January 2014 Birchbox and Ipsy Glam Bag Review

Birchbox: 

I wasn't as excited about this box when I first opened it, but it could be because I had worked 15 hours that day (yes, you read that right). The more I looked into the products and used them, I became happier with it. I still agree with others that they shouldn't count shampoo and conditioner as two separate samples. Birchbox claims they give 4-5 samples a month and if there's a "Birchbox find" it will not replace one of your usual samples. This is the second time I've gotten a 'find' and both times I've only received 4 samples. Also both times I got separate shampoo and conditioner as items #1 and #2. So that's a little disappointing. Oh well, it's only $10 a month and I can cancel whenever so I don't complain too much. I did really like these samples once I used them.

Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion with Clary Sage: ($?) This was the "Birchbox Find" this month. Basically, an average (not high-end, usually) product that the staff thinks everyone should try. You can see by the top that it doesn't say anything about being for the face, but it turns out it is. It's very soft and smells alright. It also spreads really nice and covers well. They included a $3 off coupon for this product if you want to go out and buy the full size. I just may...

Fekkai Advanced Brilliant Glossing Shampoo and Conditioner: ($39 for 16oz of each) My hair is pretty healthy so I don't always like when I get shampoo samples. But this stuff was different. It smells really nice and makes my hair incredibly soft. I am not willing to pay $39 each for shampoo and conditioner though. But I love the samples!

Harvey Prince Journey: ($55 for 50ml) I finally got brave and tried this. I'm really hesitant when it comes to perfume because I really don't like that much of a scent. I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's light, and feminine and happy. If the price was better, I would consider buying it. But I guess I'll just stick with my body spray when I run out of this sample.

Coastal Scents Revealed Palette Set: ($34 for 20 shades) I really like these small palettes. I wear eyeshadow every day but I have a bunch of different colors so something this small doesn't take up a lot of space and I still get a lot of the product. As far as how good it is: It's basic eyeshadow to me. I've had some pretty bad stuff but this isn't like that. It covers nicely, blends well, has a rich color, and doesn't fall all over the place when you put it on. I don't think I need the whole set though.

Then we all got these cards. I suppose they are motivational for people in the new year. They're cute, but I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet.

Ipsy Glam Bag:

I also got my first Ipsy Glam Bag this month. I read some reviews and decided to give it a try, if only for a few months. I have to say, I'm not as impressed as others. Maybe this month was a dud. Reviewers said Ipsy is better about listening to your profile and giving you things you actually want. Not too much with me this month. I have since changed some of my profile settings. The bag itself is cute, but smells terrible! It smells like a plastic or vinyl pool or something similar. It's decent quality fabric though so I don't know why the smell.

Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask: I've already said, my hair is pretty healthy. I was a little disappointed that they gave me this instead of some makeup, but I gave it a try anyway. Wow! My hair was crazy soft afterward. And it's a decent sized sample. It will take me a while to use all of this. I'll make the boyfriend try it too :)

Elizabeth Mott Smooth Shadow (in Pearl): I guess you can sharpen the black (plastic-like) part just like a regular pencil... still weird. It's not just shimmery, it has noticeable glitter in it. I've just used it as a highlighter so far because I have really bad luck with cream eyeshadows creasing after a few hours. I like the glitter as a highlighter though.

Nourish Organic Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion: Awful. Gross. Disgusting. Ugh. Some people on the website loved this scent. I HATED it. I almost washed it off right after I put it on. It smells like fruit gone bad. I suppose it felt nice. Not as much moisture as I like. The smell did fade after a while but every once and a while throughout the day I smelled it again. I will not even use the rest of this sample. I don't know if I can even give it to someone else... blech.

MicaBeauty Tinted Lip Balm (in Fiesta): I didn't even think about taking the lid off and snapping a picture of the actual color. It's pretty close to what you see in the picture, even though that's reflecting a lot of the pink bag everything came in. (It's not quite that bright.) Fiesta is pretty close to my natural pink lip color, just a little darker. It's supposed to be a tinted lip balm, but it's not very moisturizing. It's actually pretty drying. But I've put it on over regular lip balm and had it on a bare lip and put something else on top of it and that seems to work pretty well. It stains a little bit too, which I actually really like. It's going to be great for when I actually go out somewhere and want a longer-lasting product. 

Proactiv+ Mark Fading Pads: I haven't tried these yet, because I don't really know how to use them - even though I've read the instructions over and over - and because I don't really have any marks that need fading. It looks like all you do is open up a package and wipe over a clean face. But somewhere I saw the word "peel" and that confused me. It also says to use after the Proactive _something_ and then use some other Proactive product after. So why only give the in between one? Give me one of each instead of 4 of the middle one.