FabFitFun Inaugural Box

Well I finally received my FabFitFun box .... I was prepared to be disappointed as I participate in the MakeupTalk forum and I saw many others get icky boxes. But I wanted to reserve judgement until I actually got my box. Now that I have, I can say I am very disappointed. I did a lot of research and a lot of considering before deciding on this box. There were boxes sent to bloggers before they were shipped. Those boxes contained the guaranteed Moroccan Oil as well as a Go Smile whitening pen, Josie Maran lip stain, Butter London polish, Zoya polish, Think Thin bar, Jouer gloss, and a cute star necklace from JewelMint. After much consideration I decided to cancel my PopSugar box and get FFF. It would be cheaper in the long run and seemed like items I would enjoy. I wanted to try Moroccan Oil and I thought the whitening pen and JM lip stain seemed great. Plus, the necklace was cute! Well then boxes started shipping... people didn't get what bloggers received. Once the pattern of what was sent in what box was determined, I figured out I would be getting one of the crummy boxes. My box obviously contained the Moroccan Oil (which I'm still excited to try) and it had the Think Thin, Jouer gloss in Glisten and Zoya polish. I was missing the whitening pen, BL and JM. In place of those I received three rather ugly pieces of JewelMint jewelry. Certainly not this season and not fab!! 

My jewelry : 

So I received (left to right) a pair of odd silver dangly earrings with blue beads at the top, a gold scratched up ring with purple and a pink rhinestone on either side and a rather hideous shade of yellow earrings (the stones in the middle are a topaz-y shade). Trust me when I say they're much uglier than this picture shows. 

The box: 

I forgot to mention that green thing there is a joke of a sample Perfekt brow gel. At least mine wasn't dried up like many others were. Out of this I'll use the oil, Think Thin, Zoya and Jouer. I understand that the oil alone is worth about $40... but honestly I wouldn't have gone for this box (for $50!) if I had known the pen, BL, JM and star necklace would be missing and three crappy pieces of jewelry in it's place. I really hardly ever complain about my boxes. I try to find positives in them all. Even in this month's PopSugar box (which I wasn't wowed by) I found some positives that still made it worth my money. Several people have complained about this box and many are being offered a free summer box. I sent my complaint email on and would like the free summer box. I'll give them that to see if they make it up. If I'm not offered that (or if I am and it's still a lame box) I'll be canceling. In the meantime, I resubbed to PopSugar. Luckily I was able to find a $5 off code and use it again. I was also able to resub in time to get April's box. Lesson learned! Just because something seems like it'll be nicer and seems all flashy doesn't mean it is! So I feel like I'm crawling back to PS begging them to take me back. Like I took them for granted. haha 

In other news, I tried some of the Birchbox samples ... the Whish shaving cream is so great! I love the blueberry scent. So I plan on purchasing more of that. I tried the dry shampoo today. Either I didn't use it correctly or dry shampoo just isn't for me. It just made my hair seem more oily and dirty. But at least I got to try it! I wore the Twistband on Sunday and it's cute! But it needs grippy things on one side because it just kept slipping off. Anyway .. had to share my disappointment in FFF. I really was excited for this sub .... ah well. As I said, lesson learned. 

Influenster Sugar 'N Spice Voxbox + Birchbox

I finally received my first Influenster Voxbox! I got the Sugar n Spice box and it was loaded with great stuff!!

Items included are Colgate Optic White toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash, Belvita Breakfast Biscuits, Splenda Nectresse, Dickinson's Witch Hazel Oil Controlling Towelettes and Vaseline Spray n Go Moisturizer. I've tried the toothpaste before and I thought I had tried the mouthwash as well. The brush and paste are great! Though I haven't used it long enough to notice much difference yet. The mouthwash honestly tastes awful to me. But, that's just my opinion. The Belvita biscuits are AMAZING. I was sent the cinnamon brown sugar flavor. You get four biscuits in a package and a box comes with five packages. So this week I had a coupon and bought another cinnamon sugar and another in blueberry. So yummy! Highly recommend these. I haven't had a chance to use the Nectresse in anything yet, but I tried a lick of it and was impressed! It tasted great and is all natural! The spray n go worked really well. It has a nice scent and is quick to rub in. So it's very convenient! Finally, the Dickinson's towelettes ... they don't smell the best. And they do work for removing a bit of makeup and removing oil. But for total makeup removal I'm sticking with Olay. I'm not sure if these are meant for makeup or what ... maybe they aren't. Anyway, overall I'm pleased with this box and have found some items I wouldn't have tried otherwise! All of these items are complimentary from Influenster. 

I also received my first Birchbox today! I'm pretty happy with my first box! 

When I first opened the box ... 

It came with ...

Incoco Nail Polish strips in Freshly Picked. I've never heard of this brand before so it'll be interesting to see how they stand up to others I've tried. Not crazy about the pattern, but I'll still use it. 

