December Julep box(and swatches!)

 I was so excited when I saw the December colors for Julep, and I loved all of them so much I couldn't make up my mind which box to choose, so I just got ALL OF THEM! Yup, this month I picked up the whole wardrobe, after begging my bf to buy it for me and lots of puppy eyes, I got it! I was so excited when I took my box out of the mail box, it was so heavy! This is the first time (and probably last, cuz it's expensive) I get the whole wardrobe for the month, but with these gorgeous glitters, I just couldn't help myself!

I love the paper the used to pack my goodies this month! So cute and sparkly!

So many things for me this month! So excited!

5 One Step Polish Remover Packets: $3.99($4.99 regular price), full size is $7.99($9.99 regular price) for 10 packets. I loved using these to remove glitter nail polish, cuz they are cut in small rectangles.

Since it's the holidays, they sent out a cute customizable Cabochon ring this month. All you have to do is pick a color of nail polish you love, paint the flat side of the Cabochon stone, fit it in the ring and fold the prongs to make the Cabochon stone secure against the ring.

Instant Warming Foot Scrub: Regular Price: $22/Maven Price: $17.60. I haven't tried this out, but I can't wait to use it!

Nail polishes:

I took the pictures for the different Julep styles(It girl, Boho Glam, etc.)

 It Girl Colors:

 Color descriptions are left to right.

 

Ivy: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20.This gorgeous blue is a dynamic sapphire micro-glitter metallic color, I thought it wouldn't like it much, but once I swatched it, I loved it!

Harper: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Full-coverage opalescent mermaid blue multidimensional glitter, I loved this color since I saw it, it comes off chunky on swatches, but it's still gorgeous!

 Vivien: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. 'Champagne bubbles'- a full coverage multidimensional gold glitter. I love this color and it really does look like champagne bubbles!

Classic With A Twist Colors:

 

Color descriptions are left to right.

 

Barbara: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Full-coverage magenta multidimensional glitter. I have a weakness for purples and this is in the purple neighborhood, so I love it.

 Scarlett: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Vibrant red micro-glitter metallic. Same as with Ivy, when I saw this color in a picture I thought I wouldn't like it, but it looks super cute in real life!

Boho Glam Colors:

 

Color descriptions are left to right.

Petra: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Cranberry magenta with silver shimmer, this one has to be one of my favorites, the glitter in it is so tiny, but just so beautiful!

Jordan: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Full-coverage silver gunmetal multidimensional glitter, this color is so cute, sadly I can't find it as a single on the Julep website. However, they do have it in two different sets with other gorgeous colors: After Dark Holiday Set and Pink Blossom Winter Collection .

Bombshell Colors:

 

  Color descriptions are left to right.

Hilary: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Full-coverage copper multidimensional glitter, cute chunky glitter, like Barbara.

Cindy: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Emerald green with gold micro-glitter metallic. I'm not really a fan of green colors, but this one is just so cute, perfect for the holidays!

American Beauty Colors:

Color descriptions are left to right.

  Julia: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Purple orchid with golden micro-glitter metallic. This color is hands down my favorite. I loved it so much, it's the first color I used(wearing right now by the way), I love how it looks purple from one angle and golden from the other, it's simply amazing!

Patti: Regular Price: $14/Maven Price:$11.20. Full-coverage black multidimensional glitter. This color is great for a night out! The black does come off as black and the glitter just makes it pop so nicely! Love it!

Swatches!

 

Cindy: 2 coats.

  

Vivien: 3 coats.

Julia: 2 coats.

 

You can see how in the first picture it looks purple and in this one it looks more golden.

Hilary: 3 coats. You can wear this by itself or just to add glitter to other polish.

 

 

Scarlett: 2 coats.

Petra: 2 coats.

Barbara: 2 coats.

 

 

 

 

Harper: 4 coats.

Ivy: 3 coats.

Jordan: 3 coats.

Patti: 2 coats.

  I'm super happy with this month's Julep Maven box, I paid $49.99 for this box, the total value for Mavens is: $144.79, and the total value for non subscribers is: $180.99. I know it is a lot of money, but I couldn't pass on this box, it's just so pretty.

 I'm really happy with my Julep subscription, their polishes are just amazing and the colors are too. I don't think I will be grabbing a wardrobe each month, cuz it's really expensive, even if the value makes up for it. Getting the wardrobe this month was amazing, all the colors are gorgeous, I love each and every one of them. When I was checking with the bf if I could get this box, I told him: I'll probably trade some away cuz I don't think I'll like them all. Yeah...that's not gonna happen, as soon as I opened the box and took all of them out I knew they wouldn't leave my hands.

