March 2014 Starlooks Starbox "Ashley Hackman Special Edition"

This is my second month receiving Starbox by Starlooks. Apparently this month the box was a special edition curated by someone named Ashley Hackman who apparently makes YouTube videos. I'm sure this is really exciting for people who know who that is. I, however, do not. Starbox is $15 a month, plus shipping, which is an excellent deal. So far, all of the Starlooks items I have tried have been really great quality, and the box items are usually at least double what you pay.

I like this box, don't get me wrong, but for someone who owns alot of makeup, this isn't the most spectacular box ever. The items I received this month are more like... staple items that every person who owns alot of makeup is already going to own.

Here is a first look at the box!

Since March was a special edition, the box this month is black and red, much like the items inside.

Here is what I received!

• Lipstick in "Boss"
• Lip Liner in "Cherry Cedar"
• Long-wear eyeliner pot in "Black Hole"
• 20% off coupon if you submit a photo of yourself using the makeup from this box

See what I mean about staple items? I love a pin up look, and use gel eyeliner on the regular, but I definitely already have like 10 red lipsticks and at least 10 different black eyeliners!

"A must-have staple product for every makeup lover. This creamy, quick-dry formula provides that time-honored, slick, black liner look that has kept every woman looking her best for centuries."

Retail Value -$13

"The most remarkable red lip you will ever find. Starlooks' signature color "Boss" will complete your look with that perfect, timeless pop of bold rouge and satin shimmer that screams "Girl Power", and it doesn't stop there. Our ultra moisturizing lipstick formula leaves your lips feeling kissably soft."

Retail Value - $12

"Don't forget to prep those bossy lips with this classic, matte red liner. Our prestigious lip liner formula creates the ultimate canvas for any lasting lip look. Ashley specifically selected a deeper red to give you the urge to get creative and experiment with shading."

Retail Value - $12

Overall March 2014 Starbox Value - $37

This is what the lipstick and liner look like next to each other. Not sure how I feel about it.

Overall, this isn't an AWFUL box or anything, it's just kind of... boring? Honestly, I'm probably going to cancel this subscription for now as well as my Ipsy, and maybe try out one that costs more overall instead of two cheap ones so I can get more high end full sized items. Any ideas?! What is your favorite beauty subscription?! Open to suggestions over here!

Later!

Xx Ashley C.

Ipsy March 2014 "Destination Beauty" Unboxing!

I'm a little late posting this as I've had my Ipsy bag for a week or so now, but I'm not TOTALLY thrilled with it, nor am I thrilled with Ipsy right now after the whole PopBeauty lipgloss disaster last month. They still haven't emailed me back about my defective gloss, and I emailed them over 2 weeks ago. So take that as you will.

For those of you who don't already know, Ipsy, formerly myGlam, is a subscription service I usually love created by Michelle Phan, the YouTube makeup guru. For for low low price of $10 a month, they send you a cute little bag filled with 4-5 deluxe sample to full size beauty products from makeup to nail polish to skincare. I usually REALLY love my bag every month, and have been subscribed for almost a year now. :) If you're interested in learning more about Ipsy, seeing my past bags that I haven't posted on here, or want an honest opinion about it, don't hesitate to ask in the comments below! And if you love the looks of this bag, feel free to subscribe using my referral link HERE!

The theme for this month was "Destination Beauty". It's a pretty cute theme considering March is usually the time for Spring Break and travelling. Here is a look!

This month I received:

Nyx  Love in Rio eyeshadow palette

Pixi Primer

Chella Blue eyeliner pen

Bare Minerals Moxie Lipstick

Like I said, this definitely isn't the most awesome bag I've ever received, but I do really like the Bare Minerals Lipstick! Here's some swatches of the lippie and the eyeliner!

The eyeliner is super bright blue, and while I haven't used it on my eyes yet, it stayed on my hand for awhile! :)

This is a swatch of the Nyx "Love in Rio" palette. I really like these colors and they seem very pigmented and smooth on my hand.

