Tell Me About - My Fave Beauty Products

Those of you that know me in person, and those that have been following me for awhile may have deduced that I am a pretty low maintenance person when it comes to my beauty routine. While I love trying new things with BIRCHBOX and ipsy, I tend to keep going back to the same beauty products and make up for my daily use (although some of those items I found through my beauty subscriptions). For Tell Me About...Tuesday, I thought it might be fun to go through a couple of my favorite everyday beauty products.

We'll start with hair:

Beauty Protector Shampoo, Conditioner, and Detangler
I tried this trio of products from Beauty Protector through various Birchboxes and I fell in love right away. They smell amazing. They leave my hair feeling soft and smooth, and I love how shiny my hair looks after using them. The detangler acts as a thermal protectant during blow-drying, and it works great. They are a bit pricey but Birchbox offers them in a package for $50 which saves about $16 off buying them individually. I typically save up my BB points to take off some of the sting of the price.

Moving on to moisturizers:

Neutrogena Healthy Defense SPF 50 Daily Moisturizer 
It's light, it feels nice, it's not greasy, and it protects my face from the sun. Need I say more?

Make up-
Brows:

Mary Kay Brow Definer Pencil in Blonde
Having blonde eyebrows has it's perks (I've never plucked ever!) and it's downside (if I don't color them in, you can't see them!) but one thing is for sure. A good eyebrow pencil is a necessity! I've used the Mary Kay blonde eyebrow pencil for as long as I've been drawing on my eyebrows. It adds just enough color so you can see my brows without making me look ridiculous. As you can see, I use this pencil a lot as it's starting to look short and stumpy. Don't worry! I've got another one on the way. It seriously lasts close to forever though.

Mascara:

ModelCo Fibre Lashextend Lengthening Mascara
This is the mascara that I compare all other mascaras to. I got it in one of my first Birchboxes and I've been hooked ever since. It goes on smooth and non-clumpy, it stays on all day without smudging or flaking, and it comes off super easy.

Eyeliner:

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner
It took me some time to feel comfortable using liquid liner, but I think I have it down. I like how smooth and even, this liner goes on and the tip is pointy enough that it goes on precisely.

Eyeshadow:

Julep Sweep Eyeshadow Palette - Neutrals
You may have guessed that I don't go crazy with the eyeshadow. I typically stick to neutrals and this palette that I got in one of my Julep boxes usually does the trick. Who knew that a nail polish company would do eyeshadow well?

Lips:

Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm
I'm a sucker for a classic. Why is this lip balm so popular? Because it works! I've never found something that works better. I don't like any of the fancy Burt's Bees lip balms either. Just the plain old, yellow tube beeswax lip balm.


Nails:

Julep Annemarie
Nude nails are having a moment right now. I picked this color up at one of Julep's sales for a steal. To be fair, it leans more towards brown than nude, but I love it. I like that it's subtle color, but still makes it look like you put in some effort. The last time I wore it, I couldn't stop looking at my nails. They just looked so classy.

So there you have it folks: my super simple and low maintenance beauty routine. Are there any beauty products you can't live without?

BIRCHBOX Review - September 2014

Check me out, getting my reviews done. If you knew the week I'm having, you'd recognize that as the feat that it is. Enough about me. Let's get to the review. It was a big month for BIRCHBOX. This month is their 4 year anniversary! They celebrated with these pretty keepsake boxes, and the box didn't disappoint.

Pretty, right? Another fun thing about this month was the fact that we got another opportunity to customize our own box. We could choose one sample from a list of 4 and be surprised by the rest, or in lieu of choosing a sample, you could choose the box curated by Fashionista and know all 5 of your samples. I took a peek at both options and decided I would take my chances, choose one sample, and be surprised by the rest. I liked a couple of the things in the Fashionista box, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for surprises. But let's get to it.

The good:

Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate (sample size)

This was the sample that I chose, and I'm pretty pleased with my choice. I've been impressed in the past with Shiseido products so I figured it was a safe bet. I also read in my People Style Watch that this was one of the must have products of the year. I put it on my face after cleansing, but before moisturizing as instructed and my first impression was that it smelled great. Almost immediately I noticed a difference in my face. It felt really soft and smooth. I'm convinced that this product works, but I'm not convinced of the price. $65 is a bit steep. I'm still glad I got the opportunity to try it, and I'm happy that the sample size was pretty generous.

