Product Review - Chuao ChocoPod - "Firecracker"

Wow! I had an amazing Birchbox in November, I can't lie.

My "extra" for the month was a Chuao ChocoPod in the "Firecracker" flavor. I can't gush enough about how flavorful it was and how much I enjoyed this innovative food product!

It contains poprock-like candy, chipotle, and salt. It's definitely sweet, but so savory, too. Love love love. I just bought one of them in a full size, as well as another blog surprise for you guys to see reviewed soon. :) And here's the secret -- I don't even like chocolate! But this is so decadent and such a lovely product that I enjoyed it so much anyway I'd pay a full $6.00 for it. :D

Get one -- they're not THAT expensive, and you'll make some Birchbox points!

Product Review - Befine Lip Serum

 Hey guys!

Today I have the Befine Lip Serum that came in my October 2011 Birchbox. I have been using it off and on for a few weeks to see how it worked.

As backstory, I have a love-hate relationship with lip gloss. I do not have sensitive skin at all, but I have strange, semi-allergic reactions to a lot of lip products -- but never lipstick. I think sometimes it has to do with the fact that I have an allergic to bee-products (bee wax and honey, chief among them), and a little bit of that can be hiding in the product.

This product does not have any bee-product, so I was in luck. :) I had a very, very slight chapping that started a week after I started to use it, but nothing like my usual "clown lips" reaction to most lip glosses/chapstick, so I  can say that I can actually use this and may continue to!

On to what you guys actually want to know, since you don't have my bizarre reactions, haha. It has a mild "flour" taste which is actually very clean and refreshing. It also contains chamomile and beets, and is a very nice, natural product. I liked this a lot! I love Befine's "food skin care" idea, and I will probably pick this up in a full-size when I run out of my generously-sized sample.

A definite Birchbox winner! I was happy to try it.

As a note to other new Birchbox people, I am really disappointed to see that you cannot leave feedback for items once you receive a new box. :( This is a bad flaw -- I sometimes need more than a few weeks to really decide if I like a product. Bummer.

A quick thank-you!

I just want to send out a huge thank you to The Trace Face Philes for getting a little bit of interest going in my blog!

I have a surprise coming up for you guys in a week or so, but right now, I want to let you know that I will be having an awesome giveaway (that relates to the surprise) for 100 followers, so get your friends following! I will announce it once I hit the magical three-digits, so keep an eye out! The first prize will be for a free month of a subscription to a beauty/lifestyle subscription box, but not one that you have seen before! Second prize will be a new Julep polish of your choice, currently available on the site.

Thank you all for your interest and lovely comments! You've made my weekend. :)

Polish Review - Julep "Trina"

The last polish from the November 2011 "Polish Lovers" Maven box for you guys is Julep "Trina". Trina is a very pretty dark purple with a soft shimmer running through it.

The polish, shown here with a flash, is a very pretty color, though the shimmer is nowhere near as apparent in person. I ended up actually wearing it with a topcoat of Julep Vanessa in person because I wanted something a little bit more sparkly, and judging from the bottle, I was thinking Trina would be very sparkly on its own. No such luck. :( You can see this in the next photo, number 7 below.

 

Application wise, it's a little bit thick and difficult to get to dry.  Because of this and its color, it reminded me a lot of China Glaze "Lofty Ambitions". While they are not dupes, they are definitely cousins.  They are 7 and 10 in the next picture, just for comparison purposes:

It lasted very nicely, especially with the Vanessa as a top coat. There was very little chipping for the first couple days, though I must say that once it went, it was whole-nail flakes coming off!

Very pretty color. I like how Julep takes classic tones and makes them really special.

Birchbox - November 2011

Hello, everyone! I am definitely running behind this month, but I have my Birchbox to share with you from this month. :)

Isn't it pretty? Minus the scratch from my scissors...

What are these lovelies?

I will have a complete review for each of these later, but right now you are seeing a prettily packaged...

1. Anastasia Beverly Hills | HydraFull Gloss in Sugar Pink
2. Harvey Prince | Eau Flirt
3. Supersmile | Professional Whitening Toothpaste
4. Zoya | Nail Polish in "Holly"
Treat - Chuao Chocolatier | Firecracker Chocopod

Wow! I've already tried out some of my box's products, and I have to say that they are amazing. I liked last month's box, but this one is awesome. I can't wait to see what December's brings!

Polish Review - Julep "Michelle"

Hello, everyone! I have another Julep polish for you guys today. This one is also from the November Maven "Polish Lovers" Box, which was released specially last month as a one-time option. It's a good thing, too! I probably would always pick that option and never try anything new out of Julep's wonderful products.

This is the dark navy blue creme out of the set:

 The Julep is 15, in the middle. This is with a flash, and swatched next to Nina Ultra Pro "Sailor" on its left, which I thought might be more of a dupe than it really is.

