June 2019 Sephora Play Review

Play! by Sephora is a $10 monthly subscription that provides members with 5 beauty samples and 1 bonus item. The samples are never full sized and the bonus is usually a perfume but can sometimes be a foil packet. Wow, I’m doing a terrible job of selling this, guys. The only one benefit of the Sephora box over other similar boxes is all items can be found inside Sephora or available online at www.sephora.com. That is, until the chain discontinues something but that’s not too common.

·         Tarte Foundcealer SPF20 in 42N

·         Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Vanilla

·         Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

·         Biossance Squalane + Tea Tree Detox Mask

·         Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb

·         Hum Nutrition Hair Sweet Hair Gummies

Tarte Foundcealer SPF20 in 42N

Once again, Sephora tries to match my skin tone and once again, Sephora fails. This time, they failed in the other direction. Tarte’s Foundsealer in 42N is about 2 shades too light for me, which I suppose can be worked with either in a dark room or the deep recesses of winter with some bronzer. The coverage is not my favorite. Like the name suggests, it is supposed to double as a foundation or a concealer. I’m not into high coverage foundations so this was an immediate miss, though I appreciate the opportunity to try it out. It’s too light for me to try to spot conceal with it over my normal foundation shades, but the coverage is definitely there. I will continue to play around with this around the house when I can guarantee nobody will see me out in the wild.

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Vanilla

This was somewhat of a repeat item. I’ve tried (and loved) the original Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Strawberry. With its sweet scent, hydrating power, and generic petroleum jelly flavor that discourages me from eating it off of my lips, I intend to blast through my jar this winter.

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

Yet another product I’ve tried in the past. I should start off with the negatives first, and keep in mind, this is just all personal preference. I have hooded eyes that are difficult to work with and a pretty low-key preference for eye looks. I do not enjoy wearing eyeliner outside of my waterline and I like liquid liners even less.

That said, this is a fine eyeliner. It’s felt tip, which is more difficult for me to use than a brush tip liner (see Kat Von D’s Trooper Eyeliner) but it’s the finest felt tip I’ve ever encountered. It’s also the blackest liquid eyeliner I’ve ever tried, but I’ve never actually tested its waterproof claim. If I had to have a felt tip liner, this would be my choice.

Biossance Squalane + Tea Tree Detox Mask

I really enjoyed this face mask. It’s interesting in that it never dried down fully like a typical clay mask. It did a great job of moisturizing my skin and brightening my complexion a bit. It didn’t have any lasting effects over time but the immediate brightening was lovely.

Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb

I’ve tried this moisturizer before and I really like it. The gel formula is moisturizing but not greasy so it’s great for daytime use, especially in the summer.

Hum Nutrition Hair Sweet Hair Gummies

This is generally a wasted sample in a subscription box because one dose isn’t enough to get an idea of how well a vitamin works. The flavor was rich; these were a pleasant gummy flavor. The texture was odd though. They were hearty and I even noticed a little extra texture to them. Now, this is a terrible analogy, but imagine eating rice pudding and noticing a heartier texture to it. IT was something like that, or perhaps a real fruit leather, where it’s heartier than an over-processed Fruit Roll-Up or Gushers snack. I can’t ever see myself paying what this product is asking. I might instead go for Nature Made Pre-Natal vitamins or something to that effect, If I’m looking for a hair/skin/nail multivitamin.

L to R in indirect natural light: Stila Eyeliner, Tarte Foundcealer in 42N

I’m no longer finding joy in subscription boxes like I once did, as evidenced by my posting once every 3 or 4 months now. Maybe it’s the stress of the move and fixing up a house, maybe it’s just an overabundance of items and I’ve found what actually works for me. Unfortunately, FOMO (cook kids’ translation: fear of missing out) is preventing me from quitting anytime soon. I’m slowly trying to whittle things down but damn this compulsive buying!

