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. 

February Glambag Review

 Yup, it's that time again. Time for me to review all of the products I received in my Ipsy Glambag this month. If you would like your own (They're just $10!) please, please, please use this link: http://www.ipsy.com/r/1bhk

The theme this month was a love/Valentines day theme. It came in this really cute bag:

 There was also a really cute pattern inside:

Without further ado, here is everything I got in my bag followed by my thoughts on each. 

                                                Pop Beauty plump pout lip gloss

This is the best lipgloss I have ever tried. I even like it better than Nyx's! Im not a huge lip gloss fan, but I can see myself wearing this one a lot. 

I got this in the shade Peony Petal. It goes on very pigmented, so you don't need to cake it on to get good color payof.. I only used the smallest amount possible. It is very smooth! Not sticky at all. It is also very lightweight. The formula is great. This is the best lip gloss formula i have ever tried. I even forget that I'm wearing it.

 

The only con: the size. It is a nice size for travel or to put in your pocket. But it's on the small size. Retailing at $16 a piece, there is way too little product for the price. However, despite the size this lip gloss is worth the price if you are a gloss lover.

                                         Jessie's Girl eye color collection in Behind Blue Eyes

I am not a big fan of the colors in this palette. I have blue eyes, so I do not really wear blue eyeshadow. This palette wasn't anything too spectacular, just ok in my opinion. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had gotten a different color selection. I haven't tried every single shade, but I did try a few. What I did try was a little chalky. I used them without primer, I didn't get super pigmentation. With a primer, however I'm sure the pigmentation would be great.

                                                             Zoya nail polish in Odette

Zoya is my favorite nail polish brand, I am always happy to get more. This color is from the new Natruel line. Zoya describes this color as being "Sultry orchid maroon cream". I would say that it is a mauvey purple. It is a beautiful color. As always with Zoya, it has amazing pigmentation and wear. I have never gotten better wear from any other brand.

                         Mally Beauty Evercolor Starlight waterproof eyeliner in Starshine

I was really excited to try this product, I will from time to time watch HSN and QVC when they show makeup. I have seen Mally Beauty featured a few times and I have always been curious as to how their products are. 

That being said, I was hugely disapointed. I first tried to use this on my waterline and it would not even show up. It was too rough and wouldn't leave any pigmentation. I tried  using it in the corner of my eye and got much better color payoff, but the eyeliner wasn't creamy as I expected. 

                                                    Uberbliss Straight Efect Rituoil 

This is a hair oil made to tame frizz. I don't really have an issue with frizz, but I do have a problem with staticy hair. I didn't try this as directed (applying to hair, blowdrying then straightening) but I did try it on my ends. It seemed like it helped to moisturize my ends and it smells really good.

Salon Grafix Conditioning Cleanser and Intensive Hair Repair Masque review

I am ridiculously backed up on my reviews right now. There are so many products that I have shown in hauls that I haven't gotten to reviewing. I do intend to review them as promised, it's just taking me so long. Here is two of those products. Instead of reviewing them separately, I will be reviewing Salon Grafix Healthy Hair Nutrition Conditioning Cleanser and Intensive Hair Repair Masque together today, as they are a system, I have had these products for nearly a year now and just got backed up on reviewing them. The good thing about that is that I have had more time to try these out.

I'm not completely sure how I stumbled upon these products, but I know I found them while researching Wen. I had heard in a few places that this was a dupe of Wen. With Wen being way out of my price range, I thought it would be cool to try this product. I was able to get both of these at CVS. I have heard that Walmart may carry them too. At the time, the hair masque was on sale.

I got both of these in the citrus creme scent. With some reviews I read before purchasing, some people hated this scent. I really like it though, it smells like oranges.

Let's Start with the Conditioning Cleanser. It comes in a pump bottle, which makes it easier to use. I think the packaging was also to try to make it look a little like Wen. I like how the bottle allows you to see how much product is left.

There are directions on the back of the bottle that tells you how many pumps to use based upon your hair type and length. I have really long hair, so I tend to use 4-5 pumps. This doesn't foam up. On the bottle it claims to be color safe. I haven't dyed my hair in a while so I can't confirm this.

After following all of the directions on the bottle, my hair comes out very smooth, soft, moisturized and shiny. I have heard of Wen doing this to your hair. I however have never gotten that volume with this product that many people say they get with Wen. Regardless if this is a Wen dupe, I like it. My hair can get really dry and this is the perfect pick me up for it.

Now on to the Intensive Hair Repair Masque.

One word of advice: Don't use this right after using the conditioning cleanser. It may make your hair greasy or overly moisturized. If I use this, I use a different shampoo with it. There are directions on the back of the bottle. You basically use this as you would with any deep conditioner, put it all over your wet hair and let it sit. It recommends using a wide tooth comb with this to evenly distribute product. I use this every once in a while when my hair is feeling dry or when I feel like pampering myself. After use, my hair feels very conditioned and it will be very soft. I really like it and think it would be perfect for anyone with damaged hair. This is the only deep conditioner I have used, so I don't know how it compares to any other ones.

