Glitter Guilty January '14

Box: Glitter Guilty

Cost: $15.99 monthly (includes shipping)

How it Works: Glitter Guilty is an indie polish company that sends you a "Monthly Me" full size polish based on your likes and dislikes that you set on your profile page. You also get a "Monthly Mini" polish which is sent to everyone, as well as a treat!

Shipping Schedule: Order is typically shipped by the 5th of each month.

Cancellation: Just cancel you recurring payment through Paypal

The Treat

This month we received two treats!

Striping Tape - This is a great tool for making nail art! One roll can last quite a while. 

Lucky Girl Fortunes Cookie - A chocolate covered fortune cookie by another indie company! It didn't stick around long after this photo, and their shop on Etsy has some other amazing looking options.

Monthly Me

A Winter's Night - I had mentioned in my profile that I absolutely love blues, and she delivered again! This is a dark blue jelly base, with lots of holographic blue circle glitters, and holographic star glitters. 

The first time I used this it took me a bit to get the hang of it because it is very goopy. The trick is to use very thin layers so you can control the movement of the glitters better and not get too much of the base on your nail at one time. 

A Winters Night - Close up in the bottle

A Winter's Night - Swatch with two coats

Monthly Mini

Sub Zero - This polish was sent to everyone, but it was still perfect for me! I love that the Mini's tend to be seasonally appropriate as well, and this one was right in line with the crazy winter weather we ended up having all month long.

Sub-Zero - Close up in the bottle

Sub-Zero - Swatch with two coats

Overall, I loved this box just as much as my first one! Sadly, I am cancelling this subscription since I feel like I have way too much polish, but if that ever changes I will sign right back up!

Ipsy Glam Bag January 2014

Box: Ipsy Glam Bag

Cost: $10 monthly (includes shipping)

How it Works: Ipsy sends you 4-5 products each month based on your answers to your "Beauty Quiz" which you fill out prior to joining. You can change your Quiz answers at any time.

Shipping Schedule: Begins shipping approximately on the 10th. 

This is also the day you can see your "Glam Room"

Rewards System: Ipsy is not a bag you join for the rewards system. You earn points by joining (100pts), referrals (250pts), reviewing each item you receive (10pts each), and several Facebook interactions (varies). The points expire a year from the date of earning them. Ipsy doesn't have a "store", just three items that each cost 1000 points. These items change as they go in and out of stock. 

Refunds: Contact CS if any issues occur with the bag or items and they are usually pretty good about either replacing individual items or the entire bag.

Cancellation: Very easy. Just use the cancellation option on the website or email CS. There is no phone number listed to call.

My Quiz Answers: 

Personal Style: Classic, Professional, Retro, Natural, Simple

Comfort Level: Very Comfortable

Adventurous: Very Adventurous

Makeup Products: BB Cream/Primer, Eyeliner, Blush/Bronzer, Eye shadow, Brushes, Tools

Skin Care Products: Cleanser, Moisturizer, Treatment, Masks, Nail Colors

Skin Tone: Light

Skin Concerns: Redness, Oiliness, Acne

Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! (1oz - $4.95)

This is a deep conditioning mask. I have already found my HG mask, but I'm also always willing to try out a new one! 

Mica Beauty Tinted Lip Balm - #6 Fiesta (2.5 oz - $18.75!)

Another product I was happy to see! You can never have enough lip balms. The other color they sent out was "Natural" which I think I would have preferred, but I will try to rock "Fiesta". It also claims to be "smudge-proof" and "kiss-proof"!

Elizabeth Mott Smooth Shadow - Pearl (.7g - $6.99)

The company suggests to use this as a highlighter, all-over lid color, and on the waterline... Which I think you can do with just about any shadow pencil. On first inspection, I don't really like the color and there seems to be a lot of glitter. Not as excited about this one.

Nourish Organic Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion (.5oz - $6.47)

I generally only use light moisturizers in the summer since it can get so humid in my part of the country, so I will probably wait to try this out then. Not sure it will work for me though since my skin has a hate-hate relationship with scented lotions.

Proactiv+ Mark Fading Pads (4 pads - $12 based on Non-Member Pricing)

I had actually been thinking about trying the use the Proactiv+ Line since the regular line hasn't been doing much for me, so I liked seeing these! They have 2% Salicylic Acid. 

Overall, I will get some use out of all my items this month, which is exciting since this was my first Ipsy bag! 

