Birchbox VS Ipsy July 2014 Showdown

It's that time again!!  Birchbox July 2014 and Ipsy July 2014 boxes.  I am excited to show ya'll both of them!!

Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription service that is $10 a month.  You can cancel at any time and there is currently a promotion going on where if you sign up with the code WOMENSHEALTH100 you will get $10 added to your account to go towards purchases in their online store.  This month's box is in conjuction with Women's Health magazine.  You can get full sizes of most all of the brands that Ulta and Sephora sell there, plus Birchbox Exclusives! Sign Up Here!

Here is what I got this month!

The first thing that was in the box was a card for a full year of Women's Health magazine for free! That is valued at $9.99 and already covers the cost of the box.  They also included a fun little booklet that gives you 12 activities for health to do during the month :)

Ipsy is also $10 a month and can be cancelled at any time.  They also work on a point system that goes towards additional products in your bag each month.  Plus for each item in you bag, you can get discounts when buying the full size product! There are currently no promotions going on but the exciting this is each month they send you a reusable fun makeup bag to keep all of your goodies in.  This months was a vinyl hot pink bag! Who doesn't LOVE that??  Sign Up Here!

Here is what I got this month!

Now for the fun part, the breakdown to find out who won this month!!

First up for Birchbox is Jouer Moisture Tint.

SO happy I got this! I have heard wonderful things about this brand and haven't gotten it yet, so I was just beyond excited.  I got the color in Deep Bronze which is perfect for my summer tanned skin.  When I buy the full size, I will go down one color as it is too dark for winter.  This is pretty much a BB cream, in a way. Very luminous and bronze-y! I love the way it gives my face that just tanned look and it skips a step of actual bronzer.  Get It Here!

Ipsy gave me Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil, SPF 8.

I know it is a low SPF but I usually go to the tanning bed before laying out to make sure I don't burn so I will be using this for sure.  It smells nice and is pretty self explanatory :) Get It Here!

Birchbox won for these items.

Birchbox-1
Ipsy-0

Next, Birchbox gave me a full size Sumita Contrast Eyeliner in Raina (deep navy blue).

I LOVE the color, it is so pretty and can be used darkened or light because of the thin tip.  Plus it looks great with my go to gold shadows for summer and can easily transition to fall.  Get It Here!

Ipsy gave me Benefits They're Real Mascara.

This is already my favorite mascara so I can always use another.  The best thing about this mascara is the wand!

I mean, it separates each and every lash.  It is wonderful. Plus it stays on all day and does not flake. Get It Here!

I actually have to give this to Birchbox only because I received a new product from them.

Birchbox-2
Ipsy-0

The next items are hard to compare as they are so different in product type.

Birchbox gave me Caudalie Divine Oil.

 Now, if you follow me, you know that this is my favorite high end skin care line.  And since I currently use the Overnight Detox Oil and this is the next similar product from them, I was happy to be able to try it out! This one can not only be used on the skin, but also on cuticles and nails.  And the scent is not as woodsy as the Detox Oil.  Get It Here!

Ipsy gave me Tints & Sass Cherry Lip & Cheek Stain.

I currently use Benefit's stain as it is more of a rosy color and will sample this.  If it's not for me, it goes to the giveaway contest pile! What's nice about these stains though is they truly do last all day, unlike a powder or a cream will.  Get It Here!

Wow, so far, not a real competition here......
Birchbox-3
Ipsy-0

Next up, Birchbox gave me Whish Shave Gel in Acai Grapefruit.

I had never seen anything like this, much less heard of the brand.  Of course, it is summer so I was able to use it the day I got it.  Went on super thick, smelled great and no nicks or cuts!  I even had my husband smell my legs and he loved the scent.  They have a ton of other scents, too.  A bit pricey though.  Get It Here!

Ipsy gave me Lavilin Jojoba Gel Cream Skin Soother.

A nice ingredient lotion, great for summer skin and winter skin.  Get It Here!

Birchbox-4
Ipsy-0

Lastly, Birchbox gave me Number 4 Super Comb Prep & Protect Leave In Hair Conditioner Spray.

