August 2012 Birchbox!

With Back to School right around the corner, the August Birchbox focused on creating a little Beauty School Supply Kit, filled with beauty essenials. They also partnered with Pencils of Promise, an organization that works to provide all children with quality education. Birchbox is donating 15% of all proceeds in the month of August to Pencils of Promise to help build a new school.

Birchbox is a $10-per-month subscription service that sends you 4-5 deluxe beauty samples every month. This month, my box had 5 products and also included a little Beauty School booklet, containing tips and tricks on the basics of beauty.

Schick Hydro Silk Razor- Though this wasn't a terribly exciting product, it's useful and a necessity for most of us. The Schick Hydro Silk Razor has 5 blades and is meant to help moisturize, while shaving. It also came with two Schick coupons. Full size- $10

Beauty Fixation Lipstick Touch-Up- This was one of my favorite products! These are basically cotton swabs, filled with makeup remover. Though they're intended for cleaning up the lines of a bold lipstick, they're also good to clean up any other makeup areas, especially if you're on-the-go! Full size- $5

Sumita Brow Fix- I love this little pencil! Basically, this brow base is designed to clean up the brow area and disguise any tiny hairs and discoloration around the brow. It's a concealer-like product and is a super pigmented, light flesh tone. Full size- $11
Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur- This was a tiny sample (as nearly all perfume samples are), but it smelled wonderful. If you've smelled any of the other Juicy scents and liked them, then you'll probably like this one, as well. This is meant to be a follow-up to the original Viva la Juicy scent. It boasts mostly fruity and floral scents, so it's definitely a girly fragrance. Full size- $70, Sample size- $1.40
GLOSS Moderne High Gloss Masque- This is a hair masque designed to add a lot of gloss and shine to your hair. I haven't tried this out yet, but it looks promising. Full size- $39, Sample size $4.88

Price of box- $10, Value of box- $32.28

Though nothing in this box was really out of the ordinary, I think i'll get use out of all of the products and I love when I can use everything in a box. If you haven't already checked out Birchbox, make sure to do so! For only $10 a month, Birchbox is decidedly my favorite beauty box.

Have you all tried out Birchbox? Did you get anything different in your box? If so, link me to your post about your Birchbox, I'd love to see what you got!

Review: July Glossybox USA!

So far, I've had mixed feelings about Glossybox. It's kind of a hefty price for a box of beauty samples ($21), but they do tend to have significantly larger sample sizes. If you want to see more of my opinions on Glossybox, check out my May and June Glossybox reviews. This month's products were all centered around Summer Nights. Keep in mind that Glossybox sends out their boxes at the end of each month, rather than the middle (like Birchbox and Glossybox). With the box, also comes GlossyMag, a little Glossybox exclusive magazines with featured beauty products, tips, and tricks.

This month, my box had 5 core items and 2 little bonus packets. According to Glossybox, the products this month were chosen to "offer you the essentials you'll need to indulge in products that show off your sun kissed skin and hair and enhance sultry skin." I was immediately pleased with the size of the products, before even trying them out.

Alessandro International Pedix Heel Rescue Balm- I was pleased to find this product in my Glossybox. I have fairly dry heels and I've been trying to eliminate that lately! I haven't tried this yet, but I'm hoping this really works! Full size- $18.50, Sample size- 5.55
Ofra Cosmetics Universal Eyebrow Pencil- Surprisingly, the color looked perfect for my brows, and it went on smoothly. It's partly made with beeswax, making it really stay on your brow area and it's also water resistant. I loved that this was full size! Full size- $10

Sebastian Color Ignite Multi Tone Shampoo- This shampoo is specifically designed for color-treated hair. It's intended to add moisturize, which is really all I'm looking for in a shampoo! Full size- $14.95, Sample size- $3.03
Sebastian Color Ignite Multi Tone Conditioner- This conditioner is also targeted at color-treated hair. The conditioner is actually a foam, which is rather unique. Full size- $16.95, Sample size $4.24

Senna Cosmetics Double Dose Lip Lacquer- I was really excited to see a full size makeup product in my box! This features two thick glosses: a pink with small flecks of iridescent glitter and a bronze/brown color. Though I definitely won't be wearing the brown, the pink is nice.  The glosses are semi-opaque. Full size- $22
Caswell-Massey Almond & Aloe Hand & Body Emulsion- These two packets weren't counted as part of the box, just little extras thrown in. I tried one of the packets and I really liked it. It's a really moisturizing lotion and has a super strong almond scent. Personally, I'm a huge fan of almond scents (it reminds me of these almond cookies my mom makes every Christmas), but I know not everyone loves the scent. Full size- $24, Sample size (both packets combined), $0.82

Price of box- $21, Worth of box- $45.64

The price of the products in size were worth more than double $21. However, how much the box is worth to each person will differ, because of the products. If you love all of the products and will use them all, it's totally worth the cash, but if you hate most of them, it's probably not your best bet. Overall, I was pretty pleased with this box and I'm totally obsessed with the little bonus almond lotion!

Have you tried Glossybox? How did you feel about your box this month?

Review: June Glossybox USA!

When I initially heard that Glossybox was coming to the US, I was ecstatic! In case you missed it, I did a video review on the May Glossybox. Now, I know it's already July and I'm a little late posting this, but I wanted to give my two cents on the program. For the record, I did receive it at the beginning of July, not in June. Glossybox is another one of those monthly beauty subscriptions. It's $21 a month, so it's more than some of the other services, like Birchbox, which is only $10 a month.

