June 2015 Birchbox Review

Birchbox is a $10/month subscription box full of 4-5 sample sizes of beauty products. You can review each item you receive in your monthly box and receive 10 points. 100 points nets you $10 to spend in the Birchbox Shop (in increments of $10) and you get 1 point for every dollar you spend as well.

Use code BBJETBLUE10 to get $10 to use in the BB store.

On to my June 2015 box:

amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo

Now that it's summer, I wash my hair a lot more often than I do when it's not 110+ degrees out. I use a lot of dry shampoo when it's cooler though and it's kind of hard to find a good one. I like this dry shampoo. It doesn't leave my hair white- I've tried other brands that even after "scrubbing" my hair has a white, powdery tint to it which usually ends up with me in the shower really washing my hair. My biggest problem with dry shampoos is that a lot of them have really intense floral scents that give me migraines, but this one has a nice, light clean scent. It says it's Sea Buckhorn Berry and it reminds me of hanging out on the coast.

COOLA SPF 50 Sport - Mango

It's sunny year-round in Arizona. I don't like the typical scent of sunscreen, or the greasy feel that most leave on your skin while not offering much in the way of moisturization. This stuff is great! I really like the mango scent, it's not too sweet or strong, but leaves a nice hint of fragrance and it makes my skin less thirsty. I used to buy Ocean Potion's sun screen since it smelled amazing, but that's really hard to find. I'd be surprised if I don't end up purchasing a full size of this stuff, it's awesome!

La Fresh Eco Beauty Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover

I usually just remove nail polish with some cotton balls and regular nail polish remover, but I like the appeal of not having to carry around a bottle of remover and bag of cotton balls, especially while traveling. These pads are the "fresh tuscan orange scent" and they do smell good. The package says that one pad cleans & conditions all 10 nails. I used one on both of my feet and that claim is true, but it took a LOT of scrubbing around the edges of my toe nails to get all of the polish off. 

Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner

We were supposed to receive a fat Eyeko liner in this month's box, but they got held up in customs and I guess this is a replacement. I received the color Blue Lagoon, which is a light metallic blue. Eyemakeup tends to melt off my face since my lids are oily so I hope this one actually lasts.

Shiseido Ibuki Refining Moisturizer

I have been on the lookout for the perfect moisturizer for before bed and this could be a contender. It's very lightweight but does a nice job quenching my thirsty skin. The scent is nice too, not strong.

SARAHPOTEMA Darby Clip

This thing is huge. When I got my sneak peek e-mail, for some reason I was thinking this was going to be something you wear like a bobby pin or one of those metal clips to tame flyaways but it's actually more of a styling clip. I've been toying with the idea of dying my hair a few different colors so receiving this was actually a good thing. I have a lot of hair and this one looks like it'll do a good job of sectioning it all.

Overall, a great box. I subscribed to Birchbox a few years ago but quit because I got too much perfume, too many foils and the value just wasn't there. This is my 4th box since resubscribing and I haven't had a bad box since. Plus, now that they've been sending out decorated/themed boxes, it's even better. The boxes themselves are the perfect size to store/organize smaller objects. 

Don't forget to use my referral link if you want to sign up. For every member you refer, you get 50 points!

May 2015 Birchbox Review

Birchbox is a $10/month subscription box full of 4-5 sample sizes of beauty products. You can review each item you receive in your monthly box and receive 10 points. 100 points nets you $10 to spend in the Birchbox Shop (in increments of $10) and you get 1 point for every dollar you spend as well.

Use code BBJETBLUE10 to get $10 to use in the BB store.

I've had my May 2015 box for a long time now but I'm lazy. On to my box:

NAOBAY Oxygenating Cream Moisturizer

I did try this out, but I cannot remember anything about it so it must not have been amazing or terrible. I am on the lookout for the holy grail in moisturizers, but I don't think this will be it.

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream

I wanted to like this, but I didn't see any difference between it and regular sunscreen- it didn't conceal any of my issues and felt a bit weird going on. Perhaps it was user error or I'm just used to Smashbox's CC cream covering my blemishes.

No. 4 Super Comb Prep & Protect

This is a decent detangler, but the scent is awful. It smells like a hair salon that offers perms. However, I'd probably love this if I hadn't received a sample of Beauty Protector's similar product, which smells amazing, previously.

