Beauty Box 5 August 2014 review

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This box didn’t wow me, but it had some solid items to try. I’ll keep it around for a bit longer before deciding when I might want to cancel it. I’m accumulating a whole lot of product and I really need to get to using them more!

Beauty Box 5 is $12 per box (or as discounted as $99 for an entire year, with an option in between) and comes with 5 cosmetic products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. You also have the option of buying it as a gift your box to a friend. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards products or boxes.

august 2014 beauty box 5 contents beauty box 5 august 2014 information card

Purlisse pur-protect SPF 30 sunscreen: This feels much like your typical lotion and smells a bit like baby powder. Certainly not the icky sunscreen we’ve all encountered, so that’s nice. I can’t tell its effectiveness with just a little use so far, but time will tell with that.

La Fresh Travel Lite Oil-Free Makeup Remover Wipes: I’m a big fan of La Fresh and I’ve bought a ton of their various wipes and even body oils. This is perfect little travel pack I’m going to bring with me on my vacations. I love wiping off everything from my face either at the end of a day (when I’m too lazy to wash) or in the morning, to help freshen up and wake up.

Nanacoco Lip Gloss in First Kiss: I like the flat angled applicator for this. The formula is more on the gooey side, so when I tried to apply just a little for less pop, it didn’t go so well. The second time around I used it normally and got great color. Lesson learned: go big and bright, or go home. I thought I wouldn’t really use this, but you know, the pink actually isn’t as in your face as I was afraid it would be.

Novex Brazilian Keratin Professional Hair Food Therapy: I haven’t had time to try this out yet, since ideally you’d keep it on for 25 minutes, shower cap and all. I’m always up for a deep conditioning treatment for my hair though! I just don’t seem to get the sort of glossiness that all those commercials talk about. I sure will keep trying and the Brazilians know what they’re doing, right?

Style Essentials Nail Polish: I’m not sure how I feel about this color. It’s a decent polish, but there’s nothing exciting about it. I think a more summery color would have been gold or blue glitter. I’ll probably make use of this more for nail art in the future.

This theme was “radiant & remarkable” and indeed, these items would bring out the radiance. Remarkable though? Not as much for me. What do you think about this box?

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Ipsy August 2014: Beauty Schooled review

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Ipsy can be so unpredictable with its hits and misses. This month I really enjoyed it, just as I’ve been contemplating cancelling. I’m still going to unsubscribe as soon as I get the free product I redeemed with my points. It turned out perfectly because I had nearly 1500 points and felt bad wasting 500 of them since most products are 1000 points. Luckily, when I went to check this time, there was a free mystery bag available for 1500 points! I just had to earn some more to get me to 1500 and I was able to claim it. I’m excited to see what it offers.

screenshot of ipsy mystery bag offer for 1500 points and account with 1500 points

Boom. Redeem that!

Ipsy is $10 per glam bag and comes with 5 or so beauty/skincare products. Bags are sent monthly with no option to skip. There’s usually a waitlist to get the subscription. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards free products.

ipsy august 2014 bag items with card including absolute new york you're the balm lip balm in grape, coastal scents forever blush duo samples in fresh and elegant, dr. brandt pores no more primer, lord & berry kohl eye pencil, and urban decay perversion mascara

Absolute New York You’re the Balm lip balm in Grape – This is quite a large tin that will last for ages. The purple color is fantastic and there’s a little bit of glitter in there too. I like the lightness of the grape scent, though I wish I could smell or taste it more when it was on my lips. This responds well to body heat and begins to melt into a hydrating sort of gloss. A little dab was enough to spread on my lips.

Coastal Scents Forever Blush duo samples in Fresh & Elegant – Again, why do I ever get blush when I indicated NO interest? And these are pretty small samples. Oh well, going in my trade bucket.

Dr. Brandt pores no more pore refiner primer – I totally expected this to be clear, but it has a nude tint to it. It applies well and certainly does the job of mattifying. I’m not sure if the pore refining is supposed to help heal my skin over time or if it’s just to reduce the appearance of pores when it’s on. If it’s the latter, then it did a good job. I’d consider getting this if I ever run out of the current primer tubes I have.

