Glymm - January Edition

It seems like Glymm took forever getting to us for January.  I believe it came in the last few days of the month.  They were waiting on a product. *sigh* Why don't they plan these things months in advance so that things go smoothly?!  First, I'll try to get through the bag quickly and then I will rant at the end!

This months bag was probably my favourite.  It's a nice bronze colour.  I'm just so tired of these bags.  Maybe if they changed them up or something it would be fun. But, it's been about 7 or 8 months of the same bag in a different colour.

Burt's Bees Naturally Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion. Full size: 170ml - $12.99. Sample size: 7ml - .53.

So, this product wasn't even listed on the product card.  I guess it's a bonus.  It's nothing really special.  I got this for free from the company directly.  I've also received this in other beauty boxes. I am so overwhelmed with lotion right now that I've never been so soft in my life! On a quest to find out what the full size version was of this cream I discovered that there's a TON of Burt's Bees products I had no idea existed - including shampoo!

WEBSITE: Burt's Bees

La Fresh - Facial Cleansing Wipes. box of 3 wipes - $2.49.  Sample: 2 wipes - $1.66.

First of all...WHAT?!?!?! $3.00 for one wipe?!  I would never pay that for a wipe! Seriously, you can buy a bottle of something amazing for the amount of wipes you would need.  I'm actually surprised at the price considering I bought 4 different types of LA fresh boxes of 48 at $9.99 a box! None of the stuff that I bought was even that good - total buyers remorse.  So, anything I get from LA Fresh I just can't get excited to try!

EDIT: Glymm has bogus pricing. I checked the website it's $2.49 for 3 wipes. NOWHERE near the $3 per wipe they claim on the Glymm insert. Are we surprised?

WEBSITE: La Fresh

Lashem - Double Trouble Mascara. Full size: 6ml - $20.00. Sample size: .5ml (?) - $1.67.

So, we got lash/brow serum last month and people tried it and it wasn't even enough to use on one eyebrow! It was in a container the same size.  Glymm says that this mini mascara will last us up to 14 uses. Legit it will last all of one eyelash. :P The container (not including the brush/handle part) is all of 1.2 inches. I just can't get excited about something like this.

WEBSITE: Lashem

360 Skin Care - DMAE Firming Serum in Lavender Mint. Full size: 10oz - $34.00. Sample size: .20oz - .68.

I guess this is better than a foil packet.  It's still pretty small. I'm not really a fan of lavender. And again, I'm overwhelmed with creams/lotions etc.  I don't even have anything to say about this.  I'll try it...add it to the pile.  If it blows me away, great..I'd consider buying it...if they have a different scent.

WEBSITE: 360 Skin Care

This is how it looks inside.  It's a yellowy colour and it definitely smells like lavender.

Coolway - Boost Serum. Full size; 9oz - $40.00. Sample size: 1oz - $4.44.

I'm actually really happy to have this sample since I have purchased the Coolway system.  The boost serum is a lower concentration of their PRO FX serum that you have to get done at a salon.  But, since you do need to do the boost treatments in between (whether boost or the PRO FX) this is a great backup for me! No complaints here!  Unfortunately, if you don't have the Coolway system, you're not really getting the full benefit of the system with this product.

WEBSITE: Coolway

This is the whole bag. I payed $10 and newer subscribers pay $12. Plus taxes, it works out to $11.20. Total value of the January bag is $8.98!!!!! They want us to include the value of the bag as well each month $12. PFFT no. The thing I have noticed with Glymm is they basically give you just enough and rarely go over what you pay unlike other beauty subscriptions. This was not an exciting month. They were way under the amount we pay! There have been more disappointments than not with this subscription.

I'm cancelling Glymm. This is the 2nd sub that I am cancelling.  I will take up until March since it's my birthday month and I want to spoil myself. :P The following are the reasons I'm cancelling:

1. The bags are not worth the value. They've been going downhill.

2. Glymm has increased their minimum free shipping from $50 to $100.

3. The have eliminated their reward points of 1 point per $1 spent in their boutique, thus making it harder to collect points.  You will get points now only for referrals and for filling out surveys.

