August Julep Maven box

I received my August box for my Julep Maven subscription.  Since I skipped last month, I decided that I should get a box this month.  I previewed my box, which according to my style profile is "Classic with a Twist."

You have the opportunity to switch boxes, and I decided to switch to the Boho Glam box this month.  I really liked the kelly green color in the Boho Glam box, and thought it would be great for fall.

The Boho Glam box arrived and I received a Julep lengthening mascara in the color Espresso Brown, nail color Gunta which is a royal blue, and Popova which is the kelly green color.

As I was dashing out the door this morning, I put the blue color on my toes and I LOVE it.  It only took one coat and it looks great.  I am surprised by how much I like the blue color, since I really wanted this box for the green polish.  

When I was finalizing my purchase I noticed that I was allowed to choose one free add-on polish.  It was listed as a perk for new customers.  So I think that is a nice bonus.  Add-on's are normally $4.99, I believe.  I choose a neutral color called Sophie.  

Overall, I'm really pleased with my polishes this month.  I think these colors are fantastic for fall, and I'm looking forward to wearing them all.  I just got a manicure yesterday, with the polish color OPI Dim Sum Plum, but my next polish change will be to the kelly green Julep color.  I've been impressed with the quality of these polishes, so I excited to get a lot of use from these new colors.

Thanks for reading!!

August Birchbox

It's already September, and I'm just now posting about my August Birchbox.  Maybe that's an indication of how underwhelmed I was by these products this month.

The theme of this month's Birchbox was Beauty School and the shipping box had a cute school design.  I was excited by the theme because I love school supplies and back-to-school time.

The insert that came with the box this month was really unique.  It was a much more detailed insert, and had tips on beauty products.  I loved the look of it, but didn't find it very useful.  

My box included:

A Schick Hydro razor - best item in my opinion, because it's a nice razor, and useful.  However, it's not very exciting and not what I look forward to "sampling" in my beauty box.  

Whish Shave Cream in pomegranate - this is nice but regular price is $20, and I will never pay that for shaving cream

Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream - a tiny tube.  I probably won't try this because it looks a little strange in my opinion.  

Stila foundation sample - I'm glad to be able to try the new Stila Stay All Day foundation, but this sample is just on a sample card.  It doesn't provide enough product for me to try on my whole face, and actually sample the product for a whole day.  I got a better size of sample foundation free in my last order from Urban Decay (a sample of their Naked foundation).  So I'm disappointed that this tiny sample was included in a box that I paid for.  If you see the Stila postcard in the box above, there are just three flat samples of foundation on the back of that card.  The same kind of samples that you sometimes find in magazines.  You can see it clearly below.  

Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur perfume sample - I love this and have been wearing it almost everyday.  I will probably buy the full-size of this perfume.  However, not to be a party pooper, but this is a TINY sample and I could get the same sample for free at Sephora.  So this doesn't really fulfill my expectations for my beauty box.  

I'm hopeful that next month's Birchbox is going to be "too cool for school,"  to make up for this month's offerings.

Thanks for reading!!

The Prettiest Palette Ever!

While I was on vacation I was getting so frustrated with not having the right eyeshadow.  I brought a small Bobbi Brown palette with me, but didn't feel like the shadows were very good.  I was having to use so much shadow just to notice some color on my lids.  I bought a couple of drugstore Covergirl eyeshadows while I was there, and those were ok.  But I just kept wishing I had brought my Naked palette with me.

So I decided that I am a true-blue Urban Decay shadow lover, so why do I keep trying to fight it?

Just when I had this revelation about myself, Urban Decay sent me an email about a sale.  So I jumped right over to their website, and picked up a few shadows.

The product that I was most excited about was the Urban Decay Vegan palette.

I have seen this palette in stores, but never wanted to shell out the money for it.  I always feel guilty about spending money on eyeshadow because I already have so much at home.

Lucky for me, Urban Decay had this $34.00 palette on sale for $13.00!!

I also picked up two of their old formula eyeshadow singles.  They are calling them "vintage" now because they have their new formula eyeshadows out.  The vintage shadows were on sale for $9.00, and they are normally $17.00.  I picked up Blaze and Twice Baked.  (the funny thing is that the Vegan palette has Twice Baked included in the palette, but I didn't know that at the time)

When my order arrived at my house, I realized that I had just purchased the prettiest palette ever made.

