Beauty Box 5 - August 2014

As I mentioned in my Allure Sample Society post, I decided that instead of upgrading to a quarterly subscription of Beauty Box 5 I would try out Sample Society in August along with my BB5 and Ipsy subscriptions and then choose one of them to cancel for September.  I really enjoyed my Allure Sample Society box, so while this wasn't necessarily a bad month with Beauty Box 5 I do think I'm going to cancel my subscription for the time being.  That said, I still need to show you what was in my August box.

I only knew what the one spoiler item was in my box, and that was the full size .22 fl oz Nanacoco Lipgloss in Carmel Latte.  I've never heard of Nanacoco before and am not sure where to find these glosses in retail stores, but did see a couple of online retailers when I searched in Google, including Amazon.  The Carmel Latte shade I received is a very neutral brownish nude shade.  These glosses retail for $3.99.

The second item in my box was a Style Essentials Nail Polish from their Touch of Teal Collection.  This polish comes in a 4-pack and the only place I found it was on Beauty Box 5's website.  There is no specific color name attached to this polish, but it seems to be kind of a holographic teal glitter in a clear base.  I love getting nail polish in my subscription boxes, so my only complaint about this would be the lack of color name.  The 4 pack of polishes retail for $7.00 which makes this single polish worth $1.75.

Next up was the La Fresh Travel Lite Facial Cleansing Wipes.  I've seen these given out in other subscription boxes before but never received them myself so this is a new to me product.  The wipes contain Vitamin E, aloe, and cucumber and say they are gentle enough for all skin types.  I use wipes like this all the time when removing my makeup so I'm happy to receive more.  This travel size packet of 8 wipes retails on La Fresh's website for $2.49.

The Fourth item in my box was the Roux Anti-Aging Hair Serum Leave in Treatment in a full size 4 fl oz container.  The BB5 card lists the serum as having vitamins A & E, biotin, keratin, and UV filters.  I'm interested to try this against my It's a 10 Miracle Leave in Treatment with Keratin and see how it compares to that.  It is certainly less expensive than the It's a 10 and retails for $11.99.

Finally I received a Pur~lisse pur~protect Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30.  I received this exact product in my July Ipsy bag.  I've used that sample a few times and it works fine as a moisturizing sunscreen so I'm okay with getting another sample of it, just not too exciting to get a dupe which is one of the reasons I don't want to keep all 3 of my current susbcription boxes.  After trying my Ipsy sample I also can't see myself repurchasing this as the 1.7 oz full size is $55, and I didn't notice anything about it that made it worth that much money to me.  The  .5 oz sample in my box is worth $16.17.  

The overall value of this months Beauty Box 5 was $36.39.  Not a bad box at all, though I did notice as I was unboxing it that several of the products were quite dirty and dusty.  Nothing looked to be opened or used, it was just kind of gross to pull out dirty items.  As I mentioned above I have decided to cancel BB5 for now though, it just isn't in the budget right now to get 3 boxes every single month, plus that increases the chances of duplicate products.  I decided to stick with Allure Sample Society also because it's more high end products and I think I won't end up with many similarities to the products in my Ipsy bag.  I will keep an eye on other unboxings of BB5 though and may subscribe again in the future.  If you would like to subscribe to Beauty Box 5 yourself you can do so on their website, it's $12 a month for a monthly subscription, but the prices go down if you purchase a quarterly or annual subscription.  Right now if you subscribe by August 21st you can still get August's box, which is a change to their usual policy of having to be signed up by the end of the previous month.  I did unbox this on my Makeup Miscellaneous YouTube Channel.  I've also embedded the video below.

Ipsy July 2014

My July Ipsy bag arrived yesterday!  July's theme is Sensationally Sunkissed and as with the past few months there was a ton of variety in the spoilers.  Of course I couldn't resist looking at my Glam Room so I knew what products I was getting before I received my bag.  My only disappointment was that given the items in the spoilers there were 3 possibilities to get nail polish this month and I didn't get any of them despite having nail polish checked off on my Ipsy profile.  That said I didn't get anything I dislike either, so onto the bag...

