Lit from Within: June Subscription Box Bonanza! Wantable, Ipsy, Beauty Box 5, and Birchbox
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Monday, July 28, 2014

June Subscription Box Bonanza! Wantable, Ipsy, Beauty Box 5, and Birchbox

Hello, Fireflies!

Surely that title is a typo, right? I meant July?

I should, but no.  These are June's boxes.  Sigh.  Thirty lashes with a wet noodle for me for being so late with these.

My first, and most expensive subscription box to show you is Wantable.  This is a new sub to me, and I do like everything I got that I've tried.  It's about $40 a month, but everything they send you is full-sized.  No packet samples!

June Wantable

The first swatch is that lovely violet lipstick from Mirabella, Volatile.  Next, the creamy blush from girlactik beauty, Cream Blush Rose.  The last swatch is the Vincent Longo Golden Banana #2 Pressed Powder.  I have some of the Ben Nye Banana Powder that I don't use very often.  Maybe I'll use this one more because it's easier in a pressed form.

I haven't opened the OFRA black gel liner yet because I didn't want it to dry out.  I hear it's fab, though.  I do have a lot of black liners, but there's always room for one more!

Mirabella Volatile, girlactik beauty Cream Blush Rose, Vincent Longo Golden Banana #2 Pressed Powder.

I used the Liberty Republic Spellbound nail polish in Love Spell in a look earlier this month.  It's a gorgeous hot pink, but it stained on me a little.

Liberty Republic Spellbound nail polish in Love Spell

Wantable has a pretty extensive questionnaire to help them select the right products for your subscription.  I like a lot of the brands they feature regularly, too, like Vincent Longo and Tarina Tarantino.

If you'd like to subscribe to Wantable and use my referral link, please click HERE.

Ipsy was kinda... eh.. this month.  On the plus side.. that Rebecca Minkoff bag is gorgeous.  Totally makes up for the stinky cheap bags Ipsy used to use.  This is one I'll be using.

June Ipsy

On the negative side, that Be A Bombshell mascara was pretty universally panned for being the stinkiest mascara ever.  When I wrote to Ipsy customer service, they did explain that Bombshell avoided the use of fragrances that might cause irritation, and that the mascara was safe and usable.  They did send me a replacement item, though, which was totally awesome.

The NYX butter gloss in Creme Brulee is a very light pink that I might be able to pull off.  The Ofra universal eyebrow pencil looks like it's the right color for me.  I haven't used it, yet, though.


As far as the beach spray goes, I don't need any more volume or waves, and I didn't like the sunscreen scent.  I did love the RealTree fragrance, though!

Even though I didn't totally love this bag, Ipsy is still my fave subscription, and I usually get the best bang for my buck with it.  If you'd like to subscribe to Ipsy through my referral link, please click HERE.

I actually haven't tried as many things from my June Beauty Box 5 box as I usually do.


I love that they include a card with all the information about what you got, and prices if you want the full size.


Everyone was *raving* about the Vita Bath body wash, but I got a cupcake scented one that I gave to a friend.  She loves sugary-scented bath things, and I prefer citrus.  It's pretty awesome to have a friend to swap with.  Good karma points, anyway.

Even though the Organix is in a packet, I'll probably try it anyway.  I've been curious about this line of haircare, and love everything coconut oil.  Eslor's samples are also in a packet form, so I'll have to remind myself to use them.  I love masques right now, though, and can't get enough, so I'm sure I'll try the system.

I've never tried Vegan mascara, so I'm curious about the Glam Natural sample.  I kinda wonder what's in my other mascaras to make them *not* vegan.  Is there meat in your mascara?

I am in love with the lilac polish from Nikka K that I got in this month's box.  It's perfection, and the formula is really great, too.  So pretty, and a color I use a lot. I just wish they put the name on these promo bottles.


If you'd like to subscribe to Beauty Box 5 and use my referral link, please click HERE.

June's Birchbox had only one makeup item, one fragramce, a scrub, and some haircare.

June's Birchbox


I've actually only tried one thing out of this box - the Perlier cream.  Usually, I love the products that Perlier makes, but the scents are too heady.  This one isn't! It's just the natural, nutty smell of the Shea butter.  It's thick, but not greasy.  I keep this one by my desk - it's great for softening things up after I've gotten acetone everywhere from removing my manicure.

