Target Fall Beauty Box Review

October 29, 2014 / Kayla Hutchison / 1 Comment

I typically miss out on the sample and beauty boxes Target releases and every time I am a sad panda. So, when I was browsing and saw that they had released their fall beauty box and they weren’t sold out I immediately ordered it. I was beyond excited when this pretty box arrived in my mailbox today and I couldn’t wait to open it up and see what was inside and show you all!
Let me begin by saying this box was $7 shipped to me. I have a Target debit card though, so I don’t know if shipping costs would apply to anyone without a Target debit card. I personally judge beauty boxes/subscriptions by what’s inside, if I like the products or at least most of them, and if the overall value exceeds what I paid for the box. If I’m paying $7 for a sample box and the products inside are worth less or just a little more than what I paid for the box itself, I feel kind of ripped off.

Inside the box:

First thing I noticed about this box was the beautiful coupon it came with. I love coupons. The cool thing about Target coupons is that you can stack their store coupons with a manufacturers coupon and use cartwheel (mobile app) on top of it creating an amazing deal. I’ve scored free and really cheap makeup many times stacking coupons and cartwheel offers.
The next things that caught my eye were the full sized Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in white and The Loreal Colour Riche Lipstick in “Blushing Harmony.” I use the jumbo eye pencil almost everyday as an eyeshadow base, so I was pretty excited to get another one of them, because having extras of things I use on an almost daily basis is never a bad thing, in my opinion. The Colour Riche lipstick is also beautiful. “Blushing Harmony” is a very deep rosy nude glossy type of lipstick. It’s not a very sticky formula though. It’s also not matte or a long wearing liquid lipstick. It can be worn alone or on top of lipstick. The value of the eye pencil is $4-5 and the gloss $8-9 so those two products alone made me feel like I got my money’s worth with the coupon.

Next thing I noticed was the set of nifty BB cream cushions. Laneige is a Korean brand and these BB creams are exclusive to Target and have a high SPF. The estimated value of this is between $14-15 and there is are light, medium, and dark cushions as well as the SPF cushion. I’m extremely excited about this particular sample. I have been trying to find a BB cream that just “wows” me for the longest time now, and getting a sample that has several different skin tones in it is amazing. Many beauty and sample boxes tend to only include one shade, and we all know people come in very many different colors and we are not all one shade. The light shade will obviously be the one I try. I will probably gift the others to friends or family.

Fekkai Salon Blow Out Dry Shampoo (1.7 oz) This is not a full sized product, but the value of it is still about $8, and dry shampoos always make me happy. I feel like they probably make anyone with hair and a life happy. I can’t and don’t wash my hair everyday. Even before I had kids, it just makes me hair brittle and dry if I wash it constantly. I can’t wait to try this one out.

Loreal Paris Elnett Hairspray (2.2 oz) This is valued at around $2 for the sample size. I know there are still so many bloggers and hairstylists that use and swear by this hairspray. I have even heard my mom talking about it when she talks about the Aqua Net glory days of big hair. I have never gotten a chance to try it out for myself though because I am partial to my Vidal Sassoon hairspray or my Garnier anti humidity hairspray. However, if I like this little guy I may switch it up.

Overall, from what I have researched the total value of this box is around $38, which is over 5 times what I paid at $7! I feel this was definitely worth it, personally. I haven’t received any box/bag from a subscription service that has had that valuable of a box compared to what you initially pay in so long. It gave me a bit of hope in some weird sense. Haha. This box is a one time purchase, but I will totally be on the lookout for the next one they release. I hope it’s soon! If you have received this box as well, please feel free to comment with your own thoughts and overall opinions.

Subscription Fever: Lip Monthly

October 24, 2014 / Kayla Hutchison / Leave a comment

Last month I decided to cancel both my beauty box and ipsy subscriptions because the samples I was receiving from both were merely piling up and ending up in a tiny sample landfill. I stumbled upon a relatively new subscription service called Lip Monthly, and decided to give it a try since I am a lip product addict. Lip products of any sort are probably the few things I get ridiculously excited for when it comes to subscription services.

It’s $10 per month and they say they will send 3-4 full sized products and 1-2 sample sized products. I was automatically intrigued just from reading that. So, I used a coupon code (will link at the end) and got my first box for $5 and started the subscription. The reviews I had watched seem mixed. Most seem to either love Lip Monthly or hate it. However, it seems that’s how the cookie crumbles with most subscription services. You can’t please everyone.

I received my tracking info last Friday and received my bag on Monday. So, shipping time seems to be about average.

These were the products that came in my bag. From what I have seen on instagram and youtube, this was the standard bag for everyone with a few differences like maybe their eyeliner pencil was a different color. The bag came with a card, but the prices were not beside the products so I can’t tell if I got more than my money’s worth in terms of product value. It looked like there were 4 full sized products and 1 sample sized, the sample being the lip scrub.
The J Cat lipstick in my bag is actually defective. I opened it and can’t even swatch the product because the lipstick is broken in half on the inside. I will have to email them about that, so next month I will update about their customer service. However, I can tell the color isn’t going to be for me. The one thing that does upset me a bit about this subsciption already is that they sent out the same color lipstick to everyone. When it comes to nudes, one color does not fit all. This color probably looks stunning on people with darker skin tones…it just makes me look dead. It looks like, well, my skin.

