Smashbox Try It Kit: Best Sellers

Smashbox is a brand that I think is a bit understated. With its practical, non-flashy packaging and makeup designed to be professional level, I'm not sure who exactly the target demographic is. I love the brand's photo op eyeshadow trios a ton and so was so excited to get my hands on the Smashbox Try It kit filled with the brand's bestsellers in miniature travel sizes:

The kit comes with a photo finish foundation primer, a full exposure mascara, a 24 hour photo finish foundation primer, and a photo op eyeshadow trio. 

The eyeshadow trio is in the color 'Filter,' which is the most neutral of Smashbox's trio selection.  It comes with 3 matte shadows in an ivory, a soft brown, and a deep brown. The packaging on this little trio is pretty neat with a swing out disc, but these shadows are REALLY TINY.

Here is the mini trio compared with one of Smashbox's full sized trios for size comparison. Despite the tiny size, the pan size is large enough to dip a brush into easily and the colors are enough for a complete eye look. 

L to R: Vanilla, Sable, Sumatra

Smashbox's eyeshadows are buttery smooth and blend easily to create seamless eye looks.  I really enjoyed the eyeshadow primer under the shadows and felt it was just as good as UD Primer Potion or Too Faced Shadow Insurance. It has some slip to it which was the only thing I noticed as setting the Smashbox primer apart from other brands, but I didn't feel like it effected the way my shadows applied.

Using only eyeshados from the 'Filter' Trio

The mascara is concerning only because it isn't waterproof and my eyes get VERY watery through out the day leading to raccoon eyes up the wazoo. I've tried the foundation primer before and I do like it enough to use up the tube, however it doesn't change the way my foundation applies enough to warrant buying a full size tube of the product.

I like this product as a way to try out some hot items from a popular and, in my opinion, underrated makeup brand. It also was a way to get my hands on a travel size eyeshadow trio for a decent price. This kit costs $18 for $36 worth of product and is quite the steal in my opinion! 

Take a look at this product on Ulta's website Here!

I've reviewed some Smashbox products before!

My review of the photo op trio in 'Cover Shoot'

My review of the photo op trio in 'Headshot'

My review of the photo op trio in 'Multi-Flash'

xxSJ

Sample Round-Up! Clinique, Soap and Glory, Benefit, MUFE, and Dr Brandt!

I have a HUGE bag of samples collecting dust in my room that I have received from various makeup orders, swag bags, and in store purchases.  I thought it was about time to delve into the bag and try out some new products and give you my thoughts on the sample value, my thoughts on the product given this little taste of it, and whether you should try this sample if you have the option to!
Let's get started shall we??

Clinique Acne Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel
Full size product: $26 for 1 oz
Sample value: $1.30 for .05 oz foil packet
This clinique sample is a medicated acne treatment complete with salicylic acid that is meant for all over your face or for spot treatments. This packet was enough to apply this product twice this week all over my face after taking my makeup off before bed. This stuff smells like PURE ALCOHOL. It is a light blue gel that tightens your skin immediately upon applying it and I must say I think it dried out my skin quite a bit. I wouldn't try this product out further and I won't be sampling it again in the future.

Benefit Air Patrol BB Cream Eyelid Primer
Full size product: $29 for .13 oz
Sample value: $.67 for .003 oz
This primer has a very thin consistency but I was surprised to find that you needed the tiniest bit to cover your whole eyelid. The product's tan color gave pretty decent coverage leaving a nice clean slate of an eyelid to place shadow on. The primer made my eyeshadow last all day with out creasing. The primer claims to have SPF benefits as well, always a plus! This little sample gave me 4 days of wear. Though I enjoyed the product, the hefty $29 pricetag may be too much to spend given I like UD primer potion which costs closer to $20.

Makeup Forever HD High Definition Primer
Full size product: $33 for 1 oz
Sample value: $1.65 for .05 oz foil packet
This product is a primer that is meant to make your makeup last all day as well as moisturize your face. The white cream was a very pleasant consistency and easy to blend in and I LOVE the fact that this primer does not have the normal oily slip to it that you feel with other primers on the market. I felt this made my makeup look fantastic for the three uses I got out of it and I would definitely want to try this product again in the future!

