Birchbox October 2014

WHAT'S IN 

THE BOX?

Birchbox is a monthy subscription box that is $10 a month, everything included in that price.  It is a variety box; so you will get makeup, hair products, and/or skin products.  

The best thing about Birchbox is the point system.  Review your products on their site to earn points; which turn into cash points to spend in their online store.  And that store has some great products!  Household items, makeup, skin and hair products, and so much more.  

This month during the selection period I chose the ModelCo lipstick.  It did not come in my box but Birchbox has the best customer service I have ever dealt with - seriously, they will make it right!  E-mail them and you will be happy about the results!  They are shipping my lipstick to me separately at no added cost.

Model Co Power Lash Mascara -  ($24)  This is probably the reason my Model Co lipstick did not get added to my box.  This is a full size and so this is more than double the value of my Birchbox.   Again, I have so many mascara's that it will be a long time before I have to buy one - I might buy some just because I want to try new brands.  

Calrisea Sea Salt Rapid Detox Charcoal Exfoliants - I have a tub of this I got in an Ipsy bag a few months ago. I will use it though so it won't go to waste. This is pretty rough so make sure you moisturize afterwards.

Essential Elements Shower Gel -   This is the product I liked least from this month's box.  I think this smells like medicine and I do not like it at all.  I like my shower gels and bath bars to smell yummy.   It says the scent is rosemary and mint.

Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum - I like that this has retinol in it for anti-aging.  When I was a teenager, my acne cream had retinol in it - I wonder if this has long term effects to help with wrinkles.  This says it also minimizes large pores - which I will definitely check out. 

LuMesh - this is another small lip gloss -  the full size is really cute.  And lip gloss is my favorite makeup product next to eye shadow palettes so I love to try out new ones.

I was happy with my Birchbox but it was not my favorite month.  I like the variety of the box and I did get two makeup products which is good for a Birchbox month.    I was really hoping to get the beauty blender with cleanser but maybe another month.  What did you get this month?

Kawaii October 2014

WHAT'S IN 

THE BOX?

EEK! It's here!  My KawaiiBox is finally here and I am in love with the cuteness of this subscription! 

The first look: ahhh cuteness! The items can also be purchased at the Blippo site.

Kawaii Box ships for $18.90 and you can only sign up through PayPal.  It ships from Singapore.  The shipped e-mail came on October 8 and I got my box on the 17th.  So really not that long considering its overseas and has to go through customs.

Hello Kitty ink pen with desert decoration - ($2.90)  Hello Kitty is one of my favorites!  My car stuff is all Hello Kitty! I am so happy I got a pen in the box. 

Cat Pencil Sharpener - pink cat inside a pot - to sharpen my pencils and sit on my desk! I could not find this exact sharpener on the site but I am putting the value at $4 since that seems to be the consensus for items like it. 

Mini Towel with Sweets -   ($4.21)  Nice size washcloth!  Pink with lots of fun kawaii items on it.

Kawaii Pouch with Girl and Bunny -  ($4.61)  I love little bags like this - and this is perfect for my cuteness addiction!  

Cupcake Balloon Stickers - ($1.58)  I have been a big sticker collector since I was a little girl and I love these.  Cupcakes!  I would have bought this for myself! 

Furry Nemuneko Mini Plush-($4.61)  This is little guy is furry and fun!

Rilakkuma Squishy Desert charm -   ($3.42)  This may be my favorite thing in the box!  It is the cutest spongy bear ever and I am loving how cute it it.

Candy Hairbands - I could not find these exact one on the site but the popsicle and ice cream ones are on sale for 66 cents right now. 

Jewelry Seal Phone Stickers -  ($3.82)  These little pink and purple jewel stickers are for decorating your phone. 

Puccho Chewy Candy in pink grapefruit - ($3.55)  All the boxes come with a snack - this one is sweet so it is right up my alley!

Puppy card -  I could not find the card on the website but like items are about $1.65  - this is the perfect card for my daughter since we have a Corgi and this looks like our PJ.

