Ipsy December review

Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription for $10 plus $4.95 shipping. Here is my Ipsy review.

You could probably use the zip as a key chain if you needed a new one.

This month is a cute, classy bag that nearly matches the bring pink bubble mailer. This month is about Inspiring Original [Women].

All the pretties.

I think this month was a really great month for me.
CAILYN Cosmetics
Just Mineral Eye Polish Full Size.$15. Interesting idea to include the applicator with the shadow. This shade is 005 Orchid, is lovely, pairs well with my GDE Fade to Fall and will also require a primer.

Coolway
Boost Repair Treatment Sample Size. $30/8 oz, $3.75 for sample. I've been putting off buying new shampoo/condition until I really need it, so this will help me get into January. ;)

Crown Brush
Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush Full Size. C476, on sale for $6.99

NYX Cosmetics
Butter Lip Balm Full Size. $4. Every one received one of these in their bag. It's not fabulous, it's not awful. I'll use it.

tarte
deluxe lights, camera, lashes™ 4-in-1 mascara Sample size. Full size, $19, sample size 0.10 fl oz or $8.25. This was another item that most Ipsters were to receive.

Give ME all the pretties! ;)

I can estimate the total of this bag to be $38 and I'll use all of the items (even if I don't love them). It's kinda like Ipsy got the feeling I was about to dump the subscription in a couple months when it's time to renew and wanted to tempt me into staying with them. Well played. 

Take a picture of me!

If you like what you see, please use my link: Get Ipsy

TopBox December Review

Fast shipping Batman! I received my shipping notice yesterday and my Topbox arrived today! Topbox is a Canadian beauty subscription box at $12 per month plus taxes for 4 (deluxe) samples. There are also options to upgrade to prive boxes or get the regular Topbox.

Here it is! Sorry for the quick pics. My newborn needs some love after her vaccines, and I want to get this up before Christmas duties arrive.

Kinetics nail polish, $12. This had leaked in transport. Luckily it was wrapped seperately, so nothing in the box was affected. It went straight in the trash. I couldn't open it and some of the polish was sticky. 

UPDATE: Topbox has offered to resent the polish free of charge.

Marsk Mineral Eyeshadow, $22.50 The eyeshadow is a very bright yellow. I don't have one in my collection yet.

Faith Gingerbread shower gel, $15.99. If Gingerbread smells like poop (seriously, I thought my toddler required a new diaper) they nailed it! I'll be trying to off-load this at Christmas. 

Eslor foil packets. I can't remember the cost on these (I've also gotten them in beauty box 5, and maybe topbox?). These are new. I tried the gel mask just now and because I thought the foil pack would only be good for one use, I piled it on. It didn't dry, so I don't suggest it ;) 

Total value: $50.00 plus foil packets.

After this box, I actually cancelled my subscription - but in name only. You can currently buy gift subscriptions, so in theory, I replaced my monthly subscription with a gift subscription. Mostly because there are things I like about Topbox, but this month was disappointing for me - even though the value was great at $50.00 plus.

Indulge Me December review

Indulge Me is a new Canadian subscription box. I joined for three months at $55. Currently you can join monthly for $20 or yearly for $220. I'm not sure what happened to the three month option.

This box was a huge improvement over last month. 

As promised the box was wrapped as "Pretty as a present".

What's inside:

A promo code for Trend Trunk. This made me a bit annoyed as I had to create an account and hand over my personal information to see the value on the card. My was for $5.00. I'm never going to use it. 

A set of 5 "Do It Yourself" gift packs. These are big enough for a gift card or some candies. 

A lovely smelling candle from Yankee Candles in Silver Birch. I used to buy other scents at my local Home Hardware.

L'Occitane Pivoine Flora hand cream. This smells amazing and unlike the Beauty Box 5 hand cream from November, feels really nice on.

Bizou Knit Scarf. The spoilers revealed pretty patterned scarfs.  I received a chunky knit in brown. It would have taken me 15+ hours to make this, but an experienced knitter 1-2? I like it.

The scarf is the actually same colour as my deck paint! 

As I said before much better box than last month. It didn't feel as ... dirty? rushed? suspicious? I consider it to have three items, a bonus and a promo code. I look forward to my last box, and I hope Indulge Me is able to figure out their brand soon. Looks like it will be nice.

Panty by Post November review

Panty by Post is a Canadian subscription where you receive a new panty each month. I bought a three month sub for my birthday! I choose the middle price for my panty selection for $22/month and for a three month commitment.

This is my lastest and last panty from them. 

It's a very pretty orange lace panty that I wouldn't have bought myself. But I do love. It's thin so no lines and full bottom for confidence. The panties come wrapped in pretty tissue paper and sometimes include a bonus gift! This month had advertising for a promo code for another subscription company.

When I first heard of Panty by Post three years ago, I loved the idea. My co-workers did not. I have found Panty by Post to meet my expectations of professional, clean, timely (the first shipped the day after my order!), and respectful. I would recommend them if you were looking to slowly fill up your panty drawer with a nice surprise. The panties have been good quality - I had one pair with buttons which all fell off the first day I worn them but otherwise held up with washing.

I have chosen not to renew but I do have the current promo code:

Use IMNEW15 for $15 off your order

November Top Box Review

Top Box is a Canadian Beauty Box that sends 4 beauty samples to subscripbors each month. There is a short waiting list to get one but as it's christmas one could bypass the wait by purchasing a present for themselves. $12 per month plus taxes.

First, I do feel duped by an email sent out to Top Box customers indicating if 1000, or 10,000 liked Benefit's instagram account, a benefit sample would be in the November Top Box. It was phrased to sound like an extra sample would be included, NOT one of the samples would be benefit. I fell for it, liked benefit, and now feel foolish. 