Lord & Berry kajal kohl eye pencil – Oh, this is fabulous. I just used a little on my lower lid to help make it look like I actually had some sort of lash action going there. It was so easy to apply and felt great. Certainly didn’t irritate my inner eye and felt perfectly fine. I’m a fan and I’d totally get this again if I ever find I actually manage to use up the endless supply of eye liners I have already.

Urban Decay Perversion mascara – For statement lashes, this will be my choice. Sometimes I want my lashes to stand out more and this one gets the job done. It does get dry after a day of use though, and I’m forgetful and rub my face a lot, so I kind of ended up with raccoon eyes later in the day. Got to be careful with that. The packaging on this is sick too. Totally slick, elegant, and cool.

This almost makes me consider keeping my subscription, but I really don’t need to keep accumulating products. I’d like to focus on actually using them for awhile. One day I’ll update my eDivv shop and put in the blush samples.

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this bag and wanted to share what I got!]

Din Tai Fung meal review

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While we were in Los Angeles, I wanted to take advantage of the many food options that I love out there. Panda and I agreed to go get dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, which up until just a few years ago only had two locations in the US, both of which were in Arcadia. Last time we’d discovered the brand new location in Glendale, so we decided to head there again. It was much more crowded this time around. I guess people have started to discover this newer location. We waited around 25 minutes for our table and ended up requesting to sit in a different one with a booth seat.

noodles topped with minced pork and cucumber at din tai fung

I was surprised to get this dish first. The minced pork made for a fine topping for the noodles. A really tasty dish, though smaller than I imagined.

vegetable and pork wontons in spicy sauce at din tai fung

This was a new dish for us. Good if you like spicy! It kind of overpowered any meat or veggie flavor though.

hot and sour soup in large bowl for six people at din tai fung

Every time we order this, the waiter informs us it’s meant for 6 people. No biggie, we drank it all.

juicy pork dumplings aka xiao long bao at din tai fung

Erm, we devoured all but one xiao long bao (juicy pork dumplings) before I remembered to get a picture. These are amazing – delicate skin, savory juice, and excellent taste all around.

cucumber appetizer with spicy oil vinagrette at din tai fung

These should have come first, but got forgotten. When I finally got them I could only eat about three pieces. One of my favorite appetizers is some nice cucumber in a tart sauce.

I forgot to get a picture of the pork fried rice that Panda ordered after much of the food arrived. I didn’t have any of it this time, so I don’t know how it tasted anyway.

Service was rather slow and our waitress was a bit absentminded. Not the best experience on that front, but boy is the food wonderful. One of my favorite things about this place is how delicate and fine the ingredients are, especially in the soup! I’ve never seen such thinly-sliced tofu, wood ear, and bamboo shoots. Just the way I love them. I took the leftovers home with me and my mom practically inhaled everything in 10 minutes. It was an awesome meal and I wish there was a DTF somewhere in the DC area so I could enjoy it more.

Homegrown Collective July 2014 review

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Seriously? Just when I thought the Homegrown Collective boxes couldn’t possibly be cooler, they blow me away again. I mean this is insane – this box has to be the pinnacle of what I want in my home right now. Perfection!

The Homegrown Collective GREENBOX is $39 per box + $9 shipping (or as discounted as $429 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with fun and easy projects to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program you can apply to join.

inside of diy summer essential home detox homegrown collective box with the info sheets on the inner lid contents of the homegrown collective july 2014 box with diy summer essential home detox theme

Project #1, essential DIY air freshener: I’m so happy that they included a nice stainless steel spray bottle. It feels fancier than a normal plastic one and it’s nice and light. They included four lovely essential oils to choose from. I’ll try the lemongrass first since I like more citrus-based scents and I currently have a really nice Mandarin orange scented spray. This one’s easy-peasy!

the homegrown collective july 2014 project essential diy air freshener info card the homegrown collective july 2014 products for essential diy air freshener

Project #2, essential DIY aromatherapy oil diffusers: My greatest obsession when it comes to helping a room smell a certain way. For months, I was super cheap and refused to buy the $11-13 bottles at Target. Then the one I want disappeared from the shelves and I was so sad. I eventually got super lucky and found one after weeks of searching. Since then, I’ve loosened up on getting reed diffusers I like, lest I miss out again. This is made all the better with this fantastic little glass jar! How freakin’ adorable is that?

the homegrown collective july 2014 project essential diy aromatherapy oil diffusers info card the homegrown collective july 2014 products for essential diy aromatherapy oil diffusers

