October 2014 BoxyCharm Unboxing

Hi everyone!

I loved my BoxyCharm box so much last month that I decided to keep my subscription going and today I have a review for you of my October box. (You can see a review of my September box HERE).

For those of you who are new to BoxyCharm, it is a monthly makeup subscription service that costs $21 and they send you 4-5 full-size products, which is a great value when you consider that Ipsy and Birchbox are half that price and you only get small samples. I believe, but am not 100% sure, that BoxyCharm now has a waitlist, but I think it's shorter than Ipsy's.

This month, the 5 full-size products I was sent were:
     - Palmetto Derma Collagen Booster & Restoration Serum --> retails for $48
     - Coastal Scents Eclipse Concealer Palette --> retails for $19.95
     - Cult/Commerce x BoxyCharm "Shady" Collection Nail Polishes --> retails for $21
     - Be A Bombshell Eye Shadow --> retails for $14
     - StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencils --> retails for $14

This month's box also came with a special 20% off coupon for Palmetto Derma's website, just use the promo code BCPD2 at checkout. The coupon code is valid thru 12/31/14.

Palmetto Derma Collagen Booster & Restoration Serum
This is a serum that is intended to "protect from premature aging and creates youthful, glowing and beautiful skin, all day and night!" BoxyCharm recommends applying a small amount of the product in the morning and evening after cleansing and toning your face. Allow the product time to absorb before applying moisturizer and they do warn to keep it away from your eyes. A full-size, 1 ounce, bottle of this serum retails for $48, so this is a terrific product to receive in a subscription box as I would probably not buy this product on my own. If you're interested in buying this product, you can purchase it from Palmetto Derma's website and Amazon. I have not tried this product yet, but once I do, I will probably do a Skincare Saturday/Sunday post on it if you guys are interested.

Coastal Scents Eclipse Concealer Palette
This is the Eclipse Concealer Palette by the brand Coastal Scents that retails for $19.95 but is currently on sale for $14.95 on their website.

The palette contains 15 different shades, 11 of which are shades for you to match to your skin (some have warm tones and some have cool tones), then there are 4 other shades, a mint green shade which counteracts redness or pinkness caused from rosacea, blemishes, or capillaries around the nose and cheek areas, a pale yellow shade which conceals black, blue, or purple imperfections such as bruises or unsightly under eye halos, a lavender shade which neutralizes areas with excessive yellow pigmentation and corrects olive skin tones, and a white/silver shade can be used as a highlighter to add sheen to cheekbones, nose, eyes, etc.

This is the second Coastal Scents product I've tried and I'm honestly very impressed! The concealers are very creamy and highly pigmented. They are probably some of the best drug store concealers that I've used, they even beat many high end concealers! It may seem unnecessary to buy a palette like this since you might think that you won't use all the colors, but I find that you can use some of the shades that don't exactly match your skin tone to contour and highlight/brighten your face. I honestly love this palette and highly recommend it to anyone looking to try out some new concealers! The packaging is a heavy duty plastic so it is also a very good item to travel with as it won't get smashed in your bag. I'm really happy with how well this concealer covered my under-eye circles and brightened the area up!

Cult/Commerce x BoxyCharm "Shady" Collection Nail Polishes
I have neve heard of this nail polish before, but I like that they gave us two different colors, one a dark gray and one a deep purple. I actually really like the purple color and think I will get a lot of wear out of it this fall. I will try them out and report back on how well they wear.

Be A Bombshell Eyeshadow
Prior to receiving this product, I have previously tried a mascara and eyeshadow quad from the brand Be a Bombshell. I wasn't impressed with the mascara since it had a truly horrible smell to it, I couldn't even bear to put it on my eyelashes. On the other hand, I was very impressed with the eyeshadow quad I received.

Because I really liked the Be a Bombshell eyeshadow quad I previously received from an Ipsy/Birchbox, I was excited to receive one in this BoxyCharm. However, I was disappointed to receive this color. I don't tend to wear green eyeshadows, and since this is a dark green shimmer eyeshadow intended for a smokey eye, I don't think I will actually wear it.

However, I do like the texture of this eyeshadow, it's very smooth and finely milled. It just glides right on. I am really curious to try these solo eyeshadows in a color that I might actually wear because the quality seems really great.