Over all, I do really like this system, although it isn't such a good idea to use the hair masque with the conditioning cleanser. On their own however these are wonderful products. I'm not so sure on the Wen dupe claims, but I would say it is a good alternative.

October Glambag Review

Yes, it is November and I'm finally reviewing the Glambag for October! I got my bag a lot later that usual. If you would like to get your own glambag, please be super awesome and use my refferal link ( http://www.ipsy.com/r/1bhk ). I'll give you a shoutout if you do. If you still don't know what a Glambag is, for $10 a month (plus free shipping) you get 5 beauty products full and deluxe sample sizes in a cute makeup bag. The bag values are always way over $10.

This month's theme was the art of beauty. The bag its self is white with pink writing on the front and a pink zipper. Ipsy (the company that makes glambags) purposely made the back of the bag blank so that your own artwork could be put on it. I of course, decorated the back of mine:

                                     I did this by just sketching it out and painting it with acrylic paint.

Anyway, here is my review of the products I recieved:

Zoya Nail Polish in Giovanna

 

I already love Zoya's nail polish. I had a few prior to this bag and was really excited to get another. Everyone received 1 of 3 nail polishes from the fall 2013 Cashmeres and Satins line. I got Giovanna, a beautiful metallic teal/green color. I honestly was hoping for one of the other colors (seemingly a purple and a pink) because I own so many green nail polishes. But this one was different than any other green I own and it is beautiful. 

I don't have many metallic polishes so this was a nice change. The formula as always is great. Zoya nail polish always applies opaquely and evenly. It also lasted as long as any zoya polish. I kept it on for about 5 days before removing (for Halloween) and I didn't have a single chip. Zoya is the longest lasting nail polish brand I've ever tried and they are allso free of the "big 5", the most harmful chemicals found in nail polish.

Bella Terra Mineral Cosmetics Mineral Shimmers in Navy 

I had never heard of this brand before. I thought it was just a typical mineral eyeshadow. I was in fact right that this is a loose mineral eyeshadow, but it isn't typical. It is very versatile, the Bella Terra website boasts that this eyeshadow is an 8 in 1 product that can be used as creamy eyeshadow, eyeliner, nail polish, mascara, matte eyeshadow, lip color, body glitter and hair streaks when certain bases are added to them.

I used mine as an eyeliner. I mixed a drop of Elf Makeup Lock & Seal (a great eyeliner seal) with some eyeshadow and applied as a liner. The color is more blue than navy, i expected it to be darker. But it is still lovely. It lasted all day. This is a pigmented eyeshadow, I did not need to use much of it.

Coastal Scents Medium Eyeshadow Brush

This one product I haven't been able to use. My mom saw this brush in the bag and immedietely took it. I can say when I felt it while taking photos for this post, the brush bristles are very soft and the handle seems pretty sturdy. It seems like a great eyeshadow brush.

Ole Henriksen Truth Creme advanced hydration

I got a small deluxe sized jar of this. It is a moisturizer. I actually really love it. A little goes a long way. It is very moisturizing and it smells really good. Many people don't like the scent, but I love it. It has a spiced orange scent. This product provides anti aging benefits, I'm not old enough to need or even notice any. This overall is a great moisturizer. I would totally buy a jar if it wasn't so expensive.

Sexy Hair Spray Clay Texturizing Spray

Ok, I'm just going to say it: I didn't like this product. at first I saw the word "texturizing" and thought sarcastically "great, another texturizing product" as I have too many already. But when I actually got this I was baffled...what is it that I actually use this product for?

The words Spray Clay really threw me off. There also weren't any directions on the can. I did a little research on how to use it and tried it out. I went to sleep in damp braids so that I would have some waves to work with (my hair is very straight) and I liberally sprayed. The scent of this is horrible and very overwhelming. It is a hairspray. I didn't notice any texturizing effects, but it did hold the waves all day.

If you want a good texturizing spray, but Sexy Hair's Soy Renewal Beach Spray or Not Your Mother's Beach Babe. They actually do what is promised and smell great.

Overall, this was a good bag although not my favorite. I liked the Truth Creme, the Zoya nail polish and the Bella Terra eyeshadow. Many sneak peaks for the November bag are already out, that bag looks like it will be great, at least for me. We will found out how good everything is at the end of next month or beginning of next month when my review will be posted, so stay tuned! 

Weekly Beauty Tip #57: Protect your hair from heat

Before styling your hair with heat you should always apply some sort of heat protection product, such as a heat protection spray. It will protect your hair from being fried and damaged. In a way, it is like how you protect your skin with sunscreen.

July Glam Bag Review

 This is being posted later than I planned, but I wanted as always to test these products out for a good amount of time so that I could give you all a detailed review. Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription service that sends you 4-5 products in a mixture of full sized and deluxe sample sized for only $10. You also get special discount codes for each month's brand. If you would like to sign up, please be awesome and use my referral link: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051r3lzwoa89xn . I should also mention that each bag has a theme. This month's theme was Beach beauty.

