November Birchbox Ipsy Smackdown

Ipsy- Ipsy is a makeup subscription company and for 10 dollars a month they send you makeup in a cute little bag! I do pay for the subscription myself, and this my link that as a subscriber I get to refer you lovelies!

Link to subscribe:  http://www.ipsy.com/r/1zbn7?sid=ipsypoints&cid=general

The theme this month was Girl Meets Glitter, and the bag was VERY sparkly. Don’t get me wrong I love glitter, but it seemed a little much. What I did love about though was the color combination of pink and silver, AND the bag was collaborated with Forever 21 which was really cool! Here is what I got:

SeaRx Micro-Dermabrasion Face and Body Scrub– Oh my goodness, I absolutely loved this product! It smells citrus-y and has a fine grit, and it made my face feel really smooth. I will say it dried out my face a bit, but with some moisturizer afterwards, it worked really well.  I don’t know about the preventative aging the product claims to have because I don’t have too many wrinkles, but it seems to get off my dead skin cells, and make my face smell like oranges so I love it.

Full Size: $32  Sample Size: .68 cent  My Value: $1

Link (free shipping on orders over $50, use code:searxipsy) : http://searxbeauty.com/ipsy

Be A Bombshell Eye Base in Submissive– It is a really beautiful bronze colored eye shadow that looked nice with a smokey eye, but smudged pretty easily. The hold is OK,  and it stayed for 3-4 ish hours. What’s really nice about it, and all cream bases, is that if you’re in a rush, you can just slap some on alone and it would still look amazing! I also love the shimmer, and it goes well with the Girl Meets Glitter theme. This product does smells a little like glue though. It isn’t super strong, but still, I don’t want people to think I put Elmer’s Paste to my face 🙂 .

Full Size: $14  My Value: $8

Link: http://beabombshellcosmetics.com/product/eye-base/submissive/

Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argon Oil– Eh. This was really all I had to say. At first I was really excited to try it because of the argan oil, but I looked at the list of ingredients and it was behind 8-9 other things which makes me think their isn’t much of the oil in there. I tried it, it didn’t hold for very long with my hair, and I was pretty disappointed with the hairspray. Out of the four things it says on the bottle ” Volume, Shine,  Extra Hold, and Fast Drying” two of the four were flops. It didn’t hold, or give me much volume, BUT it did have a nice smell, dried quickly and without flaking, and gave my hair some shine. Not a lot of shine, but some. It was also sulfate, paraben, and DEA free which was lovely to see. I just wish it gave me some volume! Sadly I won’t be using this product anytime soon.

Full Size: $8.29  Sample Size: $1.38  My Value: $0

Link: http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/marc-anthony-true-professional-oil-of-morocco-argan-oil-hair-spray/ID=prod6124613-product

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye- I now worship this cream. Full Coverage: Yes, I put it under my eyes and its makes me look like I actually get sleep at night. I would recommend using some sort of beauty blender though, it is VERY thick. I would also recommend a powder over the top to give it a more matte finish, because when its on your skin it makes it appear slightly oily. Concealer: Heck yes! It is so thick, and with such nice coverage that is makes a great concealer, but it can make you little two-toned if you don’t blend it out properly, be careful! Another thing I love about this is that even though it comes in a teeny sample size, you don’t need much of it. A little goes a long way for this cream.

Full Size: $24  Sample Size:$9.42 (nearly $10 for a tiny sample…seriously?!)  My Value: $5

Link ( 20% purchase of $25 or more with code IPSY): http://www.itcosmetics.com/bye-bye-under-eyer-anti-aging-concealer?src=gr 

Starlooks Lip Gloss in Guilty Pleasure- This is a really nice product, I just did’t like the shade so I passed it on to my mom who loved it! It is a light pink shade, and isn’t sticky, which I loved because one thing I find with lip gloss is that is can act like a paste on your lips and I hate that! It also didn’t stick to dry spots, AND smelled like vanilla/marshmellows, but I have heard the full sze of this product doesn’t smell this way. It didn’t have any sort of taste, and I just wish Ipsy sent a different color, but what evs.

Full Size: $13  Sample Size: $6.50  My Value: $2 (it made a great gift) Link: http://starlooks.com/collections/lips/products/lip-gloss

Total Math Value: $31.98  My Value: $16  How many of the products will I use/like? 3 of 5 

VS

Birchbox-Birchbox is a makeup/lifestyle subscription company and for 10 dollars a month they send you fun stuff! I do pay for the subscription myself, and this my link that as a subscriber I get to refer you lovelies!

