Review: Beauty Box 5 October 2014

THE SCOOP:

Hey everyone! Here we go with another Beauty Box 5 review, which is one of the most useful subscription boxes out there. The October BB5 theme is "Effortless Allure," reminding beauty lovers that less is more. All you need is a few pops of color, a useful beauty tool, and moisturized skin!

Beauty Box 5 is a subscription service that sends out 5 beauty products each month. The box is $12 a month for a month-to-month subscription, but you can save money if you buy a quarterly or yearly subscription. Overall, the value is always there!

THE BOX:

Introducing Makeup by One Direction

Get excited, One Direction fans! Coming soon to a store near you is a fun, colorful makeup line by the boys of 1D.

The collection consists of three limited edition tins inspired by One Direction's albums, including "Up All Night," "Take Me Home," and "Midnight Memories." Each kit has a unique color palette and high quality products!

Markwins International, the makers of Physician's Formula and Wet n Wild, says: "A range of makeup and cosmetic products celebrating youth, style, and the uninhibited lifestyle of a new generation. Celebrating life with bold shades, unique formula and infused with limited edition collectible packaging, Makeup from One Direction is fun, bold, often irreverent, with a touch of cheeky mischievousness. Offered at prices that every girl and woman can afford."

Now, on to the fun part... the kit itself!

This Just In: Try on High-End Makeup at GlamST!

Hey everyone! Today I'm bringing you some information about GlamST, an extremely useful website where you can try on high-end makeup before making a purchase.

All you have to do is sign up, head over to the Virtual Tester, upload your photo, and start playing with pretty new looks!

You can also search through the looks that other GlamST members have created, and you can even try on their creations. If you are interested, here's my look, including a before an after!

The Products I Tried:

Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation in Vanilla

YSL Touche Eclat Concealer in Luminous Toffee

Dior Rosy Glow Healthy Glow Awakening Blush in Petal

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner in Black

Lancome Color Design 5-Pan Palette in Sienna Sultry

Benefit They're Real Mascara in Black

Bobbi Brown Creamy Lip Color in Washed Seashell

Make Up Forever Lab Shine Lip Gloss in S2

My favorite tools on GlamST were the eyeshadow and eyeliner options! There are many different eyeliner styles to play with, whether you want a bold wing or a thin line. The eyeshadow feature allows you to choose which colors in a palette you want to use and what shape you want to try. It's so fun to see what looks best on you!

I also recommend saving your looks so you can check them later and remember which products you want to pick up. You can even click on "+info" to get smart recommendations from GlamST of similar looks. This website can really change the way you look at makeup! I highly recommend checking it out.

Disclaimer: Sponsored by BrandBacker.

NYC Badge Prize for Varsity VoxBox from Influenster

Last month, I received the brand prize from NYC that I received for completing activites based off of the Big Bold Gloss that was in the Varsity VoxBox. As a reward for completing these activites, NYC and Influenster sent me a prize package.

I love NYC makeup! It's fairly cheap at the drugstore, but it's still fun to try.

NYC Color Wheel Mosaic Face Powder in Pink Cheek Glow 723A

I really enjoy this "face powder"... though I consider it a blush. It's too pink to be just a highlighter, but I would consider it a highlighting blush. It's very pretty!

NYC Applelicious Lip Balm in Pink Lady 353

This lip balm has a delicious apple smell and a soft pink color. It's a lightly tinted lip balm. I love the cute apple design in the center!

NYC HD Color Eyeshadow Trio in Streets Paved in Gold 792

This is my favorite item in the box! I received a trio from NYC in the Jolly VoxBox in a different color combination. I didn't like that one because it lacked pigmentation... but I LOVE these shadows! The golden tones look great with my brown eyes. I even use the golden highlight color on my cheekbones.

Thank you to Influenster and NYC! I love getting these goodies to try out.

Ipsy February 2014 Review

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry how long it has been since I posted last. I just wanted to share a recent subscription box that really impressed me.

This month's Ipsy bag was titled "The Look of Love." The bag is bright pink with a white zipper, and the lining is pink cheetah print! I love it, and the slightly different shape than usual.

