In the Mail: The All Natural Face January Beauty Box: Sparkle On! 

Monday, February 16, 2015 - Posted by Unknown at 1:43 PM
This is a Valentine's Day themed box, but it's also a sparkle themed box.

Pandora's Box Massage Oil & Personal Lubricant, Vegan Lipgloss Peppermint Icing, Vegan Tinted Moisturizing BB Cream, Fairy Dust Vegan Shimmer Powder, Nights in White Satin Luv That Color! Nail Polish, heart ornament


Pandora's Box Massage Oil & Personal Lubricant 2 oz.  - I'm pretty sure this is just a bottle of fractionated coconut oil. I've bought fractionated coconut oil before to press eyeshadow and this seems to be the same thing. Coconut oil is the only listed ingredient. ($7.50 value)

Fairy Dust Vegan Shimmer Powder - This is so pretty, which is why I'm really sad that the jar is crushed! I will figure out how to use this though because it is gorgeous. I did write to The All Natural Face and will update this post if I am able to get this product replaced. ($10 value)

Fairy Dust Vegan Shimmer Powder

Vegan Lip Gloss Peppermint Icing, Fairy Dust Vegan Shimmer Powder, Vegan Tinted Moisturizing BB Cream

Peppermint Icing Lip Gloss - This is very similar to the Moisturizing Flavored Vegan Lip Gloss Peppermint from the December box. The flavor seems the same to me and the big difference is that gloss was completely clear whereas this gloss is clear with fine shimmer. I like the shimmer in this gloss. Unfortunately glosses in tubes with wands gross me out because I'm a big germophobe. I used the last gloss about 3 weeks before I got a cold and decided I was done with it. In an effort to avoid getting germs in this gloss I swatched it above using a q-tip. This seemed like a great idea until I tried to pull the q-tip out and the cotton got stuck in the gloss. Oops. So far I just have not discovered a practical sanitary method of using glosses like this - I would love some ideas! ($4.60 value)

Vegan Tinted Moisturizing BB Cream - This is a mini bottle packaged in the same type of container as the Gel Eyeliner Pump. This smells intensely lemony to me, very similar to the way the Age Defying Extracts Daily Moisturizer smells. I don't have the ingredients to this but I feel like it the ingredients are probably pretty similar to the moisturizer. Unfortunately I just don't really think this does anything for me. I put this on and it doesn't look like it had done anything for my face, nor did I find it moisturizing for me. Even testing it on my hand it looks like it adds shine, not color. (Approximately $2 - $3 value)

Luv That Color! Nail Polish, Nights in White Satin - This is a pretty frosty white color. It is definitely frosty, not shimmery. Two coats looks pretty good but I think 3 would be necessary to achieve a fully opaque look. My nails don't look super great in this picture but it will give you an idea of the polish's performance. (Approximately $2 - $3 value)

Luv That Color! Nail Polish Nights in White Satin two coats, no base or top coat

Looks like the actual value of this box comes in at $27.10, with the most expensive product and my favorite of the box being broken. I'm sadly not impressed with this box. The last two were so awesome that this one fell short for me. I am not giving up on The All Natural Face boxes since I have had two fantastic ones.


Am I actually wearing any makeup in this picture? I have Vegan Tinted Moisturizing BB Cream all over, Fairy Dust Vegan Shimmer Powder on eyes and cheeks, and Peppermint Icing Lip Gloss.

Nails this past week:



Zoya Dot & Zoya Ali

And some awesome earrings from a coworker :)




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In the Mail: January Petit Vour Box! 

Monday, February 9, 2015 - Posted by Unknown at 9:25 PM
EVOLvh Leave-In Conditioner, Modern Minerals En Pointe Eye Shadow, Rawskinceuticals Rose Creme Cheek Color, 100% Pure French Lavendar Hand Buttercream

100% Pure French Lavendar Hand Buttercream, Modern Minerals En Pointe Eye Shadow, Rawskinceuticals Rose Creme Cheek Color


100% Pure French Lavendar Hand Buttercream 2 oz. - It's been a long time since I have owned a 100% Pure product! My mom bought me quite a few years ago before I went natural, and I had a few more over the years. I constantly want to get more of their makeup products but I have been holding out for a long time hoping they will make palettes again. In any event this is completely unrelated to hand lotion, which is what I'm supposed to be discussing. This is nicely moisturizing and smells good, a nice earthy lavender scent that isn't overpowering to my super-sensitive nose. I'll be taking this one to work because, being an early childhood librarian, I wash my hands approximately 764 times a day and they are DRY. 

