Boxy Charm August 2018

It sure is a Monday....am I right?  Well, Mondays are good though.  Caleb and I go see my grandmother on Monday's and Caleb practices his reading to her.  It's kind of like hitting two birds with one stone, whereas he gets to practice his reading for his homework and my granny loves to hear him read and visit with her.  So Monday's aren't bad for us, they are just a little tough to get moving at first. 

Today however, we are going to the hospital to visit granny today.  When her stay is over, we believe that they will be putting her in a nursing home for her care.  I had offered for her to come stay with us, but we were told that she needed 24 hour care and being that the hubs and I both worked, it wouldn't be suitable for her to be by herself during the daytime. 

While we are all sad to see her leave her home, I think knowing there is a round the clock care for her, makes us more at ease.  Plus we can come and see her at the home anytime we want, it's no farther of a drive than her house.  I think that she's at peace with going because she has friends who already reside there and mostly she won't feel so alone anymore. 

Well, that's enough of that for today, let's talk about why you are really here.....It's time to show off what I got in my Boxy Charm box for August!!

I must say that I had been secretly thinking to myself, "they always seem to put eye shadow pallets in the box, but they are always neutral....why won't they pick some color".  Well my friends, I got what I deserved....just look at the bright colors of this pallet.

I guess the Law of Attraction took me very seriously.......I manifested some straight up colorful shadows this month.  LOL

So this is the Laura Lee Los Angeles Party Animal pallet, and it list for $19 US. 

These color of shadows are not common in Boxy Charm...at least not for my boxes.  I was a bit taken back by how bright the shades were, but I went into playtime mode and made a look that I actually love.  I did bring in a neutral brown color to use in my crease though.  And even with the brightness of the colors, the look I made was still manageable (for my taste at least) and I was perfectly happy to leave my house with the boys and head off to the Marvel Universe Live show last Sunday wearing this exact look. 

The quality of the shadows are nice, especially for the yellow and two blue toned ones.  But it seems as the farther you go back, the more flaky and hard panned they became.  The orange was ok, but the pink and purple were not soft at all and you can see the flakes on my arm from the purple shade. That one purple shade wasn't too easy to work with, because it was so hard and gritty.  But I did manage to get it on my eye and then clean up afterwards. 

Moving on, the item next is the ncLA So Rich Lollipop Cuticle Oil that retails for $18 US. 

I wasn't super excited for this item.  I use lotions multiple times a day and my cuticles are never really in need of much extra care than that.  But I did put it on my nightstand (next to my lotion) and have been using it for the past two weeks.  To be honest, i really don't notice anything.  But again, I use lotion multiple times each day, so I don't think my cuticles could get any softer than they already are...but I will keep using it.  On the plus side, it smelled fantastic!! I have never had cuticle oil smell like vanilla cupcakes...I liked that part of it.  LOL

Next up we are going to dive into another item that I didn't care too much for.  It's the Wander Beauty - Baggage Claim Golden Eye Mask.  They retail for $13 and it includes a set of 3.

These are super cute to look at.  They are really a reflective gold color and just remind me of that gold paper that people use on crafts....I can't think of what it's called, that flimsy stuff.  Anyways, these are very golden, but like the cuticle oil, I am not one who has issues with bags under my eyes, blue colored circles or puffiness really.  I mean, I do get puffiness when I have a bad allergy day, but for the most part it's not something I have an issue with.  So while I did use them and they felt nice on the skin, I just didn't see a difference. 

One thing that I did not like however, was that they were a little hard to take off.  I don't know if I kept it there too long and it dried or something, but it wasn't a nice gliding off like most eye mask would.  I don't do the tugging of the eye thing.....and I had to with these.  So they are a no go for me.

Next up is the Bang Beauty Chocolate Eyeliner.  It retails for $22 US. 

Ok, this was a winner and a fail at the same time.  I could not use this as an eyeliner.  It did not glide across my lid hardly at all.  I have used $3 potted eyeliners that were magical unicorns dancing in the sun compared to this one.  (How'd you like that analogy?)  It was too dry to be an eyeliner.  BUT, the box said it could be a cream eyeshadow and a brow pomade.  So that's just what I did.  I used it as my base for the colors of the eye makeup look I did.  My shadows didn't crease and they stuck quite nicely with the tackiness of the potted liner, so I can't complain about it being a cream shadow.  But I was more impressed by the brow pomade.  I did my brows with the liner in the photo above, and I really think they turned out nice.  I think the color was a smidge too warm for my natural brows, but overall it was a great product for my brows.  

Alrighty, let's talk more fails, shall we?  That's just dismal of a tone. 