Harvey Prince Sincerely perfume

A big no to this one. First, I got a headache immediately after spraying once on my wrist. It lasted all day, but didn't turn into a migraine fortunately. I'm not a fan of the scent either. It smells a lot like my mom did when she used to drive me to school, which isn't a bad thing but not the scent I'm looking for, even if it didn't trigger headaches.

Coastal Scent Reveal3d Palette Sampler in Desert Bloom

This was cute, and the pigment is nice, but I already have probably 500 palettes and individual shadows in these colors.

Overall, while my reviews might not sound like it, I enjoyed this box. Aside from the perfume, I will likely use up every sample eventually, even if not for the intended purpose.

Don't forget to use my referral link if you want to sign up. For every member you refer, you get 50 points!

April 2015 Birchbox

Birchbox is a $10/month subscription box full of 4-5 sample sizes of beauty products. You can review each item you receive in your monthly box and receive 10 points. 100 points nets you $10 to spend in the Birchbox Shop (in increments of $10) and you get 1 point for every dollar you spend as well.

They frequently offer coupon codes for bonus points for subscriptions and percentages off in the shop. Current promotion codes that I'm aware of are SUBSCRIBENOW50, for an extra 50 points and GAP10 for 100 points. You can only use one promotional code per order though.

On to my April 2015 box:

Beaver Professional Hydro Nutritive Moisturizing Shampoo & Repairing Conditioner

I'm not picky about shampoo and conditioner as long as it doesn't leave my hair greasy. This shampoo and conditioner smells like a hair salon. I will probably use it next time I wash my hair. The shampoo is 2.0 fl oz/60 mL and the conditioner is 1.35 oz/40 mL.

Cargo Swimmables Water Resistant Blush

I received the color, "Los Cabos," which is a nice peachy-orange blush. I've had the same makeup look for my entire life (foundation and eye makeup only, no color elsewhere) and have been wanting to branch out into the world of cheek color so this is great. This sample is 0.11 oz/3.19 g and to the world of beauty, it's probably pretty small. But in my world, this is the perfect size! It'll probably last a very long time. It doesn't feel cakey on. I'm looking forward to trying out other colors from Cargo.

LAQA & Co. Sheer Lip Lube Pencil

In addition to wanting to explore the world of cheek color, I've also been trying to figure out how to wear color on my lips. I received this in the color, "HoneyPot," which is a nice pink. This one is 0.07 oz/2 g, so again, perfect for me. It looks like Pepto Bismal for Barbies in pencil form, but on my lips it just gives off a tint of pink. It smells and feels minty and smooth, similar to Tarte's LipSurgence. I will likely buy this in other colors if it turns out I don't look like a clown with lip gunk on.

Whish Three Whishes Body Butter - Blueberry

Reviews of this said they hated it because it smells like IHOP. I don't like IHOP either, but I don't think this body butter smells like IHOP. I think it smells more like the blue Skittles or Starbursts. Yum. Fruit and candy are my favorite scents. This is 0.75 oz/22 mL and while looking that up, I noticed that Whish an Arizona company, which is super cool! I love lotion and body butter and anything moisturizing since I also live in AZ and this stuff is great. It's not greasy at all and the scent perfect. I will throw this one into my purse and absolutely buy full sizes and other scents.

Overall, I am very happy about my April 2015 Birchbox. They had MadMen inspired boxes you could choose in place of a customized box, but I missed out on ordering one of those. I was bummed about it because, though I haven't ever watched MadMen, the boxes looked amazing but I'm pretty sure mine is even better.

Don't forget to use my referral link if you want to sign up. For every member you refer, you get 50 points!

March 2015 Birchbox (Welcome Box)

Birchbox is a $10/month subscription box full of 4-5 sample sizes of beauty products. You can review each item you receive in your monthly box and receive 10 points. 100 points nets you $10 to spend in the Birchbox Shop (in increments of $10) and you get 1 point for every dollar you spend as well.

They frequently offer coupon codes for bonus points for subscriptions and percentages off in the shop. Current promotion codes that I'm aware of are SUBSCRIBENOW50, for an extra 50 points and GAP10 for 100 points. You can only use one promotional code per order though.

On to my March 2015 box:

Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle

 

I love this stuff! It smells so good. I've got ton of hair that enjoys getting tangled even if I just think about wind. I tested this out on some decent sized knots and it allowed my brush to go through my hair with no problems. It didn't leave my hair feeling greasy or stringy either, like some detanglers. This is definitely going on my "to buy" list.

