February subscription un-boxing-palooza

I've been really lazy about sharing my subscription box stuff this month but I got the necessary kick in the butt to get it out there via an unexpected gift box. As a result you get the motherlode of unboxing posts!

February Glossybox

Yesterday I received this box quite mysteriously as an unannounced gift from a dear friend. I know she's been exceedingly happy with the stuff she has gotten so I had been thinking about subscribing to Glossybox for a while. I'm taking this as a sign and I finally took the plunge to subscribe this morning.

I'm pretty psyched about the stuff in this box and the sample sizing is clearly VERY generous.

Included:

• Unwash Bio Cleansing Conditioner
• Royal Apothic Tinties Lip Butter in Pink
• Rituals Cosmetics Foaming Shower Gel Sensation in “Yogi Flow”
• Julep Polish in “Heartleigh”
• Dr Lili Fan Probiotic Eye Serum

Misses- I think the only item I'm passing on here is the shower gel. It smells interesting (very reminiscent of the Nubian Heritage Honey & Black Seed line) but I've found my chemistry tends to make smells like that unbearably strong. I also have to avoid cleansing products with ALS or SLS because I have eczema and if my skin dries out too much I get hives.

Hits- I'm extra psyched for the cleansing conditioner because of exactly the same skin sensitivities! The nail polish seems to have a nice dense glitter concentration and I like the giant red heart glitters. The lip balm is a really intense shade of deep bubble gum pink and though I'm not sure if it will work on me I'm always up for a new shade, and moisturizers are always fun to play with.

February Birchbox

Included:

• Juice Beauty® Blemish Clearing Cleanser
• Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Wash
• theBalm® cosmetics Read My Lips™ Lip Gloss in BAM! Rose pink
• beautyblender + mini solid cleanser
• BeeKind™ Conditioner

Misses- One definite and one maybe miss here - the body wash is another formulation my skin would not like and while I do tend to like TheBalm products I feel like I get a gloss in roughly the same colour every other month!

Hits-VERY psyched about the beautyblender since I've been considering picking one up for a while, and the conditioner and face wash should be fun to play with. I am a little annoyed I can't smell either one without unsealing them.

February Glambag

Included:

• CARGO Cosmetics Mini Lip Gloss in Anguilla
• Eva NYC Up All Night Volumizing Spray
• Luxie Beauty Large Angled Face Brush 504
• ModelCo BLUSH Cheek Powder in Peach Bellini
• "Pencil Me In" Cosmetics Natural Eye Liner Pencil in Amethyst

Misses - the Cargo lip gloss. Remember what I said above about lip glosses? Yeah, enough with the warm pink glosses! Also not too psyched on the purple eye pencil. It's a nice purple, but between my preference for crisp liquid liners and my oily eyelids I don't get much mileage out of them.

Hits - Hair styling samples are always welcome so I'm happy about the spray though since it does seem pretty strongly scented I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of it.  I have no idea if the blush is going to work on me, but its a colour I don't have so it should be fun to try. The angled brush is made specifically for contouring and that is going RIGHT into the tool kit as I've been kind of making do with other brushes so far.

Jan 2015 Ipsy Glambag

My Ipsy Glam Bag for this month came the other day and I have to say I'm not terribly thrilled.
(once again I get points if you sign up via the link - this is a standard Ipsy user situation)

I received
Astrida Naturals Orange Mint Lip Balm with Shea Oil
(MALIN+GOETZ) Mojito Lip Balm
LashFood Phyto-Medic Eyelash Enhancer
Probelle Into The Blue Nail Lacquer
Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow in Treasure
a sort of plasticy nautical flat zip top bag - the opposite side is white

My thoughts in brief - all products untested
I don't like mint so I suspect both lip balms are out. The ingredients on the Orange Mint one look okay but I don't like that "perfume" is practically the only recognizable ingredient in the Mojito one.

The eyelash enhancer is intriguing but I'm going to have to research it a bit before I'm willing to put it near my eyes.I hate removing mascara so a product that gives me more lash with less grindy rubbing at the end of the day is okay by me.

The polish looks nice and I like that it's 3free, but it's pretty blah as shades of blue go. Just sort of an enh greyish sky blue. It really wouldn't stand out against my skin tone very well at all and in fact I think the pedi I got for my wedding was almost exactly the same shade because that's all they had (I painted over it with a better blue when I got home).
I don't see myself ever reaching for it to wear on its own, but it may get some use in nail art.

The shadow is a pretty enough shade, but I am BEYOND set on coppery sand toned shadows, thanks.

The bag is a good size and seems sturdy, thought I do generally prefer the fabric ones,


So yeah, mostly more stuff for the trade pile... not that I ever get around to trading stuff out anyway! Though I do think that contemplating my Ipsy stuff has given me an idea as far as nail polish goes. I think I may have just solved the "what sort of flakie mani do I want" question.

My Jan 2015 Birchbox

I got this box from Birchbox on Friday and figured I'd go over the items.

My January 2015 Birchbox

My pick so far:
Essentiel Elements Wake Up Rosemary Body Lotion

A little light textured for my taste but I prefer an unusually heavy lotion. It does sink in very well. Not a scent I would pick but I don't mind it at all. I find many lotions overwhelmingly strong smelling and end up washing them off more often than not, but this is very clean and herbal. I would have liked a squeezable tube rather than a stiff bottle, but I like that this bottle will travel well.

