Boxycharm for July

So not only was Boxycharm EXTREMELY late this month but there have been subsequent problems with "Charms" (their referral points and such) and email communication and poorly designed website. On top of all those already aggravating circumstances, this months box just really sucked for me. I will explain as we go through the pictures. Are you ready? Let's do this!!

America the Beautiful? I don't really "get" that from this box. So just because it's July, eh? *sigh*

I do like the white and gold "worms"

Bella Pierre shadow? 

Before I took off the sticker and swatched.

You can barely see it, but it's there. Look for the vague shimmer.

I like this red. Cool with it.

Rodeo Drive Red

Now I KNOW this is a good brand of sunscreen but I JUST got a small size in my Ipsy bag. Now I have a full size too?? I'm cool on the SPF front, guys. 

Lip liner in Cinnamon. I do NOT have a lipstick that goes with this....

How it looks with my skin tone.

The lipstick they DID give me.... the fresh hell?

This is entirely too TOO pink. Too blue based.

Looks effing terrible on my skin. Looks horrid on my mother too. Can't use it, and now it's GONE. Good riddance.

It is with a slightly heavy heart that I have decided to cancel Boxycharm. The deed is done. The wait for this months box, the lack of apology, the shorting me on reward points from a prior referral and the nonsense of the contents of this box all contributed to this decision. 

Don't get me wrong, most of the time they do right by you. Great stuff in the boxes but I find I really only need SO MUCH makeup before it just starts to become a frivolous waste of money. So I'm done on that front.

Ipsy July 2014

I've been running quite a bit behind on my unboxing reviews, so bear with me while I play catch up. 

Here we have this months Ipsy bag. I didn't really care for the makeup bag. Just some hot pink pleather looking thing that I feel a grade school child could have made in a home ec. class. Maybe I am being too harsh, or perhaps it was just a very gifted child. I don't know. I'll probably pass it along or sell it or something. 

Am I being too harsh or do you think my opinion is dead-on?

I DO like the zipper pull. Cutest part of the bag. 

The first thing I saw in the bag was a tiny little sample card and inside it was the tiniest little tube of cream eyeshadow I've ever seen. It's adorable. Endearing. 

It is a 5-in-1 BB shadow in Divine Wine from Bare Minerals. The description reads:

Meet the next generation in eyeshadow: creamy, long-wearing color meets exceptional skincare benefits and broad spectrum SPF protection. Chock-full of skin-loving ingredients, this breakthrough product delivers 5 benefits in one luxurious formula: 

1.) 12-hour long-wearing color 

2.) Super-charged primer 

3.) Powerful brightening benefits 

4.) Smoothes fine lines 

5.) Protects with SPF 

Available in a range of 10 seductively neutral shades.

Next up we have a bronzer from PoP Beauty. I didn't even open it. Is that bad? Haha! I just really don't use bronzer. I will play with it, but yeah, it is still not opened and I've had it for at least two weeks. It's "Secret Sunshine".

Stock image because I TOTALLY forgot to take a proper picture out of excitement. 

Next up is a lip gloss from Pixi. The color is Unique Pink. It's my favorite item out of the bag this month! 

Won't use this. Gave it to my dad who is out in the sun 500x more than I am. *shrug*

Baby size sun screen.

Swatch of the gloss and the shadow.

Overall, I was not impressed with this month. I'm keeping them for one last month but I think after August, I'm done with Ipsy for now.

Cult Cosmetics Blackbox

Recently I caught wind that Cult Cosmetics had a promotion to pick up one of their Blackboxes for a penny (not including the five bucks for shipping...), so I decided to jump on it for the cute holo-glitter "Hollywood Forever". Spring Fling is the name of the box, in case you were interested and I am pretty sure the code penny522 still works at this time.

They do have other boxes that offer other polishes and products so be certain to browse and see if it might be something you're interested in picking up. I've recently found myself on a sort of polish bender (that's a thing, right?) because my nails are growing great for the first time in years. It's a fun little project I kind of stick under the topic of art. It's color. It's paint. Nail are a medium, too, ya know?

Anyhow, here is what came in the box. For $5.01, it wasn't a bad deal. I decided not to stick with the monthly box because frankly 20 bucks a month of polish is best redirected at 20 bucks a month on horror. I have priorities, people.

Feel free to use the code for free ship if you don't use the penny promo

It smells like stinky vinyl.

Pretty nice quality for free brushes.

Hollywood Forever on the left and Belmont Shore on the right.

A shadow crayon. Pretty, too.

Normally wouldn't swatch so large but I accidentally broke the tip off when I opened it. D'oh!

A decal.

It was a nice box for five bucks. I will purchase from them again in the future. I'm actually sort of really interested in Coachella, but it shall wait for another day.

May's Birchbox!!

My first Birchbox! How exciting! Sadly it was a little later than they had intended it to be, so they nicely gave me 100 pts to keep me happy (it wasn't necessary, but appreciated!). It arrived in a bright yellow little box mailer which I promptly tore into to reach the treasures held within.

Now I was bad and nosy and watched videos of other people's May unboxing and blogs of other folks unboxing so I had a decent idea of what I was going to receive. Birchbox tricked me a little bit though by giving me things I didn't quite expect. I LOVE being tricked, especially when it's a pleasant surprise. Anyhow, that's enough of my blathering!

If you decide you're into the idea of getting cool crap in the mail for a reasonable monthly fee (10 bucks for the ladies and 20 for the gents.... I believe it's because men get clothes and junk in their boxes while the ladies do not.) please do follow my referral link and get started! I could use the points and you could use the fun mail! 

My Birchbox referral linkage!! Clicky-click!

 On to the photographic evidence! I hope you're as excited as I am!