December 2018 Birchbox Review

Birchbox is a $10 monthly subscription that offers 5 (sometimes more) skincare, hair care and beauty samples in a cute little box that will contribute to further clutter and hoarding in your home. Birchbox likes to focus on mid-range and prestige brands so their samples are often on the smaller side. If an increased fire hazard sounds like a great idea to you, here’s a referral link. December’s box was one of the better boxes I’ve had in a while:

November 2018 Play! by Sephora

Play! by Sephora is a $10 monthly subscription that delivers sample sized skincare, hair care and makeup right to your doorstep. The best part about Sephora’s subscription box is that all items can be found either in store or online. Sephora also sends out 50 bonus Beauty Insider points to be redeemed with purchase either in store or online with each box. These points typically expire by the end of the following month.

November’s box contained:

June 2017 Birchbox Review

Hey guys, so I'm finally getting around to reviewing the final box of the month. 'Bout damn time, non? For those of you who don't know, Birchbox is a subscription box that sends out 5 deluxe or sample sized items a month for $10 and no shipping cost. Items sent out are based on a profile you create upon subscribing so my box is just one of the variations sent out to people in the month of June. This month's bag was surprisingly makeup heavy and had 7 samples instead of the standard 5. It included:

• Oribe Gold Lust Repair & Restore Shampoo - $1.38 CF
• Oribe Gold Lust Repair & Restore Conditioner -  $1.83 CF
• Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex - $15.60
• The Beauty Crop Blush Duo in Papaya Don't Preach - $10 Full Sized, CF
• Kensie Eau de Parfum - $1.08
• Mellow Cosmetics Liquid Lip Paint in New York - $7.00 CF, V
• Manna Kadar Cosmetics Eye Candy Priming Shadow Stick in Jelly Bean - $14.40 CF

The box itself was pretty cute, giving off a more vibrant mid-century vibe. So far I can only attest to four of the boxes being cute, December 2016, March 2017, April 2017 and tentatively June 2017.

Unfortunately I was unable to use the Oribe Gold Lust shampoo and conditioner. I just recently got my starter locs done out on my trip back home so washes have been less frequent and aggressive. It's a shame too because Oribe usually smells fantastic and I was excited to get a chance to try something from them that isn't a dry shampoo or texturizing spray. Unfortunately my decision to get locs was more of an afterthought: I had talked about my desire to do it back home for years (it's easier to find someone to do a two strand twist method vs the palm roll method) but I hadn't actually gone through the steps to set up an appointment until very last minute.

I feel like I just lost everybody's attention with that last monologue.

I haven't had too much time with this product yet but I'm enjoying the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum. It absorbs well and doesn't feel tacky or oily. I loved that I had Estée Lauder included in my box. Not only is it a high end brand that I've been wanting to try out but it's a product I'd actually use. Tiny as it is, it's still a pretty valuable sample. And to be perfectly honest, this is a larger sized sample than one would usually expect from Birchbox. I recently purchased a serum so this little guy is going to hang out as a backup when I run out of the serum I actually purchased.

The Beauty Crop made yet another appearance in one of my Birchboxes, this time in the form of a blush. I was wondering if Birchbox ever sends full sized samples anymore (they used to drop the occasional brush or nail polish in a box but that was before my time) all while failing to realize my blush that I received is full  sized. The richer cream shade provides so much pigment that it's almost too difficult for me to work with. Just the slightest tap of your finger will give you blush for days to work with. It also blends fairly easily. The peach powder shade was far less impressive. It has a satin finish to it but it's so difficult to pick up any pigment with this shade. Any swatches just look muted, and unfortunately the peach shade does not show up at all on my cheeks. I had to be pretty aggressive to get the peach shade to even show up in the swatch below. If I combine both of these on my face the guava (coral?) shade gives a punch of color while the satin peach shade gives the most subtle glow. I'm sure it would look amazing on a fair skinned person but unfortunately I am too warm and dark for this compact to be overly noticeable.

