Beauty Box Five - October 2013 - pics, swatches, review

Hello, Beautiful!

It's been about a year since my last post on Beauty Box Five, so it's about time I bring it to you again! This month the box is really good! There were three full sized products in this box, and the other two products were really good sizes! Check out everything in my box below!

If you're interested in signing up for Beauty Box Five, click here to visit their website. It's $12 a month or you can buy 3 months for $30 (saving $6), or buy a whole year for $99 (saving $45!).

Beauty Box Five - October 2013

Shipment Quick Stats:

• Value of this month's shipment: $52.65 (value is approximate)
• Total # of items I received: 5
• # of makeup items: 3
• # of nail items: 0
• # of skincare items: 0
• # of body care items: 2
• # of hair care items: 0
• # of fragrance items: 0
• # of other items: 0

Now I'll break it down, product-by-product...

Tree Hut Shea Sugar Body Scrub
in Coconut Lime

• MY THOUGHTS: This is a great size sample, at 5.5 oz! This "travel size" sells at Ulta for $4.99. It smells really good - like a tropical vacation. And I love tropical scents, especially anything coconut, so this was a hit for me scent wise. The texture of this scrub is thicker and more goopy than some other scrubs I have, but it still feels like it will work nicely. Looking forward to trying this out.
• FULL SIZED: 5.5 oz travel size @ $4.99 -- full size is $7.49 at 18 oz
• SIZE I RECEIVED: 5.5 oz
• SAMPLE VALUE: $4.99

Aveeno Protect + Hydrate Lotion Sunscreen

• MY THOUGHTS: I like Aveeno products, but right now at this time of year I'd rather not receive another sunscreen product. I have so many from the summer months from all my subscription boxes that I think I'm set for another year or two. The texture was just okay for me. There was no noticeable scent, so that was nice -- it didn't smell like sunscreen, which is always a plus. Not sure when I will use this but I will add it to my sunscreen drawer. 
• FULL SIZED: 3 oz @ about $10.00 depending where you shop
• SIZE I RECEIVED: 0.5 oz
• SAMPLE VALUE: $1.66

 

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Lip Gloss
in Summer Lovin

• MY THOUGHTS: This is a full sized lip gloss, which retails for $14.00 each on their own. I already own a few Be A Bombshell Cosmetics lip glosses, which I did a review on three of the shades. Click here to see my review. For this specific shade, I do like it - it's a sheer orange shimmer. 
• FULL SIZED: 0.11 oz @ $14.00 
• SIZE I RECEIVED: full size
• SAMPLE VALUE: $14.00

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Eyeshadow
in Bora Bora

• MY THOUGHTS: This is another full sized product. I already own a few Be A Bombshell Cosmetics eyeshadows, and did a review on my blog on some of the shades (two more shades will be reviewed soon, probably with this one added). To see my original review on these shadows click here. The shade Bora Bora is gorgeous - way prettier in person than in the photo.
• FULL SIZED: 0.05 oz @ $14.00 
• SIZE I RECEIVED: full size
• SAMPLE VALUE: $14.00

Model Co Eyeliner in Black

• MY THOUGHTS: This is a full sized eyeliner and it has a built-in sharpener in the cap, which is always a nice plus. You can't go wrong with a black shade, but I wasn't a super fan of this pencil. It was just okay.
• FULL SIZED: full size @ $18.00 
• SIZE I RECEIVED: full size
• SAMPLE VALUE: $18.00

Now let me know what you think...

What do you think of this month's Beauty Box Five shipment? Do you subscribe to Beauty Box Five? If so, what are your thoughts? If not, is this a subscription service you'd like to try out? Discuss in the comments below.

Skin care - my current miracle workers

Hello, beautiful!

I had mentioned in a previous blog post that I would talk about my current skin care routine. So here it is!

I have a new skin care routine that works like a miracle. I'm telling you, my skin has changed so much!! And the more I use it the better the results! It's been nearly 3 years since I've seen any improvement in my skin, and now I can finally see a dramatic improvement!

Here's what I'm doing:


MORNING:
1. Patricia Wexler Dual-Action Foaming Cleanser
2. Patricia Wexler Exfoliating Cleanser
3. Olay Refreshing Toner
4. Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 15
5. Korres Evening Primrose Eye Cream


NIGHT:
1. Victoria's Secret Total Makeup Remover
2. Make Up Forever Sen's Eyes Eye Makeup Remover
3. DDF Blemishs Foaming Cleanser
4. Patricia Wexler Overnight Acne Repair Lotion
5. Philosophy Help Me
6. Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 15
7. Korres Evening Primrose Eye Cream
8. Philosophy Hope in a Tube



So let's start with the morning routine:

I use my $5 Sephora Face Complexion Brush to apply all my cleansers (Dual-Action, Exfoliating Cleanser, and DDF).