A Twistband headband in silver. I'm actually excited about this! I can always use more headbands like this and I've never tried this brand! Also that card is a little sample of Benefit concealer. 

Serge Normant Dry Shampoo ... I'm also excited about this because I can finally try dry shampoo! And a brand I haven't heard of! I didn't want to spend money on any until I tried some. So this will be interesting! 

Whish Shave Cream in Blueberry ... another brand I've never heard of but I'm excited to try it. It smells nice! 

Finally I also received a Madewell Emery Board as an extra.  I don't really use these often, but I'll keep it around. 

Birchbox is $10/month... very affordable! I think I'll like this better as it won't be just more 'stuff' cluttering the house. It's fun beauty items that I can try! I have my tracking number for my FabFitFun box and it should be arriving on the 30th. I can't wait!! Oh, I forgot to mention in my last post that I had chosen Diorshow Maximizer for lashes as a sample from my Sephora purchase.  

It works quite well! I also LOVED the Buxom mascara from my PS box! It works great even without this primer! I may have to keep getting it even if it's pricey .... I'm impressed with it! Anyway, til next time! 

PopSugar March Must Have + Urban Decay Oz Palette

So I received my March PopSugar Must Have box today .... and for the time being at least, it is my last. I discovered a new quarterly box called FabFitFun which is curated by Giuliana Rancic. It's $50 every three months, but is still cheaper than PS in the long run. I wasn't planning on doing this, but after I thought about it quite a bit, I decided to go for it. The big ticket item for their first box is going to be Moroccan Oil which I've been wanting to try. But I'll save all that for when I get it! =) I'm also planning on signing up for Birchbox so I can still have something monthly to look forward to. I like getting full size items and fun stuff in PS... but it almost seems like all I'm doing is accumulating more 'stuff' that I don't even have room for! With Birchbox I can just get samples of beauty products for $10/month. So, with FFF and BB it's still $100 cheaper a year than PS. ANYWAY. On to what came in this month's box. I wasn't quite as excited this month which probably didn't help.

Just not too many 'must have' items for me. Here's the breakdown.

First is a super long tassel necklace from Heather Belle. I actually think it's pretty cute and wore it to my Bible study tonight. This is one of the items I actually like. Not sure if you can tell, but it's an octagon there. I guess that's their signature shape or something. lol 

Next is Buxom Sculpted Lash Mascara, which I've been told is really great. It also has a wavy curvalicious wand. lol Another item that I do like. I love trying new mascaras... it's the one makeup item I have an obsession with. 

Next is The New Black 'Pardon My French' nail polishes. I've never heard of this brand, but I love these colors! Kind of hard to tell I guess, but on the left is kind of a shimmery coral red color and the right is classic red. I'm glad I got these shades instead of the navy and gray that others received. BORING. Putting these on tonight! 

This is The Laundress Delicate Wash. I'll use it. It has a clean scent. But this is one of the items that I can't say is a 'must have'. I'm glad I received this one though instead of the Wool and Cashmere Wash, which I'd never use. 

More items that aren't really 'must have' for me ... Hollywood Secrets Sweater Saver and Fashion Tape. I'll use the sweater saver... it will probably be handy. Fashion tape... we'll see. 

Finally, the Corkatoo. He's cute, I'll say that. But I don't drink. So I'll never use this. I guess I'll keep him and somehow use him as decoration in my future kitchen. I also received Peeps which I'll take to work to share. And of course there's coupons for 50% off of Hollywood Secrets items and a free Buxom gloss deluxe sample from Sephora. 

Box Value : 

Heather Belle Tassel Necklace : $72

Buxom Mascara :  $19

The New Black Polish : $10

The Laundress : $19

Hollywood Secrets : $5.99 (not counting the tape as it's really more of a sample)

Corkatoo : $15.99

Peeps : $2 give or take? 

Total : $143.98

Good value if you go by what they charge. However, I'll tell you I would not pay that much for the necklace. It's worth about $20. And the corkatoo... maybe $10. Also I wouldn't pay $19 for detergent. BUT, that's neither here nor there. I can't wait to get my FabFitFun box! It should be shipping this week. 

I also ordered the Urban Decay Oz palette in Glinda awhile back. 

This palette costs $49 ... kind of pricey! But it does come with technically 8 shadows, eyeliner and gloss. It also comes with an instruction card so you can recreate Michelle Williams' look. (it's very flattering!) The shades are : Tornado, Aura, Magic, Illusion, Oz, and South. The eyeliner is in Rockstar which is a deep purple and the gloss is in Glinda which is a flattering nude shade. You can also remove the shadows once they've run out and replace them with any other Urban Decay shadow! 

That's all for this post! I AM getting the Influenster February Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox, so hopefully that will be coming soon! Speaking of free items ... has anyone tried Free Flys? I've been told about this site and have seen it on Facebook ... anyone have experience with it? Let me know!