December Ipsy 2012 Bag

This is my second month being resubscribed to Ipsy. Overall I liked this month but I wasn't amazed.

December 2012 Ipsy Bag

• Mirabella Be a Bombshell Lip Gloss in Hot Mess This looks more orange in the tube than it actually applies. I haven' tried to wear it yet. 
• Mai Couture Highlighting Papers I just think these are weird. I can't ever see myself really using them.
• NYX Loose Pearl Shadow in Sky Pink Pearl I love NYX products and I actually have a Loose Shadow already in a blue. I was hoping for silver. I wasn't really thrilled to see pink but this is definitely a workable pink for a neutral look. It's not like a bubblegum pink.
• Mirabella Primer for Face and Eyes I'm always up to try out a new primer. 
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero  I already have one of these from the set of mini eyeliners I bought on Hautelook a while back. So I was hoping we'd get different colors.

The bag itself is a good size and color. This would be great to put your brushes in for travel. I like that there is so much variety in the style of bag each month now. When I first subscribed they were all pretty similar. This bag was good but I wasn't blown away. I still haven't used anything from last month's bag either. I think I may finally be sampled out.

November Rambling

First I wanted to say thank you to all of my readers! I am grateful to each of you for reading my blog. Thank you to all the other amazing bloggers out there. I've learned so much from you all and I've been inspired.

I've been trying to do some things around the house over the holiday and there was all the baking and visiting to do. So I've been neglecting my blog. I was going to post about the November Ipsy bag but you're all probably tired of seeing it this late in the month. ;)

I was subscribed to MyGlam back in the earlier months of the year when it...well. when it sucked. So I cancelled my subscription. I've kept my eye on their progress though and they've really upped their game. This month I decided to resubscribe and I'm not disappointed. Except for the nail polish but I'm just not into glitter and gold. I love They're Real! mascara it might be my HG mascara. I'm really excited to try theBalm shadow. I've never tried any of their shadows although I've been tempted to buy Nude'Tude a few times. Love the color of the lip gloss. I'm not really into the actual bag this month but that's OK. I loved the October bag and actually traded over on MUT to get one. 

I need to go through my collection and update my trade list. I'm also thinking of doing a blog sale. I have a few Inglot shadows and some other stuff I may want to part with. 

I'm doing OK on my low buy for the month. I had to take advantage of the MUA 35% off sale. I'll probably hit up some Cyber Monday deals. My Mom wants some makeup/skincare items for Christmas and I still want to pick up a few of the Real Techniques brushes but I don't intend to go crazy buying palettes or holiday sets or even that bottle of Balenciaga perfume I've been wanting for ages.

Hope you're having a great holiday weekend!

April Beauty Box 5 Review

I know we're halfway through May and I still have April subs to review. In all fairness, I got this box so late in April that I thought it had been lost in the mail like my first Beauty Box 5. Since I used a code when I signed up, this box was free so I wasn't too concerned if it showed up or not. Beauty Box 5 is a monthly subscription service for $12. You get five samples of varying sizes.

April Beauty Box 5

There seems to be quite a range of products and sample sizes people are receiving. My five items this month were:

• Lavera Eye Liner in #2 Brown (full size)
• Pur-lisse Gentle Soy Milk Cleanser and Makeup Remover
• Lavera Mango Milk Hair Mask
• Freeman Dead Sea Minerals Anti-Stress Mask
• Becca Eye Tint in Pewter (full size)

I've been using the UD 24/7 liners for so long now that I forgot eye liner used to be hard. The Lavera is definitely a hard eye liner and I experienced some smudging and fading.  I tried the Pur-lisse a few times and I don't care for the texture or the fragrance. Something about it is a bit too menthol for my liking.  The Lavera hair mask interested me because I've never tried a hair mask before but I didn't see any real difference in my hair. My hair is generally healthy and shiny anyway. *shrug*  The Freeman mask was OK. I liked it better than the Freeman Mask I had in my February MyGlam bag but still I wouldn't go out and buy a Freeman mask. The Becca Eye Tint in Pewter is the only product I haven't had a chance to try out yet. Becca describes it as a rich gray black. We'll see what I think when I finally get around to giving it a test drive.