The ohHELLno item:
Harvey Prince - Sincerely perfume

This smells like a college bookstore.
No, not in the good way.

The rest of the items:
Number 4™ Non-Aerosol Hairspray

I haven't tried this yet. I like that it's non aerosol but I'm dubious about the smell. I sprayed a bit on my hand and it smells somehow soapy, powdery, and Oriental at the same time?!? I have a feeling that's going to drive me nuts surrounding my head all day long. Once it dried on my hand I could see where I sprayed it but it didn't feel heavy or crunchy, so it seems like it would have a nice light flexible hold.

Cynthia Rowley Beauty Creamy Lip Stain

I received the colour Sugar which is pictured below against my hand. Normally I would pass on such a mauvey colour. It looks okay on me but I have a very similar creme lipstick. I'm curious how it will work as a stain though so I may keep it. However if I can find a way to swap for Valentine, Tulip, or Dahlia I will definitely do so.

COOLA Tinted Matte SPF 30 for Face

I'm pretty dubious about this one, because I have a somewhat unusual skin tone, so "One Tint Fits All" facial products rarely work for me. That said I really should wear more skin protection. I get lazy because I'm naturally tan but I'm sure that will catch up with me someday.

"Mineral" products tend to make my skin itch though so I guess it's good this sample is so skimpy. I won't feel like I'm wasting much if I end up tossing it. :/ I wouldn't even blink if I had just gotten a smaller tube in the first place, but to make a sample size tube and than not even half fill it is pretty weird.

Seriously, could you spare a bit more product?

I should be getting my Glambag within the next week or so and I'll comment on that haul once I get it.

Mail order surprise pretties

Have you ever considered a beauty subscription box? If you're the kind of person who can't even pick up cough drops without spending an hour and way too much money on random stuff in the beauty aisle (guilty) it may be just the thing for you.

Subscription boxes are a FANTASTIC way to try brands, colours, and formulations you may not have heard of much less bought full size or price. Makeup gets expensive FAST so it can be hard to invest in things you are not so sure about.

I get two beauty subscriptions every month, Birchbox and Ipsy Glam Bag. Both average about five samples per shipment and are a little more than $10 per month with shipping. I can usually expect to find one thing I really like and one thing of no use whatsoever per shipment, beyond that it varies month to month. Offerings are chosen based on a survey you fill out at joining (which can be updated any time) and as you review the things you get your orders get a bit more personalized.

FULL DISCLOSURE: both links above are my referral links and it would earn points for me if you signed up through those links. This is a feature of ALL memberships to both sites. I have no affiliation with either company and am not being compensated for this post.

On left, my January 15 Birchbox. On right my April 14 Glambag

I received my Birchbox subscription Friday and should be expecting my Glambag subscription within the next week or so, so I figured I'd talk about them generally here and then post with my shipment specifics.

I had gotten several months subscription to Birchbox as a gift a few years ago and liked it but was not impressed enough to renew on my own. Later I joined GlamBag and realised that as my interest in beauty products grew some of those previously untouched Birchbox items in the back of my makeup stash had now become my favorite products. I've had a number of moments where I just needed *one particular thing* to finish off a look and it ended up being some item I had totally dismissed when I first received it. I decided to poke around at their site again and was so impressed with the recent offerings I restarted the subscription.

Ipsy seems to lean more toward makeup products and Birchbox seems to lean more skin/haircare, but that may be the way I have my own preferences set.

One of the neat things about the Ipsy Glambag is that it comes with a unique makeup bag every month. At first this was kind of annoying as they seemed to be everywhere, but as my collection grows these bags have become essential for sorting my makeup. Off the top of my head I have separate lipstick bags for pinks, purples, reds, and copper/golds, and separate bags for eyeliners, moisturizer samples, my go-to five minute face products.

I particularly like getting lotions, masques, scrubs, nail polishes, lip products, and makeup products outside of the usual "five minute face" products (for example highlighters, shading powders, setting sprays).

I'm not interested in perfumes, pencils for the eye area (I prefer liquid liners, and powder products for both brow and shadow), and rarely get useful colours in the concealers, foundations, and eye shadows.

A friend of mine gets GlossyBox (not a referral link) and has been very happy with that subscription, but it is about twice the price of the ones I already receive so I have not yet taken the plunge. The items do however seem to be VERY nice quality and come in surprisingly large sizes so it seems like she always gets her money's worth.

I have thought about a few of the nail art boxes out there, but what I would really kill for is a hair product specific service! I had very long hair for decades which I completely babied and now have very short hair which I beat the crap out of and as a result I have bought more expensive and completely useless hair styling products than I like to think on!

How I feel every time I consider buying a new hair product

I'm tired of collecting $30 tubs of product I end up using maybe twice, so I make do with the same things over and over. I'm sure there are a lot of products I would buy in full size if I just got to try them first!

Anyone else get a beauty based subscription service? Is there anything you particularly like or dislike about them? Do you have a good swap community you can recommend for off-base products?