The first item in my bag was the Bare Minerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow.  This is a new item from Bare Minerals, and while I think the whole "BB" everything trend is getting out of control, I was happy to get this since I've just started trying out creme shadows and am really liking them.  This also has SPF 15, which is a nice addition since I typically don't put my SPF moisturizer on my eyelids.  The color I received is Divine Wine and it is a dark taupey brown color.  This seems a bit dark for me for a full lid color but could work okay for a simple one color look.  This also feels very much like a fall color to me, and I've been doing lots of pinks & light shimmery golds for daytime summer eyes this season.  I'll probably try it out and then put it away until fall.  This is a .03 oz sample size worth $5.40.

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Next I received the Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry.  I own sample sizes of Benefits Lollitint and Posietint and really like them (in fact I have a review of the Lollitint all written up and just waiting for pictures) so I'm hoping I'll end up liking this brands version just as much.  Color wise I'm not sure it's right for my skin tone but it did seem to sheer out quite a bit as a swatch so I'll have to play around with it.  This is a full sized product worth $22.99

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The third item in my bag was the Faith Aromatherapy Citrus-Ginger Anti-Oxidant Body Lotion.  The name is definitely an accurate description of the scent of this lotion and it smells very strongly of ginger.  I prefer my lotions unscented, so I'm not sure about the scent of this but when I tried a small amount it absorbed really quickly and left my hands feeling soft but not at all greasy.  Since it worked so well I'll have to keep using it to see if I can deal with the scent.  I went to their website in hopes of buying a different scent with the Ipsy discount code but unfortunately this is the only scent in this lotion.  If you like a spicy ginger scent with a hint of citrus though I would recommend this.  This came in a 1 oz sample size which is worth $2.11.

I also received a full sized POP Beauty Sunkissed Bronzer in Secret Sunshine.  I am fair skinned and  used to think bronzer wouldn't work for me, but when I started using Bare Minerals my starter kit came with a small size of their Warmth bronzer, which made me realize that when applied lightly even fair skin can use bronzer. Currently I've been using Wet n' Wild's Color Icon bronzer in Ticket to Brazil and this POP Beauty Bronzer is similar in tone but with a slight shimmer that the Wet n' Wild doesn't have so I think it will make a great summer bronzer with the shimmer. The POP Beauty website also suggests using this as an eyeshadow. This .25 oz bronzer is worth $10.00.

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Finally in my bag was the Pur~lisse pur~protect Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30.  I swatched this on my hand. and it's a very smooth untinted lotion and has a slight sunscreen smell but no other noticeable sent.  I use a moisturizer with SPF on my face daily before applying my makeup so I'm sure I'll use this up.  It does say it's for normal to dry skin though and I have combination skin so if it makes my t-zone too oily I may save it for winter when my skin gets drier.  Unless this performs wrinkle vanishing miracles though I can't see myself repurchasing this as the 1.7 oz full size is $55, which makes this .5 oz sample worth $16.17.  That's too steep for moisturizer for me since I've found several drugstore ones that work just fine.

The bag itself this month is cute, though I've seen many people online referring to it as pink ravioli, which seems accurate.  I'll probably use it in our beach/pool bag for the rest of the summer to hold sunscreen & chapstick, it's not completely waterproof but it has a vinyl type material that would prevent it from getting soaked and is easily cleanable.

I estimated the overall value of my bag this month at $56.67, which is a great deal considering the $10/month subscription fee.  Of course that's assuming it all gets used but based on first impressions I think I'll use most if not all of the items I received.  I'm also still loving my Ipsy subscription in spite of the questionable "Ipsy Match" profile effectiveness.  Send me nail polish in August Ipsy!  If you'd like to sign up for an Ipsy subscription you can do so using my referral link here.

I decided to try something new this month and started a Makeup Miscellaneous You Tube channel.  I am not entirely sure how often I'll post videos but love watching subscription box unboxings so figured I'd start my first video with my Ipsy bag "unbagging".  If you'd like to see me open and swatch this months items I've posted the video below or you can view it on You Tube here.  My Beauty Box 5 is out for delivery today so expect that blog review & video unboxing in the next few days!