Influenster Jolly VoxBox

There were lots of goodies to try in this year's Influenster Jolly VoxBox. A who box of Skinny Cow Divine Filled Chocolates in Peanut Butter Creme. A roll of Mini Ducklings Ducktape. NYC New York Color HD Color Trio in Long Beach Sands. Rimmel London Showoff Lip Lacquer in Luna. And A pack of Puffs Plus Lotion Tissues.

Though I was expecting a little more out of a holiday box I have to say I'm pleased with all the products in the box.  The Skinny Cow treats are DELICIOUS! I shared them with my boyfriend and had to hide them because he wanted to eat them all.

The Puffs tissues when right into my purse because they're always good to have on hand especially in the winter.  I know that I needed them and have used them more than once since I got my box. They're soft and I think they are the reason my nose hasn't gotten sore.

The Ducttape Mini Duckling roll is just darling. It's little, miniature and cute. I also stuck this in my purse, because who knows when you'll need ducktape!

The Rimmel London Showoff Lip Lacquer is great! I like the color I received, it's a color I will actually wear.  I put some on today and was happy to find out that it's hydrating and it lasts. I've rubbed my lips together about 1000 times today and it's still on.

Finally I wrote a separate blog for the NYC HD Color Trio, but would like to say that for being an inexpensive brand the eyeshadow is a good quality and it lasts.  The colors in the palette are nice for everyday wear and are a little more practical than my usual eye colors.

NYC New York Color HD Color Trio in Long Beach Sands

I really love the NYC New York Color brand.  I've been using it for years.  My favorite thing about it is that it's an accessible, inexpensive brand.  I was really pleased when the HD Color Trio showed up in my Jolly VoxBox from Influenster. 
The palette came in neutral shades that have just a hint of shimmer.  The suggested use has the darker color as the all over eye color but I will probably switch it with the crease color because I like the effect of a darker color there. I absolutely love the highlighter color and will probably use it up before the rest of the palette.
The consistency of the eyeshadow is powdery without being too dry or chalky and when applied with a brush over primer the color pops and stays on for hours.

Slim-Fast Strawberries ’N’ Cream Shake

I got a chance to try a Slimfast Shake thanks to Influenster and Slimfast*.  I've never really tried Slimfast before, so I was excited to try it out.  I got my package in the mail and it included 1 Strawberries N Cream Shake, a Slimfast martini glass and a set of recipe cards. (link)

It was a nice little package to get started with.  I invited a few friends over and we had a taste testing party. I popped the shake into the blender with some bananas and we were ready to go. First off, I have to say that I wasn't a big fan. Some of the other girls really liked it, but the strawberry flavor just wasn't my favorite.  It was too much like a kids strawberry milk.  I think I will probably try the cappacino flavor in the future, but I probably won't buy the strawberry flavor for myself.

Despite not really being into the flavor, I had fun during this campaign.  I liked the recipe cards and had fun developing my own flavor.  I'm hoping that one of the other flavors will be more my style.

*This post was created in connection with my appointment as a SlimFast Ambassador."

Something good coming up!

Oh, boy do I have a lot of things for you!  I placed an order with Ulta last week because they were having a pretty good sale.  Their primers were a mere 6 dollars, liquid eyeliners were 2, NYX lipsticks were on sale, I really wanted to get that Derma e microdermabrasion scrub, AND they had a gift if you spent so much. And the gift was good.  Too good to pass up.  So after I get some pictures and try some stuff out I will be posting a few blogs.  I actually have a crapload of stuff to review and my boyfriend is ready to murder me because I get a box of makeup in the mail like twice a week. Just to let you know how excited I am about all my new stuff here is a picture of me with no makeup on except for chapstick.  I just washed my face with the derma scrub and it's awesome so a full review will be coming for it sometime in the future as well. 

Don't mind the hair, it's been a long night.  I haven't been to bed and I almost got into it with some ladies at the laundry mat.  I shouldn't be allowed to go outside on no sleep.

It's here! Benetint!

So, I've been waiting on my Benetint from my Ipsy trade.  Apparently it's a hot item that everyone was hoping would be in their Ipsy bag.  I didn't get it, but I ended up trading my microdermabrasion scrub for it.  Then I turned around and bought the microderm because it smelled so damn good that I knew I had to have it.  So, I will review it when it gets here.

The rose color Benetint in the jar is VERY red.  It's supposed to be a tint for your lips and cheeks.  Way back when I had a gel tint that was similar.  I can't remember where I got it or what brand it was, but it was one of my favorite cheek colors EVER.  I almost cried when I ran out of it and I haven't been able to find anything to replace it.

