Sephora's Sun Safety Kit 2012

I will be showing you what was inside my Sephora Sun Safety Kit for 2012.Which includes 17 pieces of SPF essentials and safe-self tanners for beautiful skin. I must admit I have had this sitting on my shelf for somewhile and was meaning to do a small review last month. Then of course time and other products got in the way so now I finally have a free moment. I will show this product how it came and what was inside.

So here is a little background on this kit. Sephora and The Skin Cancer Foundation have collabrated for this their sixth edition of the Sun Safety Kit. This annual partnership in sun protection is one of Sephora's most popular kits. The collection features 14 deluxe, sample-size sun protectants, three self-tanning products, and a bonus re-usable train case. This year's selections includes past favorites, as well as new additions for your sun protection arsenal. Also One hundred percent of the net profits from this kit will benefit The Skin Cancer Foundation. All this for $30 and is valued at $193. Which is not bad for all the goodies inside.

I will not be giving individual reviews for each as I will be doing individual reviews for some of the items I do use. I may not use all of them or may not care to. According to many reviews that I read on Sephora.com this is apparently done every year and sells pretty well. Since this is my first time purchasing this kit. So lets get started.

2.5 oz St. Tropez Gradual Tan Sample Value $11.20

0.03 oz Bare Essentials bareMinerals SPF 25 Mineral Veil and brush Sample Value $17.85
0.08 oz Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 Sample Value $12
0.5 oz Origins VitaZing SPF 15 Sample Value $10.29
0.4 oz Philosophy Hope Oil-Free SPF 15 Daily Moisturizer Sample Value $15.60
Sample Value for this side is $66.94

0.5 oz Boscia Oil-Free Daily Hydration SPF 15 Sample Value $12.86
0.5 oz Ole Henriksen Protect The Truth SPF 50+ Sunscreen Sample Value $10.30
0.33 oz Supergoop! SPF 30 Everyday UV Lotion for Face and Body Cream Sample Value $5.68
.169 oz Sephora Collection Age Defy Moisture Cream SPF 15 Sample Value $3.04
Sample Value for this side is $31.88

1 Tan Towel Classic Self-Tan Towelette for Face & Body Sample Value $2.40
1 Kate Somerville 360 degree Face Self Tanning Pad Sample Value $6.00
0.23 oz Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion SPF 60 PA+++ Sample Value $11.96
0.23 oz Shiseido Urban Environment Oil-Free UV Protector SPF 42 PA+++ Sample Value $12.43
Sample Value for this side is $32.79

0.33 oz Murad Oil-Control Mattifier SPF 15 Sample Value $14.67
0.25 oz Smashbox Photo Finish Face Primer SPF 15 w/ Dermaxyl Complex Sample Value $13.13
0.33 oz Dr. Jart + Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45 PA +++ Sample Value $9.19
0.5 oz Peter Thomas Roth Max Sheer All Day Defense Moisture Lotion SPF 30 Sample Value $12.36 -Sample Value for this side is $49.35

So the total value for all the samples are $180.96 plus $12.20 for the acrylic train case so the grand total is $193.16. So I do think that this is a great value and even though I won't probably use all these products. Did you get one this year? What do you think about it? Have you used most of the products? Which are your favorites? Let me know.

June Beauty Bar Sample Society with Allure box 2012

This review is for another monthly box subscription Sample Society. I was going to not do anymore subscription boxes but, this one caught my eye. This particular one is from BeautyBar.com along with Allure. I was looking into this one before but, there wasn't any openings. So I joined a waiting list to be notified when subscriptions opened up again. Well they did in May for the June box. So this particular one is $15 a month. Which I will admit is pretty pricey but, the Allure name drew me in. You also get a years subscription to Allure Magazine which I love. So I will give this a go and see if I like it if so I will stay if not I will cancel. I'm trying to see which services to stick with and which to let go.

Already there are some similarities to the other boxes. Sample Society is roughly the same size and depth as Birchbox and filled with black crinkle paper & gray tissue paper. The difference is that the description card is actually a booklet with helpful hints and tips on using your products. So for the month of June there were 5 samples.

The first one was from Jane Iredale her Just Kissed lip plumper. Which I got in the color Tokyo. This is a pretty rose color. The lipstick does have a slight smell to it. I can't place it but, it smells strange to me. Almost like air freshener that you find in a retail stores bathroom. When I tried it the smell was so overwhelming and the taste as well. It has a slight minty feel to it but, not in a good way. I will not be using this at all. I have allergies to certain scents and this was one of them. What a shame because I really liked the color. Sample Value $15.62 believe it or not. This sample size is only a few Oz's less than the full-sized for $25.

