Sephora Haul December 2013

This December I had a gift card to Sephora and all the holiday sets were out, so I decided to put in a order. 

I received a sample of Ren's Glycol lactic radiance renewal mask and ended up loving the mask. I could immediately see and feel the results. How the mask works is that you apply it to your face, leave it on for ten minutes and then use a warm, wet cloth to wipe away the mask. It's very similar to the hot cloth cleansers that are all the rage right now, just in mask form. I was looking through the Sephora site and found that the mask was selling for $55.00. This set sold for $58.00 and included a full size of the mask that I was already planning on purchasing. How could I NOT get this set?!

Here is a list of what was included in the Ren Rediscover Radiance Kit

1.7 fl. oz. Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask

0.34 fl. oz. Radiance Perfection serum

0.5 fl. oz. micro polish cleanser

2 0.7 fl. oz. Resurfacing AHA concentrate

Muslin Cloth

I just checked the Sephora site and the kit is still for sale on the website. 

December is my birthday month so I also got my birthday gift as being a part of the Beauty Insider program. I'm sure that you have already seen this set or have it yourself, but being as my birthday is the last month of the year, I'm always last to get the birthday gift after everyone else has received this gift. 

Just in case you are the last person on the planet that doesn't know what was included in the birthday set, this is what was in it:

0.08 oz. Watt's Up highlighter

0.1 oz. they're Real mascara

Here is a link to 2014's Beauty Insider birthday gift.

I received a nice sized sample of Amore Pacific's Color Control Cushion Compact in my September 2013 New Beauty Test Tube and I really liked it. In fact I was initially going to order a full size of the sample during this purchase. I ended up seeing this sample for free, so I decided to just get this to sample to make sure that I really liked it. The full sized product is pricey ($60.00) so I wanted to make sure I was justifying my purchase.

As with every online Sephora purchase, you get to pick three samples. I picked Lancome Dreamtone corrector for fair skin tone, Tata Harper resurfacing mask and Wei Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask.

Birchbox January 2014

Price: $10.00 (includes shipping)

Ships out: Every month

Extras: Point system that based on the reviews of the products you review and the referrals that can be used in the Birchbox Shop. I have found that some items are exclusively sold in the Birchbox Shop so the points can add up to a nice discount.

First Look!

This month's theme is "Go Time"

 This month included a set of postcards that had tips on the back to have a great year. 

7.1 g. Camille Beckman glycerine hand therapy in "Midnight Monarch" I received a sample of this hand cream in my November 2013 New Beauty Test Tube. The sample was much bigger…

Inika Mineral Eyeshadow in "Eternal Marine"

 OmniPotent  Duosity Hair Treatment

 Liz Earle "Cleanse and Polish" Hot Cloth Cleanser December's Birchbox preview video featured this product and I really wanted to receive this sample in my box. I didn't receive it, so I was very happy to see this sample in my January box! I have wanted to try a hot cloth cleanser for a while. 

 Ahmad Tea bags in English Tea Number 1 black tea, Blackcurrant Burst black tea and Green Tea pure.

The pictures that I saw of other people that received the Liz Earle sample in last month's boxes looked like the other samples suffered because the Liz Earle sample was so good. Some of the boxes didn't have that many other samples or they had a bunch of foil packets. I was super happy with this box and satisfied with the amount and type of samples that I received. This was a really great box for me!

If you would like to sign up for your own subscription, please consider using my referral link, here

Snapshot Sunday 3

Tuesday

Love with Food December 2013

The Price: $10.00 a month

Ships out: Once a month

The Extras: For each box purchased, Love with Food donates a meal to someone in need.

First Look!

 This month's theme was "Winter Wonderland" I really like the card this month. Very cute.

 1 oz. Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips. I have seen these all around the place and have wanted to try them, but didn't want to purchase a big bag of them and end up hating it. I tried these out and I can absolutely justify buying a full sized bag of these!

As a side note, I'm not sure if these were supposed to be in the box or were added in at the last moment. This product was not listed on the card above that lists all the products. It could have just mistakenly been left off...

 Grey Ghost Molasses Spice Cookies These were soft and tasted really good. 

Desert Gardens Spinach Dip Mix This was really, really good dip. You mix the mix with sour cream and mayonnaise and you can dip just about anything in them. I liked them with crackers and lox. They were good with tortilla chips as well. The only thing I tried that I didn't like with this dip was radishes. I will most likely repurchase this dip mix. 

