Blush Mystery Beauty Box February 2014

I always look forward to the beginning of the month.  The beauty boxes are set to ship to my house, and the spoilers start rolling in.  My favorite spoilers are for the Blush Box.  This month though, there weren't any spoilers.  None.  Nada. Was I bummed?  Yes. Was I even more excited for my monthly box to arrive?  Oh hell yes.

This month's box was full of high end items.  Be ready to drool like I did.

The Jonathan Finishing Control High Shine Flexible Hairspray was a bonus item.  Bonus indeed.  I was about to go buy a new can of hairspray, when one magically landed on my doorstep!  

The Klorane Dry Shampoo is something I loved seeing in the box, and it's full sized.  It gives your hair volume, but doesn't seem to take away all the greasiness out of my hair.  It still looks like I didn't wash my hair, but a bigger fluffier version.

The NYX mascara has been something I wanted to try, but I'm still working my way through some samples I already have, so I didn't want to go buy a whole new tube.  Getting this in my box was a real treat.

Perfume sample? Check.  Awesome upscale should be sitting on a victorian style dresser surrounded by fancy things bottle and packaging?  Check.  Smells amazing?  Check.  This little gem is an Elizabeth Arden perfume called Untold.  I plan on wearing this and keeping the bottle on my dresser forever.  Forever ever.

I've never tried a deep cleansing oil before, or any cleansing oil for that matter.  This one from DHC is a welcome addition to my ever growing skin care collection, and one I look forward to using.

The packaging for this vbeaute facial exfoliator is stunning, and when I'm done with the exfoliator I have in my shower I'm adding this to my routine.

The Biodea Miracle 48 facial mask is the most expensive single use beauty product I will ever use.   This better make me look like I'm a goddess or I will be super disappointed.

I love nail wraps. So much.  They make me very happy.  I get to have crazy nails, it takes minimal work, and they look flawless.  Gimme more.

These were the samples I received along with this months box.  The Gel Cleanser is a sample I will use very shortly, and the REN Day Cream is something I already have and love and use regularly.

I'm still shocked at the amount of stuff I got in this months box, and the quality.  Keep it up Blush!

Have you subscribed yet?

Sample Society February 2014

Spoiler Alert: This month's beauty boxes are ah-mazing!

As you all know by now I am a huge fan of beauty boxes.  I get four subscriptions, and one of those subscriptions is to the Allure Sample Society Box.  This month's box is choc full of awesome goodies, which I have split up into two categories: Skincare and Haircare.

 

-Skincare-

 Murad Intensive-C Radiance Peel- I have always wanted to try this, but have never wanted to spend the money on something I wasn't sure I would like.  I guess you put this on like a mask, leave it on for a few minutes, and wash it off.  I'm excited.

AHAVA Dead Sea Osmoter Concentrate- This smells so good.  So very good.  I am almost regretting saying I like getting serums in boxes because they just keep coming, but this smells so damn good I don't care.  I'm looking forward to using this.

Murad Intensive Radiance Serum- I have this, I like it, I use this every morning.  It smells like oranges.

-Haircare-

Phytokeratin Ultra Repair Mask-  I actually put this in my shower so I could use it. This winter weather is making my hair limp and sad and yet frizzy and the ends are fried.  Fingers crossed this works miracles.  Oh, and I like the metal tube. 

Alterna Bamboo 48-Hour Sustainable Volume Spray-  I love this brand, so when I saw it in this month's box I was really excited.  You're supposed to put this on wet hair and blow dry it, but I don't blow dry my hair.  I might just use this on wet hair and not blow dry it and see what happens.

I am thrilled at the contents of this month's box, and I will use everything in here.  I cannot wait until next month.

New Nail Obsession: Sapphire Siren

I've been having an extremely hard time finding a color to put on my nails that I really love.  No nail art interests me, all colors make me cringe, even falsies aren't something I wanna put on.  I'm in a rut.

So to help me get myself out of this rut, (and add to my ever growing polish collection) I hopped in the car with the boy and went to Target to peruse the aisles.  That's when I stumbled on perhaps the one shade of polish I have been craving since I went to California at Thanksgiving.  

Welcome home Sapphire Siren by Maybelline in the Color Show line.

I'm in love, in lust, obsessed, enamored, besotted, hooked, etc.  I have it on my nails in the bottom picture.  