Total Value: $49.16

Affiliate links are present in this post

Review: 29 Grape Seed Age Protecting

Sample Envelope

Subscription Box: Lip Factory

Company: 29 Cosmetics

Product: Samples from their skin care collection which can be seen here.

The sample packaging

This seemed like a bit of a strange sample to get from Lip Factory. They generally stick to just makeup, and low to mid-range companies at that. This is a tiny sample from a skin care line that hails from the grape-country along Hwy 29 (hence the name) and uses "grape extract" in all of their products, along with a mix of other organic and non-organic ingredients.

Below I wanted to give a better idea of the size of the samples themselves so I added the quarter for comparison. Really, skin care companies need to realize that if we can't get multiple uses out of a sample in order to tell if it works, we aren't any more likely to buy it than if we hadn't gotten a sample at all. 

From left to right: Cream Cleanser, Serum Extract, Eye Emulsion, Night Moisture.

I tried these out over the course of a day that I didn't wear makeup so I could really see their effect on my skin. The common theme of these samples were the smells. And not in a positive way.

The Cream Cleanser ($16.19/oz) was similar to other cream cleansers I have used and wasn't anything to get excited about. The smell however reminded me very strongly of mothballs. Specifically that smell mothballs give to a closet full of clothes. So yeah, I was rubbing old-closet smell on my face, and I wasn't happy about it. At least it was a cleanser, so I got to wash it off, unlike...

The Serum Extract ($163.55/oz!), which I used directly after cleansing since that seemed to be the right thing to do. There weren't really any good directions for these samples in the literature, so that might have been incorrect, but if you don't give me instructions and I use the product incorrectly that is their fault. This stuff made my face feel extremely oily. And the smell was quite reminiscent of a dusty room. One of those rooms you walk into in an old house and your footsteps create puffs. That kind of dust. Again, wasn't too thrilled to be patting on dust flavored cream.

The Serum Extract made my face oily enough that after a few hours I skipped ahead and washed my face for the night. Afterwards I used the Eye Emulsion ($140.19/oz!). This was the one product I was ok with. The texture was exactly how I like eye serums: not too oily, not too thick, and not watery. This was also the only sample with enough product to have used twice, but it wasn't resealable so... There wasn't a weird smell with this one, which was a nice change of pace, but then I got to... 

The Night Moisture ($55/oz) which I used in place of my usual moisturizer. Like the Cream Cleanser, it was alright, but not spectacular. It's smell was actually pleasant once it had absorbed into my skin for a little while. Right out of the packet it was strange... A lot like the "dusty" smell of the Serum Extract, but with a touch of something sweet. I like to imagine some passive-aggressive employee at the company getting tired of the bad smells they are around all day and sneaking something pleasant into this one.

Final Thoughts

All in all I cannot believe that these products cost as much as they do considering how they smell. I don't like a ton of perfumes in my facial routine, but these on the whole just did not smell good at all. Since I didn't have much to use I can't reliably comment on how they work, but I don't know that I would have been able to continue using them long enough to really test due to the smells. Maybe that's why they send out the small samples.

Lip Factory January 2014

Box: Lip Factory 

Cost: $22 (includes shipping)

Shipping Schedule: Shipping begins approximately on the 10th 

Returns: No returns accepted

Cancellation: Through email or ceasing Paypal payments.

Lip Factory doesn't tend to have a "theme", but they do claim to follow the preferences you indicate in your profile. These are just a few very basic questions like hair/eye color and complexion. Each month the products themselves don't vary from box to box, but the colors will based on your profile. 

My profile: 

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Dark Brown

Which best describes you? Keep it Neutral

Complexion: Light

My January Lip Factory

29 Cosmetics Skincare Sample ($4)

Review HERE, but the short version is that I wasn't impressed by either the size, effectiveness, or, most importantly, the smell of these products.

Teeez Mysterious Crystal Eyeliner in Lovely Lapis Lazuli ($19)

Bodyography Electric Lip Slide in Skintimacy ($19)

Be a Bombshell The One Stick in Girl Crush ($16)

Teeez Island Palette Eyeshadow in Sweet Sins (16.00)

L-R:  Sweet Sins, Lovely Lapis Lazuli, Girl Crush, Skintimacy

Overall I love the shades that were sent to me this month, and I really feel that my preferences were listened to. This is a great box if you are looking to round out your makeup collection with a few key, full

size items every month.