MyGlam July Bag Sneak Peeks

MyGlam has been posting sneak peeks on their FB page recently, and then on Makeup Talk, everyone is abuzz trying to figure out the products!

For those unfamiliar with MyGlam, it's a monthly beauty subscription service started by Beauty Guru Michelle Phan. The premise is that every month they send a different cosmetic bag with about 4-5 samples in it to try out. It costs $10.

I feel like they've been upping their game since last month. Previous months did not really impress me and I was going to cancel, but decided to give them one more chance and am glad that I did!
Last months bag was really a good one, and I feel like this months bag will be too.

Obviously, if you do not want to see spoilers for the July Bag, this is not the entry for you to read!
Note: All the below photos are property of MyGlam. They are not my own photos!

 First, you can see the mesh bag that they're sending out!
I think it's super cute and one of the nicer bags they've had so far.

The product shown looks an awful lot like NuMe Hydrating Punch Hair Conditioner.

 The following two products are OR products according to Zadidoll.

The guesses for this are Juice Beauty and Kiehls brands.
You get one of the two in your bag though.

 These two products are also OR products, according to Zadidoll. [she knows the MyGlam Peeps! So trust her!]

These are lip products, guesses are Revlon or Smashbox Lipstains [although many brands have that same cap type, so it's tricky].
and Buxom lip products.

Again, you get one of these two products in your bag!

 Say Yes to Cucumber Wipes! I keep hearing about these, so I'm personally really excited to get to try them out!

This product is a mystery! It was made in collaboration with Angela's Choice.

It looks like it might be a powder, or a brush in a case, or a sharpener are some of the guesses so far!
I always love seeing all the guesses and then coming back to read them after it's been revealed what the item is!

It's funny to me how SURE people get about their guess and then come to find out that it's completely wrong.

I am super excited about this months bag! It looks like one of the best ones yet to me.


In general I feel like sometimes their target market is more of a 14 year old girl than an adult woman. But I like how fun and cute everything is in this bag. Some of their prior bags didn't really wow me, like the Valentines Day one, but I'll give them a couple more months and see how I feel then.

Who else is super excited to see what they get and if the predictions are correct?
Mine shipped out and I'm super antsy to get it and be able to open it up! I feel like they're really trying to redeem themselves. 

MyGlam for June

I was extremely confused when my MyGlam shipping notice arrived in my inbox, because the thing is, I lost my CC and I was waffling on cancelling MyGlam since it just hasn't been a good fit for me. I don't like the makeup bags they send, they just all seem extremely cheap to me, and since that's a token freebie in the beauty world, I have lots of them from GWP's and the like.

The products are usually alright, nothing has been terrible, but nothing has been outright super amazing to me either. I feel like pretty much everything I've liked so far, were things on my radar to try out, and it would have been cheaper to just try them outright instead of through this service.

Part of me is torn, because the CS team has been nothing but so so nice whenever there was a problem. They reinstated my sub through a special link when the website glitched out. So part of me feels like I owe it to them to give them a longer chance and stick with it a couple more months. Which is probably what I'll end up doing because I just really like to give things a fair chance.

 For those of you who do not know what MyGlam is, it's a monthly subscription service! It's $10 a month, or they have annual subscriptions available as well. I'm not sure if there is a waitlist right now or not, but there was when I originally signed up 4 months ago. The bags come in a super cute pink bubble mailer that I love. Also, shipping is SUPER FAST. Without fail, they will send out at least a week after Birchbox does, and still get to me at least 2 or 3 days before Birchbox arrives. Fast shipping! The packaging is always cute too. I love those pink mailers!


 Inside the mailer is a cosmetic bag containing the goodies. Every month has a theme and this months theme is All Night, so the bag is a glittery gold one.

Also included in the mailer are cards explaining various products, and a card with the theme on it.

(Note, click on my photos to view any of them full sized!)



 Okay next we have the contents!

