April 2012 Birchbox: Love it!

Ladies, I am really happy about this month's Birchbox! I think next month's might be my last, but this box has seriously made me consider re-upping my subscription.  The theme is "Natural Wonders," and as you can probably tell by my blog mini-facelift and recent FOTD post, I'm trying to convert more of my routine to vegan/cruelty-free products (of course, these aren't necessarily one and the same; OPI and MAC, for example, have vegan products in their lines but are technically NOT cruelty-free because their parent companies test on animals.  But I'm not here to moralize, so... moving on).  This is partly inspired by the fact that my husband and I want to try to have a kid so I've already had to quit caffeine and alcohol for the time being. I also need to avoid phthalates (in a lot of fragrances) and other iffy ingredients, so I thought it might be time to give away some of my stash and seek out replacements.

Well, this month's Birchbox fortunately has nailed that theme! The timing couldn't be better.
Contents:
Befine Exfoliating Cleanser and SPF15 Daily Moisturizer packets - "single serving"
I'm intrigued to try this skincare because of their "No animal testing whatsoever" statement.  Individual packets like this keep the samples fresh and are nice to have for travelling, too.

Lulu Organics Lavender Hair Powder -
In the beauty blogging-and-Youtube world, powder shampoos have been raved about for the past year or so.  I have quite short hair so I didn't want to invest in a bottle to try it out because I can often go a couple days without a wash without having any oil issues, but this little sample is the perfect size to give the trend a whirl.

Wonderstruck Taylor Swift -
This is the only dud in the box for me at the moment, because I'm concerned about phthalates and companies that are cruelty-free... and I don't know if the company that makes this tests on animals or not.  I'll have to look into it.

Zoya TRUE Spring Collection - Bevin
I've never met anybody named Bevin.  In fact, I'd never have heard of this name at all if it weren't for Flight of the Conchords (45-second mark):

 The manager, Bevin, starts to abuse me. Hey, man, I just want some Muesli.

Everytime I wear this Formaldehyde, Toluene, and DBP-free vegan polish, I'm going to think of these funny Kiwis <3
I thought Bevin might be a dupe for OPI Mermaid's Tears.  A nail swatch shows they aren't identical, but... close enough for me to feel comfortable donating my OPI shade to my sister.

Left: Mermaid's Tears, Right: Bevin

Honestly, I'd be pleased as punch if Birchbox just sent me a mini Zoya polish every month... y'hear that, Zoya and Birchbox?

The Beauty Extra is Yes to Blueberries Facial Cleansing Towelettes.  I love my face wipes!  Plus, these are cruelty-free and vegan (of course. Most of the Yes to... line is vegan <3)  I didn't much care for their Cucumber ones because the scent was so strong, but I have some hopes for these. I wasn't going to shell out to try them because of disliking the Cucumber ones and now I can try without paying :)

Any birchbox twins out there?

December 2011 Birchbox, plus Cupcakes and Snowmen

My husband and I had a little gift-exchange date last night, and he couldn't even wrap my present... because it is a Cupcake Ottoman!

I think I'll use it to store makeup... of course!
This month I keep posting up photos of cupcakes and snowmen (in spite of the utter lack of snow... very odd for December in Michigan), so here's another: my breakfast today

Krispy Kreme... my weakness.  It was mochi-mochi and super-delicious!

And since I know we all love spying into each others' beauty subscription boxes, here's my December Birchbox.  The box is a little different as it's printed with snowflakes.

I've seen this exact box all over the interwebs. 

I like the "Ageless" perfume - it smells nicely of grapefruit and I like the artwork on its accompanying card.  The name of it makes me cringe, though.  Even if the bottle were pretty, which it's not, I'd be embarrassed to have the bottle out on my vanity screaming, "I want to be perceived as younger than I am! Please think I'm 21, PLEASE?" Blech.

In spite of my disappointment in the blinc mascara (review here), I'm looking forward to trying the blinc eyeliner.  That's why I got the birchbox subscription - to play!

I think it's really cool there is a jouer birchbox-exclusive shade of fuchsia gloss. It's also tiny so I'll probably actually use up a lippie for once!

ShowStoppers are double-stick tape to ensure you don't have a wardrobe malfunction... they could actually render the black column dress I have wearable. Now I just need to get the husband to take me on another holiday date (more swanky than Red Robin this time, perhaps?).