Well, that's really all I have for you about March Ipsy! Stay tuned for my March Starlook's Starbox review!

Xx Ashley C.

Birchbox Spring Forward March 2014 Unboxing!

I'm really really excited about my Birchbox this month!!! This is probably the best Birchbox I've received so far! For those of you don't don't already know, Birchbox is a subscription box that for only $10 a month bring you a box full of sample, deluxe sample, and sometimes full size beauty/skincare/makeup products! They usually send out higher end items and the boxes are always worth more than $10! If you're interested in signing up, please use my referral link HERE! They also give you 10 points for every item you review, and 100 points is equal to $10 in their store! That means every month you are basically getting $5 back of the money you spent! It's awesome! :D

Here's a first look at my box! The theme for this month is "Spring Forward".

Apparently they are advertising their point system on the inside of their boxes now.

Here's a second look at my box!

And here is what I received in my March Birchbox!

See! A great box this month!

Jergens BB Body & $2 off coupon - Full Size $10/ Sample Value $3? 

I usually like Jergens' lotions, so I was excited to see this included as a Birchbox find. I think though, that their "finds" are a lame way to make people feel like their not getting screwed by BB including a cheaper item. Some people still got 5 higher end items, and I got 4 and this. Oh well!

It seems to have a tint to it, so I'm assuming it also is a self tanner. I like Self Tanners.

Kiems Hair Care Shampoo - Full Size $9.50/Sample Value $2

This smells really nice. I like any shampoo that smells minty! I only wish it came with a matching conditioner! Hopefully this doesn't take all the color out of my hair!

Stila Lip Gloss in Raspberry Sorbet - Full Size!!! Value $8

I LOVE these lipglosses. I haven't had one in a long long time! Super excited to get this, and even more excited to get it in this pink color! :D I'm probably going to use some of my points to pick up a few more of these.

Here's what the color looks like. It's like a pretty pink smoothie. Makes me want to go to smoothie king. :P

Air Repair Rescue Balm - Full Size $12 / Sample Value $2?

This is a pretty teensy size sample, but I wanted to try it. It can be used as lip balm and cuticle balm, so I'm going to try it for both. My cuticles are a wreck. A little seems to go a long long way!

Grand Central Beauty S.M.A.R.T primer - Full Size $68/Sample Value $5

Another tiny sample, but I like fancy primers. This stuff is weird and isn't like any other primer I've ever used. It's really liquidy, and kind of burned my face. Bummer. Would never pay $68 for any primer. Ever!

SO! In conclusion, I LOVE MY BOX. Maybe I'm just over excited about getting a full size Stila lip gloss. I really want to have a million of these in my purse at all times. :) 

Box Value: About $20! Pretty good since I paid only $10 and am getting $50 points back! :D

What did you get in your Birchbox this month?! Love it? Hate it?! Don't forget to use my REFERRAL LINK HERE if you want to sign up! So worth it!

Nails later! Ipsy Tomorrow!

Xx Ashley C.

March 2014 Julep Deal & Lucky Mystery Box!!

Julep has some pretty awesome deals right now just in time for St. Patrick's Day!! As many of you know, I love all things green and all things glittery, so this is a great holiday for me in regards to nail art!!
I also plan on tomorrow putting together some super awesome St. Patrick's Day nails for you guys!

First things first, I received an email earlier today, that if you purchase $10 at Julep.com between now and Tuesday 3/18/14, you can receive ANY gold nail polish completely for FREE with code FREEGOLD!! :D

This is a SUPER deal! Click HERE for a list they have provided of their gold polishes you can snag for free! My personal favorites are Zelda, Andrea,and Gianna! Basically if you buy one full priced polish, even if you use Maven prices, you can get another gold one free! B1G1! Or you could find something in the savvy deals section! Here I'll give you some ideas!

FOR STARTERS: One of the NEW Lucky MYSTERY BOXES!