From left to right we have:
1. "Living Proof" No Frizz nourishing style cream. The size sent is  2 fl oz. $15 retail.

2. Philosophies newest moisturizer, Take a deep Breath. The tube sent is their standard sample size of .4 fl oz. ~$8  (2oz retails for $34)

3. a NYX round lipstick in the color Vitamin!
I'm actually really happy I got this color and not some of the other darker ones. $4.00 retail.

4. Lastly is a Marbella Semi-Permanent liquid felt tipped eyeliner pen in Black. $25 retail.

Total value: Around $52.

That said, the "value" is kind of inflated a bit, since you can find the eyeliner pen on sale for $10, and the Philosophy sample was a freebie on their FB page today and I'm sure they'll include it as a GWP at some point.

All in all, I think everything is pretty good. This is their best bag so far that I have received. The lipstick is in a shade I can wear, the styling cream is something I will definitely use, I love Philosophy stuff, and the eyeliner pen will be useful for more dramatic looks.

That said, the fact that it's Semi-Permanent is a little scary to me! I don't use black eyeliner, so I am kind of bad at putting it on. The last thing I want is to have to walk around for days wearing the same exact eyeliner. But if you wear black eyeliner daily, this definitely could be a super useful product!
It really is permanent. I swatched it on my hand and there's still a faint black line where I drew. Also impressive to me is the complete lack of feathering and bleeding, even on my hand!

=

The lipstick color as you can see here, is a shimmery coral pink color that is really pretty.

Here's a swatch of it on my hand. My skintone is NW15 in M.A.C, Ivory/Fair.

The consistency is really nice. It's creamy and moisturizing and doesn't smell or feel waxy like most lipsticks.
I don't know if most companies have changed their formulas, but I swear when I was in high school all the lipsticks available were soooo waxy.
This feels like a lip balm almost because it's so easy to apply.

Here's a swatch on my lips. As you can see, it's almost a nude color.
I wasn't sure how well I liked it in the tube, but on I think it's pretty nice and definitely wearable.

Was this bag worth the $10?
I don't really know yet. I'm going to try out the other products and come back to let you know. To be honest, I feel like the standout item are the lipsticks, and they only retail for about $4.



What did you think of the MyGlam bag this june? Is it getting better?

June Sample Society

The Sample Society box arrived yesterday too! yay!

Unlike the other sub companies, this box arrives at the start of the month, which I prefer. Sample Society is a beauty sub service from Beauty Bar, partnered with Allure Magazine. It costs $15 a month, with free shipping, and then you receive a coupon code every month for $15 off any purchase of $50 or more in the Beauty Bar store if you happen to buy a full size of any of the products featured in the box. They send out 5 deluxe sized samples, and this is why I love them! They really are deluxe sized, they're not the tiny tubes of perfume, or little dots of lotion in a jar like the rest send out. These are high end, high quality products and you get a mini sample that has several uses in it.
As you can see, it comes in a black mailing box with the Sample Society logo on it, and a negative of the New York skyline on the sides.
They added something great this month, a tear off strip to open the outer box! The prior months were missing that feature and it made opening the mailer box pretty difficult. I'm glad they listened to feedback!

Opening up the outer box, there is the inner one with the BeautyBar and Allure logos on the lid. These are similar to the Birchbox boxes, but black and a little nicer,imho.




 Here we have all the samples for this month!
There samples this month are:

1. Alterna Bamboo Style Boho Waves
2. Caudalie Premier Cru Eye Cream
3. TokyoOscar de la Renta Live in Love
4.  Jane Iredale Just Kissed Lip Plumper in Tokyo
5. Murad Acne Clarifying Cleanser

Just so you can see, here's a close up of the Oscar De La Renta Live in Love Sample. This is huge! It's a .3 fl oz mini! If you collect minis this is the size you would get as a free gift normally. It has a stopper top, which is the only negative for me. I prefer spray tops on my perfume samples. The scent is really nice and fresh! I wasn't a huge fan of the first Oscar scent that we received, so this one is a lot more "me". I just wish that this one had a rollerball or a spray top as well!  Here's a closer look with the lipstick open. I received the color Tokyo, which looks like a pinkish color.
the lipstick has a scent to it, but it's not nearly as strong as the Burberry one that Glossybox sent me this month.