R+Co Bel Air Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner (sample size)

This was an extra thrown in to the box, and I'm glad it was. Not only did I get to try an extra sample, but it's 2 more products for me to review on the site and get BB points for. I know there are a lot of people that don't like getting shampoo/conditioner samples but I love them. I think it's because it's easy to try (I wash my hair daily, so I know it'll get used), and I usually know pretty quickly if I like them or not. I was quite impressed with these. I let my hair air dry after trying them which has the possibility of creating a frizzy mess, but after using this, my hair really was smoother. Oh, and did I mention it smelled really good? Like exclaim "ooh" in the shower good. I felt like I was in a shampoo commercial, but I digress.

Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensee Cologne Absolue (sample size)

First off, they sent this sample with this lovely postcard. Wasn't that nice? Second, I'm totally the person that hates perfume samples. I feel like I never wear them, and I'm hard to please scent-wise. I prefer fruity or vanilla-like scents. I guess I prefer to smell like food. Any way, I actually really liked the smell of this. It's a blend of jasmine, vanilla, and lime and it smells so nice. My only complaint? The $120 price tag. Ouch.

Next, the bad:

Harvey Prince Ageless Liquid Loofah Body Wash (sample size)

I was excited to get this because again, I shower daily so I know it'll get used. And let me be straight. It smelled good. It should since it's based on Harvey Prince's Ageless fragrance. After admiring the smell, I squeezed it on my loofah and my first thought was "there's not a lot of product here". Eh. Disappointing but not a problem with the product necessarily. But then comes the bad, for something called "liquid loofah", you'd expect it to lather really well. Well it didn't. The small amount in the bottle (which is more than enough with my usual body wash), barely had enough lather to wash my whole body. I have a big problem with products that advertise themselves as one thing, and don't deliver on that. So despite the great smell, this gets a bad rating.

TOCCA Crema da Mano Luxe Hand Cream (sample size)

I'm 0 for 2 this month on hand creams. While this one didn't smell as bad as the one I got from ipsy, it was much too "soapy" smelling for me. It also left my hands really greasy instead of moisturized. Not a fan.

Lastly in the "meh" category, we have:

Pixi Breath of Fresh Air Tinted Lip Balm in Honey Nectar (full size)

Normally I'm all over lip products, and this one wasn't terrible. It wasn't great either (isn't that the definition of "meh"?). The "tint" pretty much matched my natural lip color so it didn't make a difference visually. The lip balm properties, they were meh. Not terrible, but not super impressive either.

So there you have it. This box was FULL of product and most of it was pretty good. I'll definitely finish using the ones in the good category. I'll probably even use the pixi lip balm (at worst it'll sit in the bottom of my purse until I have a lip balm emergency). Either way, I have lots of product to review which will help me rack up some BB points. I call it a win.

If you're interested in signing up for BIRCHBOX, it would be appreciated if you used my link!

Happy Shopping!

BIRCHBOX Review - August 2014

OK. So I missed July's review. My bad. With the transition going on, I just didn't have time to try all the products, and I hate not being able to give an honest review. I've mentioned it before, but I much prefer to do a "how did I like all the products" review instead of an "unboxing" review where I just tell you what I received. Plus, I feel like I'm getting my money's worth when I actual try the samples, since that's kinda the point of getting them. Now I'm just rambling. Moving on to August.
The first thing I can say about this box is that is was ADORABLE. So many cute touches. It started before I even opened the box. They added adjectives before everyone's names on the shipping label. Mine was addressed to "Elegant Elizabeth". The next cute touch was the sleeve that the smaller products came in said "Tee-Hee". I don't know why but I thought it was adorable. Also, the description card was fun.

Now onto the reviews of the actual products. In the good category we have:
Vasanti Detox Nutrient-Rich Facial Cleanser (sample size)
My face felt really clean after using it without being too dried out. Definitely no tight skin as can happen with harsher cleansers. I approve of all but the price. $24 for a bottle of cleanser is a bit much.
Dr. Jart+ Pore Medic Pore Minish Primer (sample size)
I fell in love with the Dr. Jart+ CC cream when I got that sample months ago, so I knew I liked the brand (plus it's a Korean company and I'm kinda partial). This stuff was pretty good too. It didn't feel oily or overly thick and I saw a difference in my pores. It smelled nice too. Not scented, just not too medicinal smelling.

Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo (sample size)
The surprise success award of the box goes to this sample. I usually hate dry shampoo. I don't feel like it works. My hair usually feels even more greasy after using it, but of course, I felt the need to try it anyway. I didn't wash my hair for 2 days (you know I like doing things FOR SCIENCE!), and this morning I sprayed the roots with this, then ran my fingers through my hair a couple times to work it in. Not only did it smell amazing, but my hair immediately felt less greasy and that's saying something. I'm a wash my hair every day kinda gal because I have really oily hair so this was super impressive. Granted I wasn't going to wear my hair down because it had all kinds of unsightly creases from being in a bun all day yesterday, but at least it didn't look gross.
You be the judge. Does that look greasy to you? It doesn't feel greasy at all. This definitely gets an A+ in my book.
Next we go to the bad category:

Noir Long-Wear Eyeliner (full size)
Normally I love getting eyeliner samples (although I've amassed quite the collection) and I was happy to get a full size one this time. Too bad it was not good. First, it went on more of a charcoal color than a true black, but it went on smooth and being the optimist I am, I just thought I'd use it when I didn't want something as dramatic. Well, I put it on 5 hours ago, and this is what it looks like now.
Not only was there transference to my upper lid which I hate, but it's almost completely gone. "Long-Wear Eyeliner" my patootie. If it can't even last 5 hours, it's not long wear. P.S. It's super hard to take pictures of my own eye. I don't know how my make up artist friends do it all the time.
Lastly we have the meh category:

Harvey Prince Ageless Body Cream (sample size)
It smelled very perfumey. I mean, that makes perfect sense since it's the lotion version of the Ageless perfume, but I prefer my lotion to be lightly scented (and usually fruity). Good news is, the smell didn't overwhelm all day. It was strong going on but within 30 min, I could hardly smell it anymore. The lotion itself was adequate.
Overall, it was a good box. I liked most of the products, and thought the theme was cute. I can't wait to see what next month brings.
If you're interested in signing up for BIRCHBOX, use my link here!
Happy Shopping!

BIRCHBOX Review - June 2014

Whoo hoo! It's been a good month. I'm actually getting both my BIRCHBOX and ipsy reviews up within a few days of receiving them instead of weeks later (this month's ipsy review can be found here). That's harder than it sounds especially with my goal to actually try ALL the products before posting my review, but let's get down to business (to defeat the huns).

As is protocol around here, we'll start with the good:

Benefit They're Real! Mascara (sample size)

As I mentioned in my ipsy review, I'm very particular about my mascara. This mascara was quite impressive. It went on smooth without looking clumpy, it added quite a bit of volume, and it lasted all day without flaking.  It didn't come off as easily as my go-to mascara but it wasn't a lot of scrubbing. This would actually be worth using my BB points on in the future, especially since it's $1 cheaper than my usual mascara.

Perlier Body Cream (sample size)

I have a tendancy to get super dry hands, and they have been rough the last couple of weeks because of the excessive hand washing I've been doing. This cream smoothed them out in a hurry without being too heavy, oily, or overwhelming in the scent department.

Onto the bad:

Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Defense Serum (teeny tiny sample size)

My biggest complaint about this was the sample size. I understand having a small sample since the full size bottle is only 1-ounce, but this sample literally had 3 drops of product in it and I had to squeeze from the top like a toothpaste tube just to get those 3 drops to come out. I thought it was empty. I put those 3 drops on before my moisturizer as instructed and saw zero difference. Granted, the benefits of an "anti-wrinkle defense" product likely are shown in the lack of wrinkles that show up, but who's to say that those wrinkles were going to show up anyway? I certainly wouldn't pay $62 for a 1-ounce bottle of stuff that made no discernable difference.

Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo, Conditioner, and OI/All in One Milk (sample size)

Again I had issue with sample size. I was impressed with the large sample on the shampoo, and then quickly disappointed with the small foil packet of conditioner (the cream colored sample packet pictured above). This may not be the best for my hair, but I always condition when I shampoo, and I get a little anxious when I don't have the same amount of each. I'm one of those people that likes to finish their shampoo bottle as close to the same time as their conditioner as possible (but seriously, are there people who don't?). So this drove me a little crazy. There's probably enough shampoo for 2 weeks worth of shampooing. There's really only enough conditioner for 2 conditionings. If you can get past the sample issue, the products themselves are fine. However, I used them in conjunction with the OI/All in One Milk that is supposed to "support hair growth and protect it from harmful UV radiation" while "conditioning strands and keeping them soft and supple during heat styling while preventing unwanted frizz". While I'll admit that my hair looked super smooth and shiny after styling, it most definitely wasn't soft or supple. It felt weighted down and oily, and the borderline overwhelming "clean" smell stuck around ALL DAY. I couldn't wait to wash my hair again with a different shampoo. The experience definitely wouldn't be worth the money to buy all 3 products.

