Ipsy: November 2015

Oh my gosh you guys Ipsy came in and I'm so freaking excited!

They did so much better for me this month, and have now definitely earned a loyal subscriber.  I mentioned in my last post and my review that I liked Ipsy being mostly makeup and they so delivered. Look at this!

It's all makeup!  On top of all the makeup, this bag is so freaking adorable! It's actually the one I'm using right now for my purse.

Here's a breakdown of the products!

Smashbox Cosmetics Full Exposure Mascara
(SS: .1 oz / $7.60) (FS: .38 oz / $20.00)

This month, everyone received a sample of this mascara. I haven't opened it up to try it yet, because I still have my Benefit Roller Lash from last month's Birchbox.  I don't use mascara a ton, so I'd hate to open more mascara samples and waste them!  I'll let you guys know how this does in a later post.

Crown Brush Deluxe Pointed Crease Brush

(FS: $12.38)

Let me tell you guys, this brush is super freaking soft!  I think everyone got a brush in their bags, but the kind of brush varied from person to person.  I've heard good things about Crown Brush, so I'm really happy about to get this brand for my own collection.

 Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner "Wild Child"

(FS: .01 oz / $14.00)

I forgot to get a picture of this product; oops!  I'm not too upset about that, however. I haven't been crazy impressed with any of the Be a Bombshell/Hikari products I've gotten, and this one is no exception.  It's a standard black eyeliner, but it takes a lot of swipes to get a really black line.  It starts off pretty light.  It's truly an average quality liner, which isn't what I'm looking for. I want quality here! On top of that, I twisted it a little too much and actually broke it!  The liner won't stay up to apply anymore, so I'll have to throw it away, as it's unusable. Lame.

Jesse's Girl Cosmetics Eye Shadow Primer

(SS: .1 oz / $3.75) (FS: .16 oz / $5.99)

I was really happy to get this product, which seems weird because it's just primer, but it works so well!  Without eye primer, I had a shadow that majorly creased in 3 hours.  With this, it ended up lasting 12 hours!  The only complaint I had about it was that it felt kind of sticky when my eyes were open, and was a bit uncomfortable. I definitely didn't apply too much, so I think it's just the formula.  The fact that it worked was all I could ask for, though, so I'll still use it!

Fran Wilson Moodmatcher Lipstick "Green"
(FS: .12 oz / $4.00)

The final product I got, and I'm really excited about!  At first, when I saw this I thought it'd be very childish and not really work, but I used it and was kind of blown away.  The color was a darker, intense pink, almost fuschia like, but much more wearable.  The idea of this lipstick isn't that it changes color on your lips based on your mood, rather it reacts to your body chemistry and turns a shade of pink that would best flatter you.  How exciting!

The color continues to darken up and actually becomes the final shade after about 10 minutes.  I think I swatched this and then took a picture right away, because it's lighter than it looked on my lips.

I'm very pleased with my bag this month!  I like using Ipsy as my makeup bag simply because they have such a wide variety that they send out!  The value is a little over $40, which is pretty darn good in my opinion.   I will continue to get Ipsy because I haven't been disappointed with it yet, and the value is pretty great.

What do you guys think?  Is that lipstick the coolest thing or what?  Let me know!

Hugs and Kisses,
The Cornfed Princess

TomBox: October 2015

Hello, everyone! I'm back with another new subscription box today!

This one is called TomBox, and it's a monthly subscription box in which you receive your choice of pads/tampons, and get a few beauty items and accessories.  It's $16/month, and you can change your subscription payment dates so you don't receive it every month if you don't want to!  If you're interested, I have a link here!

I got an email from the company offering me a box for $8, so I had to jump on it!  It's looked interesting, but I personally couldn't justify $16 on a box that I didn't know the quality of beforehand.  I have to say, I'm not disappointed!

The pink section had my tampon choice, and these three cute little beauty products!

The first is a sample of Harvey Prince's Perfumista.  I love me some Harvey Prince, but I couldn't quite decide if this was a fragrance I could get on board with.  On the card it describes the notes, but I just think it smells a little too.. perfumey? I mean you'd think that with the name and all, but I'm just not sure about it quite yet.