Here's a comparison of the two lipstick samples I received! The left is the Burberry Lipstick sample in Copper 202, and the right is the Jane Iredale Lip Plumper in Tokyo. As you can see, the samples are pretty much the same size. These are not full size lipsticks by any stretch of the imagination, but they're definitely big enough to try tons of times to see if I would want to buy either of these. I'm not a huge lipstick person so these are perfect for me!

 Here's a swatch of the lipsticks! I'm NW15 for reference.

The top is Tokyo, the bottom is Burberry Copper. Both of these went on very sheer and have a creamy moisturizing formula. I love the formula on both of these because I'm not a fan of opaque lipsticks at all.

GlossyBox May 2012

 Hi everyone!
So I ended up cancelling one of my Birchbox subs, and I didn't update my MyGlam info because I was planning on cancelling that one too. With those funds I wanted to join GlossyBox!

It's $21/month, or you can buy a yearly sub, and I think there is a 6 month one as well. Glossybox is one of the first beauty subscription services, and it was international long before coming here to the USA. They serve more than 15 countries!
Everything is renowned for being extremely beautifully packaged, and the boxes have high quality brands in them.

I was sooo excited when I got in for a May box! My box arrived today and I could not wait to open it.

As you can see, the box is a light pink with the Glossybox logo made into a pattern on the inside. Everything is wrapped in black tissue and sitting in a bed of black crinkle cut paper pieces.

It's all soo pretty and girly! I love it, and that's just the outside.

Okay now the fun part! Opening up the tissue reveals all the products!
We have the: Phyto Hair Masque, Marvis Whitening Mint toothpaste, Amorepacific moisture bound refreshing hydra-gel,a Burberry mini lipstick in 02, an eye cream, and a Zoya nail polish from their Summer Surf & Beach collection! The color I received is Arizona, a tangerine cream color. I love it and am so glad that I got this color! The nail polish color was kind of random, so I appreciate that I got one I will actually use, despite not being able to fill out the beauty profile yet!
 Here is a close up of the Burberry Lipstick, which is in the color Cooper #202.

The weirdest thing for me was the smell of the Burberry Lipstick. It has this odd waxy floral smell to it, and it literally reminds me of my grandma's house.
I really wish it didn't have the scent because I feel like it's so perfect otherwise. The pattern embossed, the beautiful packaging, the color. It's all really awesome and I love it!


So far I'm impressed with my Glossybox. I don't think it's quite as end all to sub boxes as some have made it seem, but I definitely don't regret subscribing!
If you get a chance to check them out, I really suggest it !They have full size to larger sample size products and everything is super nice.

Little Black Bag unboxing!

Little Black Bag unboxing post!

Lately I've been addicted to this website Little Black Bag. It's supposedly based off of a thing that stores in japan will do. They hold sales of Surprise Bags and the premise is you take your friends and you all buy a bag and you all trade with each other to get what you want from each others bags.

In this version, you choose your first item, which can be literally any of the available items in the gallery. The LBB website will then assign you other items to make your bag value at least $100, and up to 4 items. Then you have 7 days to trade until your hearts content with other users on the website and at the end of your time, that's the bag that will ship to you!

Exchanges are easy, but you do have to pay return shipping. They credit your next bag with an item of similar value. If you do a Return, you get a portion of the original retail value credited to your card.

The cost is $50 a month if you subscribe to a monthly bag, which you can skip at any time, or $58 plus tax for a one time bag that is not a subscription service. 

