Boots Botanics Ionic Clay Mask Shine Away Review

Disclaimer: The product featured in this review was given to me complimentary from Influenster. However, this is my 100% honest review. I was not paid to say any of it.

I received this mask in my J'Adore VoxBox from Influenster. I was pleasantly surprised to see this, as when the pre survey asked about face masks, I was expecting something from Freeman or Montagne Jeunesse. I am definitely a fan of Boots. My mom used to buy their products a lot when our local CVS carried the brand. She used to give me the eyeshadow colors she ended up disliking. Their products had always been top notch quality.

 I really like the packaging. It is very simple. Just a sticker wrapped around a clear plastic tube. Although I love pretty, cute and bold packaging, I like how this has simple packaging. Boots is letting the product speak for its self rather than the packaging. It has a screw top lid.


Even though I had high expectations going in, I was very impressed by this mask! I tried it on my weekly face mask night with my mom while we were marathoning True Blood (Anyone else watch? Who's ready for the new season?) . When I squeezed some product from the tube, too much came out. This is due to the watery formula. If you shake the tube before use it does help a little. I do like the consistency, you don't need a ton of product and it goes on easily. Just be careful when squeezing from the tube.

The mask is a dark grey-green color. It dries to a lighter green.

We sat for 10 minutes to let this mask work its magic until it was dried. When I looked in the mirror, I was amazed. There were all of these black dots on my nose where the mask pulled impurities from my pores. My mom had similar results. When I washed it off the spots were gone and my skin looked (and felt) very clean.

The 2nd time I tried it, I got even better results. More crud was pulled out of my pores.

This mask reminds me of a certain high end one, but at 1/6 of the cost! And it really does work. It will make your face feel dry, but apply a good moisturizer and you will be good as new. This is suitable for all skin types, especially those with oily skin.

I love this face mask so much, I may need to have a 2nd face mask night every week just so I can continue to use my other face masks! 

Influenster J'Adore VoxBox Review

Disclaimer: All products in this review were given to me complimentary by Influenster. As always, I am being 100% honest in my review. I was not paid to write this. 

It's been such a long time since I have gotten a VoxBox! I was very surprised when I got the survey email. For those of you that don't know, Influenster is this great website where you can share your opinions on different products. If you're lucky enough, they'll even send you a VoxBox full of products to try. This particular one is the J'Adore Voxbox, a Valentines Day themed VoxBox. Here are all of the products I recieved:

 Here are my thoughts on each individual product. I will be posting a separate review of the Boots Botanical Ionic Clay Mask later today so please check back for it.

Hershey's Kisses

There's not much for me to say about this, everyone knows about Hershey's kisses. They're great when in need of a little chocolate. I love incooperating these into recipes, such as peanut butter blossoms and chocolate covered pretzels. I also love shaving a little on top of whipped cream when I have hot chocolate.

Red Rose Simply Indulge Tea: Crème Caramel and Lemon Chiffon

I love tea. I'm not a coffee person, I always have to have my tea. I love trying new flavors, I was very excited to find some samples from Red Rose's new Simply Indulge line. 3 bags of Crème Caramel and 1 bag of Lemon Chiffon.

Crème Caramel:

This tea has such a great calming caramel aroma. There is a caramel flavor to this tea, but it is light and not overpowering. It has a hint of sweetness without being overly so. It is a fun tea to have when you want to indulge or just a little something different. I tried this two ways: with just steeped water and with a little half and half. When I tried it with the added half and half, it had a creamier and a little richer taste. It was heavenly. 

After having 2 of my sample bags, I had to buy it. I also got a great coupon on my VoxBox to use towards the tea. Sadly none of the stores in my town carried it. I will however keep looking until I can get my hands on a box.

Lemon Chiffon:

This is yet another delicious tea. It has a light lemon candy scent. When I tried it, I tried it without adding anything. It had a light lemon flavor with a hint of sweetness, but not overpowering. I usually drink black tea with just lemon so this flavor was welcoming to me.

With how much I loved the two flavors I was given to try, I can't wait to try the rest of the line.

John Frieda Frizz Ease 3 Day Straight Spray

To be honest I wasn't expecting to get anything from this product. Unless I curl my hair, have it recovering from being in a bun or braids or unless it dried weirdly, my hair is normally straight and I don't deal with too much frizz. 

