Beauty Blogger Vox Box

A few months ago a discovered Influester. This is similar to a sample subscription program, but it is free and the sample boxes don't come every month. You sign up for the site and you get the chance to complete different surveys depending on your interests and you earn "badges" Depending on the badges you earn you are eligible to be chosen to receive boxes. The boxes are sent to you for free, and all that is asked of you is a little interaction. You are required to share your opinions and thoughts on the products through your social media platforms.
The boxes are amazing, they send you such great products to try out. The box I received a few weeks ago was the Beauty Blogger VoxBox. It had awesome beauty products inside.
I had the chance to try the Kiss Ever PRO lash starter kit, NYC color Individual Eyes Custom Compact, Goody Spin Pin, Vitabath fragrance mist, Not Your Mothers Kinky Moves Hair Cream, and a Bath & Body Works Mini Candle.

 

 Kiss Ever PRO lash starter kit:
These lashes came with a tool that helps put the lashes in place, I couldn't really get use to it, I just rather use my fingers. The glue that came in the kit was pretty nice, I love that its small because I can keep it in my makeup bag when I wear lashes. Its easier and neater than duo lash. As for the lashes, out of the box they are a bit large for my eyes and next time I use them I'm going to trim them down. They are pretty dramatic in person for everyday use but for a night out they would be great. They didn't seem too heavy, but I'm sure a more natural looking pair would work better for me.

 

 

NYC color Individual Eyes Custom Compact: This compact came with 4 shadows, a highlight and base. The kit I received in my box was the smokey look compact. I'm not much of a smokey eye kind of person, I think my eyes are kind of small for so much color. I've seen other color combinations in the compacts in at the drugstore. I do like the idea of having a complete eye look in one little compact that you can just take with you. The base was not bad, but unless I was doing my makeup anywhere other than home, I would use a different base. I say this because if you aren't careful the powder form the shadows can fall in it and make it dirty. The color pay off is actually pretty good for drugstore. I don't really use drugstore shadows because they tend to be kinda chalky for me, but these weren't so bad, I'd like to see how other maybe lighter colors would look.

Goody Spin Pin: Love these things. It makes it really easy to just twist my hair up and go without thinking it will just come apart. I was actually able to go a whole day with only one pin in my hair and it was all good. I do recommend using both though. If you have both pins in, you can go to the gym and not worry about your bun coming undone.

Only had one pin for this. The other was in my car.

 Vitabath fragrance mist: The sent I got for this was Ivy & Lily, I was a little worried I was going to hate the sent because it sounded weird; BUT it's actually a really fresh clean scent. It's a really nice sent to put on after you take a shower in the morning and go out because its just such a clean sent for everyday. They have tons of other scents in their mists, and they even have body washes.

Not Your Mothers Kinky Moves Hair cream: About a month and a half ago I got a relaxer on my curly hair, so this product wasn't exactly for me. I had heard of this brand before and really wanted to try something from them. It smelled nice. I tried it on my straight hair and it didn't do much, but it did keep it form getting too frizzy. I ended up giving it to my mom for her to use on her curly hair. She seems to like it, because she hasn't complained about it to me, and the bottle is almost out.


Bath & Body Works Mini Candle: The product which I've actually used the most (in theory) was the B&BW candle. The sent I received was Black Pepper Bergamot, I hated it. That sent was just not for me. I noticed that other people had received different scents than I did. One sent I saw people received was Mahogany Teakwood, this is probably my #1 favorite holiday sent from B&BW. I had bought a medium size of that scent about a week before getting my box. I've put a nice dent in that one this past month.

 

 

I'm very grateful that I was chosen to receive and share my opinions on such nice products. I really hope I get this chance again. 

November Birchbox.

Earlier this year I discovered the beauty of monthly subscription services. I have a few choices at the time, Julip, Army Box, Pop Sugar, New Beauty Test Tube, Myglam, and Birchbox. All the different programs were at different price points and had mixed reviews. I decided to go with the ones that were good for my budget. For $10 each I chose Myglam and Birchbox. I've had mixed feeling about Birchbox, Out of the average 5 beauty/skin/hair/food products a month I was getting at least 1 great product in each box . I've also had months that I've hated everything in my box. Myglam has been a different story, but I'll talk more about that when I post my November bag. This month was a mixed month for me.

I received 5 products in my box, which after doing review on the Birchbox website, equates to 50 points. Each 100 points earned is $10 available to use in the online shop. This feature is was added to me choosing to join. Each box comes with a card giving information about each product.

My first product was the Lulu Organics Lavender + Clay Sage Hair Powder. Basically a dry shampoo

It's about a good size for one use on someone with short to medium hair, not sure if ill use it, i like the spray on dry shampoo better.

