BOXYCHARM JULY 2018 ROADTRIPPIN 🚞

BOXYCHARM JULY 2018

ROADTRIPPIN 🚞

July’s Boxycharm seems a little spacey when you dont see a sort of makeup palette in the box. My variation comes with the setting spray instead, there is also another version that comes with a crown eyeshadow palette and farmacy beauty mask. I am a collector of eyeshadow palettes and i love cream/sheet masks, i would have loved to receive that version instead. 

Tarte Ready, set, radiant mist.

This mist works to keep your face refreshed throughout the day and works under or on top of makeup too. It has a bit of a fruity scent in my opinion but ive read a few other reviews saying that they are just not into the smell. The nozzle deposits a fine mist of spray which is good as it doesnt spritz large droplets onto the face. All in all id say this is a good refreshing mist, but for my makeup setting mist i still prefer my first mist that i have ever received from Boxycharm from last year, the coverfx illuminating spray, which i am almost running out of. 

Wander beauty Unlashed volume and curl mascara.

Wander beauty is one of those brands that I’ve only recently learned from receiving them in my subscription boxes like ipsy and boxycharm. I like most of their products especially their gold eye mask. 

This tube looks like a tube of gloss at first but turns out its actually a mascara, quite a cool twist of product packaging. I like that the mascara brush has a slight curve to it which always helps to hug my lashes more and give it a bit of a curl, i find sharp spiky brushes are the hardest to apply for my short lashes.

Dr Brandt Needles no more ; no more baggage.

This product is described as an eye de puffing gel and can be worn alone or under makeup. Its light pink in colour and the texture of the gel feels quite thick at first. I read a tip saying that you can rub the gel on your index fingers together first to warm it up and soften the gel before tapping into the under eye, this helps for better absorption. 

The great thing about this is when you wear under makeup as a base, it makes the under eyes smoother hence easier concealer/foundation application without the eye bags and wrinkles showing through. It also prevents concealers cracking and settling in between the lines. 

Swatch for chella eyebrow gel & no more baggage:

Chella Tantalizing taupe eyebrow cream.

Another twist in the product packaging that makes application more fun, this is a double ended stick which has a brush on one side and a eyebrow gel in the cap of the other side (acting like a pot). Very handy to use and carry for travelling or when youre on the go, because the brush is attached, you’ll never have to worry about losing a brush in the bottom of your makeup bag to touch up anymore. 

My only gripe with this product is that the shade is abit too light for me as im black-brown hair. I usually draw on a strong bold brow and this gave me light wispy ones lol. But i like the idea of the product.

Note cosmetics Luminous silk compact blush in Desert rose.

I find this blusher smells heavily of talc powder and its not that pleasing to smell as its like inhaling chemicals, it would be better if the scent was masked by something else. Desert rose is a burnt rose shade, it steers quite close to orange on some very fair light skin tone, as for myself the shade works well to complement the warm tones. Pigmentation wise is very buildable but it does fade throughout the day as i work in a airconditioned room and my oils go crazy after a long day. 

This month’s boxy felt a little bit roomy, perhaps due to the full size products received are thin like the mascara and eyebrow gel. I like the inclusion of some products like the Dr Brandt, a little bit of skincare now and then in boxes full of makeup is fine. 

SEPHORA PLAY BOX 🌱 JULY 2018 🌱

SEPHORA PLAY BOX

JULY 2018

July’s box is all about the good stuffs, starting from a cleaner beauty routine. This month the products tested are also free from parabens, phthalates & sulfates. 

Caudalie Vinoperfect concentrated brightening essence.

Upon reading the description i wasn’t entirely sure what i was getting hence looking at the info sheet this is actually a treatment step that removes impurities and dead skin. Somewhat like what a toner does, apply this on a cotton pad after cleansing and before using any serums or moisturiser. 

I like the lightness of the product and that is clear almost h2o like. This also has a lovely grape scent that smells like grape water. Ive had enough of rose scented skincare for awhile now, so this is a refreshing change.

Fresh Sugar advanced therapy lip treatment.

This travel size is super worthy to receive as the actual cost of the full price is quite expensive. This travel size is 2.2g while the full size is 4.3g. 

This is an age defying treatment with a pink tint that aids in smoothing lines while providing 24 hour moisture and hydration. These lip treatments are highly raved and are the holy grail for cracked up lips.

Tarte Rainforest of the sea Deep dive cleansing gel.

I usually remove the eye makeup with makeup wipes before face wash in order to really remove the eyeshadow and liners. I am a huge fan of tarte’s clay blushes and eyeshadows, but i have never tried their face products like the foundations and skincare. I choose not to purchase the foundations due to the limited shade fiasco eventhough i do have a shade that matches myself. 

This deep cleansing gel is clear and when rubbed it turns liquid, it breaks down even the most stubborn and waterproof makeup. The great thing about this gel is that it doesn’t leave a tight face after cleansing. Skin still remains soft to the touch after washing. 

Josie Maran Whipped argan oil face butter.

This is argan oil in a whipped cream form and it sounds delicious as hell doesn’t it?! Argan oil is very well known in smoothing and moisturising for both hair and face. The whipped formula is light and isn’t a heavy cream, it absorbs well into the skin leaving skin soft. 