Oscar De La Renta Eau de Parfum in Live in Love. So this parfum is in such a cute bottle and I liked that you can have more than 3 uses like other samples. There isn't much to say about this except that the smell was alright. Nothing spectacular or amazing. It was just there. The scent is just not for me. It is alright and so far I haven't sneezed which is good. I will give this to someone who might enjoy it more than I would. Sample Value $5.80

From Alterna is Boho Waves Texture Mist. Which will help you get the sexiest beachy waves. This contains organic bamboo and blue yucca root. This weightless mist instantly gives you natural, tousled, "just back from beach" waves. Adds texture, volume, and healthy shine to all hair types. This I will try. Who wouldn't want beach waved hair? This I was happy to get. Sample Value $4.47

Caudalie's Premier Cru Eye Cream is a very pricey eye cream a full size is $95. So this sample was extremely tiny. Even worse was that there was nothing in the tube. I was so disappointed. I'm gonna have to contact them about this. So I can't say much about it. Sample Value $6.26

Lastly is Murad Clarifying Cleanser. Which cleanses and tones. Contains 1.5% Salicylic acid acne treatment. Now, I have very oily skin with few if no breakouts ever but, this may come in handy to control my oil. So I will try this. Sample Value $7.69 and I've seen it at Ulta for $9.

So overall this box was alright everyone gets the same box. So there isn't much variety in the items included. Like the parfum was okay not my taste and the lipstick was terrible in my opinion. Plus not getting any eye cream in the sample was not good. I will give them a few more months then we will see. Overall Box Value $39.84

March Myglam Bag 2012

Last Tuesday I received my March MyGlam bag this was my third bag since subscribing to them in December.  In January I got my first bag and it was great I loved all the products.  Then in February I got my second bag which was OK not the best but, still good.  Then came this months bag and wow what a stinker.  Literally the bag came with this weird plastic smell I could barely stand it.  The bag was not what I expected.  The only two good things in the bag that I liked were.  A full sized 3Lab Perfect Cleansing foam in a 3.4 oz which retails for $50 but, the DermStore has it 20% off which makes it $40.  The other item was from a new company Karacolor they sent a color enhancing leave-in treatment sample pack which retails for $9.99 on their site.  Overall the bag was ok and retailed for around $55 which isn't bad.

This months bag was about repairing and restoring your skin & hair just in time for spring.  The other items in the bag were a small drawstring pouch containing what was called a DermStore care package this included: Pur-lisse Pur-protect SPF 30 Essential daily moisturizer & Murad Eye lift perfector & a DermStore $25 gift card which really wasn't a gift card it was a $25 off of a purchase of $50 or more what a ripoff.   A gift card is when you can get something for the amount shown and not have to pay extra unless you want to.  I really think that they should stop calling these gift cards.  Like last months NuMe $100 gift card which what not a gift card at all.  Every item on the site was expensive and you had to spend at least $40 dollars or more plus S&H just to use the $100 and only on select items to me that is not a savings.

The next part of the bag was the Foundational Elements this included one of 3 beauty basics to lay the groundwork for a fresh complexion.  So you were to get one of the following three products that were listed on the card.  Either a 3Lab perfect cleansing foam full-sized or a Pur-lisse Pur-lip comfort daily lip nourisher full-sized or a Murad Absolute bronzing boost SPF 15 deluxe sample.  Then a Karacolor enhancing leave-in treatment in natural.  Then a Myglam exclusive classic crease brush and case.  This brush was hand selected by Michelle Phan from her recent trip to Hong Kong and is exclusive.  Well my brush was terrible it had several hairs falling out from it.  And the little pink brush holder had an awlful scent coming from it a weird plastic smell which in turn made everything else smell that way. 

I'm still somewhat happy with my bag after all this is a $10 a month service and this includes shipping.  And the company is fairly new and still has alot of kinks to work out.  This includes the problems with shipping and with some glammies not getting their bags or getting them really late.  So far (knock on wood) I haven't had any of those issues with this company.  There are many on YouTube who have had issues and have voiced them & many who have cancelled their subscriptions because of the issues with billing and shipping.  I'm gonna stay with them for a while in hopes that they get better.  As with any new company there will always be some kinks along the way.  I hope that they are working hard to help resolve all these issues soon.