Hiatus

This blog will be on hiatus until I recover from surgery and I can actually sit and stare at my computer again.

Starbox: April 2014

 My Starbox arrived today.

Starbox is the subscription box service from Starlooks. It's on the cheaper side, compared to some of the other boxes, at about $15.00 per month, and it consists entirely out of Starlooks makeup products, which are all full-size products. You will never receive any sample sizes from them, all products will be full-size.

I would like to state that, for now, this will be my last Starbox. I actually really liked their April box, but I'm currently on FMLA, due to needing surgery to remove uterine cancer [aka a hysterectomy, full on, ovaries included] and am not making money from work. I'm not quite sure how FMLA works, I mean, I get the general gist of it, but as a teacher, I am unsure if I will be unpaid till my FMLA ends or until the end of this school year, which is July 2014 since they balance our paychecks out for an entire year.

But the point is, I really had to cut down my spending on subscription boxes because I need to afford to pay for stuff like surgery, food, etc. The only two boxes/bags I am keeping is Ipsy and Julep, the rest will be on hiatus until I can afford them again after going back to work, or if I win the lottery.

This was the inside look at the box.

Starbox  is also my kitty's favorite subscription box because they love to play with the string that holds the box closed. Sorin grabbed it, at the first chance, he had.

Another look at the contents of the box.

Starlooks Wildflower Mix, worth $1.00. This was sort of an add-on for all subscribers. I attempted to plant wildflowers this spring, and they're sitting on my balcony in a pot. They've sprouted and look like green weeds. So if my wildflowers fail, I'm very happy to have a back up packet of seeds

Starlooks lip gloss in Climax, worth $12.00

I'm not really a lip sort of girl, but if I chose to wear lip makeup, it would be lip gloss.I really do like this color too. It's the right pinch of color with the right amount of pink sparkle. I would wear this color.

Starlooks 5 Shade Palette in Tokyo, worth $41.00. I did not do swatches of all the colors. I am so happy to finally receive a Starlooks eye shadow palette. I've heard such good things about their eye shadow and I'm excited I have some of my own now. 

The colors don't have names. From l to r:

The first color is a pretty shimmery light gold color. The second color is a grayish gold color. The next color is a bright spring green. Then a reddish orange. Then a brownish red color. They're not normally colors I wear, but I think they're a good mixture of experimental colors that I may be able to have some fun with.

Overall Value: $54.00, more than double what I paid for this box. 

I will miss my Starbox, but I need to do what I have to do, and hopefully once things are better for me, both health-wise and financially, I can add it back onto my subscription list :)

They are a great value subscription for their money, and they're especially good if you have a thing for lip color, seeing as every single box that I've gotten from them has had some sort of lip product ;)

Starbox, one day we shall meet again.

Nerd Block Jr: Girls, April 2014.

Either yesterday or Saturday, my Nerd Block Junior appeared. I haven't had an opportunity to check the mail, so it's probably been sitting in the front office for awhile.

Nerd Block Jr is the kid's version of Nerd Block. There are two types: Girls and Boys, I order the girl's box just because I like things like My Little Pony because I am the most immature adult ever. This is only the second month that Nerd Block Jr has been in existence.

Nerd Block Jr is $13.99 a month, and it consists of stuffed animals and toys basically. They list the value of each item in the box on the box, but their prices are CAD [Canadian American dollars], which are not the same as the US dollar, my estimates on prices are based on US dollars, NOT CAD, so my prices will be different than what is listed on the box.

A Clumsy Smurf Plushie, worth $9.00.  [and check out my awesome Eeveelution background] Out of all the smurfs, I will say that Clumsy is probably the one that is the most like me since I'm a complete klutz. It's cute, but I haven't watched The Smurfs since the 1980s :P

A My Little Pony Miniatures set, mine is "class of the cute marks" worth $8.00. I always see these in Target and I'm always tempted to get them. This will be a nice addition to my My Little Pony collection I have in the other room, even though Applejack isn't my favorite pony.

A Disney "Miss Flirt" sticker probably worth .50, if that. Eh, it's a sticker.

A playmobile figurine, worth $3.50. Mine was the Statue of Liberty, and I would like to point out, that even with directions, it took both me and my fiance to build this thing correctly, and even he had trouble with it, so I'm not quite sure how a five year old can build this thing.

A Filly princess Figurine. I can't even find these on the internet. I'll value it at $2.00. It's basically a wannabe My Little Pony figure, but they're soft and velvety. It can go into my future D&D figurine box collection

Overall Value: $23.00, aproximentaly.