  I really recommend Julep if you are into nail polish, it's an amazing service and their products are great, the selection for every month is awesome, so you'll never see ugly colors there. Every time they release the new colors for the month, they just blow my mind. They have so many colors, I don't think they can do better, but they do!
 
  Make sure to use one or preferably two layers of topcoat over the ones especially with larger sized glitter and flakes. Not all the flakes(especially the largest ones) tend to lay flat, so it may snag on something(heads up if you wear pantyhose) or chip prematurely. Plus, the bf claims if you add topcoat over them, it will add some more depth to the look, which really helps with the look of flake and glitter in nail polish. Two layers should be enough protection for these gorgeous colors and sparkles.

  If you want to subscribe to Julep Maven, you can click here, or copy and paste this link into your address bar: http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/68437/

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

December Sample Society

 This is my second month of getting Sample Society. The reason I signed up to this company is cuz I wanted to try more high end products in both make up and skin care. I can't say I have bad things to say about Sample Society, but maybe it's just not the right fit for me, you'll see why.

  One thing I forgot to mention in my first Sample Society post, is that they include a little magazine with tips from Allure for Sample Society. This month they included 5 small articles about: peacock eyes, getting sexy curls with a curling iron, confessions of a beauty editor(3 useful tips), scents for the holidays and dressy ponytails. I love the small mag, cuz it's light reading and it actually has articles I'm interested in reading.

  Also I already got 2 issues of my Allure magazine, for the month of November and I got December today. I really do love Allure magazine, cuz it has a lot of info on what I love the most...want to guess? It's make up of course!(After the bf...duh...maybe...lol)

Now...the products

I think the sizes are OK, at the end of the day what you get are samples, and these are big enough for you to get an idea on whether you like the products or not.

 Hanskin - Premium Perfect Super Magic BB Cream SPF30 PA++: $8.25 for 10ml , full size is $33 for 43.5g/1.5 oz.

 

Delaney - Wellness Rejuvenating Eye Cream: $33.75 for 0.33 fl oz/10 ml full size is $135 for 1.3 fl oz/40 ml

 

Murad - Age Reform Time Release Retinol Concentrate: $13 for 0.1 fl oz/3.0 ml Full size is $65 for 0.5 fl oz

 Philosophy - Living Grace Shampoo, Bath & Shower Gel: $1.4 for 30ml/1 fl oz full size is $22 for 16 fl oz.

 Jane Iredale -  Longest Lash Mascara in Black Ice: $8.25 for 3g/.1oz Full size is $33 for 12g/4.2oz

 Value and final thoughts

 The total value of this box is $64.65, which is a great value, but most of the products are just not for me. The first three products are anti aging products(as I said before, I don't like them). I'm really really picky when it comes to scents and fragances and I didn't like the smell of Living Grace. I haven't tried out the Jane Iredale Mascara, and I don't know if I will. I have lots of mascaras already, so I'm not sure I'll keep it, I might trade it or something.

Overall the bag is good, BUT not for me. If you are into anti aging products and discovering what works best in that department, this might be the box for you. I'm not into that, which does not mean I have something against this company or that their service is bad, it's just not for me.

I'll probably cancel Sample Society after this month, and either pick up something else, or just leave it at that. Once again, this does not mean it's a bad service, I just think it's geared towards a more mature audience and it's not the right fit for me.

Besides that, I still think their service is amazing for the right crowd and would definitely recommend it if this is what you are looking for. I know I didn't get any anti aging products in my previous month's box, and I actually love that box very much. I'm using the Dermalogica cleanser almost daily and in spite of the smell, the l'occitane moisturizer is next to my bed side. I traded the perfume, cuz it was just not my thing; but I'm still canceling.

  I can't really say I enjoyed this box, but I'll probably enjoy the products I'll get in exchange for these or whoever gets something from this service as a present and can use it, will probably love it.

  If you want to subscribe to Sample Society, you can click here, or copy and paste this link in your navigation bar: http://www.beautybar.com/SampleSociety/LandingPage.qs

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

Drugstore & Claire's Haul

  Lately I've been hearing amazing reviews about Wet & Wild eye shadows, so I had to check this out myself. This weekend, I went on the hunt for their limit edition palettes, but sadly my quest failed and I couldn't find them. However I did pick up some goodies on the way!

