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.

March: Wantable

 It's Wantable time again.

FYI Wantable is a highly customizable makeup subscription box.  It's a little more pricey than say Ipsy, at $36.00, per month, but it's always valued way more than you initially spend on the box. It's also personable.

They don't just have a makeup box. They also have an intimates box that sends you things like underwear, bras, and lounge clothes, as well as an Accessory box that sends you things like jewelry or scarves.

All the boxes that they send to you, are based on your very specific answers to their quiz that you take, when you become a member. Then they use your profile based on the quiz to send you a box.

This is mine. I apparently need to tweak it because I don't love medium and I'm not sure why it says I do. But other than that, it's pretty accurate, I love eye shadow, eyeliner, lash product, nail polish, and tools.  I like warm and cool colors as well as complexion products. Also, something I need to tweak, I don't like complexion products. And I dislike brows, highlighter, blush, bronzer, and lip color.

You're more likely to get products you love, you sometimes get products you like, and you never get products you dislike.

Their products are also ALWAYS full-size. 

They recently changed their style quiz, and I haven't retaken it since. I'll redo it after I write this entry, which is probably why mine isn't that accurate, at the moment.

The nice thing is, you can always tweak your answers, so if one month, you only want nailpolish and eyeliner. You can do that. Your profile isn't set in stone.

This was a first glance at my box.

Liberty Republic Spellbound Nail-polish in Lovespell and Enchanted. Both woth $14.00, so these two are worth $28.00 total.

Jordan Liberty was this month's featured stylist, so these nail polishes are exclusively for Wantable, made by him, it's the debut of them, which is probably why I go two.

Lovespell is a bright fuchsia color.

Enchanted is a bright teal color.

They're both colors I like, but other than being colors I like, I don't see what's really that special about them, to be honest, not that there's anything wrong with more nailpolish to add to my collection.

PI_ with a wink! eyeshadow in Perfection, worth $18.00.

It's a creamy nude eye-shadow. It'll make a good base for every-day makeup. It has a subtle shimmer that you can't really see in my picture. But again, nothing special.

MiA BelleZZa Ooh La La Eyeliner Duo in Spellbound, worth $24.50.

This is the one product I really like. It's a dual eyeliner that comes with a brush. The two colors are dark black pigment, and a shimmery glitter charcoal color. I love black eyeliner and I love glitter eyeliner, so all in all, this is a perfect product for me.

The total value is: $70.50, which is much more than I've paid, but I've had much better value boxes in the past. This also had only 4 items, instead of the usual 5-6 items, and it didn't have any sort of sample.

It wasn't a bad box, by any means, I've just had better boxes.

But seriously. Wantable is the best make-up box for your money because you do really get products, for the most part, that you'll use, and they also have a great return policy, if you don't like what you got. 

I've been subscribed to them for about four months, and I don't see myself giving them up, anytime soon. I do recommend them.

Now off to re-take my quiz.

Wantable: Febuary 2014

 For y'all that are new, Wantable is a customizable makeup subscription. It's a bit more pricey than say Ipsy or Birchbox, it's $36.00, per month, and you fill out a survey, that customizes the products you'll receive. Products that you love, you're more likely to get, products you like, you occasionally get, and products you dislike, you never get. I like it because for the most part, you get things that you might actually use, and they're also always full-size products. 

As always, I'm impressed with Wantable's customer service. They charged me twice, last month, and gave me a 10 dollar off credit, and they totally applied it without me even having to remind them.

I was sort of upset with Wantable last month because they send me a million trillion lip products, and I don't really like lip products, so this week, I took my like for lip products and moved it to dislike, so there was no chance of me getting any sort of lip product.

I liked my box this month however:

Here it is.

As always, they include a piece of paper with all my loves/likes/dislikes, and they give you a list of items they sent you, and how much each one costs, which I like since it saves me a google search.

This is the box revealed.

My first item was a Rainbow honey nailpolish in Oni, it's a very glittery bronze gold color, and definitely a color that will be worn in my collection. Retail Value is $10.00

A Mistura Beauty Retractable Brush worth $18.82 [what a weird cents number after that dollar sign]. The brush is cool, I like how it retracts and gets bigger or smaller, but I'm not sure what I'll use it for. I don't really wear blush or foundation, or any of the makeup that you would use a brush such as this for, but I suppose it's a nice tool to add my nonexistent collection of makeup tools.