Project #3, essential oil DIY candle: Candles are classic and a great way to affect the ambiance in addition to the scent of a room. I enjoy the clean burn of soy wax and I look forward to trying the different scents. This project is the more complicated one in the box, but it’s still very simple. It’ll be fun to create my own little candles and play around with the scents.

the homegrown collective july 2014 project essential oil diy candle info card the homegrown collective july 2014 products for essential oil diy candle

For my recent focus on making our home more homey, these make the perfect projects. I’m a fan of all these types of products and why not make my own? It’ll bring a smile to my face every time I use them. 🙂

the homegrown collective july 2014 essential oils info card

Go ahead, subscribe to the Homegrown Collective now! You’re not going to want to miss out on these wonderful boxes.

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Petit Vour July 2014 review

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Ready to Set Sail with some Summer Loves? I think both of those are the theme this month and they coordinated with a blogger to choose these items.

Petit Vour is $15 per box (or as much as $30 for international subscribers) and comes with vegan beauty, skincare, and other personal care products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards free boxes (email contact@petitvour.com to say I referred you if you sign up!).

contents of petit vour july 2014 box with lvx nail lacquer, modern minerals eye shadow, pelle beauty facial oil, schmidt's natural deodorant, and info card with summer loves set sail theme contents of petit vour july 2014 box removed from packaging petit vour july 2014 box info card with item details

LVX 5-free Nail Lacquer in Lolli – I’ve heard about this brand a lot and I’d love to try it, but this just not my shade. Way too light pink for me. I’ll have to trade it and hopefully I get a chance to try a different shade. The lid on mine is loose so I wonder if this is an issue with the design of the cap for this brand. I guess we’ll see when I try another one!

Modern Minerals Shimmer Eye Shadow in ANJU – This is a fun metallic shade that I might have tried if it weren’t for another eye shadow I play around with. Since I use so little and rarely apply any at all, it’s just not practical to open this too. I’m not sure how I’d apply it though – do I need a brush? Do I just use my finger? This could be a nice shimmer to use on my chest for added effect. Holiday party, anyone?

Pelle Beauty Facial Oil in Nourish – Whoa, applying an oil to my face before makeup? Now that sounds interesting. I’ve been using a cleansing oil to clean my face, but I rinse it off and pat dry before putting on toner, BB cream, etc. At first I was disappointed with the tiny bottle (cute as it is), but now that I read more about it, the highly concentrated formula isn’t diluted with water like many other products. That makes total sense and a drop on each cheek is enough. I think I smell rose in there, or something nice and soothing.

Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant in Lavender + Sage – This is so perfect. It’s the first time I’m getting a product like this from a box, so I could certainly use a deodorant! I’m skeptical of most because of the crazy chemicals and I don’t really sweat so I find I don’t need it. However, this makes me feel good about applying deodorant, so I’ve been enjoying using it. It’s pretty solid, so it does take some rubbing to start melting it enough to get it on my fingers. The scent is amazing and it absorbs so well. I spend the day with a happy secret protecting my underarms and I love it.

I am always impressed with the quality of the products that Petit Vour includes. While this time I won’t be using all the items, I can still appreciate what they chose for us. Which product would you want to try most?

[This post mentions a referral program. Signing up and emailing contact@petitvour.com to say I referred you helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Escape Monthly July: India Box Review

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Tempted as I was to get the bonus box with even more goodies from India, I didn’t want to spend any more money. I’m certainly pleased with this box, which felt pretty authentic and got the seal of approval from one of my Indian friends for products that she’d enjoy. If you sprang for the luxe box that was offered for India, do let me know when you review it! I’d love to see what else they found.

Escape Monthly is just under $40 per box (with code for 20% off your subscription – see end of post) and comes with a variety of food, home, skincare items themed around a city. Each box comes with a Moon Handbooks guide for that region. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a lovely recurring referral commission program.

escape monthly july india box products showing escape monthly july india box info card against blue and white chevron background escape monthly july india box info card opened with details of products included(click to enlarge and read full messaging)

This box even smelled of Indian influences. Must be the sandalwood.

