More Makeup #BirchboxBrag #GollyGee

I got a lot of little freebies in my last Birchbox purchase. To celebrate it's fourth birthday, Birchbox had a special anniversary box up for grabs with a $50+ order, thus finally making me a Birchbox ACE member! Because through my purchases and product reviews, I accumulated 500 Birchbox points within one year!  So now I get an exclusive bonus gift with my next purchase. :)

I also bought some products while at Target yesterday: A Peach of Cake by Sally Hansen and Yes To Blueberries Age Refresh Deep Wrinkle Night Cream and Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel.

Yes, I am only 22, but I feel that taking preventative measures to fight wrinkles can't hurt anything. This cream is a great smelling super-moisturizer with anti-oxidants to fight aging. I put some on last night after I washed my face, and I felt pretty fresh when I woke up. The only con is that my forehead felt a little oily. Only time will tell if this stuff actually works.

The soothing eye gel was interesting. Firstly, it had an intense cucumber smell that I did not like. It seemed to work. (I put it on this morning instead of Preparation H) However, a few minutes later, the skin underneath my eye-baggage (haha), along the orbital bone, was really red and irritated. This kind of thing has never happened to me before. I put some of the gel on my wrist to see if it did the same thing and nothing happened. I will investigate this further. Btw, sorry for the blurry photo.

I got the shampoo, eyeliner, eyeshadow and eye cream (pictured below) in my Anniversary box. I've used the shampoo brand before, although not the smoothing formula. My hair is so oily that I steer towards volumizing shampoos like a true southern lady (the higher your hair, the closer you are to God, am I right?)

The leave-in conditioner/detangler came in my mystery sample pack with more Supergoop facial sunscreen. I normally don't use detangler because it makes my hair oily, but this stuff smells great.

I haven't heard of the brand of eyeliner before, but I've been getting a ton of eyeliner samples, so I can't wait to try them all.

I also can't wait to try this Revealed Ballerina eyeshadow palette. It almost matches my e.l.f. shadow exactly, so I know I'll love it.

This is what came in my Smashbox Try It! kit. I have accumulated a ton of primer right now, so I've just been using my Smashbox green color-correcting primer instead of the clear pictured here. I also didn't get a chance to use the eyeliner because I was running late for work this morning (lol). 

It also came with a lipgloss in Illume, but I hate lipgloss, especially nude, glittery lipgloss, so I gave it to a friend.

I love the eyelid primer. I will probably continue to buy it, actually. The e.l.f. stuff I've been using doesn't compare at all, sadly. This stuff has kept everything in place all day long, and I can't say the same about my go-to Target brand.

And the mascara. I put it on while I was driving to work, I live dangerously, and I have to say, it SUCKED. I have long lashes, and I like to put a lot of lengthening/volumizing mascara on to accentuate my lashes. This Smashbox Full Exposure mascara did NOT do it for me. It took FOREVER to get my lashes looking halfway decent. Thankfully, I had a spare L'Oreal Telescopic at my desk at work, and I put it on right away. 

Thus far, no high-end brand of mascara has come close to beating L'Oreal for me.

So I also got the Cynthia Rowley No. 1 package. I already had the Beauty Liquid Liner in brown, so I just tucked this one away for when mine runs out. But I love this color palette. It has lasted all day, no dreaded eyelid creases, a.k.a. the bane of my existence as well as a personal makeup pet peeve, thank GOD. Such great colors, and I even used a little of the dark, dark brown on my eyebrows. I also love the palette design as well as the pouch it all came in a lot, a lot.

Like I said, I love the liquid liner. You can see the SUPER fine tip in the photo above, and it works marvelously.

I also loved this Tata Harper Natural Lip Treatment in Be Adored. This lip balm naturally plumps and reduces lines in my lips (something I've always been self-concious about) and leaves a sheer rosy tint on my lips. And I love the brightly-colored case.

I also used the Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream. This is a brand that I am also not particularly familiar with, but they promised to reduce my dark circles, so I put my Yes To Grapefruit dark spot corrector on the back-burner and started using this stuff twice a day. I will let you know if it worked!

I loved the Manna Kadar sheer shimmery-glowy facial lotion from my last Birchbox purchase, and I've been using it since I got it. So I feel confident in this lash primer. I put it on last night to condition my lashes and again this morning for some extra length. It worked really well.

Second Birchbox Haul (I may have a problem)

With this haul, I actually got some non-makeup items, a great teardrop, gold, opal (fauxpal?) ring, an amazing delicate bracelet, and three birch votives with tea light candles.

But like I said, there's a lot of freebies to be had on Birchbox.com, so with their "Get Going Bonus Kit" featured in the Bonus Shop, I got this little pouch (pictured above), Cynthia Rowley liquid eyeliner in brown, Serge Normant Meta Revive dry shampoo, Manna Kadar Cosmetics Sheer Glo shimmer lotion, and Ruby Wing Color Changing Nail Polish in Ride 'Em Cowgirl. (This was the Going Glam kit, they had Going Bold, and Going Fresh to also choose from)

(Left) my pretty ring, paired with some little midi rings and my bracelet. 

(Right) my three birch wood votives. They look perfect arranged on my kitchen table.

Are you ready for more freebies? Well, I also got the Mystery Sample Pack (free with a $35+ order) with two free samples (pictured left): This hair oil treatment and hair powder. I've never used either, but I'm excited to try them both.

(Right) my free dry shampoo and shimmer lotion.

I absolutely love the lotion. For the past few days, I've been putting it on my cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead over my primer, but under my BB cream, although I've used less of both since I got back from the beach, because when I'm tan, the red/olive discoloration on my face becomes invisible and I don't wear much foundation and zero powder.

Anyway, I love my complexion when I use the shimmer lotion with my Benefit Fine-One-One cheek stain and NYX highlighting cream.

These are the makeup products that I bought:
Benefit Cosmetics Ooh La Lift and Fake Up eye concealers.

The "lift" is a pale pink color correction formula for my dark circles. I've always used a creamy pale yellow to combat the bluish-purple tones, but I like this a lot. My eyes look really away and it lasts all day long.

The Fake Up has a moisture stick around the concealer part, and the consistency is great. It lasts a long time and the lipstick tube makes it really easy to apply, especially when you do the triangle-under eye concealer trick like me!



So this nail polish rules. It changes colors inside and outside, and I love both of these shades. They come in a ton of other colors too, but I can't resist the glitter.

I hardly ever wear eyeliner, so I'm a newbie at this. But I really really like Cynthia Rowley's liquid eyeliner a LOT. First, I was hesitant about the brown, but it's actually a really subtle color that feels okay to wear during the day. It also has a SUPER fine felt tip, so even clumsy folks like me can apply it without messing up. I'm in love. I'm going to buy her eyeshadow palette collection next.

The finished product. ~work selfie~

I'm wearing Benefit They're Real mascara, Dr. Jart BB cream, Physician's Formula Bronze Boost pressed powder, e.l.f. brown shadow palette (for my lids and brow-filler), and NARS semi-matte lipstick in "Fire Down Below" 

Not bad for an unskilled makeup applyer like myself!

Even though I hardly ever wear eyeliner, I love a good cat eye. I feel like it really looks good on me (conceited much), I need to make the brown liner an everyday thing.