Now the next fail had nothing to do with the product.  It's the Becca Light Filtering Brightening Primer that retails for $18 US.  

When you sign up for Boxy Charm it will ask you of your skin texture, tone, etc.  As usual I put that I am oily skinned.  They had sent some people the Becca matti-fying primer and others the skin brightening primer.  I got the brightener.  

I was bummed...but I used it anyways.  I thought that it helped to blur out the pores some, but I am not seeing the brightening part.  It looked to have a little glow or something in it, but it wasn't glitter.  So I don't know, but I think that it was preconceived thoughts because I wanted the matte on instead.  

Okie dokie, last item I received was the Smashbox Be Legendary Lip Pigment....and was it pigmented.  Retails for $24 US.  

You will see in the photo above where I applied it to my lips and blotted it twice afterwards to give me the rosey color, that is still very bold, but much lighter.  But in the swatch it is actually very dark and rich in color.  I like the color of this pigment, but it's not a liquid lipstick, it's more like a very richly pigmented gloss.  So you have the bold color that a liquid lipstick will give you and the comfortable feeling of a gloss....HOWEVER, you will be constantly checking to make sure it's not a smeared mess very often because it is not a stay in place type of product.  I don't personally like glossy type formulas in bold lip colors, they are too much hassle and worry for me.  But if it were a lighter color, I'd be all over this product.

And there you have it friends, my Boxy Charm for the month of August.  My total value of all the products added together was $114 US.   That's not too shabby for me, especially if I only spent $19 US for it. 

I am overall happy with the majority of the products, some are going to the "niece basket" (this is where I put my stuff that I try and don't like for my many makeup loving nieces to try out).

Do you subscribe to any box subscription?  Let me know in the comment section below.  I'd love to know what your favorite products are in your subscriptions.

If you want to check out  Boxy Charm for yourself, I will leave my link below.  There is no pressure to use it, but if you do, thank you so much!

Boxy Charm

I will be back again soon, until next time, take care.

-Kim

Ipsy Bag for August 2018

Happy Fri-YAY!! 

I have to tell you my story of what happened last night.....I am nearly finished with my computer course for my school and I was taking an open book test.  Normally I can finish these within about 30-45 minutes....last night it took me almost 3 hours to finish.  I was so cross eyed from reading and looking over my answers....the worst part was that during m sleep I was actually dreaming about computers.  Oh, the horror of that dream!!

I just can't do computers and there makeup, it's just not something I'm interested in enough to keep my attention....especially for 3 hours.  But nevertheless, I finished and I'm glad that part is over with. 

Well, enough jabbering about computers, let's get into the Ipsy bag for August 2018.

This was a pretty good bag, not the best, but still good.  It's theme is "Selfie with no filter".  Which is such a beautiful theme.  This month I received a full size highlight, full size eye shadow color, full size lip gloss (that is unbelievably adorable), a highlight brush and a travel size facial mask.

The first thing I want to talk about is the Ciate Glow To Highlighter.  It's very creamy for a shadow formula of highlight, and as you might see my face below, I was a bit taken back by the intensity of it on first swipe. It has a very silver hue to it and being this pigmented, I think this would be great for someone who either loves blinding highlights or as an inner corner highlight to compliment your eye look.  My only gripe is that it comes in this plastic package and I can't seem to get it out to get it in a makeup pallet.  I am going to keep trying, but for now, it's staying in it's box.

Since we are on the highlight, let's go ahead and talk about the SLS Miss Glam highlight brush.  I am always amazed at how beautiful her brushes are.  I have never had one shed or feel plastic like, they have always been high quality bristles and very soft.  This one is no different.  BUT on top of all that, it's PINK!! It has a pink translucent handle with glitter all throughout it, a gold ferrel and then she tops the ferrel with pink rhinestones.  I have gotten more and more excited about getting brushes when they are a beautiful and high quality as Miss Glam's are.

Moving along, we are gonna talk about The Balm's foiled eye shadow next.  The Balm has always impressed me on their shadows and this is the same, but to be quite honest, I was underwhelmed with this shadow.  It looks like a beautiful pewter color in the pan, but when applied it's more of a lighter silver instead.  Now, if I was wanting a silver shadow, then this is perfect.  But it's just not that dark on the eye as it shows in the pan and I got excited when I saw the color in the pan. 

Next item I was excited about.  It's the absolute cutest thing in the entire bag.  It's the Glamour Dolls Sweet Treats lip gloss in Peach.  This is actually a very nice gloss.  It has a nice pigment to it, but not like a lipstick type pigment, just a light glossy, peachy look.  This type of color can be tricky because sometimes they can look milky and streaky on the lips, but this one did not do that.  And who can really argue with how precious this is?  It reminds me of lip glosses I had as a child, in little cute containers.  This was a win for me.

