My March 2012 Birchbox!

I was eagerly awaiting this month's Birchbox because subscribers were given the option to have a Teen Vogue inspired box or to have a normal type box.  Of course, I opted for the Teen Vogue one, and I'm glad I did!  This month was also my anniversary of being a part of Birchbox for a whole year!  :)  They sent me an email telling me to be on the lookout for a special treat in next months box as well as giving me 100 bonus points ($10)!  Such a treat!  I just bought Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy perfume from Birchbox and got it practically for free with all my points I had racked up!  It was $89 and I think I paid $15 of my own money.  Pretty good deal! 

If you aren't aware of what Birchbox is, check out my post that explains it here.

Here's what I got for this month:

 A full size LipSurgence lip tint from Tarte!!!!  I got the color 'peaceful'.  It is a pretty nude color that I will actually use!  Some of the colors that I saw other people got were too bold of colors for me to wear.  I'm glad I got this one!

 This is what the tube looks like.

 It's like a crayon and you twist up for more.  It looks like a dark orange color, but it shows up lighter on your lips.

Here's a swatch of the color.  It's great!  I like that it is a lip tint, but instead of normal lip tints that can be drying, this is more like a chap-stick.  It's incredibly moisturizing.

 Another FULL SIZE product!  Essie's "A Cut Above" from their luxeffects line!  This looks very similar to "In Love" by Sally Girl that I have in my post here on OPI's "Hopelessly In Love."  I've seen some pictures of this collection and I'm excited to have one of them to add to my collection!  

This is the item I was least excited for.  I already got a black one in a box a while back.  I don't use it very often, so now I have another one in lime green that will probably just sit around...  This is a hair tie by Twistband.  

 Next up is some perfume by Annick Goutal called "Petite Cherie".  I've only liked a few of the perfumes I've gotten in my Birchbox, but I like that they give perfume samples.  It's a great way to find new scents, even if I don't like all of them.

I really like the sample bottle.  Some of the little perfume sample bottles are really impractical to use.  I like the ones that have spray tops.  This one doesn't, but it has a little wand to help apply the perfume.  It smells nice, but it's not a something that I'd buy for myself to wear.

 Oil blotting papers by Shiseido!  I'm a huge fan of these!  I don't get too oily during the day, but during the summer sometimes, I just need a little pick me up to matte-ify my face.  I have some cheap ones by E.L.F. that get the job done, so I don't know that I'd spend the money to buy these because they are more expensive.  I'll try them out though and see what I think.

Here's the little package they come in.  They are nice sized (a lot bigger than any other brand I've seen).  I just wish the packaging had a little tab to tuck in so that the flap didn't keep popping up.

Here's a collective picture.  I also was given a coupon to use at modcloth.com to save $10 off of a $75 order.  If any of you are interested in it, the code to use is MODPROM.  I was also given a coupon to get 2 years of Teen Vogue for $10.  I already get Teen Vogue for free so I won't be using the coupon.  

This month's was one of my favorites!  Two full sized products!  The box's total value not including the two coupons is $38.28.

If any of you are interested in signing up, please use my referral link here:  http://www.birchbox.com?raf=gafkf.  Thanks!

If you get Birchbox, what products did you get this month?  Did any of you opt for the normal March Birchbox?

- polish. impress. repeat.

China Glaze - Smoke and Ashes

 
The Hunger Games movie is going to be released THIS week!  As obsessed as I am with the book and waiting for the movie to come out, I have been equally excited for the nail polish collection from China Glaze.  The day the collection was released, I went to a few different stores to pick up the ones I wanted.  Sadly, I have been so busy I haven't been able to share any of them with you until now!  Smoke and Ashes is the first one I'm going to show you.  It was the color that most intrigued me from the collection.  I couldn't find very many good swatches online and I know why now.  It's incredibly hard to capture this polish in a picture.  It just doesn't pick up each part of the polish.  If you read the Hunger Games, this polish represents the District 12 and their mining. 

 Smoke and Ashes is a black color with blue and green reflux sparkles.  The sparkles are a dull sparkle (if that makes any sense).  In the picture above, it is easier to see the blue and green.

 Here it just looks like a sparkly black nail polish, but I promise you it's so much more than that.

 These pictures do no justice to the polish.  It's gorgeous! One coat would have done just fine, but I went ahead with two.  It's opacity is incredible and the formula is the perfect consistency.  China Glaze sells their polishes at Ulta and Sally Beauty Supply.  I could only find them at Sally's though.  They are usually $6-$7. 