There was a purple shimmery lip tiny (balm?) that came in the bag and it smells pretty nice. Much like grapes if you’re into grape flavored things. There was also another chapstick that I have actually tried before (and like) from another subscription that smells like cherries. I’m not too sure what the point of sending two balm/chap stick type products is? The shimmery one doesn’t exactly compliment the weird nude tone lipstick, and I am not one to put on balm on top of more balm.

The last full sized product was a LA Girl eyeliner, which I like. LA Girl is a product I have talked about before and I have been wanting to try a few more of their products. The color I got was a very pretty blue color. I’ve been digging the blues lately since I have been playing around with black lipstick, and I have a few blue lipsticks so the eyeliner will double as a lip liner for me since blue lip liners are hard to come by.
The sample product was a lip scrub. It seems like your typical lip scrub. The smell is…okay. It smells natural, and the ingredients seems to be all natural as well, so that’s a plus.

Overall, I am neither over the moon or extremely disapppointed in this subscription for the first month in. I will give it a few more months, because I know they are newer and I can’t base it on the first bag I get. I would like to see a bit more of a theme with this subscription. It seemed like they tried to make a theme, but it just didn’t come together well. An option for individual profiles to ensure great product selection for each person would be nice as well. Not everyone is the same skin tone, and not every lip color is going to be suitable for everyone. I’m sure there are people that love the lipstick in the bag, but I can tell despite the defect in the product that it will make me look like my lips have disappeared, and that’s not what I am going for when I wear a nude lip color.

Subscription Box Fever September 2014

September 16, 2014 / Kayla Hutchison / Leave a comment

I have a confession to make, I have subscription box fever. I’m not entirely sure if it’s a problem (my boyfriend will probably disagree) but they’re just so cool to me. Personally, I am so disappointed when I go out on a limb and try a new and expensive product and it is just not for me. Subscription boxes give me a way to try new and cool things and sometimes I end up buying the products again. Many of them also send out deals and coupons codes to use that are sometimes amazing. Example, I bought a Revealed 2 palette through Coastal Scents using a 25% off code through Ipsy and I have legitimately been using that palette almost everyday since.
I am going to try and include my thoughts on each box/bag every month, and I may make some changes soon that I will discuss at the end.

First up, Beauty Box 5.
Beauty Box 5 is a newer subscription for me. This is only the third box I have received from them, and so far I am fairly impressed. They typically send 1-2 full sized products along with other deluxe samples. I haven’t gotten a chance to try much out of this box yet, but I am dying to try the nail polish! The nail polish alone retails at $24.99, so with just the polish I got my money’s worth this month. I am all about this dark mauve trend this fall. The eyeshadow stick is nice, but it is really not a color that I think I will use often. I know I will for sure the deep conditioning treatments and eye cream though. I have terrible dark circles thanks to motherhood and asthma, so eye creams are always something I am in need of. The toe separators were definitely a cute addition, and I actually needed some more since my dog ate my last pair.

Ipsy
I have been an Ipsy subscriber for a little over 2 years now. I remember the pure excitement I had opening up that first bright pink envelope like it was yesterday. These past few months have been less than exciting with this subscription. I have tried retaking my quiz and such, but I still get the same kinds of products it seems and I am just not using as much as I formerly did with them.
Let me start off saying the hand cream this month was awful, in my opinion. It felt nasty on my hands and it smells like perfume. I let my boyfriend try it just to make sure it wasn’t just me being picky, and he actually asked me to wash it off of him. It felt that bad. I have tried the lip gloss, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I thought it would be sticky (I am not a fan of sticky lipglosses) but it was not. It felt pretty smooth on my lips and it had just a subtle red color to it. I also tried the eyeshadow brush out which I also enjoy. I love when they send out brushes anyway. The liner I am not a fan of, but I am not a fan of Pacifica. I have been sent several products by them in the past and I have not been a fan of anything thus far. I am excited to try the face wash. It’s cruelty free and completely organic, which is all I will use on my face now. Liking 3 out 5 products is not bad when it comes to subscription boxes, I have just not been liking getting the same products over and over. This is the third month in a row I have gotten eyeliner. I love eyeliner, but there’s no way I can use/try all of that.

I have recently stumbled across on eyeslipsface.com their beauty bundle. I know it’s not new, but I just recently discovered it and I feel like I have been missing out on a glorious secret. Due to my lackluster for Ipsy, I may be cancelling it and switching to the elf beauty bundle which is $20 (plus shipping) every 8 weeks. Every 8 weeks they claim to send out about $40 worth of full sized products, and if you’re at all familiar with elf $40 of full sized products is a TON of product. They’re also completely cruelty free, which is amazing as well.
If you have any experience with this bundle, please leave me a comment with your thoughts on it.