June Favorites!

I can't believe June is over already, wow. I don't have a ton of favorites for the month to share, as I've still been trying to clean out my sample stash. But here are a few things I keep coming back to!

I'm about as pale as I can be, so a good sunblock is a must. I got this one in the summer Target beauty bag, and I fell in love with it. I hate the way most sunblocks feel on my face - they're either too chalky, or too oily, and they make my face feel disgusting. This one is nice - it really is weightless and dry to the touch. I've been using it every day under my makeup (and/or on its own). As soon as this runs out, I'll be buying the full size.

Similarly, I've been using this lip screen by Lavanila every day. I hate sunburned, chapped lips. This is really nice for a lip screen. It's light and smooth, and has a vanilla minty scent and flavor. I like it both on its own and under or over other lip products. The texture and flavor are much nicer than most I've tried, and I love that it is all natural ingredients, as I try to avoid chemicals and petroleum on my lips.

I get bored easily, and I have to change up my scent often. Right now, I'm really loving Vanilla Grapefruit. It's got a citrus zing, but the soft warmness of the vanilla. It's nice and clean and not too strong, and just sweet enough. I love the rollerball, and I keep it in my purse. As with the lip screen, I love that this is all natural and chemical free.

I got this sample from Jouer and I love the shade so much I've ordered the full size. It's called "tender" and it's the perfect peachy shade for me. I love Jouer glosses, they actually last a decently long time for glosses and I like the way they feel on my lips. Love these minis for my purse, too.

I love Zoya polishes - I find them to have the smoothest application and best finish. This shade is my current favorite! It's Kristen, and it's actually from the Feel collection from this last winter. I personally think it's equally pretty for summer, though. While it looks more grey in the bottle, it looks more blue on the nails. It's gorgeous!

And finally, the Cargo color palette in Toronto. I am really into silvery greys and blues right now, and Cargo shadows are my current favorite. The texture and pigmentation is great and the packaging is freakin' adorable. 

So, that's what I'm loving for June. Have you tried any of these products? What are you really into right now?

Sally Hansen Salon Effects

So, I'll just be honest with you - I'm super lazy when it comes to my nails. I work a job that requires me to use my hands a lot, so manicures and polish in general never last long for me. As such, I just never bother to attempt nail art, no matter how much I love the looks.

I had seen the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail strips in the stores before, but I assumed they were just stickers, and I didn't pay them much mind.

Then, I received a box in my Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox, and upon further inspection, I was excited to discover that they are not stickers after all, but strips of real nail polish. I got Kitty Kitty, which is a cute golden leopard print.

I finally tried them, and they're nice. They're easy to apply - you just peel them off, stick them on, and trim/file them to size. They are smooth and shiny, and I have found that they last me longer than traditional nail polish. I like to use them alternating with solid colors, or as accent nails!

There are two things I don't like about them. First, each box comes with 16 strips, which is just an odd number. I realize they probably include a few extra strips in case of screw ups, but I'd just prefer either 10 or 20, because with the odd number, I always end up with one extra, even after using some as accent nails.

The other issue is the price. They cost $9.99, which is a bit more than I'd generally spend on a couple of uses of a product for my nails. I prefer to wait until they're on sale or I have a coupon.

In all though, these are a really cool product and they're worth checking out!

Below is the Kitty Kitty print shown with some very sloppily applied Color Club polish in Disco Nap.

*Disclaimer: I received a product free of charge from Influenster. I was not compensated and all opinions are my own.

theBalm Hot Mama Blush - Review (and rave)

Up until a few months ago, I had never even heard of theBalm. I blame it on living in a small town with no decent makeup stores, or maybe I was just living under a rock. I started to see the name pop up, and the products I saw had me intrigued - I loved their cute, sassy names and packaging. Finally, in the last couple of months, between winning a giveaway and finding a good sale, I've gotten my hands on several products by theBalm, and I'm happy to say they are among my current favorite brands!

