So if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I signed up
for a Birchbox this past Sunday. I had
been visiting my best friend, Carol, for the weekend and she pulls out these
six, like, basically unused Birchboxes.
She basically dumped them out on the coffee table and said, “Have at
it”.
Now to me, this was a little like winning the lottery. Not that I’d know what that feels like, I
haven’t been that lucky in life. Maybe
two bucks from a scratch off here and there, but I can imagine it feels pretty
darn good…kind of like your bestie giving you free beauty samples.
(Chock full of goodies!)
So I picked a bunch from the glorious pile and I gotta say,
I think I did a pretty good job. I went
a little heavy on the lip products, but hey that’s how I roll. I’ve had a few days to test them out and here
are my first impressions.
First up is the Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive. Now, the back of this box
says that it “exfoliates and refines” so I gotta say, I kind of expected it to
be grittier. I mean this stuff is almost
like that lemon curd you buy in a jar to put on top of cookies. It’s translucent when applied, lightweight, and
absolutely no grit to it whatsoever.
So
I was really skeptical when I tried it.
The first thing I noticed was that it kind of stings when it is applied. Not
super uncomfortable or anything, but a noticeable tingle. I immediately thought I was having an
allergic reaction so I quickly looked up reviews on Ulta and apparently this is
normal. I’ve tried it twice now and
while it does make my skin feel very soft, I am not sure I am sold on this
product. Maybe it is one of those things
that needs a few weeks (those products DO exist, I promise), I can’t justify
spending $39 for a tub of something that didn’t wow me from the beginning. My Mario Badescu Flower & Tonic Mask does
the same thing, if not better, doesn’t sting, smells great, and only costs
$18. I dunno. I will keep trying it while the sample lasts,
but so far this one seems to be merely an okay product, but nothing to rave
about.
Next up are two tea bags (really random, I know) that were
pretty yummy. Both were from Kusmi Tea
and both were pretty darn tasty. Now I
did a little research and found out that a 20 pack of these tea bags are
$15.50. That’s a little steep (pun
definitely intended) for tea, but I am kind of used to it because I love
Teavana and their tea is pricey too. The
two varieties I got were “Be Cool” and “Detox”. “Be Cool” reminded me a lot like Sleepytime
tea, but with hints of lavender and something else I couldn’t place. According to the website it is rose hips so I
was going in the right direction. Very
yummy. “Detox” is green tea with lemon
and again, very tasty. I think I’d buy
this from time to time as a tea treat.
On to the four lip products I grabbed. I took a Mirenesse Glossy Kiss in the color
“Perfect Kiss”, a Cargo lip gloss in “Route 66”, an Elizabeth Arden Beautiful
Color Luminous Lip Gloss in “Precious Petal”, and a Stila Stay All Day Liquid
Lipstick in “Beso”.
So the Mirenesse one threw me for a loop. I put in on and basically instantly hated
it. I’m sitting there looking at my lips
and saying, “this is a HORRIBLE color”, when, before my eyes I began to see it
change. Now, I read the packaging
extensively and didn’t see anything on there that said it was a body
temperature changing thing so I thought that was really weird. It started to look better and better and I
finally decided that I actually liked it.
The best part was that it was very moisturizing and made my lips feel
super soft. I’m not sure I’d spend
$26.55 (which is a weird price, can I just point that out?) for it, but I’ll
enjoy the sample while it lasts.
Next up is the Cargo lip gloss which is a my lips but better
color. I didn’t like this one though
because it was sticky and I hate sticky lip glosses.
They get my hair stuck in them and they gunk
up my mouth and I just don’t like em! So
this one is not one I would recommend if you get all weird about it like I just
did.
The Elizabeth Arden one is NICE. Like, really, really nice. It’s a very pale color, which would look
great over a nude lip color, and the best part is it smells like vanilla
cupcakes.
(This picture does not give it justice, but it was incredibly difficult to photograph!)
Hells to the yeah. Sold.
It’s $18 so it’s up there but not breaking the bank and worth the
investment. Not much else has to be said
about it. It’s pretty awesome.
The last and, frankly, the most amazing of the four has to
be the Stila Liquid Lipstick. This stuff
is heavily pigmented so a little bit goes quite a long way. Once it dries it sets and you can make out
with your blotting tissue and it won’t smudge.
I’m really wishing I had known about this product for my wedding
day. I wore a darker red lip and kept
having to wipe it off poor Sam’s mouth.
It’s such a beautiful shade of red too: not too orange and not too
blue. Just perfect. Seriously, get it. It’s $22 bucks, but like I said the smallest
bit goes a long way so this will last you a very long time.
I still have a few more products left to try (a BB cream,
moisturizer, and mattifying gel) and I will post about them when I do. I can’t wait until I can start receiving my
own Birchbox (the wait is, like, 4 weeks!).
When I do I will post reviews on the products inside and let you know
what, I think, lives up to it’s price tag and which ones you should just leave
on the shelf.
Let me know what you think about these products in a comment
below. Don’t forget to follow me on
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
XO - Bekah
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