Birchbox Review!!

Here's my birchbox review! I've been awful about writing about them but I didn't want to write about them without having a review. So here are the past 4 birchboxes-



Here is a link to my blog on my first birchbox from March-



Here's a follow-up to March's birchbox-



I loved the color club bright purple nail polish! It stayed on really well and you could layer it up to get a great bold color or just do one coat and have a nice wash of color on your nails.



Another thing i loved from my first birchbox was the Jouer luminizing moisture tint. It went on great and added an unbelievable glow to my skin! If you're looking for that dewy, highlighted glow-then get this!!



I still use the Ahava Essentials Day Moisturizer most mornings and it's really great and it doesn't clog my pores. Just a great overall moisturizer with no fuss.



Orifluido is still something I use as well. I find it very comparable to Moroccan Oil and I can't really tell a major difference so since Moroccan Oil is easier to buy-I'm going to continue using that one. But it was awesome to try out and learn about a new product.

The other stuff was good but these were my main ones I wanted to bring attention to.

Once again- To see pictures of what products were in the birchbox and to hear the full descriptions of them, check out my previous blog.

http://thethriftymakeupartist.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html

April's birchbox-

This birchbox was natural themed. That's what I love about birchbox they have themes and I really like that!

This was a good birchbox here's what was in it!



Atelier Cologne- this is an orange-scented perfume. I really liked it! It wasn't too over-powering and it didn't smell too fruity or sweet. It had the perfect blend of essential oils like jasmine and sandalwood and it was wonderful. The full-size bottles range from $55-150.



Marula The Leakey Collection-I have never heard of this stuff before but I loved it and used it all up already! I went a little overboard this month with facial peels and was so dry and flaky so I used this at night and by the next morning my skin was back to normal! It is so hydrating and feels amazing! This product costs $78 for full size so unfortunately I will not be purchasing this again but if you have extremely dry skin all the time and can't find the right product to fix your alligator skin, this will be your life saver. This product is from the East African Marula fruit. This oil has high levels of antioxidants and omegas so it's awesome for stopping the signs of aging.



Weleda Pomegranate Firming Night Cream-this is a great all-natural firming night cream. This line is super affordable, a full size of this anti-aging cream is only $35! It feels so rich and creamy and I most likely will add this in to my skin care routine in the winter time. I'm at the age where I am starting to be proactive towards my skin and aging and this will be the perfect addition to my Skincare routine, but only during the winter time! This is super rich so I will not be using this during the summer!!



Zoya True Spring Collection-this was a nude nail polish that is supposed to last 50% longer but the color was too nude for my taste. It almost blended with my skin and it freaked me out so I don't know if it lasts 50% longer because I took it off! It never gave me the color name so here are just a few colors I could find online. But, I really don't know who this nail polish would look good on so I'm moving on.



Bonus product!!! Yes To Blueberries Brightening Facial Towelettes- love them!!! I used these when I went to Indiana for a weekend and I love these babies!! Great price, $7.99 for a 30-pack I suggest everyone get these!! I still washed my face first and then used these afterwards just to get that extra clean or I use these before I work out or when I want to start fresh with some new makeup. These are a must-have for everyone!

May Birchbox-Gossip Girl Themed! I have never seen this show but all I know is I opened up this box and gasped!! It had one of my favorite products in a cute little sample size in a new flavor so that was it, I'm sold! I LOVE birchbox and I am SO glad I got it!!! Soooo worth the $10 a month!!

XOXO,

Gossip Girl

First off the product that made me gasp in such a crazy, dramatic way was-



Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Treatment SPF 15. The original Sugar lip treatment is my absolute favorite but I hadn't tried the Rose so I was THRILLED!!! I love this!! It's in my bag right now and has the perfect light color to the lips! This is a water-based lip treatment so it naturally plumps the lips by hydrating them. It's amazing!!! $22.50



BVLGARI Omnia Crystalline Eau de Toilette Spray-this is nice but it's a little too perfumey for me. I can't really judge this because everyone is so different and everyone has a particular smell that they like and what works for them so I'm just going to say that it's so cool that once a month you can try out awesome perfumes to see what works for you and what doesn't without dropping a lot of money. This full-size bottle is $64. Check it out!



