.  The orange one is a mate tea with orange and  chocolate scents which should be interesting.  The green one is a mate green tea with lemon grass and lemon flavorings.  Both are not typically something I would be drawn too, but I'm interested to try them out.

None of the products from this month's box were brands I recognize.  That's just one of the amazing things about Birchbox.  They introduce you to great products and amazing brands you might not know are out there.  If you are interested in joining Birchbox, it is a $10 subscription per month (box).  Here's my referral link if you are interested:  https://www.birchbox.com?raf=gafkf.

What was in your Birchbox?

-polish. impress. repeat.


Sunday, October 14, 2012

Fall 2012 Luxe Box

I was beyond estatic when I got an email from Loose Button stating that they were starting to offer their subscription service in the United States and that I was one of the first people to be able to try it out!  Luxe Box is very similar to Birchbox in that they are both incredible beauty subscription companies.  I can vouch that they are both the cream of the crop.  Luxe Box has changed their program to quarterly boxes instead of monthly boxes.  They are a little more expensive, but you get a lot more that you would in a monthly box.  I can say I was quite impressed with the selection I got and I look forward to a wonderful future with Loose Button.  Here's what I got:


It comes in this grey mailing box

Inside is this incredibly durable box.  It is great quality and could easily be re-used.  It has their cute little button decal on the outside.

You open the box and you are greeted with all your products wrapped in a white silky cloth and your list of products inside a sealed envelope!

Here is the product card with all the amazing products I scored in my box.  I love the little key at the bottom that lets you know what items are full-size, rare, exclusive, or a product launch.

Jackpot!
 
I love toner and I just ran out of my Pangea Organics toner last month.  This doesn't really have a smell to it, but that's okay.  I can't wait to see how this meshes with my skin.  This is a pretty good sized sample too, I imagine this will last me a little while.

Next is this FULL SIZE Eyeko skinny liquid liner in black.  I love me some black liquid liner with either felt or brush tip just like this one has!  I love my Stila liquid liner, so when that runs out, I'll experiment a little more with this one.  One downside was after I swatched it, I took it out the next day to take more pictures and I got black all over my hand.  Not quite sure how it leaked all inside the cap unless I didn't have it on right.  I cleaned it up and hopefully that's the last I'll see of that problem.

I got this Pretty Piede foot lotion by Principessa Beauty.  I've never heard of this company, but I like foot lotion and this stuff smells great!  The beauty of these boxes is discovering new brands and new products.

Here is another brand I've never heard of.  I actually got two different things from Orlane, and first up is a firming serum.  I don't need to really firm any thing up at my age, but I will give it a try anyways.

This is the other Orlane product, and it is a super moisturizing conditioner.  I'm always happy for moisturizing, so this was a great addition to the box.
 
I got Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips in Glitz Blitz.  These are pretty pricey for a one time use, so I have never bought these.  I have another pattern I got in the mail, but it is a pattern I wouldn't use, so I was happy to see this one!  I LOVE the glitter, and I'm excited to try these out!
 
 This is the third one of these I have gotten.  I got one as a free sample from Target or Walmart, I recieved one in a Birchbox, and one here in my Luxe Box.  I guess Schick either is REALLY trying to promote these, or they made wayyyy too many.  Either way, they are great razors and it's always great to have an extra in my travel bag.

Lastly, I received Sylenomics from Essie's Fall 2012 collection.  This is a super dark teal-forest green.  I think this will make a great pedicure color.  I'm not sure I would have gone out and bought this exact color, but I'm completely satisfied that I got a FULL SIZE bottle in my box!  :)

Overall, GREAT job Loose Button.  You have made a happy customer.  If any of you are interested in signing up, you can request an invitation at their website here.

If you got a Luxe Box this Fall, what did you get?
 
-polish. impress. repeat.

Butter London - Shag

 This is Butter London's Shag.  It is a stunning bronze-y copper-y reddish brown.  Crazy discription right!?  That's exactly what it is though!  The only other thing I can think of that is close is the Crayola 'burt sienna' crayon.  It is the perfect color for fall; not quite red, but not quite brown either and a little bit of metallic quality.  I was afraid it wouldn't go with a lot of outfits I own, but quite the contrary!  I think I will be wearing this often for the next few months.  I put on two coats (per usual).  




What are your 'go to' Fall polishes?

-polish. impress. repeat.