Month: June 2018
June 2018 Birchbox – Warm Weather Pleasures
I am easily distracted by pretty, shiny things. I am seriously considering cutting Birchbox from the lineup…but then I got the email at the end of May with the product choices/curated box and I saw a new kind of beautyblender. Yup, they just reeled me in for another month.
So I selected the Curated Box – “Warm Weather Pleasures” – to get a closer look BeautyBlender Original Foam Sampler. It’s not a full size sponge, just a tiny sliver of one? It’s supposed to grow when you add water, as opposed to the original one that stayed the same size. Well, I am less than impressed – it’s just a sample of a different kind of foam? I was expecting a usable sample.
Also in this month’s box: Red Earth Deep Dive Water Cream (new brand to me); Beautaniq Beauty Glow Serum; Davines SU Hair & Body Wash (I’ll use the shit out of this); and R+Co Waterfall Moisture + Shine Lotion (oh, this is for hair.)
Brand quality/recognition is taking a serious deep dive at Birchbox. The points program is now nearly worthless…just saying…
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Target Beauty Boxes – June 2018
My husband got lucky this month – a girly box AND a manly box.
The manly box – “Hello Dapper Dude” – has fancy men’s grooming products. Old Spice Hair Pomade (my husband shaves his head and my son has hair like Lady Godiva, so this will go to my brother-in-law); Cremo Blue Cedar and Cypress Body Wash (I’m not sure that there’s enough for a single shower in this little plastic bottle); Nivea Creme; Dove Men + Care Extra Fresh Body and Face Bar; Method Men’s Cedar + Cypress Body Wash (cedar and cypress again?); and Degree for Men Deodorant. Not a bad box.
The girly box – “Hello Fresh Face” – has product to help you give your skin a break from foundations by highlighting other features. This box has Eylure Accents (nope, nope, nope to fake eyelashes – feels like spiders on my face); Neutrogena Hydro Boost Mascara (interesting); Sleek MakeUP Major Matte Lip Cream in “Daydreamer”; Good Chemistry “Queen Bee” (OMFG, this smells good – it’s black currant, peony and amber and I must buy it immediately!); Garnier Micellular Water (good for cleaning up makeup mistakes); Colgate Optic White Express White Toothpaste; and Up & Up Premium Cotton Rounds. Except for those dumbass fake eyelashes, I’ll use everything in this box!
Two good value boxes!
Each box had the usual $3 off a Beauty/Personal Care purchase of $15 or more – but back to the regular kind of coupon with a bar code, not the one with a QR code like last month. Boo. Each box was $7, with free shipping and 5% off with my Red Card.
Girl Boss
This polish is called “Girl Boss”, but I don’t feel particularly “Boss” while wearing it.
This soft, demure polish is Pretty Woman “Girl Boss”, from April’s ipsy bag. It’s a nude dusty rose, with a hint of lavender. The color itself is fine, but the formula was horrible. I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and then two coats of “Girl Boss”. The first coat was streaky. The second coat…still streaky. There was little I could do to get coverage in some spots (see my ring finger). The bald spots just stayed bald. Fuck it, I topped it with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
This is the second Pretty Woman polish that ipsy has sent me – the first, “I Can’t Deal”, was from my January 2017 ipsy bag and I had MUCH better results – not streaky and better coverage. The main difference was the base coat – maybe the polish doesn’t like the Glisten & Glow?
June 2018 Julep Box – Sundae Funday
The theme of this month’s Julep box is “Sundae Funday”, and it’s a selection of creamy ice creamy colors. Though the colors were nice, I only ended up picking one – I was distracted by the lippies!
Julep launched three new shades of It’s Whipped Matte Lip Mousse – I got two of them. “Blind Date” was a no brainer – electric fuchsia metallic matte. My second selection was “Blush” – rose gold metallic matte. I’m nothing, if not predictable. Fuchsia and rose gold are my “things”.
For my polish, I waffled around, but ended up selecting Wonder Maven “Roberta” – breezy turquoise shimmer. I am likely to be rocky blue/turquoise/aqua pool nails all summer.
No candy AGAIN. At least there was an insert and some coupons.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Rorange
If you like Blurple, you’ll love Rorange!
Sinful Colors “Rorange” is exactly what its name says – red/orange. Or is it rust/orange? Either way, it’s an orange-leaning red. It’s very temperamental to lighting and background – that’s why I uploaded two pictures. It’s like two totally different polishes.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat. (The bottle is nearly empty, but it was a pain in the ass the get a full brush, so I tossed it after I was done.) I then did two quick coats of “Rorange” and then Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I really shouldn’t be wearing “Rorange” right now – it’s absolutely a fall color…but whatevAH, I do what I want!