I also received a full size mascara. Sometime you will get lucky and get full size products, Ive received full size lip gloss and eyeliner in past boxes.

I've only seen this brand before once at TJ Maxx. Not sure how the Fiber concept will work on my lashes but I'll update the post with before/after pictures when I try it out.

 

Probably the product I'm most exited about is this Mox Botanicals Lip Butter, I love anything that will keep my lips soft in the cold weather seasons. Its an OK size for a sample but its will last me a while.

The last two products were fragrances. One was a Body Serum, and the other and men's cologne. I'm not sure what i think of these they will just end up in my sample drawer never to be seen again.

 I will say I think this serum is a good size, since they say a little goes a long way.

 Pretty much this was an OK month, I've received better and I've received waay worse.

Its that time of year again...

 

Sephora Favorites Gift Set time!!! When November rolls in the gift sets get rolled out. Its my favorite time for makeup shopping, I love the fact I can try a few products in their mini forms without having to pay as much. Usually you can get about 5 mini products for the price of one full size product. Sometimes you even get a full size product thrown into the mix. I can't wait for pay day because its time to do some early xmas shopping for myself and a couple other people.

This year they have sets for eyeliners, lip products, cheek products, perfumes, and some with a mix of all products. Lots of brands create their own holiday sits which I love, but I find sephora has the best mix of brands in their sets plus they are petty affordable.  

I've browsed sephora.com and i picked a few on my wish list. I wanted ones that have products I don't already have or that I know I will love and use.

 

The "In the Glow" set is 100% on my list. At $45.00 for the set that's like paying $5 per product. This set has products I hear people rave about like the Tart Amazonian Clay Blush that costs $25.00 for a full size, here I get to try it for $5, if I ever do actually hit pan I can invest in the full size, but if I hate it I won't feel as bad. This is perfect for someone on a budget because you get to try products from brands that are a bit more pricey like NARS, Laura Mercier, Lorac, Benifit, Stila and a few others. If you already have and love any of these its always nice to have a mini makeup bag sized one. There is also one with all Lip Products that I still might want.

 

If you're like me, you are on the hunt to find the perfect eyeliner. The "Draw the Line" eyeliner sampler set is key on my list. At $28.00 its another set where you're paying about $5 a product. This set looks to have at least 3 fill size products. The Smashbox waterproof liner costs $22 alone. Since the smashbox liner in the set is full size you could say you're buying it alone and paying about $1.20 for each extra eyeliner including a full size sephora collection liner and full size Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner. If you like eyeliner or want to try different types of liner (liquid, gel, pencil) this is a must have kit. If lashes and mascara are your thing definitely check out this $45 "Lash Stash" kit.

 

The last one on my personal list is this Fragrance Sampler. The way these work is, you get a few mini samples in a box (the kind you get free at the macys counters) so you can try them out see how they react to your body chemistry. After you decide which one you like best you can take the voucher that comes inside the box and redeem it for the full size version of your choice. This kit has a couple good ones I've been thinking of getting. DKNY Be Delicious is always a good one, but this kit also has the new Juicy sent Viva La Juicy La Fleur which I received a sample of in my Birchbox a few months back and LOVED, and Prada CANDY which everyone says smells great. With 12 scents to chose from, it will be interesting to see which one I choose as my full size. The also have a few different versions, the Deluxe ft Michael Kors and Viva La Juicy (a little more money and with only 4 samples but your samples are bigger) and the Men's version. Makes a great gift.

 

Honorable mentions/ gift ideas

The "Super Stars" kit is a mix of eye, lip, face, skincare, and a fragrances in one box, would make a good gift for anyone wanting to get into makeup or wanting to try out new products.

 

If you have a gold lover in your life (I know I do), the Glitz & Glam set would be the way to go. It has a little bit of everything for a great new years eve look. Plus it even has a cute metallic clutch to complete the look.

*** VIB BEAUTY INSIDER EVENT GOING ON UNTIL 11/12. 20% OFF YOUR ONLINE ORDER, USE CELEBRATE AT CHECKOUT. ***

Top Fall Drugstore Lip Colors

Its that time of year, the leaves are changing color the weather is getting colder, i even got to break out my Uggs this weekend. Fall is my favorite time of the year. Not only because of the weather but because of the fashion and beauty trends. I love my spring and summer hot pinks and corals but there is just something about the plum and berry colors that makes me this season.
Ive gone through my lip baskets in my vanity and i picked out a few that top my list for Fall/Winter. There are 2 categories here, actual lipsticks, and the cool new lip balm/gloss/stain kinda things that have been becoming popular.

