Birchbox May 2015 cupcakes and cashmere

Birchbox May 2015

Curated by Cupcakes and Cashmere 

I'll come out and say that this months box was far from my favorite. I wasn't impressed with the sample choices, so I took a chance and let Birchbox do the picking for me. Which was first time I've done that since they started doing sample choice. So lets dig in and see how BB did. First off the box itself is so cute! I love it!

Pixi Beauty's Fairy Dust. This came as a full sized item (YAY!) When I saw I was getting this I was super stoked, it was about the only thing I automatically was glad I was getting. I do love getting new make up items. So, anywho, the color of this is beautiful! At first when i saw it was silver, I almost gave it away instantly. But, then I decided to try it out anyway. I'm glad I did! This is a keeper for sure. The only thing I really dislike about it is the applicator.  I feel it can make this a messy shadow. I have other shadows, I've gotten through subscriptions, that have this same sort of applicator and they hardly get used because of it.  So I'm really still on the fence about this item because of the applicator. 

On to the Marcelle Hydra-C 24H Energizing Hydrating Gel. I've only used this a few times, so I can't give my opinion on it's long term effect, but it is quite hydrating. It makes my skin feel soft and smooth. The smell isn't over powering. In fact I can hardly smell anything. It's light weight and doesn't feel greasy at all. Supposedly, it has a cooling effect but I haven't felt anything. This was one of those things I wasn't over of the moon about getting. I feel like samples, with claims like this one,  take use over a longer amount of time to know if it truly lives up to it's claims. 

Next is Prescriptives Super Line Preventor Xtreme. I love they way this sample is packaged. It has a little dropper for easy application.  I don't know if this is actually minimizing my lines but I do know it feel fantastic on my face. It only take a few drops to cover my whole face, so I think this sample will be enough to know if it actually lives up to it's claims. And to be honest I sure hope it does with a price tag of $84 for the full size!

Tocca Perfume in the scent Isabel

Tocca has impressed me over and over again. This stuff smells so good! "Notes of rose, orange and amber." I will defiantly be buying this in the full size next time I'm in the market for a new scent. 

Lastly, Harvey Prince Sea Salt Texturizing Mist. This sample has to be a joke. I have some long hair and this was more then half way gone after one use. Not that it really matter since the "sea salt wavey" look never works on me. I actually used a waver and then sprayed my hair with this to create a piecey textured look. I think, if you are going to do a hair product sample, it should be at least 1 oz. This is about as good as getting a foil packet. Now I do like the scent. It has that beachy summer day scent that most people love. Harvey Prince never lets me down in the quality department. I've only received one scent in the past that I disliked from them. It's really just the size of this sample that really let me down. 

So to sum this up, it was defiantly not my all time favorite box. It had it's ups and downs but we can't win them all.  It might be because I've been getting birchbox for over a year now and I'm a bit harder to impress. I've got my fingers crossed for next month though. 

Thank you for reading! 

Get your own BB? Let me know what you thought of yours in the comments below!

Don't get Birchbox and want to try it out for yourself? follow the link below!

$10 a month, 5 (sometimes more) beauty related samples plus 10 points for each sample you review 100 = $10 to spend in the Birchbox shop! 

https://www.birchbox.com/invite/gettingintomommysmakeup

Boxycharm Bold & Beautiful May 2015

BoxyCharm May 2015

Theme is Bold & Beautiful

Boxycharm is becoming one of my favorite subscription and this box is just one example of why. So lets dig in and see what they had to offer this month! :)

First item I want to get into is the full size Modelco Bronze Shimmer. At $22, for this item this alone, it pays for the box and it is beautiful! I have yet to be dissapointed by Modelco. This bronzer had a nice shimmer to it that actually does not look too glittery. It's very pigmented, and because of the shimmer, I like it on my cheeks and not as a contour. I have mostly matte bronzers, so, this is a great addition on my collection of bronzers.

