October Goop Birchbox 2012

This is my first ever Birchbox that I completely disliked. I was so bummed about it. First of all I was sent an email to opt in or out for the Goop box. Well I opted out I didn't want another themed box if given a choice, which I was. I opted for the usual October Birchbox themed Transformations. I have in the past whether by choice or not have received several themed boxes most of them weren't all that great. So imagine my surprise when this box arrived to my home. I was so upset. I had already seen some of YouTube videos on this box and hardly anyone was happy with them. So moving on I don't know what was the point of giving us a choice if it wasn't going to matter anyway. Now on to the Goop box. Which I aptly named the "Poop" box.

• Illume/ Red Cedar Candle- Made with soy, beeswax, and essential oils, this candle features a warm scent that comes courtesy of red cedar and vetiver.
• Jouer/ Lip Enhancer- This best-seller gives you the moisturizing punch of a balm with the satiny finish of a gloss. We're hooked and we know you will be, too. Well first of all they could have given a full-sized one. I hate the Jouer samples they are so tiny and only one if even that in uses.
• Kiehls/ Rosa Arctica Eye- Conquer dark circles with the brightening eye balm, which is made with collagen-boosting flower extracts.
• Supergoop!/ City Sunscreen Serum- Wear this award-winning brand's silky SPF 30 serum under your makeup for a weightless UV shield. Okay another item that could have been given in a bigger sample size or even the $20 purse sized would have been nice. I hate these tiny foil packets that you can get free anywhere. So another bust with that one.
• Luna/ LemonZest Bar- These are zesty snacks that are a goop fave. They're perfect to keep you full in between meals ( plus they double as a healthy dessert!) You know what no thanks I'd rather not have a food product in my box. Thank you. Especially lemon I despise lemon anything except lemonade. I don't like anything lemon. I just don't. Now, lime is okay.   

With that being said, I'm so over this months box. I hope that next months box is better. In September 2011 I first joined Birchbox and in October 2011 that's when I received my first box with them. So this month I celebrated 1 year with Birchbox and have never been so upset until now. I know that they will have great boxes in the months to come, but this one really put me off. I stay because you can get points when reviewing the samples and use them in the Birchbox store towards full-sized products so that's why I stay it's like paying $5 a for the box instead of $10. When you do the reviews so with that happy. So Happy 1st anniversary me for being with Birchbox a whole year. Here's to what next year has in store.

If you are interested in joining Birchbox please click this link https://www.birchbox.com?raf=4h5l0

CoverGirl and Olay BzzAgent Campaign

 

 I was so excited to have been chosen by BzzAgent to try the new CoverGirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation & their CoverGirl & Olay Pressed Powder. This 2-in-1 product is a foundation with a serum and primer base all swirled into one convenient product. It is no ordinary make-up as it smoothes the appearance of rough surfaces and gives your skin a radiant finish. The Tone Rehab Foundation also contains known skin conditioning ingredients to help hydrate your skin and help improve the skin tone over time.

All that's needed is just one pump for your whole face to reduce the signs and instantly cover discolorations and age spots while one bottle hydrates to improve skin tone over time. And finishing your look with a soft layer of CoverGirl & Olay Pressed Powder to help brighten your skin tone.

This Foundation comes in 14 beautiful shades that will cover many skin tones from light to deep, with a balance of cool, neutral and warm undertones. It comes in the following shades:

• Ivory
• Classic Ivory
• Creamy Natural
• Buff Beige
• Nude Beige
• Medium Beige
• Natural Beige
• Warm Beige
• Creamy Beige
• Soft Honey
• Golden Tan
• Classic Tan
• Tawny
• Soft Sable

This Foundation is available at all major retailers, with a suggested retail price of $13.99. CoverGirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation, contains Olay serum, hydrates to skin to help improve it over time. Olay skin care ingredients, including Glycerine, Niacinamide and N-acetyl Glucosamine, effectually penetrate the skin's outer surface layers to moisturize skin for improved skin tone over time.

The CoverGirl & Olay Pressed Powder is made with gold pearls, yellow iron oxide, and silk mica. These work together to help provide natural looking skin while giving an energized appearance and healthy radiance. This powder helps brighten skin tone while softening the look of imperfections. The formula has a built-in smooth-glide serum, which provides a touch of brightness without feeling heavy or cakey.