Here’s what came in the box:

Moon Handbooks guide to Taj Mahal Delhi & Jaipur– I’ve never been to India, so when I get a chance, this will certainly be very useful. I’ve got to admit, I’ve never been super attracted to going there because of the heat I imagine in the region. I just see myself being beaten by the sun the whole time, trudging along. Is India really as hot as I think? I’ll have to see…

Saffron Road Korma simmer sauce – I got this brand before, but a different sauce flavor, so I’m looking forward to trying both. My info sheet talks about the Tikka Masala flavor, which I actually have. My box came with the korma instead, which is completely new to me. My friend tells me it’s fabulous though. This will be an easy way to cook some meat with tons of flavor!

Pure Indian Foods organic ghee – I’ve never heard of ghee before, but it smells so rich! Just like caramel or toffee. I don’t usually cook with butter, so I’ll have to find some recipes that call for it and try this fun product that’s apparently quite healthy for you.

Nemat International Amber & Sandalwood fragrances – This small tube of sandalwood packs a punch! It totally reminds me of Asia and even kind of makes me think of my grandmother. I love getting a whiff of that. The amber scent is so light that I can hardly smell a thing. They recommend meditating with it, which I totally need to try.

Banyan Botanicals Organic Healthy Hair Oil – Hmm, I’m totally reminded of food when I smell this oil. Kind of strange, but not a big deal! It’s a really nice oil that isn’t all greasy feeling and I’m hoping it not only makes my hair appear healthier, but promotes hair growth. I would like to try growing out my hair, but I always get impatient when it’s a couple inches past my shoulder because it gets dry.

Banyan Botanicals Peppermint soap – Ooo, this peppermint soap is the perfect thing to refresh and cool down your body with. I loved inhaling the minty scent and I know that it’ll tingle a little when I use it. I’m very sensitive to the cooling sensation of mint. Just what I like to think of on hot, muggy days.

Masala Pop Chai Masala popcorn – Whoa, what a unique taste. I like that this popcorn has a nice strong flavor yet it’s not too sweet. A popcorn made with tea? So cool. While I’m still not big into popcorn, this one is a lovely change from the usual kettle corn you might find.

Maya Kaimal Kashmiri Curry – Another great sauce to try! Now cooking can be as easy as chopping up some meat and veggies and pouring in this sauce. I like that it’s tomato-based and I’m very curious how the whole nutmeg flavor plays in. I totally have to saute some eggplant and try it with this. I’m inspired to get back to home-cooked meals more often.

Gouri Puja bindis – What gorgeous little bindis! I am coordinating with my coworker to come in with bindis together one of these days. They’re so fun and beautiful and the perfect bonus item in the box this month. Love it!

This was truly a box where I felt like I escaped to India and learned about the country. I’m into everything offered too! How do you like this India Escape Monthly box? If you want to sign up, try one of these codes (not sure which ones are still active): INDIAESCAPE or PARISESCAPE for 20% off the lifetime of your subscription or GIFTESCAPE for 25% off.

Next month in August, we’re going to Paris!!! I can’t wait for that, since I’ve had an unofficial love affair with France since middle school.

escape monthly july india box info card back with preview of next month's box theme of paris

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Treatsie July 2014 review

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Now this is just the kind of candy mix I love! A little bit of caramels, a little bit of candy, and some chocolate. I was much more impressed by this month’s Treatsie box. I didn’t even notice until now, but I didn’t get an info card. Not sure if that’s just me or if they decided to stop including them?

Treatsie is $15 per box + $4.95 shipping and comes with artisan candy from 3-4 brands (I am grandfathered in for $15 for 2-3 brands and fewer items). That means about 6 or 7 different flavors of treats (or 4 or 5 for me). Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program to earn store credit. Use my referral link to get your first box FREE!

treatsie july 2014 box contents with seattle chocolates chocolate bars, shotwell candy co caramels, and raley's confectionary hard candy

Seattle Chocolates bars in Total Toffee and Dark Chocolate: Oooooo these made this box for me. I loved both flavors and will definitely keep a lookout for them in stores. The toffee had wonderful bits of crunchy toffee AND some fine grains of salt, which made for a really interesting texture. I’ve never had a bar like that before. The dark chocolate was smooth and very solid – a nice luxurious-feeling piece.

Shotwell Candy Co. Old Fashioned Cocktail Caramels: I thought these tasted a little strange to me and no wonder, they’re made with whiskey. Since I don’t drink, I have no idea what whiskey tastes like and whether someone who likes drinking would enjoy this flavoring in their caramel candy. I guess I’ll take the leftover pieces to work and see what others think. It’s not to my liking though, much as I enjoy a nice caramel.