 

It was over the value of what I initially paid, and I do think that Box 2 was much better than box 1. The Smurf plushie is cute and I really like the My Little Pony playset.

 

So if this seems like your thing, check out Nerd Block Jr.

Birchbox: April 2014

In its defense, my birchbox arrived early, last week, and it just sat on my table for almost another week because I just had so much going on that I didn't have time to even open it between doctor's appointments and outpatient surgery.So, it didn't actually get delivered as late in the month, as I'm posting it.

Birchbox is a subscription box service. It's one of the cheaper ones, at ten bucks, a box. In the box you get 4-5 items, samples sizes, deluxe sample sizes, or sometimes even full-sizes, that you can try out at your leisure. I find that birchbox has more of a selection of different types of samples than other subscription box services. In this one, you're likely to get all sorts of things like hair products, skin products, makeup, food, perfume, and in others, you're more likely to just get makeup. April's theme was Rainy Days.

I should also mention that I have a love/hate relationship with Birchbox. It tends to go towards the hate side because a lot of the time I don't get products I'm ever going to use, but sometimes they surprise me and I get decent boxes, but for ten dollars, I really can't complain too much. 

Miss Jessie's Original Transitioner's Magic, worth maybe $2.00. It's a decent size foil packet, but you don't get much use out of foil packets and they're hard to store. It's supposed to be a product to tame curly hair, which intrigues me since my hair is uncontrollably curly. So I probably will at least try this, I'm always looking for products that make me hate my hair less.

Sumita Contrast Eyeliner in Jamun [Deep Purple] worth about $5.00 because it's half the size of a full-size eyeliner pencil.

This is a product I will use, I do like eyeliner, and a deep purple is a color that I have used on my eyes before. The tip is also really nice and draws a smooth line. It's also very waterproof since I can't get it all the way off my hand no matter how much I scrub with soap. 

Paula's Choice RESIST Anti-Aging Clear Skin Hydrator, probably worth about $3.00, but it is a very decent sized-sample.  This is meant to cleanse your face and rid it of bacteria.

I sprayed some of my face now. The nozzle is sort of special, but I did rub it all over my face like it told me too. It feels cleansing, and gives my skin a nice cool feeling, which I like. However, it smells pretty nasty. 

Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Wash, worth about $2.00. I like how it smells, it sort of smells like watermelon. It's also a good travel-size, for when I take my yearly plane rides back to Jersey, and get upset because there's no shower gel in my bathroom. 

Kind Healthy Grains Bar in Maple Pumpkin Seeds with sea salt, worth about .50 cents or so. I probably won't eat this because I don't really like pumpkin seeds, but maybe I can give it to my fiance and tell him it's a healthy snack.

Birchbox also sent along a tip for a rainy day in each box.

Mine involves brewing a perfect cup of coffee. I have a Keurig for that, and a Starbucks down the street :P Maybe one day I'll upgrade to a fancy schmancy coffee grinder and make my own coffee, but till that day, I'll stick with what I have.

Overall value: $12.50, still above what I initially paid, but not the highest value box I've ever gotten. 

This box was okay. It was sort of in the middle. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it, and I am happy I got eyeliner.

So if you think Birchbox is for you, by all means, go check it out :)

Ipsy: April 2014

It's Ipsy time again.

Ipsy is a mere ten dollars a month, and for that ten dollars a month, you get 4-5 products per month, sometime full-size products, other times decent sample sizes to use for your own makeup and beauty enjoyment. 

If you actually spend time reviewing your Ipsy products, you can get points, and when you get enough points, you can use those points to get free items. 

This month's theme was "Beauty Rocks", a theme I high approve of, due to my love for music. Personally, I thought the bag was cute, I like the record on it, and it didn't smell like a warehouse full of swimming pool toys like last month's bag did. 

Moving on to the products:

This product made me squeal in delight. I LOVE ME SOME URBAN DECAY 24/7 EYELINER! I own at least twenty different 24/7 eyeliner pencils. Eyeliner is my biggest addiction, and 24/7 is my go-to brand. 

My color was "black velvet." It's a generous sample size, worth about $10.00.

This is it next to my normal sized eyeliner pencil in Invasion, so see, the sample size is about 1/2 of the full-size, and the full-size is $20.00, so that's why I'm valuing the sample at $10.00, there's the value of my whole bag right there.