This month, my box boasted 6 products, all dedicated to summer beauty. Off the bat, I want to say that I'm not entirely pleased with Glossybox. I think that there are decent-sized products and some good products in these boxes, but spending $21 a month ($252 a year) is a little steep. 

1. Wella Professionals Enrich Moisturizing Treatment (Full Size- $12, Sample Size- $1.99)

• This smells like your typical, citrus hair cream. I love the citrusy smell this gave my hair (perfect for summer) and it definitely moisturized. This product does what it's supposed to and I really like it for that! My hair is definitely on the drier end of the spectrum, so this was an ideal product for me. I wish the sample size was a little larger, just so I could get a better feel of the product, but I think I might end up purchasing the full-size anyway!

2. Shea Terra Organics Ultimate Moisturizing Body Creme (Full Size- $18, Sample Size- $2)

• First off, I'm not a huge fan of the smell of this. It says that it's a lavender-scented shea butter and typically I'm a lavender lover, but something about this scent is a kind of off-putting, though not intolerable. Aside from the smell, I actually found this product to be oddly drying. I won't be using this.

3. First Aid Beauty Smooth Shave Cream (Full Size- $16.50, Sample Size- $4.85)

• I adore this! I would like to note that it's a larger-sized sample than the previous two products and instead of being a kind of mousse/foam texture like most shaving creams, it's an actual cream! The full size price of this product is a lot more than what I want to spend on a shaving cream, but it's great. Because it's a cream, it does't lather a lot (so it's not so irritating on skin) and leaves skin more moisturized than your typical shaving cream.

4. beautyADDICTS Show-OFF Mascara (Full Size- $20)

• This product is full-sized, which is awesome! Opening up a sample box and seeing something full-sized is always a really nice surprise. I've never heard of this brand before, but I actually really like the mascara. In general, I'm a sucker for mascaras. I've got about 25-30 of them (excessive, I know), but I always love finding new ones! I'd say this does a good job at lengthening and volumizing. It's not a holy grail product for me, but it really is great! I definitely want to look into trying out some of their other products, because I'm loving this one.

5. Kinerase Restructure Firming Cream (Full Size- $98, Sample Size $13.84)

• This is a fairly small-sized sample, but it's a hugely expensive product, so the small size is understandable. I've only used this twice and I haven't really noticed much in those two uses, but it does have a perfectly creamy, yet firm texture and it seems to moisturize nicely (though I don't think it was created to moisturize). It also kind of fills in fine lines on the face, which is nice. The smell is a little funny, but nothing too awful. I like what it did, but I'm not sure it's worth the almost $100 price tag.

BONUS: A Perfume Organic Urban Organic (Full Size- $65, Sample Size- Unknown)

• This is described as a sweet, citrus daytime scent. I thought that this actually smelled putrid and I despised the scent. Even thinking about the smell makes me cringe a little.

Monetary total of my June Glossybox: $42.68

Technically, the box was well worth the $21 price tag. However, I'm not a fan of enough of the products for me to be totally satisfied this month. Can't win 'em all, I suppose. I'm hoping for some products that I like more in July's Glossybox!

Do any of you all have any experience with Glossybox, specifically Glossybox US? I've checked out some of the other Glossyboxes (UK and Canada) and I have to say I'm a little jealous of the products they're getting.

July Birchbox ♡ Glamour Magazine!

This month, Birchbox teamed up with Glamour Magazine to create a box designed to tickle each of your senses. If you're not familiar with Birchbox, it's basically a $10-a-month subscription service that comes to your door near the middle of every month. You can expect 4-5 deluxe beauty samples, though sometimes you'll end up with teeny, tiny samples and sometimes you'll snag amazing full-sized products. I was especially excited to open my box this month, because Birchbox tends to have better (and more full-sized) products when they're teaming up with someone else.

There were a total of six products in my box this month (four beauty items and two lifestyle extras) For those of you unfamiliar with Birchbox, they often include "Lifestyle Extras" in their boxes, jut to add a little more value and depth to your box. This month, the lifestyle extras were a tin of Tea Forte mints and specially-designed Birchbox/Glamour earbuds. Though I've yet to try the mints (I'm not a fan of tea or anything tea-flavored), the earbuds were an adorable touch to the box. Check out glamour.com/spotify for Glamour's perfect "getting pretty" playlist.

 Aside from the adorable little lifestyle extras, I managed to get some decent products in my box. Though I wasn't too impressed with the Harvey Prince perfume sample and Supergoop! City Sunscreen Serum (decent products, but small sizes), I was pleasantly surprised by the Color Club nail polish and Eyeko Eyeliner. Instead of a full-size polish, there was a miniature minty green/turquoise Color Club nail polish in the shade Blue-Ming. For those unaware, I am a nail polish addict and my nails are ALWAYS painted. The color was also absolutely superb, as it's probably my all-time favorite type of color (I'ma sucker for those minty hues). The Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner is full size (and retails for $15!) and fabulous. It features a long marker-like tip and a rather delicate brushstroke.

 Overall, I was pleased with this month's Birchbox. In general, I think Birchbox is one of the best monthly beauty box subscriptions out there. Though they have their hits and misses (as mostly all companies do), I've been subscribed for nearly a year and I anticipate keeping my subscription for awhile!

Have any of you tried out Birchbox? If so, what did you guys get in your box this month?