Oh, not the eyeshadows.  The outside of the palette itself.  The eyeshadows are great, of course.  But I just love the packaging and design on this product.

The palette comes with a mini Eyeshadow Potion in Sin.   

Even the back is pretty!

Gorgeous shimmery shadows and a 24/7 liner pencil 

Would it be weird to buy a second one, so that I don't have to get this one dirty?  :)

This great sale is still going on over at UrbanDecay.com, and this pretty palette is still available.  I love it.

Thanks for reading!!

Vacation shopping at Ulta

Stopped in to Ulta with my mom yesterday.  It was raining and a little dreary yesterday, so not a great day for the beach.  I really wanted to find an inexpensive eyeshadow since I was not happy with the palette that I brought with me.  I was also looking for the Benefit limited edition London primer, which this store did not have.

I ended up getting just a few things.
Excuse the quality of these photos, I didn't plan to blog here so I only brought my iPad.

I have been wanting this particular Cover Girl eyeshadow trio.  It's called Major Distraction.  I liked the combo of colors the first time I saw it, but have been unable to find it again until yesterday.

Cover Girl products were buy one, get one 50% off.  I also bought a really nice neutral trio called Cafe Au Lait.  I bought it for the middle color, but I actually like all three colors and used all three in my eye shadow look today. The colors are all pretty light, so I think you need a darker crease color (like the one in the Major Distraction trio). 

I have been wanting to try the NYX lipgloss, so I decided to buy two since they were buy one, get one 50% off.  I got a light sparkly pink gloss called Perfect, and a bright sparkly Barbie pink called Gold Pink. They are both shimmery, and they feel smooth on your lips.  Not sticky at all.  Plus, they smell like bubblegum which is always good. 

On the lips they are both pretty sheer colors, so I might use them over another lip color. 

Finally I was sucked in once again by the allure of the mini-size beauty product.  It never fails.  They were selling a mini size Benefit Girl Meets Pearl, which is a shimmery highlighter.  Since I love trying new things, and I love Benefit, I bought it.  The sad part is that it was supposed to be $8, but they charged me $10.  I didn't notice that until I got home.  Also, the product is really MINI.  Smaller than I expected, but you only need to use a tiny bit so I guess it's ok.  

On my hand the product looked very shimmery.  It gives a pretty glow, but I was worried about how this would look on my skin.  I didn't know if it would be wearable for daytime, since it looked so shimmery.  It turns out on my skin, I couldn't really see the product at all.  It looked a little shiny when I put it on, but once it settled I didn't notice the product very much.  Not something that I will purchase the full-size version of in the future.  I might try it instead as an eyeshadow color, and brow bone highlighter.

Here is a photo with the Girl Meets Pearl on the left side of my face, and not the right.  I don't see much difference between the two sides.  

That's all for my vacation makeup shopping.  Thanks for reading!! 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

From Pinterest

I miss my Urban Decay Naked palette!!

I didn't bring my Naked palette on vacation with me because it was too long to fit in my travel makeup bag.  I brought a smaller eyeshadow palette, but it just isn't as amazing as my Naked palette.

Solution for next vacation---buy a bigger makeup bag!!

My Everyday Lip Favorites

I have a secret....
I am a lipgloss addict.
I carry 7 lip glosses in my purse everyday.

That's more lip glosses than dollar bills in my purse.
:)

Here is my collection of everyday lip favorites.

Combination of drug-store and high-end lip products. 

My first favorite is a Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait.  (I actually have another Lip Butter favorite, in Berry Smoothie, but for some reason it's not in my lip gloss bag.)  This Lip Butter was the first non-gloss lip product that I've purchased in probably over 10 years.  I really dislike traditional lipsticks.  This Lip Butter is a combination of a lip balm and a lip stick, with a hint of a gloss mixed in.  The Peach Parfait is a light peachy-pink.  It is one of the Lip Butters that has a shimmer to it, but it's a subtle shimmer.

