Birchbox January 2013

Posted in Beauty & Skin, Hair, Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

My Birchbox January 2013

number4 clarifying shampoo – yay! Interested in trying this one
the balm hot mama – was excited about this until I read dimeticone on the ingredients – it breaks me out
fresh lotus youth face cream – dimethicone strikes again
lashem – my eyelashes are thick enough so no interest
harvey prince skinny chic – when are they going to stop sending me synthetic fragrances – I haven’t even opened it and the smell coming from it is giving me a headache. They need to stop sending me fragrances already. Particularly since they aren’t sending anything that’s natural.

Anyone want to swap? The only one I plan to try is the shampoo. And I also think I’m going to try ipsy.

Still not signed up for Birchbox?

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January 7, 2013

Zoya 2013 three free promo deal

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

If you’ve ever wanted to try Zoya nail polish (which I would say probably comparable to Essie) they’re running their three free promo. So for the cost of S&H ($10) you can get three full size nail polishes if you enter the promo code ZOYA2013
Details here: http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com/2013/01/color-your-world-in-2013-with-zoya-nail.html

Their servers are a little slow at the moment so I suggest browsing color options via google to make your choices. I’ve already bought mine. 🙂

I chose:

Ziv – I’ve been wanting a good gold nail polish recently.
Elodie – because it closely resembles Essie “Boat House” and I want a version of this shade that doesn’t come off so quickly.
Audrina – because purples are not prominent in my nail polish collection and this shade of purple is leaning torwards the pink spectrum and a shade I have some clothes in. I’m also slowly collecting the entire “Gossip” collection – I actually like all of the colors in this set.

January 5, 2013

Klutchclub December 2012

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Clothing, Hair, Subscription boxes

Clothing and Beauty related from the box:

Giovanni Cosmetics Shampoo and Conditioner with argan oil and brazilian phyto-keratin: ingredients look good and it’s a decent natural shampoo and conditioner. However my hair was not as frizz free as my other natural shampoo and conditioner, I had to put more product in post shower to get it tamed. That said, if you’re still searching for a good natural shampoo and conditioner that works with your hair, I would give this one a try.

C Booth Body Butter: second ingredient is mineral oil. Not natural, pass. Tired of companies pretending to be natural by throwing some popular ingredients into their products and calling it a day.

Berry Plus Laundry detergent: looks good, very different. All natural and definitely going to try this one out. Concerns would be scent (even natural) and if they will cause any allergies to act up. I don’t think so but it’s always something I think about. All my laundry soaps are natural and unscented.

Seer Outfitters $10 off clothing:I’ve never heard of this company but it says “100% of the profits go to support organizations and causes throughout the country.” $10 off just doesn’t make sense on this on so many levels. Shipping is $5 so it basically makes a tshirt $20. Are they cotton? Poly? Blend? Organic? Oh wait, some shirts have that info and others don’t (blend.) Sizing? The FAQ says “check out our size chart HERE” and there’s no link. Just not jumping up and down over this.

In non-beauty product items, a few little comments:

Funky Monkey Jivealime: TASTY!!! Love it. SO glad I got one without bananas (allergies … man I sound crazy sometimes.) Going to buy some of these and try some of the other flavors. They are not filling but they sure satisfy the taste buds.

Zevia: These are a great no calorie soft drink made with natural stevia leaf. I think the reason I don’t drink these more is that they make me a little more burpy than normal soda. They ARE good though.

KT Tape: I’m not looking forward to using this because I don’t want any injuries that this would help BUT other than the injury aspect I am interested in these. They look awesome.

Lush Gourmet Foods Nuts: So I think one of the more disappointing things was the nuts. I get that people have peanut allergies but the promo code is kinda lame. Buy $36 worth of nuts and get a $7 bag for free. I was looking forward to trying these but probably won’t at that price to entry level. Throw it on through amazon so I can buy a bag for $7 with prime and free shipping and I’ll give it a whirl.

StreamFit: And anything that has two free months but I have to enter in my credit card info … I’m not going to do it because I don’t want to deal with the process of canceling something if I don’t like it. It’s not a risk free and easy trial. I would either want to do more research on the company to see how easy it was for other people to cancel, or if there were any complaints about billing before going that route. I don’t want it enough to spend that kind of time on it.

I canceled my recurring subscription on this one because January being that month that everyone resolves to lose weight, I doubt that I’m going to be interested in the January box. I’ll probably resubscribe in Feb or March.

January 3, 2013

Bikini … or was that Dare Devil?
Sinful Colors nailpolish

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

So I actually have been wearing this color a lot and I noticed when I tried applied it on my trip that I had gone through over half the bottle and it was getting a little gloopy. Since these nail polishes are only $2 each I just decided I should get another one. BUT when I went to pick up the color I had been using, it didn’t look right. Bikini seemed just a hair too purple compared to what I had on. So I dug through the bin (the local Walgreens has some in a proper display and others in a giant bin) looking for something closer.

Turns out it I might what I thought was “Bikini” was mislabeled and is actually “Dare Devil.” :/

January 1, 2013

Birchbox November 2012 unboxing

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Beauty & Skin, Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

Masqueology Revitalizing Eye Mask – parabens
MCMC Fragrance Phoenix Eau de Parfum – “In the MCMC Fragrances laboratory, we use both natural and synthetic ingredients. The Dude No. 1 beard oil is the only 100% all natural product we currently have on offer, however, in all of our products, we do use an especially high concentration of natural ingredients in comparison to mass-market perfumes, which usually contain little (and sometimes none at all) natural ingredients.”
stila all over shimmer liquid luminizer – dimethicone

The next three only list “key ingredients” on their website so they probably aren’t completely natural:

Kiehl’s Creme de Corps
Masqueology 7D Moisture Cream
Masqueology Masque Cleanse

So second month I’m not going to use any of the samples. I’m repeatedly disappointed that somehow when they have an organic brand I typically don’t get it in my box. I would be less disappointed if they didn’t have natural and organic things that I would like to try. I feel like they avoid sending the items that would be a good match for me to me. I want to sample these things, not buy full size to try, which is part of the whole reason I joined Birchbox. Yes, what I got was high end, but that’s not my main concern. Yes, I still want it to be a fun process too.

Items listed as November items I wish I had received:

One Love Organics® Aromatic Body Serum

Shea Terra Organics Whipped Shea Butter Ultimate Moisturizing Body Crème

Mox Botanicals Lip Butter

Lulu Organics® Lavender + Clary Sage Hair Powder

Anyone get any of these 4 items and want to trade? I have some products from previous months that have gone unopened. (I ended up doing a giveaway with many but still have some.)

I’m starting to not feel the love here Birchbox – why are you taunting me so Birchbox!! It might be time to try an natural / organic box. Not sure yet if I’ll ditch Birchbox entirely but definitely time to try something new and more fitting.

Birchbox 2012 Holiday Gift Guide:

Open publication – Free publishing – More birchbox

Still not signed up for Birchbox?

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December 2, 2012