Spring 2014 Target Beauty Box Review

How obvious is it that I have a box problem? Can you tell yet? I actually plan on talking about other things in my life, if I reach a point when I don't have boxes arriving all the time between work, the radio show and my other blog!

But in the meantime, another box arrived today. It's the Spring Beauty Box from Target! I guess this is something they do periodically, never quite making it a subscription thing, or even a regular intervals thing. This Target Beauty Box was $5 with free shipping, and if you have a REDcard (even the debit kind), you get another 10% off, which is pretty darn cool.

Packaging

It comes in pretty heavy-duty box, rivaling Birchbox in durability and re-usability.

First look. Do you see what I see? Uh-oh.

You again!

So the first thing I see is this guy! One of my former nemeses from the Birchbox this month! Why are they so desperate to promote this item? Because that's what it's coming off as to me: desperate. Jergens is a big company, that doesn't sell it enough? To top it off, they're also giving away samples of this guy on the Target sample site. You might have to have an account to see it, but as of today, I swear, it's on there!

I should note a couple of things here though: 1) I don't hate this product, I just find it funny that it's following me. Also I'm going to give away both of these samples because they contain animal products. 2) The Target Box sample is twice the size of the one in my Birchbox. So technically, Target went above and beyond on this one.

Left: Birchbox, right: Target

The dumbest part is, Target tells you what's going to be in the box before you purchase it, but it's been a couple of minutes, so I forgot. I'm sorry, rant over.

A new mascara! That's pretty much worth the cost of the box right there! I have a mascara that I've chosen as my signature (Rimmel Extra WOW Lash), and I currently have another two or three open, so I'll probably save this one for a while, but mascara is one beauty product I always love trying!

This is a texturizing spray. I've never used something like this, but I feel like it would work with my mop-top. Disappointed to see glycerin again, but I'm the idiot who keeps failing to read ingredients before purchasing. After the boxes I have coming, I think I'm going to make an effort to stick to stuff like Petit Vour, just so I'm not as whiny. No one likes a hypocritical vegetarian who's also whiny about it.

Now this one I can get into. Herbal Essences always used to be my go-to shampoo and conditioner, they make great stuff and they're pretty animal-friendly as big pharmaceutical companies go. Also I've been wanting to try dry shampoo for quite a while (particularly on those days when my hair looks like it took up a day job as a fry cook). So I might even end up reviewing this stuff more in-depth later.

From what I can tell so far, this is a pretty rad gloss. It's not a super loud color on or off, seems to work as a moisturizer, smells great and it's also not sticky...There's no way it's this good though, that would be crazy! It even feels pretty cool on the lips. Like Chap-Stick is a winter coat, and this stuff is like a light sweater. I don't know that's how I'd describe it.

The box also came with a $3 off coupon for a beauty purchase of $15 or more. Since Target carries my favorite Pacifica lotion, amongst other things, I'll almost certainly use it.

This box is pretty cool. It's mostly useful stuff, good quality products. The downside is no surprises (unless you're like me and forgot what you ordered), but the plus side is you can decide if it's going to be worth the $5 before you buy it. But the value is still really good! The mascara alone is valued at $6.29 minimum. I'm seeing it sold all over the internet for upwards of $7. And that's just one thing, but they're all pretty cool items. I really hope they end up doing a subscription box, because it's definitely worth it.

-E.S.

February 2014 Glossybox Review

Hey guys, Wow am I behind on my reviews or what?! This is actually my mom's subscription box so she kindly let me use it for a review. She has had this box for over a year so obviously it has some good products in it.  So with her help, here's the review!

Glossybox is a monthly make-up subscription box that is $21.00 a month with free shipping. Every month you get 5-6 luxury beauty products, the only reason why I have not subscribed to this box is because whatever my mom won't use I get! Re-gifting is one of the best things about subscription boxes because you won't always get products that you love. Let's dive in!

When you open up the pretty pale pink box here's what you see, my mom said that usually the ribbon isn't just pushed to the side so try to ignore that! It's always a light pink ribbon and wrapped in black tissue paper.

Here's what you see when you untie the ribbon and
peel back the tissue paper. I'm pretty jealous of this box because I want to try everything!

This was the first product that I grabbed because I was excited to see another POP beauty product, I tried to find the price of this for you guys but I couldn't find it anywhere!

