Joy, Life and More

Target seems to be coming out with these beauty boxes every other month or so now. There were two in January and now another one this month. I'm not complaining but I wish Target would just come up with a subscription so that we wouldn't all have to fight to get one of these. To be honest, this wasn't the greatest box but for the price of $5, it wasn't all that bad. I really wanted the box for a couple of items. The theme of the box was Vacay Vibes , so all the items were related to products you might need on vacation! (Bottom Row L-R: SinfulColors Professional Nail Color, you are AMAZING Juicy Grapefruit Body Lotion and Laneige Water Sleeping Mask. Top Row L-R: Not Your Mother's Texturizing Sea Salt Spray, Caress Adore Forever Body Wash, Banana Boat Sun Comfort SPF 30 Lotion and Hair Food Moisture Shampoo & Conditioner) I'll start off by saying I wasn't very happy with the Caress body wash. It seems like this is in every sample box I get. ...

I got my January 2016 Birchbox before I even got my notice it shipped! Maybe it was because I opted for the guest editor's box instead of the regular Birchbox . I really didn't like any of the choice samples offered, so I decided I'd go for the Korean beauty box since I have tried some Korean products in the past. This month's box was put together by Charlotte Cho, founder of Soko Glam and a skincare guru. It came in a bright yellow box (sorry but my camera made it look green) with cute little drawings on the cover. There were six items in this box, which was nice since some boxes only come with five products total. Here are the items I got (clockwise starting left): Goodal Waterest First Essence, RE:P Bio Fresh Mask with Real Calming Herb, IPKN Flash Cream Radiant Primer and TONYMOLY Delight Tony Tint. I also got the Manefit Beauty Planner Cucumber (left) and Goodal Phytowash Yerba Mate Bubble Peeling. I haven't tried any of these item...

My April 2015 Birchbox subscription came early this month. I was so excited to receive this box because the box itself was designed by Rifle Paper Co.  and is just so beautiful. It just exudes spring is here! It is simply just gorgeous with gold lettering on the front. This box is not just a boxful of goodies but worth putting on display. As with all Birchbox subscriptions monthly, there are at least 5 deluxe sized samples. This month I received the Beaver Professional Hydro Nutritive Moisturizing Shampoo and Repairing conditioner . They are a nice size with 2.0 fl. oz. of shampoo and 1.35 fl. oz of conditioner. I love that I can take these are great sizes to put into my travel case. The shampoo cost $15 for the full size and $16 for a full-size conditioner. The value of the samples in my box together were approximately $6.54. The next item I received was a small shadow palette by POP Beauty . It is described as a Peach Parfait Trio with colors of that shade. they are ...

One of the first beauty box subscriptions I purchased a few years ago was Birchbox . To be truthful, I ended up canceling my subscription after three months because I didn't find the samples compelling enough to want to use any of them. After a couple of years, I decided to sign up again last August. I started watching videos on YouTube of beauty vloggers unboxing their beauty subscription boxes. I also got interested in makeup again and wanting to feel better about myself. I used to use makeup regularly when I worked but after I got married and started having children, I put that part of myself aside. It was just easier to get up in the morning and not have to bother with makeup. Now that my boys are a little older and don't need as much concentrated attention, I have time to primp in the mornings. Birchbox costs just $10 a month and comes with at least five samples. I wouldn't categorize all the samples as deluxe sized samples but you can usually get at least 2-3 ...

By far my favorite beauty box subscription is  Boxycharm  which costs $21/month. Now this may seem a little expensive but you get 4 full-sized items and 1 luxury-sized item. The total for all the items in the box usually retail for more than $100. That is a great deal especially if you don't own a lot of beauty items or want to try out a variety but don't know where to start. This is my 3rd Boxycharm box, and I am always excited to see what is included and never disappointed. This month's box included the following items: beauty for real The Perfect Pencil ($14) and beauty for real True Color Lip Cream in "Always There" ($22) Mirabella Face Prime ($29) Pur-lisse Skin Sparkle Flash Tattoos ($12) Tarte Maracuja Bronzing Serum ($47) Total value of the box was $124. Boxycharm is a monthly beauty box subscription costing $21/month. It usually includes 4 full sized items and 1 deluxe sized items. In general everyone receives the sam...

I finally received my January 2015 Ipsy bag in the mail yesterday. I was particularly excited for a couple of products. I received a total of 5 products and a make up bag along with an information card which never contains any information about the products. Here are the products I received: Coastal Scents Liquid Eye Liner (MALIN+GOETZ) Mojito Lip Balm Laura Mercier FOUNDATION PRIMER Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow in Ethereal Hey Honey Take It Off! Exfoliating Honey Peel Off Mask I can't wait to try the Coastal Scents Liquid Eye Liner and the Pacifica Eye Shadow. I have gotten quite a bit of Coastal Scents items in different beauty box subscriptions in the last few months, so maybe it is time to use all the items together. I'll let you know in the next few weeks if I use any of the items and what I thought. Ipsy is a monthly beauty box subscription which costs $10/month. It usually includes 4-5 deluxe sample items such as hair, skin, nails or m...