Birchbox April 2013

For this month(April) Birchbox lined up with Women'sHealth to bring us a themed box: Tiny Tweaks, Big Results.

Ruby Wing - Color Changing Nail Polish in Poppy: $4.6 for 7ml/0.25floz, full size is 15ml/0.5floz and goes for $10. Super excited to try this out, both colors are favorites of mine, so I would love to see both inside and outside!

J.R. Watkins - Hand & Cuticle Salve: $1.1 for 7g/0.25oz, full size is 59g/2.1oz and goes for $8.99. These cuticles need some love and pampering, so I'm really glad I got this. I know the value is not huge, but even the full size is super affordable (which is always a plus). Also, isn't this packaging so cute? It looks so vintage! Love it!

AHAVA - Purifying Mud Mask: $6.2 for 25g/0.9oz full size is 125g/4.3floz and goes for $31. I absolutely love mud masks, so I'm glad I get to try this one.

Simple - Revitalizing Eye Roll-On: $10.99 full size. This is supposed to help with puffiness and under eye circles. While I don't get the first, I always get the second, even if I get a good night sleep. They are not too dark when I actually get a good night's sleep, If I didn't get enough sleep they get darker, they are always still there though. I'm glad I get to try this out and see f it actually works for my evil under eye circles.

Oribe - Shampoo for Beautiful Color: $2.1 for 14ml/0.46floz, full size 250ml/8.5floz is and goes for $37. I do have color treated hair(I have ombrè hair), but I don't use shampoo. Birchbox did get it right and gave me a product for color treated hair, but how could they know I don't use shampoo? I don't blame them for me not liking or not being able to use this sample. There's no option in the profile that asks "Do you use shampoo?" So, it's all good.

Oribe - Conditioner for Beautiful Color: $1.4 for 14ml/0.46floz, full size 200ml/6.8floz is and goes for $39. I do use conditioner so I might actually try only the conditioner out.

Value and overall review: 

 The value of my box for this month is: $26.39

 That is honestly not that bad, is not the highest value ever, but I actually am really excited to try out the products.

 I think Birchbox really picked great products for me this month. Out of all 5, I won't use half of one of the samples.  I know I won't use up the nail polish entirely, because I have a lot of nail polish, but I definitely will use it. Everything else I'm sure I will use up.

 For some this might not be the greatest box, or not too exciting. But it fits my needs perfectly and has products I literally never have tried thus fulfilling the purpose of a subscription box. A lot of people expect Birchbox to send them huge things and highly priced and coveted items. Birchbox is a discovery service and so far it has done what is supposed to do for me.

 I can't recommend Birchbox highly enough. Box envy(being jealous of what other people got) will ruin your boxes. Don't let it, don't peek into other peoples boxes, just enjoy your own and try the products. If you still don't like what you get, tweak your profile to better suit your taste/needs. And if that still doesn't work, try another subscription service. At the end of the day, you are only out $10 and if you didn't try the products, you can always give them away.

 I'm in no way sponsored by Birchbox, I just really enjoy my boxes and understand the service.

 What was your favorite product this month in your Birchbox?

If you want to subscribe to Birchbox, you can click here. Or copy and paste this link onto your navigation bar: https://www.birchbox.com?raf=58jbc

 Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion:)

NOTD: April 9th

As promised on the Ulta Haul post, here's a NOTD with Butter London polish.

The dark purple cremè is two coats of Orly's Wild Wisteria, which I mentioned in a drugstore haul post that you can find here. This gorgeous dark purple color looks black indoors, but you can definitely tell it's a dark purple outdoors.

 The glitter on the "tips" is Butter LONDON's Lovely Jubbly.

As usual, Seche Vite as the top coat.

I was trying to do a glitter gradient that clearly failed, I don't hate it though :)

NOTD: March 30th

I know this is simple, maybe even boring, but I like to try the polish by itself, before I do anything else with it. Anyways, I talked about this guy on a drugstore haul, that you can find here. That's two coats of Hard Candy's Little Bo Pink. I think it's pretty cute, though the pictures don't really pick up the cuteness.

NOTD: March 25th

  Ugh I hate how this looks like! It's hideous against my skin tone, or at least that's what I think. Either way I thought I should share it, also I said I would share swatches of all my Julep March colors. I know it's a bit late for this, but I'm sorry D: . That's two coats of Julep Debra, which is described as a "Smokey Taupe Crème". I don't like this color one bit on me, maybe on others it will look better, but it made my hands look sick.