Kiss "Looks So Natural" lashes in Shy, worth $2.00. Meh. I'll never wear false lashes. They're not my thing, at all.

Cover FX Primer, worth $19.00. I got that value because full size is 1 oz, and this is 0.5 oz, and full size costs $38.00, which makes this size worth half of full-size. I love division.

I don't really use primer, mainly because I don't wear makeup on my face other than eye makeup because I have very sensitive skin. But I do like that this advertises itself as an anti-acne treatment. 

City Color mousse eyeshadow in white-gold, worth about $2.00, based on other products on their horrible website.

 I do really like the color. You can't really see it in the swatch, but it's a very nice white color with a gold shimmer, and it'll make a nice base color, or highlight color.

Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Apple Pink, worth full-size, worth $19.00. 

Not a huge lip color fan, but if I was going to wear lip color I do like this color. It has a nice tint, yet it also sort of looks like a more natural color than other colors. 

Total Value: $52.00

Bipolar Kitty approves.

Honestly, I was very happy with this month's Ipsy bag. I had a product that I'll definitely use [yay black eyeliner], and some products that I may use depending on circumstances. The only thing I really didn't like was the eyelashes. 

Definitely one of my best valued bags since I've joined Ipsy.

So, for ten dollars a month, and if you like the aspect of surprise, Ipsy might be the subscription for you :)

Julep: April Secret Store

One of the perks of being a maven for Julep is that every month, you get access to the Secret Store, which is a collection of discounted nailpolishes and makeup and beauty polishes, and the store is only open for 72 hours.

I rarely ever order from The Secret Store, the exception being around Halloween because I love Halloween, and Christmas because I loved the glittery Christmas colors.

However, I made an exception this month.

from l to r: Evie, Monica, and Dianna.

Evie is a bright pink color with a golden sunset glitter shimmer. This is the reason I bought something from the Secret Store. It was on sale for $2.99, and I thought it was a sign. 

Part of having a clinical illness is that no one can understand how you feel.  No one does until you get a chronic illness or cancer or some other illness that truly changes your life forever.  Life isn't the same and its hard to get by following all the same rules everyone else does.  

 

I don't want to get into this on my beauty blog. But I have a clinical illness and because of it my entire life is changing, even my ability to bear children in the future. I'm currently undergoing IVF, so maybe one day, I can have a biological child, even if I may not be the one, who is able to bring it into the world.

 

I always wanted a daughter. I even picked out her name, it's Evelyn Deirdre, or Evie, for short, so when I saw this color on Julep, I thought it was a sign. I want it to be a symbol that we can do this, we can fight everything, and get the daughter that we always wanted. And that's why the color Evie was so important to me.

 

Monica is a dark pink color with purple, blue, and pink colored glitter throughout it. You can sort of see the glitter in the picture. It was another $2.99 steal.

 

Dianna is sort of the color of Tiffany's blue boxes, just slightly lighter.  But it's still basically a robin's egg blue color. It's a very nice pastel blue color. It's a color I'm considering for my bridesmaid dresses in my wedding.

 

So that was my very small Secret Store purchase. They were all colors I never received in my monthly maven boxes, and it is a nice perk of Julep to have an opportunity like this for their members. They don't always have things I want in the Secret Store, but it is nice having an extra shopping option. After all, you can never have too many nailpolish colors :)

Glitty Guilty: April 2014

Man, it seems like it's been a slow month for boxes... But then again, it's only April 9th, it just seems a lot longer then it's actually been.

And it being April 9th... means it's only 20 days till my surgery :(

Glitter Guilty arrived in the mail yesterday. The box actually was packed a lot prettier than this, but my loving cat decided it would be a fun idea to knock the entire box to the floor before I could take a picture of it. 

Glitter Guilty is a monthly Indie nailpolish subscription box.  It's $16.00, with shipping. When you sign up, there's a survey asking what colors you like and dislike [in my case, I love "cool" colors and hate "warm" colors], and then every month, you receive two nailpolishes. Your "monthly me" is made especially for you, with your color preferences in mind. The "mini me" is a color sent to everyone. The box also comes with candy or some sort. 

This month all the colors were based on Frozen, which is an awesome movie. Even my fiance liked Frozen,when he finally agreed to see it with me. 

This month's junk food was chocolate from Belgium, which I have not eaten yet. I'm saving them from when I get back from the doctor today to numb the pain. When I was 17, I totally had a stalker, he was a 22 year old guy, and he went to Belgium for work, and mailed me two boxes of Belgium chocolates, they tasted amazing... Not that 17 year old me thought there was anything wrong with having a 22 year old stalker.