Heat protector, color protector and sun protector.  I can never have too many of these lying around! Get It Here!

Ipsy gave me Bare Minerals 5 in 1 Cream Eye Shadow in Divine Wine.

I love Benefit so am super happy with this one! The color is also super pretty and can be used alone or layered with another color.  Also says it lasts for 12 hours and brightens the eyes, so that is a plus too!Check out all the colors and Get It Here!

Ipsy got this one for sure :)

Birchbox-4
Ipsy-1

It is also a draw with the 1 year free magazine from Birchbox and the hot pink bag from Ipsy!

But overall, the winner this month by a long shot for me, was BIRCHBOX!!!

What did you get this month??

I would love to see!

Do you have any questions that you want to know before signing up to one of these monthly beauty subscriptions?

Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day!!!

June 2014 Birchbox VS Ipsy

It is my favorite time of the month!!  When all of my beauty boxes come in!!  Unfortunately, I am still waiting for my Beauty Box 5 to arrive, it is MIA...but I got my Birchbox and my Ipsy bag.

I actually got this idea from my friend, Hannah.  You can find her blog here.

So let's take them to the ring and see who comes out ahead, shall we??

Here is a look at both of them as whole first.

Birchbox

Ipsy

Right off the bat, I can tell you that Birchbox gave me 8 items this month and Ipsy gave me 5 (not including the bag).  That is a lot for Birchbox, by the way, but I think the hair care items should be considered one item as a whole since they will all be used together to get the complete affect.

It is hard to do a complete comparison per items but let's try :)

First up is hair!

Birchbox gave me three items by Davines.  Smoothing Shampoo,Smoothing Conditioner and All In One Milk Treatment.  The description is for harsh, frizzy hair which I do not have.  My hair is fine and limp and thin.....But it can get frizzy due to the weather so I will try these on a humid day to really put them to the test.

Ipsy's hair item is Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray.  Now this I will use a lot this summer after the pool, to get some texture in my hair and try to revive some of the natural wave I get with my wet hair!

Ipsy gets the point for this round!

Birchbox-0
Ipsy-1

Next is face!

Birchbox gave me Caudalie Anti Wrinkle Defense Serum.  I LOVE Caudalie!!  Not too happy that the sample is extremely small and only gave me one and a half uses, though.

Ipsy's face item was Clarisea Rapid Detox Charcoal Exfoliant.  The only critique on this item is the way to use the product.  It is a tub of salt.  So you need to get it out with your fingers and mix with water on one of your hands and then apply to face.  It was hard once my fingers were wet to not get the entire tub of salt wet.

Birchbox gets the point for this round!

Birchbox-1
Ipsy-1

Next item is a little harder to classify.

Birchbox gave me Egyptian Magic Skin Cream.  This is directly from the product description: This 100 percent natural cream, said to be derived from a formula found in ancient Egyptian tombs, can pretty much do it all. It’s a face cream, an eye gel, a hair masque, a treatment for burns, and has even been know to heal psoriasis and eczema.

I tried this on my heels, as they have already been through a rough winter and with wearing sandals all the time, need some TLC.  Two applications and they are already so soft and moisturized.  This lotion also helped heal my cuticles.

Ipsy gave me Laneige BB Cushion.  I was dissapointed because it wasn't a larger sample in my specific shade.  But boy am I in love now!!  I used the medium shade and it comes with a puff for application.  It smells great, easy to apply, matched my skin tone perfectly, moisturized my skin, covered my pores, evened out my skin tone and that was all after one use!  Now granted, I don't think I will get a second use out of it but since I will get a discount through Ipsy and it is at Target, I will most likely be buying this!

Here is how it looks on me!!

Ipsy gets the point for this round!

Birchbox-1
Ipsy-2

Next up is lips!

Birchbox gave me Laqa and Co Fat Lip Pencil.  I am not sure the name of the color but I do not like it.....it was actually cakey once I put it on my lips and the color was way too pink.

Ipsy gave me NYX Cosmetics Butter Gloss.  I haven't tried this yet but it is also a pink shade.  Hopefully it has a better texture and since it is gloss will have high shine.

Ipsy gets the point for this round!

