May Beuty Boxes!

Hi Guys,

I'm sorry I have not done a blog in a while. I went on vacation to see my family in Orlando, FL (good times!), then came back and it was my birthday (I'm 30?! lol) and then I had to work. I finally got some time. I know it is June but I wanted to do a bulk beauty boxes post so you guys can get an idea of what you get when you subscribe to any of these. 

I'm subscribed to two beauty boxes currently, ipsy and Birchbox. These are both $10 a month and it includes shipping. For May I also, briefly, subscribed to beautybox5, I believe this box is $12 with shipping, I got it free through a Facebook promo code. I also bought the Rainbow Honey Mystery bag, this one is $10 + $2.50 shipping. I'm going to be showing them to you in the order they arrived.

First up, Rainbow Honey! Rainbow Honey is an indie nail polish, beauty brand. They sell nail polish, soaps, perfume, and lip balms. The mystery bag is available each month in mini size for $10 or full size for $25. The mini size is also free with any order of $65. It comes with 3 new, not yet released nail polishes, and some extras, like soap, a fragrance, a lip balm or cuticle balm and some orange sticks.

How it comes in with an adorable sticker!

Opened! very protected.

Contents of May Mystery Bag by Rainbow Honey

 The May Mystery bag came with nail polishes in "waves" ( a very sparkly blue-teal polish) "neon blossom" (different sizes, pink, yellow and white glitter and flowers suspended in clear polish) and "petit four"(different sizes, blue, pink glitter suspended on a yellow jelly base), a lip balm in "Queen Bee" (honey flavored, mmmm), A mini flower soap in the scent "summer juice", a mini fragrance rollerball also in "summer juice", and 4 orange sticks and 2 sponge applicators (I'll use these for a gradient mani, which I'm obsessed with.) I loved everything in this bag and so far I have tried everything but the soap. Every month everyone that orders the bag receives the same items, the full size receives them in full sizes.  I think this is an excellent value and I love their polishes. I have already ordered my June bag! You can either subscribe to the bag and get it automatically each month (you can cancel anytime) or just wait and order it the months you are interested. This bag ships 1-2 days after ordering it and since everyone receives the same you can check online reviews of the month's bag before making a decision.

Next up, beautybox5! I ordered this because Facebook was running a promo for a free box for new subscribers. This box is $12 a month and it includes shipping, funds are withdrawn from your credit card each month at the beginning of the month, You can save by subscribing for more months, prepaid. You can cancel at anytime by sending them an email, make sure you cancel before they charge you for the next month, once they charge you they send you the box and they'll cancel the next one, so just keep that in mind. This bag comes with 4-5 samples in a box, they have a variety of boxes and not everyone gets the same, so it is a surprise until you open it. It contains a mixture beauty products ranging from makeup to hair care.They also have an online shop where you can buy the products you like and as of right now there is no point/reward system. Below are some pictures of the box and most of its contents ( I gave one to my mom before taking pictures)

The box, pretty blue.

Inside, products,info card and paper filling

Contents - 1.

I think this box is alright for its price, good value and good variety of products. It contains a product info card that explains the products and the full size prices. I received:
- Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion: travel size. I gave this to my mom because I'm set for moisturizers and she likes Aveeno, full size is $8.49 for 12 oz.
- H2O Plus SPA Hand and nail cream: travel size. This is very nice and moisturizing, I use it after doing my nails, it is pretty awesome and it doesn't have a strong smell, full size is $15 for 6oz.
-Ban Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths: I received 3 individually wrapped cloths, have not try them yet, but they seem perfect to keep them in my purse for emergencies, full size is $2.97 and includes 10 cloths.
-Harvey Prince Hello perfume: I LOVE Harvey Prince fragrances, they are light and fresh and this one is perfect for summer, it has notes of mandarin, grapefruit, forsythia and plumeria, this came in sample spray, full size is $55 for 1.7oz.
- CATTIVA Precision Eye liner in black: A retractable black eyeliner, paraben-free, it claims to be waterproof and smudge-resistant, this came in full size, price is $20. Your basic black eyeliner, it says smudge-resistant but it smudged like crazy on me.
 All-in all this was a good value box and if I had payed full price for it I would have gotten my moneys worth and more just with the eyeliner.