A Be a Bombshell Eye-Base in Chrome Sweet Chrome, worth $14.00

I really like this color. It's a very me color. I love any sort of silver eye makeup. This product can be used as an eyeshadow, a base for eyeshadow, or even an eyeliner. It's a color that will definitely be worn. Silver eyeliner was always my thing, especially in college, and post-college before I got a real job, although sometimes I still wear silver eyeliner to teach, and nobody's said anything yet :x Silver is my favorite color.

This is it swatched on my hand with no sort of primer or anything.

A Bella Donna Liquid Eye Pencil in Black, worth $25.00.

I really like the point of this eyeliner, it's very sharp and precise and I could get it very thin on my hand when I swatched it. I've never heard of this brand, and liquid eyeliner is something I'm not at all that familiar with, I tend to prefer pencil eyeliner, but a black eyeliner is always welcome in my collection.

Golden Rose Mascara in Perfect Lash Mascara Blue, worth $10.99. 

It's very blue. I don't think I've worn colored mascara since high school days, and that before the millennium. I love Golden Rose as a brand. Their black eyeliner that I got in my first ever wantable box back in December is my go-to mascara. I'll be very curious to try this, and see how it looks. I have very blue eyes, so it might be interesting to see.

Overall, I love this box. I got 3 eye products, 1 nailpolish, and a tool. Those are definitely the types of things I want to see in my monthly boxes, especially eye products, I love me some products.

The overall value for my box was: $78.81

That's a hell of a lot more than I paid.

I was very pleased with my product selection this month. I thought Wantable did a great job. I highly recommend them. Again, they're on the upper price spectrum of subscription boxes, but I think they're definitely worth it, for the very personal selection of products designed for you, to their full-size products that they send.

So check Wantable out, if you're so inclined.

Wantable: January

Wantable is one of my more expensive subscription boxes. You pay $36.00 per month [$45.00 for a one-time deal], and get a box of 5 full-size beauty products [and usually one free sample] that are hand-picked by you based on your answers to a very specific quiz that they have you to take, where you really can specify your loves/likes/dislikes.

You always get products you love, you occasionally get a product you like [although this month, I got two of my likes], and never get a product you hate.

 Mine looks like this: I LOVE medium, eyeliner, nail polish, lash product, eye shadows, and tools. I LIKE lip color and complexion products. I DISLIKE brows, blush, highlighter, and bronzer.

The test is very specific towards the products you love too. For example, if you only like bright colored and glitter nail polish, you can specify that, if you only want crazy eyeliner colors, you can specify that. Based on your answers and preferences, your products are handpicked for you, every month.

It is more expensive than the other boxes I get, but it's definitely tailored towards what I like and not as much of a gamble as other boxes are.

Wantable doesn't just do makeup. They also have an intimates subscription that has underwear, as well as lounge wear, and I've heard good things about it. They also have an accessory box. I just get their makeup box though.

They have super speedy shipping, your box gets to you in two days.  They also have amazing customer service. They charged me twice for my January box, and before I even noticed the double-charge, they had emailed me, apologizing for it, canceled the charge, and crediting me ten dollars on my next box. 

So, as aforementioned, Wantable is a little more pricey than some subscription boxes, but definitely worth it for their personalization and customer service.

Onto the Box:

It managed to get to me, even in the great Texas ice storm that canceled every single school district around me, and caused over thirty highway accidents. It's also small enough that it managed to fit into my tiny apartment mailbox along with the latest Tee Fury  that I had ordered.  I like it when boxes fit into my mailbox because then I don't need to go into the office, where they have that tempting coffee machine that makes delicious steamers, to claim my package.

This is the inside of the box. For the record, this is my second Wantable box.

All the products in the box are protected by layers and layers of gray foam.

This was the box under the foam.

