Target Beauty Box and Naturals Box - Winter 2014

Target has been offering a quarterly beauty box for a while now, however unlike other beauty boxes it isn't offered as a subscription service so you have to make sure to purchase it before it (quickly) sells out so it's been a while since I've gotten one.  For Cyber Monday Target offered 3 different boxes for purchase, their normal $10 beauty box, a $5 naturals box, and a $5 mens box.  Since I recently cancelled my Allure Sample Society Subscription I decided to put what I would have spent on that towards both the $10 box and the $5 naturals box.  I passed on the men's box because while it looked like a good value for $5 my husband is very particular about the products he uses and from the preview of the box it didn't look like he would use any of the products.

Both boxes came with an insert describing the products inside and coupons.  The Naturals box had a $3 off a $15 natural beauty purchase coupon and the beauty box had a $3 of $15 beauty and a 20% off women's apparel purchase coupon as well as a $10 coupon code for dermstore.com.

Lets start with the contents of the Naturals Box, which contained 6 products:

SoapBox Argan Shampoo - This is a nice sized 2 oz sample bottle of their shampoo which contains Argan oil, and is listed on the card as a Target Exclusive.  I like that it as a very mild clean smell and am looking forward to trying it out.  The size of the sample would be enough to decide if it's actually something I would purchase, however when I went to find this shampoo online I couldn't find it anywhere except a travel kit on Target, and it isn't on SoapBox's website.  It's difficult to value because of this, but since the travel kit comes with  4 - 2 oz products for $7.99 I'll give it a value of $2.

Skinfix Hand Repair Cream - This is another Target exclusive product and is the 2 oz full size that they sell on the Target website, which is a nice purse size for a hand cream.  I liked this one as soon as I tried it because it was unscented and absorbed quickly without being greasy or sticky.  It also contains 1% colloidal oatmeal, which is supposed to help with eczema and dermatitis as well as extreme dryness.  It is pricey for a small hand cream at $14.99, but I will continue to use it and if I really like it I may still repurchase when it's gone.

Burt's Bees Facial Wipes - I use face wipes daily to remove my makeup before using my cleanser but have never tried the Burt's Bees wipes before.  These wipes contain white tea, cucumber, and aloe and I received a nice travel-sized 10 pack.  A pack of 30 retails for $5.99, which gives the 10 pack a value of approximately $3.

SheaMoisture Coconut Hibiscus Smoothie - This is a curl conditioning cream for thick curly hair, and while I don't have naturally curly hair I do have thick, somewhat frizzy hair so I'm still curious to give this a try and see how it works for me.  I'm hoping it will help fight frizz on the occasional days I let my hair air dry.  It smells nice from the coconut and I received the 3.2 oz size which sells for $3.99.

Borghese Age Defying Facial Scrub - This is one of two facial scrubs that were included in the naturals box, and this Borghese one is listed as a Target exclusive.  It has a golden shimmer to the cleanser with a nice distribution of the exfoliation beads.  The 1 oz sample size I received has a value of  $3.80.

Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub - This is also an exfoliating cleanser and contains organic sea kelp and French green clay.  From testing it on my hand this seems like a rougher exfoliant than the Borghese so I'm a little worried it might be too harsh for my sensitive skin.  I will try it out on a small section though and may also try mixing it with my regular cream cleanser to see how that works.  The 1 oz sample in my box is worth $2.50.

Overall my Naturals box had an approximate value of $30.28, which is well worth the $5 I paid and I am looking forward to trying out all the products.  I would definitely purchase another naturals box if Target offers it again in the future.

Next up is the $10 beauty box which contained 8 products:

Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen - This is a sample size and is listed as a Target exclusive.  I'm not typically a fan of pencil liners but when I swatched this I realized it is the creamiest eye pencil I think I've ever used.  It is also a very bold black and didn't seem to feather when I swatched it on my hand. I am looking forward to trying this out (but not so much looking forward to sharpening it since it's so soft) and seeing if it stays put as well as a liquid liner.  The website doesn't list sizes for the full sized eye pen but I'd estimate the sample is about 1/2 of full size so I'll give it a value of approximately $5.

Revlon HD Lacquer - I received the shade Strawberry Topaz which is a very bright coral pink with golden shimmer throughout.  In the container it is a gorgeous color, and one I would love to have in a nail polish.  As a lip color I'm not so sure that it will work with my pale skin, but it does seem to have a nice thick, opaque formula.  The applicator is also a brush rather than the traditional lip gloss doe foot applicator. This is a full size lip lacquer and the price on Target's website varies a bit by shade, with Strawberry Topaz selling for $7.99.

Clairol Hair Food Moisturizing Hair Mask - This has a pleasant honey apricot fragrance and is paraben and mineral oil free.  Since I damaged my hair by coloring it over the summer I've been a big fan of hair masks and deep conditioners to help as the rest of the color grows out so I'm looking forward to trying this.  I received a 6.3 oz full size bottle worth $11.99.