Of the products I've tried, this review is of my favorite - Hot Mama blush. theBalm classifies this as an all-in-one, able to be used on the cheeks, eyes, as a highlighter, and to finish the lips, though you could really say that about most any blush, especially ones with a bit of shimmer.

Hot Mama has ridiculously cute packaging featuring a pin-up girl in front of a sunset. It is a magnetic cardboard compact that feels nice and sturdy. It comes in an identical cardboard sleeve. The mirror is great, and it contains a lot of product.

The product itself is beautiful! It's a gorgeous peachy pink with golden shimmer. The shimmer is nice and subtle and glowy, it does not make you look like you lost a fight with a disco ball. The color seems as though it would be suitable for most any skin tone. I've seen it compared to Nars Orgasm, which I haven't tried myself. The general consensus is that it is similar in color to Orgasm, but has more subtle shimmer.

The formula is wonderful - very fine, nice and soft. It goes on nice and sheer, but is easily buildable if you want more intense color! It takes only a quick tap of the brush to get enough color, so be careful not to overdo it!

I planned to do some swatches on my arm, but it just didn't show off how pretty the color is, so I decided to put it on my face. (Very sloppily, mind you, but that's not the point here, the awesome color is!)

 It's easy to get just a soft hint of color...I have been wearing it like this every day.

It is also easily build able to a more intense flush of color. It's also easy to overdo, due to the super silky formula, but it's easy enough to tone down with some powder!

Hot Mama has become my favorite everyday blush. I wear just a hint of it and love the subtle glow it gives me! It costs $19 for enough blush to last forever. 

What are your favorite products by theBalm?

Kara's Way - May (first!) Box

A couple of months ago, I learned of a new beauty subscription service that was preparing to launch. I'm sure you all know by now that I am a sucker for these services, so I decided to look into this one. It sounded great, so I jumped to try it out.

Kara's Way is an eco-friendly, natural subscription service! Their monthly boxes cost $15 , and consist of 5-10 handpicked organic, vegan, or natural beauty and body care samples. They include a combination of makeup, skincare, body care, and fragrance.

I read an interview with the founder, and she said that she has very sensitive skin and eczema, so that gives me hope that she will be truly picky about the products she shares. I'm trying to reduce the chemicals I use on my skin and body as much as possible, and services like this can prove priceless when it comes to discovering new things. The founder stated that she wanted to focus heavily on up-and-coming indie brands, which is awesome and right up my alley.

One cool thing about this service is that they will not post your box's contents until the next month. This is pretty awesome for people like me, who love to be surprised, yet can't help but peek at the spoilers. Maybe I'll actually get a chance to be completely surprised by my boxes with this one! The other cool thing is that literally 10 minutes after it was delivered, I had an email talking about the contents...it seems like they might have it set to send it when your tracking is updated to delivered. Awesome.

As this is the first box, I don't yet know if everyone is going to get the same box each month, or if there will be random selection or customization. I do know that I received a nice variety of products at a good value.

I love the eco-friendly packaging. Instead of an inner box, the shipping box is lined with tissue paper (big sheets, great for reusing) and the goodies are wrapped in tissue paper as well.

Love the cute little tag and the ribbon! The tag is seeded with wildflowers, which is an adorable touch. I'm so going to plant it tomorrow!

I'm glad this eco-friendly company walks the walk when it comes to packaging

Opened up, I found a cute little pile of goodies. A couple of these things were wrapped up like little presents, cute!

The first thing I pulled out was this Cucumber Witch Hazel toner from Thayers. This is a big bottle for a sample! This is an alcohol free toner that contains aloe vera and non-distilled witch hazel extract. It promises high levels of therapeutic tannins. I need a good toner, and I cannot wait to try this! Alcohol based toners can be so drying, so this one sounds great.

A 12 oz. bottle retails for $9.95, so this 2 oz sample is worth about $1.66.