Again, Michelle is on the left.

Finally, one without flash. You can see how dark this is! It's a black-at-a-glance for sure.

I lent out my OPI "Russian Navy" to a friend, but when I get it back, I will swatch them next to each other. I don't think they are dupes, but I know it's the only other dark navy in my collection.

This is a nice color to have; I think it's an essential for any woman because it is such a nice, basic color, and goes with so much. It goes on fairly easily, and it's only a two-coater. You could probably get away with one. There was some edgewear after a day or so, but it didn't start seriously chipping until I started picking at it on Day Three.

Polish Review - Julep "Diane"

Hello, guys! Today I have a polish from Julep, from the November "Polish Lovers" Box. I am so glad this month is almost over. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break, but otherwise, I really can't wait to have this semester be in the rearview mirror. You guys will remember "Diane":

That murky and mossy green over at left? That's "Diane". :)

Here are some close-ups of the swatches of this polish. I wore it for about two days, and while it didn't chip too badly, I wish that I could say that the appliucation made me happy. The application was painfully bubbly. It was difficult to get it to dry, so it smudged and fingerprinted. I wasn't too happy with how it looked because of this, so I took it off pretty soon after I started to wear it. I'm not sure if it's just a really thick polish, or if something else is awry with it.

Number 9 is "Diane", followed by 10, "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow."

Another interesting thing is that it is indeed a dead-on dupe for OPI's "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow". You do not need both. The application may have been slightly better on the OPI, or I might have just been distracted and given it more time to dry between coats. Both polishes are definite two to three-coaters; one coat is a streaky green mess.

I love the color of the polish. It's chic and autumn and a beauty vampy green. I just wish it weren't such a bitch going on my nails -- it's pretty once it's there properly!

Here is one more odious photo for you guys: I have no idea how that hideous dent happened, and they look awful, but it gives you a better sense of the green and some of the mossy look with the flash:

You also can see that for some reason it was a dust magnet. Ow!

That's all for now -- look for "Diane's" sisters sometime soon!

A Cosmetics Haul

Hi guys!

I had a little cosmetics haul, shamefully at Wal-Mart, the other day. I picked up a little bit of everything. :)

I picked up a few inexpensive nail polishes to swatch, as well as one of the Top Speed line by Revlon that I had been wanting. I also grabbed "Peacock Luster" in the Revlon Satin eyeshadows, an Almay purple mascara, and a new black eyeliner.

In spite of how properly Halloween-ish zombified I look, I did the mascara and eyeshadows for you guys to see -- the eyeshadow is done wet, damp, and dry from left to right.

Look for some reviews of the polishes soon! Comment if you want to see one sooner than the others! :)

Product Review - Orofluido Elixir

Hello, everyone! Today I have a product that I sampled in my October 2011 Bircbox: Orofluido Elixir.

This is a beautiful product with a lovely scent. It is advertised as smoothing hair for shine and making it silky. It definitely does the latter, and I do think that I saw an improvement in shine.

 

It also smells wonderful. Isn't that always a nice touch? It's oily due to the argan oil, but it isn't very messy, and it applies nicely. I'm sad that I have almost used up my bottle! I will definitely be buying a full-sized bottle of this. It's a really nice product and I enjoyed adding it to my beauty routine. I would recommend it to anyone with my hair type -- thick hair but fairly fine -- and I also would say it did not have any negative effects on my highlights, though it might have made them look a little nicer.

I applied it to semi-damp to wet hair, which dispersed it fairly nicely. With more of the product and less stuff going on, I would experiment more to see whether it's better if hair is on the dry or wetter side.

If you are interested in this or other Birchbox products, feel free to use my referral link to sign up. Thank you for reading!

Julep Maven -November 2011 "Polish Lover"

Hello, everyone! I have a package to share with all of you today.

Earlier this week, I received my Julep Maven box for November, 2011. Normally I'm a Bombshell, and while I liked the lipgloss and makeup bag combinations that they had offered, and I did like my nail polish color, but I didn't have the option of changing the color of the lipgloss, which I doubt would have gone very well with my skintone. Soo, I asked for a new shelf pull, and one of the new options they had was a special one-time "Polish Lover" option. In spite of liking the bag, I knew I had to go for that option!

This was a new style of packaging for Julep. Isn't it adorable? I love the little black fillings around the packaging case.

Here I included the special "Polish Lover" card that came with it. I'm always impressed with their presentation and their design team. So professional!

It came with three polishes. From left to right: Diane, Trina, and Michelle. It also came with three little samples of their glycolic hand scrub, SPF 30 hand cream, and the age-defying hand brightener. Since I already received the full sizes of all of these, I will be passing these along to my mother. :)

Swatches and reviews to come! I've already tried out Michelle, and I have a dupe in my collection for Diane, so keep your eyes out for my next posts!