Kiehl's Abyssine Cream+ this was created when Scientists were in Galapagos and found Abyssine. This molecule thrives in the darkest parts of the ocean and Found that Abyssine protects the skin. This molecule can soften wrinkles and gets rid of free radicals which cause aging. It goes on soft and creamy and it is really gentle and great for most skin types. A full size jar is $48.



Sarah McNamara Miracle Skin Transformer Body SPF 20-this is like s primer and foundation for your body!!! I love that it has a SPF 20 and it evens out your skin all over your body!! This cream hydrates, masks scars, evens out ski tone, and is awesome for the warm weather when you wear shorts and summer dresses. This costs $34, awesome for people who want that flawless ski look without going to the tanning bed or even using self tanner.

I also got notecards in this birchbox which I threw away...oops. I wasn't going to use them anyways.

Speaking of throwing things away, I threw away the card that came with this birchbox that gives you a little blurb about each products and discusses the theme of the box, which I love and try to keep them, but I lost this one and while I was writing this I could not remember what all was in this box and what is another cool part of birchbox is you can hop online and look at your past birchboxes and reorder what you had and refer back to what I got.

This months is pretty awesome too!

June's theme is travel and here's what's in it. I'm not going to explain it all yet I'm just going to show pictures and prices



Ada Cosmetics Bronzer, $12.45, this is the best picture I could find...sorry!



Likewise Facial Moisturizer + Sun Protection SPF 50, $44, perfect for summer!!!



Masqueology Brightening Mask, 3 masks $24, I'm ready to try this baby out! This aesthetician's skin is completely neglected!!



theBalm cosmetics Stainiac in Beauty Queen, $17, so excited to try this!!!



Extra Bonus gift!!! Cynthia Rowley Dress Up Band-Aids!! They are SO cute! These band-aids have fashion-inspired prints all over them so even when you hurt yourself you'll look cute and fashionable!





Hope you enjoyed!! I'll review these products from this month's box soon!

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Hairspray!!!

So I'm not a huge hair girl, I'm awful at styling and I never put enough effort and time towards drying it. But after getting pinterest and just paying attention to hairstyles in photographs and magazines I was inspired to put a little more effort towards this rat's nest on my head. When I started trying out different styles and when I watched how-to videos online I realized hairspray is a must!! So I have tried a few at work:




the Moroccan Oil Hairspray ($20) smell delish and gives me enough hold for just every day hairstyles. And when I say every day hairstyles I mean like straight and down-nothing fancy at all!!!! I pretty much use this as a perfume. If you need strong-hold this is not the one for you. But if you just want your hair to smell good and your hair is down and you just want to spritz this just for good measure go for it!

Oribe Superfine Hairspray




This is $29 and smells like heaven!!!! The whole entire line smells amazing!! But this hair spray will hold a lot but still be nice, fine spray that isn't sticky. This one isn't the strongest hold but messy up-dos and stuff like that will work great with this. I loooove this one!!

If you need a stronger hold there is the Oribe Superfine Strong Hairspray





This is around $35 and it is an awesome, major-hold hair spray. I sprayed it in my hair once right after I washed my hair and I was SO mad at myself because my hair felt kinda sticky and I thought, "oh great!! Now I have to wash my hair again tomorrow!" and if you know me you know I do NOT wash my hair every day! So I was a little worried about what my hair was going to be like once I got home and took my hair down. I was honestly so pleasantly surprised by my outcome!! I took my hair down and combed through it and viola! My hair was soft as could be and no sticky!!! I didn't have to wash my hair for 3 days!! Yay!! (my hair is so dry I only wash it twice a week, don't judge) so-obviously this is great for super strong hold and then all you have to do is gently comb through your style at night and you're good to go!

*after proof-reading I am realizing I obviously love this hairspray. I'm shooting exclamation points all over the place in that last paragraph. It's like I'm just screaming the whole time!

