I am so excited to be receiving Boxycharm* again. Huge hugs and love to my amazing sister, Tracy, for making that happen. They are running the show when it comes to beauty subscription boxes. They are the Beyonce, the Adele. I don’t know how they are able to get all these amazing products into our boxes for such an affordable price, but I love it and I want more. So, without further ado, here is the September Box.
The Theme for this Month’s Box: Boxy Baddies
Briogeo “Don’t Despair Repair!” Hair Mask, 20USD
As a member of the curly hair club, I have heard great things about this brand (specifically, Kathleen Lights talks about them quite a bit) and have tried a couple of their products. I was thrilled to get this mask in a very generous sample size. I like to use masks at least once a week to keep my locks hydrated and in good condition (hurr hurr… I’m so punny). This stuff smells amazing, doesn’t feel too heavy and leaves my hair feeling kitten soft.
Face Perfecting Brush by Bare Minerals 28USD
When I first heard we were getting this brush, I was excited. My brush collection is entirely made up of ebay, amazon and drugstore brushes. Any opportunity to add a highend brush to that makes me very happy. I was a little confused when I pulled it out of the box, though. It’s smaller than I was expecting. Using it for the first time, I found its size to be a bit of a pain. I’m used to much bigger brushes and sponges which seem to cover my big ol’ face quickly. Also, they recommend swirling from the inside of the face outward, after applying your product to the weird little divot in the center. Well, I’m more of a stippling fan, rather than sweeping and swirling, so it felt a bit awkward. I also found that without stippling, the product would kind of get stuck in the divot. Once I threw caution to the wind and started using the brush the way I wanted to, I did enjoy it. I especially found it handy for quick concealing blending when I didn’t feel like wetting my sponge. Is it my favourite foundation brush? No. I’ll make it work in my collection though.
Loose Blush by Studio Makeup 35USD
I was intrigued by the idea of a loose blush. I assumed that it wouldn’t be too crazy pigmented because, well, that would be a recipe for disaster wouldn’t it? Yes. Yes it would be. Yes it is. This blush is not for the beginner, or for those who don’t like blush. You need the tiniest amount, which is tough with a loose product (although this does have a cap to contain the mess, but I still found it clunky to get the right amount). The colour is lovely if you are into peachy orange shades and eventually blends out beautifully, but it is REALLY easy to go too heavy with this stuff. I like it, and will probably keep using it, but I can’t imagine paying 35USD for this and certainly wouldn’t buy it to replace this (not that I would ever need to, there is enough product here to last a lifetime)
Eyebrows by MAC Cosmetics in Lingering 18USD
A MAC product in a box?! Man, I am excited about this. MAC has always been in my mind as an up there brand, ever since high school. I was super excited to try this. I love how fine the tip of this pencil is, however the shape makes it a little difficult to be truly precise. The colour, Lingering, is a little too red toned for my taste. I like my eyebrows to be ~Cooooool~, but that’s just personal taste. The product itself needs to warm up a bit, otherwise it’s a bit tuggy. Once it warms up, it glides on nicely but I find it doesn’t set down the way I want it to. When I blend it in with a spoolie, I ended up with weird bald patches. It just seemed to move around too much. I have other pencils that I like better, but will use it til it’s done because it’s not that bad. Meh.
Colourpop Ultra Satin Lips in Mess Around 6USD
I know everyone and their mom has tried colorpop, so this doesn’t seem THAT exciting…but for me, I was thrilled. I don’t have a credit card, and I live in Canada, which makes it that much more difficult to get my hands on online-only items, like colorpop lippies. So, even though the colour wasn’t really my thang, I was really happy to try the formula of the ultra satin lip. So, firstly, let’s start with that colour. While I can see it being interesting for the fall, it just doesn’t do much for me. Maybe with a cool toned blue eye look? I dunno, but I have yet to wear a look where I’m like “Yes, that lip would be perfect”. It’s a very grey greeny brown. Like, kind of a grey poop-y brown. I’m not sure I can pull it off, but whatever. I’m going to try.
So, as for the formula itself, I was excited to try something that wasn’t entirely matte. My poor lips are so dry these days and matte lips make my mouth look like a butthole. It feels very thin going on, and because this colour is pretty dark, I needed to layer up because it was sheer. Despite having to apply layers, it didn’t get crumbly or gross. It felt super light and comfortable on, and did a good job staying on my lips. I really want to try a colour that I’m more into to see how long it wears.
Soiree Diaries Eyeshadow Palette by PUR Cosmetics 34USD
Guys. YOU GUYS. A palette from PUR Cosmetics. A freaking PALETTE. HOW?! I am so freaking excited about this. To start off, Pur has a good reputation for their eyeshadows. Next, the colour story here is beautiful. Each row can be used for a look OR you can mix and match. This is great for every day and for events. There is a really good balance of mattes and shimmery shades. My only complaint is that I was a little surprised that the shimmers were all darker shades. I would have liked a shimmery inner eye/brow bone colour, and maybe just a black matte shade (though the deep brown works fine for the same purposes). Aside from that, I really like the colours they chose here. LOOK AT THOSE FREAKING SWATCHES. I especially love the taupey slightly purpley shades. They are my jam.
Now, how do they perform on the lid? Really nicely actually. They aren’t the best shadows I ever touched (Viseart, Tarte Pro, Natasha Denona, I’m looking at you), but they are still pigmented, smooth and pretty. They blend nicely without disappearing, skipping or getting muddy. I was able to create a couple of different looks with this already. I have been leaving this out on my vanity as my every day quick palette.
Seriously, this is what I mean when I say Boxycharm has upped the ante. This is awesome. I can’t wait for next month!!
Overall Impression:
This box was bomb. Seriously. The value is insane and I got to try a bunch of really great products from some really great brands, which is what these boxes are all about for me. I can’t wait to see what we are getting in October!
In Among the Heather 