Next up, Ipsy! Ipsy is a beauty bag, it costs $10 a month including shipping, it contains 4-5 samples of mostly cosmetics, sometimes they include other beauty related items. Each months comes in a different theme makeup bag that adds to the value of the bag. Ipsy is very popular because it is mostly makeup, there is a waiting list to subscribe to the bag, even if you subscribe for a yearly subscription, wait time is VERY long, about 3 months,sometimes more. Sometimes they offer a skip the waitlist option by liking on Facebook or some facebook activity, but mostly you just have to wait. Ipsy charges your credit card automatically the first of each month unless you get a yearly subscription which is prepaid. You can cancel at anytime with just a click on their website. I have been with ipsy for 3 months and so far I have liked almost everything they've sent. They send drugstore and mid-end product samples and each month they provide coupon codes to save on the brands featured in their bags. They also have a variety of bags and not everybody gets the same thing. They have sneak peeks every month starting the first of the month until the 5-6 when they reveal the bag, they don't have peeks on the weekends and after all the sneak peeks have been revealed they open the glam rooms where you can look in your account to what you are getting that month, so it is not a complete surprise and you get really excited! They have a point system where you can get points by referring friends (you get points after they subscribe), or by reviewing the items on your bag and posting on Facebook, twitter and instagram. They have different bonuses every once in a while but you need 1000 points to redeem, points expire after a year, in my opinion it is pretty much impossible to get enough points to redeem anything and the bonuses are not worth spamming your friends over it. Now to pictures and what I actually received.

Everything comes inside the bag and shipped in a metallic pink bubble mailer, It is really adorable!

 Inside the bag.

When I saw my Glam room I was extremely excited! Inside the bag was:
- Avene Eau Thermale Thermal Spring Water spray for sensitive skin: Travel size.This is a water spray with a fine mist to help moisturize your face in hot days. You can use it over makeup and it is pretty awesome. I've been wanting to try one of these for a while.
- Hang Ten Classic Sport SPF 50 sunscreen: Travel size. I haven't used it yet, it is a full body sunscreen. It claims to be lightweight and non-greasy, everyone needs sunscreen during the summer so this is a good addition.
- Eva-nyc Therapy Session Hair Mask:  It has keravis protein and argan oil, conditions and repairs for all hair types, I have not tried it yet but I'm excited to try.
-Pacifica natural beauty eyeshadow duo in Duo 1: This is a full size eyeshadow duo in neutral shades, it has one side shimmery rosy champagne color and the other side a shimmery bronze. I have swatched these before, pigmentation is very sheer but they are very wearable.
- Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer: Deluxe sample. To say I was excited about this is an understatement, I was going to buy this bronzer the week before the sneak peek came out and when I saw it I said that if it was in my bag I will keep my subscription for a bit longer (I was about to cancel for next month), and it was in my bag! It is an awesome matte bronzer that works really great for contouring and it smells like freaking chocolate!
Ipsy is a great value it is no wonder it is so popular.

Last, but not least, Birchbox! Birchbox is basically the company that started the whole beauty boxes trend. They also offer 4-7 samples on their boxes and their products range from mid to high-end products with everything from makeup to vitamins, basically everything to keep you looking and feeling beautiful (no clothes, sorry). I've been with birchbox for 5 months and I have loved everything they have send. It is always unexpected and totally addicting. I have found many of my holly grail products through birchbox, my favorite moisturizer and face cleanser I discovered through birchbox. This box is $10 a month including shipping and it is an excellent value, they also have a waitlist but it is not very long, I was on it for one day. If you sign up in the middle of the month they will send you that month's box even if it is not the beginning of the month. They charge on the first of the month. They have sneak peeks but most of the time they are not accurate to what you will receive. They get thousands of samples a month to distribute so most boxes are different. You will never get repeat samples but you can get samples that were featured the month before, which is great because sometimes you think you missed out on something and you get it the next month. Their rewards/points system is one of the best. They give you points for every purchase on their shop, $1=1 point, every 100 points is $10 to spend on any full size product order from the shop. They also give you 10 points for every review you do on the items featured in your monthly box. Points add on fast and you can buy your favorites at a great discount. Some people don't like birchbox because they very rarely send full size products and sometimes they send foil package samples, but the foil packages don't count as an item to the value of the box while you can still review it and get points for it, so basically they are extras which don't bother me at all.You can cancel at anytime with just a click on their site now to pics and what I got for May.

The box is always the same, the outside shipping box is almost always a different color.

Inside, with theme/product description card.

Contents

Everything spread out.