Last item I received was the Hey Honey Youth Boosting, Honey and Copper Peel Off face mask.  I'll admit, I already had preconceived thoughts on this.  I do NOT like peel off mask.  I think that it's more use error than anything, because I get it all over the place, stuck all in my hair and then I'm too impatient to wait for it to dry in order to peel it off.  When I happen to actually wait enough time, it seems to hurt when I do peel it off.  So I just don't like any types of peel off mask and this one wasn't any different.   And again, this was primarily from user error.  This could be a great facial mask but sadly I will never know. 

And that's all I have in my August Ipsy bag.  My hits were the gloss and the brush for sure and the eye shadow and highlight followed behind.  The face mask is just not for me so it was a miss, sadly, but I think overall it was still a good bag.  

That's all I have for today.  If you subscribe to Ipsy, let me know what you got in your bag.  I'd love to know.  

I hope you all have a great weekend and I will see you all again soon.  Until next time, take care.

-Kim

Ipsy Bag for July 2018

I finally got it all together this week and came up with some thoughts on all of the products I receive in my Ipsy bag for July 2018.  I am pretty sure that my Ipsy August bag is either in my mailbox as I type or it's going to be there this afternoon.  I'm going to have to pick up the pace to keep up with it this month for sure.  But lets talk about July's bag for now...

The first product in my bag was the Steve Laurent Blush in Rose All Day.  It seems like a satin / matte finish...whereas the look is very matte on the skin, but with the slightest hint of something extra.  It's soft and silky to the touch and blends quite nicely on the skin.   It's a nice color, very fresh on the face and I feel the color would go with most eye / lip looks you would be wearing.  My only thing is that it's not a color that would be difficult to find or most might even have it already in their collection. It says that it never looks cakey when it's been layered, but the color is so pigmented and my skin so light that I wouldn't be able to layer it.  So I can't vouch for that. 

Next up we have the Sugar Stroke of Genius Kohl eyeliner in Green Light.  Now this I like!! It soft and creamy, yet long lasting and smudge proof.  The color is a very bold green and I am loving the color!!

Moving right a long...we have the Fresh Garden sheet masks.  When it comes to masks in general I only go for the sheet mask type.  I have used Fresh Garden masks many times and I enjoy them quite a bit.  I don't necessarily notice the "firming" or "calming" effect it is supposed to have, but it feels really nice on the skin and a nice and easy pamper item.  

My next product was a total miss for me...and not because the product was bad.  I don't know if it's good or bad because it was too dark for my skin tone.  It's the Smashbox Studio Skin Finish 24 Hour Waterproof Concealer.  I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed I was to find this too dark.  It's even too dark to use as a foundation (yep, I tried that as well).  I have heard so many good reviews and was excited to try it out.  But that's life isn't it?  So I have no opinion on this concealer, I'm sorry about that. 

Last item was the Mellow Cosmetics Creamy Matte Lipstick in Candy Floss....now, this hot pink is not a color that everyone feels good in.  HOWEVER, me on the other hand, well I can't get enough of this hot color!!  This is a very comfortable lipstick...the word "creamy" is on the spot true.  While it is creamy, it is matte....but not the uncomfortable dry down matte.  It dries down and feels kind of like the Nyx Creamy Matte lipcolors, if you have tried those.  Since it doesn't dry down all the way it still will transfer to whom ever you may lay a kiss on or glass you sip from....so just keep that in mind.  

Now for the look I created with my Ipsy products.  I wanted to do a smoked out top colored liner look, so I used bronzer in my crease and winged out the green liner on top lash line and then smudged it out on the lower lash line.  I followed up with the blush, lipstick and then took a few selfies with my sweet baby cakes and that was it.

If Ipsy is something you want to check out for yourself I will leave my link below.  I do receive points for anyone who uses my link, so if you do, I really appreciate it.  However, there is no pressure to sign up, I will never know if you do or don't so never fear.  :)  

Ipsy Subscription

I hope you enjoyed today's post and will come back and visit me here again at 523.  Have a wonderful day and until next time, take care.

-Kim

July 2018 - Boxy Charm Subscription Review

Here we are at the absolute last day of the month and I am just now getting my Boxy Charm review up. Well, you can rest assure that I have tried everything multiple times so I'm good and confident about the products. So let's dive right in..

The theme this month was "Road Trippin". I received 5 full size products; Crown eye shadow pallet, Dr. Brandt eye de-puffing gel, Wander Beauty mascara, Chella Beauty eye brow cream, and Note Cosmetics silk blush.