This powder comes in 6 complimentary shades:

• Fair - pair with Ivory or Classic Ivory foundation
• Fair/Light - pair with Creamy Natural or Buff Beige foundation
• Light - pair with Nude Beige or Natural Beige foundation
• Light/Medium - pair with Medium Beige, Warm Beige or Creamy Beige foundation
• Medium - pair with Soft Honey or Golden Tan foundation
• Medium/Dark - pair with Classic Tan foundation

What did I think about this?

  For starters I love how great this foundation made my face look & feel. While I had seen this in print ads and on TV I had never even thought to try this. I personally haven't used Covergirl face products (foundation or powder) since I was in high school. I'm so glad I was given the chance to. I was amazed at how well it covered my red & hyperpigmentated skin. Also the smell was fantastic. I'm so sensitive & allergic to so many scents in my cosmetics that I can't use many of them.

The application of this product was easy I tried it with my fingers and it gave a good coverage if your in a hurry. My prefered method was using a foundation brush. Most any one will do it will assure that the coverage is even and flawless.

 I also loved the pressed powder it was great & a must have for me since I have very oily skin. The only con was that I had to powder several times during the day to keep the shine at bay. I feel that this will be better for me in the winter months when I tend to get a bit dryer. I did like how it covered my fine lines and discoloration with ease. I do think that this will be great year round for people with normal to dry skin. If you are oily it may be better for you to use in the winter time. Unless you don't mind blotting several times a day. Also the choice of colors available was great. The color I got was in 125 Buff Beige and 320 Fair/Light in the powder. In skin tone I'm a fair/light complexion. So this was a great match for me. At first I thought it would be either too dark or too light just by seeing it in the bottle. Actually it was just right. I would have thought I was a Classic Ivory, but as it turns out I'm not.

Overall this is a great product and I did see some improvement in my skin tone. I have been using this for a month now. I feel that this was sufficient enough time to give a review and base an opinion on this product. I have seen a slight difference in my fine forehead lines. Only time will tell if these will diminish further.

Here is a Before and After photo. The after is using the CoverGirl & Olay Foundation & Pressed Powder. The after photo is just the foundation and powder. No other make-up is used. Just those two products.

 

This was what came in my BzzKit. It contained 1) The CoverGirl & Olay BzzGuide 2) One full-sized CoverGirl & Olay Tone Rehab 2-in-1 Foundation 3) Complimentary CoverGirl & Olay Pressed Powder 4) Coupons to share with the ladies in my life

 NOTE: The above mentioned product was provided free of charge by www.bzzagent.com . All opinions in this review are my own and do not reflect the views of Bzzagent, their employees or affiliates nor of any brand mentioned therein. I received no monetary compensation for my participation in this campaign.

August Beauty Box Five 2012

• Blum Naturals/Make-up Remover Towelettes- Remove oil, dirt and makeup with these pro age deep cleaning towelettes that leave your skin feeling soft and silky smooth.

• H2O Plus/Marine Calm Restoring Eye Cream- Use this marine, botanical-infused eye cream to deeply nourish and reduce the look of fine lines and dark circles.

• Ferro Cosmetics/Sheer Crystal Veil- This multi-purpose powder is the answer to illuminated skin. Dust over or under foundation or mix with moisturizer for a dewy soft finish without the shimmer or glitter. This is a silk infused mineral highlighter that subtly illuminates for glowing dewy skin. Sweep onto cheek & brow bones to highlight and illuminate or anywhere on the body.

• Ellis Faas/Creamy, Milky, Glazed Lips- Just twist the bottom of this gorgeous silver pen and you'll be wearing the new lip product that everyone is talking about. This was a nice perk since it was a full-sized and retailed $35. I got the color L109 in the creamy version which is the color Pale Coffee. A liquid lipstick for classic definition and long-wearing coverage.The gorgeous texture of this highly pigmented lipstick gives great definition to your lips, both as a full-coverage lipstick as well as a stain. All shades are that of human colors, meaning that they are inspired by the colors that by nature already exist in the human body and are therefore suitable for all skin tones. Doesn't contain Parabens and is unscented and unflavored. This particular lip pen comes in three formulas Creamy, Milky and Glazed. The creamy lip has a doe-foot type applicator that when you twist the bottom the product comes out through the tiny holes at the top of the pen. The other two formulas come in a brush style pen. It applies soft and creamy. Very nice and looks pretty in your makeup bag.