There are all kinds of great brands on there such as Deux Lux, Betsey Johnson, BCBG & Steve Madden.
The items ARE usually last seasons, but if you don't care about that it's completely worth it.

If you're interested, here is a link to check it out!

Okay now to the unboxing!

Just for reference, this is the bag I started with:

First in the bag is my favorite item! I was sooo excited when the trade for this one worked out. It took me all 7 days to get my bag how I wanted it. Sometimes trading is stressful, and it's almost like a hobby trying to get what you want! But it's completely worth it.

This bag is faux leather, and is a beautiful Cognac color. The thing I love is that the whole entire top of the bag is what folds over and is shut by the hook and loop closure. That way everything is nice and secure!
There is no strap included, but the inside is roomy and has a zippered pouch. The metal clasp is extremely sturdy and the rhinestone is sparkly and gorgeous!

Here's a peek at the inside! As you can see, it has the logo embroidered on a tag, and the zipper pouch has a metal zipper which I always appreciate.

The inside is a pretty blue color that contrasts nicely with the Cognac color of the outside.

This bag retails for $93, but is on BlueFly for $58. So basically, the cost of this bag is the cost of my whole LBB box, which I got extra items in as well. To me that's what makes this site so great. For the cost of one of the items, you can easily get 4.

Next are the  Octopus earrings that I got for my friend for her birthday! Aren't they cute?

She has a necklace that matches them, so I thought they would be a nice addition to the package I sent for her day.








The third item I ended up with is the All the Rage two toned metal chain necklace in orange and gold.
This is a long necklace! The chains are asymmetrical and the orange is nice bright but not neon color.
Admittedly it does feel a little cheapy kind of like Claire's/Icing/Forever 21's jewelry tends to feel. This is not heirloom stuff, but it's perfectly fine for everyday or occasional wear.

I like the length of it, and after looking at it, it seems like you can easily make it longer or shorter if you hook it differently in the back.








The next item I received are these duster earrings. Somehow I missed the fact that they are soooo long, but I really really love them!
They're much more vibrant than my photo shows, they look like the photo on LBB's site.

The chains are well made, and surprisingly light. My ears are usually sensitive to metals and I haven't had any issues at all with these earrings.

They're great paired with a white tank top for a nice pop of color!

The last item in my bag was something I traded for because I literally had about 1 hour left on my bag, none of my trades were coming to fruition for the one item I wanted to get rid of, an eyeshadow like this one, but in a different color.
I wear neutral eyeshadows. I don't wear crazy colors, I just don't like them.
Neutrals are easy, they're safe, I know how to work with them.
So I put out a trade for a couple of the neutral colors, and thankfully someone accepted!
This is shown in the color Scream. I have no idea why they're named the odd names they are, but whatevs. It's a grey toned cream color. Currently on the Micheal Marcus website, this same exact eyeshadow retails for $18.




I'd never heard of Micheal Marcus before, and since the packaging quite frankly looks a bit cheap to me, I wasn't expecting much. [Especially not after the TERRIBLE eyeshadow I received in my Beauty Fix order.]
I was fully expecting something chalky with hardly any color payoff.

However, luckily I was totally wrong! The formula for this eyeshadow is really creamy, blendable and smooth. It's highly pigmented and has a great shimmer to it. all in all I definitely recommend these if you can get your hands on one!

So that's my whole box! I adore everything I received and I'm super excited to have gotten those items.
If you sign up, let me know what you get!

Once again, If you're interested, here is a link to check it out! 

Thanks so much for reading! Hope you all have a great weekend. 

May Myglam Unboxing

Had another great Mail Day and my MyGlam package arrived! The pink mailer it comes in is always fun, and even though they pretty much gave away the whole bag on FB with their hints, I was still excited.

Here's the mailer!