The Eau de Parfum sample I got from Kensie is beautiful. From the scent to the packaging, everything about this sample was just perfect. My profile states that I want to receive a bonus perfume sample no more than 6 times a year and oh my god, am I glad that this was one of those times. Would I spend the $55 for a full bottle of it? Probably not since I so rarely wear perfumes anyway. Kensie describes their fragrance as having top notes of peach, mandarin and green, middle notes of cyclamen, rose, jasmine, orange flower, oakmoss and violet, and bottom notes of musk, amber, cedarwood, sandalwood, tonka and vanilla. My nose doesn't work that way so let's say it smells slightly heady and musky while smelling very fresh and clean. It's not too perfumey or floral smelling to me with an almost crisp scent of fruit but it's not quite there, if you catch my meaning (you don't). I'll just stick with the manufacturer's description.

The Mellow Cosmetics Liquid Lip Paint was a nice addition to the box. It is a creamy matte formula that has great staying power but it does transfer quite a bit. It's hard to apply and not be messy about it though. It's a very pretty deep berry shade, even though it's a shade I cannot see myself ever reaching for. It seems more like an autumn color than a summer color too. The value was estimated because once again, it would appear that Birchbox has listed the incorrect volume on their site. It usually happens for at least one of my items every month.

Ah, the great disappointment of this month's box: Manna Kadar Priming Shadow Stick. I received mine broken. Reading reviews for this product, it looks like 99.9% of subscribers received a broken shadow stick. I complained to Birchbox about my shadow stick but at that point they had run out of stock to replace mine so I ended up with 50 Birchbox points, which translates to $5.00 credit in their store. This is perfect, especially considering that I for the most part am not planning on buying anything through Birchbox within the next 6 months before my points expire.

Complaints aside, this shadow stick is incredibly creamy and has a nice silvery-taupe shade that probably will not work on my skin tone without looking too 90's frosty. However, if I ever want to work on a throwback Spice Girls look I can use this and a dark brown lipstick, lose like 50-75 lbs and let my ass hang out in some platform shoes. It's settled, I think I may have just figured out my Halloween costume.

My total box value this month was $51.29. That looks completely wrong and I'm now forced to admit that math is not my forté. It cannot be right simply by virtue of my Birchboxes never having a very high value. This value would be almost entirely due to the Estée Lauder serum, Beauty Crop blush and perhaps the Manna Kadar shadow stick though i almost don't want to include that in the total because it arrived annihilated. The dark horse superhero of this box was the Kensie perfume, hands down. It has a very soothing, beautiful (musky?) scent that is just masculine enough to draw me in without giving the impression that I should be wearing my flannel and Doc Martens. Side note: I really miss my flannel shirt and Doc Martens my husband threw in the Goodwill pile when we were purging my closet just before The Big Move out to Chicago. Those were late teens/early 20's staples of my life.

Swatched left to right: The Beauty Crop blush (powder on the left, cream on the right), Mellow Cosmetics liquid lipstick in New York, and a Nyx Gotcha Covered Concealer in medium from my Target Beauty Box that somehow sneaked its way onto this post.

April 2017 Ipsy Review

It has taken me a while to write up a rundown of my April Ipsy bag (we’re rapidly creeping toward mid-May here) but here you go. I’m tired of coming up with the excuse of “I couldn’t find the time” but it remains the truest excuse I can provide. At least this month was a winner?

April 2017 Birchbox Review

Birchbox is one of the first boxes I receive in a month and yet it's somehow one of the last posts to go up. Sorry guys. So, remember how much I bitched about Birchbox in the very beginning? I think I'm going to retract most of that vitriol I felt toward the company. I loved this month's box, possibly more than Ipsy (but the bag itself is pretty hard to beat this month). Like Ipsy, Birchbox is a $10 a month subscription that provides you with samples ranging from makeup, skincare, hair care and lifestyle items. My boxes tend to lean heavily toward skincare and hair care and this month was no exception (referral code here). It's also 11:00 PM, my brother flew into town for like 2 days with no downtime scheduled, I've been up since 4:15AM and I have work tomorrow at 6:00AM so this will be a quick-and-to-the-pointless today.