Birchbox-1
Ipsy-3

The next couple of items are really miscellaneous from both bags as they don't really compare.

Birchbox gave me Joie Folle De Joie perfume.  I really like the scent, it is both floral and woodsy.  I would never buy this though as it costs $98 for 3.4 ounces.

Ipsy gave me Jesses Girl Liquid Eyeliner.  HORRIBLE HORRIBLE! It says to shake prior to opening and it exploded all over me and was a drippy mess!!

Even after I cleaned it off, you can see in the above picture it was still dripping on its own.  This is in the garbage now.  I will be emailing Ipsy to see if they will do anything about this.

Birchbox gets the point for this round!

Birchbox-2
Ipsy-3

Birchbox gave me Ghirardelli Cherry Tango.  This was considered an "extra" bonus item.  I don't like almonds, dark chocolate or cherry chocolate.  This will be going to someone else.

Ipsy comes with a special bag every month.  This one was by Rebecca Minkoff.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!  It is a gorgeous pattern and it is kind of a vinyl material so it is much more sturdy than prior bags.  All my friends love it too!!

Ipsy gets the point for this round!

Birchbox-2
Ipsy-4

And Ipsy is the winner this month!!

Did you get the same stuff I did?

What do you think of Birchbox and Ipsy this month?

Let me know below!

Have a great day!

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye & Sumita Colored Mascara Review

So, we all know how it is to wake up and have dark circles and bags under our eyes....and while I wish I could say it is a fashion statement, it is NOT! :)

I wish I could wake up like those supermodels who take "no makeup" selfies and just start my day.  But, I am like all of us average women and have to go, go, go until I pass out in my bed, so it ain't never gonna happen!

I have searched high and low for the perfect product and sadly am still on the hunt.  And while I am just short of plastering my face with spackle to hide the bags, I have found a product that helps tremendously!

Bye Bye Under Eye® Anti-Aging Concealer Get it Here

Full coverage, waterproof, yet moisturizing, concealer with anti-aging ingredients to combat dark circles while it conceals. 70% of skin tones are neutral medium.

The only way to describe it is magic.  It lightens up my whole under eye area and covers the bags and dark circles.  Plus the fact that it is waterproof, means sweat proof, so it will stay on all day without having to reapply.

Best part is, this is how much I use:

A DOT!  So this tube is going to last a looooong time!  Now for the other great part, the concealer brush!!

Dual Airbrush Concealer Brush

A dual-ended, retractable airbrush concealer brush. Get It Here

One end is fluffy, to acheive an airbrush like finish, and the other end is flat, to target other areas, like my chin.  It doesn't require a class to use, like some of the fancier brushes out there. Plus it has covers for both ends and it is perfect for traveling with.

After applying, I set with powder and I am done.  So now that my bags and circles are covered, I want to play up my eyes.

I recently placed an order on Birchbox and to get free shipping I added some colored mascaras.  Don't need to check the calendar, it's not 1980 but colored mascara is back!! And I for one am super excited!!  Adding colored mascara, whether alone or with matching eye shadow, can play up and accentuate anyone's eyes!  

These are the colors I got:

Lavender, Jade Green, Black, Blue and Brown.  Get It Here

I used the lavender this morning and it is subtle, but outside it is much more noticeable.  

The wand is the best part of this brand (which is Sumita by the way and I knew nothing about this brand before this purchase).

It separates each lash and doesn't clump them together. Plus it is adds some volume to my lashes and that's always a plus!

What is your favorite under eye concealer?  Any tricks to application?

Do you use other colors of colored mascara?

Let me know as I can use another excuse to do some online shopping!!

Have a great day!!

Makeup, Glorious Makeup

Makeup. Oh how I LOVE makeup.....And what's funny is that I really only learned about techniques and colors and what my undertone was within the last year.  I've always been only a concealer under the eyes, eyeshadow and a mascara girl.  But now, after talking to my best friends and subscribing to monthly beauty subscriptions, I can't have enough of it!!

So, today, I want to talk about the monthly subs I have and let you see some of the stuff you too can get so we can all love makeup together. In the future, I also plan on comparing them and giving reviews on some of the products that I don't know how I have made it this far without!

