August Subscription Boxes - Wantable, Ipsy, Beauty Box 5, and Birchbox

 Hello, Fireflies!

Lots of subscription box goodies to show you for August! Hang on....

July Subscription Boxes - Wantable, Ipsy, Beauty Box 5, and Birchbox

Hello, Fireflies!


Is it still July? Dang, missed it by a day.  Getting closer now! If you'd like to see the breakdown of my beauty sub boxes for July, there's a ton of pix after the jump!

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.

Subscription Box Battle! May BB5, Ipsy, Birchbox, and Petit Vour

Hello, Fireflies!

Have you thought about subscribing to one of the many sample beauty boxes out there?  I really do enjoy getting to try different things that I might not otherwise find out about, or getting a sample without risking buying a whole box of one product.  Today, I have the May boxes of 4 different sub boxes, so you can get a sense of what's out there!

Ipsy-stravaganza! March and April box review

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm excited to show you TWO months of Ipsy bags!  I love Ipsy.  For $10 a month, you get to try all kinds of cool new stuff.

Let's start with March's bag.  First off, the BAG.  It's mega-cute, and designed by a new artist that they're giving some exposure to.  Which, if I could have remembered to save the tag, I would share with you.  Oops.

This was a great makeup month! Lots of goodies.  First up, the Pixi Primer, with a little bit of shimmer to it, for that luminous glow.  In the third pix, you can see how it shimmers.  I'd pair that with a nice BB/CC cream and let the glow come through.

Probably my favorite item this month was the Marvelous Moxie deluxe lipstick in Get Ready.  This is a perfect 'your lips but better' pinkish-nude shade.  Great formula, too.  I used the code to order something from their site and got a sample of the mascara and free shipping - and, because they said they were having some problems with their site, they gave me a code for some more freebies.  It was awesome.

I wasn't that excited about the NYX palette, not because it isn't good, but I have a ton of neutral palettes, and I probably won't reach for this one as often.  Then Chella liner is a gorgeous bright blue.  I didn't have any problems with my swatch, but I understand that other bloggers had problems with application and the tip skipping.

Here's all the swatches - Get Ready lippie across the top, the three eyeshadow shades from the NYX palette, and the Chella liner on the bottom.

But wait, there's more! I also have April's bag to show you.  Another cute bag! Beauty Rocks!

When subscribers found out that the Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Black Velvet was included in this bag, it drove everyone into a tizzy - and rightly so.  It's awesome.  Nice, soft black, easy to apply and wear. 

The Elizabeth Mott shadow is a nice color that everyone can use - and everyone probably has a bazillion pans of.  It's a nice shimmery champagne color, great for highlights.

I have some Cailyn products, and I really like the packaging - the applicator brush is part of the top! So far, I've enjoyed my two gel eyeliners from Cailyn, and now I love this tinted lip balm in Apple Pink, too.  Another great color.  It's a balm, so it's not going to last for long - but it's so much fun to reapply.

Here's swatches of those three products - U/D Black Velvet, Elizabeth Mott Champagne, and Cailyn Apple Pink.

I haven't tried the Dr. Brandt exfoliator yet, but I've heard it's pretty awesome.  I have been experimenting with a couple of different physical exfoliators lately, and I didn't want to overdo it with a chemical one, too.

I have a roll-on perfume in Sea Salt from Demeter, and I love it, so I was excited to get this one in Jasmine.  It's a really strong, clear jasmine scent.  Very pretty, but not very complex.  I think this would appeal a lot to people who like to layer their scents to create something unique.  If you like bath products with a jasmine scent, this would be great to apply after a bath to make it linger a little longer.

Have you checked out Ipsy yet?  Personally, I don't think there's a better subscription for the money.  If you're interested in subscribing and sending a few Ipsy points my way, click through my affiliate link HERE.

My #NailArtForNubs post goes live at 9am Eastern - it's a cool half-moon mani featuring Aly's Dream Polish!

Ipsy February bag

Hello, Fireflies!

Ignore for a moment that we're almost to the end of March, and be excited about this great Ipsy bag I got in February.

I've tried the Dr. Lim Acne Spot Corrector a couple of times on some blemishes I have. Yes, I'm in my 40s and I still break out.  I don't have wrinkles, so I'll take the tradeoff.  I didn't have much luck with this product, though.  My angry red pimples stayed angry and red for the same amount of time they usually do.  I did have some luck with smaller, less angry pimples going away faster with liberal application of the product, but I didn't notice anything different from when I use something from Clearasil, for example.

I really liked the POP lipgloss in Peony Petal, swatched first on the left.  Nice pigmentation, felt nice - I didn't get any smell from it, but I've heard some bloggers were sensitive to theirs.

The middle swatch is the City Color Be Matte Blush in Fresh Melon.  I am all about the peachy-pink colors right now, and matte is IN.

The swatch on the right is from that tall tube, which I originally thought was a lip product, but no, it's an Eye Cordial Shadow Tint & Base from Tini Beauty in Ambrosia.  I love metallic eye colors, especially as a base.

Here's another look of POP Peony Petal on my Pursed Pout. Perfection.

You're probably already familiar with Zoya polish, and Odette was a color I really wanted, but was holding out buying on the remote possibility it was coming in this bag.  I tell ya, when I saw I had gotten Odette, I felt like I won the lottery.  It's gorgeous.

I played around with placing some individual iridescent glitters on it, but you could really only see them in close up pictures like this one.  In Real Life, it was a hot mess. 

Have you checked out Ipsy yet?  If you're interested in subscribing and sending a few Ipsy points my way, click through my affiliate link HERE.

But wait, there's more! My #NailArtForNubs post for today is live - stripes and flowers, anyone?