I have 8 products, 4 in each category.

 First we'll start off with hand swatches. I'm still working on what kind of lighting is going to work best with this kind of stuff so it should get better as i post more.

no flash

flash

no lip products

 

In the lipstick category I have: Maybelline #410 Blissful Berry and 455 MAUVE-ULOUS, L'Oreal Infallible #737 Persistent Plum and Revlon Matte # 009 Fabulous Fig

 

Blissful Berry



mauve-ulous








Persistent Plum

Fabulous Fig (actually darker then shown and matte, weird flash)

 

In the gloss/balm/stain category there is Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters in 040 RedVelvet and 085 Sugar Plum, and Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains in 005 Crush and 030 Smitten.

The Lip Butters are very moisturizing, but need to be reapplied quite often, The Kissable Balm Stains are better in the fact that they are a stain and the color will stick with you, but the gloss won't, so i still reapply. Both are very buildable for a more vibrant color.

Red Velvet



Sugar Plum



Crush

Smitten

 

 

Out of all of them my number one right now would have to be L'Oreal Infallible #737 Persistent Plum. Its long lasting so it stays on for hours even while you eat, and is perfect for fall.

 

 

 



Remington Curling Wand

Flat irons, Curling irons, crimpers, hot rollers.. I've tried them all. Last week I purchased that latest tool to add to my hair arsenal, the curling wand. I've seen them all over youtube and in ulta catalogs but I've always thought just using my curling iron with the clamp closed would be the same thing.
Last night I finally decided to try my wand out.

I bought the Remington T Studio 1"-1 1/2" curling wand. It was about $30 at Target. There were two size options, 1/2"-1" and the one I got, the 1" - 1 1/2" I figured with my longer hair I wanted Bigger curls that would fall into waves as the day went on. I do want to get the smaller one to see how tighter curls would look.



My hair before was puffy and frizzy from being in a pony tail and bun all day.

A few things to note about the wand: it goes up to 410 degrees and has a digital display

I started with the 392 setting but then went up to 410. Also my fingers kept hitting the buttons while i was curling my hair and I was worried I would turn the wand off, but Remington was smart and made it so that settings couldn't be changed or power wouldn't go off by just pressing the buttons, they have to be held down for a few seconds.

What I didn't like about the wand was that my hair kept slipping from the larger end of the wand and the curl would start at the middle of the wand and I wouldn't have enough space to wrap all my hair around the wand. Also there is a "stand" in the top of the handle that my hair kelp snagging on which would cause tangles as I took my hair off the wand. I would eliminate this part all together because it didn't do much for helping the wand stay up. I would have also appreciated a longer cord, i found that one side of my head was harder to do because the wand didn't reach like I needed it to.

But at the end I do like the wand, I got the hang of it after the first layer of hair and the curls were very nice. I was able to take bigger sections of hair than i do with my 1" Hot Tools curling iron, so the process was much faster. It took me about 20-30 mins to do all my hair.

 

I really do like the result, and this will probably become my go to tool when i want to do something with my hair, it was so quick and easy, even with its negative points it puts out a nice curl, so I'm all for it. The curls did hold up well over night and I'm sure will fall well throughout the day.  



Sugarskull

This weekend where i live on the east coast we were pretty much stuck in the house for 4 days because of Hurricane Sandy. With some time on my hands I thought i would try out some sugar skull, day of the dead makeup. I tried out a few different products some worked... some not so much. It didn't come out like I wanted but I did learn some things from this time that will help me next time I try this out.

As you can tell one side is a lot bigger and more blurry than the other. The sharper side was done with gel eyeliner and a brush, the other side was with a eyeliner marker pen ( a thick one). I think the gel eyeliner was a lot easier to control.

With a bit more light you can see how shiny it all looks, for the black on my nose and the white on my face I used a cream paint kit I got from Rite Aid for about $1.50. It was really really creamy and smugged so easily. If you try using this kind of cream face paint in any look I would really suggest setting with a power product like eyeshadow or translucent power. BUT be careful not to smear the black with the white.

My inspiration for this look came from a picture I saw on facebook. I don't remember at all where it came from or who to give credit to. I think it could have been a post from Sugarpill Cosmetics.

I did a screenshot with my phone to save the picture. I do think I  should have gone for the green look because that girl has a smaller face and would have worked better for me. The way they circled her eyes in the more oval shape rather than a larger circle like the purple would have worked soo much better for my smaller face. Keep that in mind when if you try this type of look out.

Hopefully I get some free time this weekend to try out the green look. Post to follow if I do. This time with more pictures.