-Both of the above points they did slyly without notifying anyone. BOOOO-

4. They are increasing their prices to $15 a month!! WHAT?!  That's $16.80 a month with taxes! There is NO WAY that I am going to pay that much for a bag with the contents such as above! Ipsy costs me $15 a month and Starlooks $19 and I get amazing products.

So, that's it. 2 more Glymm bags for me and I am done after a year of subbing with them.  They lost me when I discovered they took away the loyalty rewards. 

There you have it.  What did you think if you got one?

XO

~A

Starlooks - January Edition

I love doing my posts about Starlooks.  They are such an amazing brand. If you're in Canada it is about $19.25 a month including shipping with the exchange rate. The theme of the January Starbox was "Eden." It came in a sage box with a gold stretch ribbon. 

January featured the new "Face of Starlooks" for 2013 - Johnnie Cartwright.

Of course, you receive a crystal in every box!

Eye Pencil in J203 Brown. Retails for $8.

This is a beautiful eyeliner. I'm really happy to receive brown. At one point I only wore brown liner, so it will be fun to experiment with again.  It is smooth, creamy and very nicely pigmented and doesn't smudge.  Starlooks makes note that you can use this eyeliner as an eye shadow base and can be used on the waterline.

A nice chocolate brown.

Diamondline Eye Pencil in JG804 Fancy. Retails for $8.

I have many products now by Starlooks and if you know me, you know how much I love this brand.  This particular pencil is probably one of the most exciting things I've received.  I know it's technically "just" an eyeliner...but this one is really special!  It is creamy and water-proof. It can be mixed with other liner colours, used on the waterline and you can also colour your entire lid with it as a base. Possibilities = endless!

Just look at this amazingly beautiful colour! You can see the sparkle!  I'm really eyeing another colour in the Diamondline line - Myth.

These are the two colours.  I wasn't doing the best to get precision, I really wanted to show you the beautiful colours.  I wish I showed you how these look layered.  Amaaaaaze balls! It makes a gorgeous olive colour.

858 Soft Small Dome Fluff Brush.  Retails for $15.

We don't get brushes very often with Starlooks.  They really are special.  Getting one of the brushes, you will soon come to realize the amazing quality and you'll want to purchase more. This super soft brush is made from 100% cruelty free pony hair. It's used for blending eye shadow and eye liner for a smokey effect, packing on pigments or loose shadows. It can be used on the inner corner of your eyes, eye lid or under lash line.

A closeup view:

Blush in Cutie Peach. Retails for $12.

This is a peach toned blush with a slight gold pearlecense. It has a really nice pigment, is smooth and light and gives just the right touch of colour for the winter months.  I can definitely see this colour becoming a quick favourite for me!

The size of the blush is quite large. I love the clear packaging. The case is really solid, so I think there is little worry of it coming apart in your makeup bag.

A closeup of the colour, you can see the gold shimmer.  It's pretty accurate on my monitor.

If we didn't already get totally spoiled this month, we received a gift from Abby Rose Designs.  Abby Rose Designs is a handmade jewelry and accessory company on Etsy.  The founders are Heather Galaska and Lauren Carver. The bracelet retails for $15.

I really like how the bracelet has a smaller strand of beads wrapping around it.  Totally appropriate for this months theme. Green is one of my favourite colours. :)

It's on a coiled wire and will go around your wrist about 1 1/2 times.

This is the whole box. The retail value is $58!  Totally worth the $19 I pay for it!  I think this is one of my favourite boxes to date!

Are you interested in trying Starlooks Starbox?  Email them at info@starlooks.com and let them know Aleksandra sent you!  The quality of the makeup is amazing and I would even venture to say that the quality is even better than MAC!

Hope you had a good start to your week!
XO
~A

Sunday Review - Revlon Lipstick and Eye Shadow

Today, I want to finish up my final post on the Revlon Selects program.  I had this ready to go last week but the past couple weeks have been really busy for me.  Here is the look with the shadow and the lipstick.