For three more days, for only $24.99, you can pick from one of four (or multiple ones of course) mystery boxes. Three of which have brand new GREEN colors! :D 

FYI, to view the boxes, click on any of the images below!

If you're feeling a little glittery, make sure and check out the box with Taryn!

Taryn is a Deep Sea Teal Holographic Glitter!

If you're feeling a little minty, make sure and check out the box with Shannon!

Shannon is a light minty green silk finish polish!

& If you're feeling a little dangerous, make sure and check out the box with Aislinn!

Aislinn is my personal favorite. She is a probably really dark black and green glitter!

Last, but not least! If you're not feeling any of those above, you can pick a complete mystery!

I think it's pretty neat that they're offering a 100% mystery version. 

So! Those are some pretty viable options for things you can pick that are over $10. Buy a mystery box, get an already awesome deal of over $100 worth of polish & product AND on top of that get a free gold polish to go with your new green one!

Some other recommendations I have are:

Luck O' the Irish set- $14.99!

OR
Savannah set for $9.99 & Jackie $6.99

Savannah is an adorable set! Great starter bright Julep colors!
Jackie is my all time favorite Julep Red. A MUST have.

Well lovelies! Happy shopping! Let me know if you get anything awesome in your mystery boxes! :D

Xx Ashley C.

*Note this post contains affiliate links*

Julep Maven March 2014 Unboxing & Review!

Today I received my March Julep box! This is the first time in awhile I've been overly excited to order my Julep colors. I'm a sucker for anything bright and anything green, so I quickly knew what colors I wanted!

For those of you who don't already know, Julep is a monthly subscription service that provides the latest nailpolish colors right to your door for as low as $19.99 a month. Every month they come out with four different sets of colors and a beauty product based on your style profile, which is a quiz that allows them to decide which color you'd like best. You can either pick between these four, or opt for their Modern Beauty box, which is contains no polish and awesome beauty items instead! They also let you upgrade to get the whole collection! Sign up right now and use code FREEBOX to get your first box for only the cost of shipping!

Now on to my box!!! For March 2014, Julep brought us "The Riviera Collection"; nine beautiful bright spring colors and lipglosses. For Modern Beauty they brought us the "Buff Lip Scrub" and "Luxe Lip Conditioning Treatment". 

My style according to Julep's style profile is "Bombshell", which is the box I chose this month! Take their quiz HERE to see what yours is! :)

My March box contained:

Lilou - Lemon Chiffon Creme

Monaco - Dazzling Mariner Blue Creme (Pantone color of the year for Spring 2014)

Julep Lip Gloss in Fearless
Candy Cane Extra :)

Add ons:

Lizanne - Sea Green Shimmer
Tania - Multidimensional Mermaid Teal Glitter

Now, I usually don't get add ons, but I had to have these colors! I don't have any swatches of Lilou for you today, because I am thinking about selling or trading it, because I already have something similar, but here are the others!

I love LOVE LOVE Monaco. It's the perfect blue creme for spring and summer. I can't get enough blue polishes. And Lizanne is great too! Personally, I don't really see any "shimmer" once it is on, its more like a bright teal cream, but beautiful nonetheless! I used Tania as an accent over Lizanne.

In the bottle, Tania reminded me of Julep's Esmerelda, so I decided to do a comparison photo to see what the difference was. Esmerelda is one of my favorite Julep's I own.

The glitters in them seem to be very similar in color, but Tania has an opalescent base color that completely changes the color of the base nail polish. I'm interested to try it on it's own, but that's for another day!

Here's a swatch of the lippie I chose. It will be great for the spring and summer. It's a beautiful hot pink shimmer gloss that makes my lips shiny and fuller. I love it and can't wait to use it over a pink or red lipstick!

I love Julep's new glosses because they smell and taste super good and aren't overly sticky!

So that's my box! Like I said if you're not signed up for Julep already, definitely check them out! They have some great products as well as polish, and I'm sure you will be JUST as addicted as I am!

