Let Me Tell You About Influenster

In anticipation of my coming Beauty Blogger VoxBox, I thought I'd do a little post explaining Influenster and letting you know how my experience has been so far. :)

Influenster is a sample box program, but it's different from the other ones (like Birchbox, Glossybox, etc.) out there in a couple major different ways. The first is that being a member and receiving boxes is completely free. Yes, I said FREE! Second, Influenster has more than just beauty boxes.  Since I joined, I've seen beauty boxes, a Latina box, a Mom box, and an eco-friendly box.

So how it works is you unlock badges that are relevant to you.  For instance, I have unlocked the Beauty one, the Fashion one, and the Pop Culture one.  You then try to improve your score in these badges.  Influenster will then choose whether to send you a VoxBox based on your badges.  And that's another major difference.  These are NOT monthly boxes, and you will NOT be getting one every time Influenster releases a new one.  Influenster will choose participants for a certain box based on whatever criteria they use.

Since I've started with Influenster, I have received one VoxBox, the Love VoxBox.  But there have been at least 4 other boxes, since I've joined, that I have not received.  Sure it's disappointing when you see everyone else getting one, but Influenster is working to have more boxes available so that more people can participate.

I have enjoyed being a part of Influenster, and I highly recommend joining.  What do you have to lose? :)

DEAL ALERT! Revlon Moon Candy Duos On Clearance!

Hello!  I just wanted to do a quick post to let you know that I spotted the Revlon Moon Candy Duos on CLEARANCE at my local Target yesterday! They were all in a bin on a back end cap, and they still had a pretty big selection of them.

They were all priced at $5.24, which is only 30% clearance, so it may go down more if the stock doesn't move fast enough.  I was tempted to pick up another one, but I still have a couple that I need to swatch, so I shouldn't really get another, lol.  Plus, I pretty much got the colors I really wanted through the CVS deal a while back, from when I swatched the Supernova duo.

Have you seen these on clearance at your Target?  Planning to get any?

Julep Maven: October 2012

I'm back with my October Julep Maven box.  I almost skipped this month, because most of the boxes came with crackle, and I didn't like the 1 box that didn't have crackle.   The crackle trend is pretty much dead, IMO, and I think many people felt the same way because Julep came out with another option this month and that is the Maven's Choice box.  It came with 3 creme polishes from the October boxes, but no drops.  I really wanted to try the drops, so I debated whether to get the American Beauty box or the Maven's Choice box.  The American Beauty box came with a dusty indigo creme polish named Eloise and an orange crackle named Sabrina, which I thought was a pretty unique color for a crackle and was the reason I was thinking of getting it.  But then I decided it would be better to just get Maven's Choice and add on the drops, since I was also going to add on Sofia anyway.  And ta-da:

l-r: lisa, eloise, keira, sofia, quick dry drops

Julep included several extras this month.  As you can see in the last picture, there's glitter!  I got orange and black, which is perfectly fine with me because it's October and those will be great for Halloween.  But I know some people got white and silver, which would have been nice and more versatile.  The other extra was candy corn, which is a Halloween staple, but I'm not a fan of it.  I'll probably give it away.  Anyway, I hope to do swatches soon!  At the very least, I will do skittle swatches if I can't do full hand swatches right away.

Also, I was playing with lighting and angles and stuff today, so that I can try to be better about swatching and photographing for this little blog.  (Maybe you can tell, by some of the over-brightness of the photos, lol.)  That's one of the main reasons my blogging schedule is so wonky.  By the time I get home from school and/or interning, it's already dark.  And that'll be even more so with winter coming up.  Can't believe it's already October!!

Until next time~

First Impression: September Glossybox USA

As you know, I am already subscribed to Birchbox, ipsy (formerly known as myglam), and Julep Maven.  When Glossybox came to the U.S., I debated joining.  The products looked pretty good, but it is a little pricier than other subscription services.  After August's awesome box, I seriously considered it and then I got an email from Refinery29 about a limited edition box curated by them.  So, I decided to sign up.  The deal was 2 regular Glossyboxes and 1 Refinery29 box.

So, here's my first Glossybox:

I got this on September 26, but was waiting for a reply from Glossybox before posting my first impression.  I have received a response and can now say that this box was almost a TOTAL MISS for me.  I was super excited for the BB Cream, but also a little hesitant.  I don't think it's a good idea for these sample boxes to give out samples of concealer, foundation, etc. because they can't know if it will match the person it's going to.  But BB Creams tend to oxidize and usually end up matching Asian skin tones nicely.  So I was thinking it would be okay, since most BB Creams only come in 1 or 2 shades.  Unfortunately, this Missha one comes in like 4 shades and they gave me the lightest color, #13, which is way too light for me.  I emailed them and asked if it was possible to exchange it for #21, which would fit me better, and this is what they responded with:

No, it didn't help.  Okay, I understand they can't give me a different one.  But this response just sounds like they didn't read my email at all!  I said it was TOO LIGHT and they're telling me to mix it with a foundation that may be too light for me or use it as bronzer.  WHAT?!