Next, I found a full sized keeki lip shimmer stick! It is made of all organic, food grade ingredients and natural minerals. It contains beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut and sunflower oils, peppermint and vanilla oils, mica, iron & titanium oxides. I tried this and I love the texture, nice and soft and moisturizing, with a slight cooling feeling from the mint but not what you'd really call "minty". So cute. I got the color Sassy, which is a golden honey color. 

I love the oblong shape! It will make this easy to identify when reaching for a balm. The label and branding is just adorable, as well.

This shimmer stick is full sized and it retails for $6.99.

Next is Daily Active Sunscreen by beyond coastal. I am super pale, I burn incredibly easy, and so a good sunscreen is a must. This one sounds awesome - it contains aloe, shea butter, and vitamins C and E to keep the skin healthy. Excited to see how this works out for me!

This 1 oz. bottle retails for $5.99.

In this cute little organza bag, I found 3 samples from Native Touch. This is basically a 3 step skin ritual for feet or body- a DreamCatcher soap, a Blue Corn Sugar scrub, and a Rooting Bear Rub salve/moisturizer. These products look really neat and are made of great ingredients. I'm really excited to try the sugar scrub on my body and the salve on my cuticles and feet!

I opened the scrub up to check it out and it looks amazing - grains of sugar and lots of visible seeds for scrubbing, with a nice citrusy scent.

The samples aren't labeled for size, but the full sized soap is $6 for 4 oz, the scrub is $20 for 16 oz, and the rub is $14 for 2 oz. While I can't estimate the value of the samples, I can say that they are definitely a good addition to the box.

I am familiar with the La Fresh makeup remover wipes, but I have never tried either of these, so I'm excited to. One is an oil free face cleanser wipe, and the other is acetone free nail polish remover. I love products like this to keep in my purse and for travel, so convenient. I love that they are biodegradable and include healthy ingredients. 

The face wipes are $9.99 for 30 and the nail wipes are $9.99 for 18, making the face wipe worth about .33 and the nail wipe worth about .56. 

I was really excited to find this sample of Naturelle D'Argan argan oil! I love argan oil for my hair, and this is a decent sample size, and contains antioxidants. I love that this is good for your skin AND hair, most products I have tried have other ingredients making it too heavy for the face. I'm excited to see what this does for my skin! It promises to fight aging and sagging skin and combat free radicals.

A 1.7 oz bottle retails for $48.99, so this .27 oz sample is worth $7.78!

And finally, a full sized polish from Honeybee Gardens. This seems cool - it is a water based polish! And even cooler - it removes with rubbing alcohol or grain alcohol. I love the pink color and the idea of NOT putting harsh solvents on my nails, so if this works for me I will be a happy camper.  It does have some different tips for usage and application and removal, and upon receiving your box, you receive a link to that information. I am excited to try it! One polish retails for $9.99.

All in all, this is an impressive first box! I love how truly green it all is, and how healthy all of these products are for my body. This is a $15 dollar subscription, and if it keeps up like this I'd say it is definitely worth it! This box has a value of approximately $33, and that doesn't include the three Native Touch products. Definitely a great value.

If this looks good to you, go sign up at https://www.karasway.com/. 

Note: I received a free box for review. I was not otherwise compensated and my opinions are 100% my own.

Birchbox - The May Box (Gossip Girl) Version 2

I finally got my second Birchbox today!  This month, the theme is Gossip Girl, and they are meant to be filled with products inspired by the series and Manhattan's chic events.

Gossip Girl is a guilty pleasure of mine, and while I've fallen behind on this latest season, I was really excited by the idea of these boxes, and I promptly created a second account, so I could try out two boxes. This is the box for my main account.

As I noted in my other Birchbox review this month, these boxes come in one of four themes. I am really happy that my two boxes had different themes, and I had no duplicate products (except the notecards, which are in every box this month, but even they were in different colors.)

This box had the Black Tie Ball theme, a nice difference from my other box, which had the Downtown Book Party theme. This one promises products to help you get a million dollar look.

I love the different colors of tissue paper and cards they used this month, so pretty.