OMG, The Lip Bar Lipstick! This lipstick is beautiful! The packaging is gorgeous and the color is stunning. The minute I swatched it I thought of the Laqa&Co Lip Lube I received from Birchbox, which is one of my favorite summer colors! This lipstick totally made the box for me! It's vibrant, creamy, hydrating and the color seams to be lasting. This retails for $20! I still don't know how Boxycharm does it!  

Below we have the Lauren B. Beauty Nail Polish and my, sloppy, swatch of the shade Sunset BLVD.  LOL I love new nail polishes and I've been wanting to try different brands. I don't know about actually paying $18 for one nail polish though. The color is beautiful and it's pigmented (below is one quick thin coat). I feel like you could get away with just one coat of this polish but two would look amazing. 

Lastly is, the Bodyography Essential Brow Trio and the Brow Brush. Ok so, I may be a little harsh in this review. I'll start by saying it's an okay set up, BUT, I don't think this is worth $38, which is what it costs if you were to buy both items. The brow trio comes with 3 shades (sorry red heads you lost out on this one).  When applied with the brush, it goes on very pigmented but can get a little messy looking. I think using this with a brow gel or a brow wax might make it look better. The brush itself is only ok. The spoolie is a bit on the large side, so I don't think it's great for use on the brows, maybe just eyelashes. The angled brush, at the other end, is kind of thin and flimsy feeling. Now, FYI, I am comparing to my ABH brow brush, which retails for the same price as this one, it's daintier, the angled brush is dense, and the spoolie is smaller. The bodyography brush is longer and the spoilie is larger. I personally think when it comes to brows, it's easier to work with a smaller brush.  Included in the box, I'm happy I got it, but, I wouldn't go out of my way for a product like this.  

So, to sum this up, I think this box was fantastic, at a $98 value! Yes I wasn't a fan of the brow products but I loved everything else! 

Do you get Boxycharm? Let me know what did you think of the box in the comments below!

Don't know about Boxycharm? It's a $21 a month beauty subscription that sends out 4 to 5 FULL SIZE beauty items a month. The boxes always seem to be worth around $100. Totally worth the $21 you pay! 

Want to try it out for yourself? Follow the link below or use my referral code:

https://old.boxycharm.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/16995/

Referral Code:

dFJUcUIvMFkvK2dSTm1GWjFEU0lRd0tEdWViZWFYbmI=

Thank you for taking the time to read! More reviews coming soon!

Ipsy Jetsetter May Glam Bag 2015

Ipsy's theme this month is Jetsetter and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the products I recieved! So lets start with this adorable bag, that is a perfect travel bag. It's taller then the previous bags I've received but not as wide. I love that they did three different sayings on the bags, so not everyone got the same one.  

First item on my list is a Bellapierre gel eyeliner in Ebony. A year ago, I would have been over the moon to receive this. But, my make up habits have changed and I have more eyeliners then I know what to do with. All that aside, it is a great eyeliner. The swatch in the picture is just lightly done in one swipe. So, as you can see, it goes on smoothly and has some serious staying power. After I swatched this, it did not just wipe right off. Which is awesome but also tells me, do not mess up using this liner! lol

I was ecstatic to see that I would be receiving Urban Decay's lip liner and samples of their new lip gloss. The glosses came in the colors Failbait and Bittersweet. They actually feel creamy and not sticky. Although using it with the lip liner does cause them to have a tacky texture. Failbait is a kind of neutral pink and Bittersweet is a more bright purple. I've tried Failbait and could see using that on a daily basis but Bittersweet is a more daring color for me. I have every intention of  stepping out of my box to try this color! 

The lip liner itself is in Ozone and is completely clear. I would call it more on a lip primer then a liner. It leaves a tacky like texture on your lips which causes whatever lip color you choose to last longer. It does work very well! I may be a bit bias though. I've been a fan of UD lip liners for sometime now.  

On to Pixi by Petra bronzer. This is a beautiful soft shimmery bronzer. I wouldn't recommend using this as a contour or even all over the face, since it does have shimmer to it. But, this does look fantastic on the cheeks. Gives a gorgeous beachy sunkissed glow without a orange look. The only thing I've ever tried from Pixi is a primer which I was impressed with but I was very happy to see that I was getting a bronzer! 