I'm going to have to write a blog strictly about Oribe because I like a lot of stuff in their line!

Now on to the more affordable side here is L'Oreal Elnett Satin hairspray




This stuff stinks!!!!!!! Oh my gosh I am SO sorry if anyone loves this smell I don't meant to disrespect your olfactory nerves but wowie! I HATE this smell! It's like instant grandma scent-no offense to you grandmothers out there either! It is very powdery and strong!! The hold is awesome and I love everything else about it so I hate that this stuff stinks because it's awesome besides that!! Once again, I am SO sorry if you love the smell!! We are all different, we all like different things I just have a super sensitive nose, all my other senses suck, so my sense of smell is out of this world!! So I think just spraying that so close to my nose it really bothers me and it stays on the hair quite a while. So if smell are your thing (they're my thing) then this might not be the one for you. It's a little pricier for drug stores as well, it's about $14.

This is Pantene Pro V Anti-Humidity Hairspray




This hairspray is really affordable, about $4, but it's very sticky. It holds really well but it is sticky so if you like a soft-touch to your hair you might want to pass on this one. This one doesn't blow me away or anything I'm pretty neutral towards it.

So the jury is still out on some affordable hairsprays, I'm still on the hunt! I'm going to Target tonight for some research and development!!

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MakeUp How-To's!!

Ok, so my last blog I wrote about was my new favorite thrifty concealer!!! I'm still loving it and now I am going to post you step-by-step directions and pictures of my every day makeup looK

First: This is me without makeup----Yikes!!

This picture below is after I applied Bare Escentuals Loose Mineral Powder in Fairly Medium-as you can see it's really helped even out my skin tone, but still super pasty and one dimensional. i really like to match my foundation exactly to my skin tone so with just the foundation on your skin can look really one dimensional-but that's where the next few steps help!

This picture below shows you where I applied my new favorite concealer, Maybelline Fit! This picture is kind of small but as you can see, I have applied my concealer in a triangle shape under my eye. This shape should go up the side of the nose, under the eye and at the edge of the eye you will bring it diagonally back to the bottom side of the nose. I do concealer around the laugh lines, on my chin, around the edges of my nose and in between my brows. I blend the concealer all over lightly and this is what it looks like:

Look how much concealer helps!!! Thank God for that stuff!! After I blend the concealer I put Feather Light Mineral Veil on from Bare Escentuals as you can see below. My complexion is looking pretty pasty and one dimensional.

The point of foundation and concealer is to really even out your skin and give you that flawless skin. I love a nice flawless face but I can't live just like this- I MUST add bronzer to my face!! If you aren't a fan of bronzer I would just throw on some finishing powder and move right to blush. I for one, cannot live without bronzer and this picture below will show you what a difference bronzer makes!!

What a difference!!!! Now that's what I am talking about!! I apply a light, somewhat shimmery bronzer all over my face. It's not really glittery, it just has a nice dewy sheen to it and I really like that look!! Some people prefer a more matte appearance and that's perfectly fine too. I prefer both so for all over my face I use the shimmery bronzer and to contour I use the matte one. The bronzer I used all over my face was Too Faced in Sunny Bunny.

This picture shows me applying the matte bronzer right in the hollows of my cheeks and doing a small "c" at the end of my brows on my forehead. Small step but big results!!! The matte bronzer I used was Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Bronze.

This picture shows my blush step.

This picture is where I just put a darker, matte blush slightly above where I put my matte bronzer. This adds to that contoured, model look and really helps make your cheekbones pop!! The blush I used is Therapy Systems Caramel Sugar. Then I apply a pink blush right on the apples of the cheek bone and I bring it diagonally all the way up to the corner of my eye. Of course I keep distance from the under eye, but once I hit the blush high enough to my eye that's when I know I have gone high enough. I feel like dragging the blush as high as the eye will really help lift your face and really get those cheekbones popping!! This pink blush I used today was Catalina from Cargo.

This picture is my applying a highlighting powder right over the apples of my cheeks and taking it right on the boarder of the top of my cheek right under my eye skin. Just keep the highlighter right on the upper cheekbones! This subdues the bright color of the blush and really help add a pretty glow to your skin.

