State of the Beauty Blog

It’s been several months since I last updated, and yes!, I’m still receiving my beauty subscriptions. The main focus of my little blog was reviewing the services and all the types of products that come in them. It’s fun receiving all types of new, fun and exciting products, but after a couple of months, there are so many samples, bottles, vials, packets, etc. to try and not enough time to give them an honest review.

The past few months have been busy and leaves not enough time for hobbies… But anyways, I think I’m going to try refocusing the content and reviews on my blog and making things a bit more easier to read and write. That means shorter reviews of single products, more swatches and photos, and hopefully better content! Thanks for reading!

Blush Beauty Mystery Box May 2013

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Blush aka Blush.com Mystery Beauty box is a monthly box, costing $24.95 for a monthly subscription or $34.95 for a one-time box. Each box is valued to contain over $100 worth of products that vary from hair, makeup, and skincare (usually).

Blush changed from its usual packaging (which was none!) to having a new branded drawstring bag to hold your products and a postcard with the product listing (like BB or Glossybox) with detail about your items.

This month was a little different, in that Blush has partnered up with the jewelry seller Baublebar to give out 1 of 3 bracelet designs. This month had six products + one bonus sample.

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Birchbox May 2013 Review

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It seems like I barely get my last review for Birchbox up before the next one gets sent out. This May, Birchbox’s theme is Beauty Diaries and has a little bonus Twitter contest to win full sizes of everything in your box.

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Products laid out. The first thing I notice is the fun amika packaging!

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Six products this month. Two amika hair treatments, toothpaste, a mini eyeliner, perfume sample, and a sunscreen sample. Read on for more details.

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Ipsy May 2013 Review

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Happy May!  The weather here is quite weird, having winter sandwiched between weeks of summer-like warmth and torrential rain showers. Anyways, did May’s ipsy glam bag impress?

The theme for ipsy this month was Spring Fling and I was pleased with the colors and presentation of the bag overall this month. ipsy partnered with nine brands this month (ten counting the bonus Urban Decay shadow) and the Spring Fling card shows all the discounts this month you can see from your ipsy Glam Room. An extra card addressed to “my dearest ipster” had a NuMe code for $110 off Styling Tools and et cetera.

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All the products this month! Everything fit nicely into the teal and orange chevron print bag. Read on for quick reviews of all the products

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News: May 2013 Blush Mystery Beauty Box

I checked my email today and saw that my May 2013 Blush.com shipped today!

For those who haven’t heard of the Blush Mystery Box, this is a monthly subscription service from the retailer Dermstore/Blush/Hairenvy (all under one company, different ). The pricing starts out with a one-time box for $34.95 or a monthly subscription for $24.95.  There are a limited number of boxes available, so get one soon if you’re interested!

Products include brands sold in their online stores, usually a mix of full size and travel size items. They guarantee that the items will usually be worth over $100.  This month contains six products, and two products have already been revealed via Blush.com

Spoilers:

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ipsy News: May 2013 Spoiler update!

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Still time to sign up! I would appreciate it if you use my referral link if you do!

There’s been even more product variations revealed for May’s ipsy bag via Instagram/Makeuptalk/etc. and I just wanted to update the picture product guide to include details on the colors and scents.

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There are two types of coconut body butters (Bronzing vs Luminizing) from Pacifica, two roll-on perfume scents (Vanilla or Tahitian Gardenia) also from Pacifica, two variations on Mirabella lip liners, a Mirabella Glimmer Gloss (in Ruby Red?), and a Mirabella Perfecting Powder. Four shades of pink lipstick from Mirabella are also being sent out too (no info on the names though yet)!

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Read my first spoiler post for more information on these items!

Wantable Jewelry Box April Review Part 2

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Part Two of a two part review. Read Part 1  for the basics of a Wantable subscription. (Disclaimer: I received my box free for my honest review. Thanks!)

My purple Wantable box arrived at my doorstep, impressing me with its professional packaging. The pieces were wrapped inside tissue paper and bubble wrap for safety and had the folded paper filler that a lot of subscription boxes have for protection. The guest stylist this month was Helen Berkun, who I am not quite familiar with, but she is a fashion photographer and stylist.

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All my pieces of jewelry! In total I received six pieces (including the matching necklace and earrings): two necklaces, two rings, one bracelet, and a pair of earrings.

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Wantable Jewelry Box April 2013 Review Part 1

(Part 1 of a two part review)

(Part 2 here)

Wantable.com, formerly Wantable.co, is a relatively new box service, based out of Wisconsin, offering subscription boxes for cosmetics or jewelry or both.

The Basics: Each box you want can cost either $36 a month or a single box for $40. In the makeup box, there are 4-6 full-sized products (no samples here), that are hand-picked each month from a questionnaire asking about your preferences. The jewelry box includes 4 to 5 pieces that are picked in the same way.

Another plus about the service is that subscriptions can be canceled or paused at any time, in case you don’t feel like receiving a box that particular month.

When you first enter the website, it is easy to navigate and very nicely designed. Not much clutter or confusion to intimidate you. I decided to try out Wantable’s jewelry box and was first greeted with photos and descriptions of various jewelry categories to choose from.

You can slide a bar to select if you love, like, or dislike something. If you “love” a type, you are more likely to receive it and if you “dislike” a type, you will never receive it in your box.

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My first decision was choosing what types of jewelry I liked: earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings and watches. I left all the sliders at “like” so I was equally likely to receive any of the above.

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Further along in the survey, questions got more detailed in asking about materials you like and even colors you like (gold, silver, mixed, etc.). In the screenshot above, you can see how even the size of studs you prefer can be customized.

I finished the survey and overall, the styles I chose to receive are Classic, Glam, Rock ‘n Roll, and Quirky. The materials are Silver tone, Gold tone, Multi tone, Wood, and Leather. I didn’t want to receive anything Boho, Seasonal, Acrylic, Beaded, or anything with religious symbolism. Part two of my review will have what I received in my box! *edit- Part two is up!*

ipsy News: ipsyPoints Referral Program

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ipsy (referral link) has a new referral program that rolled out today called ipsyPoints! When you visit ipsy now, as a subscriber, there is a new tab at the top labeled ipsyPoints with your unique referral url to share.

While supplies last, the two possible bonus items you could receive for referring two people are an Urban Decay Moondust eye shadow or a BaubleBar wrap bracelet. If you refer two before May 1st, one of these items would be in your May bag (chosen randomly).

New bonus items will be added when supplies run out every month.

Unfortunately, past referrals are not tracked and at this moment, there are no actual “points” to be earned. More information on ipsy’s Q&A!

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Anyways, I’m excited about May’s ipsy bag, which would be including a gorgeous Zoya sping pastel polish! Sign up soon if you want to be on a list to receive ipsy bags (possibly starting with May).

My link again: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h5iifjki5i44en6