Shea Terra Organics

Ever since I received my Shea Terra scrub from Beauty Army I have been wanting to try out some of the other raved about products from their company. I ended up ordered 5 mini shea whipped body butters and I also got three samples of other products to try.

I ordered Bourbon Vanilla, Gingered Pumpkin, White Chocolate, Marula, and Rooibos & Berries. All of them smell sooo great that I will have a hard time settling on which one to buy the full size jar of.

I also got samples of the Argan Green Coffee Eye Serum, Marula Oil Anti-Oxidant Super Oil, and African Black Soap (bar soap). I have yet to try the eye serum and the Marula oil but I am very glad to try out the black soap since it is supposed to be great for clearing up breakouts. I just used this in the shower today and I was surprised that it had a grainy texture, I actually liked it because I didn't have to use a body scrub just the soap. I will continue to use the black soap and see if it makes a difference in my skin and if it does I plan on buying a couple of bars in the near future.

To learn more about Shea Terra Organics and all of their amazing products feel free to check out their website http://www.sheaterraorganics.com/

November Birchbox #2

Since this November box took so long to get to me my husband told me I had to wait until Christmas to have it so here it is.

October Julep Maven

Since finances were tight during October I couldn't get the whole collection of polishes. I did have to have this box shipped to my mom as well so it took a while to get it. Overall I am happy with the box so what colors did I pick up?

Jouer Sparkle and Pop

Jouer Sparkle and Pop

For $12 I caved and purchased one of Jouer Sparkle and Pop favors that included 1 fashion ring, 1 of 3 deluxe Jouer Samples (lip gloss, lip enhancer, or body butter), Champagne bubbles, beauty fortune, and noise maker. Mine included the lip enhancer which I really wanted, but the ring that came with it isn't adjustable so I can't wear it because it is way too small (about a size six.) I would have liked to get a couple more because more than likely I would open and save the confetti, bubbles and noise makers just for New Years Eve and keep the samples and rings for myself. But the value of the Lip Enhancer is only $2.69 and with ring being useless to me I didn't feel like I got my $12 worth so I am glad I didn't buy more.

October Birchbox #1 & #2

October Birchbox

 So I know this is a really late post but in October I was in the middle of a move and was unable to get my October Birchboxes delievered to me so I had them shipped to my mother's house. I received two of the exact same box even though this was the first time it has happened.

Well it took until Christmas time to finally get them so here is what I got:

November Beauty Army #2

So I do have to note that I did have 6 products in my box this month but my Whip Hand eyeshadow opened up and got dumped over everything. After cleaning the products in my box it was the only sample that was damaged. This month I opted in for a mystery sample but I wasn't too thrilled at what was sent. Overall the this box wasn't as great as I thought I it might have been when I first ordered it.

So what was all sent and my reaction to the products read below the break for more!

November Birchbox #1

So what did I get?

Julep Demi Swatches & Holiday NOTD

 I am not a red nail person for the most part but after getting Demi I knew this was the perfect red for me. I have to use my mom's description because it fits perfectly, she called it Candy Apple Red. Now forgive me for all the pictures, I got a new camera and I am still trying to find the perfect settings for swatches. I included all of my photos because it shows the complete range of shades that this color can take on. I found this formula to dry very quickly and apply wonderfully. If and when I use up this color I will buy it again.

Demi + Flash

Demi + Flash

Demi Without Flash

Demi Without Flash

Demi Without Flash

Now on to my Holiday Nail! It may not be perfect but it looks great and is simple to do. I used Julep Demi as the base and tokidoki Savanna for the glitter gradient.

With Flash

With Flash

Without Flash

Without Flash

With Flash

With Flash

December Update

The last couple of weeks have been really hectic so my posts have been few and far between. I have been taking tons of photos and I recently just got around to unpacking all my polishes. I will be promising to make a lot more posts as soon as the craziness has settled down.

October Beauty Army #2

October Box #2

For the most part I have started getting underwhelmed by the fact that it is taking almost a six weeks for me to receive my boxes over here in Germany, but I am glad that I can still get them because shopping for cosmetics/beauty products/etc. on post is very limited. Now what did I pick out in this box this time around?

Grand Central Beauty S.M.A.R.T. Skin Perfecting Mask

Grand Central Beauty S.M.A.R.T. Mask

I finally tried out this mask sample I got through Beauty Army. I was glad to find out it is a peel off mask because they are my favorite. So how well did it work?

NOTD - Bejeweled Violet

I decided to start doing NOTD (nail of the day) posts because I change my polish quite often and lately I have been layering different polishes because I have a very limited collection with me at the moment. So today I bring you Sally Hansen Violet Voltage and Sally Hansen Be-Jeweled. To get this look I did one coat of Violet Voltage and one coat of Be-Jeweled. I will apologize now for the bad cuticles and all the hang nails, my hands got really dried out and I forgot to moisturize.

November Julep Maven

So this month I was faced with a huge dilemma when it came to choosing which box to go with. I have been waiting patiently for the suedes to be released in the monthly box and since there were only 5 different colors I wanted them all! I was debating for days during the selection period and the last option I had chosen was the Fall Warmth upgrade. Which meant I paid $50 to get the entire collection.