Rainbow Honey nailpolish in Hanami, worth $10.00. "Hanami is a beautiful blend of rose, pink, white, and iridescent glitters in a sheer and shimmery pink base." It's a really pretty pink color, and I've heard good things about Rainbow Honey, in general, so I look forward to it's tenure on my nails.

A Michael Marcus Prime Foundation Brush, worth $20.00. I don't really wear foundation, I don't like the feel of it on my face, and I don't ever find a color that blends well enough with my skin, so this sort of tool is rather meh, for me. One of my more make-up savy friends may be inheriting it.

Or, if I knew that people read my blog, maybe I'd do a give-away, I have all sorts of double Julep nailpolishes, and some other stuff like this, that just sit in a pile, and it'd be fun to do a give-away with them, I just don't know if I have any readers, who would be interested, in such a thing.

FACE Stockholm Pot Gloss Grand, worth $19.00

I got a FACE Stockholm pot, last month, in a different color. I really like their lip pots. They go on very sheer with a nice shimmer, and they don't feel that heavy on my lips. This color is slightly darker than the color that I got last month, but it goes on generally the same. They're nude enough that they just give a hint of color, which is nice.

Beauty for Real, True Color Lip Cream Barely There, worth $22.00

The second lip product that I got this month. Lip Products are a like for me, so I'm sort of surprised that I got two of them. I would have preferred a mascara or eye shadow instead of two lip products, but whatever.

It looks very pink, and very shimmery when I did a swatch of it on my hand. I haven't tried it on my lips yet, so I'm not sure if it blends in well on my lips, so it is barely there, or it will give my lips color.  I'm meh about it, but it has nothing to do with the product, itself, I'm just not much of a lip person.

However, I do think it's nifty that it comes with a mirror on the side of the product, so you can check out, how it looks, on the go, and anywhere.

Be a Bombshell Eyeliner Teal, worth $14.00. 

I'm intrigued by the pen-like tip of this eyeliner, when I did a swatch on my hand, it had a really nice fine tip, and I think it will be a really nice product to apply on my eyes, and I also love the color, it reminds me of the color pens I used to write notes to my best friend in high school with, we were all about crazy colored pens in teal and pink and purple.

I also really like any sort of blue color eye product because I feel like it brings out my eye color, which is blue-gray. I also like bright colors.

A sample of Sorme Treat & Tint in Light Honey. It's a "multi-purpose skin perfecting BB Cream with the power of argan oil concentrate and SPF 30. BB cream provides instant luminosity, even tone, smoothness, and hydration of the skin."

Wantable usually sends a free sample with every box.

So, I paid $36.00 for my box, and received $85.00 worth of makeup, which is definitely double what I paid, initially.

I'm mostly satisfied with this box. I'm sort of meh at the two lip products, but I wouldn't say I was angry or anything. Wantable also has a great return policy, if you don't like things, you can send them back, no questions asked.  I don't feel a need to do that though, even with the two lip products.

But, as I've said before, if you have some money to spare, and want a very personable box full of makeup, definitely check out Wantable.

Product Reviews

So... no new boxes lately although Birchbox notified me that they mailed my box, and my order from Shiro Cosmetics should me here pretty soon, as well, but I do have some product reviews from previous orders that I've blogged about here.

Now, I don't always have a use for all products that I receive, I don't like wasting things though, so some of the makeup colors that I plan to never use, usually the very bright red lipsticks or nailpolishes, and any sort of foundation makeup, get donated to my co-workers, and then some of the skin and not so girly products, I give to my fiance.

Disclaimer: I use my own hard-earned money from teaching to buy all my subscription boxes, I spend almost as much on those, as fiance spends on Magic the Gathering cards :P Nobody paid me to try any of these products, and my opinions are my own :)[or my fiances']

The Midnight Monarch hand lotion that I got, last month, in Birchbox has made its way to my fiance since I prefer the Julep hand lotion. It's been cold, for Texas, not really for me and my NJ roots, but for my students, and my fiance, and his skin has gotten dry and chapped. So I donated this to his cause. Fiance says he likes it. It's large sample, and it's been lasting him for awhile, which is nice, so it's good for more than one use. He says it's made a noticeable difference in his skin, his skin is far less dry, and the lotion makes it silky, so this hand lotion meets his stamp of approval. 