Stay tuned to see which polish from the Hunger Games collection I do next to wear to the movie this week!

Which colors from the Hunger Games collection have you tried?

-polish. impress. repeat.

OPI - Hoplessly In Love

Here's a color by OPI that is gorgeous!  It's called Hopelessly In Love and that's exactly what I am with this polish.  It is literally the perfect pink.  The coloring changes in lighting as you will see from the photos.  It is a creamy peachy pink color.  It is a bit sheer though.  I am wearing 3 coats. 

Here it looks more pink than peachy.  :)

For my accent nail, I used two different glitter polishes from Sally's Beauty Supply.  They have little mini "Sally Girl" nail polishes that are only $0.99!  These work great and I used Glitzy (silver) and In Love (pink).  I love these because they have different sizes of glitter in them.  Some of the glitter is small and others are chunky which gives a different look from normal 'glitter polishes'.

If you girls want a girly pink nail polish, I suggest this one.  OPI sells at Ulta and this is part of their permanent collection, so you should be able to find it pretty easily.  They usually sell for $8.50.  OPI.com is a great website where you can virtually try on the different nail polishes.  Pretty neat!  Let me know what you think or what you want to see next!

-polish. impress. repeat.

butter LONDON - Yummy Mummy

First off, I want to apologize for the ways my nails look in this post.  As you can see from my last post, I just took off black nail polish to paint my nails with this color.  I am going to a job fair tomorrow and figured black nails wasn't super professional, so I quickly took off my polish and changed it out for this one which is one of my favorite go-to polishes.  In the pictures, you can still see some of the black nail polish in my cuticles.  I noticed it after I had already painted one hand and didn't want to start over...  so I hope you guys can deal with it.  :)

Back to business:  butter LONDON has become one of my favorite brands.  I have four of their colors.  They are a "3 Free" brand which means their nail polish does not have Formaldahyde, Toluene, or DBP which are all carcinogens and are found in many brands polishes.  Not butter LONDON!  You can buy butter LONDON polishes at Ulta, Nordstrom, and their website.  This polish is on the pricey side ($14 a bottle), but it is worth every cent.  This nail polish has incredible wear time, 2 coats is just perfect, it looks amazing, and they have some gorgeous color choices.  Plus, don't you love the bottle?!  The black rectangular part pops off to reveal a smaller brush handle.

 Yummy Mummy is a practical color.  It is a very light tan/nude color.  Each time I wear this, I have people asking what nail polish I'm wearing.  It is classy and beautiful.  It has a little sheen/shimmer almost pearl-escent look to it as well.  On my ring finger, I added a gold sparkly top-coat instead of the normal clear top-coat I used for the rest of my nail.  Can't go without an accent nail.  :)

I have a list of butter LONDON polishes I want to try.  Has anyone tried any of their polishes before?  What do you think?

-polish. impress. repeat.

Zoya - Dovima (Matte)

I'd like to introduce you all to Zoya's Dovima matte nail polish.

 I haven't fully decided if I love matte nail polishes, but I do know that I really like Dovima.  When I want to wear something different, I grab this.  It's not fully black, I'd consider it more of a dark grey.  Although it is matte, you can see in the pictures that there is some shimmer which makes this polish even more gorgeous!  In order to keep the matte effect of the polish, I couldn't use a top coat, but this polish dries extremely fast anyways!  Definite bonus!  You can see in the pictures that the colors look really different in a variety of lighting.

 Isn't the bottle adorable too? The bottle is frosted to indicate that it is matte whereas their normal bottles are a see through shiny glass bottle.  I love the brush and handle of Zoya nail polishes too.  The handle is easy to hold and that is one of my biggest pet peeves with nail polishes!  Way to go Zoya!

For an accent nail, I used Revlon's Steel Her Heart.  Adorable name right?!  It's a little lighter than Dovima, and it isn't matte, so I thought they would compliment each other nicely.  It has a little bit of a streaky look to it, but I like that difference for the accent nail.  It has a quick drying time as well so I didn't even use a top coat on it either!

I hope you guys like this post.  What do you think about matte polishes?  Yes or no?

-polish. impress. repeat.

My February 2012 Birchbox!

This is my first non-nail posting.  I'm hoping to include random blog postings to fill the time in-between my nail entries.

Birchbox is a monthly subscription that I absolutely adore!  I've been a member for almost a year now and I don't see myself ending my subscription anytime soon.