Raley’s Confectionary Treatsie Variety Mix hard candy: How freakin’ adorable that a special Treatsie mix was put together! This is a grab bag of assorted flavors, mostly fruit ones, but then there’s root beer too. The designs are just fantastic and I love the fun pieces. I’m quite impressed with their designs! I’ve got to say, this is the cutest candy I’ve ever seen.

I was excited about these products and for the most part they did not disappoint. What do you think of these candies? If you want to try Treatsie, sign up and get your first box free.

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Love With Food Happy Camper July 2014 review

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I was pretty pleased with the snacks from my first Love With Food box last month so I decided to continue my subscription. While I don’t really feel like the value is great, I really like discovering and sampling all these types of snacks. I even just upgraded to the 6-month plan that saves me $1 a month. Maybe I just need to go grocery shopping more. 😛 There’s still 8+ more days for the Love With Food free trial box (just pay $2 for shipping) – try it out yourself!

Love With Food is $12 per box (or as discounted as $120 for an entire year, with an option in between) and comes with 8 or more snack products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards products or boxes.

contents of july 2014 love with food box including eight snacks

I like the cute little themes they come up with I can certainly see these snacks coming in handy while out camping. I really enjoyed the ginnyminis butter crisp love cookies that were wonderfully crunchy and so much like butter cookies, but without the greasiness. Then Madyson’s marshmallow was such a cool, unique treat. I really enjoyed the handmade aspect and the chunks of chocolate chips were a perfect contrast to the soft marshmallow.

I appreciated having the ZOUQ Curry Crunch sweet and sour trail mix for when I was starving, but it was sweeter than I’d prefer so I couldn’t finish the bag. I certainly prefer it to normal trail mix though. The Mediterranean Snacks Lentil Crackers turned out to be less tasty than I hoped. Pretty good for a light snack and satisfyingly crunchy, but I like my crackers saltier. The Honey Stinger Kids’ Organic Chews were decent and I’m glad their red flavor is strawberry rather than cherry. I will actually eat all the flavors! They aren’t the sticky kind of chewy that I actually prefer, but that might be a good thing for you.

I was really looking forward to the Beanitos white cheddar puffs because it reminded me of Cheetos and I like white cheddar crackers, but it was kind of sour and dry. Maybe the bean base was just not to my liking. I’m not huge on beans to begin with. I’ve had Somersaults dutch cocoa in other boxes before and something about the flavor just doesn’t do it for me. I like how solid and crisp they are though. Finally, the 2 Degrees apple pecan bar is quite chunky and chewy, which is ok for me but I don’t really enjoy bars like that. I didn’t really get a pecan flavor from it, but it has a nice sweet fragrance from the apple.

While some of the snacks looked better than I ended up liking, I do like having snacks to sample. 6 more months, let’s do this! Which of these snacks do you want the most? Are any already favorites?

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box at the special offer price and wanted to share what I got!]

The Body Shop hauls

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Awhile back, Panda saw a Groupon for The Body Shop and he bought it for me to use. After visiting the store and purchasing some items, I decided to get the Groupon myself for another run. We paid $15 each for $30 worth of stuff. I now have a nice little collection of products from them, which I’m really enjoying. Let me share my two hauls!

the body shop tea tree oil cleansing wipes, bottle of tea tree oil, and vineyard peach body butter

Haul #1

The first time around, I was really focused on the tea tree oil products because of my incessant acne. Of course I also had to try one of their body butters! That’s what drew me to the store in the first place. The moment I smelled the Vineyard Peach, I knew I had to have it. It reminds me of white peaches from China, so fresh and juicy and lightly sweet. Have you ever seen those flat peaches? Between those and the peaches featured in the Journey to the West, that’s exactly what I think of here. Since they offer buy two get one free, I got either the Tea Tree Cleansing Wipes or Tea Tree Oil for free. I can’t quite remember the pricing, though the wipes were around $12 and the body butter was full price at $20 (I wonder if I should have gotten the 3 for $30 deal instead).