The first thing I noticed and pulled out is the only product in either box this month that I'm not excited about. This is the Miracle Skin Transformer for the Body, in the color Glow. Now, this does seem like a high quality product, but I'm just not a body makeup kind of girl. I spend most of my waking hours in scrubs. Plus, I'm super pale. However, I decided to try this out anyway, and if nothing else, it can serve as a sunscreen for my arms and chest area. It does have a nice consistency and doesn't seem too dark or too shiny. It seems to have decently sheer coverage.

The full sized product is $34 for 3.38 oz, making this .5 oz sample worth $5.03.

The next thing I pulled out was the Cleansing Oil shampoo by Shu Uemura. This is a new brand to me, and I've heard amazing things about it. I'm really excited to try this! It promises to rid your hair of oily residue and leave it full of shine and bounce. Apparently, it has a yuzu scent, which means I'll probably adore it.

The full size is $55 for 400 ml, making this 15 ml sample worth about $2.06.

Inside the little wrapped packet, I found a sample of Miss Dior perfume. I love perfume samples, so I was happy to get this. The scent is a nice one, though it's not really me - it's a bit floral for my taste, I generally prefer sweet fruity scents or gourmands.  However, I will try it out!

The full size is $62 for 1 oz., so this .03 oz. sample is worth $1.86.

Finally, this is what I was most excited to try - Diorshow Extase mascara. This mascara promises to add tons of volume and length as well as fortify your lashes. I love mascaras, so I'm really excited to try this. 

The full size is $28.50 for 10 ml, so this 4 ml sample is worth $11.40!

Finally, I got another notecard, this one in a green color. I love notecards, so I am happy with this. 

A set of 12 of these costs $10, so this one is worth about 83 cents.

For me, this box is another success. While I don't find it quite as exciting as my other box this month, I still got some really good quality items! The prorated value of this box is $21.18, so more than twice what I paid. I can't wait to try out the mascara and shampoo!

What did you get in your Birchbox this month?

The Look Bag - May

I was really excited when I woke up this morning and found my May Look Bag in the mailbox! If you don't know what the Look Bag is, it is another monthly beauty subscription bag. Like many others, they promise you around five beauty samples a month for $10. I feel that The Look Bag is one of the more overlooked subscriptions. I've now received four bags from them, and I've actually been happy with all of them.

The last few months, they've shipped in a bubble mailer, which I do prefer to boxes. They just take up less space, actually fit in my mailbox, and these are a more green option.

I pulled it out and found the usual pink organza bag with quite a bit of stuff in it! I love these little bags, I use them to keep hair ties, pins, small samples, and other small items organized in my drawers.

Along with the usual greeting card and list of included items, this month they included a card about aromatherapy, which lists some common scents and their benefits. As I really enjoy aromatherapy, I thought this was a cute little addition.

The first thing I pulled out was The Hollywood Collection by Erno Lazlo. This is a set of five foil packets inspired by (and apparently used by) some legendary starlets: Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Katherine Hepburn, and Marilyn Monroe. These look and sound really luxurious! They include a Morning Beauty Rescue, a Refresh Moisture Infusion, an Instant Eye Repair, an Intensive Porcelain Veil, and a Velvet Night Cream.

I tried Monroe, the Morning Beauty Rescue one, this morning, and it was wonderful! A light pink colored rejuvenating gel that really did brighten up my skin and moisturize it. It did have some small glitter in it, but nothing obnoxious. I can' t wait to try the others! The full sized set retails for $125 (for .5 oz of each cream), so these packets are a really neat addition to the bag. The packets don't list an amount, but judging by the price of the full size, I have to assume that this has a value of at least $15!

Next, I pulled out this cute little box. It is about the size of a small soap or something, but it actually contained four mini glosses by Naked Princess! These are the Shinelucious lip gloss sampler. I got the following colors: Barely Coral, Barely Nude, Barely Coco, and Barely Blush. Each is exactly what it sounds like! I sampled a couple of these and really loved them. They are nice and smooth, and have a slight sweet vanilla flavor and scent. They are not at all sticky or greasy. They are infused with shea butter, sweet almond oil, Moroccan vanilla, and antioxidants. They have a collagen producing Peptide to help plump the lips, as well. I love that they are paraben free and cruelty free.