I had decided to cancel BB5 even before I got this box and I don't regret it. For $3 more I get Sample Society which came with a year subscription to Allure and offers $15 off coupons at Beauty Bar. For $2 less I get Birchbox which has an extensive online store and rewards points system. I don't dislike Beauty Box 5 but there's nothing about it that wows me or that sets it apart from any of the other beauty subscription services out there. 

MyGlam March Bag

March was second month for MyGlam and the end of their probationary period with me. I've been giving all my subscription services two months before I decide whether to cancel or continue. This month there were three standard samples and a mix of three items as deluxe sample. Those were the 3Lab cleanser, Pur-lisse Lip Comfort, and Murad Absolute Bronzing Boost.  I would have preferred the Pur-lisse but anything is better than the bronzing boost for me.

I had heard online that some people received bags that stunk. I thought last month's bag was stinky so I was somewhat prepared when I opened my package or so I thought..The smell was strong and noxious and somewhere between moth balls and gasoline. Maybe gasoline soaked moth balls? All of the samples inside were tainted by the smell but the bag itself was the worst! I took all the samples out and filled a bag with baking soda and left it to air out. The next day my samples had aired out enough to handle them but the bag was still awful. I couldn't get within two feet of it without being hit by the fumes. More on that later. First the samples.

• Keracolor Color Enhancing Leave In Treatment "This leave-in treatment is especially designed to enhance, protect, strengthen, and hydrate all hair types."  You mix the two sides together and work into damp hair. They also claim this sample will be enough for 2-4 applications. I'm pretty sure I'd get one use out of it.  I haven't tried this yet. Experimenting with skincare products is one thing. I'm not so sure I want to experiment with hair color treatments. If anyone has tried this, I'd like to know how it worked for you.
• Pur-lisse Pur-Protect SPF 30 Essential Daily Moisturizer " ... delivers reliable broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection plus rich hydration, thanks to a couple of exclusive complexes, vitamin E, soy protein and calming antioxidant white tea. Skin is left calm and smooth."  It's a moisturizer. I was neither wowed or disappointed by it. I did get about four uses out of this. I probably could have gotten five but I was tired of dealing with the foil packet. 
• Murad Eye Lift Perfector "Increase your skin's firmness by 50% in as little as 15 minutes with this revolutionary product, which relies on exclusive firming and luminating complexes to address dark circles, both instantly and long-term. A subtle tint adds just the right amount of coverage.  I tend to get dark circles. I used this once and didn't really notice a difference. I think I have enough left to give it another shot.
• MyGlam Classic Crease Brush & Case "Hand selected by Michelle from her recent trip to Hong Kong...Freshen up your spring makeup routine with this MyGlam exclusive classic crease brush and case."  This seems rather large for a crease brush. It also seems like a lower quality than even my e.l.f brushes. At first I suspected the brush case as the culprit for the horrible smell. So I threw it in the trash can beside my desk. I'm not a pink kind of girl. I think the only other pink item I own is my MAC Brush Cleaner. So no big loss.  I may give this brush a good wash and see how it holds up. Mine still smells and already looks a bit frayed. 
• DermStore $25 Gift Card On purchases over $50. Not a gift card. A coupon code.
• 3Lab Perfect Cleansing Foam "Using only the highest-grade botanicals and state of the art technologies, 3LAB aims to perfect skin by firming, smoothing and evening the complexion."  I tried this a few times. I liked the way my skin felt afterwards. I will have to use it more to see if it causes any issues with my skin. Do not get this anywhere near your eyes or it will sting! There are also several ingredients that are known pore clogging ingredients including the very first ingredient. So if your skin is prone to breaking out you may want to avoid this. 

So back to the mystery toxic cloud. Let me start of by saying I don't have any respiratory issues nor am I overly sensitive to chemicals. But I could still sit at my desk and smell the brush holder. If I sat here too long I would start to get a headache. I finally took the trash out. My bag itself has been airing out since Monday when I unpacked it and it smells just as bad as it did when I first took it out of the bag. MyGlam's official response has been that is the glue used to construct the brushes. 1. That makes me not want to use the brush at all 2. It's my actual bag that still reeks after being out for five days. I'm not buying it.  I've read about other ladies getting migraines from the smell or even those with respiratory issues needing breathing treatments. This is no exaggeration on how noxious this thing is. I couldn't get within two feet of my bag without being hit by the fumes for four days.

