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.