I'm excited about the full-sized Mally mascara - she makes some good products that I've enjoyed using.

I love new fragrances, but I'm just overwhelmed by them.  This one is still in it's little packet.  Not like you can binge-test fragrances, either.  I like floral, but not too big on woodsy smells, so I may find a home for Signature for Her by English Laundry.

I've never heard of Davines, but if this haircare gets tried, there's only *maybe* one use of the conditioner and leave-in treatment for my hair.  Not really enough to get excited about.

If you'd like to subscribe to Birchbox through my referral link, please click HERE.

There you have it! June subscriptions in a nutshell.  If you like trying new things, you might like a subscription box service.  Hopefully, this will give you a hint as to what you can expect from each one - though they all have questionnaires to fill out so that they can somewhat customize your experience.

Do you subscribe to a trial box?  What are your faves?

27 comments:

  1. Great to see all these unboxings!

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  2. You got a fantastic Wantable box! I got a REALLY bad one awhile back and have been skipping all of my months since. I know you can return if you don't like but I didn't want to do that... but it was REALLY bad lol

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    1. I didn't realize they could be returned - great tip! I've only gotten two Wantable boxes so far. So far, so good! My only peeve about the 'value' is that often times I'll get something that I'll see in a week on Hautelook at a deep discount.

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  3. Wow, it must be like Christmas each month! I think I love the Wantable box the most. Holy cow I need to get on that!

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  4. Okay, so I've got to get on the Mally Beauty mascara tip. Everyone has been raving about it!

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  5. Wow, I'm overwhelmed by all the goodies you've gotten over the month! I wish I could afford the Wantable, but I've gotta be satisfied with the affordable ipsy. Just curious, what did you get as a replacement from ipsy for the BAB mascara? I wrote and complained and they sent me a Starlooks Kohl Liner Pencil in Obsidian that they had already sent me a few months ago. I was surprised that BAB didn't send out a replacement product, as that horrible mascara really took their brand down several notches for me.

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    1. I got a Starlooks liner as well. Pretty sure it was Amethyst, but not sure. I wasn't that excited by it, but it was a nice gesture by Ipsy. Yeah, not going to be buying any BAB products in the near future, for sure. They could have handled that a lot better.

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  6. I like the lavender nail polish

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  7. Wow. That's a lot of stuff! I used to subscribe to a bunch of sample boxes but I got overwhelmed with all the samples I quit them all. I think your wantable box looks the best and this month's ipsy and Birchbox tie for the worst. at least thee BB5 included nail polish! They used to suck when they first premiered.

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    1. I'm getting overwhelmed, too - I'm hardly using any of the samples right now. When my subscriptions for Birchbox and BB5 run out, I'll have to re-evaluate them. I still like Ipsy, even though they're hit or miss. Wantable is more expensive, but I can skip month-to-month if I want.

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  8. June's ipsy bag definitely helped make up for that stinky mascara we got!

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  9. Nice round-up! I got that stinky mascara too. Yuck!

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  10. The Nick AC polish was a pleasant surprise, it lasted and it was such a pretty color.

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  11. I usually always love my WANTABLE box!

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  12. Both nail polishes are so pretty

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  13. I'm loving the nail polish you got in Wantable box!

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  14. You earn the runner-up title for subscription boxes! The woman above me is the Queen, lol! But seriously, you can't trade fragrance with "so-called" safety so I don't buy the excuse of that mascara maker. One cannot under estimate the power of olfactory in the purchase decision.

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  15. You got some good stuff! I have a bit of sticker shock over the Wantable box, but there's definitely some good stuff in there.

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  16. That purple lippie looks amazing!

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  17. Oh hunny you do not want to know what's in the other mascaras that makes them not vegan. It's much worse than meat!

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  18. So many great goodies. :D That Nicka K polish is gorgeous. I have a gold glitter from them and it would pair nicely with that purple. ;)

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Thank you for your comments! They mean so much to me, and I read all of them, even if I don't always have a chance to respond.

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