So What exactly was in the box?

Sally Hansen Happy Manicure Limited Edition Set- Xtreme Wear

 

This was the one collection that really confused me, the colors just didn't really go together at all in my opinion. 

 

Included in this set are:

 Bubblegum Pink

Bubblegum Pink with opalescent shimmer

 Violet Voltage

Lavender purple with pink shimmer

Celeb City

Silver metallic

 

Blue Me Away!

Bright teal creme

 

I am not a huge fan of Bubblegum Pink at all, Violet Voltage is a great purple for spring but also looks great with a glitter top coat (Be-Jeweled), Celeb City almost rounds out my basic metallics and chromes, and lastly Blue Me Away! is a great blue and it matches a crochet project of mine perfectly.

The application for all of this was great all I needed was two coats and they looked great. 

Of all three limited collections I could find I found only the Gem Crush one to work well for the holidays. So I am confused as to why the colors were paired up.

Beauty Army September #1

October Beauty Army Box #1

This month I received a pink box instead of the normal black box and so I checked my account and this is my 6th box so maybe pink boxes are for 6 months? I am not sure but I hope to receive more pink ones in the future.

So what all did I choose?

Sally Hansen Happy Manicure Limited Edition Set- Insta-Dri

I finally bought the other two Sally Hansen Happy Manicure sets and in this post I am covering the Insta-Dri set. This set includes:
Fast Fuchsia
A bright fuchsia color with a purple iridescent micro-shimmer

Lightening
A bright yellow creme

Lickety-Split Lime
A bright lime creme

Vigorous Violet
A bright violet with a purple iridescent micro-shimmer

 I had a really hard time picking up the micro-shimmer on Fast Fuchsia and Vigorous Violet.

I do like this collection of colors but they don't really work for the holiday season so I probably won't get much use out of these this winter but come spring I will.

Fall Loose Button Luxe Box

My Fall Luxe Box From Loose Button

I did not have the best experience with Loose Button company from the start so I will sum up what happened before going over the box contents. First off I paid for my box in early August and they estimated that the fall box would ship early September but they never informed the subscribers that they changed the ship date a couple of times. By the time they got around to letting the subscribers know when the boxes would be shipping it was already the end of September and I was getting ready to move to Germany. I had written the company to cancel my box but they wouldn't refund me so I changed the shipping but they still sent it to wrong address. It ended up getting forward to Germany but I was so tired of waiting 3 months for this box that when I opened it I was very underwhelmed.

So what did I get?

Color Club Almost Famous

I picked up this polish after finding it in the clearance section at HEB in San Antonio. This was released in the Poptastic collection in 2010. I wasn't too keen on color but I needed to start rounding out my collection with different colors. I found that after two coats it was still on the streaky side and it would need a third coat to look perfect. It was a little hard to photograph the color.

With Flash

Without Flash

Organic Hydrating Sugar Scrub by Moody Sisters

I was excited to try out this scrub to see how it compares to the scrubs that I make for myself but I found that I both love and hate this one. It is that time of year again where I have to start keeping my skin moisturized because it gets really dry in the fall/winter. One thing that I liked/disliked was that it was from an Esty shop, I like supporting people who make handmade items but I don't like ordering beauty products on Etsy. I would prefer to go to a farmers market or local boutique where I know that the people selling don't have to pay to have their items there or pay a fee for every item sold. So with that out of the way I'll move on to how it actually worked for me. So I was expecting one thing from description on the product listing and kind of got the other. 

"Our Hydrating Sugar Scrub EXFOLIATES and SOFTENS your skin leaving you with a feeling of renewal. For use on normal to dry skin (Exfoliating is not meant for sensitive skin). Scrub daily to see TIGHTER PORES, softer skin and a more even skin tone. This is naturally age-fighting and an essential step for a healthy-glowing look."

So after reading that little bit of information I quickly hopped into the shower and started using the scrub on my legs and arms. One thing that shocked me was the scrub was peppermint scented which was not listed on the sample or on the website at all. I have no problem with peppermint but I don't usually like using it all over my body just on my feet. The scrub worked good at exfoliating the problem came when I went to rinse it off, it left a lot of oily film behind and I instantly felt like I wasn't clean. Normally scrubs like this do leave some oil behind but my skin will quickly absorb it so long as I rinse off and pat my skin dry with a towel. So I did what I normally do with a scrub and towel dried my skin but I still felt icky. I figured I would see if my skin felt differently in the morning. 

Next morning I get up I felt gross and promptly took another shower and washed away the remnants of this scrub. At this point I need to figure out why the scrub left me feeling icky so I turned to the website again and read the ingredients:

"KEY INGREDIENTS
Fair-Trade Evaporated Cane Juice (Sugar), Shea Butter and Coconut Oil

For a full ingredient list, please scroll down and click on the "Show Item Details" link."