I received my bag slightly later than normal, but still at a reasonable time during the month.

Ipsy is $10/month. Sign up here!

The Contents:

City Color Be Matte Blush in Fresh Melon

I am thrilled with this blush. On camera, it appears very orange, but in real life, it is a bright, watermelon pink. I love the matte finish and the pigmentation.

Eyetini Eye Base in Ambrosia

This is a cream eyeshadow base. I adore the color! It is a brown with flecks of pink and purple. It doesn't crease and blends really easily. A new favorite of mine!

IPKN BB Cream in Light

I tried to use this, and it squirted all over my hand! It's such a small sample, so that wasted a lot... but it's orange on me anyway. This is not light.

Zoya Nail Polish in Dot

I really wanted Odette, the purple shade, but I do love light pink nails! Zoya has fantastic polish that dries quickly. I am quite happy with this!

POP Beauty Pouty Plump in Peony Petal

This lip gloss is wonderful! The pigmentation, the texture - I love it! It gets a slightly grainy texture during wear, but it's such a pretty, pigmented gloss.

Overall, I give this bag an 8/10! I am really happy with 4/5 items, and that means this bag is a winner in my eyes.

*Contains my personal Ipsy referral link

NYC HD Color Trio in Long Beach Sands - Influenster Jolly VoxBox

The NYC HD Color Trio in Long Beach Sands was featured in my Jolly Voxbox, complimentary of Influenster.

I love that it is a trio, and all three shades can be combined for a cohesive eye look.

The top shade is meant for the browbone, the middle shade is meant for the lid, and the bottom shade is meant for the crease. I personally would use the bottom shade on the lid and the middle shade in the crease, but that's just me.

Here is my eye with the middle shade all over my lid.

Here is my eye with the bottom shade added to my crease and the top shade added to my browbone. The colors are very neutral and don't show up very well on my eyes. They lack pigmentation.

I did a few quick swatches on my fingertips. As you can see, the brow highlight has decent pigmentation, as well as the darker brown color. However, the bottom shade, a tan color, lacks pigmentation and doesn't add much to your look.

Overall, I am impressed with two of the shades, but I thnk the third one needs some work. I would love to try some other products from NYC to compare the quality.

Giveaway Prize from Mom's Got Mail

Today I received a giveaway prize from Jennifer at Mom's Got Mail! I won the November end of the month giveaway, consisting of hand cream, The Balm's Stainiac, and two pieces from BaubleBar. She even threw in a few extras, including the November 2013 Ipsy bag. 

Here is a peppermint hand cream from Ulta, an eyeshadow quad also from Ulta, Stainiac, and a lipstick from Ulta. 

My first BaubleBar pieces...

So pretty! I love them and I think they go together well without being over the top. I will definitely wear these for Christmas and New Year's Eve. 

Here is the bracelet on my arm! Ignore my crazy socks. ;)

A huge thanks goes out to Jennifer! I really appreciate the prize. It was like a Christmas present!

Influenster's Jolly VoxBox 2013 Review

Hurray! My second Influenster VoxBox has arrived, and I got a chance to check out each of the products before I wrote this review. I am very pleased with this box, especially considering it's my second box of freebies in two months! I previously received the Varsity VoxBox, which contained NYC lipgloss, Airheads Extreme Bites, Tide PODS, Clearasil face wash, and Kiss nail stickers.

This box was supposed to have a "Naughty and Nice" theme... I'm not sure I quite get that theme, but I am happy with these products nevertheless. 

And on to the contents...

Here's a closer look:

First up is duck tape from the Duck brand. This is a mini roll in a blue and white floral print. I used it to give my phone charger a makeover. I will also use it for packages and other craft projects.

Retail: $3

This single pack of Puffs tissues is a great addition to my purse. I always find myself in need of a tissue while I'm out, yet I don't have one on me. These will be great because they have lotion in the tissues themselves, so my nose won't get irritated.

Retail: $0.49

Next up is the Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer. This is basically a liquid lipstick. The color payoff is amazing and opaque. The color I received is Luna, and it is a beautiful peach color. I will definitely use this up. My only complaint is the weird cucumber smell and strange applicator.

