January Birchbox

After a few crappy boxes, I was REALLY excited when I got this months Birchbox! The theme was Clarity.

 I got:

*VMV Hypoallergenics RE-Everything: Face-Hand-Body Lotion- This retails for $45 and is a lotion that can be used all over.

*Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash- Retails for $19.50 and is supposed to be good for combination skin

*Stila Smudge Stick  Waterproof Eye Liner- They sent the full size which retails for $20!

 *LaraBar Minibar- I got one of these in an Eco-Emi box and they are AMAZING! I LOVE the cookie dough and it is made with only dried fruits, nuts and wholesome natural ingredients!

*Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy- This retails for $69-$89. I love this scent and actually just ran out of my bottle so this was perfect timing!

October Birchbox Review

After much anticipation, I finally received my first monthly Birchbox last week!

It contained:
*Befine Lip Exfoliator
*Caudalie Vinoperfect Cell Renewal Night Cream
*Laura Gellar Spackle Tinted Under Makeup Primer in Bronze
*Orofluido Beauty Elixir
*Oribe Shampoo and Conditioner for Beautiful Color

I was a little nervous to get this box after seeing some of the things that other people got, but was really excited once I saw what was inside!

The Befine Lip Exfoliator was the thing that excited me most in the box. Unfortunately, it was a major letdown. The grains in the formula are super small and there aren't very many in there so you don't really get much exfoliation at all.

Instead, I would recommend Victoria's Secret Smooth FX which has larger exfoliating grains in it for more sloughing off of dead skin or Mary Kay's Satin Lips set which has a lot of smaller grains and works pretty well.

The next item I was really excited about was the Laura Gellar Spackle primer in Bronze. There wasn't really much bronzing in it, but as a primer it was nice and did not make my skin feel greasy like a lot of primers do. Overall, I think that I would buy it again. At $25, it does a good job.

I'm never really that excited about skin cream, but this one is actually really good. As soon as I put it on, my skin felt softer. The next morning, my skin did have a little more brightness to it as well. For a 30 ml bottle, it costs $68 so it's a little pricey, but I would consider buying it as I really like how it made my skin feel.

My hair is SUPER dry, so I am always on the hunt to find to something that will help tame the little frizzies that pop up. Unfortunately, this is not it. It is a little thicker than most of the serum's that I have used, and did not really work all that well.

Two products that I find always work pretty well for me are:

I really like Shu Uemura Essence Absolue Nourishing Protective oil which is similar to the Orofluido, but not quite as thick. Bed Head Biggie After-Party is my other go to frizz banisher, but is more of a cream instead of an oil.

The Oribe shampoo and conditioner was actually pretty nice and made my hair really soft. As it was an extra, the price was not listed so I looked it up and found it for $39 each bottle. Although it was nice, I don't think I would really spend $80 on shampoo and conditioner!

Overall, I was impressed with this month's Birchbox and CAN'T WAIT for next month's already!

Beauty Sample Delivery Services

Recently I saw an ad for Birchbox on Facebook and ever since then have become OBSESSED with all of the beauty delivery services out there! These services deliver anywhere between 5-10 so called deluxe beauty samples to your door usually monthly and sometimes even have full sized products in them. They can cost anywhere from $10-$40. To me there is nothing better than getting a box of beauty goodies to try out for so cheap, so I got a little crazy and subscribed to Birchbox, Eco-Emi and NewBeauty Test Tube!

So far, I've only gotten the NewBeauty Test Tube so will be only reviewing that one today. The NewBeauty Test Tube is sent out four times a year and costs $29.99 plus $8.95 shipping. They are only sent out at certain times, so it will say on the website when it has shipped. Mine took a couple of weeks to get to me after they said it had shipped, so it takes a while.
http://testtube.newbeauty.com/Program.aspx

In my Test Tube I got:
*NewBeauty Magazine
*$20 Spalook gift card- This is pretty much worthless as you have to spend $100 to use it...
*Full size L'Oreal Paris Elnett Hairspray- This was a decent hairspray and costs $14.99. It's not really any better than others I've used, so I don't think I would really seek it out again.

*Orlane Absolute Skin Recovery Smoothing Foundation .11oz- This was nice and lived up to its name smoothing my face well. At $70 for a full size bottle, I don't think that it's something I would use though.
*SpaRitual Handprint Hand Serum .25oz- This is something that I really liked as hands are one area that really show aging. I don't know how well it works for anti aging, but it made my hands feel nice. I would definitely think about buying this. This goes for $60 for a 4oz. bottle. I think that it is comparable to the  MaryKay satin hands set which I LOVE!
*Pevonia Botanica Ligne Rose Care Cream .7oz- This was an extra that wasn't listed in the book. I didn't really like it as it did not smell good at all. It is meant for people who suffer from rosacea which I don't so it may be worth it for those people. It costs $71 for a 1.7 oz bottle.
*Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vaccuum Cleaner .4oz- This seemed to work pretty well on my blackheads and I would consider buying it in the future. The full size costs $40.

*Lashfood Natural Eyelash Conditioner .05oz- I used this for about a week and did not notice any change. It does say that you are supposed to use it for 4-8 weeks however. The full size 8ml costs $120.
*Mally Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Eyeliner fullsize- This went on very smooth and I liked it a lot. I will definitely look into buying this brand of eyeliner in the future. This typically costs $15.

*YBF Beauty Posing Plum Lip Liner fullsize- This is probably one of the best lipliners that I have ever tried! It went on extremely smoothly unlike a lot of the brands that I've tried and the color was pretty. It also has a built in sharpener on the lid! It costs $8.

*Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment and Deep Repair Masque 1oz- Move over Moroccan Oil! This is by far my favorite thing in the tube. I got it the day after I dyed my hair platinum and it was AMAZING on my frazzled ends!!! It is $39 for a 4.2oz oil treatment and $30 for an 8.5oz deep repair masque and I will definitely be getting more!

Overall I think that I will definitely try this program out again. Even though I didn't like a few of the products, the hairspray, lip liner and eyeliner alone covered the cost of the tube.