May 2016 - The Forces of Nature
I'm pretty stoked on it, not gonna lie. I LOVE Sephora and their products, so unlike something like Ipsy where I probably only use one product in 3 boxes, I get to try out things that I might actually really love from brands I either already use or want to try! And on top of this, it's actually really adorable. The package, bag, and informative poster are all super cute. I need to find out how to work for whoever does their design cuz it's flippin great.
I figured I'd go through the products in order and kind of just go over how they all work, as I really want to get the most out of this happy little box. So let's get started!
I generally don't like perfume samples cuz I'm Super picky about scents- the littlest smell can give me a raging migraine, so a perfume I like is few and far between. Also, I don't typically enjoy those fairly 'feminine' scents of florals, musk, or sweet, so usually wind up going for something light and crisp. This Atelier Cologne in Orange Sanguine is so so so wonderful. I absolutely love it. The tiniest dab of the sample put out a ton of citrusy goodness that I can really smell without it being too overpowering. It's crisp and citrusy without being too 'Orange' and all the sweetness that usually comes with that. I'm really really digging it. It almost reminds me of a cross between method soap and like a nice herb garden. I don't even know why, but it calls to mind a gorgeous spring day right before summer when you get a whiff of fresh laundry on the air that's been hung to dry.
Definitely take a sec to read the description on the postcard, I feel like it captured the essence of this fragrance quite lovely. So far, this is a 1/1 win. Love.
Next we have the Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche in Kimchi, from their new lipstick line. I've used Bite in the past, and Love their agave lip mask, so getting to try out one of the new shades is great. Their whole natural philosophy is wonderful, and the packaging and branding is so clean and easy on the eyes. I really like the simple deviation from the usual lipstick tube look with the little scoop out of the top- reminiscent of how well-loved lipstick tends to wind up looking. So far, I love this! It smells and kind of tastes like berries, the pigmentation is Huge, it glides on crisp and smooth hugging all of my dents and creases, and isn't too shiny. Kimchi is a super bright pink, but wearable for sure. I definitely can skip a balm underneath this lipstick with how nourishing it is. The only problem I've had with Bite in the past is since it is so natural, it tends to go bad before I have a chance to use the whole tube, but I really am down to invest in these, they feel so good!
Ok next up, Tarte's Tarteist Lip Crayon in Latergram. I've only used a Tarte mascara in the past so I'm not too familiar with the brand overall, but I am intrigued by this teeny tiny little sample. It's so cute and little! I had to use my hand as a size reference cuz it's too adorable. It definitely doesn't match the bright pink Kimchi sample, that's for sure, but it's a decently nice dark mauvey-nude shade.
I do like this color, but the texture is not agreeing with me. I had such a hard time trying to apply it to my lips I decided to just do a little search on my hand. It's kind of waxy and hard, an I personally prefer a softer lipliner formula so I don't have to fight going over and over on my lips just to get some coverage. So we're 2/3 now, but that's ok. More fun coming.
Ok, now on to Origins Maskimizer + Drink Up & Clear Improvement Masks. What the heck. I've never even heard of. Maskimizer. What is this?! Well, apparently it's a primer for your goddamn mask. What. Even. This I'm totally interested in finding out what it's all about, but it's supposed to increase the efficacy of your mask. I have definitely used this Clear Improvemens charcoal mask before, and totally owned a full size one for quite some time, so I am familiar with how it works. Which means it'll totally help me find out if the Maskimizer really makes a difference.
Woo such charcoal. Many brushstrokes. So using the Clear Improvements mask, I tested the Maskimizer and took the tips to heart to apply this with a flat brush. Two things definitely occurred to me-- a brush totally makes a difference in the speed and ease of mask applying. Dayam. Two, the Maskimizer also made the goop slide right on. I didn't have to pull from one spot to evenly distribute, a little went a long way, and it felt a lot more wet as a whole. And cool too, the Maskimizer immediately felt chilly on my skin, but not in such a bad way, more like a tingling sensation. So long story short, I truly can't tell if the Maskimizer made a big difference, but the mask itself did go on a lot easier and was easier to remove, plus my skin feels nice, soft, brighter and more even, without being oily or dry. I always put moisturizer on after masks, so that might play a factor of course, but I will definitely use this Maskimizer with any other masks I do, if nothing else for the ease of the whole mask process. So we'll call this a win at 3/4.
Moving on to the Briogeo Deep Conditioning Hair Mask, I gotta say I'm not a big fan. I've got all the colors in my hair, so I take hair care pretty seriously, and have used the whole gamut of what's available from Olaplex to R&Co and Matrix and beyond, I am firmly sticking to ColorPhlex. I'm even finding it unfortunate that I chose to use this treatment for my weekly hair washing instead of the magic that is ColorPhlex. But anyhow, we're talking about Briogeo right now. My hair was snarly instead of detangled, it was rough instead of soft, and it even took longer to dry. I'm out. 3/5 now.
Finally, there's the Korres Wild Rose Sleeping Facial, which is supposed to brighten and moisturize. I've had good experiences with Korres in the past, but this particular product is not a good fit for me. I'll start off by saying I loved how it smelled like roses- it's one of my favorite scents in skin products- but I expected it to be more like a gel or serum texture, but it was actually more of a cream, which kind of acted more as a heavy duty moisturizer than anything else. This isn't really something I need, and woke up with a slew of brand new breakouts all over my whole damn face. Well, any product that makes my insanely sensitive skin break out is not a friend to me, so I'm definitely skipping this in the future as well. 3/6 is the final wins tally for this box, but that's really not bad! Considering I had no expectations really, and typically am annoyed by fragrance samples, I wound up liking 3 things I both wasn't anxious to try or hadn't heard of.
Overall, I am sticking to the idea that this monthly subscription is FAR SUPERIOR to the other options out there. Like, no contest. In all fairness, I am a diehard VIB, build up those points like nobody's business, am always down to take one of the Sephora classes, and will Definitely be taking my Play! pass to my nearest Sephora to learn more about the awesome shit that came in my box, but all the same, I really feel like this box has some quality products that mostly fit what I would be looking for in new things, so the fact that half worked out is significantly higher than any monthly box I've tried in the past. Can't wait for next month!
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