Silly me forgetting a picture of the yellow box. It's a spa treatment for your feet!  It comes with three different packets; a scrub, a mud masque, and a lotion. I have yet to try it because honestly I just don't treat my feet too kindly. Maybe I'll give it a whirl sooner rather than later.

Finally was a concealer from the brand Nicka K.

This applicator makes me feel super fancy just looking at it, because it was incredibly soft bristles. However, I quickly found that this was not a product for me.

Look at how dark it is on me!  Blending it out didn't do anything in terms of changing the color, either. It's way too orange and dark for my skin, so I definitely put a pass on it and gave it to my little sister, who was blessed with far darker skin than I.

Moving out of the little pink box area, there were a couple items packed to the side.

This is one of them! It's a bundle of 10 bracelets. They aren't cheap, easily breakable plastic, so that's good, but I'm not a huge bracelet wearer.

Now this is something I can stand behind!  It's a small baggie of chocolate, and it's seriously one of the most delicious chocolates I've ever tried.  It's dark chocolate with sea salt.  The salt is very subtle but you can still tell it's there, adding such a delicious switch up in flavor. The chocolate itself is very soft and incredibly easy to eat the whole chunk without realizing you've done it!

The Verdict:
I think this is a perfectly nice box!  I personally wouldn't continue to get it every month, because you just don't need it every month.  (That's a lot of tampons to go through!) While I do enjoy what I got, I'm not sure it'd be worth getting every single month. This would be a far better quarterly box.

I would highly recommend this as a gift for a younger girl (12-14) who's just starting reach "that age". It's really quite a nice gift of various items that will help make her feel more comfortable and just have a more positive experience in general!

What do you guys think? Is this box worth $16? Would you have liked getting it when you were younger? Let me know!

Hugs and Kisses,
The Cornfed Princess

Walmart Beauty Box: Fall 2015

As someone who can't really afford to buy a lot of high end makeup and skin/hair care products, having a cheap subscription box to test out drugstore products is wonderful!  Precious few dollars cannot be spent on tons of different products, because as we all know, the cheaper the price tag, the greater the risk of low quality products.

Enter the Walmart Beauty Box!  Yes, you read that right.  Walmart has come out with a quarterly box that sends samples of various drugstore products. The best part? The box is technically free, you pay $5 that is for shipping.  I highly doubt shipping this box is $5, but it's a pretty cheap box either way!

It looks a little barren when you open it, and unfortunately the little card doesn't have any product info!

Here's everything pulled out of the box!  This box focuses less on solely makeup and more on the entire beauty routine!

Let's get on to the products!

Que Bella Lavender Face Mask

Hello everyone!  Quite some time ago, I decided I wanted to try out various face masks because they have always seemed so awesome to me!  I went out to Target and bought probably 6 or 7 different types of face masks, and then I never used them.

They have literally been sitting in my drawer for almost two years, waiting to be used. Such a sad story! Well, a little while ago I found my heart again and decided that it was time to test these babies out.

The one I tried out for today is the Lavender face mask!  It's supposed to be a relaxing mask that sort of calms you as you wear it.

The contents are basically like a clay mask, but they smell delightful!  Just like a lavender field that you put on your face.  It's very thick, being clay-like and all.  I applied it just with my fingers and put it on evenly.  I thought each pack would have enough product for one application, but that is definitely not the case!  There's probably enough for up to 5 uses, depending on how thick you apply the mask each time.

It says to not get it in your hair, or on your lips and eyes so I had to clean up my messy application!  You're supposed to leave it on for about 15 minutes, and I did so, and then washed it all off with a towel and water.

Here's what was left!  I didn't think to take a before picture, but I can tell you my skin looks a little smoother and more even and there's no redness (that's a common problem for me).

I'd say this is a pretty basic mask. It didn't have any specific purpose for your face, as it was more about you relaxing while wearing it than a miracle face fixer product. As for relaxing, I can't really say one way or the other, as putting clay masks on and watching for the appropriate time is stressful in of itself. 

