January Birchbox review

My January Birchbox came with 5 awesome products. Themed, "Let's Do This!", January is all about getting you in the right track for the new year. 2015 is going to be full of fun and surprises. :) All the products I got this month were to keep my skin, lips and hair moisturized for this winter month.

My chosen item was the Tocca hand cream in Cleopatra which I am loving! The grapefruit and cucumber combo smells great and feels super luxurious.. 

Other goodies in the box included:

- Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream- made of 99% natural ingredients.. feels light and creamy

- It's a 10® Miracle Leave-In Product Plus Keratin- haven't  used this yet

- MyChelle Advanced Argan Oil- love argan oil as a facial moisturizer

- Manna Kadar Lip Locked - smallest sample ever!! The color is a perfect rose colour for everyday and keeps my lips feeling moisurized. 

Want your own Birchbox? Get yours today here!

BeautyBox5 December and January box Reviews

For the holidays, I was gifted the BeautyBox5 boxes. Since I've never received this box before or subscribed, I was psyched! New goodies from a box I've been meaning to try!! My first box or December's box turned out to be a mystery box. The Chapstick and Novex hair mask weren't products I would expect in a sub box, but I was intrigued by the beauty scooper to get leftover product, Bella Pierre's lip and cheek tint and eyeshadows from Coastal Scent. 

My January box came recently and I was pleased with the variety. More beauty based, I immediately noticed the HardCandy eyeshadow duo. The baked brown/blue combo is simply gorgeous. My eyeliner and primer will also come in handy too. 

Spring 2015 Warby Parker collection

The new Spring collection for Warby Parker eyeglasses debuts today! I got sneak peek of some of their available frames yesterday and I'm a fan! I'm a dual contacts/eye glasses wearer myself so I always love to see what kind of frames are out there. Here's some of my favorites:

An everyday pair

Got the blues? 

I am loving these blue frames!!  They're chic and bold and they kind of remind me of my very first pair of blue frames when I was in elementary school..

Check out all the frames on the Warby Parker site: http://www.warbyparker.com/

They have an amazing program where you can order the pairs you want to "try-on" at home so you skip the whole going-to-the-eye-doc thing. You'll just need your current prescription though.  

Scala Rainhat review

The Scala rainhat, shown above, was my savior in the rain! Last month, SoCal was met with a few rainstorms that left many SoCal residents soaking and unpleasant (mind you there was only a few occasions of rain in the past year). The Scala rainhat, made of 100% nylon, was my chic and practical solution to keeping my hair dry without an umbrella. 

The interior pattern is also quite cute with polka dots and I love how flat and convenient you can pack it after use. Also makes it quite easy to store into accessories bin for the next time rain decides to stop by SoCal (such as this weekend!)

It's available in 4 colors- for $25 each. Get yours today!! Check it out here!

(Disclaimer: I received this product from this company's PR agency to test, try and share my thoughts with my readers.)

Target Naturals Beauty Box review

The Target beauty box (limited edition box back in Nov/Dec) was just $5 and I got these 6 awesome items! They included brands that can be naturally found at Target stores.

Here's what I got:

Burt's Bees facial cleansing towelettes- a must have for every purse/gym bag/etc.

Soapbox Argan oil shampoo- been using it all month and loving how full my hair looks after

Acute brightening facial scrub- this is one of my favorite natural brands and love how this scrub feels

Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie- haven't been able to try this as it's not my hair type

Borghese  Age Defying Facial Scrub- pleasantly surprised with this scrub, used it as a body wash/scrub so was able to use this 2-3x

Skinfix hand repair cream- perfect to combat winter dryness!

Can't wait to see what other boxes Target will offer next!

December Birchbox vs. Ipsy boxes

December came and went, and I realized I didn't post my beauty boxes. I got my ipsy bag mid- month and Birchbox after the 20th so the holidays got the best of my posting. I was quite pleased with both boxes but I'll let you be the judge of which box was better!

Birchbox: 

There were technically 7 different samples, but one was a fragrance (English Laundry Signature for Her) which I never count and two were one time use foil packets (Davines Replumping Shampoo and Conditioner which were considered extras). My December pick was the W3LL People Bio Brightening stick sample (in the little jar) which is simply amazing! A tip I learned from one of Birchbox's video was to use this as a base for eyeshadow. (love it!) I also received the Mirenesse Mattfinity Lip Rouge, Royal Apothecary Cuppa Cuppa treatment mask and the Davines Replumping Superactive. Overall, this was the perfect box to end the year. Tons of hair samples as well as a facial, lip gloss, brightening and fragrance sample to make it a nice and well rounded box.

Get your Birchbox today! 

Ipsy:

My Ipsy bag had a nice mix of makeup samples, an eyelash curler and a basic black makeup bag. From all the samples that were available, these were my top 5 picks, so I am pleased with what I got. From left to right:
- Swissco Electroplated Eyelash Curler (needed a new one so this was perfect!)
- Pixi by Petra- Fairy Dust
- Beauty without Cruelty- facial cleanser
- Tarte deluxe lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara
- NYX butter lip balm
Get your Ipsy bag today!

Which bag was did you like better? I felt both bags had different samples so they actually complemented and updated my current routine (as always each month!) Overall, love both and probably can't see myself parting from either of them. :)

Happy 2015!

This year is going to be amaazingg! I can just feel it! Lots of exciting changes including more product reviews and some DIY projects! I've been interested in everything crafts again but haven't actually done a lot. So my new year's resolution is to be more crafty and more resourceful with what I already have! 

Stay tuned for more exciting updates!