In case you are not familiar, Myglam is another $10 a month Monthly Subscription program. You fill out a survey for a beauty profile, and they send out bags every month. The thing with Myglam is that everyone gets the same products every month, even with different profiles. The only difference is that you might get a different color eyeshadow than your friend will.
I've found the contents to be not quite on par with Birchbox or Julep in quality. They're kind of like if Target made a monthly subscription service vs Nordstroms making one. That's not a bad thing, it's just been my own observation.
If anyone remembers, last month their website messed up and it ended up cancelling my subscription. Thankfully CS comped me that months bag, and sent me a special sign up link, so I was able to rejoin and not miss a beat.
So their CS team is really awesome, and usually I think their bags are cute.

Opening up the pink mailer, I got the following:

Here's the makeup bag/cosmetic bag/pouch it came in. On their FB preview, I thought this bag was cute, but in person it looks really cheap and gaudy to me. It's something you would pick out when you're 12 and are at Claire's or something like that. I don't really care for it.
Then there is a theme card, I think this month it was nice that they didn't do some crazy photoshoot. However, the theme of Love is in the Air seems off. This is April, not February! Everything is pink with kisses just like it's for Valentine's Day. They should have picked a different theme, not feeling this one.


Now here are the contents. Love sweet Love perfume by Philosophy, Studio Gear lipstick, two makeup brushes that go in the little travel holder with the previous two, and a Nail Bling nail set.

All in all, I'm pretty meh about this bag. The brushes and the perfume sample are my favorite. They're good items, and the perfume is new, so at least it's a recent release. But the lipstick came in this absolutely terrible color for me, it's like a brick red/brown. I have light ivory skin, that just doesn't work on me. Also, the lipstick looks like something out of the clearance section at Walmart. It's all knicked where it rattled around inside the tube because it's broken at the base. I am not impressed at all with that, and I might contact MyGlam for a replacement. Also, people contacted the company who made these lipsticks and every single color they sent out is a discontinued color, meaning they bought these all wholesale because the company wants to get rid of them. Again, not impressed.

Here's a photo of the tube, you have to click on it to see it larger. But it's crooked in the tube and has dings in it.

Here's a swatch of it. The top part is with one swipe, the bottom with multiple. I just do not think this is a nice color of lipstick for someone with my coloring, and will be giving this away because I'll never wear it.







The nail blings are cute, but they look very inexpensive like a dollar store product. All in all, this months bag , like most MyGlam bags seem to be, is almost juevenile in theme and product lines. It's something that you would give a 15 year old girl to try out.
I'm hoping next months is better.

Gossip Girl Birchboxes! Xoxo

Something exciting came in the mail! My Gossip Girl Themed Birchboxes! Yay!

If you aren't sure what Birchbox is, it's a monthly subscription program for $10. You fill out a beauty profile, and they send you a goodie box every month according to a theme, and the box you get is choosen due to your profile.
Of course, some people get items that aren't really profile matching, so that's kind of up in the air at this point. But I will say that if you can afford two different profiles, if you have a personality like mine that has different likes that sometimes a simple quiz will deem as opposite, it's worth it to get two takes on the same theme.

The boxes I received this month are Boxes 9 & 19.

Opening the box, you are greeted with the standard Birchbox format. the brown cardboard box embossed with birchbox has a themed sleeve over it, and that is all enclosed in the mailer box.
Both boxes look identical at this point.

 The first box I opened is themed Chic Sunday Brunch.
The card has the description of the theme on it, and some discount codes on the bottom. (hint, click on any of the photos in this blog to view full sized!)
 Next is the card explaining what all is included in this months box.






I got Atelier Cologne in Vanilla Insensee, Color Club Nail Polish in Disco Nap, Dr Jart Waterfuse BB cream, Fresh Sugar Rose Lip treatment with SPF 15, and a twistband!

 Photo of all the goodies! The perfume sample comes in a really fancy wax paper bag with a pretty postcard inside and the perfume vial.
I'm super excited to try this because I LOVE vanilla scents.

The Dr. Jart BB cream comes in a little tube, I've been wanting to try this out since I first heard about it, so this is a really exciting sample too.