Benefit The POREfessional primer - I have another sample of this unopened somewhere. I really ought to give it a try already!  Some of my fave bloggers (i.e. Gaby and Vivianna) use it  (:

EBoost drink mix - I guess I'll try it but I usually like to get my vitamins from whole foods or Whole Foods (Deva/VegLife).

Not a bad birchbox, but kinda forgettable in my humblest.  I think for the holidays it would have been wise to pull out all the stops and throw in a full-size makeup item.  Wish I could get a GlamBox...

November 2011 Birchbox

Wow, I am on fire with posting today! I think I'm feeling motivated by the giveaway, lol.

Atelier Cologne in Orange Sanguine Cologne Absolue - It's a nice touch that they packaged it in the waxed paper with a postcard (as opposed to the usual little throw-it-away-instantly card), but I just don't do stoppered perfume samples. Yawn.  It may smell good, but I'm just not a dabber, I'm a spritzer! It'll probably wind up freshening my wastebasket, yo. 

Borghese Fango Delicate Active Mud for Delicate Dry Skin - I've had a sample of this before and it's a pretty nice mud mask, but not something with results so drastic I feel the urge to buy it.

Supersmile Professional Whitening Toothpaste - I just used up a sample of this and didn't see any results.  I wouldn't expect to from a sample-size anyway, so I'm not condemning the product.  But I would never pay $21 for a toothpaste! Srsly?

Zoya Nail Polish in Noel - Yay! They can send me all the Zoya nail polishes they want <3 I was going to go with Orly Gumdrop on my toes tonight, but I'm going to do this (decidedly Hanukkah-esque silvered blue) instead!

Treat - Two Paper Dolls Ampersand Coasters. Well, I am a fan of the humble ampersand. I probably ought to use coasters more than I usually do, too.  I like this treat (way better than a crummy-looking hairband for a girl with little hair!).

In My Mailbox Today: October 2011 Jewelmint Pick and Birchbox

Happy Friday, girlies <3 I love the feeling of possibilities the coming weekend brings!  As if Friday isn't inherently fab enough, I came home to all the dishwashing finished by the husband (SCORE!), and I was also met with the following selections:

First off, the Jewelmint piece I chose this month is the Desert Rose Necklace.  It's beautiful mesh (like the Love that Binds bracelet, which I had to return because its clasp broke :*( sad) with pave rhinestones and a pink (resin?) stone on both ends.  It is lariat-style so you can kind of tie it on in a few configurations.  After the fact I saw in my Jewelmint "Showroom" that it's also the piece that supports BCA (breast cancer awareness) this month!  In honor of Jewelmint's 1-year anniversary they also sent out a $5 coupon code (though they are always giving out $5 coupon codes), so I say if you picked out some other piece for your monthly subscription you ought to snap up this one as well for charity and because it's beautiful, hefty, and appears expensive (what you expect, but don't always get, from Jewelmint pieces).

In my October Birchbox, I got amika Obliphica hair treatment (which does smell lovely and will be the perfect replacement for my third Ojon Restorative hair serum sample when it runs out), Anastasia Beverly Hills Hydrafull Gloss in Bellini (I am so thrilled I got this after seeing Bloomin' Beauty's Danielle got it and it looks PERFECT on her!), Clark's Botanicals Intense Radiance Mask (I love trying masks and have enjoyed every one from a Birchbox so far -- this one is "The solution to dull, congested skin.  This white clay mask detoxifies pores, conquers blemishes, and even calms irritations." Just what I need right now!  Though the $72 cost of the full-size is likely to deter me from purchasing it), Laura Geller Spackle Tinted Under Makeup Primer in Bronze (sounds like the sample of Too Faced Primed and Poreless in Bronze I got earlier this year... not likely to see much use by me, TBH), and The Laundress Wool & Cashmere Shampoo (which is pretty funny because my wardrobe is completely vegan, so no wool in sight!).

I'm pretty psyched about all these treats! What a great month for Jewelmint (I had a really tough time choosing my piece as I also liked a bunch of others... I think I'll share in the next post <3), and a wonderful Birchbox as well!

In my mailbox today: Stila Hearts Roxy Palette and September Birchbox

The Stila Palette is more for collection purposes than colors, but I'm interested to try the Incoco polish (I got plain silver glitter) to compare it to the Sally Hansen strips, and the lash card because I often get little flicks of mascara around my eyes.  I've been wanting to try the blinc tube mascara for years!   The little jouer tube is a lip conditioner.  The Flirt perfume smells nice but it's awfully pricey so I doubt I'll buy the full-size.