There are another 3 versions with different scents added, the sample one is unscented, which is great because there might be subscribers who are sensitive to the scented ones and could totally irritate the skin. 

Tarte amazonian clay 12hour blush in Paaarty. 

If you have ever received the birthday set from sephora before, you know which blush this is from. I have about 3 diff blush pans of tarte’s blushes and a few more from palettes like grav3yardgirl’s swamp palette and the treasure box. And i love them all. The pans are mostly the nude natural shades while the ones in the palettes are pinkier and brighter. 

I used to think that their blush has little pigmentation whenever i do an arm swatch because the powder will stick to my fingers and not transfer well to my arm, so there was very little transfer. But then I started to use them with a blush brush instead and i found that the colour payoff was so so so much better from brush straight to skin and it was also very buildable. It is way easier to build a stronger pigmentation with packing on the brush. Perhaps the little transfer from the arm swatch shows that once is on first contact with your skin it doesn’t rub off at all. Hence from there on i was impressed with the blush pigmentation. 

‘Paaarty’ is a pink tone nude shade that look absolutely natural and amazing. Build it up for a more intense pink for when you really need to party it up.

Rahua Freestyle Texturizer.

At first I wasn’t sure what a texturizer is meant to do, until i followed the instructions and tried this out for myself. It says to apply to roots for volume and apply to the tips for texture. I applied to my roots for volume as i have some flat-hair at the back and so thought i could add some volume to it. As soon as i applied it, it turned my hair really sticky and made it hard to even run my hands through. I was going OMG at the moment and grabbed my hair brush to try soothe it out, by now my hair felt like it was matted together in chunks. I couldn’t do much at this point so i brushed everything straight down. It left my hair feeling heavy and if i could give them a star, it would only be for keeping my hair still and flyaways free. Needless to say, i tossed the remaining product in the sachet. It was a scary experience for me and I’m sticking to their shampoo and conditioner duo. 

Lately i feel like sephora has been focusing into certain brands too much (like mufe samples thats been in almost all beauty subscription bags) i wished we would get more make up product samples. And something more interesting than a sephora black liner. That said i do like the inclusion of some skincare like Caudalie products which is one of my favourite skincare brand. Maybe a balance of both would’ve been better. Ive been thinking of cutting at least one subscription back and altho i hate the teeny tiny samples from sephora play box, i do like the fact that they are known brands stocked in sephora and they have quality (if not quantity). 

WALMART BEAUTY 🌴JULY 2018🌴

WALMART BEAUTY 

JULY 2018

First off, this box is super pretty with the flamingo pink and tree ferns surrounding the lid and just begs to be reused. This month’s walmart beauty box has 6 sample products to try. Compared to last month’s box, this month the sample sizes are smaller and seems to mostly be in sachet form. Im not sure how i like that since most sachet samples can be received for free. So here’s on its up to you. Worthy box to keep subscribing to or nah? 

3-Day whitening boost kit Rembrandt.

This boast to whiten teeth within 3 days by attaching the sticky gum side to the teeth for 30minutes. I have also received this item before in the previous month, so im not sure why they sent a repeat. 

At first it was slightly hard to attach to the mouth, until I realised that i was inserting it upside down instead of with the slit side folded into my inner teeth. Afterwards with the right placement i finally got it to work and let it marinate for 30minutes. 

At the end of the experiment, I did not see a vast difference on the colour but there are some slight improvements on them. 

Nair wax strips.

There are 4 pcs of strips in the sample pack, it is meant to remove short hairs on the bikini area and face. Honestly i have never done any strip waxing before on the face or body with the exception of eyebrow waxing done by a professional benefit counter gal. So i will give this a go when I absolutely need to, once ive mustered enough courage.

Garnier Fructis damage repairing treat hair mask.

I love hair masks and deep treatments! For the past year my hair has been going through lots of changes where i went from 6 months with dreadlocks on, then to a short bob and then now to a ash blonde head. It is now time for some tlc for the head. 

Garnier Skinactive soothing 3-in-1 moisturiser mask.

Honestly when i opened the sachet to try the moisturiser on i was confused if i can leave it on my face or do i have to wash it off. Because this particular product has a thick consistency when i applied it on the face and it felt almost to the point of heavy. The instruction says that you may apply a thicker layer on the whole face to act as a mask and leave on for 10 minutes which i think should then be washed afterwards. Maybe i will give that a go for a night mask since i have been applying a super thin layer for the day. If you are thinking of the other sakura rose moisturiser that garnier has, it is a totally different product and much much lighter in consistency.

Palmer’s natural fusions shampoo & conditioner.

I love getting a shampoo and conditioner duo because then you’ll be able to see how both products perform together. These days my hair is on a sahara desert dry due to my double bleaching process, so anything with natural non harsh chemicals is welcome.

The shampoo smells wonderful and so does the conditioner, i like that the conditioner feels super soft upon application and washing. And the smoothness lasts until after wash too. I will definitely look out for this particular brand when i run out of my usual shampoo and conditioner. 

Kleenex wet wipes.

They are soft wet wipes, very handy for mums like me who has a stash of wet and dry tissues for the snotty child and the pukey baby. No chemically smell either so feels safe to wipe a baby’s bum. 

Overall i think its a good price for a $5 box. Although for the next boxi do hope the sizes were more like last month’s with more bottle products than sachets. And no repeats like the whitening kit.