Okay so I am used to those ingredients they listed as "key ingredients" so I looked for the other ingredients under Show Item Details and found these ingredients:

"peppermint, mint, Shea butter, coconut oil, cocoa butter, beeswax, castile soap, fair trade evaporate cane juice, sunflower oil, apricot kernel oil"

I found several ingredients that must have been the reason it felt gross, the combination of cocoa butter, Shea butter, and beeswax. This are great products but shouldn't be used in a scrub that should just be rinsed off, they would be great in a lotion but not a scrub.

Now that the mystery was over I still had some scrub let so I went ahead and used it on my hands. I worked great on my hands until I noticed within an hour my hands started to dry out again. Now I don't know why I didn't realize it but the castile soap is the one soap I never use on my skin because it is one of the most drying soaps I have ever used. Why would you pair castile soap with moisturizing ingredients? It is a contradiction! 

If you remove all the unnecessary ingredients you would be left with sugar, coconut oil, sunflower oil, apricot oil and peppermint. Those ingredients alone would make a great hydrating scrub but I think I'll stick to my homemade sugar, olive oil, and grapeseed oil and glycerin scrubs. I now hope that the other scrubs I have to try out will be better than this one.

Tokidoki Vegas Arte Palete Swatches

 This is the my other Tokidoki palette and at first I thought I was going to love this one but I don't love it as much as the Lion Pappa one.

This palette contains Cromatico eye shadows in pearl white, pearl grey, iridescent purple, pearl dark purple. It also includes a Bellina blush in soft bronze pink. I love the colors of the shadows but I really found the pigment lacking on these and I have to use primer no matter what. The blush is almost too pink for me but I am sure I will find a use for it.

Tokidoki Lion Pappa Arte Pallete Swatches

 

I picked up this little palette for really cheap since Tokidoki is no longer making makeup anymore.  This palette has some amazing colors that work great for me. The eyeshadows in this palette are pearl nude, matte light brow, pearl gold, pearl dark brown, the blush is golden peach. The eye shadows are actually from Tokidoki's Cromatico's eye shadow line and I found that these four eye shadows are nicely pigmented and blend well but they should be worn over a primer to make sure the color has its maximum potential. The blush is from the Tokidoki Bellina blush line, this blush is just the right shade for me and it is now the first blush I reach for when I want a more natural look.

Sally Hansen Happy Manicure Limited Edition Set- Gem Crush

Since moving to Germany I have been trying to keep an eye out on post for nail polish but there is a very limited selection. Then I noticed three little sets of mini polishes from Sally Hansen. I have been eyeballing them for about a week and I finally caved and bought one set. These little mini bottles are just so irresistible.

So tiny but so cute!

Sally Hansen has 8 colors in the Gem Crush collection so I am glad I can try out half the collection without committing to a full size bottle. I know these colors have been around for about a year but since I don't normally buy drug store polishes I hadn't seen these before.

On to the swatches!

Keeping Myself Busy

So a couple of days ago I wanted to catalog all of my Julep nail polish that I have and what I wanted into a chart. So I embarked on a two day internet search and created this chart:

Click for larger view

Since the majority of the chart is now filled out I wanted to post it on here so everyone could see it. Well that was where I ran into an issue, I couldn't simply copy and paste it. I had to re-learn some of the finer points of html code so that I can make a whole new chart right here on blogger. So it is going to take a lot longer than I want but hopefully I can get it done by the end of the week.

Another note is I have no clue what any of the mystery colors that Julep sent out in some of the mystery boxes so if anyone has names for me that would be great and I can add them to the chart.

Indie Lee The Daily Moisturizing Oil

Since I have oily skin I have avoided using it on my face. Also the lavender scent I find is too strong for my face, so I have settled on using it as a cuticle oil. As a cuticle oil it seems to be working perfectly fine. I have been using it after my manicures or whenever I have noticed that they seem dry.  Pairing this oil up with my lavender L'Occitane hand cream has really been keeping my hands and cuticles from drying out from the cold air.

Overall I probably won't purchase the full size version of this but I will reuse the bottle since it is the perfect size to keep in my manicure kit.

Influenster Website Relaunch

Recently Influenster.com relaunched their website making it 100% better than the previous site. I really am enjoying the fact that it is easier to navigate.

For those who don't know what Influenster is here is a quote from the website "Influenster is a free-to-join community of invited trendsetters who live to give opinions of products and experiences. Influenster creates links between brands and members to reward participation and influence future products." 

Also if you qualify for them they will send out Voxboxes from time to time filled with a variety of products centered around a common theme (Bride, Latina Beauty, Love, etc.)

 Even though I have not received a Voxbox from them yet I can still earn badges and write reviews on products that I have tried. One feature that I am really liking is that when you click on the badge you would like to earn or have already earned they have there is a list of tasks to be done for it. I did notice that I have to earn all of my badges over again, but at least now I can see what I need to do for them.

Another thing that I have noticed is that there are lifestyle and expert badges now. The expert badges will help Influenster figure out which products will fit you best. Overall I am liking the new look of the website and I plan on spending more time on it. If you want an invite to Influenster let me know and I can get you one :)