CVS Haul!!

I've been trying to cut my spending lately, so I am looking for deals. Infusium 23 is BOGOfree right now at CVS, and since I had an Infusium23 coupon and a $3 off CVS coupon that was about to expire and a 20% off coupon from an email, I figured this was the right time to use it. I also needed makeup wipes...Let's just say I got a little carried away.

• Infusium23 Repair and Renew Shampoo and Conditioner Originally $6.99 each. Buy one Get one free + $1 off coupon brought it down to $3/bottle. A little expensive compared to what I normally buy, but pretty good for a "nicer" shampoo and conditioner.
• Freeman Dead Sea Minerals Mask Originally $3.99, but had a mail in rebate tag that I will be sending in tomorrow.
• CVS Night-time Cleansing Towelettes (Compare to Pond's Evening Soothe) 30 towelettes, $4.99
• CVS Advanced Cleansing Towelettes (Compare to L'Oreal RevitaLift Radiant Smoothing Wet Cleansing Towelettes) 30 towelettes, $5.79
• CVS Exfoliating Cleansing Towelettes (Compare to Pond's Exfoliating Clean Sweep) 30 towelettes, $4.99
• Spend $15 on CVS skincare, get $5 in extrabucks, so I got 90 towelettes for $10.77. This isn't the best price ever, but I like that I got to choose three different packages, plus they all have the plastic closure instead of just a sticky label that I can never seem to seal correctly.
• Dollar Days Make Up Remover Wipes $1 These are cheap, but I had to try them. 
• Wet'n'Wild MegaShield lip color in It's a Girl normally $2.99
• Wet'n'Wild ColorIcon Blusher in Heather Silk 832E normally $2.99
• I got a coupon from the machine for BOGOfree Wet'n'Wild up to $3. I had heard great things about their blush and I had wanted to try the MegaShield lip color since I saw a display a while ago, plus I picked up the shade I wanted and it happened to have a $1 off coupon!! So, I really spent $2 for $6 worth of Wet'n'Wild.

After everything, I spent $22.84, which does not include the mail-in rebate that I will be receiving for the Freeman mask.

January 2012 Empties!!

Woohoo! Another month's worth of products have been used up! If you have any questions about any of these products, don't hesitate to comment!!!

 Yes To Blueberries Towelettes (review here)
OPI ExpertTouch Nail Wipes
Slatlkin & Co. Frosted Cranberry mini candle
Slatkin & Co. Holiday Gumdrop mini candle
Slatkin & Co. Marshmallow Fireside mini candle
OPI Coconut Melon lotion (mini)
BBW Apple Pie PocketBac
BBW S'mores PocketBac
Spa Sister Foot polish

 The Body Shop Wild Cherry Body Butter
Cranberry Maple body wash (random brand)
Nuance Antiaging Eye Cream
BBW Aromatherapy Lavender and Vanilla mini candle
BBW Blueberry Pancake PocketBac
Up&Up Women's Shave Gel in Baby Soft

 Huggies baby wipes
BBW Into the Wild Smoothing Body Scrub
Tresemme Smooth and Silky shampoo/conditioner samples
Dove Nutricream samples (?)
Dove Daily Moisture shampoo/conditioner samples
Satin Care Pure&Gentle Shave Gel (travel size)
Secret Scent Expressions Cocoa  Butter Kiss spray (travel size)
BBW Coconut Punch PocketBac
Slatkin & Co. Deck the Halls mini candle
BBW Aromatherapy Eucalyptus Spearmint mini candle (LOVE this scent!)
OPI AvoJuice Mango lotion
C.O. Bigelow Lavender&Peppermint Shampoo/Conditioner
L'Oreal Mythic Oil (sample)

January Birchbox!

I got my January Birchbox today! I'm really glad shipping wasn't an issue with this month's box, as I would have cancelled. I'm actually excited about the products in this box!

• Juicy Couture perfume: This smells quite amazing. It is fruity and floraly, but just enough to pleasant and not enough to smell like an old lady.
• Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Purple Tang YAYAYAYAYAY! I am so excited about this as I don't have any Stila liners (that I can remember, anyway) and I am just starting to use eyeliner more regularly. Purple Tang is a nice, dark purple with what appears to be pink sparkles. I LOVE SPARKLES. This is a full size item, which by itself made this box worth double what the box cost!
• 'wichcraft Granola I really do like granola (especially in yogurt!) and I am planning to throw this in my lunch bag and eat it tomorrow as part of my lunch between classes.
• BORGHESE CuraForte Moisture Intensifier I have never heard of anything like this. This product isn't a moisturizer, but something you put on (or in) your moisturizer to make it work better. This should be interesting.
• C.O. Bigelow Lavender & Peppermint Shampoo and Conditioner This smells very herbaly, which I don't normally go for. There is enough for a few uses in each of these jars, which is nice. 

There is also a Birchbox magnet, which I will stick on my roommate's fridge, like I do with all my random magnets.

Review: Yes To Blueberries Age Refresh Facial Cleansing Towelettes

I picked these up at Target a while ago as a Christmas gift, but they didn't fit in the box so I just put a few smaller things in and kept these for myself. Now, I've tried Yes to Cucumbers towelettes and I liked them. They weren't the best for removing makeup but I am learning that I am probably expecting way too much.