Next is the Bare Republic face sunscreen. I'm usually not excited about getting sunscreen in my subscriptions, but, this one actually feel very nice and has that summery beachy scent. It's VERY smooth, maybe a silicone based moisturizer. Not something I really needed but happy to try it out. 

Lastly, Nuxe face cleaning and make up removing gel. This stuff stinks. I'm not sure how well it works, since I can't get past the smell to actually use it. This is two months in a row that ipsy has sent me something that smelled so bad I couldn't even use it. Last month was the Mullian and Sparrow Lip and cheek tint, which smelled like mold. Anyway, Maybe someone I know will like the scent and want it. It's went straight into my share the love box, a box of things I don't use or want. 

Thanks for reading! Do you receive ipsy? tell  me what you got and your thought in the comment section below! Don't already receive it and want to try it out? Click or copy and paste the link below! It's $10 a month and you receive a bag filled with 4 or 5 beauty related samples every month. 

https://www.ipsy.com/new?refer=23y5

Influenster Bella Vox Box!

So, I signed up for influenster without knowing the awesomeness I was signing up for. My first Vox Box from them was actually kind of lame. I got pads. Okay, yay, free stuff but I could have thought of a million other things I'd much rather review. Well they completely redeemed themselves with this Bella Vox Box! So lets get into it!

First item to be used and had the shortest life span, was the dove with real fruit. These things are addicting! I thought the bag would last longer then 10 minutes. I was wrong. LOL I would defiantly get these again for a treat. 

Next on the list is the Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs. This stuff impressed me. Not only did it look get on my legs but it also lasted all day long. In fact it didn't come off till the shower the next day! I even dripped water down my legs and it didn't budge, no streaking or anything. I will be buying a big bottle of this!

Makeup! My favorite subject! I received two item from Rimmel by Kate. First, I got a mascara, which I was more then happy to try out. My final thoughts on it, it's an average mascara. I have many more that give me more length and volume then this one did. This also has a funky brush which they call the "Broken Heart Brush". It's cool looking but I don't think it's anything more then a neat looking "S" shaped brush. It does make getting the lower lashes kind of difficult. Although this isn't one I would disregard completely, I don't see myself going out of my way to purchase it. 

It took about 3 to 4 coats of this mascara to get the end results.

                    No Mascara (to the left)                                       With Mascara (to the right)

The other item I received, from this line, was a lipstick. I had bought one of these lipsticks a few months ago in the shade number 30, which is a wine kind of shade. The shade I got this time was number 32, a kind of nude peach. Although I really do like that shade, I cannot get over the smell. It's not bad, it's just strong. Too strong for something that is going on my lips right under my nose. I do like Rimmel products but I'm just not that impressed with this line of their products, sorry Kate. LOL 

The Not Your Mothers Deja Vu Do actually surprised me! I didn't think I would like it as much as I do! It makes my hair easier to style with just a blow dryer and my hair looks nice all day! Was impressed with how it works and to top it off, it smells AMAZING! Love the fruity berry scent!

Now to my most favorite item out of the box, the eco tools brush! I'm always happy to receive makeup brushes! I also had been wanting to try out eco tools. I LOVE this brush! It's so soft and I haven't had any issues with shedding. It claims to make your makeup matte. Not so sure about that since I use matte powders and matte finishing sprays anyway. But that wasn't what appealed to me in the first place. I had heard many good things about this brands brushes and was very happy to learn they live up to their great reviews. 

Last but defiantly not least is the Club W wine offer! I haven't redeemed this yet but do have plans to do so, as a great glass of wine is my ideal way to end a long day. I will have to come back to do a separate blog for this one. So stay tuned for a follow up on this one. 

Thanks for reading! Do you receive Influenster? Want to? Go to www.influenster.com/r/1062248

If you already receive it, let me know your opinions in the comments below! What other cool things have you received in past Vox boxes?? 

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.