I was so excited when my Benetint arrived. It's a sample sized bottle, so it's about half of the full sized bottle that retails for $30.  I'm hoping it lasts for a while. I've heard a lot of ladies say that they are afraid to try the Benetint because it's so bright, but I've found that if gives just the perfect hint of color on my cheeks. It's not bright at all once you put it on and rub it in. I can totally vouch for it as a cheek color.  I tried it on my lips but wasn't really impressed.  It didn't seem to add any color at all.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong or maybe my lips are just too dark for it.  I don't know. 

Check out the adorable packaging!

I love the cute little bottle. In the background you can see my rosy cheeks.

Applying the tint in little stripes like the directions show.

Here it is rubbed in.

Finished product. Sorry about the lighting.  It makes it look weird, but in person it looks great.

I'm going to go ahead and say that I love this product.  Since it goes on shear it allows you to be able to build up color IF you need more.  One coat is perfect for my skin tone, but if you have darker skin you might need a couple coats.  I'm not always in love with powder blushes(or face powder in general).  They can sometimes look cakey and be really noticeable. I like the liquid blush a lot more and I think this is my new go to cheek color. This is my first experience with Benefit and I'm not disappointed.  I really want to try the Posietint and about 10 other products from them. I've heard good things about the brand and I'm glad I finally got to try the Benetint.


Overall score: A
Pros: Easy to apply
Cons: Not very effective as a lip color

Darling Girl Cosmetics

I placed an order with Darling Girl Cosmetics during a flash sale.  I ordered a ton of samples and one full sized mineral shadow.  With my order I also got a free full sized color of the week mineral shadow.  A pretty good deal!

The pictures of the shadows on the website were gorgeous.  I had such a hard time narrowing down my choices.I ended up going with mostly sparkly, shimmery colors and duo chromes.  And I am not disappointed.  The colors are just as gorgeous in person. They're thick, lush and a little goes a long way. I will definitely be order from them again.  For so long my go to brand has been Sweet Libertine, and while the colors are beautiful the shipping times can sometimes be a little off putting.  I'm excited to find a new brand with totally different palettes.

Below I swatched all the colors I ordered.  I applied a primer to one side of my hand and applied the shadow to my naked skin on the other.  If you look closely you can tell the primer is on the part of my hand closest to my knuckles.


From left to right: Uprising, Boom Boom Pow, Fireworks, Joust, and Teenage Dream.

From top to bottom: Scarab, London Calling, Black Hole Sun, Jack's Lantern, Eclipse and Black Moon.

I do have a couple very, very small complaints.  1. The website can be overwhelming.  There is so much to choose from and it's mostly organized by color, which isn't bad, but a little frustrating when you have to keep going back to the beginning to add stuff to your cart.  And 2. The eyeshadows were a little messy when I first opened them.  I'm not sure if they just weren't packed well or if they got knocked around in shipping and a little spilled out.  But I would like to stress that these are very petty complaints and almost not worth mentioning.

Overall verdict:  I love this brand! All the colors are beautiful and I can't wait to order more.  I'm an eyeshadow junkie through and through. I love finding small business brands with good quality products.  Though I still buy things from big name brands I would rather support the little people. :)

I have a feeling I am going to come back to this brand and pick my favorite color to review more thoroughly after I have a little wear time behind me. So, keep your eyes peeled for that.


If you love eyeshadow as much as I do, give  Darling Girl Cosmetics a try!

Influenster Slim Fast VoxBox

This is my first time doing an Influenster campaign.  I'm currently waiting for the box in the mail.  We will see how it goes. I'm not really sure what to do, but I guess I will learn and hopefully it will lead to future boxes!

Ipsy July Glam Bag

I finally got my ipsy Glam Bag for July!

The theme for this month was the beach.  I don't think all the items really fit the theme, but I was excited for this bag, none the less.

I didn't keep all the items this month and opted to trade the hair spray and the microdermabrasion scrub for other items.  I'm currently waiting for the Soy Renewal Beach Hairspray and Benetint.  So I'm not going to be reviewing these items and will update when I get the ones I traded for.  Though I did open the scrub and it smells wonderful.  If I hadn't just bought a similar scrub from Philosophy I would have kept this one and I can tell I would have loved it.

On to the reviews!

BH Cosmetics California Collection eye palette:
This palette looks really cute.  I love the packaging and I like the color scheme.  I wish these colors were as bright as they are in the palette when applied. The purple barely shows up, and the other colors are fair.  They show up a lot better than purple, but still not as pigmented as I would like.  I'm obsessed with eyeshadow so I will probably keep this palette around, but I doubt I will get much use out of it.

