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:)

Social Media and where I got my buttons from

This is just a little post to let everybody know that you can follow me on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beauty-Madness/264926553634961?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabsG9

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/115829452029841212729/posts/p/pub

Tumblr: http://makeupcake.tumblr.com/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/makeupcake/

  Now, if you don't want to grab the links for my social media account, you can just click on the cute buttons on the side of the page :)
 
 I'm active on all of them and post constantly about new posts and just random stuff, mostly makeup related, but there's also lots of random!
 
 Please follow for updates on new blog posts :)

Also, I want to talk about my social media buttons, I didn't make this, I grabbed them from an awesome blogger that made some available to other bloggers. That blogger is CarrieLoves, she has a lovely blog that you should check out. I'm super thankfull to be able to get this buttons for free, but I just need to say: these do not belong to me, they belong to Carrie, she designed them and made them available to the public.

April Ipsy 2013

Isn't this month's Ipsy bag, super cute? I love it!!

This month they had so much variety with the items! There were two of each, the options were:

Two Cosmetics Duo Eye Shadow in Heartache or MicaBeauty Mineral Eyeshadow

Sexy Hair Powder Play or Sexy Hair Soy Renewal

Sation Nail Lacquer in Love At First Byte or Of Corset I'll Call You

Be A Bombshell in Sweet Cheeks or Beach Please

From that list, I got all the items listed second, which is exactly what I wanted. However, if I wouldn't have gotten those, I still would have been happy with my baggie ^^

Be A Bombshell in Beach Please: $16, full size. This is a matte bright pink blush, isn't it lovely? I know it might look a little bit scary, but I'm sure it will look gorgeous if applied lightly.

MicaBeauty Cosmetics - Mineral Eye Shadow in Earth: $14.95, full size. Gorgeous shimmery rosey brown. I think this shade would look gorgeous all over the lid.

Sexy Hair - Soy Renewal: $4.39 .85floz/25ml, full size is 4.2floz/125ml and goes for $21.95. I've heard great things about this product, can't wait to try it out!

 Sation - Nail Lacquer in Of Corset I'll Call You: $5, full size. I usually don't go for softer shades, but this one looks really cute!

Value: 

 The value of my box for this month is:  $40.34, pretty good for a box that costs $10 + tax(in CA and NY). 

 I think Ipsy is a great subscription service, there was some controversy with Two Cosmetics, which makes me think they should research the products and the companies they feature a bit more. 

 Besides that, the value is great and the products are great as well. I'm getting a bit bored of seeing the same brands pop up in their baggies. Not because the products from those brands are bad or anything, but because I want to get to try other products from other brands.

 Either way, I still think Ipsy is a great subscription service and definitely recommend subscribing to them, at least get one month to try it out. If you don't like what you get, you are only out $10 and you can always gift it to someone.

 Hope you liked this little post :) What was your favorite product in this month's Ipsy bag? Mine's definitely the blush! It's so bright and gorgeous!

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 :)

Ulta Haul

 When in NY, I sadly don't have an Ulta near me. And there's a lot of brands sold at Ulta that I really like(OPI, NYX, Essence). I'd really love it if there was one, but there's always online shopping and luckily Ulta sells OPI online now. So I did some polish shopping, yay!

 This came in two orders, as usual.

I got these during the 21 days of beauty at Ulta and they were $9 each.

Butter LONDON: The Black Knight

Butter LONDON: Slapper

Butter LONDON: Lovely Jubbly

I literally looked up swatches of all the BL that Ulta has online and picked these three. I think they are all just gorgeous!

 Essence - Nail Art Stampy Set: I wanted to try my luck out with stamping. I know this is not Konad or anything like that, but I wanted to see if I would like it, and I actually do! Will definitely looking into getting an actual stamping set. 

 Real Techniques - Core Collection: People rave a lot about these brushes and well, I had to try them. I love Pixiwoo, they are both great, so I was sure Samantha Chapman wouldn't just slap her name on a mediocre product that she didn't believe in. Not to mention, they do use the same brushes in their own videos.

OPI - Disney's Oz The Great and Powerful Mini Nail Set: I love nail polish minis. I'm sure I'll never go through a full bottle of polish. They are super cute! This kit is not available at Ulta anymore though. (Sorry about the Amazon link, only place I could find it)

 OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape: Lovely shade, used it in my Easter nail look.

OPI - Black Cherry Chutney

Essence - XXXL Shine Lipgloss in Nude Candy(19): TheBeautyVaultxo used this in her February Favorites and I just loved the shade! Not only that, but it's also a dupe for Nars Turkish Delight.

NYX - Slim Lip Pencil in Cabaret(804): I saw this shade and immediately knew I was going to love it, it's such a gorgeous vampy shade!

NYX - Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk: I needed a cream base for bold eye looks and this one had gotten great reviews.

 Hope you enjoyed my little haul, I know it's nothing exciting, but I really love the products I got!

April Sample Society 2013

 In case you don't know what Sample Society is,  Sample Society is a monthly subscription service from Beauty Bar in collaboration with Allure magazine, that sends you five deluxe - sized high end product samples to your door for $15 a month.

 With the subscription you'll get a $15 Gift Code to redeem on a $50 purchase when you include any of the products from the brands you've sampled that month.


  You also get a one year subscription to Allure magazine, as a bonus, which has a $12 value.
  This is my first month subscribed to Sample Society and I was super excited when I got my box.

 I won't be able to do a full on review on this month's Sample Society, because I don't have it with me. However, I can still share the items I got and the value of this month's box.

