July 2018 Ipsy Review

Ipsy is a $10 a month subscription service that provides subscribers with 5 deluxe (and sometimes full sized) beauty items and a makeup bag. July was surprisingly amazing; it was the strongest bag I’ve received from Ipsy in months.

July 2018 Sephora Play Review

Sephora is a $10 monthly subscription box that provides members with sample sized items that can commonly be found within your local Sephora stores. I recall until my last Sephora post hoping beyond hope that my shitty (for me) June box was due to late billing. I believe I was wrong because July was just more of the same. Firstly, the box seemed to be a bit of a Tarte takeover, for better or worse. I received:

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Paaarty - $7.77 Cruelty Free

Tarte Color Splash Lipstick in Salt Lyfe - $5.83 Cruelty Free

Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Face Butter - $4.00 Cruelty Free

Tarte Deep Dive Cleansing Gel - $1.25 Cruelty Free

Caudalie Vinoperfect Concentrated Brightening Essence - $1.40

Rahua Color Full Hair Mask - $3.11

The Tarte Amazonian Clay blush is a nice enough item: decent sized, convenient, good value, good quality. Unfortunately it blends in so well with my skin tone that it does not show up in the slightest.

I received the Tarte Color Splash lipstick in the shade Salt Lyfe. Nice color if I had a lighter skin tone. It is almost the exact same color as the Too Faced Melted Matte lipstick I’ve received in the past from Sephora. It also looks painfully similar to the shade Set Sail that I destashed sometime earlier this year. The lipstick is highly pigmented and very creamy but it didn’t have the best staying power.

 

I am loving the Josie Marian Whipped Arian Oil. It has more of a cream texture, which is not what I was expecting given the name of the product. I love how well it moisturizes and absorbs but it might be just a tad too heavy for the summer months. I think it will be perfect when autumn rolls around though.

July wasn’t my first experience with the Tarte Deep Dive cleansing gel (reviewed here). It’s a gel that cleans. That’s pretty much it, nothing special about it, other than how incredibly tiny the sample is.

I like Caudalie products and the Vinoperfect Concentrated Brightening Essence was no exception. It smells a little bit like mushrooms and feet and from what I gather it is supposed to be applied after toner but before serum. I found it hydrating and non-irritating but I haven’t seen any brightening or visible difference so far. Not something I see myself buying in the future.

 

Last but not least is the Rahua Color Full Hair Mask. I do not have dyed hair so I was not able to try this product out yet, unfortunately. I cannot imagine it being any different from any other conditioner though. I rarely color my hair but I’ve been bored lately and since locs are so hard to start and transition to or from, dying my hair is the most reasonable change I can make to my hair.

While not a bad box, I just don’t feel like they’re ever tailored to fit my needs. Of all the boxes I receive, Sephora is often at the bottom of the list regarding items I receive and not because the items are awful quality. Quite the opposite, really. My dissatisfaction stems from the fact that I feel like shades are never taken into consideration when my box number is randomly drawn from the hat.

June 2018 Sephora Review

Play! by Sephora is a monthly subscription that sends out 5 beauty/skincare/hair care items and one bonus item (often a fragrance sample) for $10 plus state tax. Sephora also gives out 50 bonus beauty insider points that can be redeemed with an in-store purchase each month. I was not impressed with June’s Sephora box but I desperately want it to be because of billing. I did not realize that the credit card I had on file had expired so I was billed late and as a result I ended up with, I’m hoping, one of the left over boxes that doesn’t match my profile. I received:

• CoverFx Perfect Setting Powder in Light Medium – $3.50, Cruelty Free
  
• Clinique Take the Day Off Makeup Remover – $4.56
• Too Faced Melted Matte Lipstick in Queen B – $5.34, Cruelty Free
• Sol de Janerio Brazilian Bum Bum Cream – $4.69
• Living Proof No Frizz Nourishing Styling Cream – $4.75
• Marajó Deep Treatment Nourishing Butter and Cleansing Crème – $1.62

CoverFx Perfect Setting Powder in Light Medium

Sorry for the glare

This is the tiniest sample ever. Seriously, how the hell am I even supposed to get a brush in there. This sample did not work for me. Aside from it Bering so small that it just isn’t functional, it works against my sheer coverage Look I’m usually trying to achieve and makes me look “done-up.” The shade is also far too light for me so I get this Sammy Sosa-esque look going.

Clinique Take the Day Off Makeup Remover

This oil based cleanser works about as well as my Target Up & Up brand cleanser. It removes eye makeup well and after a bit of a rinse I’m good to go. I do love the purple packaging though and I’m always pleased to remove another eye makeup remover but ultimately I can purchase just as efficient for a bit less. 

Too Faced Melted Matte Lipstick in Queen B

 

I don’t really know how I feel about Too Faced as a brand. The risqué names for products isn’t really a selling point for me since I’m not in middle school, the shades never really seem to reflect my wants or needs as a person and those two things make me feel like the brand is a bit overrated. Now that that’s all been addressed, the Too Faced Melted Matte lipstick isn’t a terrible product. It applied evenly, tastes like chocolate or fondant and is a little sweet which reminds me of Stila Stay All Day liquid lipstick and wasn’t overly drying. I’m not a fan of cake flavored lips even though I’m not entirely against it so that was another aspect of this lipstick that just didn’t sell me. The shade Queen B is borderline unwearable for me though. It is too mauve of a pink where I usually tend to lean more towards brown and gray shades. I guess there just wasn’t anything different enough about this lipstick to make me want to run out and try to find a shade that works for me.

Sol de Janerio Brazilian Bum Bum Cream

 

This was the one item I was completely stoked about in June. I already had a sample of this, a freebie I grabbed from Ipsy about a year back and I used the shit out of this on my baby bump.* This time they sent it in a little tub instead of a tube, but the volume is still about the same. The smell is decadent and it is so wonderfully moisturizing. If every lotion forever could be either this or that fresh minty crisp scent of Clarins I would just be so pleased.

*I should note, I escaped pregnancy with only 2 stretch marks, but that is with a combination of moisturizers and I strongly believe it was only because I moisturized at all, not because of any particular moisturizer or ingredients it contained.

Living Proof No Frizz Nourishing Styling Cream 

 

I can’t lie; I haven’t given this a chance yet. I’ve been failing trying to organize my bedroom and sample stash and it got buried in a pile of hair care and two June Target Beauty Boxes. Lizzie would be the only person who could use it anyway and the summer humidity has been so rough on her hair that I don’t have much hope for this product.

Marajó Deep Treatment Nourishing Butter and Cleansing Crème 

 

On to some hair products I did get to. Marajó deserves a medal for their Deep Treatment shampoo and conditioner. Holy hell, both of these were thick, thick formulae, especially the conditioner that was the consistency of a thick cream cheese frosting. It even smelled like fresh vanilla cream cheese frosting. The shampoo smelled like fondant, but not cloyingly sweet the way fondant often smells. My shower when I washed my hair with these guys was a bakery that specializes in wedding cakes. The samples were small but the shampoo garnered a great lather and the conditioner felt like it penetrated. Of course, I had to work on a smaller area of hair to get any noteworthy results.

Too Faced and (unblended) CoverFX

 

Too Faced and (blended) CoverFX

The Breakdown: Was I disappointed with this box? Absolutely, but that’s because the shades just didn’t work with me. The powder sample was too small to effectively use and it left me looking like a vampire and the lipstick is too similar in shade to others that I’ve previously purged. Were there some great things? Sure. I loved the Brazilian Bum Bum cream and the bonus shampoo/conditioner samples. The Clinique makeup remover is just an added bonus for me as it is something that I regularly use.