I’ve nearly used up the wipes and I’m probably halfway through the tea tree oil. I think they’ve definitely helped calm down my skin and I always feel so great after using them – like my acne is really being tackled. They have a slight tingling sensation upon application and smell medicinal. Meanwhile, I’m saving the body butter for when I’ve used up some more lotions, but I couldn’t resist trying out the bit that got on the lid and it feels fabulous. Just a little bit applied into my skin perfectly and left me with a whiff of peach.

the body shop mandarin & tangelo body, room, & linen spritz, special edition blueberry body butter, tea tree oil skin clearing lotion, and brazil nut body scrub

Haul #2

The second time, I was looking for more variety and actually was hoping to get more of the cleansing wipes, but they were all out. I opted for the Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion instead. If I can’t wipe my face with it, why not apply it after cleansing? I originally got the Brazil Nut Cream Body Scrub and special edition Blueberry Body Butter as the other items, but since the body butter was on clearance for $10, it didn’t count towards my buy 2 get 1 free option. Sooo I browsed around and added the Mandarin & Tangelo Body, Room & Linen Spritz – turns out to be a most excellent choice!

I remember the scrub was $20 or so and I think the lotion and spray were somewhere around $12-15? So far I’ve used the lotion, which is great for offering that healing feeling without the stickiness of the tea tree oil itself. I’ve also been spraying the spritz around and I love it! I’m so glad I had to choose another item, or else I might not have discovered it. I’m putting the body butter away for now since I have a ton of other items, but I really wanted blueberry because they’re my favorite fruit. I know, total sucker here. As for the scrub, I was really drawn to the unique Brazil nut ingredient. I think it’s kind of almond-y? Plus the scrub has small scrubby bits and large scrubby bits, which is super fun!

If you’re looking for a deal on The Body Shop stuff, they’re currently running their Christmas in July promotion: 40% sitewide and free shipping!

Ipsy July 2014: Sensationally Sunkissed review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Ick, what a strange-looking Ipsy bag this month. I will try to give it to someone or use it to package off some items next time I do a trade. Product-wise it was also very meh for me this time. I’m debating whether I should just unsubscribe and redeem a free product that I don’t really want with the points I’ve earned or try to wait around for one I do like.

Ipsy is $10 per glam bag and comes with 5 or so beauty/skincare products. Bags are sent monthly with no option to skip. There’s usually a waitlist to get the subscription. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards free products.

ipsy july 2014 bag items with card including hang ten tanning oil, lavilin jojoba skin soother gel cream, benefit they're real mascara, elizabeth mott tints & sass lip & cheek stain in cherry, and bareminerals 5 in 1 cream eyeshadow in divine wine

Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil – I have no idea how to use tanning oil, nor do I feel any need to try. If I want to tan, I just go outside for a bit. Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy with my skin tone, whatever shade it might be! This is definitely an item I’m not opening and putting up for trade.

Lavilin Jojoba Skin Soother Gel Cream – For something with gel in the name, I did not expect the consistency that was more like sunscreen. Looked like sunscreen, felt like sunscreen a bit, and is it just my imagination? Smelled like sunscreen too? It didn’t mention any SPF properties so I have no idea, but I guess I’ll use this up sort of as a normal lotion.

Benefit they’re Real! beyond mascara – Mascaras must be super popular since we keep getting them. I better start applying daily if I want to ever get close to using up my supply. These bristles looked scary because they are so pokey, but application was just fine and they help my lashes pop well, without giving my raccoon eyes. I’ll keep using this for sure!

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass fabulous lip & cheek stain in cherry – I don’t plan on staining my cheeks anytime soon, but the lip staining aspect of this intrigued me. I’ve been getting bolder with my choice of lip color, so I’ll play around with this one too. The application was less staining that I thought, thankfully – I was afraid it’d super stain my lips the instant anything touched them! But it took a little rubbing to get a nice shade on and I like the look and feel of it.

bareMinerals 5 in 1 BB advanced performance cream eyeshadow in Divine Wine – This is pretty boring to me. I don’t like to use eye products, so what’s the point of putting something on that is basically nude? If I’m going to that trouble, might as well be something fun and interesting. I guess it’s supposed to be like sunscreen for the eyes? I don’t know, I’m not really into it. I’ll try trading but if it doesn’t go I might consider trying it.

Not impressed at all this month and if it weren’t for the points I accumulated, I’d be unsubscribing right now (see how rewards programs lock people in?). I’ll get these up in my eDivv shop eventually so I can trade for stuff I’d actually appreciate.

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this bag and wanted to share what I got!]

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