But that whole situation is a story within itself.

This month's "mini me" was entitled Frozen, it's a pale pastel blue color base with silver glitter sprinkled throughout the color. This is the color that everyone got.

my "monthly me" was Let It Go, and be glad you can't hear me burst out into song every single time I read the name of the polish. It's a turquoise base with turquoise glitter. I very much like it. It is a "me" color, one I would totally pick up for myself.

Actually both these colors are, and they're totally the colors I want for my wedding, once I actually get around to planning my wedding, which is now less then a year away. 

This is my second box from Glitter Guilty and I've liked both my boxes very much. So, if you like sparkly and glittery nailpolish that's personalized to you. I'd recommend checking them out.

I randomly received a Rolling Stone subscription for a year. I think it had to do with one of the concert tickets that I bought recently, it came with a years subscription to Rolling Stone.  I actually subscribed to them for about three years before I moved to Texas, possibly longer. I've always enjoyed the articles in the magazine. I'm not sure there are any bands I like that would still actually be featured in the magazine, but I'm excited about having something new to read every month.

I wish I had a picture of my bedroom back in New Jersey, it is literally covered with Rolling Stone and Spin and Kerrang and Revolver covers and pictures from various articles. It looked awesome.

I haven't gotten any shopping notices in my email that I am aware of, so I'm sure the other boxes will be here eventually :)

Julep: The Vivid Collection. April 2014

It's that time of the month again... NO NOT THAT TIME, Julep time.

For those of you, who wandered over here by accident, via a google search, or because you're stalking me [hey, I've seen stranger things], let me explain: Julep is a subscription box service. It's primarily a nailpolish service, and I think nailpolish is what they're best at, but they also make hair/skin/makeup products.

For $20.00 a month, they send you a box based on your answers on a quiz of your ideal beauty profile [mine is classic with a twist], which is filled with just nailpolish [IT GIRL], just makeup [MODERN AMERICAN], or a mixture of all of the above [every other profile].

On the 20th of each month, you can preview your box, and customize is somewhat [like pick an eyeshadow color] or just switch to another box all together, for that month.

Shipping is speedy, and you usually get your box either on the first of the month or before the month even starts.

I've been a member of Julep for a year now, and my nailpolish collection is amazing. It's also great, when you teach PreK, and your students get really excited about your nailpolish color that week because of the selection of colors I have.

This month was called The Vivid Collection, and I did a full nailpolish upgrade. The makeup product was blush, which I don't wear, and then I couldn't decide what colors I wanted... so I got them all.

Here are all the colors in The Vivid Collection. Aren't they pretty?

from l to r: Flora, Bailey, Maren.

Flora is a bright purple with a bright blue glitter that you can't really see in my picture. I love it because it's bright purple, and purple is one of my favorite colors. 

Bailey is a bright neon blue. 

Maren is a bubblegum pink with a faint purple shimmer that you also can't see in my photo. I love it because it's the color of bubblegum. 

Those were the three IT GIRL colors.

from l to r: Mariska, Tatum, & Caitlin.

Mariska[classic with a twist] is a neon orange color. I'm not really a fan of orange polish, per se, I have bad associations with the color orange [an evil ex boyfriend, who ONLY wore an orange old navy performance fleece, and my mother wanting to make orange one of my wedding colors, ugh] but it'll be a good color for Halloween, especially if I pair it with a black or glitter polish.

Tatum [bombshell] is a shimmering neon green that reminds me of a watermelon rind.

Caitlin [classic with a twist] is a neon pink shimmer that matches perfectly with Tatum. 

 

They're both perfect summer colors.

from l to r: Kayla, Sunny, Phoebe.

Kayla [bombshell] is a cross between a light blue and a periwinkle color. It has a dark purple shimmer in it that you also can't see with my picture. It's a very pretty color.

Sunny [Boho Glam] is shimmering molten yellow color. It's also the ONLY yellow polish that I own. Yellow is also a color I'm meh about, but at least I own a yellow nailpolish now.

 

I think if I mixed Sunny and Mariska, it'd be the perfectly colors for a flareon themed manicure.

Phoebe [Boho Glam] is a beautiful shimmering teal color.

I really loved this months selection of colors. 

So anyhow, check out Julep if you're addicted to nailpolish and color like me. 

It's been a year and they haven't disappointed me yet.