Peach Parfait

My most neutral, subtle lipgloss favorite is my Estee Lauder Pure Color shimmer gloss in Racy Raspberry.  I got this gloss at Macy's when I had a consultation to get a new foundation.  I believe this is from a special summer collection.  This gloss is very subtle-looking and would be great over any color, but I often wear it alone when I am dressed casually.  

Racy Raspberry

My next gloss is actually my current favorite.  I bought it on a whim at Target, and after I purchased it I had buyer's regret.  I tried it on and didn't think I would like it, but I've been wearing it very often lately.  It's a L'oreal leGloss gloss in Golden Splash.  It's a light orange color, and I think it looks better now that I have a slight tan.  

Golden Splash

I have been in a long-term relationship with the L'oreal leGloss in Raspberry Splash (I think that's the name although the writing has rubbed off!!).  I think this may be the second or third tube that I've purchased.  I think the color is very wearable.  It's a bright, fresh pink for summer.  I have numerous other shades of L'oreal's LeGloss that I trade out depending on the season.  

Raspberry Splash

My next two everyday favorites are from Tarte.  I love the Tarte Lipsurgence products, but they're a little pricey.  My very favorite one is called Frisky.  The Lipsurgence products are very moisturizing, have good color pay-off, and Frisky leaves your lips a little glossy.  The Lipsurgence products come in matte, but I like the ones with shimmer called Lipsurgence lip lusters.  They also have a minty smell, which I enjoy.

Frisky

The next Tarte lipsurgence I received in my QVC New Beauty TestTube.  It was my first Lipsurgence, and I was disappointed when I saw the color that I received.  I received the Lipsurgence lip luster in the color Fever.  I have never worn a red lip product, so I figured I wouldn't get any use out of this Lipsurgence.  But when I layered the product with a gloss on top, I found that I was able to enjoy it.  I prefer the Fever color for the winter time, instead of summer.  Depending on the color of gloss that I layer over it, I can make it more wearable for summer.  

I am currently pairing it with Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine lipgloss in Peaceful, which makes it more coral than red.  

Fever alone.  It's showing up a little lighter in this photo.  In reality, it's a little deeper red than this photo shows.  

Fever plus Peaceful = coral

I feel better now that I've shared my lipgloss addiction with you.  

I can zip them all back up in their little lipgloss bag, and try to keep them safe from ferocious lipgloss-stealing puppies.  

                 

        Thanks for reading!!

First Julep Maven box

I got my first shipment of Julep Maven nail polish today.  Julep Maven is like the other beauty subscription services, with the products focused around nail care.

There is currently a deal over at Julep.com, and if you enter the code "PENNY" you get your first shipment for just one penny!  Yep, just one single penny.  Each additional month is $19.99.

Click here to go to the Julep site.

When you join Julep Maven, you take a style quiz and find out what style category you belong to.  It was a fun little quiz, and I turned out to be "Classic with a Twist."  Each month you will receive the nail polish colors to go along with your style profile, but you can change your style if you like some of the other colors better than the ones chosen for you.

In my first box I received two nail polishes, a pedicure cream and purple pedicure toe separators.

I received a turquoise color called Robin and a bright red color called Rose.  They survived the Texas heat well, because it was over a hundred degrees and the polishes sat in the mailbox all day today.  I was a little disappointed that the polishes arrived with the writing already rubbing off a little.

Here is a photo of the polishes in natural light.

The first thing I noticed was that the polishes go on very smoothly and have very good "coverage," so to speak.  They also dry fairly quickly, which is a big plus for me because I'm impatient.  The photos shown below are with two coats of polish on each finger.

This turquoise color is called Robin.  It's pretty and great for summer.  I think I already have some polishes that are very similar in color.  

This is Rose, the bright red color.  It has a great finish.  I don't typically like red polish, but this one is pretty.  I think I might paint all my nails this color, just to do something different.  And because I paid so much for these (a whole penny!) I really want to get my money's worth.  

So if you (1) love nail polish and (2) love getting surprises in your mailbox, then click here to check out how to join Julep Maven.

thanks for reading :)

July Birchbox and MyGlam

My Birchbox and MyGlam bag both arrived on the same day.  So exciting!  