Soap and Glory Righteous Butter
Full size product: $15 for 10.1 oz
Sample value: $0.50 for .33 oz foil packet
This award winning body butter was SO luxurious! The thick white cream melted into my skin and smelled amazing ( fresh bergamot, mandarin, rose, jasmine, peach, strawberry, and soft musk & amber base note). The smell lingered on my skin for two whole days and my skin was so soft! I only got one full body use out of this packet but I loved every minute of using this product and would definitely purchase a full size tub. 

Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant
Full size product: $79 for 2 oz
Sample value: $9.88 for 0.25o oz
This skin exfoliant is meant to be used on moistened and warm skin after cleansing twice per week. I used this product in the shower and overall I did enjoy the feeling of scrubbing my skin with this. The product is very gritty and feels like it is getting into every pore to do some serious cleaning. You have to be gentle with this stuff though as it can be rough on your skin if you scrub too hard. I liked this product as my skin is getting dry from the cold winter air, so I felt I was scrubbing the dead cells off my face at the end of the day. The sample is a great value and I would recommend trying it out. I won't be purchasing the full size because of the hefty price tag but I would get the sample again. I am not done with this sample yet, as the tube is a very generous size. I should get at least 5 more uses out of it.

Total value of samples this week: $14

I definitely recommend trying out the Dr Brand skin exfoliant and the Soap and Glory Righteous Butter. Also try out your samples when you get them at home! I got to try out $14 of beauty products this week that made me feel luxurious and like I was giving my skin some extra TLC. It felt like a mini pampering session every time I tried something new. Leave me your thoughts below and what the best sample you've ever tried was!

xx, SJ

Ipsy June 2015 Bag!

 Ipsy is a monthly subscription service that sends you 4-6 deluxe sample-sized products each month for the low cost of $10 including shipping. Ipsy is SO popular that in order to sign up for this subscription, you must first get yourself on their waitlist... I did just that weeks ago and completely forgot about it until I received an email that my June bag had shipped! It arrived a couple days ago so I thought I'd share my thoughts on these products and this service.

In this month's bag, I received 2 pairs of Altcheck Depuff Eye pads, a treStique eyeshadow pencil, a Smashbox photo finish face primer, an ItCosmetics brow pencil, and an Aurora Gel Effect nail polish. All of these goodies were housed in a black bag with 'ipsy' printed all over and bright orange zipper enclosure!

I was most excited by the ItCosmetics brow power pencil as this product claims to be a 'universal brow product.' Hmmmmm I'm hugely skeptical of that! I also thought the eyeshadow pencil was missing its cap at first but was relieved to find that the pencil-like pointed tip is really the cap housing the product inside! 

The eyeshadow color I got was 'Marimoto Pink Pearl' and it is really pretty! It is a light gold shimmery cream eyeshadow with peachy pink undertones. I wore this on my lids with a soft brown swept through the crease and it wore beautifully all day.  The brow pencil is in the color 'Universal Taupe' and it actually works pretty well for my brows. This product is meant to be lightly applied for blondes and then more heavily applied the darker your hair color. I could definitely see this color working for many people, though I recommend trying it out in store before purchasing this. The packaging is really nice as it is a weighty aluminum and there is a spoolie for eyebrow grooming on the opposite end of the pencil. 

The nail polish is a gel effect polish by the brand Aurora called '4 Alarm Fire.' I do really enjoy the color of this hot raspberry red, but I don't think the formula is all that great. I had chipping within 24 hours of application and the brush is huge making application a bit difficult on my tiny nails!

Overall I was impressed with the variety of samples in this bag. The value of each product is as follows:
Nail Polish $8
Smashbox Primer $8
Eyeshadow Stick $10
Eyebrow pencil $12
Eye pads $4

That puts the total value of this bag at $42! Not bad considering I only dropped $10 on it and these are all products I will get some use out of.

I really enjoyed my first experience with Ipsy but I don't think I will be continuing my subscription. I have a lot of makeup as is and I don't feel the need to have a ton of little samples lying around. I would definitely recommend Ipsy to people just starting to get into makeup though! It's an inexpensive monthly service that could introduce you to new makeup items and brands to expand your collection and its great for getting some travel sized products for weekend getaways ;)

Try out Ipsy for yourself Here!

xxSJ