The first one I was introduced to is Birchbox.  (Click here to join BirchBox)

This is $10 a month and you get it within the first two weeks of the month. You can personalize your subscription based on what you want to see in your box.  Once you join, you are put on a waitlist and get added within 2 weeks.

This is what I got last month.

What's nice about this one is that it always gives a listing of the products and how much a full size item would cost.  There are usually 4 regular items and an extra "lifestyle" item.  Each month after using your product, you go on their website and review it.  For each review you get 10 points and each 100 points you accumulate is equal to $10 in their online store.  The online store is full of name brand items and always includes the items that are in your box.  Plus they are always running specials where you can get a certain percentage off of your item or get freebies added to your order.  You can also get points when you refer your friends to join.  I have always loved my monthly boxes and have placed several items with the points I have received.

The next box I was introduced to is Ipsy.  (Click here to join Ipsy)

This is also $10 a month and you get it within the first two weeks of the month.  You can also personalize your subscription based on what you want to see in your box.  Once you join, you are also put on a waitlist.  Sometimes they have promotions where you can get off the waitlist immediately.

This is what I got last month.

Ipsy usually has 5-6 items in their monthly bags.  They also have a points system in place where when you review your monthly items and you get a total of 1000 points, you can redeem the points for an additional item to be added to your upcoming monthly bag.  You get 10 points for each item you review.  You also get points when you refer friends to join.

Beauty Box 5 is the next monthly subscription that I do. (Click here to join Beauty Box 5)

This box also comes within the first two weeks of the month.  The pricing is a bit different.  It is $12 a month but you can join quarterly or pay the annual price.  I joined quarterly so each box breaks down to $7.50 a month.  I wanted to test out their products plus it was the cheapest option.

This is what I got last month.

One downfall is that everyone gets the same items in each box.  Plus they do not offer a points system and you can only purchase the items online that they place in all the boxes each month.  I do not think I am going to be resubscribing once my four months are up.  They usually only send 1 extremely good product out of the 5 that come in the box. Plus since they don't have a point system or online sales, the other boxes far exceed this one.

Another box that I tried is GlossyBox.  I need to send you an actual link in order to have you join this one and get credit for it.

This is what I got last month.

This box is $21 a month and so far my absolute favorite monthly box.  This one comes at the end of the month.  There is a profile that you can fill out also so that it is tailored to your preferences.  They also have a points system where you get 20 points for each review you give on your products and when you get 1000 points, you get a free Glossybox for that month.  Plus you get referral points, too.

All of the samples are luxury brands and sometimes they give full size products.  This month included an extra $25 gift card.  They also have great customer service.

Lastly, there is New Beauty Test Tube.  This subscription is the most expensive.  It is $29.95 plus shipping every other month.  I also need to send you a an actual link for this one to get credit for it.

This is what I got in May (plus a prime photo op for my hubby and puppy).

I received 12 full size items valued at $77.  I have mixed reviews on this so far.  All of the items I received, with the exception of 4, were drugstore products that I could have bought myself.  That is why I love beauty subscriptions, as they allow me to try things that I otherwise may not be able to.  I was upset with what came in this tube but I was not alone.  The company received an overwhelming response to this tube and has since stated they will be amending the next tube.

A full size magazine is also supposed to come separately and I have yet to receive mine.  I decided that I would try the tube one more time.  If it is the same quality of products then I will not be ordering again.  I also initially tried this because I was given a code for $5 off.

I would eventually like to try PopSugar Beauty. They always have promotions going on and the products that they offer are amazing

There are an abundance of monthly beauty subscriptions out there.  It is all a matter of preference and pricing to determine which ones really work for you.  I love trying out new products and new looks.  I surely don't wear the same looks every day and with all this makeup, why would I? :)  Plus, this is something that so many of my friends and family do that it really is a lot of fun.  There are also several groups on Facebook that allow for some swapping of products so that they help you get the most out of your box each month.

What monthly beauty subscriptions do you subscribe to?

Based on what you I see do, would you recommend any other boxes for me to try?

Have a great day!

.