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

Nature Box Sample Box Review!

Snacks make the world go round. Seriously though! As an on the move student, I need little treats here and there to keep my energy up through out the day so as not to completely burn out by the evening.  I had heard of the NatureBox subscription service a couple of times and decided to check it out. This service conveniently delivers you a box of nutritionist-approved snacks directly to your door once a month at a reasonable cost (more on that, later!).  Before I committed to this service, I decided to order the Sample Box to see if the snacks are even something I would enjoy.  Healthy is great and all, but the stuff better be yummy too!

The box only cost me $1.97 to cover the cost of shipping and it arrived in about a week and a half after I had placed my order. Inside the box there were 4 single serving size snack bags and one full size bag.

I received Tomato flavored Almonds, Cinnamon toast kettle kernels, Coconut Cashews, sesame seed crackers, and sea salt popcorn.

I enjoyed the flavor of all the snacks to an extent and I enjoyed the fact that the ingredients lists on all the snacks were short and full of words I recognized and could read! The one snack that completely blew me away though were the Coconut Cashews. Oh my goodness these things were insanely delicious and were honestly the thing that made me want to keep a subscription with Nature Box for at least a month.

So where to from here? I tried the sample box and enjoyed it which means I can go online to naturebox's website and select snacks for my 'pantry' (hellllooooooooo coconut cashews!!). These snacks that I select are going to be what's coming in my first official box from them in October! If you prefer a little mystery to your life, you don't have to add any snacks to your pantry and you can let NatureBox pick a variety for you! There are also options you can select for if you have specific dietary needs such as gluten-free, low sugar, low carb, vegan, etc.

The price breakdown is as follows:
3 snacks for $13.95
5 snacks for $19.95 (this is the default box!)
10 snacks for $29.95 (this box has two each of 5 different snacks so its good to split with someone)
20 snacks for $49.95 (this box has 4 each of 5 different snacks so its great for a family)

This subscription service also allows you to cancel really easily with just a click of a button from your profile settings, or you can simply skip a month if you just want to put your snacking on hold!

Try out NatureBox for yourself here: http://fbuy.me/bfpFE

Expect at least one post in the future where I review whatever food comes to my door next month! As I said, snacks keep the gears turning in my head during my long days at school...gotta keep going somehow, might as well make it tasty!

xxSJ