L'Oreal Butterfly Inteza Mascara - This is a new mascara for L'Oreal which is similar to their popular Voluminous Butterfly Mascara.  I've heard great things about the original Voluminous Butterfly and am curious to try this out because the brush is unlike others I've used before.  For now though I'm keeping it in the package as I work through quite a few other opened mascaras I have.  Also a full sized product, this mascara retails for $7.99.

CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Kit - This is a quad of shadows and I received Daring Nudes.  While I have other Covergirl products I like (their Clump Crusher mascara is pretty much a holy grail product for me) it has been a long time since I had any of their eye shadows.  The Daring Nudes set contains 4 shades, a charcoal grey/black, a dark brown, a bronzy lighter brown, and a shimmery cream color.  I swatched them without primer and they are decently pigmented and not too powdery.  The packaging appears to be an updated new version from the previous blue packaging.  The set I received doesn't have an online price listed but some of the other sets are selling for $4.49 so that's the value I'll use for this box.

ChapStick Total Hydration Lip Care - I received this in Sweet Peach, which is a clear balm.  It is listed as a Target exclusive but I think that may just be the Sweet Peach version because I've seen these popping up in the drugstores and in various subscription boxes.  I'm a lip balm junkie so I am looking forward to trying this.  I do wish it contained an SPF, but it claims to moisturize for up to 8 hours so it may end up being good for a night balm.  The value of this full sized balm is $2.99.

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask - I am intrigued by the idea of a sleeping mask, though at first glance it seems very similar to just a regular night moisturizer.  Also a Target exculsive, it is supposed to be used for deeply moisturizing dry skin so should come in handy for the winter, because while I can get oily around my nose my forhead and sometimes the side of my face get very dry this time of year.  This has somewhat of a perfumey scent to me (the website describes it as orange flower, rose, and sandlewood) so I'm worried it may irritate my skin though, so I'll try a small section for a couple of days first before I use this on my whole face.  The full size of this mask is $23.00, giving my 0.6 oz sample a value of approximately $5.

Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Advanced Serum - This serum is a 0.1 oz foil packet but it is the only foil packet in this box so I'm not bothered by it at all.  This is supposed to be a hypoallergenic serum which is great because I've had a bad reaction to a serum in the past and am now a bit of wary of them.  I haven't seen the consistency of this since I don't want to open the packet until I'm ready to use it, but since a little usually goes a long way with serums I think there should be at least enough for a couple of uses in my sample, which has a value of approximately $2.29.

Overall I calculated a value of $47.74 which falls just shy of the $50 Target said it was, but I think the difference might be in the Covergirl eyeshadow quad because only the price for the older packaging is listed online.  Regardless of that though I am very happy with everything that I received in my box and as with the Naturals box would definitely buy other Target beauty boxes in the future.  I do wish they would do a subscription service for it like Walmart does with their quarterly beauty box, but if you want to increase your chances of knowing when they go on sale make sure you're checking up on the Nouveau Cheap blog.  I've mentioned this blog in other posts but I find out about so many great offers from her posts that I can't recommend it enough.

As usual I opened both of these boxes on my YouTube page so if you're interested in seeing more about them check it out here or I've embedded the video below.

September Favorites

Once again I put a video up on the Makeup Miscellaneous YouTube page talking about my favorite beauty products from the month of September.

Here are links to the products I talk about in the video:

Bare Minerals Bare Skin Serum Foundation in 02 Bare Shell
Bare Minerals 5 in 1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow in Divine Wine
Cargo Lip Gloss in Tuscany
Rimmel Stay Glossy in Seduce Me
Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Nail Polish in Checkmate
Pink Zote Soap

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy - Checkmate

I'm ready to transition to my fall nail colors but the outside temperatures here are still staying it's summer.  I decided to start with a nude polish as a nice in between shade.  I've always been a bit wary of nude polish shades because I'm fair skinned, but after seeing more of them crop up this year I decided to try one out.  

Outside, Shade

I didn't find much at my local Rite Aid in their larger nail display but spotted Checkmate in the Revlon makeup section.  Checkmate is one of Revlon's newer Colorstay Gel Envy polishes that appears to be replacing the regular Colorstay line.  I think the point of the Gel Envy line is to use the Gel Envy topcoat with the polish to get a gel like manicure you don't need a light to cure, but I have plenty of top coats at home so I just used this as I would a regular polish and it seemed to work just fine.

Inside, Natural Light

The formula on this was a little troublesome, it was easily opaque in two coats but was quite runny and it took me a few nails to get the hang of how much polish to have on my brush so I didn't get polish pooling in my cuticles.  Some cleanup was definitely required for this one.  The brush was also an issue, it's a nice, slightly flat brush that would make polishing easy, except mine was unevenly cut at the bottom.