Donsuemor Chocolate dipped madeline

Lindt Excellence 70% Chocolate Diamond

 Madyson's All Natural Marshmallow topper

 I love the design of this! Such a simple idea that when created is genius. I still haven't tried this yet, because I feel like I need to have just the right time and place and perfect moment to have such a fancy marshmallow. Kinda weird, but thats just how it is. 

 34 Degrees Natural Crispbread cracker These crackers were paper thin and didn't really have a taste to them. If I were to eat these again I would need some dip to go with them, but since the cracker was so thin I am not positive that the cracker would hold up with the dip. 

Les Confitares a l'Aneienne hot chocolate I'm saving this hot chocolate to drink with the fancy Madyson's Marshmallows topper. 

 Angell Candy Bar from Betty Lou's in Dark Angell

St. Claire's Organics peppermints 

**Use code LF13 for 15% off St. Claire's products through 2/28/14.

Love with Food reusable tote. Not everyone received this tote in their boxes. I can always use more bags, I need to remember to bring them to the store with me though. 

I was happy with this month's box. I will eat or have eaten most of the products in this bag. A few of them I would repurchase. 

If you would like to subscribe to this box, please use my referral link, here.

Snapshot Sunday 2

Every Sunday I post a picture that encapsulates my last week.  This is the second post of the year.  This posting is late because I was on a little impromptu weekend trip for the three day weekend. 

I have been having a really bad case of wanderlust recently and with the three day weekend, my mom and I decided to take a trip.  We decided to go somewhere on Friday night, Saturday morning we decided where to go, midmorning Saturday we were on the road, headed towards Pittsburgh, PA.  My mom and I have both never been to Pittsburgh and it is far enough away from us to make it different, but close enough that we could go for a weekend trip. We didn't have too much time to plan the trip and my mom's lack of internet savvy made me the driver and the planner. The only touristy things that we could find to do in Pittsburgh in the winter was go up Duquesne Incline and the Andy Warhol Museum.  We didn't want to shell out $20.00 per person to see art, since that's not something that we are really interested in or fully understand, so we went to the Duquesne Incline.

This incline was used in the 1800's to transport the steel workers from the top of Mount Washington to the steel plants in Pittsburgh. If you don't know what an incline is (which I did not before going to Pittsburgh) it's basically a pulley trolly that goes up and down a mountain at a really steep incline. There are currently only two inclines (I think) that are currently in use in Pittsburgh, the Duquesne Incline being one of them. If you ever do visit Pittsburgh, I highly suggest  paying the $5.00 round trip fare and the $1.00 parking fee to visit this spot. The views at the top of the incline are really great and you get to participate in a little bit of history. Just make sure you have exact fare, as they only accept cash and don't give change.

In all, the trip was nice and relaxing. We didn't have any timelines or itineraries for the three days we were there and basically just played the day out, seeing where we ended up. Since it was the winter time…and a snow advisory… there weren't that many tourists in the city.  The only other tourists that we really had to deal with were swarms of hockey players. Apparently there was a big hockey tournament in Pittsburgh, so our hotel and the city was inundated by a bunch of preteen hockey players.

Another downfall of traveling in the winter was that all the outdoor market areas were not running. We wanted to go to Market Square, which is basically just a city center area, with shops and outdoor restaurants set up shop and people are all around milling about. We drove by the area to see if it was anything worth stopping in and we didn't really see a bustling area, so we moved on. Maybe during the spring time or the summer there is more activity in Market Square. Not so much in the winter, just after snowfall.

One thing that we noticed about the city was hot clean it was. Everywhere we went, the sidewalks were cleared and trash was in the cans. The city is fairly old and everywhere we went the buildings looked like they were built in the 1800's and haven't changed since then. If you are looking for a modern city, Pittsburgh is not it. I really enjoyed the trip, but I'm not sure if I would be itching to return again. However I am glad that I went.

Birchbox December 2013

My December Birchbox arrived!

Price: $10.00 (includes shipping)

Ships out: Every month

Extras: Point system that based on the reviews of the products you review and the referrals that can be used in the Birchbox Shop. I have found that some items are exclusively sold in the Birchbox Shop so the points can add up to a nice discount.

This month they shipped out a special holiday box. 

First Look!

This month's theme was Holiday 2013.

They also included a card announcing the new Cynthia Rowley beauty line that is exclusive to the Birchbox shop. 

Secret Agent Beauty lipgloss in Foreign Intelligence Flirt

30 ml. BeeKind body lotion

5 gr. LuLu Organics hair powder in Lavender and Sage 

Birchbox screen cleaner. They sent these out to all subscribers, even in the men's box, to announce their new app. 

Fatty Sundays chocolate covered pretzel in Toasted Coconut

This was surprisingly really good. I don't usually like the taste of coconut, but this toasted coconut tasted delicious. I might end up using some of my Birchbox points towards purchasing these in their shop.