What I got:
- Cynthia Rowley Beauty Silver Eyeliner: I believe this is the full size. It is exclusive to birchbox and the full size costs $16. It is a luxury creamy liner and it is smudge-proof. It sets in 30 seconds so if you want to smudge it out you have to work fast. I really liked this eyeliner, it is very creamy and a very metallic silver color, very pretty.
- Golchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Lotion: This came in travel size, full size is $15. It says it is rich in marine extracts and paraben-free. This smells so good. I actually call birchbox the good smelling box because everything they send that has a smell smells amazing, and this is no exception. It is super creamy and moisturizing and I love it.
- Marcelle BB Cream Golden Glow: This is a deluxe sample size. It is also birchbox exclusive. It is nice BB cream that gives a healthy summery glow. It says it is rich in antioxidants and aloe and claim to work for all skin types. I love BB creams and I'm always trying a different one, I really like this one, it is creamy and it gives a nice glow without being glittery. Full size is $27.
-Number 4 High Performance Hair Care Volumizing Shampoo: This is a travel size. It smells amazing, I haven't tried it yet but as soon as I run out of my current shampoo I will try this. It is sulfate-free and botanical-rich. Birchbox also included a foil sample of the conditioner to try together. Full size of the shampoo is $34 for 8oz and $36 for the conditioner also 8oz. It is very pricey and even if I love it I will not buy the full size, because $34 for shampoo, seriously. I'm glad I at least get to try it.
- Smarty Pants All-in-one Gummy Vitamins for Adults: This is what birchbox calls a lifestyle extra, sometimes it is granola bars, others tea, hair bands or hair accessories, and vitamins. This was a 2 vitamin sample. This vitamins taste soooooooo good. It is like sour patch kids. They are super delish. It is a multivitamin with omega 3 and vitamin D without artificial flavors. Have I said they taste delicious. This are also pricey. One day supply is 6 vitamins, which is ok, because they are delicious. Full size is $29.99 for a 30 day supply (180ct.) bottle.

That is all for beauty boxes of May. If you are interested in beauty boxes there are literally hundreds to choose from for every price range. One I see myself sticking with for a long time is Birchbox, because it hasn't dissapointed me and I'm always excited to get it, plus their point system. I alreasy cancelled beautybox5 and don't see myself subscribing to it again anytime soon. Rainbow Honey I see as an sporadic thing, will get sometimes others not, depending on reviews. I will probably keep ipsy for a month or 2 more but I don't see myself sticking with it for too long, I like it but the items are mostly hit and miss for me, and you can only have so many bags before you go crazy. If you are looking to try different stuff that you probably wouldn't buy, beauty boxes are a great alternative to try different stuff at an affordable price.

Thank you for sticking with me through this very long post. I hope it was helpful, if you have any questions just leave a comment down below. Thank you so much!

Lily

Solstice Scents: Shop and Products Review.

Hi Guys. Recently I've been getting into indie brands of cosmetics and fragrances. I'm not much of a perfume person but I love essential oils and herbal light fragrances. About two weeks ago I decided I should make my first order of scents and I choose Solstice Scents as the shop to try because all the descriptions sound incredible and prices are not bad. The shop is owned by Greg and Angela and they are based in Gainesvile, FL. They sell facial toners and masks, body ganache creams,whipped soaps, bath oils and body mists, bath soaks, and perfumes.All products are hand mixed and created by them, all the names are handwritten on the bottles and they do smudge and fade as you use the oils ( I put a piece of tape over the names to protect it and it works great.) Their customer service is amazing, but more on that later.
 My first order was a full size of Cardamom Rose Sugar and a three pack choose your own sample pack with Pink Sugar, Nightgown, and Quit Night. They also include a free sample of your choice with every order and I chose Lemon Ginger Cream. Shipping was really fast and everything came securely packed.

Cardamom Rose Sugar: This is what they call a premium scent, the ingredients are more expensive, therefore the full size bottle is only 5ml, but for this type of fragrance it is plenty. I ordered this one because I love cardamom and it is pretty unusual scent. The official page description reads: "Brown Sugar, Cardamom EO, Moroccan Rose and Bulgarian Rose.A warm candy-like blend of brown sugar, spicy green cardamom pods, Moroccan rose absolute and Bulgarian rose absolute. It is luscious, sweet and very enticing. On initial application, the rose and cardamom are most apparent with the sweet brown sugar beneath. When applied liberally, the cardamom will journey with you for a good 30 minutes to an hour. The rose smells like candied rose petals. It is young and gentle - not at all a matronly rose and not an assertive and overpowering rose. It blends perfectly with the cardamom and brown sugar. After about an hour the brown sugar is predominant, the cardamom has receded and the roses are very subtle and tame. The long term dry down is primarily a sugary, warm, brown candy scent. The scent is so divine that you will want to reapply often and breath deeply! Cardamom Rose Sugar is an alluring and romantic scent that smells almost edible." I find this description very accurate. When first applied it smells just like cardamom with a hint of rose and it stays like that for a while, but when it starts drying down the smell changes to sweet rose until it smells a bit like maple syrup. I find that I can't stop smelling my wrist because it smells so creamy and delicious. My husband absolutely hates it and tells me I smell like pancakes, haha.  This fragrance lasts about 6 hours on me.