I was really excited about Birchbox this month, because it was the Glamour magazine edition.  I felt hopeful that since Birchbox was partnering with such a big name, like Glamour, that we would get some awesome brands in our Birchbox.  Also, I've been a little disappointed with the past few MyGlam bags.  

So I decided to open my MyGlam bag first.  My first impression was that the bag felt very full.  A good sign??

The theme this month was called "Beach Beauty."  How timely, since I'm going to the beach in two weeks :)

I really loved the bag this month.  It is a pink mesh bag with rainbow colored stripes.  I think I will use it to hold all of my lipgloss in my purse.  

There were 5 items in this month's bag.  Three of the items were deluxe-size samples and two items were full-size products.  

I had a helper.

My thoughts about the products:

-  "Yes to Cucumbers" soothing hypoallergenic facial towelettes:  I really like that these were included because this is a great size for travel, and I'm going out-of-town in two weeks.  However, I've tried these before and they broke me out.  I will take this pack with me on vacation, and give it another chance.  

- "NuMe" Hydrating Conditioner:  Another NuMe product in the MyGlam bag.  It looks like this could be good quality, because it says no parabens, contains argan oil, bamboo extract.  I will not be trying this because I am using my Wen cleansing conditioner.  Plus, if i liked this, it would be annoying to have to order my conditioner online every time through NuMe because I don't think it's sold in stores.  

- "Kiehl's" Ultra Facial Oil-Free Lotion:  This is perfect for my oily skin, so I will be giving this a try.  It smells nice and  clean.

- "Circus by Andrea's Choice" Nail Color:  I've never heard of this brand, but I love nail polish.  This is a full-size product.  I got the white color called Reverso.  I don't typically wear white nail polish, but I will give this a try.  

- "Josie Maran" Magic Marker Lip and Cheek Stain:  I received this in the color Tango.  I was very excited about receiving this full-size product because I have been wanting to try a Josie Maran product.  I put it on as soon as I received it, and a friend told me that the color looked too bright on me so I had to tone it down with some gloss.  It went on very smoothly though, and stayed on through eating frozen yogurt!  :)  The retail price for this product is $19.00

Overall, I was very pleased with this MyGlam bag this month.  

So that made me even more hopeful for my Glamour Birchbox.  The special Glamour-edition sleeve was so pretty.  

The theme of this month was "The Senses"

This box included three deluxe size samples, one perfume tester and two "lifestyle extras."

My thoughts on the products:

-  "Blinc" mascara: I'm always interested in trying new mascaras.  This one is supposed to be unique because it is supposed to form tiny tubes around your lashes.  A little intimidating when you read the instructions online for removing it.  I don't really like to word hard to remove my mascara at night, but if it works well then I'll put in the extra effort.

- "Jouer" luminizing moisture tint:  So this looks like a tinted moisturizer.  I prefer full-coverage foundation, so I'm not sure I will get much use out of this.  I will bring it on vacation, and perhaps wear it to the beach because it has SPF 20.  

- "Alterna" Color Care UV+ Fade-Proof Fluide:  I have been very concerned about my hair color fading, because I have been spending a lot of time in the pool.  I am going to put this on my hair before going outside, and hope that it works as a protectant.  

- "Hello by Harvey Prince" perfume:  I can't decide what I think about this fragrance.  At first, I thought it smelled masculine.  It has a combination of lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, forsythia, and plumeria.  I will try it out, but I don't think I like it enough to purchase it.  

- Lifestyle extra earbuds:  These neon earbuds are so cute!  Unfortunately, I'm like the only person on the planet who can't stand having those little things in my ears, so I still use the old-school big earphones.  

- Lifestyle extra Minteas mints:  These are tea mints for energy.  I will try them and see if they help.  I know that I always need more energy.  

Overall, not my favorite Birchbox.  I was expecting more from the partnership with Glamour.  The funny thing was that I got the card in my box for a different set of products, and I think I may have liked that box better.  The other box had a Stila lip glaze, a hair masque, a perfume that sounds more appealing to me, and Boscia blotting papers.  

Maybe someone got my product descriptions in their Birchbox..  These are definitely not the products I received.

There are some things in both boxes that I'm excited to try.  

If you'd like to join Birchbox you can join here.  If you're interested in MyGlam, here's a link.