If you've never heard of Birchbox, it is a monthly subscription for high end beauty products.  It is $10 a month and you get 4-5 deluxe size samples each month as well as a little bonus item or 'lifestyle item'.  The actual value of each box is well over $10.  Sometimes there are full size samples that are included too.  Each Birchbox member fills out a beauty profile and they send you items that they think fit you well.  Of course, there are going to be times that you get something you are not super in to, but that's what I like about the program.  They are samples so that you can try out products you might not have tried out before.  I've found more products that I love through Birchbox that products I dislike.  If you end up liking the products and want to buy them, Birchbox sells the full size products on their website.

Each month has a different 'theme' and the products inside your box pertain to that theme.  There are many different box combinations depending on your beauty profile so you could get a completely different box from the next person.  It's neat to look at what other girls have gotten in their boxes through other blogs and YouTube videos.  Birchbox also has their own YouTube channel where they do tutorials, interviews with different beauty companies, and revealings of their monthly favorite beauty products.  They also have a great blog which is updated numerous times a day.

I get so excited each month when I get my email telling me that my box has been shipped.  I try so hard not to look on my account to see what I got in my box or to watch other people's revealings of their box because I like it to be a surprise when I open it. I've found that the boxes are usually mailed out around the 10th of the month and then it can take up to 10 days or so for delivery (especially if you're on the West Coast like me).  It's rarely taken that long to get here.  Each Birchbox is literally a box full of adorably wrapped up goodies.


After that introduction, here's my box!

 

This is what the box looks like when you get it in the mail.  It's a cute pink cardboard cover for the actual Birchbox inside.

Here's what looks like when you open the pink part to reveal the box itself.

Each month, there is a card when you first open your box with a note from the Birchbox team and explaining the theme and products in your box.  On the back side, it lists all the products you have, an explanation for each one and the price for the full size product.

Inside the box! 

Here is the first product I found.  It is the Daily Microfoliant by Dermalogica.  As you can see from the top of the bottle, it comes out in a powder form.  You mix the powder with water and it turns into a paste which I am assuming is like an exfoliator.  A powder that turns into an exfoliant?!  How cool?  I love exfoliating my skin, so I'm excited to try this out.  

Next, I opened the little gold package to discover these guys.  Below is what these products are. 

This was my second product.  It is the Glow and Go Travel Puff by Colorescience pro.  This is a powdered bronzer.  The actual full size product comes in a neat makeup brush.  They creatively made this product into a little makeup puff for a travel sized appropriate sample.  I'm interested to try this because it is a multi-use product.  When it runs out of product, you can actually wash it and use it as a makeup applicator with any of your other make up products!  Innovative!

 

My third product is EYE ROCK's Designer Liner.  These are so neat!  They seem like temporary tattoos/ stickers for your eyes.  It's really hard to create flawless fun eyeliner looks, and these will guarantee to look great!  I'm not sure I'm wild enough for these, but I'll try them out some time. :)

  

  

Here's my fourth product.  I've always wanted to try out more Jouer products.  I was introduced to Jouer through Birchbox with an exclusive Birchbox pink colored lip gloss that I LOVE.  This looks like I'll get a few uses out of it.  This is Jouer's Luminizing Mouisture Tint.  With Spring coming up, it will be nice to be able to use this tinted moisturizer instead of foundation.  I got the color 'bronze' and it matches my skin color really well.

  

Here's one of this month's fun extras!  It is a digital download for songs from Green River Ordinance.  I really like discovering new music.  Birchbox had given the link for these downloads on their facebook the other day, so I already had these songs on my iPod, and I really like the songs!  Thanks Birchbox for some new music to listen to!

This is the second extra for February's box.  It is a fun heart shaped nail file!  Gotta love another nail file!  It's neon pink on one side and sandpaper colored on the other.  This pink side is less grainy than the other and I like having two different textures on my nail files.  Love this.

 

Here's everything all together!  :)  I did the math, and the value of this box, not including the nail file and the music was $29.09.  Pretty good for only $10.  I'm looking forward to trying out these products.  February's box gets a thumbs up!

I hope you all liked seeing my Birchbox.  I really do love this program and I think it's something fun to have each month.  I've found a lot of great products and brands through this.  If you are interested in subscribing, use this link and sign up!  http://www.birchbox.com?raf=gafkf

P.S.  These make for great gifts too!  

-polish. impress. repeat.