The full size of these glosses are $26 each, so this sample set has a value of about $8.32. Not bad!

This is Kelly Teegarden Organics Intense Tightening Serum. This is the world's first chemical free skin care line! All the products are made from certified organic and natural ingredients and are great for all skin types. This is, obviously, meant to tighten the skin. It is full of good things like aloe, cucumber, and essential oils and the smell reminds me of lavender!

The sample size is not listed, but the full size is 1.18 oz, and retails for $67. This looks to be about .25 oz, which is a $14.19 value. I can't wait to try it!

This is a L'oreal Paris Wear Infinite Pressed Eyeshadow single in Sweet Chemise.  This is a limited edition product, and is full size. It's a pretty buttery light yellow/gold color, looks like it will be great on the browbone! The formula is nice enough - not super buttery, but not super chalky. I can't find a price for this, as L'oreal only does these singles once in a while, but I will give it the same value as the other singles I could find, at around $5.

And finally two mini polishes from the Spring 2012 Runway Color Barometer by The New Black. These are eco friendly polishes with no parabens or synthetic fragrances, and promise a long wearing, ultra glossy formula. These come in a rainbow of colors, and at first I was a little disappointed to get these two, as I just never buy red or orange. Then I realized that is actually a good thing - I have nothing like these two. And they are actually gorgeous!

I plan to wear these together. These tiny little .125 oz. bottles actually retail at $22 for 5 of them, so these two are worth $8.80.

All in all, I think this was a great bag! The estimated value is about $51.31 (keeping in mind that I don't have an exact value for the Erno Lazlo or eyeshadow), and I will happily use everything in it.  The Look Bag really seems to be improving, and I hope enough people stick around and give them a chance to keep impressing!

Favorite Products for April 2012!

As I've been trying a ton of new products this year between my sample subscriptions and trades, I've decided to start posting about my favorite products each month.  These are the things I've been LOVING for April.

I finally got my hands on the Cailyn gel liner via a trade. I ADORE IT.  It goes on smooth and dark and once it sets, it is truly smudgeproof.  The brush that comes with it is actually decent for an included brush, so this is good to toss in my purse for use when I might not have my liner brush with me.  I've been wearing this daily.

It's no secret that I've fallen in love with Harvey Prince...they're just a great company, and I love that the fragrances are natural and don't include scary chemicals.  I now own five of their scents!  I'm currently addicted to Hello, which is their new fragrance for spring.  It's so good!  The top notes include Meyer lemon, white grapefruit, and satsuma mandarin while the mids and basenotes include pink plumeria, summer forsythia,  wild verbena, tahitian vanilla, and musk.  It just smells nice and warm and I love the citrus notes on top of the vanilla and musk.  I take this little rollerball with me everywhere.

So, this was one of the must-have items from April's Birchbox! I sadly didn't get it in my box, but after reading reviews and raves, I decided to spend my BB points on it. I got it in Blushing and I love it!  Gives a nice pink flush with a slightly dewy finish.

Between some trades and my Conscious Box, I also finally got my hands on some Juice Beauty samples.  I've been using the cleanser and moisturizer twice a day and the peel twice a week. My skin is looking great, it's clearing up and staying even and smooth.  Full sizes of these are on my to buy list.

This is my favorite mint balm...it's softer than Burt's Bees and goes on without much shine, which is a nice change. I love that it includes SPF.

I'm not a big fan of Bath and Body Works' regular lotions, but I LOVE the triple moisture body cream! It's so thick and rich and really softens my skin.  I love the Aruba Coconut scent, it smells like coconuts and tropical fruit.  I need to stock up on this one before it's discontinued.

What were some of your must-haves for April?