September Subscription Battle- Ipsy vs Birchbox

I've decided to start a series (is that the right word I'm looking for?)  where I'll compare my monthly subscription services.

Right now I currently am receiving Ipsy and Birchbox. I'm wanting to join another subscription but am torn on which on to join. 

SO many choices. 

Normally I receive my Ipsy bag before my Birchbox but for the month of September it was opposite. I got my Birchbox during the second week of the month, while Ipsy just showed up a couple days ago.  I try not to look and see when they will be coming so it's a kind of sorta surprise. Nothing beats having a blah day and than seeing a pink box or bag in your mailbox.

September's Birchbox theme is Heritage

 It included 5 items- 4 deluxe samples and one full size item.

•  Beauty Protector - Protect and Shampoo    
• Sweet, sugary coconut smell. Sulfate free. Paraben free.Vegan. Love that it's in a bottle not a foil packet.                                            
• Deluxe sample = 1.5 oz
•  Full size = 8 oz for $21.95 
• Sample value= $ 4.12
• Beauty Protector- Protect and Condition
• Sweet, sugary coconut smell. Sulfate free. Paraben free.Vegan. Love that it's in a bottle not a foil packet.   
• Deluxe sample = 1.5 oz
•  Full size = 8 oz for $21.95 
• Sample value = $ 4.12
• Dr. Jart+ - Premium Beauty Balm
• Love Dr. Jart+ Beauty Balms. Nice coverage. Brightens complexion. Contains higher SPF (45) than Dr. Jart+ original Beauty Balm.
  
• Deluxe sample = 0.17 oz
• Full size =  1.5 oz for $39.00
• Sample value = $4.42
• Dr. Lipp - Original Nipple Balm for Lips
• 100% natural. Hypoallergenic. Odorless. Super thick and ultra moisturizing. Can be used on skin as well as lips.
  
• Deluxe sample = 3 ml
• Full size = 15 ml for $14.50
• Sample value = $2.90
•  Ruffian - Nail Lacquer in Foxhunt ( Pumpkin Orange with Gold Shimmer)
• Nice color. Perfect for fall. Not a fan of the packaging. Have yet to try it so no word on the lasting power
• Full size = 5 ml for $10
• Sample value = $10

Birchbox total value= $25.55 

 Overall this month's box was good. I can honestly say I will be able to use all of the items included. Normally there is an item I won't get use out of but this is not the case! 

September's Ipsy theme is Classic Beauty

It included 5 items (3 of the same ) - 1 deluxe sample and 6 full size items.

• Elizabeth Mott - It's So Big Volumizing Mascara 
• I always enjoy trying out new mascaras. The brush is nice and full with a curve in the middle. Have yet to review it but I'll let you know!
• Sample size = 4 ml
• Full size = 10 ml for $19.99
• Sample value = $7.96
• Starlooks - Kohl Eye Pencil in Obsidian (Black)
• A nice black kohl liner. The color payoff is there but the staying power is not. I would recommend topping with a matte black shadow but for the price there are better liners.
• Full size = 2.4g for $12.00
• Sample value = $12.00
• J.Cat Beauty - Fantabulous Lipstick in Honeycrisp  
• Color is horrible. Too yellow and not flattering AT ALL. The formula is borderline okay. Nothing amazing. Packaging is cheap. Do not recommend. 
• Fullsize = 3g for $2.49
• Sample value = $2.49 
•  NYX - Eyeshadow in Cryptonite ( Charcoal Gray with Silver Shimmer)
• Love me some NYX eyeshadows. Pretty color. Not as dark as in packaging. Velvety and blendable. 
• Full size = 2.4g for $4.50
• Sample value = $4.50
• Freedman Beauty - Facial Paper Mask in Rose (Brightening), Starfruit (Purifying) & Blue Agave (Hydrating) 
• I'm a fan of Freeman Beauty and have tried their traditional masks but have yet to try the paper masks. I'm excited! 
• Full size = 1 mask for $1.99
• Sample value = $5.97

Ipsy total value = $32.92

Overall I'm happy with this months bag. Almost everything was full-sized and lots of makeup to play with.  Don't think I'll use the lipstick at all. The eyeliner is nice but without the staying power I doubt I'll reach for it often, if ever. 