• Dermaesthetics USA/Vitamin C 20 Serum- Helps prevent the premature signs of aging with this double-duty Vitamin C that promotes collagen production and brightens lackluster skin. Well I will see if this works any I need brightening of my skin. If this does then I'm in trouble a 1oz costs $144 wow so pricey.

If your interested in trying Beauty Box 5 please check out this link. https://www.beautybox5.com/home.php?key=4f3f58d0b6240

August MyGlam Bag 2012

• Eclos/Cellular Activator Facial Serum and Moisture Therapy Regenerative Cream- These products use Plant Stem Cell research in this lightweight liquid serum. Which awakens dormant skin stem cells and increases their longevity and enhances their ability to function like young cells. The Face cream contains high potency plant cells to help protect your own skin stem cells. It also helps slow the signs of aging and tighten sagging skin.

• Salty Cosmetics/Glama-ZOID-Eye Shadow- This white looking powder eye shadow is hiding a secret it's really has a pinky-purple based tint upon applying to your eyes. It is very iridescent in color and makes a great inner-corner highlight or brow bone accent.

• Circus by Andrea's Choice/Ringmaster Nail color-This beautiful shocking hot pink is a great color to add to the one from last month. I got the color Reverso in my last bag it was a great true white color.

• Demeter Fragrance Library/Roll on Perfume Oil/Dragon Fruit Scent- This very sweet scent was really nice had I not been allergic to the smell. Otherwise it would have been great. I ended up giving mine away. It did also come in a Clean Skin Scent as well. I was told that one smelt like baby powder which I wouldn't have liked either.

• My Glam Glam Gloss/Shade 02- This gloss was an extra added bonus that was not featured in the hints for the month. It was a welcome surprise to have. This was sent as a thank you for our support and for being a Glammie. This gloss was a hot pink opalescent color which just from viewing it in the tube would have not worked with my skin tone. So I ended up trading it for the color 01 which was a bubble gum pink color and that worked a lot better.

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below or feel free to email me. Also you can follow me I'm on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and of course Facebook.

Freebie Friday

Well I going to try a new thing Freebie Friday. So from time to time I get some freebies in the mail. This is either from company sites, Facebook or any other sites who send samples for you to try. So whenever I get a sample or samples I will let you know what I got. Keep in mind several of these promos may have already expired or the items have already been given out. I really like to try new and different things so I really like getting samples. Hence me subscribing to several beauty boxes.

So I received several items to sample they were both from Garnier. One was from Target for their Moisturizer and serum all in one. The other from Walmart's site for the Garnier BB cream. Then just today I received another Garnier BB cream sample from Garnier. So this is what I have received in samples. As I keep getting samples I do my best to post them. I want to make sure that I have enough to post.

Now I thought I would at least get the sample in a foil packet like others or in a small tube. I was very disapointed in the sample I got. This is something that could have been given out at the store. So anyway it is not enough try the product out. Just to test what color you might be.

So the same holds true for this sample. I thought at least they would have given a small tube of this since this product has to be mixed together. So when you rip the top part off there are two sides to the card and one is the serum and the other is the moisturizer. So you have to squeeze them both together to get the products out to mix and apply on the face. Well since these were free I guess what can you do? Both samples are not enough to judge whether you might like these enough to purchase.

Beauty Box Five May 2012

I have been subscribing to this box for the last 3 months. So of course the first month I was with them was great then every box after this has been ehhhh. I may not be staying with this service for very much longer. This months box was not any better than last months.

For starters I got my box really fast this time. Which is a plus. I guess.

I wasn't really happy to be receiving sample packets again with not more than probably two uses. I was thrilled to see a decent sized body butter and deluxe sample of a face mask by evie evan whom I've never heard of. Then 3 small packets of Moonlight Radiance Night cream from a company named Merlot. Which makes natural grape seed skin care. They claim this cream promotes thicker skin and better skin tone. Helps to reduce and reverse deep lines and wrinkles. It is made in the USA and doesn't test on animals. So I guess I should be happy to get three packets instead of one to try.