Pink Sugar:  This is one of their regular scents. Page description reads: "If you really like luscious, sweet, edible-smelling scents, this is the one for you. It smells like cotton candy & sweet melted sugar! This perfume is a dupe based off of the Aquolina Pink Sugar perfume. It is light and playful and has notes of lemon, vanilla, caramel, cotton candy, and more...Absolute heaven!"Let me say, I fell in LOVE with this scent. I can't describe how it smells, besides sweet and fresh. It is not a sticky sweet fragrance, it doesn't give me a headache or nausea. it is my favorite everyday scent. Plus, my hubby actually likes this one, when wearing it he said, "mmm, baby you smell good" and that's a win on my book because he usually hates all perfumes. I initially got this in a sample size but ended up making a second order when they restocked the full size because I loved it that much! This fragrance comes in a roller ball blue bottle that is beautiful. This fragrance lasted all day on me, I still could smell some the next day on my wrist.

Nightgown: One of their regular scents. I purchased this as a sample size. Page description reads:
"Vanilla, White Chocolate, Tuberose & Tiare Flowers.  A sensual and very creamy floral fragrance, Nightgown evokes the image of a gorgeous satin nightie with lace trim. It fits like a second skin and is the perfect attire for lounging and snuggling. This perfume is the representation of the fabric itself: beautiful, plush, sweet and delicate with white velvety petals from exotic flowers that entrance you with aphrodisiac qualities. The floral notes are very creamy, well rounded and tame while still being detectable and not too heady, sharp or perfumey. The dominant notes are a vanilla accord blended with a touch of divine white chocolate. The floral notes are present on initial application and for some time on the skin though on the long term dry down they will recede and the vanillas and white chocolate will be predominant. If you like the vanilla accord in Manor and Snowshoe Pass, it makes a striking appearance in this blend! Nightgown is wispy, innocent and mysterious at once - like feathers and a gently strummed harp." A wet sniff of this gives me flowery vanilla. It is a very cozy scent. I really like this one by itself but mixed with Cardamom Rose Sugar is even better and makes the notes on both fragrances stand out in a better way. When mixed together this combination lasted all day on me and I still could smell it pretty strongly the next day, even after a shower there was a hint of the scent left.

Quiet Night: This fragrance is out of stock at the moment so I don't have an official page description. I got this as a sample size. This is an aromatherapy scent, it is a blend of Lavender essential oil and Roman Chamomile. First let me state that I love lavander, it is my absolute favorite smell in the whole world, it just makes me happy. This smells exactly as it sounds, natural lavender, like smelling the plant, with a hint of calming chamomile. I like this for night when I can't sleep or I'm stressed out. It is amazing and calming. The only negative thing I have to say about this is that it does not last very long on the skin, it only lasted about two hour tops on my skin, but it is effective. 

Lemon Ginger Creams: I got this as a free sample included with my order. The page description reads: "Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies Filled With Vanilla-Lemon Cream. Vanilla cream filling infused with loads of bright lemon and sandwiched in between two perfectly spicy gingersnap cookies.  On cold sniff and initial application the lemon cream filling is sweet and tart tempered by the vanilla blend.  The gingersnap cookies are the perfect blend of ginger and cinnamon and pair wonderfully with the sweet cream filling.  This fragrance is uplifting and comforting.  The lemon will soften after some time on the skin as the vanilla cream filling becomes more prominent in the dry down." These people know their fragrances and this description is extremely accurate. Freshly applied it smells like a real lemon and ginger cream cookies. It dries down to ginger cream cookie, and that lasts for about 2-3 hours, and it dries down to a very mild sweet cream scent. I like this, it smells like cookies and I want to eat it! This fragrance lasts about 5 hours on my skin.

This is how they pack their orders, all the vials where wrapped in the bubble wrap pictured.

This is my first and second orders with promo material they include. 

Notice the "Thank You" messages included with each order. Hand written. I love it.

Now for their customer service. As I fell in love with pink sugar, and I couldn't find the full size on their web site I asked them via their Facebook page if it was discontinued or just out of stock. They replied really fast and told me it was just out of stock and it should be back in a week or so. The day before it came in stock they send me a Facebook message letting me know that they would have it in stock either that day or the following day. The following day, as soon as they listed it on the site, they notified my and added a link to it so I could find it faster. I placed my order at 3:00pm, at 3:20pm I got a shipping notification email, 20 minutes after placing my order! Two days later my package was here! It was amazing!!! 

On my second order I purchased a full size Pink Sugar and samples of Sandalwood Vanilla, Lavender Vanilla, Dragon's Blood and Hand of Darkness was my free sample. I'm testing out Lavender Vanilla at the moment and will have a review of this fragrances later on. 

Thank you for sticking with me through this very long post, I hope it was informative. If you have any ideas or would like to see a review on a specific product just comment below and I'll do my best!