Products that I received were:

April 2017 Target Beauty Box

Every month Target releases a beauty box full of samples and sometimes full sized beauty products that can be purchased at Target either online or in store. Boxes can range from $5 to $10 and often sell out within a couple of days of release. It's a pretty smart business model that capitalizes on the current subscription box scam craze but I'm still a complete sucker for a practical box with affordable, easily procured items. Target released two boxes this month, the traditional Beauty Box and the Naturals box (both $7 each) and I was just greedy enough to buy both. I’m making two separate posts because otherwise this thing would stretch from here to China and I’m sure as shit not going to take the time to re-read this later on (I’m blogging as a detailed makeup journal to keep track of what worked and what didn’t), nor should I expect anybody else to. This post is about the traditional Beauty Box which is somehow, miraculously still available-sorry for the ultra delayed post.

Shhh... They're sleeping.

• La Roche-Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cleanser - $0.55 (Maybe CF?)
• HASK Argan Oil Repairing Deep Conditioner - $1.77, (Maybe CF?)
• Banana Boat Dry Balance SPF 30 - $1.33
• eb5 Facial Cleanser - $0.44, CF
• Dr. Teals Lavender Foaming Bath - $0.43
• Sally Hansen Double-Duty Base & Top Coat - $4.00
• Rimmel London Colour Precise White Eyeliner - $5.99, CF   

April 2017 Target Beauty Box: The Natural Box

Every month Target releases a beauty box full of samples and sometimes full sized beauty products that can be purchased at Target either online or in store. Boxes can range from $5 to $10 and often sell out within a couple of days of release. It's a pretty smart business model that capitalizes on the current subscription box scam craze but I'm still a complete sucker for a practical box with affordable, easily procured items. Target released two boxes this month, the traditional beauty box and the Naturals box (both $7 each) and I was just greedy enough to buy both. I’m making two separate posts because otherwise this thing would stretch from here to China and I’m sure as shit not going to take the time to re-read this later on (I’m blogging as a detailed makeup journal to keep track of what worked and what didn’t), nor should I expect anybody else to. This post is about the Naturals Beauty Box which is now sold out-sorry for the ultra delayed post. I also apologize for the shitty lighting. Our main source of natural light has a giant dying Ash tree just outside of it).

Thank you, Giant Ash Tree for ruining an already bad shot.

I was most excited about this box  because it had more items I knew I would get use out of. The box included

• Juice Organics Volumizing Shampoo - $0.90, CF, V
• Juice Organics Volumizing Conditioner - $1.20, CF, V
• Burt’s Bees White Tea Extract Facial Cleansing Towelettes - $3.00, CF
• Hello Extra Whitening Pure Mint Fluoride Toothpaste - $0.90, CF, V
• Yes to Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Mud Mask - $2.99, CF
• Raw Sugar Lemon Sugar Body Wash - $0.56, CF
• ACURE Pore Clarifying Red Clay Scrub - $3.25, CF, V
• Shea Moisture Kukui Nut Facial Cream Cleanser - $0.42, CF
• Shea Moisture Kukui Nut Face & Neck Cream - $1.25, CF

March Birchbox Review

Way late on this one. I couldn’t even manage to get a Birchbox review out in the month that I received the effing box but there have been childcare issues, a mother-in-law hospital visit and a wedding thrown in there sometime last month not to mention me falling dead in an autoclave because of working so many stupid hours as of late. Excuses aside, at least this gave me 19 days to play with my shiny new toys, no?