Link to subscribe: https://www.birchbox.com/invite/noobbeauty

This month’s box was partnered with RED to raise AIDS awareness, so I was really happy with the company for doing a good thing! The November box was about giving, and for every photo of the box taken with the #shaRED on Instagram or Twitter, Birchbox donates $1 to the fight against AIDS. Again, good job Birchbox for being kind this time of year! This box also came with a cute mini gift guide for the Birchbox shop. What I got in the box:

Coola Tinted Matte SPF for Face- I would have loved this product even more if it just came full with the product, but it didn’t. Instead it came half-full, which made me sad, because this is already a sample so how much product was I going to get anyway?! Apart from that though, this was a fantastic product. It was smooth, silky, and lightweight, and it is also a BB cream. It has light coverage, smells softly of fruit, and I didn’t find it greasy. It was perfect because even in the winter I apply it to prevent wrinkles caused by sun damage. Loved this product, might even buy a full size.

Full Size: $36  Sample Size: $3.6  My Value: $1

Link: http://www.coolasuncare.com/mineral/sunscreen-spf-30-tint-mineral

Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy and Body Lotion-  I do enjoy this lotion, but it looks like it came from a hotel. It just looks cheap. BUT I do like the product itself and that’s what matters. It smells clean, and cucumber melon-y, though it’s supposed to smell like “relaxing sea fennel.” I don’t know what that smells like, so for all I know this could actually smell like uptight sea fennel, and I would never know 😉  It makes my hands nice and soft and is a bit greasy at first, but after it absorbs into your skin it feels great. Use it in small amounts though, too much will make your hands super oily. Nice to use, not a wower.

Full Size: $15  Sample Size: $2.53  My Value: $2

Link: http://www.gilchristsoames.com/spa-therapy-sea-fennel-body-lotion-8oz.html

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive- Any exfoliator that tingles when its on my face usually works well. This was no exception. In the bottle it smells like sunscreen, but when it’s dried on your face it does smell like apples. It was hard and messy to apply because it was really watery, but once it was on it didn’t drip. After the first few minutes my face started to tingle, and as this happened the liquid also dried making my face kind of sticky. It was worth it though because after the ten minutes, I washed it off and my face was smoother, and little brighter. This is a nice product, and it does make a difference to my skin which is the most important thing.

Full Size: $39  Sample Size: $ 5.07  My Value: $3

Link: http://www.juicebeauty.com/store/skin-care/shop-by-category/peels-and-serums/green-apple-peel-sensitive.html

Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk in Natural Tint- I never use dry shampoo, ever. I love showers too much, and so I use regular shampoo. Whenever I travel, I am in a place with running water so I shower there too. I did try this product, it just didn’t do it for me. It smells nice, it looks nice, and it works decently, I just a am not a fan of dry shampoos. Maybe I just haven’t found one that really cleanse’s and moisturizes my hair yet, I don’t know, but this just isn’t something I feel I will use.

Full Size: $19.50  Sample Size: $6.09  My Value: $0 Link: http://www.kloraneusa.com/hair-care/products/hair-care-dry-shampoo/dry-shampoo-with-oat-milk-aerosol

ModelCo Party Poof Lipstick in Get Naked- I cannot wear nude. I just don’t pull it off. If it did, I would be so excited for this product, but since I don’t, it is going to be a Christmas gift for a friend. I love the name and the packaging of this lippie, and it smells like fruit roll ups, which is a weirdly nice scent. It is a semi-matte peach nude, but is a little too orange for my skin tone, so again, I can’t wear it. It’s OK though, because it will be a perfect gift!

Full Size: $24  Sample Size: $6.66  My Value: $3 (made a great gift) Link: https://www.birchbox.com/shop/modelco-party-proof-lipstick-trio

BONUS Chuao Firecracker ChocoPod- This was delicious. To be fair I love most chocolate, but this was really good! It was bittersweet dark chocolate with crunchy crackling pop rocks and then spicy undertones of chipotle AND it was only 50 calories! So good, I might buy the sample selection on Birchbox. They have fun flavors like Pop Corn Pop, and Orange A Go GO, sounds yummy, and because it is dark chocolate I can say they are “healthy” *wink wink*.

Full Size: $1 My Value: $1  Link: https://www.birchbox.com/shop/chuao-chocolatier-assorted-chocopod

Total Math Value: $24.95  My Value: $10 How many of the products will I use/like? 4 of 6

Summary: Both mathematically and in personal value did Ipsy win this month. They had a cute bag, and introduced me to items I would never dream of buying. In terms of products I will use myself, Birchbox won marginally, probably because of their bonus item, but hey I will always “use” the chocolate! Overall, Ipsy won, and the tally stands at 1-0.

Ciao Lovelies,

~Eve