Then I received from It's a 10 a sample one time use of their Miracle hair mask. Which claims to do ten things. Detangle, restore moisture balance, restores elasticity, softens, smoothes, imparts luminous shine, enhances natural body, nourishes, de frizzes, and finally improves color vibrancy. So after shampooing work in to hair and leave on for 1-3 minutes. For a deep conditioner use for up to 5-15 minutes, then rinse. Their Miracle styling serum which is alcohol free claims to do ten things as well. I won't get in to that again. The ten things are somewhat different than that of the hair mask. As for the serum you just apply after washing and before styling.

The last packaged item was from Comodynes it a Beauty Flash Lifting effect- Instant Beauty Spray. This spray claims that a concentrate of plant extracts will tighten skin and reduce wrinkles and pore size. In one minute the skin will be smoother, brighter, and toned. 8-Hour lifting effect. Apply on clean, dry skin prior to make-up. For all skin types. 1 spray=2 applications in sample. So OK a spray that makes those claims seems crazy. I'll try this out later then let you know what happens if anything.

In this really weighty glass jar was a Mini Purity Masque. This masque had the traditional spa smell. It wasn't overpowering or harsh. Just a nice clean scent. It says on the card to Apply masque to a clean, dry face. Let sit for 10-20 mins. Rinse with warm water. I too will try this and give a report later.

The next item was a Shea body butter in Hawaiian Kukui by Tree Hut. I too have never heard of this brand as well. It says it's certified organic Shea butter. Not tested on animals. This was a 2 oz size which will be enough to tell if I will like it. It does have a heavy coconut smell which I'm not a fan of. The cream is very thick and smooth and makes the skin feel soft. It does absorb quickly which is a plus. This does make you feel like your in the tropics just from the scent alone. So that's great for scent to suddenly whisk you away to an island paradise. All while still sitting at your desk.

I'm still on the fence about this box. I'm not sure on overall value of this box. I do know it was not worth the $12 it costs. Have you tried this box before? Or have you thought about it? If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.

Clarins Skincare Review

I have over the years been using many different skincare products as I age. Some I really liked and others I didn't. So far I have been liking my latest find. These products have been working really well on my skin. I haven't had any reactions and so far they do what they say. Which is control oil. I have very oily skin and that hasn't changed yet. I seems as I get older the more oil I produce. Weird. Well any way this is a review on the products that I bought that have worked wonders for me so far.

 I have really oily skin with few breakouts. Just the occasional white or blackhead. I had been blessed all my life so far. Knock on wood. With pimple free skin. I do however have rosacea, large pores and uneven skin tone.With some hyperpigmentation just under my lip on my chin. So with that being my skin issues. I decided to try Clarin's skin care products. I had been a die hard user of Clinique products in my 20's. Then in my early 30's I changed brands. That was because my skin had changed as well. Clinique wasn't working like it used to. So I began using the Philosophy brand of skin care. This was a brand that I knew of well but, had never tried. Until my sister turned me on to the brand. She was and had been using their products for quite some time and liked them. So I started using them for the first half of my thirties. Then upon my mid-thirties I was just using anything new to find a Holy Grail product since I'm getting older and still just as oily.


On my latest shopping trip earlier last month. I found myself at Macy's and passing by the Clarins counter. The lady there politely asked me if I had used Clarins before. I had told her yes but, only their Soothing face primer and their lipsticks. I had never used their skin care before. So she showed me what I needed to do to get my skin back in shape. I purchased the items she recommended. I only got the three that I thought I needed right away. I was going to wait on the facial creams. Particularly the day and the night moisturizers because I want to finish my current ones. Plus I like to research those before I buy them since they are so expensive. 

The items I purchased were their Gentle Foaming Cleanser with Tamarind and Micro-Pearls for Combination or Oily Skin. 4.4 oz for $21.

Toning Lotion Alcohol-Free with Iris (aka Toner) for Combination or Oily Skin. 6.8 Fl.Oz. for $21

Pore Minimizing Serum that refines and smooths skin texture. 1Fl.Oz. for $49.

When used all together they really work. I have had my oil production almost cut in half since I've been using these. My skin looks great and more even and my pores seem somewhat smaller. Since using the serum. Only time will tell since I've been using these three products for over a month. The toner and the cleanser work well I love the way they smell and feel on the skin. I really think that I may have found my HG face trio. If you want more information on these or any other products go to www.clarins.com