I don't know what I'm going to do with the Missha BB Cream.  I can't even review it properly because it's too light!  I might try to find a way to make it work, but for now, it's a miss.  Then there's the Professional Mattifying Gel.  I don't have a problem with oil, so I'm not sure what this will do for me or if it will help me at all.  Another miss.  The Global Keratin Balancing Shampoo and Conditioner is supposed to keep hair and smooth free for up to 5 months.  But my hair is pretty flat, so I'd rather have volume.  I'll have to test this out.  At least it smells good!  And finally, the lipstick.  It's a nice pink color and looks like the only thing in this box that I will for sure get use out of!

Really, I don't know what the point of that survey/quiz was if they're not going to take it into account when sending products that need specific color choices.  The only nice thing about this box was that 3 of the 5 items were full-size.

Strike 1, Glossybox.  2 more to go.  Let's hope it gets better!

SPOTTED: Sinful Colors Fall Fairy Tale Enchanted Collection (Fall 2012)

So I've been on the hunt for the Barely Beige Color Tattoo from the Maybelline Scene on the Runway limited edition collection.  I know, I know...I'm a bit late hunting for them now.  But I didn't think I was going to get them.  That changed over the course of time, as I saw more and more swatches.  Anyway, long story short, I haven't found it yet!  It seems to be sold out everywhere.

However, I did spot something new at Rite Aid!  The Sinful Colors Fall collection called Fall Fairy Tale: Enchanted.

The colors from left to right: Inkwell, Muse, Smokin, Rain Storm, Last Chance, In the Mist, Mesmerize, and Jungle Trail.

Close up of Inkwell, Muse, Smokin', and Rainstorm.

Inkwell looks to a be a purple-black color, Muse is a dusty gray-purple color that has become very common, Smokin' looks to be a straight up concrete gray color, and Rainstorm is a dusty blue color.

Close up of Last Chance, In the Mist, Mesmerize, and Jungle Trail.

Last Chance is a dark forest green color, In the Mist is a dusty gray-green color, Mesmerize is a dusty blurple (blue-purple), and Jungle Trail is a light gray-putty color.

All of the polishes seem to be creme finishes.  As you can tell from my color descriptions, a lot of the colors have dusty and/or grayish quality to them, which I like.  But I don't think the colors are overly unique, and I didn't pick anything up this time around.  However, I am thinking about going back for In the Mist and Mesmerize.  Also, Last Chance and Rainstorm are repromotes.  The rest are new, I think.  

Ok, actually, I picked up Rainstorm from Walgreens yesterday.  But that was before I found out about this collection, so that doesn't technically count as picking something up from this one. :P  It was part of my big SC Walgreens haul (yay 99 cent sale!), and I'll have swatches of it up soon!

Are you thinking of getting anything from this collection?  Or any other Fall collections?  I think Fall collections are some of the best collections of the year!

SWATCH: OCC - Something

Getting back into the swing of things, just as school is about to start!  I've actually been sitting on these swatches for a bit...again with the laziness of not wanting to crop/edit pictures.  I really need to stop with that.  But anyway...

I bought this polish from the OCC booth at IMATS.  It was on sale for $5/polish, so I ended up buying 2: this one and Chlorophyll, which is the one I originally wanted.  OCC's Something is a gorgeous sky blue with a dusty quality to it.

in the shade

in the sun

I loooove this polish!  It applied really well, with not much work to it and no streaks at all!  That's quite unusual for pastels...at least for me.  And I think I used 2 coats for the opacity above.  The color is gorgeous, as mentioned.  Plus, the name is cute!  (You know, "something blue"...get it? ;P)

Definitely impressed with the quality of this OCC nail polish and can't wait to try Chlorophyll.  I think I might get some more polishes from OCC at next year's IMATS!

Have you tried OCC nail polish before?

SWATCH: Revlon Moon Candy - Supernova

Hello~ It's been so hot for at least the past two weeks!  It makes a person not want to do anything but sit in front of the fan/air conditioner, haha.  Anyway, today I have a polish from the Revlon Moon Candy collection.  This is my first time trying any of these Revlon duos.

I originally wasn't going to buy anything from this collection because it just didn't seem worth it.  They're quite pricey for the amount of polish you get.  But this week, CVS is having a pretty good deal on Revlon polish, so I decided to give it a try.

This particular duo is called Supernova.  It has a dark gray base with pink/peach flakies that also flash green and yellow.

The above swatches were done with 2 coats of the base color and 1 thick coat of the flakies.  I knew there could be some problems getting the flakies from bottle to nail, since I read some reviews before buying, so I just didn't wipe the brush at all before applying.  Whatever was on the brush went on the nail.  I had  no problems with application for the base color, and the flakies didn't give me much of a problem either, as can be seen from the pictures.  I didn't use a base coat for these photos.

If you're interested in this polish or any of the other Moon Candy collection, CVS is having a sale on Revlon polishes.  It's currently $4.99, which is a deal in itself since these are regularly priced at $8.29.  But you also get $3 ExtraCare bucks, which is like getting this polish for $1.99.  

Do you have any of the Moon Candy polishes?