Influenster - UniVoxBox 2014

If you haven't heard of Influenster, it's a word of mouth marketing program. If you're active on social media, they'll send you products to try for free in exchange for you reviewing those products on social media. They encourage honest feedback (so it's totally okay to say so if  you hate something) and you aren't compensated for your reviews. They send out boxes with just one item/brand sometimes (like the Venus razor that I got, and the Colgate kit) and they also send out themed "VoxBoxes", which include multiple items. This is my first VoxBox, and I'm pretty excited about it!

Here's what they sent!

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation - This is what I'm most excited for. I actually just bought this, but I've only heard great things, so having an extra tube can't hurt. I had trouble with the texture the first few times I applied it, but I think I've just been putting on too much, and it's gotten better each time I've used it, so I'm guessing it's user error. It doesn't keep my face shine free all day, but it keeps it shine free longer than most foundation does, and it's significantly less expensive than most other foundations, which is great!

NYC - Expert Last Lip Color in Forever Fuschia - The color isn't a great one for me, but I'm impressed with the quality of this lipstick. I remember using NYC in middle school, and it was terrible, so my hopes weren't high at all. I thought the color would be drying and wouldn't last long, but it definitely proved me long. The color wasn't enormously flattering on me (as expected) but lasted a few hours without reapplication, and didn't make my lips feel dry at all. I'll probably go pick this up in Modern Love, which I'm hoping will be a better color on me. For $2 it's definitely worth the risk.

Broadway Nails imPRESS Manicures - I'm not at all excited about these. They're pink and sparkly, so I can't imagine ever wearing them as they are. I might see if they can be painted though, in which case I'll use them to do a fancy design that I couldn't do on my own nails otherwise.

Pilot Acroball Pen - I was pleasantly surprised by this pen. It writes really evenly, I never needed to scribble to get it going, and it didn't smudge at all.


Playtex Sport Tampons -
My husband made fun of me for these. Not because they're tampons, but because they have the word "Sport" in the name. Needless to say, I'm not a particularly athletic person, and don't anticipate needing Sport tampons. I'll give them a try though, and we'll see how I like them.

Red Rose Real Tea - I've never tried any sort of tea drops, but I gave these a try already and I like them for iced tea. For hot tea they're a little weird to me, and I definitely prefer tea bags.



I was really excited to get this VoxBox, most of all because it was totally free and all I have to do is give honest feedback about the things I got! You can't beat free stuff.

I received these items complementary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Colgate Optic White

A few weeks ago, I got the Colgate Optic White VoxBox from Influenster. After trying it for a few weeks, here's what I thought.

What I liked:
I'm very much an "out of sight, out of mind" type person, so I liked that the gel pen was a part of my toothbrush. The problem that I usually have when I buy white strips or things like that is that I don't use them consistently. It's not that I don't have time, I just usually forget after the first couple of days. Being built in to my toothbrush made it really convenient, and impossible to forget, so I really appreciated that. I also really like the toothbrush itself. It's very soft, but still made my teeth feel really clean.

What I didn't like:
I don't really like the gel applicator. It's a rubbery thing, and I found it almost impossible to make the gel apply evenly. I've used brushes in the past, and found them to be way more effective at even application. Since it's a gel, I think they could have brush applicators kind of like Stila's lip glazes' applicators, and I think that would work way better. The other thing I didn't like is that the applicator gets really icky if you don't clean it after every use. It's not that it's hard to clean, but having to clean it every time definitely knocks off a couple of those points I gave it for convenience.

Overall, I liked it! I think that white strips are more effective, (if you remember to use them every day), but this was more convenient. I definitely noticed results, even if they weren't as dramatic as I might've hoped.

I'm hoping that Colgate will make some improvements to their applicator, and if they do I'll definitely be buying this in the future!

Unfortunately, my computer's current condition makes posting a before and after photo impossible, but I'll post an after photo later on. I know it's not the same as having both, but it'll have to do for the time being.

New Beauty TestTube - March/April

My computer is broken at the moment, so I'm going to have to add pictures later, when I find someone to borrow an SD Card Reader from.
My New Beauty Test Tube came yesterday. I opened it to see if I was getting the Tarte Blush or the Tarte Bronzer (I was really hoping for the Blush) only to discover that I got neither. I got a very different Tube from the one everyone had been posting.

Here's what I got:

My little mystery pack thing had:

Stemcell Super Food Facial Oil (.03 oz) - $2.40
I got this in another tube and still haven't tried it. Maybe between the samples I've gotten of it I'll be able to use it enough to see if I like it.

Soleil Liquide by Memoire Liquide (.03 oz) - $1.67
I'm not a fragrance person, so this'll definitely be going up for swap.

Perlage Illuminating Primer (.017 oz) - undetermined. I can't find this product anywhere, so I don't know how to price it.
I find it weird that I can't find this, but I'll give it a try, though I'm not sure if there's really a point in trying a product that I won't be able to buy even if I end up loving it.

