Unboxed: October Birchbox!

Hey loves! I know we're more than halfway through October, but better late than never, right? ;)

Here's what's happening in my October Birchbox this month! There's a good mixture of products this time, so let's dive right in!

First up we have a 30 mL sample of BeeKind body lotion by Gilchrist and Soames. This is a nice size! Says the blurb on the card, "Made with honey and organic chamomile, this healthy UK fave sinks in to restore skin." First impression is that it has a heavy lemon scent, almost like citronella. I don't mind that scent at all but I can see how it could put somebody off. I stuck a little bit on the back of my hand, it feels nice and not greasy! Full size bottle is $15, which is not bad. You can buy it here!

Next is a .25 oz tube of dr. brandt's pores no more vacuum cleaner extractor mask. The idea of a pore vacuum cleaner kind of grosses me out, not going to lie. I guess this is to take the place of a pore strip which, while fun to inspect the aftermath, takes a whole lot of skin off your nose. This is an "award-winning gel that degunks pores for fewer blackheads and smoother skin." Doesn't have much of a scent to it at all. I'm actually really curious to see how well this works! Hopefully there is enough in the tube for me to actually fully try it out. Full size is $45 and you can buy it here!

Moving right along, I got an undetermined size sample of Harvey Prince's perfume "Petaly Noir." This is definitely an evening scent. While I generally adore Harvey Prince, this perfume isn't the one for me, though I do enjoy that it has a spray top rather than one of those little caps which are impossible to get off. According to my little card here, this is a "lush floral scent that evokes a midnight stroll among blossoming orchids." It's just a little too heavy and floral for my taste; something I could picture my grandmother or my second grade teacher wearing (you know what I'm talking about, admit it). If you'd like to purchase this in its full size, limited edition luxury bottle, it will ring you up $55 and you can do it right here!

Next to last is a little baby 0.4g black glittery eyeliner from Lord & Berry. At first glance I was a little disappointed... the glitter in this is large and obvious and looks like something I would have loved when I was 12. I guess I'm more of a shimmer girl when it comes to my eyeliner. It's certainly not the most pigmented but it's smooth and might be fun to layer for the holidays. For a more exact description, "This blendable pencil from the UK brand is studded with bits of silver shimmer." A full size pencil is $18, jeebs. I feel like I could easily pay half of that and get something I enjoy using twice as much. If this is totally your bag and you're foaming at the mouth to get your hands on it, do it here!

And, finally, we have a full size lipstick from ModelCo. It's the Party Proof lipstick in Kitty. Kitty is a "hydrating, semi-matte formula in a soft pink shade that lasts as long as the party does." It goes on nicely as far as the back of my hand is concerned, but it seems more of a pinky nude on my skin tone than pure pink. I also have to note that, for better or for worse, it smells very strongly of tutti frutti. I don't mind it but I know some people who don't like their lipstick to smell like anything. I like this fine I guess. It's a nice shade but I don't find myself getting excited over it. Birchbox's little card insists that a full size tube is $24, however on the company website it's listed for $16.95! Grab it here if it's calling out your name!

Alright guys, that wraps up October's Birchbox! I feel pretty good about this month! I'm very low maintenance when it comes to my hair and I seem to get an awful lot of hair products, so I'm happy not to see any in this box! For me it's definitely one of the better Birchboxes as of late.

If you guys want to see a full review of anything I mentioned here, let me know and I will get that done for you! And if you want to subscribe to Birchbox yourself, here is their website!

xo

Allanah

Subscription boxes... which one is best for you?

Alright, so I quit my job. I have always kept this blog in the back of my head. I miss it. Shall we jump back in? Let's. That's all I'm going to say about that!

Over the course of the past several months, I have somehow managed to subscribe to not one, not two, but THREE beauty boxes: Birchbox, ipsy, and Boxycharm.

In case you have no idea what any of those words mean, I will give you a brief overview from least favourite to must have!

Birchbox is a monthly subscription box that costs $10/month for a women's box, and $20/month for a men's box. They send you five or so small to luxury sized samples from a huge list of brands. You can get anything from makeup to skin care to new shampoo and conditioner. The samples tend to be on the smaller size, but you at least get your money's worth and it's a nice way to try out some new products you would never otherwise buy for yourself. Plus, every once in a while they throw in a little gem. Here was my last Birchbox so you get an idea:

ipsy is a monthly subscription box that costs $10/month. When you sign up, you take a little quiz to determine what your needs and wants are; this information is used to determine what they send to you each month. You can retake the quiz anytime you'd like. It is slightly more personalised than Birchbox! Once again, you can receive five or so samples of any sort of beauty product: makeup, perfume, hair products... The sample sizes in ipsy tend to be larger than in Birchbox, and sometimes you even get a full sized product! Plus, instead of a cardboard box, your products are sent to you in a cute little makeup bag. I tend to enjoy the brands more in ipsy and overall feel that it's a better value than Birchbox, however there is a waiting list to sign up! Here is my latest ipsy bag!