Pouty Pop Lip Crayon in Coral Crush:
I wasn't sure about this color when I first saw it.  It looked really red, but when I tried it out it wasn't that bad. It's more sheer than a regular lipstick. It gives your lips a tint of color without being overwhelming.  It also has a nice smooth, glossy texture. I think the little crayon is a cute design, you don't have to sharpen it.  You just twist the bottom kind of like an eyeliner. I approve.

Coola unscented sunscreen for the face:
This is great to throw in your bag on the go. I find it a little dry, but I think most sunscreens are.  This product requires moisturizer on top of it, so it's not something you can wear alone.  Other than that, it's a sunscreen. There's not too much else I can say about it.

Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub: I initially traded this item for Benetint, but then turned around and bought it because it smelled like heaven and I knew it was going to be good.  It's chock full of the little tiny scrubby beads and it sloughs off your dead skin like nothing I've ever tried.  I like it about 10 times better than my scrub from Philosophy.  The Philosophy scrub has a weird smell and not nearly enough of the scrubbing beads.  The Derma E brand has it beat in all categories. Another A+

Traded for:
Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray:  This stuff smells so good.  I've been dousing my hair with it daily since it arrived. I have pretty crazy hair and have always loved the beachy hair look.  This stuff not only gives me that look but also give my hair some much needed moisture. I'm going to give this product an A+ and purchase the full size.(replacement for Sexy Hair Weather Resistant Spray)

Benetint: I wrote this it's own separate review, you can find it further up in my blog. But I will say that this goes on shear so it's no where near as dark as you think it will be. It gives your cheeks a nice tint and is easy to apply.  Another A+(replacement for the Derma E scrub)

Overall I liked this bag.  I can't wait to get my other items.  This is my third month with ipsy and I haven't really been disappointed yet.  Even with last month's j. cat glitter palette fiasco. There is always one really great item.  In this bag I'm pretty sure it was the microderm scrub. I am almost kicking myself for trading it off, but I really wanted the Benetint.

Overall Score: A
Best Item: It's a 3 way tie! Derma E scrub, Benetint, Soy Renewal.
Worst Item: bh california palatte

Mermaid Mint

Birchbox July

July's Birchbox is pretty sweet.  This is my sixth Birchbox and I think this one is my favorite so far. The items are really cute and seem to go well together. 

Let's start with the perfume sample Juliet has a Gun.  The sample came in a small envelope with a little card. The packaging is precious and the perfume is a very light scent that makes for a good every day perfume.

Next we have a full size ModelCo lipstick in nude.  I love getting full size products! This lipstick pretty much makes the $10 box worth its price. The lipstick is very creamy and provides full coverage. It has a nice scent and is a great shade for my skin tone.

The Vivant Skin Care green tea antioxidant cleanser came in a small spritz bottle. I'm not sure how I feel about this application method, but I do like the little bottle. I can't say it stands out as a cleanser but I like the scent and it's a great product to throw in your makeup bag for an overnight trip.

The next sample might be my favorite item in the box. theBalm's InStain in Swissdot.  This is the cutesiest sample I've ever seen. It's just like theBalm's regular sized blushes but mini!  It's like a little book with a magnetic lid.  It's a very small sample of blush but the packaging makes up for it. Plus I love the color and I will probably end up getting the regular size.

The beauty extra in July's box is a pair of patterned bobby pins. What can I say? Bobby pins always come in handy and this pair has style.  I approve.

Overall Grade for July's Birchbox: A
Best product: theBalm InStain Blush
Worst product: none

Philosophy score

I placed an order with Philosophy last week after trying a few of their samples. I got a code for signing up to their email list and was able to get a lot of swag for a decent price. Here is a list of what I got.

I ordered:
2 oz Take a deep breath moisturizer
A gift set that included:
6 oz Grace firming body emulsion
4 oz Microdelivery exfoliating wash
3 oz Purity face wash
.5 oz Hope in a jar
1 microdelivery triple-acid brightening peel(sample size)

I used my gift code to get a discount and a smaller gift set:
1 oz Purity
1 oz Grace shampoo/body wash
.4 oz Hope in a jar

Then I got to pick 2 free samples
.07 Full of promise restoring cream
.07 Eye hope


I got all this for around $60(free shipping!)

I haven't used everything, but I am going to review what I have used so far.

The take a deep breath spf 30 moisturizer is oil-free. I have kind of oily skin so this is perfect for me. It feels nice and plus gives me the sun protection I need during the day. It's light and breathable and has a nice barely there scent. When I say light, I mean it. This stuff floats. It absorbs quickly without feeling like you have something slathered on your skin. I would recommend this for any skin type.