I wet my face brush and apply one pump of Patricia Wexler's Dual Action Foaming Cleanser to the brush head. I then massage it onto my skin in circular motions. There is no rhyme or reason. I just do circles. I usually go in one direction all over an area and then reverse the circle motion the other way. I then re-wet my face brush and re-brush over the same area. Then I repeat the same process another 2 times (one more pump for my other side of my face and one pump for the forehead). Keep in mind sometimes one pump isn't a full pump of product. I can control how much comes out. I probably only use two full pumps over my entire face. Then I rinse my face and pat it dry.

Next, I squeeze out some of the Patricia Wexler Exfoliating Cleanser onto the back of my hand and put it on my face in spots (a smear onto each cheek, a smear on the forehead, a smear on my chin and a small smear on my nose). You don't need a lot of this product. Just squeeze out what you would use on your entire face and distribute it onto your face. Then I take the face brush, wet it again, and massage the product into my face the same way I did with the cleanser. This exfoliating cleanser isn't harsh and you can barely feel the exfoliating pieces, but it's helpful, especially when combined with the face brush. I re-wet/rinse out my face brush after each area of my face. Then I rinse my face and pat it dry.

This next step is something I don't do everyday, but you can if you want (it won't hurt). I use Olay's Refreshing Toner, which I apply with a cotton ball. I normally only apply this on days I'll be outdoors most of the day, or on days I'll be indoors cleaning all day (basically for any situation in which I could start sweating). My face can get very oily, so this toner helps control oil (at least in my opinion it does).

Then I apply my moisturizer (Aveeno Positively Radiant), followed up with my eye cream (Korres Evening Primrose). And my morning skincare routine is complete.

This takes me about 5 minutes to do, so it may seem like a lot of steps but I assure you it doesn't take up a lot of time and after seeing the results I will do this every single morning!



Now let's talk about the nighttime routine:

At nighttime my routine is a little different, and there are more steps.

First, I remove all my makeup. I use two makeup removers - one just for eye makeup and one for everything else. I normally use Victoria's Secret Total Makeup Remover for all over my face and then I use Make Up Forever Sen's Eyes Eye Makeup Remover to remove my mascara, liner, brow powder, etc. I use cotton balls to remove my makeup and q-tips to remove my eyeliner and mascara.

I like to remove my makeup first before using a cleanser because I feel like my cleanser will work better if it's cleaning makeup-free skin (although using the brush cleans out all the makeup - even makeup the makeup remover couldn't get to!).

Then I bring out my Sephora face brush and wet it. I apply a pump of the DDF Blemish Foaming Cleanser to the brush head. I then massage it onto my skin in circular motions. There is no rhyme or reason. I just do circles. I usually go in one direction all over an area and then reverse the circle motion the other way. I then re-wet my face brush and re-brush over the same area. Then I repeat the same process another 2 times (one more pump for my other side of my face and one pump for the forehead). Again, keep in mind sometimes one pump isn't a full pump of product. I can control how much comes out. I probably only use two full pumps over my entire face. Then I rinse my face and pat it dry.

Next, I apply Patricia Wexler Overnight Acne Repair Lotion. I pump out 3 pumps onto the back of my hand and apply it all over my face (except the eye area). I allow this to dry for a minute or so before applying a thin layer of Philosophy's Help Me (which is a retinol treatment to help fine lines, discoloration, and large pores). I allow that to dry before moving on.

Then I apply my moisturizer (Aveeno Positively Radiant), followed up with my eye cream (Korres Evening Primrose). I will also use Philosophy's Hope in a Tube as my lip line cream. I apply it to the smile lines (parentheses around your mouth) and above my lip. That completes my nighttime skincare routine.



So there you have it! Those are my current miracle workers. I don't care how tired I am at night I will always do my skincare routine. The results are too amazing to not put the time into it.


And now: 5 Skincare Lines that Failed Me!

1. Anything Neutrogena! They always make it sound soooo promising. So far, everything I've tried has failed me. I even tried Neutrogena Skin ID - big fail!

2. Murad (their acne line). It semi-worked, but was far too drying to my skin.

3. Olay. I like their toner and their moisturizers (some) - everything else failed for my skin. I also can't stand the smell of their products. A lot of them have a hint of rose or some other floral scent. I'm not into those type of scents at all.

4. Clean & Clear - nope, didn't work for my skin!

5. Philosophy - just the acne line that I didn't like. I really like Philosophy in general. I stuck with their brand for a long time and I still use some of their products. But their acne line didn't help all that much. It was their regular skincare that worked, and I love their bath & body items.



xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com