Philosophy, Full of Promise (.4 oz) - $13.40
I hear about this all the time, so I'm curious to try it. Then again, everyone seems to love it and I don't really need a product that lifts, so maybe I'll just swap it.

So, before I even get into the products in my actual tube, I'm getting $17.47 worth of products.

Now, in my actual Tube I got:

it Cosmetics, Heavenly Luxe Powder Brush - $48
That one item on its own paid for my box! I was really bummed about the lack of blush, but this makes up for it (especially since I don't have a nice powder brush). This brush is very soft, and I'm really excited to use it! I've heard great things about it Cosmetics!

Bioxidea Miracle 48 Excellence Diamond - $26.33
I love face masks, so I'm excited to try this! I've never used this kind of mask before either! There's also a $25 credit on the mask, in case I decide to buy!

Orly Polish in Gumdrop - $8.50
This is a gorgeous light aqua color, perfect for spring! I'll probably end up gifting or swapping it though, since I don't really paint my nails.

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil (0.6 oz Rollerball) - $17
I've heard great things about facial oils, but I have really oily skin so I feel like they're probably not for me. This will probably be swapped or gifted.

it's a 10 Miracle Leave in Lite (2oz) - $7.19
I love it's a 10 products, so I'm really excited to try this! I always love Leave in Conditioners!

Mally High Shine Liquid Lipstick in Mally's Look - $20
I'm not sure what the difference is between a "high shine liquid lipstick" and a gloss, but the color is gorgeous and I'm really excited to try this! I love Mally's eye pencils, so hopefully I'll love this too!

Grande Mascara Lash Boosting Formula - $5 ?
I'm guessing this is about a fourth of the full-size, so I'm putting the value at $5. I just tried it and it doesn't seem to be anything special, but it works fine. This'll be a purse mascara.

GlamGlow Youthmud (0.5oz) - $20.29
Everyone else seems to love GlamGlow, but I don't really see what's so special about it. I'll probably end up swapping it, but since everyone loves it, it'll be a quick one to swap.

Lumene Pure Radiance Night Cream (0.5oz) - $3.39
This contains "arctic cloudberry" which I find really intriguing. I've never heard of cloudberry. Beyond that this product isn't all that interesting to me, but I'll probably still end  up giving it a try.

The total value of my test tube is $173.17. Not bad at all for something I paid $40 for. If you want a referral let me know. If you use someone's referral you get $5 off of your first box. If you sign up soon, you'll still be able to get either this box, or the one with the Tarte blush that I wanted. I'm really excited about the brush, the face mask, and the lipstick, so this TestTube was definitely worth it to me! Hopefully I'll be able to add pictures soon.

If you get TestTube, let me know which one you got. I'm wondering how many people got each Tube.

Birchbox Finds Box

Every few months, Birchbox does a special themed Limited Edition Box. The most recent one is a "finds" box. So basically it's drugstore products, that work really well. The box was $18, so I used points to get one for myself and one for a friend.
Here's what was in it:

Cover Girl Bombshell Volume - $8.94
I love mascara, it's one of the few beauty products that I really use regularly, and finding one that's good and relatively cheap, is a great thing. This is the one of the things I've tried out of the box so far, and I'm loving the results! It doesn't clump at all, and makes my lashes look great! I also like that if I fail to wash it off properly at night, it doesn't smudge all over my undereye area. It flaked overnight, but I didn't notice any flaking throughout the day.  The mascara has two sides. The first one makes your lashes look longer, and really separates them, and the second makes them longer still, and seals them. I'll have to post pictures at some point, because as I mentioned, I'm very impressed!










Biore Free Your Pores, Self Heating One Minute Mask - $6.49
I'm interested to try this. I love masks, and I've never tried any heated or self-heating masks before, so I'm interested to see how this works!






Rimmel Stay Glossy 3D - $4.99
I'm not really a gloss person, I love balms and lipsticks but not really gloss. This will definitely be swapped/gifted.






CoverGirl Bombshell ShineShadow by LashBlast - $8.99
I never really wear silver shadow, but maybe I'll use this as a lid color with a smoky eye. I will say, this is kind of expensive for a drugstore product. The tube isn't very big for $9.









Frizz Ease - Nourishing Oil Elixir - $8.49
Everyone's coming out with Argan Oil lately, so I'm not surprised to see this. Oil is always what works best on my hair, so I'm excited to give this a try!









Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure, Kook a Mango -$6.48
I don't really paint my nails, partly because it takes too long to dry and never lasts as long as I want it to, and partly because the more you paint your nails, the more you have to paint your nails, to cover up how they actually look. I'm pretty happy with them unpainted. I'm interested to see how this lasts though, so maybe I'll use this to paint my toes.





Nivea, A Kiss of Care&Color in Sheer Berry - $4.99
This is the other item I've tried, and I really like it. I do wish I'd gotten a different color. This color is a little dark for me. Fortunately it's sheer, so it's still wearable, but I'd still rather having something closer to pink or red, instead of burgundy. Next time I go to Walgreens I might have to pick up a few more of these.