 Here's a close up of the perfume sample and the Dr. Jart tube, which is a 2mL size.

The perfume vial is a regular size like the ones you can get at department stores, and it has a stopper top instead of spray.
The notes in that are: 
vanilla, jasmine and fresh lime to bond with rich oak moss, woods and spicy coriander.

I put it on and love how it smells. It's fresh and vanilla scented, and almost smells like mens cologne mixed with womens perfume, as weird as that sounds. It's very lush and warm smelling. I really love it.
A 6.7 oz bottle, which is huge for perfume, retails for $175. Which yes that is pricey, but that size should literally last several years. So I might consider saving up for this one.

 Unwrapping the little pink tissue package, we have the Sugar Tinted Lip product, another one I've been eager to try. [It's also the Beauty Insider Birthday Gift this year!]

And a nail polish! Last month I was super bummed not to get the nail polish featured, so I'm so happy that I got a pretty gold color this month.

We also have the Gossip Girl themed note card that was included in every bag. I like free stationary, so that's cool with me that they sent this item too!

This is my absolute favorite birchbox so far! Everything in it is something I've been wanting to try, and I can't wait to crack it open and try everything out!

Next is my second box! The theme for this was thankfully different than the first. As much as I adore my first box, I love getting two different profiles to try out.
This one is Hampton's Beach Party. Again, describes the theme relating to the show, and then has a discount code at the bottom. 

The items included in this box are Bvlgari Omnia Crystalline, Color Club Pastels in Clambake Coral, Kiehls Absysaine cream, and Ojon hair conditioner.







Here is the card, and the face cream and the hair conditioner with the little package including the rest. I really love how they wrap everything, it feels super special and nice.










The contents unwrapped! There's the color club nail polish in Coral which is my favorite color right now, and the perfume sample.

To be honest, this box is a little less exciting for me, because I already have tried the Ojon, the vial card is a brand regularly available in Sephora here, and it's just not as exciting to me. But the Kiehls is something I've been wanting to try for some time now, so that's super awesome.


I love Gossip Girl and I love Birchbox, so this month was so exciting! The birchboxes continue to impress me, and I really really do not regret signing up. I think they have one of the best subscription boxes out there for sure.

Birchbox April 2012 Box #29 Unboxing

Today was a nice mail day! My regular accounts Birchbox showed up. If you're not sure what BirchBox is, it's a monthly subscription service that costs $10 a month for a box of samples that are beauty or lifestyle related. Each month has a different theme. They just announced Birchbox Man, which will cost $20 a month for a box of deluxe sized mens skincare and lifestyle samples. If you've got a guy in your life that is into that stuff, I would highly recommend checking it out!

The website has been acting up, and it still is showing March, so I honestly had no clue what would be in this box. I was hoping for a Zoya nail polish, but alas, it was not meant to be. [which really isn't that bad because I already have PLENTY of nail polish thanks to my Julep Maven subs!]
The box it comes in is a really nice cardboard box with the Birchbox logo embossed in metallic pink. I am still unsure what to do with my boxes, but I have been saving them because I like them so well.

This is the card that was on top, explaining the theme this month which is Natural Wonders. Since it's April, the month of Earth Day, they picked a natural products theme.

I like their card better than the MyGlam card because it talks about the theme instead of having a weird photoshoot of all the people who work there. I don't save the cards for these either, but they are more interesting to me out of the two companies. (You can click on any of the photos to view them full sized)

Flipping the card over, it lists the products in the box, with a little blurb about each one. I like this because it helps me keep track of what is what in the box, especially when sometimes products aren't super clearly labeled.







My box contains: Amika Nourishing Hair Mask, a Befine Skincare sampler that is a box containing 5 sample packets, 3 are cleanser and 2 are moisturizer.

