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.

My sagging what?!?!

Taking a spin through Groupon a little while ago and I saw this product and my first reaction was

"Really!?!?! Ear perfect? Ear lifts??? Now I supposedly have to worry about how my EARS are aging???"

Thankfully I clicked through to take a closer look because it gave me a fair amount of food for thought.

180 Count of Ear Perfect Instant Ear Lift Patches

The first note on the box and item description is "Designed for stretched or torn earlobes". WHEW!

I don't have a problem with the idea of self improvement or modification, but I do have a problem with products which make bank by making people feel bad about perfectly normal aspects of humanity like aging. Sadly this is pretty much the base purpose of advertising so a bit hard to avoid entirely, but nonetheless it's important to know what forces are being leveraged against one's happiness and/or health (for a frank but fantastic example of this have a look into the modern history of my favorite insult - douche). 

I've had my ears pierced since I was very young and torn earlobes are DEFINITELY one of my lizard brain fears. For just about as long as I can remember I have been wearing the same style of tiny hoop earrings which release easily if they get caught on things. I actually feel like my face looks kind of wrong if I wear other styles of earring.

Earception earrings (click this caption for source)

It's pretty cool to know that here are alternatives to plastic surgery if you have torn lobes and want to wear regular earrings. I imagine these patches would also be helpful for anyone who is not used to the weight of really heavy earrings.

And of course not forgetting the number of people currently running around with intentionally stretched earlobes who can use these stickies to expand the number of earring styles they can wear.

It's funny when you think of the ripple effects that different fashion choices may have years down the line. Growing up in a fairly conservative home I was always warned against permanent mods because of the effects they may have on my future, but at this point tattoos and piercings have become so ubiquitous the job market is pretty much going to HAVE to accept altered individuals.

I expect we're going to start seeing more stuff like this in regular rotation. It makes me wonder what other body mod friendly products we are going to start seeing - not necessarily hiding the mods - but adjusting to a life where they are commonplace.

Cheese Plate Update Two (Electric Boogaloo)

We interrupt your not terribly regular broadcast for more cheese!

I have about eight more cheeses I could discuss - and that's not even counting my February cheese of the month offerings - but I figure four per post is more than enough. It's not like cheese reviews are going to go bad.

In other cheese related news I've started poking at baking a bit more so I'm excited to try a cracker recipe I found which was designed specifically to showcase cheese and I'm looking for a nice baguette recipe, because baguette.

Comte

(from http://www.gourmet-food.com ) Comté has a floral aroma with nutty fudge flavors developing in the more mature cheese. The taste is full of nuts and toffee with a lovely long and salty finish. Older cheeses take on a strong, farmyard-like character. The cheese has a thin beige rind which thickens and hardens as the cheese matures.

I've recently had both an older and a younger comte and per my usual preferences the older was the favorite by far.  Aging gives this cheese a savory fullness  (an om nom nom ness, you might say) that I particularly enjoy. I do think the younger would be an ideal choice for introducing someone to the kind of stuff you can't order from the average deli. It has a touch of that Emmental brightness (aka that classic "Swiss Cheese" flavor) but is otherwise really smooth and mild so it presents some nice complexity without being overwhelming.

Jarlsberg

(from cheese.com) Jarlsberg is a mild, semi-soft cow’s milk cheese of Norwegian origin. Created by Anders Larsen Bakke, it resembles a Swiss Emmental with distinctive, open and irregular ‘eyes’. Many a times Jarlsberg is marketed as a Swiss cheese because of its characteristics, though it tends to be sweeter and stronger than Emmentaler.
Beneath the yellow-wax rind of Jarlsberg is a semi-firm yellow interior that is buttery, rich in texture with a mild, nutty flavour... Since the cheese melts so well, Jarlsberg tastes delicious on sandwiches, fondues, quiches and on hot dishes.

This initially stuck me as extremely nutmeg-y! A little more of that "Swiss cheese" bite, but well balanced out by a lot of sweetness and butter. Pleasantly chewy and firm so I'll happily forgo any kind of cracker or fruit to nosh on this all by its lonesome, though I have to be really careful doing that as I'll end up eating ridiculous swaths of it in endless stream of "just one more paper thin slice".

Beemster Goat

(from beemster.us) Beemster Goat cheese, aged for 4 months, smooth & regresing has a wonderfully clean, sweet taste. Decidedly different from fresh chèvre, this cheese is sure to please even those who are not goat cheese connoisseurs, making it the perfect introductory cheese for consumers new to the goat category.

Again decidedly nutmeggy! Quite creamy and fresh with only a little goatyness (more in the aftertaste than anything) but I can't help but feel like I would like this MUCH better if it were aged long enough to bring out more caramel and add some of those neat crunchy crystals into the texture.

Pittig, 4 year old Gouda 

(from www.eatmorecheese.me)
Extra aged gouda - 4 years
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
From the Netherlands
Traditional Rennet

An almost toffee-like sweetness brings to mind fresh cows’ milk and accentuates notes of nuttiness in this versatile aged Gouda that is a perfect table cheese and can add wondrous flavor to your favorite sandwich. Hints of butterscotch also make Pittig an ideal selection as a dessert cheese.  

This is, to put it plainly, my jam.

Every time I have an aged Gouda I fall a little more in love, so I held on to this one from my holiday cheese gifts knowing it would be something special and I was RIGHT. I found this to be very salty and kind of popcorn-y but I DID eat it with a rather sweet Jazz apple. I can see how that would read as butterscotch with a more neutral accompaniment.