I was expecting a blueberry scent, but these were just musty apple scented :( They did an okay job of removing makeup and even got a little bit of my waterproof mascara off, but the smell isn't worth it. The cucumber ones smell much better and are just as effective. I definitely wouldn't repurchase these, especially since they are on the drier side of towelettes and have no texture on them, which I happen to like. They are a little pricey, too, as I got 8 for $1.99 when I could have gotten Pond's towelettes for much less.

Take that, Glowla!

So, I recently decided that my Her Name Was Glowla boxed set was too big for just the blush and eye shadow tray it contained, so I gently pried out the little pan of blush and the eye shadow. For a while I was just keeping them in a little Murad baggie I got in a sample bag, seen below. This was not convenient or safe for the eye shadows, as I almost dropped them basically every time I used them, and since they are all in the same pan it would be hard to repress them.

So, I saw the ELF Compact. It was the right size and the right price. I read somewhere (I would give credit if I could remember where--if you think you know where I read it, let me know in the comments so I can give credit where credit is due!!) that the center plastic part pops out easily, leaving the entire compact open. I simply took out the metal piece that was no longer held in my the plastic insert, and super glued those babies in. I also considered using double sided tape, but I realized I didn't have any at my house. 

They fit perfectly, leaving an extra bit in case I find something that fits in there. The compact is quite nice and opens without the popping some cheaper compacts can have. I am just so happy that I found this compact for a dollar and that my precious Benefit stuff fit inside of it. I believe these were my first higher end products and although the lip gloss, mascara and high lighters also included have since died, I love these eye shadows and the Coralista blush. 

I realize that by super gluing them in, I can't reuse the compact, but for only a buck, I don't mind, especially since it is protecting an eye shadow combination that apparently isn't available at Sephora, Ulta or the Benefit website. 

Just wanted to let you guys know easy and cheap it is to reconfigure some of the obnoxiously large boxed sets.

  

Review: NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City

This is another product I received in my Holiday VoxBox from Influenster. I don't wear a lot of lip products, even though I own quite a few.
NYC is not a new brand to me. I have been using their products off and on since elementary school, when my best friend and I discovered their Roll-On Lip Gloss (which they still sell!!) and its shiny deliciousness. We probably ended up eating half of those tubes because it tasted so good. Their products are inexpensive, but not cheap. That's what I really like about this brand. I have loved basically everything I have tried from them, and I didn't break the bank doing so.
Influenster sent me NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City. This gloss is amazing. I like it WAY better than the Philosophy gloss I spend ten dollars on (and regret...) and it retails for less than three bucks. There is no stickiness, there is no gross tell-tale "I'm a cheap lip gloss" smell, there is no embarassingly tween-ish package. While the wear time is a little low (an hour or two), they flexible doe-foot applicator is easy to use without a mirror.

Right: Sunlight Left: Indoors with Flash  

This shade looks rather orange on my inner wrist, but on my lips (and, I imagine, a wide variety of other skin tones) is the perfect my-lips-but-better shade. It is shimmery but does not leave a weird glittery film when the gloss part wears away.

For less than three dollars, you really can't go wrong. There are ten other shades if you don't like this particular one, but the formula is amazing! I definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind reapplying their gloss every few hours.

This gloss is available at Walmart, Target and a variety of drugstores. For more information on this gloss and NYC's other products, NYC New York Color's site is the best place to go. They even list the MSRP so you know about how much you're going to pay in stores. Influenster also has a product page with information and reviews.

Disclosure: I received this product at no charge for testing purposes from Influenster's Holiday VoxBox. These opinions are my own.

December Birchbox! (finally!)

I finally got my December Birchbox today. I have been waiting for almost three weeks now. They did send out a "sorry Streamlite messed up, here's 100 Birchbox points" email, which I definitely appreciated. On to the products!

• Befine Gentle Cleanser with Sugar, Mint, Oats and Rice: This smells very natural-minty and oaty. It is paraben free and the entire brand seems to believe in the "natural is better" philosophy. The consistency is VERY liquidy. I'm not quite sure how this will work for me, but I will definitely be trying this soon.
• L'Oréal Professionnel Mythic Oil: This was hard as hell to open but you apparently need only a few drops. I have a hard time using the correct amount with oils, so we'll see how this goes.
• EBoost Orange Natural Energy Booster: It's like Emergen-C but expensive? I actually really like the pink Emergen-C, so we'll see if this beats it in the flavor/texture department. I doubt I would every buy this though, since you only get 20 packets for $28, while you get 30 packets of Emergen-C for around $10. 
• Harvey Prince Yogini perfume: They finally stepped it up a notch and included a perfume sample with a spray bottle. I am so tired of perfume samples that you have to pour out instead of spray. This smells like expensive perfume-there, but not headache-inducing. 
• ShowStoppers Designer Fashion Tape: I don't really have any use for these, as none of my clothes have much potential to malfunction/accidentally show my goods. In any case, I really wish I had gotten the nude strips so I could use them with the one dress that needs a little help sometimes, which happens to be almost see through (I have to wear nude undies/bras with it).
• Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss in Birchbox Pink: I really like the treatment that was included in a previous Birchbox, but I am less impressed with this sample. It smells like cheap lip gloss and it doesn't feel as nice as the lip treatment.