September 2015 ipsy Glam Bag!

Hello again, my friends!

My September glam bag arrived literally the day after my Birchbox, and I was super excited to dive into it and explore the goodies ipsy had to offer me for this month.  Let's great right to it!

Here's the bag for this month and the card that came with it--not that it gives me any more information than usual.  But the bag is super cute; there's a sort of golden glamour theme this month. :)

Product number one: 

First Aid Beauty

Ultra Repair Cream

Full size, $12-$30

Sample size, 1 oz

Sample value, $5.50

This is a pretty nice cream--its description says it's full of colloidal oatmeal, shea butter, and eucalyptus oil, among other things.  It should be great for irritated or dry skin, and I'll probably get some good use out of it as the weather gets colder.  I'm glad to have it!

Product number two:

Garnier Fructis

Sleek & Shine Sleek Primer Style Prep

Product is full size!

Product value, $4.29

Garnier is a brand I use a variety of products from, and I enjoy their hair products a lot--they always smell great, and their shampoos have worked really well for me.  This product is intended for folks who use styling tools like straighteners and blow dryers, which isn't exactly relevant to me.  I generally let my hair air dry unless I absolutely must blow dry it, so I'm not sure I'll get much use out of this.  However, I know some friends who might benefit from it, so I'll find it a good home.  

Product number three:

Elizabeth Mott

Queen of the Fill Tinted Brow Gel

Shade: Light Medium

Product is full size!

Product value, $20

I'm a major fan of Benefit's Gimme Brow, which I have in the shade Medium/Deep because of how dark my brows are.  This is a lighter shade, so I'm not sure it'll work as well, but I will absolutely give it a try.  What I love about Gimme Brow is that it not only has a tinted gel, but adds volume to your eyebrows by adhering to the hair.  If this product has a similar effect, I might have to try it out for a while--it's a few bucks cheaper than Benefit!

Product four:

NYX Cosmetics

ipsy Eye Shadow Trio

Product was made exclusively for ipsy subscribers.

Comparable eye shadow trios go for $3-$6

I'm a fan of NYX products, and as you can see from the swatches above, 2 of these three shadows are nice and pigmented.  The lightest shade, which looks gorgeous in the pan, just doesn't translate onto my skin.  I'll give it a try with some shadow primer and a brush, but I'll still get use out of the 2 darker shades even if the lighter one is a bit of a let down.

Product five:

J. Cat Beauty

#MOTD Waterproof Slide on Pencil for Eyes

Shade: Bronze

Product is full size!

Product value, $2.49

J. Cat Beauty is a brand I've heard about from some of my favorite beauty bloggers, but I haven't yet tried out their products.  I'm super stoked to have this eye liner in such a unique shade.  I tried to swatch it, but it doesn't translate to pictures very well, so I'll try to take pictures when I incorporate it into an eye look for my monthly wrap up!

Well, kids, that's it for this month's subscription unboxing/unbagging!  Total value for this month's bag comes to around $36.78, which is pretty close the value of this month's Birchbox.  I hope you've enjoyed learning about the things I've gotten to try out.  If you're interested in checking out ipsy for yourself, click here!

I'll see you folks again at the end of the month for the wrap-up! Until then, don't forget to be awesome.

Best wishes,

Marlee

Beauty Sample Redux: August in Review + September Birchbox!

It's been a busy few weeks, friends.

With the start of school (and the return of grad school), I simply didn't find the time to get back over here and do my monthly wrap up!  So today I figured I'd go ahead and do a quickie wrap-up along with a post for my September Birchbox which arrived today!  Let's launch right into it so this won't be miles long.

ipsy Samples:

• AILA Cosmetics Luxury Nail Lacquer in the (unfortunately named) shade Mister Pookies: This nail polish, y'all.  It is dark and plum and chocolate and gray and I want to wear it for basically all of fall, k?  Just got it put on my nails this past weekend and I miiiight wind up wearing it again in the near future.  Definitely 5 stars. [Bonus: in the pictures for this month's Birchbox samples, this is the color on my nails.]
• LATHER Ultra Mild Face Wash: This was just okay.  Didn't exactly blow me away, but it is intended to be mild, so I didn't expect incredible results. Solid 3 stars.
• Doucce Ultra Precision Eye Liner in the shade Black (500): Pretty typical black liner.  I've used it in my waterline on and off this month and been pleased with its staying power, but I'm not sure I'd rate it all that much higher than my drug store brand liner--I definitely don't know that I'd say it's worth $22.  I give this one 3 stars.
• Hikari Cosmetics Lip Gloss in the shade Merlot: This gloss is pretty gorgeous.  It is, however, not exactly long lasting--it is still a gloss, after all.  But I've enjoyed the color and I'll probably get more wear out of it in the coming months.  I'm glad to have it.  4 stars!
• Jesse's Girl Eye Shadow Primer: This stuff seems to work pretty well! It doesn't match my Urban Decay Primer Potion, but it's a great product, especially for the price.  I'll give it 3 stars!