If you are signed up, which box did you get this month??? Love it or hate it?

Xx Ashley C.

Pretty & Polished March Beauty Box Review!

It's 12:30 AM and officially my birthday!! YAY Happy Birthday to ME!
I am majorly slacking off on blogging lately, but I've been dealing with the loss of a job as well as the emotional baggage that goes along with that. I've been meaning to post this up for a week or two now, and I've mentioned it a couple of times to you so here it is!!!

Earlier this month, Pretty & Polished announced their new Beauty Boxes! Each month they are going to be offering a subscription box full of 2 full sized polishes, a mini of an older polish that is currently sold in the store, a beauty/skin care product, as well as other bonus items to go along with that! Pretty in Polished is my favorite indie brand ever EVER, so this works for me. I will ultimately probably end up cancelling my Julep subscription for this, or at least one of my other subscriptions, once my three months runs out.  That being said, they are offering this in 1, 3, 6, and 12 month lengths but the one month option sold out QUICK this month, so you have to be super fast! It's $22 and you can purchase one HERE! If you love these colors, you can actually still get a 3 month subscription and get a March box right now! So head on over!

My March box contained:

Matte Topcoat

Liquid Gold

Day in the Park

Jawbreaker (mini)

Coffee Junkies cuticle balm stick

Nail File

Flower Fimo Stick

15% off coupon for March

Now, before I get to the swatches, I want to talk about the other stuff. First things first, I use their regular cuticle balm on the regular in the scent Coffee Junkies and am pretty much just as addicted to it as I am coffee. I was super stoked to receive this in stick form because it is infinitely more portable and easier/less messy to apply. This stuff smells GREAT, just like a fresh cup of coffee.

As for the Fimo stick, I've never used one of these before but this little thing is pretty cute, and I will probably cut off a slice or two and try it closer to summer. And I don't know about you, but I can never have enough nail files, so that was a happy bonus as well. 

I'm very, very happy with the March Box! I've been DYING to try a matte topcoat for awhile now, so I was super excited to find this item! And LUCKY for you guys, I tried it tonight for my pre-birthday nails. 

This is "Cutie Pie" from their limited edition Sweetheart Duo this Valentine's day with "Day in the Park" as an accent nail. "Cutie Pie", the yellow, is actually already matte, but the topcoat made it even better, and I really like that there is no shine AT ALL. I will say that my bottle of "Day in the Park" has ALOT of glitter in it and it is a teensy bit hard to work with, but it's definitely still BEAUTIFUL and is even more awesome with the matte topcoat over it. 

Here is a bottle shot of "Liquid Gold". I've been trying to figure out a way to best describe this polish, and what I've come up with is a Bronze/Goldish to Pinkish Duochrome Holo. Does that make sense? It's so so pretty in the sunlight, and while I typically don't love bronze polishes, the holo factor totally sells me.

Here's a flash shot of it so you can see the holo goodness. You can also see the bronze to pink shift in it, which is really subtle and nice. :)

I think it's super appropriate that the first box would have "Jawbreaker" in it. This was my very first indie polish, and also my very first Pretty & Polished color. I've actually already reviewed it on here in November, and you can read it HERE. I love this color, it looks JUST like a Jawbreaker and reminds me of my childhood. It's also got a really great formula. 

I'm happy to say that this box is a total win for me. I usually wait until at least the second month with subscription boxes, just to make sure they aren't going to be horrible, but I'm glad I got this one. I don't think I could have lived with myself if I didn't have "Day in the Park" in my collection for this Spring!

My favorite part of this box is that the colors are exclusive to the month, and they will ONLY be sold in that month's box. How can I pass that up?! 

I hope you like these polishes! If you've never heard of Pretty & Polished, make sure and check them out on their website HERE. They're a GREAT indie brand with awesome customer service, and their products are basically amazing. :)

More posts tomorrow!

Xx Ashley C.