 The accent nail has a coat of Essie's Shine of Times, which apparently was LE and can't be found anymore! Though I'm sure you could find it on...ebay...And as usual my top coat is Seche Vite.

 I'm sorry for the "mood" of this post, I just really hate how this looks on me.

NOTD: March 31st, Easter nails!

  Everybody is going with eggs, chicks or bunnies for Easter nails, I went with polka dots :D

 

 Thumb and pinky: 2 coats of Revlon-Cloud(which I think might be discontinued), the dots were made with OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape.

Index and ring finger: 3 coats of OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape, dots made with OPI - I Theodora You.

Middle finger: 4 coats of OPI - I Theodora You (4 coats! Crazy, but so worth it!), dots made with Hello Kitty - Blueberry. 

And of course all topped with Seche Vite, as usual. Most polishes here will be featured in upcoming haul posts!

 Hope you liked this, I really think it looks super cute! <3

Urban Decay Showboat(swatches)

 I've been eyeing this Showboat kit of nail polish for the longest time and finally got it!! So I will share my swatches to show you the pretiness!!

I absolutely love the packaging! Which shouldn't matter, but this box is so cute!

 

 2 coats of Radium, I'm not a fan of blue, but this one is gorgeous!!

 2 coats of Covet, PRECIOUSES(like Gollum)! Lovely green, I can't live without it anymore.

2 coats of Perversion, just black really shinny, pretty black.

2 coats of Fishnet, really pretty purple, it has a bit more red in real life.

2 coats of Woodstock, so hard to get this gorgeous color to show right on camera, but it's so damn pretty!

 

2 coats of Showboat, definitely brighter than what it looks like here, but super pretty.

 I definitely recommend picking this up, it's cheaper now, because they reduced the price and you can get it for $12 and right now Urban Decay has free shipping on orders over $25. But for $12 they come out at $2 EACH! Perfect price for me, considering they are cute minis.

Hope you enjoyed this short post and you will definitely see more of these polishes soon :D

NOTD: March 17th

 This is not my kind of color, but I really like it on! I got this polish in my March Julep box. That's 1 coat of Julep Joy, yup ONE coat! This one is amazing, not streaky or clumpy and one coat does it, but you can do 2 if you prefer that, I was shocked that it was opaque with one coat, really surprising! And as usual, Seche Vite as my top coat.

NOTD: March 14th

 Two coats of Julep Leila, under Seche Vite. This polish is from my Julep March box. At first it was a bit streaky, but I really liked the end result. The ring finger has 2 coats of Leila and one coat of OPI's Polka.com, isn't it gorgeous? I kinda want to do all the nails with it, but the bf said this looked cute, so I left it at that ^^

KB Shimmer: Indie Polish

 If you're not super into nail polish, some terms might sound strange to you. But the term "indie" in the nail polish world means the same as it does with makeup in general, it's just independent companies. Indie nail polish companies have AMAZING nail polishes, like:

 Literally, my reaction when I go to most indie polish maker's websites!! Such amazing creations OMGIDIE!

  Anyways, indie polishes are really gorgeous, most of the time. But until yesterday, the only one I had was from Lac Attack and I got it through a trade.

  I heard about KB Shimmer's new Spring collection on MakeUpTalk, I drooled over my screen for a while, until I decided to buy some. They are $8-$8.75 each and after choosing all the ones I wanted, my cart was like $50+, so I decided to control myself a little bit and just buy 2, the most "unique" ones, compared to what I already have. Usually the bf helps me choose stuff, an outsider's opinion sometimes helps narrowing down options and he helps. He likes nail polish, because most of the time he thinks of it as car paint, so he likes the kind that has really tiny flake and the glittery polishes that have more than one shade when the light hits them, like holos and what not.

Aren't they gorgeous?!

The one on the left is Jack, it's a black based polish, with gorgeous orange glitter. It has bar glitter and different sizes of hexagonal glitter, just gorgeous!!

The one on the right is Get Clover It, gorgeous dark green base with circular glitter in different shades, a beauty! Quite perfect for today(St.Patrick's day) actually. I won't get pinched!!

So those are my new babies, glittery perfection! Warning: visit indie nail polish stores under your own risk, your wallet might be in pain afterwards!!