I'd definitely say get this if you want to have a fun, easy girls night in or something of the like!  It'd also be good for any sort of mother-daughter bonding experience, especially if it's younger kids, as this mask isn't going to hurt or do anything extreme with your skin.

What do you guys think? Would you get this mask? Do you prefer your masks to show more results? Let me know!

Hugs and Kisses,
The Cornfed Princess

KawaiiBox: September 2015

Guys, what I am about to show you may be the cutest thing ever.

It's called KawaiiBox! For those who don't know, Kawaii means cute in Japanese, so I'm really not joking when I at least say cute!

What is KawaiiBox?
Kawaiibox is a monthly subscription service in which you receive 10-12 items from Korea & Japan that include candy, stationery, and other cute items!  It costs $18.90 per month, however, you can choose to subscribe for 3, 6, and 12 months and get the box for cheaper. Shipping is free no matter where you are, too. Does it sound like fun? Go check it out!

Here's my super cute product list!  I am seriously in love with everything that I got.

Look at this box!  It is stuffed full of cute little products and food and makes me happy just looking at it!

Enough of that, let's get onto the actual products!

Beauty Box Roundup: October 2015

Hello everyone! It's been a little bit since you saw me.  I had a lot going on in college and I wanted to catch back up there, so I put blogging on hold for a bit to ensure there wouldn't be problems in school. Unfortunately my education does take precedent over blogging!  The good news is I'm caught up and can get back on schedule!

This is my favorite post of the month, the one in which I gather every product I received from subscriptions boxes over the course of the month and put them all in a single, convenient place!  I also compare values between each box as well as product usability and determine the best box for the month.  Think of it more as a Birchbox vs. Ipsy vs. BeautyBox every month. This month, however, I'll be adding a fourth box into the mix; Lip Monthly!

As always, my math may not be 100% accurate. I am most definitely NOT a math major, but they should be pretty close!  Full sized products are listed with an asterisk.

Lip Monthly
*Hikari Lip Crayon "Mandarin": $14.00
*Lord & Berry Lip Crayon "Sensuel": $16.00
*Mica Beauty Lip Pot "Velvet Rose": $14.95
*Pencil Me In Eyeliner "Amethyst": $6.99
Total Box Value: $51.94

Beauty Box 5
*Ferro Cosmetics Kabuki Brush: $25.00
*Happy Hands Makeup Wipe: $3.99
*Styli Style Lip Balm "Mischievous Magenta": $4.99
Nubar Mini Nail Polish "Pinktober": $4.99
*Knotty Hair Ties: $4.00
Total Box Value: $42.97

Ipsy
Balanced Guru Body Scrub: $2.87
*Dose Nail Polish "Stormy": $6.67
*Lavanila Laboratories Roller Ball "Pure Vanilla": $12.00
*Skone Cosmetics Eyeliner "Plum": $15.00
theBalm Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick "Committed": $2.72
Total Box Value: $39.26

Birchbox
Benefit Roller Lash Mascara: $8.00
Borghese Purifying Mud Mask: $7.40
Davines Conditioner: $1.37
Davines Shampoo: $7.40
Juliette Has a Gun "Gentlewoman": $1.88
Vasanti Face Rejuvanator: $5.63
Total Box Value: $31.68
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TOP PRODUCTS OF THE MONTH:
*Benefit Roller Lash Mascara - Birchbox
*theBalm Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick - Ipsy

The Verdict:
If you guys read the individual blog posts, you'd probably already know how I feel about most of these boxes. The Lip Monthly bag, while the best value of all the boxes, was also the least exciting and the one I'm not too upset about dropping.

I was very underwhelmed by the Beauty Box 5 box, mostly because last month's box was so incredible.  Ipsy's bag really wasn't bad, but again I was kind of underwhelmed with the products I got.

The only box that really impressed me this month was Birchbox. They really stepped it up from last month! The Benefit mascara really is what sold me on it.  It's a little funny, because while it has the least amount of value, it still contains my favorite product of the month!


What box is your favorite? Is there any product you want to try out from any of them? Let me know!

Hugs & Kisses,
The Cornfed Princess