EVOLVh Leave-In Conditioner 2.5 oz. - This is a leave-in conditioner detangler. I probably won't be able to give this a fair test because I pretty much never need detangler these days. When you have short hair and regularly treat your scalp with oils you don't need a lot of hair conditioning! I could see this being useful on the days I was my hair with pine tar soap (yes, sometimes I do that) because usually that is the only time I need any conditioning. This is my first product from the brand. 

Modern Minerals En Pointe Eye Shadow .07 oz. (2 g) - The color En Pointe is a Petit Vour Exclusive. It's a shimmery mauvey pink color that goes really, really well with the Rawskinceuticals Rose Creme cheek color. This is my first Modern Minerals product and I really like it. It's both unique and yet also an everyday neutral. This could definitely be an all over the eye shadow that you use alone, which is generally my favorite kind of eyeshadow.

Rawskinceuticals Rose Creme Cheek Color .125 oz. (5 ml) - First off, this color looks absolutely nothing like the color shown on the website. To me it's a very cool toned mauvey grape shade. When I first put this on my face it looks sort of terrifying, but when I blend it in it works somehow. The coolness in this tones down the red in my cheeks a bit. This does have shea butter in it as well as kokum butter, which I don't think I've ever used before. One thing I think is really awesome is the lack of mica, because if you're looking for mica-free cosmetics it's ridiculously difficult. I'm pretty sure this is the full size .125 oz. or 5 ml. That sounds small, but this is super pigmented and will last me ages. Actually I wonder how long it will last, because the name "Rawskinceuticals" makes me think it may need to get used up quick (I have never had anything from Rawskinceuticals before), so I've been using it quite a bit!

This box was curated by MyKindofLife. This Petit Vour box was worth $43.50 and I will definitely use at least 3 of the 4 products, and will probably end up using the conditioner eventually. I got to try 3 new brands and try something I hadn't used before from a brand I already like. I'm already looking forward to the February box due to rumors of a Lily Lolo mascara!

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January Empties: Saying No to Blueberries! 

Sunday, February 8, 2015 - Posted by Unknown at 6:29 PM

Nature's Natural Anti-Aging Cream 1 oz. - I'm pretty sure I discovered this brand last year when I was subscribing to Eco Emi. The first product I got was a candle, and I ordered some more candles and decided to try this too. This is actually a reorder because I LOVE this moisturizer. I couldn't tell you if it has anti-aged me, but it definitely is an amazing cream full of grape seed extract, argan oil, rose hip oil, vitamin e, vitamin c, avocado extract... basically it's amazing. I do like to try different things, though, and I have a bunch of stuff right now, so not currently repurchasing but definitely will in the future. They also make a version of this with bee venom in it, but I'm going to go ahead and pass on that.

Sweet Creek Herbs Cocoa Butter Whipped Butter 1.5 oz. - This is very straightforward, just cocoa butter (obviously), sunflower oil, jojoba, bees wax, and vitamin e. Because it is mostly cocoa butter it was a bit too hard to use as a body lotion so I used it as a hand lotion, which is really nice in the winter. I don't need to reorder this because I still have another 3 oz. container. It looks like Sweet Creek Herbs is now Sweet Creek Soap.

Christopher Drummond Duo-Phase Concealer Light 7 gm - As you may know, this is my favorite concealer of all time.  Sadly this concealer got to a point where I could no longer get product out of the pump, but since Christopher Drummond has changed their packaging this luckily won't be an issue in the future. And I don't need to repurchase right now since I already have my new one.

Trader Joe's Anticavity Peppermint Toothpaste 6 oz. - Does this really count as bath and body? I guess not, but since I've been going natural with my toothpaste and it was one of my last holdouts I feel like sharing it! The best thing about this toothpaste is it's price, as I believe it was around $3-$4. I can't say I love the taste of it - Peppermint Baking Soda, yum! David would also prefer I not get this one again as it is a bit more baking soda flavored than peppermint.

Zoya Armor Topcoat & UV Block .25 oz. - This is the mini size from the miniature version of the Color Lock System, which does not seem to be for sale currently. As a Zoya addict I have several backups and will continue to repurchase. Using Zoya polish I have had manicures last over a week before! Any longer and I would get bored.

Julep Nail Vernis Yumi .27 oz. - This is a really weird polish. It looks absolutely fabulous, but don't buy it. For a brief time I subscribed to Julep Maven, which seems like a pretty good deal. As a Julep Maven member I would receive 3 polishes or maybe two polishes and a hand cream or mascara for $15. The colors are very pretty and trendy. I can't tell you how natural the polishes are but after trying some of their makeup products I became a bit more skeptical about their level of "natural". The reason I would not suggest buying this is basically because of price. Julep polishes are $14 for .27 oz. of product, which to me is not a good value. I usually buy Zoya which is .5 oz. of polish for $9 and they are pretty much always having a sale. I got this in a Maven box so I didn't pay full price for it, but because of the thick glittery texture of the product and the fact that I used three coats to make it look this good the polish literally only lasted me for two manicures! I took pics because I'll miss it, but I will not repurchase.