On my eyes I used Revlon PhotoReady Primer + Shadow in 501 Metropolitan.

The inside of the palette is really nicely laid out so you know what to use. The bottom left is the primer.  The bottom right is supposed to be a glitter topcoat. The rest of the eye shape is for the lid, crease and highlighter.

I haven't used this dark of a brown since my teen years, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually liked the colour.

Here is a really good example of how this product was difficult to work with. It was really hard to get a consistent shade of brown all over the lid.  I did use the crease colour in the crease, but it didn't do anything but leave a sparkly mess all over my face. I had a really difficult time blending it all out. I think the next time I try the palette I will use the crease colour on my lids and the lid colour in the crease.  It makes more sense that the crease would be a darker colour.

The colour that is supposed to be the glitter top coat (bottom right of the palette) I used as a liner.  I actually LOVE it as a liner and it stayed put! You can see how I used it as liner here in both the top of my lid and underneath.

The brow highlighter didn't really show much different than the primer.  The "primer" is basically an all over highlight colour in my opinion.  I'm not sure if the primer affected how long the shadow lasted but it did wear pretty good all day. I actually really like the colour of the primer and I plan on using it as a highlighter on my brow bone.

With the eye closed, it definitely looks somewhat messy.  It got worse as I tried to blend it and the crease colour sparkles flew all over.

With the eye open, I really liked the colour and how well it highlighted the colour of my eyes.

Here is a good picture of the loose glitter and powder.  It is all over my eye area and all over the side of my nose down to almost my nostrils, which makes it look like I have some serious blackheads!  Which brings us to my lips and the lip colour!

The lip colour is the Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede Lipstick in Backstage.  It's a long wear lipstick, so it does have a bit of a dryer feel to it than most lipsticks.  It did last all day and by the end of it it left a really nice pigment to my lips.  I applied a little bit of coconut oil to my lips prior so it wouldn't be as drying.

It's a really lovely colour that may look a bit overwhelming in the tube.

On the lips it is really nice berry red.  You can see the lipstick isn't very moisturizing but it definitely doesn't look dried out or cakey.

The verdict is that the lipstick is really pretty and I would probably try it in some different shades. I am however drawn to red and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I really like this colour!

The last thing I did want to mention was the nail file.  I didn't use it up until this weekend.  I was hoping that I would use it with the polishes that I reviewed but you know how that happens. ;)  I hardly ever use a file like this but I was actually really impressed! I was able to square off my nails really fast with this and it was super easy to use.  It's way better than the Julep ones I've been receiving in my boxes!  I know these don't last very long...but I will definitely be picking up more of the Revlon files!

So, that's the end of my Revlon Selects Reviews! I hope that I have the opportunity to participate in this again as it was a lot of fun!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

XO
~A

Beauty Box 5 - January Edition

So, it seemed that all the beauty boxes were so late in January! The ones that come from the US are a bit expected but the Canadian ones...what's going on?  Anyways, this is my Beauty Box 5 subscription.  It's $12 US a month and it's one of the better boxes for value.  This month, I wasn't overly happy with what I received.  Just ill suited products mainly. In general, boxes don't customize, but when they just don't make sense it's aggravating!

Pencil Me In Eye Pencil in "Pink Lady Sparks." Full size valued at $6.99

So, these are touted as "healthy eyeliner pencils" because they are infused with antioxidants and vitamins.  I was happy to get this, but have since tried it and was super disappointed.  Maybe, it would have been better in a different colour. There are 30 colours to choose from.  But, as it stands I'm so unimpressed that I doubt I would shop with this company. :(

WEBSITE: Pencil Me In Cosmetics

A nice feature is that it does come with a sharpener built into the lid.