I've had it on for about three days now and the only chippage is from the fact that the tips of my nails are extremely flimsy and brittle, and I work with money all day.  Otherwise the dry time is good, the color payoff is amazing, and I smile everytime I look at my nails.

I highly recommend this line for polish lovers,  At under $4 it is a steal.

Ipsy Bag January 2014

I usually love the things I get in my Ipsy Bag, but this month it fell short in a lot of ways. 

 

The Apothederm serum is actually a generous sample for serums.  It's lightweight, smells amazing, and since I'm all into serums right now it's a welcome addition to my little collection.

I already have the Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner.  It smells good, but with the sample I already have, it wasn't something I was excited to get in this months bag.  

I already wrote a review of the Willa facial wipes on the blog, so you can see a full review of my feelings on them here.  Another disappointing item in this months bag.

My new lip savior landed in this months bag, and that's the Malin + Goetz mojito lip balm.  This stuff is amazing.  Nuff said.  Full review here.

The Smooth Shadow in Pearl was something I was excited to get in this months box, until I swatched it.  It looks nice, it could do really well as an under the eye bottom lash thing, but holy glitter.  For something claiming to be a smooth shadow, it has really big glitter chunks, and after a few hours it just looks like I went to a disco complete with glitter raining down on my face.  I'm determined to find a use for this though, so stay tuned.

Out of the five products in this months bag, one was a repeat, two were not my cup of tea, and two were pleasant surprises. I still have really high hopes for this subscription box, even though I wasn't blown away.  

Fingers crossed for this month's box!

Willa Face Towelettes

I love me some face wipes.  Main reason, I like to stay up late and I can be pretty lazy if it's my day off.  

During the week, after a full face of makeup, I of course wash and tone and moisturize and oil up my face like the next crazy blogger.  The weekends or my days off are a completely different story.  

Insert face wipes.  Facial towelettes.  Wet wipes.  Whatever you want to call them.

Perfect for wiping off mid day glow, excess makeup, and of course for the quick swipe and go after one too many drinks.

Willa is a brand I have never heard of before, but the words gentle and lavender on the package intrigued me.

I can officially say I'm disappointed with this product.  

The wipes were far too dry to do anything. 

It took two whole wipes just to try and clean my whole face. 

It made me sad.

Not even the nice smell could overcome the lack of moisture in the wipes and how poorly they performed.

I hate writing a negative review, but I can't not review something just because it didn't send me into happy fits.  Not every product will tickle my fancy, or perform well with my skin.

Although these weren't for me in any way, I'm not saying they won't get use.

I have plenty of fingers and mirrors and lids that need cleaning.

Plenty.

Do you use facial wipes?  Are you part of the beauty blogging world that hasn't completely written them off?

Huge Milestone #2!

Hey There Dolls,

Today is my second biggest milestone in my blogging history, 100 posts!

Yes, you heard correctly, 100!  

Some posts have been good, some have been not so good, but they have all attributed to this blog, and for that I am happy.  This year has been full of personal ups and downs, milestones, setbacks, laughter, and tears.

Thank you all again for being there with me through these 100 posts, and I hope you all stay tuned for the posts to come!

P.S. -  Click the link (The Picture) and enjoy!

Malin + Goetz Mojito Lip Balm

This winter has been terrible for my skin.  I swear it has taken all of the moisture out of my skin, and made me look at least five years older than I should.  Needless to say I am not happy about that.

I've tried body butters for my body, lotions in various tubes for my hands, and what seems like endless lip balms and exfoliatiors for my lips.  Nothing lasted for more than two hours.  

Now I can deal with the skin on my body being dry, because it's under my clothes.  I can continuously apply hand lotion during the day, and it's not a huge bother.  That and it usually smells really nice.  But the chapstick/lip balm thing can get a little annoying.  Especially since I have been trying to wear more lipstick, and I have to take it off and put on the balm and re apply.  Not only that but working in customer service again I have realized how much people don't like you topping up your lip products behind the counter. 

Then this little gem came in my Ipsy Bag and I'm hooked.

After the first application I felt my lips become smoother and fuller, and that feeling lasted for a good few hours.  I could do with a different application method, the whole using your fingers and putting things on your lips can get a little messy, but I will overlook that for the benefits.  

I would have never bought it for myself, but after this past week I'm a convert.

What's your winter lip savior?