Julep Yumi

Julep Yumi, Butter London Pillar Box Red

Yes To Blueberries Age Refresh Cleansing Facial Wipes 40 ct. - I have a terrible track record of buying various kinds of Yes To facial wipes and then wishing I hadn't. I am constantly finding great deals on these with coupons at Target, but something in them ends of making my eyes burn really badly. These weren't as burn-y as the Yes to Cucumbers ones, but I will not be buying any of them again. Hopefully these work better for you because there are usually awesome deals on them! Sadly, I will be saying no to blueberries. And carrots. And cucumbers. Unless I'm making a salad, because I really love salads.

Mineral Fountain Rose Garden Rose Water Mist 1 oz. - I used this as toner. It was nice but does not differ much from just using my normal Rose Water spray. As far as I can tell this Etsy shop does not exist anymore.

Samples:

Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques Finishing Powder sample - This was a very nice finishing powder but I didn't feel like using it was particularly different from using plain arrowroot powder, which I like doing and is much cheaper, so I will not be purchasing.

The All Natural Face Glows: Apricot Kisses, Wedding Day - I did go ahead and order Wedding Day because it's multipurpose as an all over finishing powder or as a sparkle-free highlight. I liked Apricot Kisses but it's more of a blush to me and I have plenty of peachy blush colors. The All Natural Face recommends Apricot Kisses as a good highlight for dark skin tones.

This month/year I used up: 7 full size products, 3 samples

1 Facial Moisturizer
1 Body Moisturizer
1 Facial Wipes
1 Concealer
1 Nail Polish
1 Nail Care
1 Oral Care
3 Makeup samples









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In the Mail: Goodies from Zoya Including Exclusive Limited Edition Colors! 

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - Posted by Unknown at 9:56 PM
Zoya Get Even Ridge Filling Basecoat, Zoya Armor Topcoat & UV Block, Zoya Prim

So this first image shows an older order from a flash promo. Zoya has tons of great deals but it's rare to get a deal on the Color Lock System products, so I went ahead and ordered my favorite base and top coats, Zoya Get Even Ridge Filling Basecoat & Armor Topcoat & UV Block. I also picked up Prim, which is a gorgeous shimmery periwinkle color. I've already worn it a few times, and I'm pretty happy with this picture:

Zoya Prim

So I was thinking I should probably consider not buying more nail polish, and then Zoya had a promo I couldn't refuse that involved receiving 3 exclusive colors that have never been and will never be released. I tried to resist, but the pull of nail polish was too strong. Here's what I ordered:

Zoya Giovanna, Oswin Ultra PixieDust, Imogen Magical PixieDust

Giovanna is my all time favorite Zoya shade! So... this is a backup. Just in case. I am a sucker for all things blue-green, green-blue, teal, turquoise, aquamarine... you get the picture.

Oswin Ultra PixieDust is a deep red textured polish with fine red glitter and larger red glitter pieces. So basically, it's awesome.

Imogen Magical PixieDust is a black textured polish with fine silver glitter and large silver holo glitter pieces. Also packing some serious awesome.

And... the exclusive colors!

Zoya Mini's in Charlotte, Severin, Anais

Charlotte is a creamy putty color and Severin (or possibly Severina, the label is a bit small due to the size of the bottle) is a frost-finish color that reminds me of precious metal... not quite silver and not quite gold but something in between with very fine shimmer. Anais is a rich black with fine shimmer that looks almost dark brown in certain lighting. Of the three, Severin(a?) is definitely my favorite.

These aren't the best pictures as this arrived at my door today and I wanted to share them as soon as possible... so they haven't had a lot of drying time and my fingers aren't exactly cleaned up.

Right hand: Anais, Severin, Imogen, Giovanna, Oswin

Left hand: Severin, Oswin, Charlotte, Imogen, Giovanna

Because the first thing I do when I get new nail polish is PUT ON EVERY COLOR. Obviously.




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In the Mail: Stocking up at The All Natural Face! 

Monday, February 2, 2015 - Posted by Unknown at 9:50 PM

At the end of December I ordered a plethora of things from The All Natural Face, taking advantage of the 35% off sale. The All Natural Face products are already a pretty great deal so with this code I tried to stock up on all the things I thought I would need for the year. Tried. We'll see how that goes.