This is the colour, and while it looks really pretty (and it has shimmer) I find it doesn't show. No matter how hard I try it will not show up. It was suggested by Crystal at Crystal Pistol Beauty to use it on  my water line as a highlighter as she's had great success. Buuut, I tried there too and nothing.  Not. A. Thing!! I don't have redness or anything like that and my water line is the same colour as my skin basically.  So, I went over and over hoping to get some brightness and in the end it left my eyes burning a bit.

Model Co Colourbox Lip Pencil in "Pomegranate." Full size valued at $18.00.

This is the third item that I am receiving in my beauty boxes from Model Co.  It's a brand I tried desperately to like because of the nice products.  The colours of lipstick I have received just have not worked for me.  Combined with the dull pigmentation in my lips it's made it a 90's brown shade! This liner...same thing! What's going on here! lol.  I know that not everyone has this problem and it's just me. It's always just me. ;)

WEBSITE: Model Co Cosmetics

This pencil has the nice feature of having a built in sharpener as well.

This is a closeup of the colour which is a darker pink on the brown side.

Here are the swatches. These swatches actually look better here than in person, you can see my skin was washed out by the flash.. ;) The top colour is the eyeliner and the bottom the lip liner. Definitely, doing justice to these things with the picture.  But, perhaps your experience has been better!

Ferro Cosmetics Blush X3 in "Desert Rose."  Full size retails for $17 however the website doesn't list a size, Sample has no size listed.

So, I've heard good things about this particular blush, so I'll give it a chance.  I'm just getting tired of the Ferro Cosmetics samples because the packaging is so terrible you lose half of it just by opening the package.  That's why this is still in the plastic.  This is a vegan product, so that is good news if that is something that is important to you!  The colour is supposed to last 15+ hours and you can also use it on your lips and eyes.

WEBSITE: Ferro Cosmetics

Back of the packaging.

There is very little product in this container.  It's probably 1/4 full if that.  This is a new colour for 2013, so it's nice to receive a current product.  It's pink in colour that has a hint of coppery warmth.  It's supposed to look great on any skin tone and work with any lipstick colour.

Perfumies Solid Perfume Stick in "Stardust." Full size retails for $7.00.

This is a neat little product.  It's a solid perfume.  It's ingredients are only 3; beeswax, coconut oil and fragrance oil.  If it wasn't for the beeswax this wouldn't hold up.  It's a bit softer than I think it should be as it can break off really easy.

The scent is really nice.  I originally was thinking citrus, so that's where I looked on their website.  I found it however under fruity. Each of the scents has a tagline and this one has: Unicorn manifestation highly possible. The scent description, "a luscious tropical fruit medley with peach, pineapple, lemon, lime, grapefruit, melon and fresh apple. So delicious it's from another universe."  I would be interested in trying other scents!

WEBSITE: Perfumies

The safety seal tab has, "smell pretty always" printed on it.  I thought that was a cute little touch I couldn't pass up on sharing.

My one dislike of the product, is that when you open it, it already has a huge chunk sticking out.  That's way more than I would open a semi solid..so you have to be super light handed at first so that piece doesn't break off.

Curls Curl Gel-Les'c (curl jealousy) - Curl gel/shine serum.  Full size is 8oz retailing for $25.00.  Sample size is 2 oz valued at $6.25.

The last item in the box was different for everyone.  They sent a "Surprise 2012 Favourite" in all the boxes. I was REALLY disappointed with this product.  I've been subbed since their second box and I've never seen this in any boxes AND I do NOT have curly hair?!  Why send something where a small percentage of people have curly hair. *siiigh*

WEBSITE: Curls

This is the whole box.  I'm sorry if I sounded a bit negative about it.  It just wasn't my favourite box.  I'm sure part of the problem is I'm just overwhelmed with all the boxes and it's really time to start cutting back!  The value of this box was approximately $39, so the value is there...it's just a lot of stuff that doesn't work for me.  I will keep subbing with this box though because it is one of the better ones.

If you are interested in subbing, please feel free to use my referral link HERE. I just wanted to add the recurring payment comes out the same time every month, I believe on the month you signed up. I *love* that.

Tomorrow is Wednesday...so hooray for hump day, yes?!

XO
~A