Harvey Prince Hello

I'm very picky about perfume. I like fruity over floral, but I've had migraines ever since I hit puberty at 12 years old and scent is my biggest trigger. I actually like these little vials because they're perfect for testing to see if it smells good on me as well as if it'll trigger any migraines. Hello features notes of meyer lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, forsythia and plumeria. It passed my migraine test, but I don't think I'd buy the full size. I would, however, be thrilled if I were to receive this as a gift.

Jelly Pong Pong GLOW GETTER Highlighter

Isn't that just the cutest little bottle? It reminds me of BonBon nail polishes from when I was a kid. I actually thought this was nail polish when I opened my box, but it's really highlighter! It looks really dark in the bottle and I have been mistaken for a ghost more than once, but it works for my skin tone. It's not as glittery as it looks in the bottle either. I'll probably use this sample eventually but I wouldn't buy a full size.

TempleSpa Peace Be Still Calming Body Balm

First impression was that this looks like a hotel toiletry. Reading the Birchbox facebook page confirmed that this is indeed a brand that supplies hotels. It's a lotion you can use on your face and/or body. I've used it as a night time moisturizer because I'm on the hunt for the perfect one. The quality is average, nothing to really write home about. I will not be purchasing a full size of this though because the scent is very strong.

Vasanti Cosmetics BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator

This is a facial wash similar to microdermabrasion. I actually like it. The first time I used this sample, I hated it though because it hurt and made my skin very red. But that's because my face wasn't wet enough! My skin is really smooth after using this and I'm pretty sure it's doing something to my post-acne hyperpigmentation. This is a product I might actually buy in the future.

Overall, I enjoyed this month's Birchbox. I bought a yearly subscription for $110 and got 110 points (you only get 110 points for purchasing the yearly subcription, if you do month-to-month you only get the initial 10 points for your first month) plus I used a code for an extra 100 points. I've reviewed my 5 items and received 50 points for doing so. If I get 5 products and review them for the duration of my subscription, I'll receive 600 points for a total of 810 points over the year. That's $80 (since you can only redeem your points in increments of $10) to spend, bringing the total cost to $30, or $2.50 each month. Plus I get to try out new products and find things I like!

Don't forget to use my referral link if you want to sign up. For every member you refer, you get 50 points!

Little Black Bag Review

I found this website called Little Black Bag (LBB). It's basically a TJMaxx on the internet. You select one item that you want, and they throw in a few others for you to trade. You can trade everything, and some people are really good at it (not me). They have two "bags" you can choose from, a $29.95 version or a $49.95 version. Each have $5.95 in shipping costs. I believe you'll get no less than $100 with the $49.95 and no less than $50 for the $29.95 version. It's a pretty cool service. If you want to join, my referral link is here. The cool thing about referrals is for every one you receive, you'll get a credit for a $25 item. Now, on to the items I received. These are items I received through three LBBs.

Deux Lux Heart Pouch.
This thing is huge, and I have no idea what I'll use it for. I don't remember what I traded for this.

Wildfox Stag earrings. These came broken, and I was devastated. LBB gave me an exchange credit and said I could keep them. I'm going to figure out how I can fix them because I really wanted them and can't find 'em anywhere else. These were in my first November bag, and I traded everything but my purse for them.

'ZAD crystal hoops. These are pretty awesome and hippie-ish. I don't remember what I traded for these.

a.v. max feather earrings. I think I got these as one of the mystery items, and held on to them.

Sugarfina gummy piglets. I also got Sugarfina Heavenly Sours but ate them. These piglets are kind of tough. Each box was 3 oz, so pretty tiny. Overall, I wouldn't buy Sugarfina candies again. I can get better quality gummy worms from Sprouts for I think $3 per pound. Somebody traded me both candies, for something I wasn't attached to.

These two items are from my very first LBB. The one on the left is the Ettika Buddha necklace. This is pretty cheaply made, and I have yet to wear it. The right item is the Disney Couture Believe hoops. I'm gifting these to my sister as they're far too heavy for my taste.

Lemon Knee-hi socks. I like socks. I also got two purses with these, an Olivia + Joy hobo and a Steve Madden leopard tote, which is huge. I might post them later.

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Will post later.

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My biology final is coming up. I am ill-prepared. Hope I can pass it, that'd be a great birthday present!