I was going to give MyGlam one more month because overall the samples in this month's bag are better than February's Bag even though there were no makeup samples. The longer it took my bag to air out, the more disenchanted I became. So I cancelled my account yesterday. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. There just seems to be so much drama and disappointment surrounding this service.  I hope in the future they improve on quality. Until then I have my Sample Society and Birchbox.

NuMe Flat Iron Experience

So I used the NuMe "gift certificate" from the February MyGlam bag to purchase the Mini Flat Iron. It was the cheapest one. There were no specs in the description otherwise I wouldn't have been so surprised when I got my package. The term Mini is quit open to interpretation it seems. I would perhaps use the word "tiny."

Yes that's a quarter hanging off the heating element

This measures 5 1/2" L x 3/4"W (rounding up slightly). The actual heating element part is 2 1/2" x 1/2" (again rounding UP).  You may have noticed from my videos that I have a lot more hair than the average person..ok more hair than the average two people combined.  I decided to give it a whirl anyhoo. Luckily, it heats up quickly.It took me about forty minutes to do my entire head.  It should have taken a lot more but I was too impatient to section it out enough.  I did have some frizziness but overall it came out looking passable.

So I will be using this to depot eyeshadows mostly unless one of my shorter haired friends wants to give it a go. I was inspired to buy a full sized flat iron (not a NuMe) because I always like it when I get my hair done and they flat iron it.  I just don't see myself doing it all that often.  

Bat's Rating: 6 It's does an alright job but is too small to be practical for me.

My Glam February Bag

For those of you unfamiliar with it MyGlam is a monthly subscription service for makeup and skincare products. When it debuted it appeared that it was more geared to makeup but the last two months have seen a shift in that.  The February bag was my first experience with MyGlam.  These wound up shipping out later than they originally said they would. It was supposed to be a "Valentine's Day Themed" bag. I got my on the 17th.  Many other bloggers already received their bags and MyGlam released what was in them so there was no surprises really.

• X Out Shine Control Oil free moisturizer with a mattifying complex I don't have oily skin so not sure how I'm going to use this.
• NYX Roll on Shimmer NYX's shimmering powder that can be applied to they eyes, face, and body. Mine came in Light Blue Traded my Light Blue with one of the gals from Makeup Talk for Onyx.
• Premier Dead Sea Cinderella Mask Luxury skincare ruck in life-enhancing minerals from the Dead Sea waters. Used the moisturizer. It's ok but not amazing
• Freeman Facial Mask Sachets Easy to use skin perfecting masks. Mine came in Goji Berry. Actually made my skin feel dry.
• NuMe Professional Styling Tools and Hair Extensions $100 gift cared  to use on styling tools or extensions only.
• Ghiradelli Chocolates in Milk and Dark.

There are also special offers from X Out and NYX if you go to their sites and make a purchase of one of the included products. Now I know I only paid $10 including shipping but I'm a bit underwhelmed. I chose MyGlam because it was supposed to be more of a makeup service. I'm pretty set in my skincare routine but I'm always interested in different makeup products. This month there is one makeup product. I love NYX products but I'm not really sure how I'm going to use this Light Blue shimmer outside of a belly dance performance look. I'll give the other masks a try but they are not products I really see myself purchasing in the future.

I'm going to use the NuMe gift certificate but the cheapest flat iron they have is $115. I can live with a $15 flat iron. I know some people have gotten high shipping rates from them. Mine came out to $12. So a $27 flat iron altogether. At the  very least, I can use it to depot eyeshadows.

The bag itself is a good size but mine smells so bad and is really not my style. Unless one of my friends wants it, it's going in the trash.

So overall a bit underwhelmed by the samples in MyGlam. I didn't even feel it was worth the effort to make and upload a video about. If next month follows along the same lines, I'll definitely be cancelling. There are just too many  subscription services out there to keep one that doesn't excite or inspire.