I love the bag its self for this month. It is a clear, waterproof plastic bag. It keeps with the beach theme, being a perfect makeup bag for the beach. In my bag I received a sampler palette from BH Cosmetics California Collection, a full sized Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon, a sample sized Derm E Microdermabrasion Scrub, a sample sized Coola Mineral Face SPF Unscented Moisturizer and a sample sized Sexy Hair
Soy Renewal Beach Spray Conditioning and Texturizing Spray.
Here are my thoughts and reviews on each individual product:

                                                  Derm E Microdermabrasion Scrub

To start with, microdermabrasion. Many people have no idea what this is. If you break it down it basically means small skin abrasion. A micro derm scrub is a scrub meant to get rid of the dry skin cells on your face to reveal newer, glowing skin. This scrub has very small (and do I mean very small!) pieces of Dead Sea salt and volcanic sand. It reminds me of a more broken down version of Lush Ocean Salt. It smells really good, like lemons. It gives a harsher exfoliation than Lush Ocean Salt. This scrub does as it should and makes my skin feel soft and wonderful. A little bit goes a long way. I had my mom, who is in her late 40s try this. She has dry mature skin and (finally!!) she is listening to my advice on skincare. After using this scrub, she says that her skin has been less dry, it feels softer and looks better. The sample size I got of this was smaller than expected, but I was glad to try this scrub. It won't replace my beloved Ocean Salt but I really did love it, my mom did as well.


Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon

This next picture I know is blurry and it was taken in haste (I didn't have much time to take extra photos for this post). I am only posting it so that you can see what color this crayon actually is, since the lighting in the picture above makes it look orange when it isn't.

I was most excited for this product in my glam bag. I have been seeing these crayon shaped pigmented lip balms EVERYWHERE and I had yet to try one! I received this in Coral Crush, a beautiful coral color (although it looks pinker on me). On first thought when applying it feels wonderful. It is moisturizing, as I expected it would be. It is also very pigmented, which as a lipstick lover makes me happy. If you apply too much it may appear a little streaky. They don't stay on long and will come off when eating and drinking, so you'll need to reapply. This isn't a problem for me, any time I wear a lip product I bring it with me (even lip tars). I really want to get more of these, but these balms are only available in a kit that costs $25. The kit only contains one other color that I would wear so it doesn't make sense for me to buy it, which is disappointing because I loved this and I want some more colors.

Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray Conditioning and Texturizing Spray

Wow that's a mouthful! I had never tried a Sexy Hair product, though I have seen them raved about so I was happy to see this. I love texturizing sprays (such as Not Your Mother's Beach Babe) so that was a bonus for me.  It comes in a pump bottle with a tab to position to open or close the bottle. The packaging is just like Beach Babe. The directions say this spray can be used over damp or dry hair. For dry hair it recommends also spraying at the roots for volume. When used on my dry hair, I sprayed to the roots and throughout my hair. I then put my hair up for about 10 minutes into a claw clip. When I took it down I have some nice, soft waves and a little volume at my roots. I haven't been able to try this on damp hair yet, but I'm sure it works just as well.

Coola Mineral Face SPF  Unscented Moisturizer

It's like Ipsy read my mind! I have been looking for a moisturizer with SPF and what appears in my glam bag? This. I was extremely disappointed in the travel size that I received. I wish it were bigger so I could've tested it out more.  This is a mineral moisturizer with SPF 20. It is unscented and not tinted. It blended well, didn't feel oily and it didn't leave any sort of white cast on my face.  I wore this yesterday when I went to the fair that my town has every year underneath my makeup. It was a hot day, the sun was out and it was beaming as I walked from my house to the fair as well as many sections of the fair. On a day like this, I normally would've worn BB cream, but I wanted to test the protection of this product. I wore it underneath a foundation without any SPF and I didn't apply any extra moisturizer over it. It did moisturize, but I wish it moisturized better. The SPF protection is good. I spent probably four or five hours at the fair and I didn't get any sunburn. I feel that this protected my skin well. I liked it.

BH cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Samples

 I was really excited to try these, having heard about BH cosmetics a lot though I had never had a chance to try them.  In the sampler palette I received three eyeshadows in Hollywood (deep purple color), San Francisco (a sparkly brown) and Malibu (a gorgeous gold color). Here are swatches of each color over Elf Essential Eyelid primer:

I was a bit disappointed in these shadows. Malibu had great pigmentation, but I feel like San Francisco was a little flat and Hollywood definitely fell flat. Sam Francisco could've had a bit better pigmentation and the pigmentation of Hollywood is horrible. When worn over primer on my eyes, Malibu and San Francisco lasted all day. But when I rubbed the swatches on my hand (which were put over the same primer) they wiped off completely. If I could buy Malibu as a single eyeshadow, I would. I love the color and the pigmentation. However since I wasn't fully impressed by the other two colors I don't think I'll be buying one of the California palettes.



Over all, I did really like this bag. Even though I wish some products were a larger size, it is great for what I pay. Also, I think Ipsy made everything travel sized so that it will fit in the bag to go to the beach. It is a great assortment of products that could be used at a day (or weekend) to the beach and it is perfect for travel.