2 Sales, 2 Hauls
Monday, June 4th was the first day of Bath & Body Works’ Semi-Annual Sale. You know I was there!
I am not particularly a fan of the location adjacent to my office – the dead/dying West Oaks Mall – but I managed to not get shanked while making my way through the parking lot and schlepping through Palais Royale to get there. (Have you ever noticed that Palais Royale ALWAYS smells like hot dog water and raw meat? Not just this one, but all of them. Why is that?)
First day of the sale, there’s plenty of stock and and it’s somewhat neat still. That doesn’t last long. Prices are the highest they’ll be, but that selection…
The first decision I made, was to add “Wild Rose & Apple” to my shower. I picked up 2 shower gels, a body lotion and a fine fragrance mist at 50% off. If I see it go to 75%, I’ll definitely buy more – this shit smells GOOD. My MiL even complimented it.
I considered adding “Rose Quartz” to my shower, but I decided to hold off – I had put some lotion on my hands when I first got to the store, but it started to annoy me. I did go ahead and add 4 Deep Cleansing Hand Soaps at $3 each, two $2 Astrology candles (one for me and one for my sis), a couple of 50% off bath poofs and 3 Wallflower Refills.
A very nice haul, especially since I had a $10 off $40 coupon in my email…but I already had an online order en route. Deep Cleansing Hand Soap was on sale for $3 last week and I couldn’t resist.
I ordered 9 of them. I had to, in order to use the free shipping on $25 coupon. Two of the soaps I picked up Monday were dupes of what I’d already ordered – “Pink Grapefruit Pop” and “Strawberry Lemonade”, but the rest were new.
I’m fairly certain that these will not be my last hauls from the sale. Sorry, not sorry.
OH! And TODAY, Bath & Body Works’ Instagram account regrammed my haul picture. I can die happy.
Peachy Keen
Digging deep into the basket of untried polish, I came up with a peachy keen combo.
Underneath the full size polishes, I found this little mini bottle of Ulta “Peach Parfait”. I had gotten it over three years ago in an Ulta Gift with Purchase. It’s nice and summery, so why not. I also came across Sinful Colors “Army Brat”, a glitter topper that’s only a few years old.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and then two coats of “Peach Parfait”. It was very thin, and was somewhat sheer, but it was enough to not need a third coat. I used “Army Brat” as a topper for my accent nails. I topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
So…I bet you’re wondering what is up with that weird black thing on my ring finger. “Army Brat” is from the Sinful Colors Camo Glitters Collection, so I am guessing that the curvy black glitters are supposed to emulate a camouflage pattern. I suppose that they would, if you had a dozen or so on your nail. It took five minutes to fish one out of the bottle, so I wasn’t about to test that theory. Ignoring the black glitters, it makes a nice peachy topper.
Jeffree
Two summers ago, Kat Von D publicly ended her 10 year friendship with Jeffree Star. No need to rehash the messy drama – anyone can google it. The bigger question – who will think of the makeup???
Kat Von D discontinued the Everlasting Liquid Lipstick “Jeffree” in the midst of the feud. But guess what popped up on Sephora’s site on sale for $12? That’s right, and ADD TO CART. Nevermind that the tube is AT LEAST two years old, if not three or four. Oh well.
Although the brand describes the color as “hot pink”, it’s really more of a plastic flamingo pink. It’s super streaky, too. I liked like a weirdo when I wore it. That’s what I get for being attracted to a product just because it’s discontinued.
Sephora also skimped and only gave me two samples in my box: tarte Rainforest of the Sea Water Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 15 Sunscreen (4 shades to try) and Korres Greek Yoghurt Foaming Cream Cleanser (pretty sure that’s not how you spell ‘yogurt’).
$507 to Rouge…
Thank Ya Very Much!
This polish makes me so goddamn happy. It’s just…summer!
This is Julep “Presley”, from last month’s box. It’s just a bright, happy reddish pink. It reminds me of flowers. Flowers don’t decide what color they are – they just ARE.
If Elvis wore nail polish, this is definitely the color he would wear.
This is two coats of “Presley” over Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Base Coat.
I need this on my toes!
The Mother of All Sample Bags
Ulta might be stingy when it comes with its regular samples, but they are more than generous when it comes to their gift with purchase sample bags. To kick off the Memorial Day weekend, Ulta offered the Mother of All Sample Bags with a $65 purchase…but first, my purchases.