I used this spray on my wet hair out of the shower, slightly towel dried. It was reccomended to use 7-15 sprays. I did 8 since I have really long hair. I blow dried and straightened my hair as directed.

The first thing I noticed: how silky and moisturized my hair felt! It also was shiny and had a little body. It felt and looked amazing!! As a person that has problems with dry hair, this is definitely a plus for me.

Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes in Pretty

Kiss came out with these new eyelashes and I think they're a great idea! They are meant to look more natural. Something I find pretty different is their tapered end. Most false eyelashes have blunt ends.

They went on just like any other strip eyelashes, but I had to be careful. The band didn't feel very sturdy and I thought I was going to break them a few times. 

I did like that they felt lightweight and not heavy like most lashes. I love the look of dramatic eyelashes. These aren't all that dramatic, but they were longer than my naturally long lashes and they gave me  some more volume. Although they seem too long to look natural to me, they are beautiful and as close to natural as you could get with false eyelashes.

They are good for when you want a little extra oomph, they would be good day time eyelashes.

Unfortunately, I had to trim mine down. I wear glasses and it can be very annoying when your eyelashes repeatedly bump your lenses. I even have this problem when I wear just mascara. Curling the lashes helped a little, but not completely. So if you wear glasses, these may not be the pair for you.

Overall, I did like these lashes. They're pretty and I love how lightweight they are.


Keep an eye out for my review of the Boots Botanics Ionic Clay Shine Away mask, which I will be posting later today. 

Montagne Jeunesse Glacial Clay Spa face mask review

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for free, but this is my 100% honest review. 

I have always loved face masks, they were the first real skincare product that I used growing up. Montagne Jeunesse was actually my very first face mask (their chocolate mask to be exact). 

I received this mask sample from Pinchme, which is this really cool free sample service that I found. They send you boxes of samples of your choosing completely free. I was very excited to see that they were giving these masks away. So excited that I tried it out as soon as I got it.

So what exactly is this face mask? The packaging says "Crushed Arctic Cloudberries Glacial Clay Spa" and "sensational skin clean" also "clay infused fabric"

Yes, this is a fabric mask! Fabric masks (or sheet masks) are really big in Korea and are just starting to become a thing here in the US. I've been wanting to try one for a very long time. Fabric face masks are just masks made out of fabric covered in a face mask sort of serum that you put on. They are supposed to supply your skin with a ton of nutrients. 

Fabric masks are a bit different than your average face mask so it's important to follow the directions, which I did. The directions with this particular mask are:

Cleanse
Apply
Relax
Massage
Rinse

These directions come with diagrams so no worries. Just wash your face, put on the mask and chill for 10-15 minutes. Then take off the mask, massage whatever of the mask serum is left on your face and rinse.

When I took the mask out of the packet, I just laughed. It reminded me of Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre anyone?). It went on fairly easily and fit my face for the most part. If it is too large for your face, you can fold it over. When you fold it, it will stay on.

There isn't any picture of me wearing the mask (that would be scary) but here is what the mask looks like:

The mask formula is very thin, like a serum (which is why I have referred to it as a mask serum earlier in this review). It smells pretty good, I can't pinpoint what the exact scent is. It is very refreshing. This would be a great mask to use in the summer.

After taking the mask off and following the rest of the directions my face felt a bit tight, probably from the clay.  My skin felt extremely soft and smooth. It actually amazed me how smooth it was!

Overall, this is a fun face mask. It is a great way to pamper yourself. I expected a little more from this but I did love it. I would definitely buy this. 

These masks are new, I have never seen them in a store where I live. But I'm sure you could find them at a Walmart or any sort of drugstore that sells Montagne Jeunesse products. They are on Ulta's website for $2.49.

November Glambag Review

Finally it is time to talk about this month's Glambag! This month's bag was a very special one. It is Ipsy's birthday month, so we got 6 products (normally it is only 5) including a full sized Em Cosmetics (Ipsy founder, Michelle Phan's makeup company) product. The theme was "Glam It Up", which is perfect with the holidays just around the corner.

I liked the bag for this month, it is a super cute little gold bag that doubles as a wristlet. I was a little surprised at how thin the material it was made out of was though.

If you would like your own monthly Glambag, please be awesome and use my referral link ( http://www.ipsy.com/r/1bhk )!