Outside, Sunlight

Formula and brush aside though, it is a really pretty pale nude cream polish that I think would work well for many skin tones, including fair skin like mine.  It was pretty difficult to photograph though, so excuse the slightly blurry photos, I was trying to pick ones that came off most true to color.

Outside, Sunlight

August Favorites

As with July I put a video up on the Makeup Miscellaneous YouTube page talking about my favorite beauty products from the month of August.

Here are links to all the products I talked about in the video:

Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette
Wet & Wild Color Icon Bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana
Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass Lip & Cheek Stain in Cherry
Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait
Loreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Julianne's Nude
It Cosmetics Lab Sample Vitality Lip Flush Butter Gloss in News Anchor Blue
Real Techniques Contour Brush (From their Core Collection)
Real Techniques Detailer Brush (From their Core Collection)
Benjabelle Sunflower Brush Tree
Badger Cuticle Care Soothing Shea Butter

Beauty Box 5 - July 2014

My July Beauty Box 5 arrived a few days ago, but I've been procrastinating on getting this post up.  As I mentioned in my last Ipsy post, I've started a Makeup Miscellaneous You Tube Channel and I did unbox the BB5 in a video as well, which you can view here & I'll also embed the video at the end of this post.

July's box theme is Defining Moments and except for the one spoiler item that is posted on the Beauty Box 5 each month I managed to avoid other unboxings and keep the contents of the box a surprise.

The first item was the one spoiler item I knew about, which is the Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara.  While a black mascara isn't the most exciting item to receive I was happy that it's a full size product and will definitely try it out.  This is described on the BB5 card insert as both a lengthening and volumizing mascara.  It is also supposed to lift lashes without a curler and not smudge or flake.  That's a lot of claims so I'm curious to see how it works out.  This mascara has a value of $7.99

The second product in my box was the Starlooks Kohl Eye Pencil in Obsidian.  I own one other Starlooks product which is a a lip liner I received in my April Ipsy Bag.  Once I opened this box I watched some other unboxings and what's funny is it looks like Beauty Box 5 sent out a lip liner as well because I didn't see one other person who got the eye liner.  I'm actually glad I got the eye liner because the lip liner looked very similar to the one I already have.  Obsidian is a soft black pencil liner, and i'm not a huge fan of these regular pencil liners because there is usually some tugging and pulling.  That said I haven't actually tried this on my eyes yet I'll give it a fair shot before making a decision.  The card says it can double as a base for your entire eye.  I definitely think that would be too dark of a base for me but if you were doing a very dark, smokey eye look it might work.  This is also a full sized item worth $12.00, which covers the whole cost of the box in itself.

Next I received a full sized Body Drench Candylicious Lip Balm in Peppermint Stick.  It is a clear lip balm, which is always handy to have around for either use on it's own or under other lip products.  It is infused with beeswax, conconut oil, and vitamin E.  I have used this a couple of times since opening it and it is definitely peppermint and even made my lips a little tingly.  This lip balm is worth $3.99.

The fourth item in my box was a packet of the Hask Argan Oil Intense Deep Conditioning Hair Treatment.  I use a deep conditioner on my hair a couple of times a week so I'm looking forward to trying it out.  While foil packets aren't my favorite packaging there is easily enough product in this packet for 2 uses and it retails for $2.49 per packet.

Finally I received a sample size of Glowing Mama Walnut Face and Body Scrub from Anna Naturals.  This is a vegan scrub that doesn't have parabens, harsh cemicals, or artificial fragrance.  It has a very smooth creamy base with exfoliating beads of crushed walnut.  I am still loving my Derma E Microdermabrasion scrub from May's Ipsy bag but will see how this scrub compares.  The full 4 oz size is $10.99 and while the container isn't marked I'm guessing this as about 1/2 oz so I'm going to estimate the value at $1.37

This box was a big improvement on last months for me so I think I"ll stick with Beauty Box 5 for a few more months and switch to a 3 month subscription to bring my cost down to $10/month.  I estimated July's Box total value at $27.84.  As I said above I unboxed this my new You Tube channel & have embedded the video below.

Revlon Colorstay Wild Strawberry

I picked this up last week at Rite Aid to use as a pedicure color this summer but decided to do a quick manicure with it today.

Outside, in shade

 I probably won't leave this on for more than a day or so since it's much brighter than what I usually like on my nails so I won't be able to judge the staying power of the polish.  I own a few other Revlon polishes but this is my only one from their Colorstay line.

Inside, Natural Light

Wild Strawberry is a bright pink shimmer with a bit of a blue tone to it when it catches the light, but not strong enough be considered a duo chrome polish.

Outside, Sunlight

Outside, Sunlight

The formula was good, it seemed a bit thin but went on smoothly and was opaque in two coats. All photos include a base coat (I'm currently using Essie Grow Stronger), two coats of polish, and a top coat of NYC In a New York Minute in Grand Central Station.