Total Value of the "Finds" Box: $49.37
Not a bad value (especially since I used points to buy it and didn't actually pay anything for it). So far I'm loving the two products I've tried, and I'm excited to try most of the others!

March Birchbox!

If you don't know about Birchbox, it's a subscription service. It costs $10 a month (less if you get a full-year subscription), and they send you 4-5 beauty items each month. They also have a points system, so if you review each item, you get 50 points every month, which is equivalent to $5 in the Birchbox shop. Since my birthday is in March, and they had a deal last month where signing up got you an extra 100 points (so you basically got the box for free), I figured I'd get an extra box for March too. Here's what I got: 

Mighty Leaf Tea  (3 packets)-$1.99
Birchbox mostly sends beauty products but sometimes they send tea, or chocolate, or something like that. A lot of people are annoyed to get tea, but I love tea, and I like finding brands of tea that I can get Birchbox points for buying. Last month I got the Harney & Sons in my other box, and it was delicious, so I'm interested to see how this one is.

 Coola Mineral Suscreen, Natural BB Cream -$3.60
I got Coola's Mango sunscreen in my first ever Birchbox and I really didn't like it. That said, I'm always looking out for new BB Creams, so I'm excited to try it!













Vasanti BrigntenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator - $5.67
I've been wanting to try this since they first sent it out a few months ago, so I'm excited to get this! I always love scrubs, and this also has papaya and aloe!








Curl Keeper - $3.33
I already got this in my other box, and it worked okay but I wasn't super excited about it. That said, I love that Birchbox really pays attention to hair type when choosing products to send. Of the four hair products I've received in my months of subscribing to Birchbox; two were specific for curly hair, one was leave-in conditioner (which I love), and one was a hair oil.






Air Repair Rescue Balm - $4.50?
I can't find a quantity on the tube, but it looks like about 6mL, so I priced it based on that estimate. I get really dry hands this time of year, so when I saw this in the sneak peek video, I was hoping I'd get it! I can't wait to try it!


 Ghirardelli - $0.47
I'm not a big dark chocolate fan, but this was the 6th thing in my box, so I really can't complain. I do tend to like dark chocolate with mint or raspberry, so I might like it with cherry too. I'm a little disappointed because when I saw that this bar would be in some of the boxes, I was hoping they were sending out whole bars. Past boxes have spoiled me.


Total Birchbox Value = $19.56
The total value of this box was almost twice the amount I paid for this box, and I'll get $5 to spend in the shop when I review everything. I'm excited to try the Air Repair and the Vasanti, and maybe something else will surprise me.

As always, if you sign up for Birchbox after reading my reviews, please use my link. It'll get me an extra $5 to spend in the shop.

March Ipsy Sneak Peeks

It's the first week of March, which means it's time for Ipsy's Sneak Peeks!

Sneak Peek #1

All subscribers will be getting one of these two items.

Bare Escentuals Marvelous Moxie Lip Gloss in Stunner (maybe, that's the closest color I could find), and Bare Escentuals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Risk it All.


                                                                                                         

Marvelous Moxie Lip Gloss in Stunner - $18



Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Risk it All - $18


Either of these two items would cover the cost of the bag!







Let me know if you have a better guess for the Lip Gloss. Stunner is the closest I could find.

I'm wondering what the theme will be this month. Maybe travel? I guess we'll see.

Sneak Peek #2

All subscribers will be getting one of these two items

The first item is the NYX Love in Rio Eyeshadow Trio. The one pictured looks like Moonlit Skinny Dip. - $6

 The second item is a Be a Bombshell Eye Shadow Quad in Bora Bora. - $16

Ipsy Sneak Peek #3
All subscribers will get one of the following:

The first thing in the picture is Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream - value depends on size

The second product looks like something from Chella, but as far as I know they only make highlighters and brow pens, and this seems to be a blue liner. Maybe it's a new product?

The final item is an O.P.I. Nicole polish from the Spring 2014 collection. The one pictured is "On What Grounds?" I'm wondering which other colors they'll send out. These look pretty interesting and they definitely look eastery with the speckled texture. - $9 (if it's full-size)

It doesn't seem like Ipsy is trying very hard to make their sneak peeks tricky. Maybe tomorrow's picture will be a little more difficult to figure out.

Sneak Peek #4 

All Subscribers will be getting one of the following:

The first item is Pacifica's Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter

The Second is Klorane Eye Makeup Removing Lotion

Turns out the second item is actually Klorane Soothing and Relaxing Eye Patches with Cornflower.

The third is Pixi's Flawless Beauty Primer. It looks like the mini in the picture, and I'm guessing that's the size we'll be getting. - $9.

The last item is Vita Liberata Phenomenal Luxury Tan Lotion.

Sneak Peek #5

Looks like this is a four item bag, the first since I've joined. Given the items though, I think people will find it hard to complain. 

As always, if you sign up for Ipsy or Birchbox based on one of my posts. Please use my referral links: Ipsy and Birchbox. Thanks so much!