April 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag

Each month, subscribers will receive a beautiful Glam Bag with deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products. Members can watch and play along with the stylists with the same products that they are using. All for only $10 a month. 

When you sign up, you take a "beauty quiz" to let them know what you like. I guess Ipsy is kind of a social network-type beauty website, but I don't do all of that. There's also some sort of points system that I haven't quite figured out. You get 10 points for each review, but you usually need 1000 points to get some kind of bonus product, of which they only have 3 to choose from at a time. There are points for referrals too, but I don't badger my friends into signing up. If you would like to sign up, please consider using my referral link: http://www.ipsy.com/r/4q7r

This month's theme: Beauty Rocks

I forgot to get a picture of just the bag by itself. That will be coming soon. The picture on Ipsy's Facebook page made it look really purple, but now that I have it, I've been going back and forth between dark purple/indigo and dark blue/almost black. Either way, it's very soft (unlike some of the past bags I've gotten) and it's slightly taller than the last couple, which I love. This will definitely be coming with me when I go visit my family!

Here's what I got:

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil (Travel Size): Love this eyeliner. I drew that line, then rubbed it with my finger and it didn't move. Eventually it got a little lighter, but no smudging. I didn't realize I would love waterproof eyeliner so much. (I hate waterproof mascara because it always seems to mess up my contacts.) This "travel size" is the perfect size. It takes me a while to use up eyeliner so this will last a long time. It also has the plastic around the color, instead of wood. I like this new trend. It's so much fun to sharpen! (Yes, you can sharpen it. A lot of people complain that it's just a little nub but really! You CAN sharpen the plastic stuff!)

Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse: I think I used to have a full size of this product. I stopped using it a long time ago, when my hair was longer. I'll try this travel size with my shorter hair now and see how it goes. I used it yesterday and didn't see much of a difference, but I'll keep trying.

dr. brandt Microdermabrasion: This has very tiny beads in it for exfoliating. I actually liked the feeling of it, however others have described it as sandpaper. It's nice for a weekly cleaning. Don't think I need to buy it though.

City Color White Gold Shadow & Highlight Mousse: I was just saying that I needed a basic white shimmery color for everyday wear! The mousse part scares me a little bit, but I'm getting used to it. The swatch on my hand stayed for hours after I forgot about it, but it creases right away on my lids! :( I even used a primer both days I've tried it. Maybe I'll try it without the primer tomorrow. It could be that I've been putting it on and not letting it sit long enough with my lids closed to "set". It is a great color though! And a little goes a long way.

Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Apple Pink: The color is a little more orangy than I'm used to. It's also pretty matte and slightly drying. I love the container though! I've been wanting to try one of these Cailyn products for a while just because of the unique packaging. 

**After using this a few times, I've decided I really don't like the formula. If you have dry lips at all, it will show every crack and make it more drying. I still love the container so I'm disappointed that I won't be using this very often, if at all.

April 2014 Birchbox

Birchbox is a monthly subscription box service. For $10 a month, they will send you 4-5 'Beauty and Lifestyle' samples. 

They also have a points system, which is the best I've seen. 100 points = $10 to spend in the Birchbox shop. Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend (monthly boxes don't count, except for the first one) and they offer a lot of promo codes to get extra points. You can also earn 10 points for each review of your monthly samples. That's like getting $4-5 back each month! You also get 50 points for each person who signs up through your referral. If you would like to try Birchbox, please consider using my link: https://www.birchbox.com/invite/pdwbx

This month's theme: Rainy Days

Each box contained a card of things to do on a rainy day. Mine was a little pointless. I don't have plants, especially fake ones.

Here's what I got this month:

Beauty Protector Protect and Detangle: ($21.95 for 8oz) I actually got this in my first March Birchbox. They say they never give you the same sample twice, but there was some confusion with that month's box that you can read about here. Likewise, you can read my original review here. But here's my new thoughts: This stuff is awesome. It smells really good and makes your hair feel super soft. I generally blow dry my hair every day because when I air dry, it gets a little frizzy and just lays funny. This past weekend I put this in my hair after showering, and just pinned back my bangs. We were going to a late movie and I didn't need to look great. After my hair dried, it looked great! Even when I took out the bobby pins, I didn't have those dumb creases. I'm so glad I got another sample of this. Maybe when I'm done with both, I will finally be convinced to buy a full size.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel: ($22 for 0.28 oz) As far as I can tell, this is a full-size product. Or very close to. I have started to pay attention to my brows a bit more, but that's because I'm using Benefit's Gimme Brow because it's color and gel in one. I don't take a pencil to my brows, so I don't really need a clear gel like this. But I guess it's good for taming my brows very quickly.

Supergoop! Daily Correct CC Cream: ($32 for 1.6 oz I think) I have a friend who got this sample a few months ago and had to buy the full size. She loves it. I'm so excited to try it! The sample is teeny-tiny (quarter for scale) but it feels full, unlike last month's products. I really like the coverage of this. It's very natural and not heavy. Not sure how well it helped with the oil. I am a little disappointed though: when I first used this, I thought "Wow, my face looks great. I'm probably going to buy this" but by the end of the day I noticed a some tiny zits popping up on a generally clear face. It was too many just to be a bad face day. I went a few days without it, trying other primers and sunblocks I had instead and nothing else happened. Then I tried this CC cream again and the same thing happened, but a little less this time. And I really liked it too :( Glad I didn't just take my friend's word and buy the full-size. 

Color Club Gala's Gems Collection in "Breakfast At...": ($13 for the 4-color pack) Beautiful color. Super smooth. Needs 2 coats (only one coat shown here). Definitely an Easter color. I've been really into the mint greens lately so I love this. I have an Essie color that's close but is a solid flat color and I put them on together after I took that picture.

                       

Kind Healthy Grain Bars: ($11.88 for a box of 15) This was a "Find" this month (it comes in addition to your 4-5 samples.) It made me nervous to see pictures of people's boxes and all of them had a Kind bar in it. We have Kind bars at work, but they're the ones with the fruit in them and I just don't like that sort of thing. I was really excited to see this flavor though! I really like pumpkin seeds. It also has sunflower seeds, oats, millet, quinoa, buckwheat, maple syrup, and sea salt. It was a great sweet and salty treat this morning on my way to work. I will definitely be buying a box of these. It's perfect to throw in my purse for a quick snack.