 

Bottom line-

While you get more bang for your buck with Ipsy, Birchbox gives you higher quality products. You get more makeup with Ipsy but the colors and/or quality are not the greatest. 

If we're judging just on price and sample sizes than Ipsy wins hands-down. If we're going off of quality and usability than we have to give it to Birchbox.

I call a tie.

Who do you think won?

What is your favorite monthly subscription service?

XOXO

Thanks for reading,

Love, Elle

I was gone for a minute but now I'm back......hopefully

Crazy couldn't even begin to explain how these last couple of months have been. 

Every time I think life will calm down and I can get back into my routine of 

blogging, vlogging and maintaining my etsy store,

I am wrong. Way wrong.

In the last couple months I've:

Made 2 separate trips to California, staying over a month there in total;

had my nephew visit for a couple weeks;

got in a car accident;

had my dad visit for a week;

 lost my husband's grandma;

started rehab for my injuries from the car accident;

and have gotten sick.

I am hoping that I can finally start blogging regularly. 

I want to say I'll put a vlog up soon but with my luck....I think I'll just take baby steps.

HauteLook's Summer Beauty Bag

It's that time of year again when HauteLook rolls out their beauty bag. 

This bag's theme is all Summer! 

For $20 you will get a variety of beauty essentials that I am sure you will love. 

The bag is currently available now and ends Monday at 8 am.

Be sure to pick up your bag while you still can.

http://www.hautelook.com/short/3KAo3

 Love, Elle

Youtube Channel!

I officially started my Youtube Channel and my first video is up.

Yikes!

I decided to do May Favorites so please check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUpNJUxBfsc

XOXO

Rachelle

Hautelook's Spring Beauty Bag

I'm a sucker for beauty bags. It is perhaps my number one weakness. I love paying a certain amount of money and getting to try things I normally would have never tried. So it's no surprise when I heard that Hautelook was having a beauty bag for spring, I had to get it. Like all Hautelook items it was released at 8 am PST and I bought mine within the hour. Actually I woke up early (for me) just to buy the bag. I have issues, I know. The bag was $25, which is more than other monthly subscription services but it was easily worth it. 

Everything arrived in this plastic, navy and white striped makeup bag. I love that the bag is large enough to fit all the makeup I would take with me on a trip, and that it's completely wipe-able. I don't know why but something always spills or breaks.

Let's start with the makeup!

 Lorac Multiplex 3D Lashes. 

 Can't go wrong with a full size makeup item.  
I've tried this before awhile ago but don't remember what I thought of it but I've seen only good reviews.
Full size = $22

 Lorac Eyeshadow in Celebutante.

Left-Inside Lighting Right- Sunlight

Yay, Another full size makeup product.
 It' a pretty metallic teal shade, that was broken when I opened it. 
I've read many people had broken shadows or blushes which is a major bummer. 
 Full size = $19

 NYX Round Lipstick in Shiva.

It's a deep, bright blue-based frosty fuchsia shade. 
It's not 100% opaque but is easily buildable.  I personally like it more sheered out.
Full size= $3.99

Crown Brush C433 Pro Blending Fluff

I've heard great things about crown brushes so I'm excited to give this a go. 
 It's an almost identical dupe for the Sigma E25 and the MAC 217 but at a way more reasonable price.

Cost = $5.49 

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Demolition

I love these pencils and I didn't have this shade before. Score!  
A perfect, dark brown liner for spring and summer.
 Full size = $19 or get a pack or 3 travel size = $19

Laura Geller Mini Blush-n-Brighten in Berry.

 It's a baked, marbleized blush with shades of pink, berry, cream, gold.
 It has a gorgeous shimmer that brightens the face and works on different skin tones.  
It's a "mini" at 0.06 oz but this will last a long time.