0.1 fl.oz. Benta Berry "G-1 exfoliating facial cleanser" I don't know what it is about the name of this company, but I really like it. As for the actual product, I can't speak of. I haven't tried this yet. The sample is so small I'm not sure I will be able to use this enough to get a good review of the product. 

This box was just eh for me. I think my favorite product in the box was the chocolate covered pretzels. Most of the products I haven't heard of before so, the box meets it's purpose and helps me discover new brands and try out some of their products. I think that's the pull for Birchbox. High end or lesser known brands get a wide audience that wouldn't neccessarily be as easily accesible to most people receiving the box.

If you would like to subscribe, please use my referral link, here.

IPSY December 2013

My IPSY bag arrived!

Price: $10.00 (free shipping)

Ships out: Every month.

Extras: Each month the products featured in the bag have special subscriber discounts. Points system that is accrued for each review you post on the IPSY site from the products that you received in each month's bag. These points as well as referral points can be redeemed for extra products in future month's bags. 

First Look!

This month's theme is "Celebration"

This month's bag was a patent, black geometric pattern. I think this is the first bag that I have actually liked and plan on keeping. I have already put all my old IPSY bags in a bag to be donated to Goodwill.  

FULL SIZED MIrabella Eye blender brush This brush had a lot of weight to it and looks really well made and fancy.  This is my go to blending brush now. I really like the brush and would consider purchasing other brushes from this brand. 

FULL SIZE Nicka K nail polish in Classic Taupe. This nail polish is looks and feels really luxurious, but it's only $4.99 on the website! One annoying thing about this brand is that they didn't list the name of the color on the bottle. They only had the number and I had to look on the website to see what the actual color name was. This probably isn't an issue if you are not blogging about the polish and want to list the actual name, but it was an inconvenience to me. It's probably a bad marketing idea in terms of word of mouth for the brand. I know that if I saw a friend wearing a nice nail polish color and I asked her of the name of it, I would immediately forget the name if they said  "NY112" as opposed to "Classic Taupe". ahhhh first world problems…

FULL SIZE NYX lipstick in "Ceto" 

FULL SIZE POP Beauty eyeshadow trio in "Naturally Bare" I ended up really liking this palette. I think that the other option for this palette in the bag was a purple color. I think I would have been happy with either one. 

FULL SIZE Be a Bombshell "The One Stick" in flustered This color was very bright and I know that I would have never picked this color out myself if I were given the option. This stick is marketed as a lipstick/blush/eyeshadow. I mostly use it as a blush. I don't know who would use this color on their eyes outside of Halloween. Because this color is so bright I end up using this color under power to help tone down the color and make it more wearable. 

Aside from the Nicka K and maybe the Mirabella brand I have received products from each of these brands that I received in the bag this month. All of the products were full sized, so IPSY is good for trying out different types of products or colors from a few brands that they are partnered with. Most of which can be easily found in a drugstore or are affordable through their website. 

If you would like to sign up for your own subscription, please use my referral link here.

Birchbox November 2013

Price: $10.00 (includes shipping)

Ships out: Every month

Extras: Point system that based on the reviews of the products you review and the referrals that can be used in the Birchbox Shop. I have found that some items are exclusively sold in the Birchbox Shop so the points can add up to a nice discount.

First Look!

This month's theme is 'More Good'

Included in this bag was a little booklet with different gift ideas that can be purchased from the Birchbox shop.

1 fl. oz. Tocca hand cream in "Cleopatra" (Grapefruit and cucumber) I was hoping that I would receive this sample in my box after watching the preview video.

FULL SIZE Chella highlighter pencil in "Ivory Lace" I received this product in my June 2013 IPSY bag. I liked the product, but I haven't even used it enough to need to sharpen it! I ended up giving this to my sister. 

FULL SIZE Color Club nail polish in "Top Shelf"

0.39 oz. Chuao Chocolatier choco pod  in "Honeycomb" yummy.

20 g. Vasanti 'Brighten Up!' Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator

Birchbox referral code Please use my Birchbox referral code if you would like to sign up for a monthly subscription yourself. 

Snapshot Sunday 1

This year I'm going to try to be a better blogger. To help with that endeavor I am starting a new topic on my blog. Every Sunday I will be posting a shot that summarizes the past week that I had. I will be making the attempt to post each Sunday, but as is seen by how Snapshot Sunday has started by missing the first Sunday of 2014, don't expect a post every Sunday. Not all the shots will be taken by me, but they all will describe my life in some manner.