 Sizes look pretty decent, the only foil pack is the sheet mask, but then again, it's a mask.

Borghese - B Gloss in Fiore: $14.28 0.16floz/4.63ml full size is 0.21floz/6ml $18.50. The color seems pretty cute.

Alterna - Bamboo Style Boho Waves: $4.4 0.85floz/25ml full size is 4.2floz/125ml and goes for $22. I love my Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Oil, so I hope this is just as great.

Jane Tran - Hair Accessory: $3.5 I got a bobby pin and a clip. The value of the bobby pin is $1.5 and the clip's is $2. A kit of 8 bobby pins goes for $12 and so does the one of 6 clips.

CoTZ - Face Natural Skin SPF 40: $1.41 3.0g full size is 1.5oz/42.5g and goes for $19.99.

 Eve Lom - Cleanser and Muslin Cloth: $5 0.16floz/5ml full size is 50ml and goes for $50. I've heard awesome things about this cleanser! Can't wait to try it.

Hanskin - Hydro Sheet Mask: $3.6 one mask, full size comes with 5 masks and goes for $18.

Value:

 The value of this month's box is $32.19. 

 Compared to the value of previous boxes, this one is not as high, but honestly that's fine with me. The point of this is not to get a huge value out of your box, though that is nice, but as long as the value covers the price, it's all good. The point of a subscription box is to try new things and I haven't tried any of these products before. I have tried products from Hanskin, Borghese and Alterna, but not these ones. Also, the reason I got to try both Alterna and Hanskin was Sample Society. The first one in March and the second in December. So they are doing their part in introducing me to new products and brands.

 I'm really happy with Sample Society, besides including really good brands(as per previous boxes), they have great customer service. I actually have used up and still use products I got from them. I will have to cancel Sample Society for some time, because I don't have a job and well I would be away from my boxes for a while. So it's a bit pointless to have them sit for a while and not get to try out any of my stuff. It's not as fun as getting them at the doorstep. The instant gratification is definitely one of the best parts of a subscription box.

 In spite of my canceling the service at the moment, I still recommend it. I'm not doing it because there's anything wrong with it. I'm doing it because I can't afford it right now. As soon as I can, I will definitely get it back.

 You might not get a huge value all the time, but you do get to try out new products. 

 I'm sorry, this is not the greatest post, because I can't review the products, but I thought I could share the stuff I got with you, anyway.

 What was your favorite product in this month's Sample Society?

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

Birchbox Haulage

  I love my Birchbox boxes and I LOVE their point system, so far I haven't really taken advantage of it THAT much. By this I mean, I haven't had a big order completely paid with points. And those points are the reason why I'd rather buy from the Birchbox shop rather than other sites, if the product I'm looking for is sold there, of course.

 I've heard wonders about the two main products I bought and that's why I got them, the reviews were amazing!

 This "haul" is two different orders that came within like a month of each other, but I still think it counts! haha

 I submitted this order with the BBLEARNVEST code, which I think doesn't work anymore and ended up paying only $28.43! Pretty good, considering it should have been $41.90 S&H and taxes!

Shea Terra - Rose Hips Black Soap: I've heard wonders about this product, so far I haven't gotten any of the long term results I've read about, but it definitely leaves my skin super smooth after using it. If you want an in depth review on this, let me know :) 

Chuao - Chocolatier Assorted ChocoPod: This, I can talk about haha! I love several of these, specially the Firecracker, which is spicy and it has something like pop rocks, which I thought was fun. I didn't like the Potato Chip, Maple Bacon and Honeycomb, but the bf did like them. I loved the Spicy Maya, which as they name says, is spicy; the Salted Chocolate Crunch, which is quite interesting and the Sweet and Salty, which needs no description. I kinda wish I could try a chocolate that is JUST chocolate from them, because the chocolate itself, is super tasty(the little bit I could try between all those toppings(?)).

I got this pick-two, because of the generously size hand cream!

Alessandro - Cream Rich: I was really looking forward to this product, because I really needed the hand cream. Well, it was all a huge disappointment. I can't stand the smell, it's super stinky, at least for me. Also, it took forever to get absorbed by my skin and on top of that it would leave a greasy feeling! On top of all that still, it would create a film type thing on my hands that rubbed off into tiny little thingies(tiny bunches of product), for the lack of a better word. Terrible, this was all together a HUGE fail! A bunch of people seem to love it, according to Birchbox's reviews, but I definitely don't recommend it. My go to hand cream is Eucerin - Intensive Repair Extra-Enriched Hand Creme, which moisturizes my hands just great, without leaving a greasy feeling. Plus, you can get it for less than $6 in most major retailers and drug stores!

Kahina - Giving Beauty Argan Oil: I really loved this sample as a cuticle oil! I didn't dare to try it on my face and definitely wouldn't repurchase. I'd rather get the Josie Maran Argan Oil that I discovered thanks to February's Ipsy and I know it has no negative effect on my skin!

Miracle Skin - Hydroactive Microderm: I haven't tried this out yet, but the reviews on Birchbox are decent. Either way, this was a free sample! And the size is pretty generous!

TIGI - Catwalk Root Boost Spray: I loved this! It definitely gave me the volume I very much love. I will definitely repurchase this once I run out.

Finally got it!! Clarisonic Mia <3 There's a huge hype about this product and I just had to have it! I'm so super excited to see some long term results! The whole order ended up being $91.86 because I had a 20% off code and used 100 points. I know that I didn't save all that much, but honestly I just wanted the brush already! My plan was to save points until I had enough, but I just couldn't wait!

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