Full size = $31 

The last makeup item was a trio of Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer  

The shades are pink, shimmer, rose gold shimmer, and bronze shimmer.
  Unfortunately they come in those annoying foil packets.
 I also couldn't find them for sale anywhere, which is really weird.

Full size= $20 ?  Trio= $20 ?

Suki Skincare Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser.

   Oh em gee. This stuff is amazing!
 It's 100% vegan, smells like heaven and can be used in three ways.
 And the best part was it's full size. 
I'll do a separate blog post on this since I can go on forever about this. 

Full size = $32.95

 5 pack of LA Fresh Eco-Beauty Wipes .

I got the following wipes-
 Waterproof Makeup Remover, Oil-Free Face Cleanser, Oil-Free Face Cleanser (fragrance free), Anti- Aging Face Cleanser, and Instant Body Smoother.   
All the wipes are 100% biodegradable and smell yummy.

 These wipes are perfect to toss in your bag when you're in a rush. 

Price ranges.

The last sample is Jessica Simpson Vintage Bloom Fragrance sample.  

All the other samples were  really good and I felt like they just tossed this in as an after thought. 
It smells nice but will just get lost in my sample perfume box.

3.4 Fl Oz= $65

Also tossed in the bag were a bunch a coupons. 20% off Nyx, 10% off Lorac, 15% off Laura Geller. 
It also included a $50 gift card for www.smilesavers.com

    

 

 

All and all I think the Beauty bag was worth the price. It included several full size items, and introduced me to a new favorite.  I would recommend the Hautelook beauty bag to everyone.  I can't wait until for the next beauty bag to be released.


XOXO 
Rachelle

  

 

Total Beauty Collection- Revlon Edition

A few weeks back a friend of mine Kim, Ms. Kimi Kiwi shared that Total beauty had partnered with Revlon for the first ever full size and single brand Collection. The collection included 4 full size items from Revlons 2013 Spring line. And it was only $15 with free shipping!!! How could I pass it up? I actually got the collection for 13.50 after saving 10% with a coupon code. Gotta love coupons. The shipping was insanely fast to, I place my order and with in a week it was at my front door (well technically it was at the mail box, but you get the idea). 

So here it is-   
The Total Beauty Collection-  Revlon Edition


Color Burst Lip Butter in Pink Lemonade and Sorbet

Pink Lemonade (left) and Sorbet (right)

Pink Lemonade (left) and Sorbet (right)

Pink Lemonade is a pretty baby pink shade, that offers a slight wash of color to my lips. Normally when I wear my lip butters,I put a couple layer but for this shade it is not the case. I find I don't really like color or the frostiness, Pink Lemonade gives off, the more you apply. I think this color would look way better on my fair skin friends.

Sorbet is the perfect bright but not so bright pink shade that anyone could pull off. 

It's way more pigmented than Pink Lemonade, and only gets more brighter the more you put on. 

I love this shade!

Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eye Shadow Quad in Sea Mist 

Top Row-Peach and Teal Bottom Row- Aubergine and Emerald

This is my first ColorStay quad from Revlon, kinda hard to believe.  The formula wasn't amazing but it wasn't bad at all. The pigmentation is decent but I recommend wearing them on top of an eyeshadow primer for more pay off.  

The quad included the shades-

Peach- a satin peach shade. makes a good inner corner and brow bone highlight.

Teal- a satin light blue shade. Probably my least favorite in the quad.  

Aubergine- a satin deep plum shade. Love it smudged as a liner or the outer corner.

Emerald- a satin deep hunter green color with a slight hint of blue.

Left to Right- Peach, Teal, Aubergine, and Emerald. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over Urban Decay Primer Potion

 

Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel in Tradewinds

 

A lovely nude to add to my collection. Haven't tried it yet so I'm not sure how long it will last but I've only heard good things. Besides who doesn't need a nude nail polish?

All and all the Total Beauty Collection- Revlon Edition was worth every penny. I highly reccomend picking on up while you still can. You can find them here  and be sure to use the coupon code 'woot" when checking out. 