When I get the emails with a sample bag or gift with purchase, I’ll check the sales and fill up my bag. Sometimes I’ll complete the transaction, but oftentimes I don’t. I’ll usually just leave stuff in my bag for next time. Unfortunately, my bag was empty, so I had to start this shopping trip from scratch. I started by checking the Ulta Sale page. I noticed that Edge/Skintimate Shave Gel was BOGO 50% off. Unfortunately, they were out of Edge, so my husband will get to shave his head with Skintimate. Then I noticed that L’Oreal Colorista Semi-Permanent for Brunette Hair was $8.99, down from $10.99. Since it doesn’t work all that well, I figured it would be perfect to use on the kids. I got 3 – Teal, Midnight Blue and Maroon. I also found Ofra Limited Edition Metallic Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in “Fantasia” (it reflects in blue, red and purple – it’s almost holographic) for $10.20, down from $17.
Another deal I was able to take advantage of was a Makeup Revolution Mystery Bag Offer with $25 purchase. This one was hard to do, since Sally just sent me ALL the newest palettes. I decided on the SophX Ultra 24 Eyeshadow Palette, $15 and the Pro HD Brighter Than My Future Palette, $20, but $16 after my 20% off any one item coupon. I had never heard of @SophieDoesNails until this palette, but apparently, she’s a famous Influencer in the UK. I tried out the eye shadows today (without primer) and they do seem to be slightly higher quality than the normal eyeshadows. They blended seamlessly and lasted decently well. Most of the colors are shimmery and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all the dark greens, but looking forward to playing with it. It may – or may not – be a dupe for the Morphe Jaclyn Hill Palette. It looks somewhat similar, but infinitely more wearable. The Pro HD palette is a blush/highlighter palette. The shimmers are INTENSE. I tried one of the striped ones and had to pat half of it off – I looked like an alien. Good stuff, man. Inside the Mystery Bag: the Unicorns Unite Salvation Palette (I actually don’t have this one!), The One Sculpt Contour Stick, Ultra Strobe Stick in “Peach Lightening”, and Salvation Velvet Lip Lacquer in “The One for All”. Not bad.
And now. what was in the 29 piece Mother of All Sample Bags? In no particular order: tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer (4 shades); DevaCurl Melt into Moisture Matcha Butter Conditioning Mask; Urban Decay Troublemaker Mascara; Sexy Hair Sexy Suds Shampoo & Conditioner; Ulta Beauty Poreless Face Primer (nice); Benefit Roller Lash (one of my fave mascaras); Hempz Herbal Healthy Hair Herbal Fortifying Shampoo; First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads; Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion SPF 50; Sexy Hair Love Oil; Prada Candy; Maybelline Great Lash (that iconic pink and green tube); Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Cloud Cream Cleanser; NYX Worth the Hype Volume & Lengthening Mascara; Eyeko London eye do liquid eye liner in “carbon black”; Woman by Ralph Lauren; dermalogica Sound Sleep Cocoon Transformative Night Gel-Cream; Julep Love Your Bare Face Cleansing Oil; living proof. No Frizz Nourishing Style Cream; Mario Badescu Aloe Vera Toner (this opened inside the bag and got everything a bit MOIST); Lime Crime Unicorn Hair in “Bunny” (there’s no way this peachy shade would ever work in my hair – or anyone’s hair for that matter); philosophy Purity Made Simple Moisturizer; Mamonde Pore Clean Clay Mask; Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Gloss in “St. Tropez”; Lime Crime Diamond Crushers in “Lit” (even though I think Lime Crime is a shit brand, I’m looking forward to trying this one out); Kenra Platinum Luxe One Leave-In All-in-One Miracle Spray; COOLA Dawn Patrol Classic Primer; Garnier Skin Active Micellular Foaming Gel Cleanser; and Becca Ultimate Coverage 24-Hour Foundation (3 foil swatches). That’s a lot of stuff, right? That’s at least $50-60 worth of samples! AND it came in a huge, high quality woven canvas makeup bag. Oh, and did I forget the $5 off $15 Ulta Collection coupon?
I also forgot my regular samples – Redken All Soft Shampoo & Conditioner and HASK Biotin Boost Thickening Shampoo & Conditioner. I checked my Ultimate Rewards Balance and I just need ~$50 more to hit Platinum. There’s a slight possibility that I could make Diamond if I get a few haircuts…