Ok, this is my eyes just with primer on them. I usually don't use primer on a regular basis but I wanted to show you how even primer makes your eyelids so if you wanted just to look awake and have a quick and easy makeup routine this primer would do the trick. If you have issues with your shadow creasing this primer is your solution! This primer I'm using here is Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight.

My first step in applying eye shadow is using a really light, nude-white color all over the eye from the lash line to the brows. This really help open up your eyes and I like applying a neutral color like this all over because it really helps all the other colors go on easier. This eye shadow is Bare Escentuals Demure.

This picture is after I added a shimmery brown shadow right in the crease of the eye. All you do is go right in the crease and do a "c" shape back and forth and on the corner of the eye I will help blend it with a sideways "v" shape just to help blend the color. I also get a stiffer brush and line under the lower lash just to add a little color and drama to this look. Plus-I hate when eye liner is very harsh and you can obviously see the dark, black line...yuck! So adding a little eye shadow under the lower lash line will help ease the harshness of liner. This eye shadow I used was MAC in Tempting.

This is a step that if you want to add a little drama and darkness you can. If not, you can just apply that dark brown on the crease like the last step and jump right into the liner. If you do want a little more color then you can add a little darker color on the outer edges of the eye. This color is Mambo by Paula Dorf. I really focus on the outer edge of the eye and I really try not to apply it all over the lid. I like to leave it lighter on the inner corners. I love Mambo by Paula Dorf because it's black/brown with flecks of gold in it, it's perfect!!

After I apply the Mambo shadow I go back over the crease with the MAC color one more time to just even out everything and help it blend. I usually grab a lighter/highlight color and put right in the inner corners of my eye and bring it up to under my brow. This really helps highlight and open the eyes up. I used the Demure color for this.

After I am done with the eye shadow, I use the Mambo eye shadow color and line my eyes with it. Just have a good stiff, flat liner brush and you can line your eyes with any shadow. I first like to line my eyes with eye shadow first then I do a pencil or liquid liner, whichever I choose to do that day.

Next I lined my eyes with a pencil liner. The one I used was Wet 'N Wild black pencil liner. When I line my eyes I line the entire upper lid and do a slight curve at the end for a "cat eye" look. I do not line the entire bottom of my eye I only do about a quarter of the bottom and connect the bottom liner to the top curved up part. It really helps give your eyes this amazing almond shape.

This is the makeup must-have MASCARA!! I absolutely love mascara it's my favorite thing! This mascara I used is Too Faced Lash Injection. This mascara is amazing!! I love it because it creates tubes around your lashes and it's waterproof!! There are a few mascaras that create tubes around your lashes and are waterproof but they aren't thickening. That's why I never liked them! I love a thickening mascara and this is both wrapped up in one bottle!! I love it!

OKAY!!! I LEFT OFF THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP TO PROVE A POINT!!!

Brows!!

This is my finished look without brow powder

This is one brow with powder one with none

how crazy is that????? adding brow powder instantly gives you a face lift!! It completely changes the entire look and really finishes the entire look!

Here is the finished look with both brows done!!

Last but not least!! Lips!!

This picture is me with this fantastic lip liner called Reverse Lip Liner. It helps keep your lipstick from running but it also helps your lips look bigger!! It looks pretty white when you first apply it, that's why it looks so light in the picture but I wanted to show you where I put it, but once you draw it on you just blend a little bit and you can barely even tell!

See? That's the Reverse Lip Liner blended.

Next I applied this cheap liner from Target. The line is called Boots No. 7 and the color is nude. I just applied this around the edge of the lips.

This fantastic little color is from Cover Girl Lipslicks in Cutie. I love this color!!! These Cover Girl Lipslicks are amazing!! I love them!

YAY!!!!! All done!!! Thank God for makeup eh??? Here is a picture of the final product without me wearing a turban :)

All done!!! There ya go!! One day I'll figure out how to make a video so I won't have to do a makeup slide show! I hope this helps!!