Here are some hand swatches of this eyeshadow. On the left side in each photo is a heavy swatch and on the right is a light swatch (only one swipe).

StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencils
The last product in this BoxyCharm was a StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencil in the color ultra violet. I was excited to try a StarLooks pencil since I've heard really good things about them, but unfortunately this is not a color that I wear. I barely wear eyeliner since my eyes water a lot and it usually gets messy and wipes away.

The quality of this eyeshadow pencil is pretty amazing! It's a little smudgy, so if you like to smudge out your eyeliner this is a pretty good one. All in all, I'm really impressed and will definitely check out getting a more normal color one that I would actually wear.

If you do like colored eyeliner, this is a very beautiful color. It's a rich, deep blue-purple that I think would be very beautiful on people with all different eye colors. I might keep this eyeliner for New Year's Eve or some other special event just because I think it looks very beautiful on the eyes.

Final Verdict:
All in all, I think this was a great box this month! I wish that my eyeliner and eyeshadow would have been more neutral colors, but getting brighter and more different colors really pushes me to expand how I wear my makeup so I guess it's not the end of the world. I love that for about $20 a month you get to try out 5 full size products and they always retail for MUCH more than the cost of the box, so it's a great deal! For those of you who are getting tired of your Ipsy/Birchbox subscriptions, I highly recommend checking out BoxyCharm!

Are you interested in trying BoxyCharm? Are you loving any other subscription box services at the moment that you'd recommend I try? Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

Tarina Tarantino: Lash de Fleur Mascara

Hi everyone,

Today's review for Mascara Monday is Tarina Tarantino's Lash de Fleur Mascara. This is the first product I have tried by this brand and I received this mascara in my September BoxyCharm box (review here!) and I decided to give it a go! You can purchase this mascara from the Tarina Tarantino website (the packaging of the mascara is slightly different on there) for $19 for 0.47 oz of product.

Overall, I think this is a great mascara, but with that said, I do have a couple problems with it. I'm going to go over my top three positives and negatives of this mascara and then show some photos with this mascara on my eyelashes.

Okay, so lets first start with the positives! 

1) Firstly and most importantly, I really like the look that this mascara gives me. My lashes look very dense and full, which since I have very short and not full lashes is something I'm always striving for. The formula of this mascara is on the wet side, which I prefer because it seems to stick nicely to my lashes to give them great length and thickness.

2) I also like the bristles of this mascara. They're somehow soft yet firm at the same time which allows them to be nicely brushed through the lashes in order to apply the product. This mascara does have the traditional style of bristles, not the rubberized kind, just something for you to note in case you much prefer one type over the other.

3) The third thing I love about this mascara is the packaging! It comes in a sleek gunmetal gray tube that has the Tarina Tarantino name written on it in silver font. The tube also has a little weight which makes it feels luxe and high-end.

Now onto the problems I have with this mascara...

1) My biggest complaint about this mascara is that I find that the wand is way too big for applying mascara to my eyelashes. For me, this really slows down my eye makeup application as I have to slow down in order to be more precise with it since there's much more room for error with a large applicator. One little wrong move and you'll have a large mistake to clean up.

2) My next fault in this mascara is that it can be a little messy to apply. I'm generally not the neatest at applying my mascara, but this product is very messy and I find that I always have a lot to clean up afterwards. I love a wet formula mascara, but this one is just too messy. I would recommend using this mascara first (and do all the rest of your eye makeup) before you apply your concealer and foundation. Otherwise you'll just have to reapply it after you clean up the unwanted mess this mascara leaves behind.

3) My last complaint is that this mascara does have a slight smell to it. It's by no means unbearable, but it is there so if you're sensitive to mascara smells do take note of that.

Alright and as promised, here are some photos of me wearing this mascara.

Alright so time for the final verdict: Would I purchase this product again?
           I didn't mind using this mascara and I'm glad to have been able to try a product from the Tarina Tarantino line, but this is not a holy grail or staple product for me and I don't feel the need to always have it in my collection so I think I probably wouldn't buy this mascara again. All in all, I did enjoy this mascara, but it's by no means my favorite and I have plenty of other mascaras that I like a whole lot more that I would repurchase first.

Have you tried any Tarina Tarantino products yet? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!