Let's start out with the Crown Brush - Fuego Eye Shadow pallet, retailing for $29.99 US dollars.

It has 6 matte and 4 shimmer shades in a variety of warm tones. As you can see the pigment in each color is absolutely fantastic. Below you will see just how I made my eye look with the pallet.

While I have plenty more pallets that have these similar shades, I would most certainly pay the $30 for this one. It has a nice selection of colors that I feel you can get various looks with, but the size of the shadows in each pan are huge and the quality is very top notched. If you are wanting a terrific quality pallet with these types of shades I do feel good telling you that the $30 price tag would be well spent, in my opinion.

Ok, next item on the list is the Dr. Brandt No More Baggage, Eye De-Puffing Gel for $42.00 US. I love Dr. Brandt's products and his Pore Dermibrasion cream is my all time favorite....except for the price of course. But my thoughts on this product wasn't as positive this time.

While it seemed to slightly correct the under eye color, I don't have too puffy of eyes to really see if the works on. I don't have perfect under eyes by any means, but I just don't have severe puffiness. I think that the only reason it corrected the color a bit was because the color of the product is an orange-ish color that will off set the blue undertones of the under eyes. But for puffy eyes, I just can't give you an honest opinion.

But, one thing I will say is that I don't like how it sat under my makeup. It actually started to show a ton of texture mid-day under my eyes. Which is something I never have. So unfortunately I can't recommend this product, whether it be $42 or even $4.

Moving along to Wander Beauty Curl and Volume mascara which retails for $24.00 US.

This was a very wet formula at first and wouldn't give too much volume. But after about a week or so, it finally dried up enough to make the volumizing really amp up. I love the wand on this mascara....but I love ALL curved brushes because they just fit my eye so much better than the straight wands.

My only concern would be the curling effect. It doesn't seem to have any at all. It doesn't seem to weigh down the lashes at all, but I can't say if it keeps the curl. My lashes will stay curled after I use a lash curler anyways, so I don't know if it will help with that or not. But I did NOT get my curl from the mascara alone.

Basically, it's a good mascara, it gives beautiful volume to my lashes, I adore this type of wand and I thought the longevity was wonderful. I actually wore this to the funeral we went to over the weekend and while it did run some with tears (its not waterproof, nor did it claim to be), it was still very easy to manage and it didn't smear everywhere. I was able to clean it up with a tissue and it didn't get all on the top of my lid from my wiping of it.

So I like it, but I am not quite sure I'd spend $24 for it.

On we go to the next product....

This is the Chella Eye Brow cream (in Taupe) that retails for $26 US. I might say this is my favorite product in the box!!

This is on side an angled liner brush and on the other side a cool toned, taupe colored brow pomade. It's the size of a lipgloss, that's how small it is. I love how compact this little baby is and the color is absolutely PERFECT for my brows. I am just a happy little camper when I find perfect matching brow colored products....so all I can say is YES I'd happily pay the $26 for this product. It's absolutely perfect for me....I think I'm going to buy another on to keep in my purse and one in the trailer for our traveling. Where has this been all of my life?

Okie, dokie, the last product is a silk blush by Note Cosmetics and retails for $11.99 US

I think this is such a cute blush and I don't mean "cute" as in "size", it's just cutely packaged. I do like the color, despite the fact that in the pan it looks almost burnt orange, it's actually a burnt rosy shade. The swatch on my arm shows the color at it's full potential. On my cheeks I had it very lightly dusted on....I wasn't sure of the product then, so I went safer than sorry.

I like how soft and rich this blush is, and the name "silk blush" really does sum it up quite nicely. I like the blush color, performance, I think its a very nice high end feeling product and the package is so weighty to the touch and very sleek.

I do think I'd pay the $12 for it....I pay $10 for the Milani Rose blushes and I think this blush is worth the extra 2 bucks. So yes this is a keeper.

Well, all in all the total of the box retails for $133.98 and I paid $21 for it....not too shabby if I do say so myself.

My stand outs were the mascara and mostly the eye brow product, and my only fail was the Dr. Brandt de puffing gel. But overall, I thought this box was a real winner for me.

 If you want to check out Boxy Charm subscription you can use my referral code.  There is absolutely no pressure whatsoever to use it, but if you do, thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy your subscription as much as I do mine!!

Other than that, I believe that's all there is for me today. I hope you enjoyed today's post and found it helpful. If you already subscribe to Boxy Charm, let me know how you liked yours for this month and what you got, I'd love to know.

I will be back again tomorrow with another "Can you guess the high end look?", I'm excited to show this look off, I love how the eyes came out. So until tomorrow, take care everyone.

-Kim