Glossy Box, Birch Box, Beauty Box

With so many beauty and skincare products out there, who knows what to try? I'm an avid user of MakeupAlley.com where people post reviews about products, but reading reviews can only go so far. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and try the products itself.

I've signed up for Birch Box before, where it's $10 a month per subscription. In the box is usually about 4-5 products ranging from nail polish to lipstick to skincare to haircare. Basically any beauty item. I had a subscription for several months before I just realized that I just didn't care for any of the selected items each month. It was kind of disappointing to be honest, even at a mere $10 loss. I could put that money toward food, you know?

Until last month, I wasn't ready to try any more beauty box subscriptions, but Glossybox kept enticing me with deluxe samples of products from lines I genuinely really wanted to try. So I signed up. At $21 a month, it's not as easy to drop money as it was for Birch Box, but the samples are bigger and I found that a lot of the brands were familiar.

Glossy Box shoots you an email when it's about to be shipped and provides you with a tracking number. They ship via USPS and the box came within 3-5 days for me.

In March's box were five items (there are always five):

1. Sisley Paris Black Rose Cream Mask (0.38oz, full size 2.1oz at $158)
2. nails inc. Baker Street Nail Polish (0.13oz, full size 0.34 at $9.50)
3. Alex and Ani Scent 7 Body Mist (3.4 oz at $18, full size included in box)
4. Alex and Ani Swan Charm Bangle (priced at $28)
5. Alterna Professional Haircare BAMBOO Luminous Shine Mist (full size 4oz at $24.00)
6. Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush in Marshmallow Pink (full size $20)

I've only been able to try the body mist, the nail polish, and the lip blush; of those, I only liked the nail polish out of all of them. The mist has sort of a strong and masculine scent that's hard for me to wear since I prefer more lighter and floral scents, so I don't think one will be a keeper. The lip blush is extreme baby pink, which is a shade that is very difficult for me to wear. I tend to gravitate towards more natural lip tones or reds, but never light pinks, so that will likely be tossed as well.

The bangle is a nice gift, and itself pays for the entirety of the box if you think of it that way, but silver tones do not flatter my skin tone as much as gold does, but I'll probably keep it and wear it out from time to time.

All in all though, I think I'd probably try out one or two more months of GlossyBox before I make the decision to cease my subscription. I've seen pretty good boxes previously so I'm holding out hope.

What beauty boxes have you tried, if any?

Lip Madness

Guys, I just came home from a long 8 hour shift and my make up still looks like this. MY LIPSTICK IS STILL ALMOST PERFECT!!!! Excuse the grainy, low quality photo. Its late, I'm tired, and not all bloggers can spend all their time on making their blog look professional.

So lets keep it real ya'll. My attention span is short so I can never watch vlogs or look at long, complicated make up routines. I don't wear a lot of make up but I love lipstick. So here are my lip obsessions.

October

top: wafy // bottoms: cynthia rowley x tjmaxx // flats: steve madden x nordstrom rack

For me, shopping now only consists of two questions , "Is this work appropriate?" and "Will I care if this gets ruined by grease and salsa stains?" It makes for a pretty bland wardrobe, but it's nice when I find things that easily integrate into my daily style and work style. These ankle length (regular length on me) pants are from TJ Maxx and it seems like there's always a constant rotation of different styles and colors instore. I wish they were more tapered in the knee area, but for $25 bucks, I'll take it. If you need affordable work clothing and live near a TJ's, check it regularly! I've been noticing a lot of brands like James Perse, Lucky Brand, Cloth & Stone, etc recently too!