The Green Tea Facial Blotting Papers are great. Both fiance and I love them. We both have oily skin, especially within our T-Zones. These papers smell like green tea, which is nice. And they're very good at what they do. They're also great to use with makeup because I find that they don't disturb my makeup at all. 

The Double-Step Foot stuff came in the Diamond Mystery box that I got back in November. Fiance inherited that too since basically all I do is wear Uggs, no matter what the season is, and didn't really have a need for it. Fiance loves the stuff. He loves how it smells because he loves Peppermint. It's all he ever orders from Starbucks- Peppermint Mocha Frapachinos or Peppermint Mochas. He also tries to put peppermint in anything he attempts to bake, like those cookies he mailed me back when I lived in Jersey, which were delicious. And if he drinks tea, it's peppermint tea. He also tried to have a garden of mint since we moved in together, but every time he tried to garden, his plants died.  He also likes how smooth it makes his feet, and he says it keeps his feet clean and makes his feet feel fresh. So far, this is his favorite product, out of the unisex products that he's inherited. 

 The Quick Dry Drops that I got in my January Maven Box have also been used [by me, not my fiance]. I painted my nails yesterday with an undercoat of Stevie, which is a color I got in the holiday secret store, it's a bluish sparkly slate gray. I topped it with Geo, which is the holographic glitter nailpolish I received with the Diamond Mystery Box in November.  It's a purple glitter with huge holographic chunks. I used the quick-dry drops afterwards. They went easy, all you need it one or two drops. My nails were pretty dry about five minutes later. My nails then survived putting on and taking off both jeans and belt without any chipping,which is a first. I don't really like the smell. It's like a chemical lemongrass-ish smell, that lasts for a good hour or two after you use them, but by the morning, the scent was gone. These are my nails this afternoon:

They're pretty much the same as when I painted them, so the quick-dry drops give them a pretty good protective coat as well, since they lasted through an entire day of teaching pre-k. I'm very happy with these drops, and can even ignore the smell since they really do do what Julep says they do. Two thumbs up from me.

I dislike this Eye Glaze Fierce from Girlacktic Beauty.I tried wearing it. I think it goes on much to thick, and the color is very dark. I also really don't like how it smells. I wore it one night, and just wasn't impressed without how it looked. It felt heavy when I put it on, and I prefer my makeup to be light and/or weight-less. I also had trouble blending it with any other color. 

Magnetic Force Nailpolish from Color Club. I love it. The formula goes on really quickly, and I only needed one coat. It's a pretty magenta/purple color with swirls of silver in it, and I topped it with Aviva, which I got from the Julep Naughty & Nice box that I got in December. It had great staying power. It lasted on my nails for about a week with barely any chipping. I wish I had taken a picture of my nails when they were like that.

Vasanti Brighten Up! [enzymatic face rejuvenator]. I got a sample of this in my November birchbox. It's an exfoliate. I really like it. I can feel it exfoliating my skin as I put it on, and I've been using it for about a week, and my skin's been looking great. It's been much less red. This also didn't irritate my skin like most other facial products I've tried. The sample I got was also generous. I've been using it for two weeks now, and I still have some left. I'm contemplating ordering a full-size bottle of it, once the sample runs out. 

Coola Classic Face Sunscreen in Cucumber. I got this back in my first ever birchbox, which was in July 2013! I got the sample right before fiance and I went to Schlitterbahn in New Braufels for a before-school-starts vacation. It was a hot August day in Texas, and the sun was strong. I used this when we went to the park. My face didn't burn at all [although other parts of my body did, my poor shoulders], and it was cool and refreshing when I put it on, which felt great in that Texas summer heat. Once it gets to be summer, I'm totally buying a full-size bottle of this, especially since over the summer, I sit at the pool and read on my kindle and because fiance and I are so going back to Schlitterbahn.

And that's it, from me, for now. Back to my quest to evolve every Eevee. So far I've got Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, Glaceon, and Sylveon. I'm trying to get an Umbreon, but I can only play my game after 8 pm for that to happen :P

I really want a caramel steamer from Starbucks.  I wonder if I can convince Mr. Fiance to bring me back one from work :P