Dirt Luxe Salt Scrub in a plastic container. Some have mentioned how small this sample is, but to me it's not small! It has at least 2 to 3 uses in it, in my opinion.  Next is the Vapour Organic Beauty lipstick in the color Intuition. This color looks a little dark for my NW15 complexion, but I'm going to test it out today and see for sure. Then as a "lifestyle extra" there are two teabags from a french company. The teas are fruit based and I've heard good things about them.

Here's the photo of all the products in my box! The small wrapped up package is the two teabags, and the BeFine box contains the sample pouches.

I was pleasantly surprised by my boxes contents and I feel like it all fits in with what I would use really well. I was worried because last months regular box was sort of disappointing to me, after seeing the Color Club boxes, but I feel like this months totally made up for that!

Next month, a birdie told me that the theme is Gossip Girl! So get on the waitlist if you haven't joined already, I am certain that the boxes are going to be spectacular with that theme and I cannot wait. 

What's your favorite product that you've gotten to try?

Thanks so much for reading!!

Sample Society April 2012 Unboxing!

Today I got home from work and my Sample Society box for April was waiting for me!
Sample Society is the monthly subscription box that's a collaboration between Allure Magazine and beauty website Beauty Bar, the company which also runs Soap.com and other webites.
It's $15 a month, and promise deluxe sized samples each month. If you're interested, I have an ad in the sidebar with a code for your first box.
Every month, BeautyBar sends a code for $15 off of a $50 purchase, if you buy anything from the brands featured in that months box. It's a nice way to get to try items and if there does happen to be something that catches your fancy, you can get it at a discounted price too.
I love their shipping, on regular purchases it's 2 day shipping, which is really awesome.

Okay enough about that, on to the unboxing! 

Apologies for the lack of the photo of the actual box. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, the photo refuses to show on this site orientated correctly. I switched it over and over in an imaging editing program and tried uploading it, and no dice.

 The products included in this months box are all skincare and hair products. Included in the BeautyBar box which you can see hiding behind the products, was the following:

1. Terry Crème de Rose Nutri-Lift Comfort Cream - .14oz  (full size of 1 oz retails for $99)
2. Murad Skin Perfecting Primer - Acne and Shine Control - .17oz  (1 oz for $35)
3. Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel - 1.69oz (5 oz retails for $26)
4. DDF Amplifying Elixir - .5oz (1.7 oz retails for $63)
5. Oscar Blandi Olio di Jasmine Hair Serum - .169oz (1.6 oz retails for $35)

Just for a size comparison, I put a regular sized Garnier Fructis shampoo next to the samples so that the size was more apparent.


So far, I've used the Rose Nutri Lift cream, and it's really really nice. Very creamy and thick without being greasy. I feel like it really moisturized my face. It smells really floral, just like tea roses. If you are scent sensitive, this might trigger a reaction. For me it smells really nice, and the texture is lovely. But it's a very expensive product at $99/oz. I personally could not justify that, even with the discount code. That said it's fun to try the sample!

The DDF elixer has been sampled by me a few times now. Personally, I do not like how this product smells. It smells as someone on MakeupTalk put it, like rotten fruit. It reminds me of rotten orange juice. The texture is also extremely runny, which I do not enjoy. It is almost the same viscosity of water, which means it runs very fast out of the tube opening. This product also stung my skin really really badly when I used it. Granted this is after exfoliating, or using my Clarisonic, but that does not normally happen to me with face products. I also do not have sensitive skin on my face, and I do not have any smell sensitivities. So if you have either of those, I most definitely do not recommend this product. I'm really happy the sample is so small because I would never, ever buy this product!

I already have a sample of the Hair Serum, so I might end up trading this on Makeup Talk. If you haven't been to the Makeup Talk forums, I highly recommend them for information regarding monthly subscription services. They have so much information there! The hair serum is nice, and only takes a couple of drops.

All in all, I am happy with this box. I would like to get cosmetics, or trendy fun things, but the sample sizes are all really great. I like that they are consistent with the deluxe sizes.