I came up with a value of $35.01 for this box and the sub box is $18.90 without a shipping fee - great value!  I like the variety of products too!  I spotted several items in the store I need to put on my list too - which is probably their plan with doing a Kawaii sub box!  Very happy with this subscription box and cannot wait to see what is in next month's box!

Ipsy October 2014

WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

Ipsy is a monthly subscription box that always contains a cute makeup bag with it.  These little pink envelopes will fly into your mailbox for $10 a month.  

Beauty Candy was the theme for this month and what a cute teal bag we received!  I love it!

Ecru Acacia BB Cream for the hair - (full size $30)  

noyah Lipstick in Deeply in Mauve -   (full size $18)  this is a more natural lipstick - no synthetics or tested on animals.  It is a very small sample but very pretty.  Like super small - I have never had a lipstick sample this small. 

Jesse's Girl Mineralized Baked Eye Shadow in graphite frost - ($3.99) This is the full size item in the bag and it is so pretty - and at that great price, I will be picking up more of these.  

Figs & Rouge Mango Mandarin hand cream- (full size $10)  I was hoping to get this fragrance in my bag this month - and this brand.  It is very pretty tube and there are several fragrances I want to try now.  

Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser - (full size $32)  this is a natural cleanser for your face that you can leave on as a mask as well.   

I do get two Ipsy bags and lately, there has only been one or two differences.  And sometimes, that difference is just the shade I get.  I think that is because of the way I have been reviewing the products.

The following was the only difference - one bag had the Indie Lee cleanser and one had the wipes.  All the other items were exactly the same down to the shade.

Skyn Glacial Cleansing Cloths - ($5 for 10)  these are cleansing cloths, no water needed.  A bit pricey for a full size bag but these are nice.  

Most of these items were sample size but I did enjoy the variety of brands and the fact that several of them were natural and without chemicals.  

Influenster Vidal Sassoon Review

Influenster:

Vidal Sassoon

Influenster is a website you can sign up for to receive products free to review.   They were kind enough to send me this Vidal Sassoon hair kit for my testing and opinion. 

The box came with moisture shampoo and conditioner, and a Repair heat spray.  

I did think the shampoo and conditioner helped moisturize my hair and it felt softer after using.   I will consider getting this brand next time I am picking up shampoo and conditioner.   I thought it smelled good too.  
    The heat spray was very sticky but since I do not often use heat spray, this might be the norm.  It smelled good though.   I do not use a hair straightener often but my daughter does so this will be put to good use.  It says to spray on dry hair before using a flat iron or on wet before blow drying.  It does say avoid spraying on the roots.    This was helpful!  

 "I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

It's Tuesday, Again!

The week started off slowly... got my e-mails for Birchbox and noticed I did not get the lipstick I picked to be in it.  Still waiting to see how Birchbox is going to help all of us who this happened to this month. 

I ordered a few things from 31 awhile ago and they are on the way.  The first is their Cheers bag which I got as a gift to put a bottle of wine in.  I ordered it brown with Gobble Gobble on it. 

I also picked up this set up cute bags to give out Perfectly Posh surprises this holiday season.

Coastal Scents is a fun website that I like to peruse and I was doing some late night shopping/surfing the other night and found lots of things to put on my wishlist.  This pink set has a cute kabuki brush, a color me fuchsia brush set, think pink eye shadow palette, and juicy pink lip quad.   $5 of the purchase goes to breast cancer research.   This deal is only good till the end of October.

Coastal scents has a great website and I have a few of their brushes already.  Boxycharm is giving away the following Eclipse palettes  in the October box.  It is a concealer palette.  This is $15 plus shipping and taxes so a great value for the sub box! 

There are lots of sale items on this site too that I really want to pick up!  This 10 blush palette is on sale for $9.95.  

What's on your radar this week?  Thinking of joining any new sub boxes?  

My Fun Birthday!

Happy Birthday

to Me!

I celebrated the big 4-0 this last week and it was a great celebration.  My sisters, mother and husband went down to the Marriot in Indianapolis that was right across from the Keystone Crossing Mall.  