What do you think of Revlons new Spring collection?

Love, Elle 

Flower Cosmetics

Since I don't live close to a Walmart it took me awhile to get my hands on Drew Berrymore's new makeup line, Flower.  I had tried to get a couple products when it was just released but just my luck the Walmart I went to hadn't put up the display yet. They had a couple items out but nothing I really wanted to try. Fast forward another month or so I was finally able to get my hands on some products. So here it finally is my review and thoughts on Flower =)

Lately I've been all about lips, so the first thing I gravitated for were the lip products.  The line had about 5 or 6 different items and everything was around 7 dollars. There were glosses, lip butters, lip tints (it was in a chubby pencil form), 2 types of lipsticks- a velvet finish and a high shine.

   I ended up picking out a high shine lipstick or "Kiss Stick" in the shade Coral Floret. The shade is perfect for Spring and Summer.

 

The formula is nice. It richly pigmented but a little dry. It's not as high shine as it appears in the swatch and it's not exactly super moisturizing.

 

 The packaging is very nice and pretty to look at.  All the lipsticks had the rose gold on them, but only the high shine lipsticks were black. All the others were either white and rose gold or clear and rose gold.  I originally was going to try a lip butter but the packaging was rather bulky and unattractive so I passed.

 (I forgot to take a picture of the eyeshadow quad from the front- blogging noob faiiure)

There were a ton of mascara choices, so many in fact that I couldn't choose one and now I regret it.  The line also had two types of liners, some eye shadow quads and some creme shadows. I passed on the creme shadows since I've come to find creme shadows are always a hit or miss. I instead picked up one of the shadow quads. There were only four to choose from and since they were $10 each, I only grabbed one called Face The Grey. 

 The formula of the shadows is okay. I definitely like the matte shades a lot more than the two shimmer shades. Both of the shimmer shades were extremely powdery, with out some sort of base the shadows would not stay. They also have quite a bit of glitter. The formula for the matte shades is completely different and I love them. They are a buttery and blend out effortlessly.

Swatched over Urban Decay Primer Potion

 The packaging is really cute. It just like the same size and shape as the blush/bronzer duo below. It's white and has a pretty rose gold trim. The top of the quad is clear plastic that is pillowed or quilted, it's not completely flat but still allows you to stack them since it's not entirely rounded. It also has a magnet so it opens easily yet securely closes.

There were plenty of skin products to choose from: bb cremes, tinted moisturizers, foundations, foundation sticks, different types of concealers and powders. Unfortunately the only blushes came in a duo with a bronzer or in a creme formula. I ended up grabbing a blush/bronzer duo called Ready,Set,Glow in the shade Beachy Keen. It was $10.

 

 It's the lightest of the 4 duos available and seemed the most wearable in the store.  

 The blush is a pretty light pink color that would be totally wearable except that it has tons of gold glitter. I honestly don't mind if there is a little bit of glitter in a blush, but that's not the case here. The gold glitter is to way noticable and not in a good way. Formula wise, it's a bit powdery and reminded me of the glittery/shimmer shadows. The color tends to disappear while the glitter stays on your face.

 The bronzer on the other hand has a nicer formula.  It's velvety and has a nice color pay off.  It is definitely has a sheen to it, that I don't entirely mind.  It's a bit orange but more golden than anything. It really gave my skin a sun kissed looked, even though I haven t seen the sun in forever.  

 Final Thoughts

• Overall very I'm intrigued by this line. 
• They don't test on animals and all the products are made here in the USA. 
• The packaging is super cute!
• Lipstick was very nice and I would buy more.
• I wish they had individual eyeshadows
• And individual blushes
• Somethings were over priced
• Eyeshadow quad was not worth $10
• neither was the blush/bronzer duo

Rachelle   

And so it begins....