Retail: $5.49

This is the NYC HD Color Trio eyeshadow in Long Beach Sands.This is one of those products that has instructions for where to use each shade, whether it's on the brow bone, crease, or lid. I already have so much neutral eyeshadow, but I really like the colors.

Retail: $2.99

Finally, my sweet tooth had something to be excited about! These Skinny Cow chocolates filled with peanut butter cream are delicious. I have tried the caramel version before, and these are just as good. The peanut butter is a bit salty for me, but I love them otherwise. This box contains 6 packs of 3 candies each. I've already eaten 3 packs... oops.

Retail: $3.99

Overall, the Jolly VoxBox was a great box, and I am very happy that I received it. I look forward to continuing to use these products and review them on my blog and other social networks.

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary of Influenster. The opinions are my own.

NYC New York Color Big Bold Gloss Review

In my Varisty VoxBox from Influenster, I received this NYC Big Bold Gloss in Pleasantly Plump Pink.

As you can see, the gloss is a true pink color. 

The Good:

This lip gloss is not sticky at all. It goes on smoothly and feels nice on the lips. It does not have an unpleasant scent.

The Bad:

The wand is abnormally large, and I would prefer it to be smaller. The color doesn't show up on my lips very well becuase my lips are more pigmented than the gloss. It doesn't show any sign of plumping my lips.

Overally, this is a nice lip gloss that I will use up. I believe it retails for $3.99, so it's fairly cheap, but because of the huge wand, I think I would rather try a different gloss next time.

Disclaimer: I received this product complementary from Influenster.

Ipsy October 2013

 It's here! My October 2013 Ipsy Glambag arrived today.

I really love the pink packaging. It's fun to see it in my mailbox.

The theme this month is The Art of Beauty.

The bag is white with a pink lining and zipper. The quote on the front is by Ralph Waldo-Emerson and states, "Love of beauty is taste, The creation of beauty is art."

Here are all five products from my bag this month.

 The first is from Sexy Hair and the product is called Spray Clay. This product says it adds texture to a matte look. I am interested to see how this works and what matte hair looks like.

Deluxe sample

Retail: $6

Next up is the Coastal Scents medium eyeshadow brush. I am excited about this because I could always use another shadow brush.

Retail: $2.49

Bella Terra mineral powder in Navy. I don't like blue eyeshadow, as I've stated, but I'm going to give this a try as a liner. 

Deluxe sample

Retail: $12

I just used this and it is the most beautiful nail polish I've ever seen! It's a Zoya polish called Giovanna and it's an emerald green with blue undertones.

Full size

Retail: $8

Lastly is the Starlooks lip pencil in Tickle Me Pink. This swatched beautifully and I am happy to own my first lip liner!

Full size

Retail: $12

Bag value: $40.49

Not a bad value for $10. This isn't my favorite Ipsy bag, but I definitely enjoyed it and I think the products will all go to use.

What did you get in your bag?

Want to sign up for Ipsy? It's $10/month or $110/year.

Click here to join using my referral link.

Ipsy October Glam Room Update

My October Glam Room updated! 

Zoya Nail Polish: I am completely open to any of the shades. They're all pretty, and I love jewel tones.

Bella Terra Mineral Powder: The color shown is Emotion, but they are also sending out Navy. If I get Navy, I will be one unhappy subscriber. I have dark circles under my eyes that do not go well with blue eyeshadow. Emotion looks beautiful, though.

Coastal Scents Medium Shadow Brush: I am decently happy about this. I don't particularly need it, but it will be used.

Sexy Hair Spray Clay Texturizing Spray: I am so happy I didn't get the blow dry gel because I never dry my hair. This should be interesting to try.

Starlooks Lip Pencil: I don't own any lip pencils, so I am happy about this. I'm hoping for the pink color and not the coral color.

The biggest disappointment is the bag. It says, "Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art." I do not like this quote at all... it's rather cheesy and pointless, honestly. And it was designed very poorly. Truly a hideous bag.

Overall, I am okay with my bag. I received great bags in August and September, so I guess I have to assume that some months won't be as good. I will use most of these items, so that means it's a success. The only thing I care about is not getting the blue shadow. 

What did your Glam Room show?