Nerd Block: April 2014

 Just for the record, I got the April 2014 Nerd Block a long time ago. I think I got it in the second or third week of April, and life, on my end started to get crazy, and I never got to post about. I took these pictures, when I got the box, but since then the box, itself has vanished and been thrown out, so I'm not even sure I can calculate or estimate a price on most of these items since I don't know what some of them are. 

Nerd Block is a subscription box that sends "nerdy" themed items from Canada for about $20.00 per month. I got Nerd Block for about four months, and a lot of the items in it, I had no idea what fandoms they came from, which makes me think that I'm less of a nerd than I thought.

Nerd Block also has Nerd Block Jr, which is cheaper, and has more fandoms that little kids may know such as My Little Pony and Star Wars, and is about $14.00. I actually like Nerd Block Jr then Nerd Block, and there's an option for girl's or boy's boxes. 

This was the first glance into my box.

Every Nerd Block box comes with a unique tee-shirt. This was April's tee-shirt. I actually like it. It's a nice color. Blue matches my eyes, and it's the type of shirt I'd see and want, but probably wouldn't buy for myself. The tee shirt is probably worth about $10.00 because that's how much shirts for for on sites such as Tee Fury, where I spend way too much money because they always have Doctor Who themed tee-shirts :x

I have no idea what the Bravest Warriors are or who Beth Tezukka is. It reminds me of the animation of Adventure Time, which is a show I cannot stand. I googled her, and sure enough, it is by the same creators of Adventure time. It says this about her:

• Beth Tezuka : The female member of the Bravest Warriors. Her weapon animal is a cat which can form into a cat o' nine tails with cat heads. In the episode "Hamster Priest" it's discovered that Beth's father, Ralph Waldo Pickle Chip's dimension hopping machine is directly linked with Beth's brainwaves.

I don't have an opinion of the brainwave part, but as a self-proclaimed crazy cat lady, I can appreciate her weapon animal. 

Lego Transformers, pretty cool.

These will make very nice additions to our D&D games, or if I ever build the Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts castle that I have, the transformers can invade Hogwarts and it will be bad-ass.

I have never seen Alien. My fiance stole this from the box, and brought it to his high school, where he teachers, to sit at his desk. So he thought this was pretty cool. 

I don't even know what this is. It's a cross between Jar Jar Binks in drag or Roger from American Dad in drag.

A tiny Captain America: The Winter Soldier skateboard toy.

This is what I don't understand about Nerd Block. CA:TWS was a HUGE ASS MOVIE in April, and all I get is a tiny little skateboard? I feel like they're not in tune with what's "cool" for whatever month it is. They should've sent like a Marvel bobble head as the big price item to go with the movie that came out that month instead of sending me a stupid rabbit in drag or somebody from a TV show I don't even watch. 

Anyhow, that was April's Nerd Block. I wasn't a big fan. The tee-shirt was cool and the transformers were pretty cool... My fiance liked the Alien figure... But overall, NOT IMPRESSED. 

I'm really not that impressed with the last three boxes I got [although the first one I ever got with the My Little Pony and Iron Man bobble head was legit]. I don't know if I will renew this subscription when I am working and making money again. I wish Nerd Block was slightly more personalized, or into more popular fandoms. 

I will, however, probably renew Nerd Block Jr because with the items I don't want for myself, I have an adorable little girl, who's the daughter of a friend, who loves them.

But, I need to be able to work and make money first :P

Anyhow, off to the doctor today, hoping for good news :)

Wantable: April 2014

My April Wantable box came a few days before my surgery, which by the way I survived. It's been two weeks since my surgery, and while I don't know if I'm cancer free [though the oncologist seemed very confident after surgery] yet, I'm doing okay. 

I have pain on my stomach, where I have 5 incisions [I had it done via a robot and laproscopically] and bruising and swelling associated with that. But other than that, I'm mostly okay. The pain sort of feels like when I do way too many sit-ups at the gym, and I'm achy. I can't really bend over too well. But really, I survived.

But I digress...

 

Wantable  is one of the pricier subscription boxes, at $36.00 per month, but unlike the others, you can literally pick what products you like and don't like. And you can always get ONE box for about $40.00, but the subscription saves you some dough.

They also have an accessory box and an intimates box. I get their makeup box... Or rather I got it before I canceled most of my subscription services prior to surgery to save money until I'm working and making money again.

This was the first look at my box.

A Retractable Kabuki Brush from Real Techniques, worth $10.00.  The brush is pretty nifty, you turn the handle and it either grows or shrinks back into the container. However, I think if I resubscribe to Wantable, I'll put tools under "dislike" because they just haven't sent me any tools that I actually find useful. 

Hex nailpolish from Liberty Republic, worth $14.00. I really like this color. In fact, I painfully painted it on my toenails today [bending over with five stitches in your abdomen... not the most comfortable thing ever] and it looks awesome. It's a cerulean blue with silver glitter, and it's nice and thick, one coat was all I needed. 

Eye Cordial Frothe from Tini Beauty, worth $18.00. It's an eye-shadow base. It's sort of a yellowish white color. I don't really like the color. I'm not sure if I'll use it. I might, or I might not. But I'm "meh" about this. 

Extreme Volumizing Mascara Black from Sorme, worth $14.00.  I actually used this mascara yesterday, when my fiance took me out for dinner and I felt a desire to look human and wear makeup. It gave my lashes some nice definition, length, and color. It's not the BEST mascara I've ever used [that honor goes to Golden Rose from my original Wantable box back in like December], but it's a pretty good mascara :)

Opaline Cream Eye Definer by Three Custom Color, worth $22.50. It's a very nice and dark color that would make a good eyeliner. I haven't tried it yet, but I do like black and darker colored eyeliners, so I'm sure it will eventually be used.

The total value:  $83.50

WAAAAAYYYYY over what thirty six bucks I originally paid back when I was actually earning money.

It's not the best Wantable box I've ever gotten, but it's not the worst either. I've already used two of the products, and may or may not use a few more. 

So if you feel so inclined, check out Wantable.

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 :)