Hope you enjoyed this and look into indie polish companies a bit more, they have amazing stuff that you'll simply love! Support indie polish makers ^^

Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion :)

NOTD: March 12th

 I give you Julep Simone, from my March Julep box. 2 coats under one coat of Seche Vite. Accent nail done with Simone and one coat of Lac Atacks's Death Day Party.

Weekend Haul March 8th & 9th

 I definitely needed to stock up on some "essentials" over the weekend, also I was hunting down the new limited edition Wet n Wild 8 pan palettes. My search was just a huge waste of time, but I did buy a couple of things besides that, so I'm happy.

 We also had to run some errands and pick up stuff at our local asian store, of course we came out with bags full of candy and sweets!!

Meiji - Hello Panda: LOVE these things, they are insanely delicious! They are chocolate filled cookies, I adore them! Not too sweet and just delicious! They have different flavors, but this one is my favorite.

Hi-Chew - Fruit Chews: First time trying this out for me, they are delicious and not sticky at all(bf editing: they have a nice texture). I hate those chewy candies that stick to your teeth, these don't do that and are super tasty!

Kasugai - Melon Gummy Candy: Delicious gummies, these definitely taste artificial, but they are not too sweet and are super juicy!

Marukawa - Melon Gum: Really tasty melon gum, not too sweet, sadly the flavor fades away super fast!

 After stopping by the asian store, we rushed our way through a local Christmas Tree Shops, because I know they carry Wet n Wild there, I couldn't find what I was looking for, but picked up a few goodies.

 I had no idea they carried Real Techniques brushes! I was planning on ordering some from Ulta, but I'm glad to have found them here, that way, I don't have to pay for shipping!( I hate paying for shipping!)

Neutrogena - Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover: I'm about to run out of my Sonia Kashuk Eye Makeup Remover, so I picked this one up. I have no problems with non oil-free makeup removers, but I picked this one up, because I also picked some new lashes up and I need to clean them with Oil-free eye makeup remover.

 Ardell - Demi Wispies Fashion Lashes and Brush-On Lash Adhesive: I have a set of falsies from ELF, but the glue sucks! So, I decided to try out the Demi Wispies, because everyone raves about them and pick up some glue too!

Almay - Oil-Free Makeup Eraser Sticks:I picked these up not long ago, you can read about it in this Drugstore haul post. It seems like I'm really prone to screw ups and I already ran out of these! I quite like them, they come in super handy when I mess up, they don't irritate my eyes one bit and they remove make up amazingly well!

Real Techniques - Blush Brush and Lash-Brow Groomer: I broke my Lash/Brow Groomer, so I needed a new one. When picking up one of these- I recommend the ones with metallic precision comb, because the plastic one is a bit prone to breaking. I picked up the Blush Brush to try it out, will let you know what I think later on.

ELF - Small Precision and Contour brushes: My favorite crease brush is falling apart, so I picked the Contour one to use it for my crease. I wanted to try the Precision one to try it out, because it looks tiny and perfect to line the lower lash line with some eyeshadow for a pop of color!

Eco Tools - Buffing Brush: I've seen lots of people raving about this brush and I've been looking for it everywhere! Who would've thunk I'd find it at Christmas Tree Shops!?

 After cruising around several stores during my hunt for the Wet n Wild palettes, we had to pick some stuff at Walmart, so of course I walked out of there with some more stuff!!

 Goody - Ouchless Ribbon Headwraps: I've been loving the princess wrap hairdo lately, so I got a few more headbands, just in case I lose mine.

Goody - Stay Tight Bobbies: 90 count, because we all know how bobby pins love to get lost! And well I only had 4 left!

Goody - Toni Barrettes: I've had these twice already and have none left! I just seem to lose hair accessories way too easy!

Hard Candy - Nail Polish in 633 Little Hottie and 631 Little Bo Pink: Saw some swatches of these around the interwebs and loved them, so I had to have them!

  BonBons - Dark Pink Nail Polish: I bought this because it reminds me of my teens and it's just so cute!

Before you freak! No they don't sell OPI at Walmart, there's a beauty salon at my local Walmart and they had BOGO 50% off on OPI, so I had to have some, because I don't have enough, right?! LOL!

OPI - Polka.Com: I LOVE Polka dots, so I had to have this!

OPI - The Impossible: I already have Can't Let Go, but this one is just SO adorable!

 So that's it, that's my small weekend haul, as I said, just a few essentials! I hope you liked this post :)