I'm sort of kinda horrible at this whole blogging thing. Who ever said blogging was  easy obviously never blogged before. Blogging is hard work, but it's very rewarding. My problem is I have a tendency to over think things, so I'll start a blog post and never finish it. That and I'm so easily distracted. It's like, "oohhhh.....something shiny". Even though it's not New Years, I'm starting a resolution to start blogging more. I heard somewhere before that if you can keep with something for 3 weeks, it becomes a habit.My problem is I never stick with something continuously for 3 weeks. Well until now;I can do it!
And I'm not just talking blogging, I'm talking about life in general. No more procrastinations and no more excuses. I mean honestly, I'm the only person holding myself back. I'm hoping putting this on the interwebs will give me some sort of motivation to put my butt in gear. 
So here I go...... well starting tomorrow when I wake up.
=) 

Not Your Mother's

Hey all!

Sorry I've been super busy but I just wanted to stop by and say hello. 

These past couple weeks have been super busy but I have a bunch of new blogs I want to put up this week.  Yay for shopping trips =)

Anyways I just want to share that I found perhaps my holy grail of dry shampoos. 

Ever since moving to Portland, my hair has been rather frustrating due to the soft water and all the humidity. It's a curly haired girls nightmare. Since I don't like to wash my hair more than a couple times a week, I've been using more and more dry shampoo.  The problem is most tend to leave that annoying white residue even after I brush it out.  And gray roots are not cute. I received a Not Your Mother's She's a Tease hair spray in my SweetHeart Influenster Voxbox and was pleasently surprised.

I did a little research on the brand and saw they had a dry shampoo so I went and picked it up.

 Oh Em Gee.

The hairspray was nice but that dry shampoo is blog worthy.  I highly recommend it to any girls out there who are looking for a dry shampoo. I know I will be using more it now that it is beginning to get warmer (hopefully) and my hair will get oilier.

Until next time!

XOXO

Love, Elle

Riteaid Revlon Lippies Mini Haul

Last week Riteaid was having an amazing deal on  Revlon lip products. They were on sale for $4.99. I took this as the perfect opportunity to pick up some products in colors I didn't already own. Did I mention I LOVE Revlon lippies?

Yay mini haul!

I've kind of been obsessed with the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain for awhile now. I actually think I bought my first one last Spring when we came up to Portland before we moved here. Basically they are a moisturizing balm that stains your lips. Some colors have more staying power than others but I'll put up another post on them, and the ones I have soon.

The colors I got were 045 Romantic, a deeper orange-y red that leaves a nice tint on the lips, not exactly bright but not dark either . I also got 025 Sweetheart, a brighter bubble gum pink shade.

 Before I was obsessed with the lip balm stains I was obsessed with the Colorburst Lip Butters. They are super moisturizing, and glide on like butter. Some shades are super pigmented while    I own quiet a few already but don't own all of them so I grabbed the ones I had my eyes on for awhile.

The first was 060 Gumdrop, a pretty light purple shade perfect for spring. It's not the most pigmented but it's a pretty way to wear purple. The next shade was 065 Cremesicle, a creamy nude shade. It's not my favorite but it's a nice nude shade. The last shade 075 Lollipop is one I've been wanting to get but always seemed to forget about it when I was at the store. It's my favorite shade of pink to wear, deep but bright. It reminds be of the lip balm stain in the shade Smitten, which I wear all the time. It's the most pigmented of the group and like all lipbutter you can build it up to the desired intensity.

  Next I grabbed a couple of the Colorburst lipglosses. I only had one of these before but I liked the formula and heard good things. Both of the shades are super pigmented and not sticky at all. They do have tons of a fine shimmer but not in a bad way. The first shade 006 Strawberry is a pretty, wearable pinky-red with silver shimmers. The second shade is 008 Peony, a peachy pink shade with gold shimmer. Overall I really like them so far.

 Lastly I got some of the new ColorStay Ultimate Suede lipsticks. I already owned one but haven't really had a chance to wear it since my lips have been dry due to the weather. They are not drying but tend to show any cracks in your lips, being they are basically matte. I got the shades 045 Supermodel, a buildable wine shade, and 075 Cruise Collection, a brighter orange. The second shade is definately more suitable for spring.

So that's it, my first blog haul! 

Love, Elle