Birchbox Samples:

• I haven't tried out the St. Tropez Gradual Tan In Shower yet...I can't bring myself to try it, but I know I should at least be able to speak to how well it works for me, so I'll gather up my courage and report back once I've given it a go sometime during the fall.
• R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo: S'okay. Nothing spectacular, but I used it up. 3 stars.
• Air Repair Complexion Boosting Moisturizer: Decent moisturizer.  Used it at night, but I'm not sure I got enough use to have a solid opinion on any lasting effects.  I'll give it 3 stars.
• theBalm Cosmetics Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush in the shade Take a Dip: I'm still a little frosty at how small this bronzer sample is.  It's the same size as eye shadow samples I've gotten from theBalm in the past, and I don't see how they expect me to be able to assess how well this product works for me when they give me such a small sample.  I can't rate it.  I didn't use it.
• COOLA SPF 30 Organic Makeup Setting Spray: I enjoyed this product.  It felt nice going on.  I was surprised that I didn't get more out of the spray bottle, but I liked what I was able to use.  I don't know that I'd purchase this one--$36 is pretty steep--but I might consider grabbing a drug store brand setting spray after getting the chance to play with this one.  I'll give it 3 stars.

That's the super speedy wrap up of August's samples.  Some hits and misses like always, but now we look onward to September! Let's dive into my Birchbox that arrived today--it's got some pretty awesome goodies in it!

The box is, once again, gorgeous.  The design is based upon a few 

Birchbox subscribers' submissions to a contest, and I think it looks super cute!

All neat and tidy...and full of goodies! :)

Here's the product card for this month!

Product number one:

Mally

High Shine Liquid Lipstick Pen

Shade: Cherry Blossom

Product is full size!

Product value: $20.00

I'm pretty stoked on getting a full size lip product!  This shade is a very pretty petal pink with a touch of shimmer, and while it's called a liquid lipstick, it feels much more like a gloss.  Regardless, it's a very pretty shade that'll be really wearable with lots of different looks, so I'm happy to have it!

Product number two and three: 

Davines

LOVE Smooth Shampoo & Conditioner

Full size, $25 (Shampoo) & $29 (Conditioner)

Sample size, 2.5 fl oz (Shampoo) & 0.40 fl oz (Conditioner

Sample value, $7.40 (Shampoo) & $1.37 (Conditioner)

[Total sample value: $8.77]

This was my sample choice for this month--I'm not going to lie, it was partly motivated by knowing that the conditioner packet would offer me an extra 10 points. :) I'm excited to try both products out--Davines is a brand I've heard about ever since joining Birchbox, but I haven't had the chance to try their stuff out until now.  I'll let you know how my hair handles it! (It smells lovely.)

Product number four:

Whish

Three Whishes Body Butter

Scent: Lavender

Full size, $24

Sample size, .75 fl oz

Sample value, $3.52

I've gotten a couple of Whish Shave Lotions before and they've been hit or miss, but this stuff smells awesome.  The lavender scent is super soothing, and I think I'll put this to use at night before bed time.  Super glad to have it!

Product number five:

100% Pure

Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream

Full size, $25

Sample size, 0.3 fl oz

Sample value, $7.50

I'm slowly coming to love eye creams.  I've only gotten one other product from 100% Pure before and it was sort of a miss, but I'm excited to try this product out.  Being that it's all natural, it has a bit of a..."natural" kind of smell, if that makes sense.  But the reviews say it's super effective, so I'm excited to try it out.

Product number six:

By Rosie Jane

Perfume

Scent: James

Full size, $39

Sample size & value unknown

I can't pull a sample value together for this one because--lo and behold--they don't put the sample size anywhere in the information in my box.  It's an interesting fragrance described as having notes of fig, amber, and gardenia.  It's a touch floral for me, but I think I'll enjoy wearing it--it'll certainly be something different!  

Overall, this box has been pretty solidly in the win column.  Total value (not counting the unknown value of the perfume sample) comes to almost $40 ($39.79), which is almost 4 times the cost of the subscription! I'm stoked to try everything out and I look forward to sharing my findings with you all.  If you're interested in trying out Birchbox for yourself, click here.  The next time you hear from me should be for this month's ipsy bag, which I expect any day now!

Until then, don't forget to be awesome!

Best wishes,

Marlee