Now onto the meh:

Catherine Malandrino Style de Paris (sample size)

I think there's only been one perfume that I've ever received from BIRCHBOX that hasn't been in the meh category (and that would be the Harvey Prince Flirt, now known as Temptress), but it's because I'm never super excited about getting perfume. The scent is always a bit too strong for me and I have to really like it to want to assault someone else's nose with it all day. This one had a very crisp smell to it. It wasn't bad, but it was really strong. It might be good for a nice event, but I don't go to many of those so I can't justify paying over $100 for a bottle.

Overall for the month, it wasn't bad. I got a few things I loved, and a few things I'd never use again. I still think it was worth the $10.

If you'd like to sign up for BIRCHBOX, use my link here.

Happy Shopping!

BIRCHBOX Review - May 2014

I've come out of my new mom cocoon to do a BIRCHBOX review for you! Aren't you excited? I know I am.

This month was actually better than the last couple of months. It doesn't look like much but what I got was pretty quality stuff. We'll start with the good.

Beauty Protector Protect & Shampoo (sample size)
Beauty Protector Protect & Condition (sample size)

I've already used the Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle and LOVED it, so I was excited to try out these. They smell absolutely amazing and with just the amount in the sample size (enough for about 3 washes), my hair is noticeably stronger and smoother.

LAQA & Co. Sheer Lip Lube Pencil (sample size)

I'm usually pretty happy when I receive lip product samples (when they aren't bright red) because I have a bit of an addiction. I always have at least 2 tubes of something in my purse even if I rarely actually wear it. I was a little skeptical of this coral color because I didn't think it would look good with my fair skin, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a nice subtle color that adds just the right amount of oomph to my lips. It went on pretty smooth too.

There wasn't anything in this month box that I hated so we'll move onto the meh category.

Supergoop! Everyday SPF 30 (sample size)

This wasn't a bad sunscreen, but it also didn't impress me anymore than my current everyday moisturizer (Neutrogena's Daily Defense SPF 50). My biggest complaint was that the instructions said to use a shot glass sized amount. I'm not sure if you can tell how big the sample size is, but it wouldn't fill half a shot glass. It's a pretty big fail when you can't even follow the instructions with the given amount.

32 Oral Care Effervescent Breath Crystals (2 packets)

These are literally Pop Rock breath mints. Sounds cool (pun intended), right? So why the meh rating? Because the "long lasting fresh breath" isn't so long lasting. I tried the spearmint flavor and the flavor faded less than 2 minutes after they dissolved. Nothing to get excited about. It was kind of fun though.

The last thing I'm going to post about is that I've been added to BIRCHBOX'S "Aces" VIP program. From what I gather, it means I get free shipping on ALL orders, one-on-one consultation to find the perfect products for me (don't think I'll use that perk too often), exclusive early access to product launches and special offers, an anniversary present when I hit one year in the program, and other "surprises".

This was my first "surprise" as part of the program. It was a nice gesture, although I don't think it'll get much use. It's about the size of a billfold and the zipper sticks when trying to close it, but hey, it was free and they didn't have to send it to me. No complaints here. Keep the surprises coming.

If you're interested in signing up for BIRCHBOX, use my link. The points program is still my favorite part of BIRCHBOX and every referral is appreciated!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year (a couple days late)! It's been such an exciting past couple of months being able to blog and share my outfits with all of you. It really is a creative outlet for me both in styling my outfits, and writing about them. I try to keep things light around here, but I will say writing helped me get out of a depressive funk. I appreciate all of you for reading and encouraging me. I get so much joy from people telling me that I inspired them to be more creative with their wardrobes, or that they tried new things after reading. I absolutely love that. My goal for the next year is to continue to bring the fun and continue the creativity as I get rounder, and then of course learn to work with the inevitable body changes after the baby is born.

Just for funsies, I've listed my top 10 most read posts of the year below. Thanks again for reading, and giving me a reason to keep going.

#10 eShakti Sale - Why Haven't You Taken Advantage Yet?



#9 What I Wore To Church - Polka Dot Cotton Dress



#8 What I Wore To Church - Pencil Skirt and Blouse



#7 What I Wore To Church - Anchor Print Dress and Mustard Mary Janes



#6 What I Wore To Church - Navy and Mustard with Pointed Toe Heels



#5 What I Wore to Church - Zigzag Print Dress and Corset Heels



#4 What I Wore To Church - Using Grey as a Neutral



#3 What I Wore to Church - Colorblock Stripe Dress



#2 Beauty Swap Party!



#1 ipsy vs. BIRCHBOX