 

 

 Who doesn't love some lipstick?

In order from left to right:

 1. Revlon - Super Lustrous Lipstick Pink Pout 002

2. Rimmel London - Lasting Finish Lipstick in 070 Airy Fairy

3.Revlon - Super Lustrous Lipstick Matte Stormy Pink 011

4. L'oreal- Colour Riche Lipstick Fairest Nude

5. Cover Girl- Lipstick 405 Fairytale

6. Cover Girl - Lipstick 400 Temptress

Swatches!

 I just love all my new lippies, aren't they the cutest? And I got a bit of everything, cute nudes, nice pinks and a cute coral pink! Gorgeous! All of them are really creamy and really pigmented, except for Revlon's Stormy Pink, you kinda have to go over it several times for it to show nicely.

Nail Polish! cuz too much is never enough!

 

 

From left to right: 

 Essie - Sand Tropez

Essie - No Place Like Chrome

Sally Hansen - Pacific Blue

China Glaze - Merry Berry

China Glaze - Champagne Kisses

 

From left to right: 

Claire's - Glam

Claire's - Mystical

Claire's - Sun-Sation

I couldn't find Glam and Sun-Sation online, but they have them at the physical store.

This kit of 5 minis is called: Sugar High, I can't find it anywhere online either. The one on the far right though, is Candy Shop, which is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Candy Shop, the DL one is more like a milky pink, and this one is more of a neon/hot pink.

Wet & Wild Eye Shadow Palettes

 

 

First row, from left to right: 8 eye shadow palettes: Comfort Zone, Petal Pusher and  Blue Had Me At Hello.

Second row, from left to right: eyeshadow trios: I Dream of Greenie, Silent Treatment and I'm Getting Sunburned.

Wet n Wild - Perfect Pair Eye Wand in Smoke-Lilac. I picked this up, only cuz they had it for sale for like $1.

  

  I bought the lipsticks, the Wet n Wild products, the Essie and Sally Hansen nail polishes at CVS and Walgreens. Bought the China Glaze nail polish at Sally Beauty(they didn't have the holiday collection at Walgreens), and of course I got the Claire's nail polishes at the Claire's physical store.

 I'm super happy with everything I got over the weekend, I've been using most of it and will definitely be posting reviews and swatches soon!

 I had a blast buying it and loved writing this post cuz I just love my affordable products so much! You don't always have to spend lots of money to get good stuff and I love that! Hope you liked this as much as I did and enjoy my little haul post!

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

Wantable Winter Box

Black on black me likey!

  Wantable is a quarterly beauty subscription service, that will send you a curated box with 4-6 full size make up products based on your profile style. That's right, the best part of it, it's all make up!

  You have the option to subscribe for $36, or buy the box for that quarter for $40, if you do go with the quarterly subscription, you can cancel at any time, or pause your subscription.

  I was really excited to try out this subscription, but I knew since the beginning, I won't be keeping it as a subscription, cuz honestly I just can't afford it, but it was nice to get one of their boxes and try it out.

 I see so much pink!

Six full sized items! I like this already!

MiaBellezza - Mineral Shadow Duo in Vino: $16.66. I absolutely loved this product! The eye shadows are just gorgeous, really pigmented, super creamy and I got no fall out from them. I simply loved them, and what can I say? I LOVE purple. It's my favorite color, so you can't go wrong with that! This item hasn't been officially launched on their website yet, but it is listed there already.

MiaBellezza – Satin Blush in Natural: $16.50. This matte blush is pretty and really pigmented, so don't let it fool you with the color. I thought it would be really dull and I'd have to apply a bunch, but guess what? Clown face! I liked this product, I have several blushes that I just love way too much, this one will never be able to compare to them, but I still like it so I will definitely use it! Same with the eye shadow duo, this hasn't been launched yet.

MyFace Cosmetics – Lip Pop Gloss in Hot Stuff(234): $18. This lip gloss was OK, I didn't really find something super special about it to make it worth the $18. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I don't like it! It is pigmented and will give your lips some color, in my case the color is really close to my lip color, so it doesn't show much. It still gives some nice gloss to your lips without being sticky! It also has a really fine glitter that gives you just the right amount of shine!

MyFace Cosmectis – High Def Lip Pencil in Rose Bud: $16. This is a nice lip pencil, really close to my lip color, works really well too, I liked it!

