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.

June 2018 Birchbox Review

Birchbox is a monthly subscription that delivers 5 beauty samples to members for $10 a month. Samples are curated for members based on profile answers, beauty preferences, comfort and adventure level and skin tone and hair type. My samples almost never match my needs or profile. And yet I cannot unsubscribe for fear of missing out.

My June box had:

June 2018 Ipsy Review

Ipsy is a $10 a month subscription that provides members with 5 skincare, hair care or makeup samples (with the occasional fragrance). Samples range from sample sized to full sized and from drugstore quality to high end. Ipsy really is a mixed bag but the best subscription choice if you 1) like Las Vegas (or gambling in general) or 2) are trying to build up a starter makeup collection at low cost or expand your horizons a bit with minimal risk.

 

Macro shot of June's bag

Melted spots on the bag

I appreciate the pride month theme of June’s bag but holy shit, this was probably one of the least aesthetically pleasing bags I’ve ever received. Regardless of the color I received, all of the available colors for June (red, yellow and blue) just looked oddly garish. I also felt like this bag was cheaply made: I have a few spots that seem to be missing some pigment and other spots seem worn thin, almost melted . At least the contents fared better than the bag itself. 

May 2018 Sephora Play Review

"I love deadlines. I like the wooshing sound they make as they fly by."

-Douglas Adams

It's July so I suppose it's time I delivered a Sephora Play review that should have been dropped off back in May, probably best with minimal excuse and preamble. The rundown: Sephora Play is a $10 a month subscription that sends 5 beauty, skincare or hair care items and a bonus fragrance (sometimes they send a foil packet instead though). There is a waitlist though so if you do want to subscribe you might be shelved for a month or two so prepare for that potential roadblock.

 

Back to May though. It was a good box, guys!

May 2018 Birchbox Review

This post is going to be shorter and a bit skimpier than usual because my sleep cycles have been shorter than usual. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. For those of you not in the know, Birchbox is a $10 monthly subscription that provides patrons with 5 samples of skincare, hair care, fragrance or the occasional (see: rare) lifestyle item. Since I’m obscenely behind we’re looking at May this month. May’s box contained:

May 2018 Ipsy Review

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Ipsy is a $10 a month subscription that sends members a makeup bag with 5 beauty, skincare or hair care items. Items vary in size from sample to full sized and range from drugstore to indie to high end labels. I've used Ipsy to build up a decent variety of makeup and tools for dirt cheep and I advise anybody trying to build up a starter hoard of makeup on a budget to go about it this way.


May's theme is Go There and features a bag covered on one side with travel stamps. The bag is pretty sturdy vinyl and easy to clean. The bag side is a solid coral color and the inside is satin lined in bright orange. The products were very skincare heavy this month (yay!)

April 2018 Play! by Sephora Review

 

Play! by Sephora is a monthly subscription that provides members with 5 samples plus a fragrance bonus (sometimes it's a single use foil packet of some sort) of hair care, skincare, and makeup for $10 a month plus tax. The samples tend to be on the smaller size but the caveat is that sampled products can easily be found in store or online at sephora.com and usually they are higher end brands with the occasional Sephora Collection thrown in, which is still pretty good quality. Each box also includes tips and tricks, product information and 50 beauty insider points that can be redeemed in store with purchase. I have yet to redeem any in store because the local Sephora has a cast member whose makeup is godawful and she manages to have time to help me every time I go in.

Sephora won my heart this month with the plethora of skincare and even some of the makeup. This month's theme was Insta-beauty which I could not relate to. (I'm too self conscious to post many non-personal photos on Instagram, which I'm strongly considering making my current account entirely private and starting one for the blog if I see an increase in traffic, otherwise there's really no point. I really don't want to come off as vain as I actually am, let people dig a little to find that out about me.) The one cool thing about the theme: the box info poster included a flat lay so I got a bit lazy with the photos this month! 

Thanks for making my job easier, Sephora!