Next we have Purity. I think this is one of their more popular products. This one step liquid cleanser has the consistency of a thinned down shampoo. I've been using it as my go to night and morning face wash. I use it at the sink when I brush my teeth. I have moderately sensitive skin and it hasn't given me any problems. While it cleans really well, it doesn't really exfoliate. So sometimes I use it with a little scrubby.

For exfoliating there is the microdelivery exfoliating wash. On the bottle it says it's a 30-second cleansing mini peel. I find that it works well enough, but I need an extra kick for my skin type. So I use it with a scrubby as well. It does have the micro buffing beads in it, but my skin, especially on my chin and around my nose gets really rough and it's just not strong enough to slough off the dead skin. I think if it was a little thicker to the microbead to cleanser ratio was bigger it would probably be perfect.

I've just started this new routine, so I'm using the Breath as my morning moisturizer and I'm using Hope in a Jar for night time, as it's a little thicker and creamier. I have normal-oily type skin and sometimes I find that creamier moisturizers are sometimes too much, but Hope is just enough. It doesn't absorb quite as fast as Breath, but it doesn't make my skin too oily. It hydrates well without leaving anything extra.

Grace firming body emulsion is up there with the quality of their other moisturizers. It's lightly scented and makes my skin feel amazing. It hydrates well without feeling thick, greasy of goopy. So far I've loved everything I've tried form Phiolosophy.

I'm not really sure what kind of review I can give the brightening peel pad. I followed the directions, but I think it's something you would need to use over time to see any results. Though my skin does look nice and radiant from the combo of the face wash, micro peel pad and moisturizer. I would definitely recommend this brand to anyone who wants to indulge without feeling like you're breaking the bank. It's luxurious and high quality but has simple packaging.  I all around like it.  If you play your cards right you can get a good deal.  I like to wait for sales when I'm trying new products and I'm glad I waited and got a code for this.  It's a good quality product, but I don't know if I would have paid full price without the extras. 

Palmer's Olive Oil Formula Gro Therapy Review

I have thick, frizzy, wild hair. There, I said it. When I was a kid my hair was never brushed. I had (unintentional)dreadlocks and my sister used to call me Robert Plant. I really hated brushing my hair, guys! In fact, my mom used to make my sisters chase me down to brush my hair, and my mom was a beautician... One time when we were camping they drove me out into the woods on a four-wheeler to brush my hair where no one could hear me scream. That is how bad it was.

Now as an adult, it is still a pain in the ass to take care of my hair. It's still thick as hell, frizzy and prone to locking up. The problem is not only do I have a lot of hair, but the texture of it is really odd. I've always been jealous of the girls who have the fine, baby-soft locks. It's not fair. I have head full of snakes compared to them. Just call me Medusa.

Really my hair reminds me Witch Hazel from Merry Melodies. That is really what it looks like. It sticks out all over, I have some strands that are really thin and soft, and then I have some that are thick and kind of rough, and then there are the "wild hairs". You know what I am talking about. The ones that stick straight out of my head like a bristle. They're really wiry and rough and I sometimes I can feel them when I run my fingers through my hair. This drives me NUTS! Once I feel one I am obsessed with plucking it out. Ok, I have really gotten off track, but the point I am trying to make is I have wild hair.

I've used just about every silkening, smoothing, softening, shining product there is out there. I've tried a variety of brands for the expensive Argan oils, to the cheap drug store leave-in conditioners. I've never found anything that works like I want. Most stuff just leaves my hair looking greasy.

I only wash my hair about twice a week, because if I do it too much it gets brittle. Which is fine by me because washing my hair takes forever. I'm telling you, my hair is extremely thick. Anyway, while browsing at the dollar store today I was looking at the ethnic hair products, because I was thinking that the actual texture of my hair and noticed some of the hair oil. I know that most ethnic hair products are quite right for white hair, but I always used to use my roommates scalp oil and it seemed ok on my hair.

I picked up a jar of Palmer's Olive Oil Formula Gro Therapy and WOW! I love this stuff! It's a way better formula than whatever I borrowed of my old roommate all those years ago. I put a little bit on parts of my dry scalp and then I rubbed some into the rest of my hair. Now, remember, my hair is a beast that can never be fully tamed, but this stuff softened it and smoothed it down a lot without giving it that 'too much product' feeling.

It is more like an olive oil gel butter than an oil and it has a nice scent that isn't too overpowering. I had to fight the urge to rub the whole container on my head. That is how much I love this stuff. The best part about it? It was only a $1.50!

So if you are looking for a nice product to soften and smooth your hair I would recommend this! I think this would work well on a finer hair texture as long as you use it very sparingly and only put it on the ends and not the roots, but for less than two bucks it is not really a waste if you try it out and it doesn't work. Also, if you don't like it you can send your leftovers to me! XD