 

ColorClub - Nail Polish in Nomadic in nude(915): $8

ColorClub - Nail Polish in By Design from the In True Fashion line(966): $8

Swatches:

By Design on the left and Nomadic in Nude is on the right

1.MyFace Cosmectis – High Def Lip Pencil in Rose Bud
2. MyFace Cosmetics – Lip Pop Gloss in Hot Stuff(234)
3. MiaBellezza - Mineral Shadow Duo in Vino
4. MiaBellezza – Satin Blush in Natural

The total value of the box is: $83.16!!

That's a bit more than double what I paid for, which is amazing value!!

  All the products are really good products with amazing quality, which was really surprising, since I've never heard of this brands before (except for Color Club).
 I really loved this box, and it was fun to try. I would totally stay with it, if I could afford it, but being unemployed at the time, I just can't do it. 
 However, I do recommend this service, they not only provide you with almost a whole face look, but with your box, you'll also get instructions on how to wear them! 
I loved my box and love this subscription. I've used all the products and can't get enough of them! The only thing I didn't really like was the little Kai Perfume sample. I'm really picky when it comes to perfumes, but I didn't even count this as part of the subscription, cuz my focus is the amazing make up I got.
 Wantable has a promo going on right now, where you buy one box and can give away 2, so if you are interested in picking this up, the time for doing it is now! You can grab one and also take advantage of the promo and get 2 presents for your friends or family!
I really recommend getting this subscription, there are just so many options you can choose from in the different profiles they have. 
When I ordered my box, I was able to see all the different products they had, so I was able to pick exactly what I wanted. Now they have changed up their beauty quiz and you can choose between different options such as : what kind of products you want, what colors you want and what textures you want on the products, etc.
 Wantable doesn't have any rewards or referral programs though, which is always a downside, but in my opinion, it's still worth it to at least get one box. Just to spoil yourself a little, you deserve it, we all do!
Hope you enjoyed this review, and if you do pick up a Wantable box, hope you love your products as much as I loved mine!

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

bareMinerals Spotlight on: Prime Time Primer Shadow Review

I, of course, picked this up at Sephora(love Sephora!) and they still have it in stock. It goes for $18, so if it doesn't work that great for you, you won't end up losing that much money, me personally, I really liked this kit.
 

  This set contains:
- 0.01 oz Eye color in Soft Focus Velour in Velvet Clay:(1)  Really pigmented matte eye shadow. It has a bit of sheen, but it's not glittery, so I'd say matte. It really is very pigmented though, so be careful when applying. It's a really nice item, which will probably last a bit. I'd say this is a full size, bareMinerals has some 0.02 oz eye shadows and other are 0.01 oz. I liked this item.

 

- 0.006 oz Big & Bright Eyeliner in Black Coffee:(2) This thing is tiny (it's like 1" of product), really dark brown coffee color, really pigmented and super easy to apply. It glides perfectly fine, it smudges a bit, and doesn't wear all that great throughout the day, in spite of that I still really liked this product too.

- 0.16 oz Flawless Definition Mascara in Black: (3) I didn't like this product at all, it didn't do anything for me. It just basically covered my eye lashes with black paint! Just kidding, not paint, you know what I mean! I didn't see any difference with volume or length, not really happy about this at all, will never buy it again!

Swatches!

 
- 0.1 oz Prime Time Primer Shadow in Champagne Toast (bronzed toffee): (4) This is just gorgeous, it has a really cute glittery look and works great as a primer. There is no creasing or fall out. I loved this item, specially cuz it's a full size item and I tend to wear brown shades for my eye shadows a lot. I just think they look good on me, so this works great for me.

 Overall I liked this kit, I got 3 products I loved and 1 I didn't, so the 3 make up for the whole kit. I'm glad I picked it up and I really enjoyed trying out bareMinerals, most of their stuff works great. Money wise, this is totally worth every penny and the value is great. The regular bareMinerals Prime Time Eyelid Primer, goes for $18, that's the price of this whole kit and you get a full size Primer, sure it has some color, but it can double as eye shadow too! I recommend picking this up if you want to try bareMinerals products. I don't recommend the mascara though, so maybe you can use it for a gift! Yes, I'm evil and give away stuff I don't like to my mom! *evil laugh* This is my opinion, and how these items worked for me, they might work different for you, or your mom(lol!).

 

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