If you have read my IPSY glam bag review, you know that I received a POP beauty lip gloss last month. When I opened this up the first thing I did was smell it, because the last POP product I got had a odd smell to it and I was happy to find it has no smell! This color is Melted Peach, which is a good name for it because it is a very light color, light enough that most people might have to wear some color under it. Another big thing for me with lip products is if it's sticky or not and again I was happy to find that it's not!











 The next product I saw was this, and I must say that they got me the with the name, it's just perfect!














These look pretty cool, i'll have to beg my mom to let me borrow one just so I can see how it works! These run about $12 for three patches.

















So no matter how I moved this or how many pictures I took of it I just couldn't get it right! This is eyeliner by Sumita, and I'm sure i'll be seeing this in the next present I get from my mom because she doesn't use eyeliner and she knows that I use way too much! Eyeliner is my second favorite makeup product behind eye shadow so I can't wait to try it! This runs about $15.00.










This is a very pretty pale pink nail polish by Lauren B Beauty, called City of Angels. As I was looking up this polish I found that I couldn't stop looking! All the nail colors are named after the beautiful L.A, so it was fun to look through all the colors! This color is very light for me so I can't wait to order some colors that I can show off! This bottle runs $18.00 a bottle.
                                                                     

The last product is hair beautifier for color-treated hair by Pureology. This is for all hair types and can be sprayed on before styling to help with managing your hair and help with the shine. This product runs $24.00 for a 6 ounce bottle. I don't have much to say about this because neither me or my mom has used it but I have read some good reviews about it!              

So what do you guys think about this months GlossyBox? I'd love to hear what you think! I'm off to write more reviews on IPSY, and hopefully MunchPak! What kind of boxes would you like to see us review? It's always like Christmas to receive a new box so let us know!

-F.M.

March 2014 Birchbox Review

This is my second Birchbox, and I'm a little disappointed. Birchbox is $10 a month, and features a variety of beauty items.

First looks

Having heard good and bad things about the Birchbox, I subscribed and LOVED my first box. This one fell a little short of the marker though.

I'm getting overloaded with moisturizers, and this one is a glycerin one. I'm trying to not use new glycerin moisturizers from animal sources, so I'm passing on this. It doesn't smell great anyway. Not bad, just eh.

Looks like a schnazzy product, but glycerin again. And two moisturizers in one box? This is the "Birchbox find" item, so it doesn't technically count as one of the items, but still.

And a third moisturizing product! This one has no glycerin though, so I'm in. It has an odd, medicinal smell, and the consistency of Vaseline (but luckily, it's renewable!). It feels too lip-balmy on the hand, so I'm not sure how much I'll use it.

I got a hair oil from this company in last month's box. Much like the oil, this stuff smells great and seems to work pretty well. Since I have short, straight hair, I'm probably not the target audience, but maybe it will help on bad hair days.

Such a cute package and product! There's a shirtless cowboy on the inside, just as a spoiler. I got the "Pie" color, and it's perfect for me (at least I think)! Also the consistency of this stuff is great. It's not waxy at all, it's dry and yet smooth. Not good on chapped lips (which I always have), but some balm over top will solve that.

I'm hoping this month was just an off month, because I loved last month, but this time I felt like I got $5-6 worth of stuff, and only $2-3 of stuff that I like. I'll give them at least one more chance before I give up, so hopefully they redeem themselves.

What did you think of this month's box? Was it better or worse than February's? I'd love to hear other people's views.

-E.S.

Heavenly Hygienics Review

My Merco Box earlier this month came with a coupon for $5 off a purchase at Heavenly Hygienics, so I made said purchase! There was a mixup with shipping, so they ended up sending me an extra for free!

The Merco Box came with their Cherub Balm lotion bar, which was the "Sweet Spirit" scent. It smelled amazing, but I thought I'd try something different with my coupon.

I ordered a "Fallen Angels" vegetarian soap (one of the soaps not pretty enough for the big time), and it came in "King Soap" scent. It wasn't my favorite smell ever, but it wasn't bad. I gave it to my sister though, since she's been more responsible than me, and has switched to glycerin-free soaps. I also ordered a "Holy Kiss" sweet mint lip balm, which smells great, with a very mild scent.

My bonus item was the Salt of the Earth "Rapture" scented bath salts, which I used today for a very relaxing bath. Plus they sent along a handwritten note, telling me about the products I bought.

I love this place! I'm totally going to buy from them again.

-E.S.