Benefit Cosmetics, stay flawless. 16 mL full size, $38. Haven't tried as I'm being stubborn. 

Elizabeth Arden Flawless Future Caplet Serum. 30 mL full size, $72. Sample $5. It's neat how the beads combine with the serum, but like all serum I need to combine it with moisturizer and my face looks good, but maybe it's just because I'm so tired I can't see the wrinkles.

Eyeko Black Magic Mascara, full size $24. Sample $12. I like this and I like the inventive packaging.

UniqOne All in One Hair Treatment. 150 mL full size, $20. Sample $1. I haven't seen anything special using this. I prefer the Argan Oil and the Fortune Cookie Soap Hair Oil but I'll use this sample up. Mostly I just think about all the poor kids named "Uniq".

The total value I arrived at for this box was $18. I've been using the face serum, and the mascara. I'm undecided if I should cut TopBox from my list of boxes or keep it as a Canadian Treat for the months were I get something amazing that I love. 

Did you get a TopBox this month? Are you annoyed at the Benefit Bait-and-Switch too?

Ipsy November review

Ipsy is a monthly beauty bag of 5 items. It's $10 per month plus $4.95 shipping to Canada. 

At first I hate the bag (it's sponsored by Forever 21 Cosmetics) but at night it's a very pretty glittery, shimmery sparkle of light. I'm heading towards really liking it and wanting to find a use for it.

J. cat wonder beauty lip paint in Red Potion. $4.99. I loved the colour of this, but I was able to get it to stay on my lips in every way - from application within my lip area, to loosing the colour immediately. The consistency is very runny, so I had to throw it out lest a toddler find it. 

Bye Bye Under Eye. Sample. This was a bit dark for me but only slightly. Included were instructions on how to use it, and by following the "heat then pat" procedure it worked well. Sample size.

Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Hair Spray. $3.25. I keep forgetting to use this on my toddler's sparkly frozen items to keep the glitter on. 

Starlooks Gem Eye Pencil. $17.00. This was really pretty, and a colour I don't have. However, it's gone missing, and I think I know who took it. ;)

SeaRx skincare hand lotion. Sample. Gave this to the husband equivalent due to the warning seen below. He said it "was lotion". 

That's right, not for pregnant or breast-feeding mommas.

The small print on the hand lotion indicated that pregnant and breastfeeding women should not use it, so this was passed on to my husband equivalent. I believe he described it as lotion.

I haven't had time to do a full cost break down for this bag but omitting the two samples the value is $25.24.

If you're interested in Ipsy, please use my referral link here.

Beauty Box 5 November Review

Beauty Box 5 is a monthly subscription box that features 5 beauty samples each month for $12 US plus $3 shipping to Canada. I prepaid for a yearly subscriptoin early this year for $99, meaning each box is about $8,25 plus shipping. 

The little green boxes come with an info sheet to let you know what is inside, and sometimes provides promotional deals.

Let's check it out!



Dentek Floss pick case, pack of 4 $2.49, this sample $0.62. Note that this pack did not come sealed meaning trust in sanitary handling must be applied.

Hask Macademia shine oil, 5.8 fl oz, $2.99. I've used this with my other hair products. It's a nice oil, nothing of note.

Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash, $6.49 for 22 oz, sample $0.52

Laura Ashley Body Butter, $20 for a pack of 6, sample $3.33. Smells nice, feels a bit weak and greasy.


Afterfeather Refillable Travel Bottle, $8.95 for two, $4.50 for one. This is absolutely adorable. However, it's just one bottle so I don't know if I will ever use it. It's a shame.



The total value for this box was about $11.96 - just under breaking even if you paid the full price. Almost half of that value is from the bottle, although lovely, I likely won't use. It's been said over again that this box is one of the cheapest, and that is reflected in the quality of these boxes. However, I find I use most of the items on a regular basis. I like that. But... I'm only going to use maybe $5 from this box. I think I would rather spend $12 on something I really like or better yet apply the $8.25 I paid on my student loans instead.

Fortune Cookie Soap - Fall 2014

Witch, please!

So cute, so wicked, so fall. So pumpkin spice and everything nice.

The fortune cookie soap seasonal subscription box comes out about two weeks prior to launch. I actually got mine after the official date (august 29th) as I'm a lucky Canadian. The box corms with a code to save $10 on your next order ans this launch was so popular they had to shut the site down for about 2 weeks to catch up and most Witch, Please! Items are still out of stock. 

This was actually my first order, and I was quite pleased. I'll be brief as most of these are self explanatory and I don't have the time for lots of photos today. 

The soap, fortune cookie shaped, with a fortune. Apple, cinnamon, all spice and clove. It reminds me of something, but I don't know what. 

Roy G. Biv OCD hand cleaner. I don't think I like this scent, but it will be going in my diaper bag. 

Green is the new black whipped cream. Love this! It's like smearing a pumpkin spice latte on my hands! Reading the descriptions, I think this would have been my favorite. 

Swankified walnut scub. Seems nice, smells and feels similar to the walnut scrub from my beauty box 5.

Miss popular bubble bath powder. I really wanted the box to arrive before my vacation so I could try this. I like the smell. But it might be too powerful in some products. 

Hair flip hair oil. I'm loving this, both the smell and how the product works. 

Flying monkeys personal space air fresher. Very banana, not my favorite, but currently rocking it's job at living in my car for every time I get in. My daughter was sick and vomited everywhere, this covers it up nicely until it warms up and I can clean it.

The shiz perfume oil. I like this scent, and it's very fall appropriate. However, I'm still not sure if it's a personal oil to use on my body, or goes into one of those oil Warmers. Please let me know :)

I used my promo code to order some "steam me up Scotty" bars which I think will be great post-pardum. 

I'm please with this box, and I'm looking forward to December's winter box.