Birchbox is a monthly subscription that delivers five samples (sometimes deluxe sized) items to your apartment buzzer for $10 a month. This is a great subscription box if you are conscious of brand names, sample size doesn’t really bother you and you’re very into skincare or haircare items. In my experience, Birchbox isn’t very makeup heavy (unlike Ipsy), however that could just be due to my preferences there. Birchbox also gives you the option to pick one of three sample options (the other four items will be selected for you through the service), opt to not select your sample and have five items chosen for you based on your profile, or a curated box which has all items revealed, usually selected by the editorial staff (though this month the Curated Box was curated by Reese Witherspoon and her Draper James lifestyle line). If you’re interested, insert referral link here.

This month surprised me. It felt like the Birchbox FINALLY took some of my preferences into account when choosing items for me and I was actually pretty excited to feel acknowledged. I also ended up with two cosmetics items, pretty uncommon so far as I’ve seen in my last four boxes. My samples in March included:

March 2017 Ipsy First Imperssions

Both of my subs came in the same day this month (best day ever?) Let's start with the easy one. Ipsy is always pretty easy, low maintenance, a cheap date. Works for me though.

Ipsy is a subscription box that sends a (sometimes cute) bag and five beauty products a month. Ipsy usually ranges the gamut from sample, deluxe to full sized. I don't recall ever receiving any single use foil packets in my (holy shit!) 12 bags from them and the value is usually at least double the bag (referral link here)

Full shot of bag

Folded over

This month I received:

• Eyeko London Fat Eye Stick in Satin - $12 CF,V
• Tarte Tarteist Lip Paint in Vibin' - $3.33, CF
• Elizabeth Mott Blending Brush - $15, CF,V
• Curl Keeper Leave-In Conditioner - $2.24, CF
• Cake Desserted Island Supreme Body Mousse - $2.75 CF,V

Per usual, CF=Cruelty Free, V=Vegan.

March 2017 Target Beauty Box Review

My March Target beauty box (now sold out) came in and boy howdy, is it boring. Funny little back story, I was supposed to get the February box but it was a bit of a comedy of errors. The Target boxes get delivered to my mother in law because her mailbox is larger and she is always home (in case something is delivered that won't fit in the box). Somebody swiped her name plate on her mailbox and she checks her mail very infrequently, nfi why, she's just always been awful about checking her mail. After getting pissed enough at her for a perpetually overstuffed mailbox, the postal worker just stopped service and things were being returned to sender, including the February Target beauty box. By the time we realized what the problem was, the box had. Even sold it and I had to call customer service (which their customer service is awesome!) and get a refund.

This tiny little guy was heavy

White box for Spring?

 

January Ipsy Review

Finally taking the time to write a review for my January Ipsy bag (referral link here if you are still interested after my rattling on for a bit here). I may have won Ipsy: Black Girl Edition this month. It started with what was already the best bag I've received since starting in April and then the month just doubled down on awesomeness with some items I scored from coworkers. Swatches beyond the jump.

January Target Beauty Box Review

I ended up spending $10 and grabbing January's Target Beauty Box about two weeks ago (currently discounted at $7) and I'm finally getting around to hitting all of the products inside. First off: this thing is loaded and heavy as shit. It didn't waste my time trying to be cute, which I appreciated. The only effort it put into aesthetics was blue tissue paper, which may have allowed for it to be pretty loaded with products-no money wasted on bullshit and very effectively trying to serve as a billboard for products that are housed in store. Very quick and to the pointless, if you will.

I didn't lie, pretty basic, non?

January Birchbox First Impressions

I'm trying this new thing where I do things in the month that they're due. I've gone 32 years without doing this once. Ever. Fortunately, Birchbox samples are so tiny that they're pretty easy to blast through and I don't have to worry about getting too thorough of a feel for them because they're gone before I can ever really get to that point, where I'm still working on a lip balm I got from a subscription box back in August. And just in case that was a strong enough selling point (it wasn't, it really wasn't) here's a referral link to get you started.

Birchbox x Self January 2017

December Birchbox First Impressions

Elephant in the room: this post is pretty late. My box came in on December 31st, so technically still December, right?

