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!

July Favorites! ♡

I've been pretty bland this month, as far as makeup and beauty goes. I've been incredibly busy the entire month and I really haven't had any time to experiment with makeup or do any bold looks. That being said, I compiled my top favorite beauty products this month (surprisingly there were 10 of them)! From strong brows and bold liner to matte eyeshadow and innocent lipsticks, I've been keeping it pretty casual this July.

Victoria's Secret Summer Seduction Eye Kit- Though I'm not typically the biggest Victoria's Secret Makeup fan, I fell in love with this little palette. The matte colors have been my go-to shadows all month!
Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in 'Black'- I found this gem in my July Birchbox and I have never been quite as pleased with an eyeliner! I've tried felt tip eyeliner before, but this is definitely my favorite.
Color Club Nail Polish in 'Blue-Ming'- This one also came in my July Birchbox and I am so grateful for it! The color is perfect for me and the formula & brush are stellar!
ELF Single Eyeshadow in 'Pebble'- This has been sitting around in my collection for awhile and I had previously ignored it, but when I ran out of my brow powder, I gave this a shot and it was perfect.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Fix- I picked this up with some of my Birchbox points and I'm loving my transition from brow gel to brow wax. Also, I have been a wee bit obsessed with Birchbox this month.

MAC Lipstick in 'Creme Cup'- I've been a fan of this lipstick for awhile now, but it's been my go-to color all through July. I'm usually more of a bold lipstick gal, but natural makeup roped me in this month.
MAC Lipstick in 'Viva Glam Gaga'- While bolder than 'Creme Cup', it's still a gorgeous light pink (and it was limited edition, I believe) and that has been my M.O. lately.
Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse Makeup in '250 Pure Beige'- I purchased this on a whim one day when I had run out of my previous foundation. I ended up falling in love with it. I'm planning on doing a Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse vs. Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse blog post coming up soon, so keep an eye out for that. I only wish there were a little more product in it!
Sigma F25 Tapered Face Brush- I just became a Sigma Affiliate this month (yay!) and I had to celebrate by picking up a couple of brushes. This one has been a staple for contouring and blushing my cheeks!
John Freida Frizz-Ease 3-Day Straight Styling Spray- Though this definitely didn't keep my hair straight for 3 days like it promised, it totally softened my hair and made it not only easier to straighten, but even easier to brush through! I love how my hair feels after using this.

Check out my video for more information on each product and for my song and TV show favorites!

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?