Free L'Oreal Hydra Genius Sample + Quickie Review

L'Oreal is giving away free samples of their Hydra Genius face Serum. You can pick up your sample here. It's not an affiliate link and redirects you to the L'Oreal site where you can register for a free card sample. Or you could just skip the Sampables step and go directly to the L'Oreal website. It takes about 2-3 weeks to ship and again, it's a card sample so it's single use.

Verdict: I absolutely loved it. It feels slimy but is so lightweight and absorbs so well. The card sample is large enough for two samples but I overapplied and slathered it on for one use at night and when I woke up my face was extremely moisturizer but not coated feeling in the slightest, a common complaint I have with heavy moisturizers. I haven't seen a noticeable difference between this and the Revitalift line other than packaging but I'm sold. I already purchased the Revitalift revitalizing serum online so I'm just awaiting delivery. That purchase was based on a card sample I received in the January Target Beauty Box.

tl;dr: Grab a sample. It's free. It's worth it. I loved it.

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.

Sephora Mini Haul

I've been on the hunt for a good primer for a while now. My first experience with a moisturizing, non-silicone based primer was the Too Faced Hangover Primer. That experience was so bad that I started questioning my need for a primer in the first place. In my hunt for a new primer I recently hauled two Smashbox Try-It-Kits from Sephora and I've spending the past week or few playing with the things I snagged. Being in desperate need for an eyeshadow primer and wanting to find a new foundation primer I grabbed the Smashbox Try it Kit-Primer Authority and grabbed the Try-It-Kit: Bestsellers while I was at it (for a couple of backups and things I might use).

In my past experience, most primers don't really do too much for makeup longevity, only pore filling. I am a staunch advocate for silicone based primers for myself since I have cavernous pores that each support small villages of miners, but even then there is a specific, almost lubricating quality (if you work with graphite you will know what I mean) that I look for. I like clear, thick yet spreadable pore filling face spackle that mattifies and is almost entirely unlike lotion or any type of moisturizer. A common top ingredient I've found in these primers is Cyclopentasiloxane, a huge no-no if you are trying to avoid silicones in your beauty routine, but then I'm not. In this case  Cyclopentasiloxane serves the purpose of filling in large pores beautifully and fortunately Smashbox did not disappoint with their quality and ingredients list.

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?

 

Cheap review: Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion

I received a Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion sample in the mail some time ago and finally gave it a spin. It was only a 9ml sample which wasn't actually large enough to really use where I most need it: my legs (serious chicken skin, if anybody has any remedies for that because so far nothing really works to smooth it).

The sample was pretty nice feeling and smelled pretty strongly of cocoa butter but other than that, it just rinsed off immediately and clung better to the bottom of the tub than to my legs. I highly suggest you don't do this if you're not very sure footed. I would love to try this again with a larger volume but It did the job of piquing my interest though because now I feel compelled to buy a full bottle to give it a real try.

Overall opinion: Not bad. It moisturized better than I thought something used in a stream of water would. It did not wash off immediately (that's good) but my legs weren't the best choice to try this considering the texture and just how much surface area they take up. It's also crazy affordable so that's a win.

Sorry, it's a bit of a wasted review but I got tired of seeing the garbage hanging out in my closet.