It's worth noting that this order came today, on February 2. The All Natural Face usually has a pretty long turnover time but it has been longer than usual lately. I have seen some rumors that the company has moved again, but the website has not confirmed this. If so I am sad, because I was really excited about them being in South Carolina, which I moved to in August! Anyway, I highly recommend buying from this company, but it is worth noting that it will take time for their products to arrive.

Age Defying Extracts Daily Moisturizer 1 oz. This comes in a large pump bottle. So far I have only tried it on my hands. It smells very strongly of lemons to me. I have mostly been using oils lately but I will try it on my face soon. I appreciate the packaging of this product because it is very sanitary unlike many moisturizers in jars.

Beauty Blending Sponge - Somewhere I believe I have an old mini Beauty Blender from a Birchbox, but it was too small to be effective for me. This is larger and feels denser to me.

Magic Vegan Eyeshadow Primer - .43 oz. - I have had the same tube of this for over a year so I decided it was time to replace it! I LOVE this primer. It is the closet I have come to replicating the awesomeness of Urban Decay Primer Potion in natural form. Similar to the Urban Decay product I don't love the packaging, as I think wand products are germy. But I deal, because it's AWESOME.

Magic Vegan Eyeshadow Primer, Black Kohl Diva Stix, Dark Brown Diva Stix, Deep Sea Green Diva Stix, Intense Violet Diva Stix

Black Kohl Diva Stix, Dark Brown Diva Stix, Deep Sea Green Diva Stix, Intense Violet Diva Stix, Ivory Rose Vegan Cream Foundation, Ivory Goddess Vegan Cream Foundation, Vegan Glow Original, Vegan Glow Wedding Day

Black Kohl Diva Stix - I'm not really sure how I went so long without this! I don't wear eyeliner a lot because it is so hard to find a quality natural liner that has excellent pigmentation, doesn't smudge, and doesn't hurt to put on! Again, Urban Decay is the standard I am trying to meet here after years of being obsessed with their 24/7 liners. I'm not sure if this will have the same staying power and I doubt it will be smudge proof, but as you can see the pigmentation on this is amazing! I am definitely wearing this tomorrow. 

Dark Brown Diva Stix - This one is similarly rich in pigmentation. These glide on very smoothly. Honestly so far these seem better than any of my much more expensive liners! 

Deep Sea Green Diva Stix - For years shades of teal were my go-to liners and I considered teal liner my signature look. Then I went natural and it turns out it is not the most easy color to create naturally! Of the Diva Stix I think this is the closet to what I am looking for, but it is still not quite what I want. It is still a very nice green, but not the teal I was hoping for. 

Intense Violet Diva Stix - This one is a bit less pigmented than I expected but still quite pretty. This is light enough that it might be nicer as a shadow than a liner, but the beauty of the Diva Stix is their ability to be used in a variety of ways. There are also several Diva Stix for lips and I believe all Diva Stix are interchangeable in purpose. 


Vegan Glow Original, Ivory Rose Vegan Cream Foundation, Vegan Glow Wedding Day, Ivory Goddess Vegan Cream Foundation

Ivory Rose Vegan Cream Foundation - 20g I already had a small pot of this foundation and it matches me so well that I decided to order a larger pot. This foundation works best for me when I dig a bit out of the pot, melt it around in my fingers. I have never found a shade that matched me so well, but I always second guess myself, sooooo...

Ivory Goddess Vegan Cream Foundation 10g - I had to try the darker version. I think this will be my summer match. This shade would have been absolutely perfect for me over the summer while I was in Italy. I spent a lot of time outside on the beach - probably more time outdoors than this computer nerd had had in the previous decade - and ended up pretty tan as a result. 

Vegan Glow Original 10g - I did the glows a bit out of order. First I got the Desert Sand Glow, which I absolutely love as a blush and an all over face color. Then I tried the samples, and decided I needed this one, which is a delicate pink color and also works nicely as a blush and overall face brightener. The interesting thing about the Glows is that they have brighten without shimmer. I think I look good with a relatively matte face, so these are pretty perfect for me. 

Vegan Glow Wedding Day 10 g - This is another nice allover face brightener and I also like using it as a setting powder. 

So glad this arrived and I can start playing with my goodies! If you have not yet tried The All Natural Face - seriously - do it! 

And because I feel like it...

manicure of the moment: 

Zoya Wendy, Josie, and Kerry

Obsession-worthy tv show of the moment: 

The Fall - yes, it's on Netflix!


And an IRL moment: Pictures from a recent walk around Sesquicentennial State Park: 

Yes, I had to look up how to spell that. 







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