My sister and mother sweetly decorated my hotel room with Pink and Silver streamers and balloons.  I made sure to tell them no over the hill decorations!  I was celebrating my new age not mourning it!

My friend Annette owns a baking business and she made me these delicious Orange Dreamsicle cupcakes!  They are fantastic!

My oldest and dearest friend Jeanie could not make it to the festivities but she sent this lovely gift box from FTD with yummy treats in it! 

The floor was covered in pink and silver balloons!

And these balloons were all over the ceiling!  So fun!

For dinner, we went to the Cheesecake Factory.  This restaurant is so beautiful.  I loved looking up at all the decor.  I had pretzel dipped chicken bites and fried zucchini for dinner so I had room to have a desert! 

They brought out my plate of cheesecake all decorated for my birthday!  How sweet!

My friend Julie made it to the party and had the best Oreo cheesecake! She let me try a bite and the fudge was fantastic.  Must get this one next time I am there.

The main event for my birthday was shopping at my favorite makeup stores!  Ulta was right across the side road of the hotel!  PERFECT!  I picked up the Marc Anthony Beach Spray, the Urban Decay all nighter setting spray and the CK mascara was a freebie for my birthday.  I had a $10 off coupon as well.   At the mall, we hit Sephora - where I bought the Urban Decay Basics 2 palette and got the birthday gift set Make Up For Ever mascara and lipstick.
We went into Mac and I picked up a blush. 

We also went into Lush so I could try a few of their products.  I bought a bath bomb and the Fruit gift set.  The gift set was $35 and a great value.  The nice sales lady gave me a sample soap and New Dream Cream.  This photo is missing the Miranda soap that was in my bathroom already. 

I had a great birthday weekend!  Fun, shopping, food, family and friends!  My favorite things in life! 

Allure Sample Society October 2014

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Sample Society is a monthy beauty box that comes to your door for $15 a month plus tax.  It also includes a $10 your $50 purchase on beautybar.com, so that helps refund some of the cost of your box if you like coupons!  

The sample society box is a cute, sturdy, red box that you could re-use for lots of things.  

The little magazine that comes with the box is the most detailed information card I have ever seen.  It adds so much to the box.

Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara in Black -  ($16.80)  This is a deluxe size sample of the mascara - very nice.  I have so many mascara tubes that it will be years before I have to buy another one.  This is the value of the box, so I am thrilled.

Estee Lauder Enlighten Dark Spot Correcting Night Serum - ($14.47)  This item caused quite a stir this month when we were told it would not be the full size we were led to believe when they first gave us a sneak peak at it.  I was already subbing this and was not too upset to get the smaller size.  But I understand if the reason you subbed was for this full size serum and then were told it was the small sample size.

L'oreal Total Repair Extreme Shampoo and Conditioner -   ($1.94) I am not that fond of getting shampoo and conditioner in my sub boxes.  I do, however, like it better when it is nice size samples in tubes instead of packets.   I have thick, longer hair and those packets are a tease.   I can also pop these in my travel bag for hotel trips instead of buying small ones from Walmart - so they save me money. 

Emi Jay Hair Ties - ($6.60)  My daughter and I both use these every day with our long hair so getting them in a sub box is perfect.  You lose so many that they constantly need replaced.  I do love these shades too. 

I was missing an item from my box this month - the Bond No. 9 perfume sample was not in my box when I opened it.  Very sad!  I e-mailed Sample Society and they could not send me a new one but are refunding me $3 for the missing sample.  I would have preferred to get the perfume added to a future box but I understand how hard that would be for the company so I will take my refund.  These fragrances looked very fun though so I am still sad I won't be sampling them.   One of the following three was in the box this month:  High Line, Chelsea Flowers or Chinatown.  

All things considered, I was very pleased with my Sample Society box.  There was a value of $43 in my box.  I was considering cancelling this sub, but I think I will hold out through Christmas to see how it goes.

What did you think of the Sample Society box this month?  Are you re-subbing or waiting to see what spoilers come out for November?