Now, full disclosure, I have only received one box from Boxycharm so far, but I. Am. In. Love. This monthly subscription box is more expensive at $21/month, but you absolutely 100% get your money's worth. Holy smokes. Five full sized products for September, guys. Birchbox and ipsy are fun to open and see what little surprises are there, but Boxycharm feels like Christmas! There is a waiting list for Boxycharm as well, but it is definitely worth the wait! Here is a sneaky peek of my first ever Boxycharm!

Ah, it's good to be back. I plan on giving you an unboxing post for each of these boxes as I receive them as well as reviews for some of the products in them, good or bad. Keep an eye out for more in depth posts on the ones you've seen here today!

NYX Illuminator in Enigmatic

I'm back!

Hey guys. :) It's been an inexcusably long time... sorry. I ran out of steam and lots of stuff happened!
In a nutshell, I moved countries and got married. If you guys want, I will do a whoooole post on that some other time. But for now, I just want to get back into the swing of things.

I've been on the hunt recently for a great highlighting powder. Nothing in the drug store has really caught my eye, unfortunately, but on a recent trip to Ulta, something finally caught my attention!

That something is the NYX Illuminator in the colour "Enigmatic."

Enigmatic is a gorgeous light pink colour with a beautiful golden shimmer. The powder itself is quite soft and pleasant; very blendable and easy to apply. The pink colour is barely there and just enhances the glow from the golden shimmer.

The reason it looks so peach here is because of the
golden shimmer. It's really a lovely pale pink!

All in all this is a total winner! I'm kind of in love with how it makes my face just light up, plus the quality for the price is incredible! I picked this up at Ulta for $8.99, but I see that the NYX website has it on sale for $6.30, plus you get free shipping when you spend $25!

xo

Allanah

Love what you've got!

Hellooo!

So, if you're anything like me, you love a good shop. There is just nothing like retail therapy. Also, if you are anything like me, shopping gives you temporary amnesia. You see a shiny new thing that you HAVE to buy and forget completely about all the other lovely things at home that you have only used once or twice.

With my wedding and all wedding related expenses coming up, I've been making somewhat of an effort to control my spending. This is not fun for me, nor is it easy, apparently! I've had the day off work today and have honestly been thinking all day about how nice it would be to pop around the corner and buy a new lip gloss/foundation/other random shiny new thing. So far I have resisted but it's gotten me thinking.

It seems that I generally buy things because they're new and buying them will give me instant gratification. I enjoy my shiny new whatever for a couple of days or weeks and then I am already craving something new. I understand that attraction to novelty is a perfectly natural thing for a human to experience, but I find it unfortunate (and so does my bank account) that I can't fully appreciate what I already have. The shiny new thing of today becomes the forgotten dusty thing of tomorrow.

So! In an effort to curb my spending and placate my bank account, I plan to have a weekly feature on the blog where I rediscover a lost treasure and share it with you all. Since it happens to be Tuesday and Lost Treasure Tuesday is a wonderfully awful name for the feature, it shall be so.

-Allanah

30 Day Snap #4: Winding down...

Hello!

If you're not sure what the 30 Day Snap challenge is, you can read about it HERE!

Sorry for the crappy phone picture, but I am so comfy and tired in bed and I don't want to get up and find my camera. Today was a long day and I worked really hard, so to wind down before bed I am chilling out with my water and some early missglamorazzi videos!

Now it is time for snoozeland. Night guys!

-Allanah

30 Day Snap #4: Yummy cold drinks

Hello!

If you're not sure what the 30 Day Snap challenge is, you can read about it HERE!

Today was my day off work. It was gorgeous and sunny! I had a coffee date with one of my friends, but it was hot enough that we ended up getting tasty iced cappuccinos at Tim Hortons! Mmmm I want one now!

-Allanah

Revlon Lash Potion review and thoughts!

Hey guys!

Hope you're having a lovely day! Recently I needed a new mascara and so I decided to pick up Revlon's new Lash Potion mascara and give it a go!

My first thought when I opened the tube was how massive the brush is!

Crazy, no? The first picture is the brush all on its own and the second picture is the brush in comparison to a Maybelline Great Lash mascara - a staple! The brush size is a little intimidating and tricky to get the hang of at first. Let's just say I got a lot of mascara on my eyelids at first! Once you get used to it, though, this brush works wonders! Let me show you.

These are my natural eyelashes. As you can see, they are very blonde and don't exactly look... prominent. Also pictured are the bags under my eyes! Hooray!

These pictures are with one and two coats of Lash Potion, respectively. Kapow! My eyelashes look so full and long! I love the way that one coat gives a more natural, fluttery look, while two coats brings a little bit of drama but is still quite natural looking!

Revlon, I am a fan! This is a perfect mascara for me! My only issue is that the massive brush makes it difficult for me to get at the lashes in my inner corners without smearing mascara all over my face. I don't tend to put mascara there anyway, so it's not a huge problem for me, but I can see others needing a little practice!

I picked up my tube of Lash Potion from Shopper's Drug Mart for $11.99. Well worth it, I think!

-Allanah