Here are the products I received:

                                  Em Cosmetics Waterliner intense color eyeliner in Teal Tease

Everyone received one Em Cosmetics product. This was the one product I had really hoped to get. I had heard so much buzz in the Ipsy community that I was extremely curious. I'm so happy that I was given the chance to try this.

The color I got was Teal Tease, a beautiful teal color. These eyeliners are automatic (twist up, no sharpening needed). It also does have a little sponge to smudge. It is very pigmented and glides on nicely. What really surprised me: it actually stayed on my waterline! For years, no matter what I have tried, nothing will stay on my waterline. This stayed on all day without budging. I definitely plan on buying more of these. I would love to try the rose gold one.

                                                  Be a Bombshell lip crayon in Hot Damn

I really love lip crayons, but I personally was a tiny bit disappointed in what I got. I received this lip pencil in Hot Damn, a bright red. Ipsy has sent me a few red lip products before and at this point I have more than enough reds. I wish I had gotten the pink color that some people had gotten.

As disappointed by the color that I was, it is not a reflection of the product. This actually is a good product. This was easy to apply, being in pencil form but a little more difficult than other lip pencils i have tried due to the shape.

It is well pigmented. Goes on smoothly. This particular color was matte. It wasn't drying at all and it is  very light weight. I nearly forgot that I was wearing it. After the product was on for 20-30 minutes I drank some water and there was 0 transfer, it stayed put. Although I didn't get the color I preferred, this is still a great product.

                                         Nailtini straight up color nail lacquer in Caviar Cocktail

Many Ipsy subscribers have complained about constantly getting Nailtini nail polishes. I somehow had gone this long without getting one. As this being my first, I am satisfied. The bottle is  nice shape and kind of unique. The Nailtini logo sticker is on the front of the bottle and the color name on the bottle. This is a good sized product. I had a little trouble opening mine at first. The cap on it was weird, possibly screwed on wrong. But I don't think that's the usual.

Caviar Cocktail is a beautiful metallic gunmetal color. It was welcomed, as I don't have any other nail polishes of the same color. It is very pigmented, went on smoothly. The first day I had been wearing this nail polish on 1 nail I had been rearranging some things in my home and I have 0 chips. But a few days later I noticed that the nail polish was completely gone from my nail! So I am unsure of lasting power, I will need to try this polish out again to be sure.

Starlooks Gem Eye Pencil in Topaz

I love glitter! So I was excited for this. Starlooks Gem Eye pencils are very glittery eyeliners. The particular shade I got is a beautiful bright silver. This pencil is super creamy, glides on and feels amazing. It does stay on. My only complaint is there is some glitter fallout.

Pixi Bronzer in Subtly Suntouched

Lately I have been getting into using bronzers, so I was happy for this product. I'm super picky when it comes to bronzer. I use them just for contouring. I am very fair, so most of the bronzers I have tried are too dark for me and don't blend into my skin as well as I would like. That or they are too orangey or with glitter.

This bronzer is perfect for me. It is matte, which is what I look for in a bronzer. It is a very light color and not super pigmented, actually pretty sheer. The color is a tad bit darker than it appears in the pictures above. The sheerness is great for you pale skinned girls like myself. I am alright using bronzers a bit darker to contour my cheekbones, but if I were to contour my nose everything was too dark. With this bronzer, it is the perfect shade! I can now contour my nose without it looking obvious.

I absolutely love this product. The packaging is great too. It comes in a nice simple screw top package. It doesn't take up much space.

GlamGlow Youthmud tinglexfoliate treatment

This I was super excited to try. I have heard so much about GlamGlow and I have been dying to try one if their products. This was the only non full-sized product I got this month. I was impressed at the size of the tube, as this stuff is very expensive. I used this the night before a job interview, I thought that would be as good a time as any to. The mask reminds me a little bit of Lush's BB seaweed mask. It has these little pieces of what I assume is sea weed throughout. It is this grey mask with that and some little beads to exfoliate. I left the mask on for about 10 minutes. It tingled for a while. It didn't burn, but it was a unique experience. It did tighten, when the mask was on I couldn't really move my face.

As I added water to wash this mask off, it turned into an exfoliating scrub. So this is really 2 products in 1. It left my skin feeling great! Extremely soft and smooth, I didn't feel any of the roughness or little bumps that I will get some time. If not for the very steep price tag ($19 for .5 oz, $69 for 1.7 oz) , I would definitely buy this.

Over all, I absolutely loved this bag. It is probably my favorite so far.