So right off the rip, Birchbox samples are WAY smaller than Ipsy. That and I keep getting haircare products, which wouldn't be terrible if I actually had hair. More importantly, if I had overly processed, chemically treated, or non-natural hair that requires specific products and laughs in the face of things such as dry shampoos.

I'm also sitting here trying to learn how to live with not having posted volumes and weights, causing me to do actual work finding comparable sizes online to give an estimate of a price point.

Enough of the whining. Hey! I got my first Birchbox, guys!

December Ipsy First Impressions

Another month, another "meh" bag. I think I've fallen into a rut of having a subscription for far too long. Bright side, I just got a year's subscription for Birchbox as well so there will be something new to complain about! I no longer know what I would get excited about, product wise. Just discovering new brands at this point, but I have so many duplicates that it feels like a waste when I don't get to something I love a bit less. That and I can't justify giving things away once I've tried them and I feel obligated to try everything at least once. I sound extremely entitled and critical though so let's tuck it in and be objective about this. Scroll down for some incredibly shitty photos due to a combination of not knowing how to utilize technology, inability to operate a phone camera, zero sunlight for days now and poor apartment lighting. 

 

And a closeup of the bag

Angry muppet!

September/October Subscription Product Reviews

It's too late for preamble. Here are some analyses:

September Haul
 

September Ipsy bag

ToGoSpa Undereye Collagen Gel Masks in Green Tea Eyes-I think I like them. Mild tingle, cool texture but without that cooling minty feeling if you hand sensitive skin. I would typically pass on a product like this but it saved my life when I was sick two months ago, if you'll excuse the hyperbole. I had a massive head cold and a pretty hefty headache, all while I was roasting to death from a combination of fever, chills and summertime Chicago humidity so these things were great for cooling my head. They tend to slide though so I find they work best when I'm lying down. I'm half tempted to buy theses and just leave them in the medicine cabinet but I wouldn't have the will power to save them exclusively for that use. They were absolutely useless for reducing redness and bags and dark circles under eyes but then, I never believed this company's claims because, you know, science. 

Glow For A Cause Body Butter in Inspire-I know I said this wasn't my favorite scent because it smells very perfumes and very adult but this stuff is going quickly. I suppose fruit smells are "cheap" smelling but I'll admit I have absolutely zero class and I prefer those to this highly perfumery (with a hint of citrus crispness). 

Update: it's gone. One of the fastest I've blasted through a sample. Blame the cold. It's so expensive though and no better or worse than any hydrating cream or body butter. 

Eyeko Eye Do Liquid Eyeliner-I love how incredibly black this is, but it doesn't glide on as easily as others and it creates a thick line, but I have small, hooded eyes (I think?) and my line goes on a little too thick for my taste. I fail at liquid eyeliners and the learning curve is steep with this one. I must note however that even though this eyeliner brags of being smear proof and waterproof, it is absolutely neither of these two things. A slight rub of my eyes after it dries or a warm day and my eyes have slid straight to my chin. That much said, I still love how black it is. I just wish I did not have the hand dexterity of a two year old with advances Parkinson's. Part of the problem is that it's felt tip and therefore not overly flexible. It's too expensive for me to repurchase for face scribbles and will be designated as a backup at this point. Judge's score: 6.2 out of 10. The dive started out great with the color but somehow resulted in a belly flop, open mouthed with execution. 

Onomie Powerful Priming Serum-I enjoyed the hell out of this serum. It's slightly (ever so slightly) radiant with micro shimmer and very hydrating. It's miles ahead of Too Faced's Hangover primer. I've used it as a serium, which by the way absolutely works, but looking at the cost per unit, I preferred using this as a primer. Even though this performed better as a serum than a primer, I learned that I cannot hold a grudge against all lotion primers. I would never drop $50 for a bottle though, tyvm. 

 Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme-this product grew on me. It did have a mild plumping effect but it does one hell of a job irritating my lips to get to that point. I also find that for maximum effect this needs to be worn alone, and that won't fly going into the winter months. I like it, but I don't think I dislike my natural lips enough (they are pretty full to begin with) to buy this in the future. That and especially with the upcoming months, protective lip balms will interfere with this gloss's efficacy. 

October Haul
 

October Ipsy bag

Trust Fund Beauty Gimme Good Face primer-the makeup gods have heard my prayers. It's a silicone based primer that my face so needs. I love how filling this is. And it came at the perfect time since I finally ran out of my Elf primer which was embarrassingly old. I have to repurchase the Elf primer for two reasons: 1) to see if they've ever updated it the formula and 2) because the Trust Fund Beauty primer is available for pre-order on the company website at $25 for 10mL and there's probably a pretty long waitlist. Incidentally, that's how large my sample was.

Lottie London Perfectly Precise brush-I'm loving this cute little guy. It's smaller than anything I've used in the past so it's crazy precise. That and it's just so damned cute and soft. Bunnies should be made of this brush's fibers. 

October eyeliner-I should shake Kat von D's hand for this one. The brush is not a felt tip but rather "325 bristles in [a] super tight point" and oh my Jesus, is this thing flexible and crazy easy to handle. It is a complete 180 from the Eyeko liner I struggle to use. I could probably still apply eyeliner properly after 5 cups of coffee spiced with more coffee. The only complaint I have is that it isn't the blackest black that I've seen. The product says it is waterproof though and it does resist water well enough. I would buy the shit out of this. 9 out of 10. Points lost for being glossy and not the blackest black, but I would love to try other things in her line.

Pūr~Lisse Daily Lip Nourisher-I can't say no to a lip balm. This lip balm is very hydrating and what I would look for- it isn't sticky or waxy feeling, tastes a little sweet and I love the applicator. I cannot tell you what it smells like but it has a very nice, almost fruity scent.

Cosmoholic Liquid Lipstick in Mysterious Mocha-I'm still enjoying this guy. It's more of a taupe/mauve shade on me than brown) and shiny a f. It is pretty sticky sp I've been patting translucent powder on top to get a matte look. It also solves my problem of never being able to find nude lip colors for my skin tone.

Please excuse the shit/repeat pictures. It's all i have to work with right now.

November Ipsy First Impressions

Not only am I exceedingly overdue for this post, but I only have one shitty photo of my own because a combination of holidays and traveling, life and work have teamed together to kick my ass. I have a couple of equally uninformative posts in the queue also, so let’s jump into this so I can procrastinate on something else. If stock photos and shitty swatches are your thing, feel free to use my my referral code.

ELF: Same sh*t, new packaging

I don't think I've ever fallen out of love with a brand as hard as I have with ELF. Yet another sleepless night where I find myself perusing their new items and online swatches and I just can't care anymore. They've released their Beautifully Bare and Aqua Beauty lines that have been out for over a year now, and now there's the new Beautifully Precise line that is comprised of tools. I've whined some time back about my theory that they are rebranding to increase prices and phase out their Essentials line, or at the very least whittle it down to the bare bones, thus eliminating the one thing that appealed to me as a company: the super affordability. I used to have no problem spending $1-3 on something that might be incredible or could be total shit. I mean, I would be disappointed if a formula or shade was awful on me but at that cost it wouldn't kill me to pass it on to someone who could actually use it. If their products are (now) no cheaper than your basic drugstore line and my experience with their products is so splotchily hit or miss in the past, I have zero desire to branch out and drop money to try their new products. I can be perfectly content with their items I've fallen in love with in the past. At least the packaging is sleek and pretty?

Subscription Box Review Part 2

I'm back for round two of subscription box reviews. I will try to make a concerted effort to post more or at least be more timely about reviews. No excuses, as I look at the clock, see that it is 12:30, and know that I have to be at work at 6:00 AM on a weekend. But enough bemoaning my insomnia, let's dive right into the analysis.