Homegrown Collective creations

Last week Maddi and I worked on some projects from the last two boxes. We made homemade insect repellant, after sun lotion bars, room deodorizer, oil defuser, and sunscreen. I had to melt the lotion bars three times adding more oil until they came off on your hand a bit. The sunscreen hardened into a chunk and I had to throw away the container. So while the lotion bars were salvageable, the sunscreen was a fail. I wonder if the directions should have been teaspoons for the beeswax instead of table spoons. I left the soy wax and cinnamon oil with her to make the candles. I'm allergic to cinnamon and she had to go to work before we could do the candles. I thought cinnamon candles would be perfect for fall.

I also never got around to posting the picture of the mustard I made. Danny is right, it is good on toast. I still need to make the ketchup from that box. I will definitely try the mustard again.  

August Julep box and nail art

This months theme was travel and many colors seemed to be inspired by India. I chose the bombshell collection which included Neha- a lovely magenta metallic and Tazeen- a bright full coverage gold glitter. I also added on Joyce- a bright red metallic. Unfortunately they sent two Nehas instead of the Joyce and not it is out of stock. They did give me points to be used for future add-ons but it will be doubtful that I will be able to get Joyce for the 6.99 price for awhile. The retail price is 14.99 and the maven price is 11.99 for colors. You usually get a lower price for adding on to your box but they are mostly new colors from other boxes or close outs. I'm not happy but there is nothing I can do at this point. The box also came with a taupe sheen eyeliner pencil. It seems to be very long lasting and waterproof.

My Birthday mani, I was practicing with no water marbling. The middle finger is Donna, which I recently reordered, The other two are Misty and Leila. 

August Birchbox and Limited Edition Birchboxes

This month I chose the curated box over samples that were selected for my profile. I chose this option as I wanted to try the Benefit, They're Real Eyeliner. I was not overly thrilled with the sample, it was difficult to use. Also in the box was another body wash. I haven't used it yet, I added it to my sample basket in the bathroom. ( I recently found something to organize my products in the bathroom. Yea!) It does have a light lemon scent. I did use half of the N.4 Supercomb Prep & Protect in just a few uses. It has an odd scent that I can't place, kind of sweet. I like these type of products so I can't get too many. Another product I enjoyed was the facial scrub. It smells slightly minty and herbaceous, it has small green plant bits and grit, and my face looks nice after. The final product I received was the Hello Harvey Prince perfume sample. I know I have received this one before but I'm not sure if I gave it to Maddi or not. It has a pleasant citrus scent. 

I also added a chloe + isabel necklace. While it is pretty, I probably should have skipped it, but I wanted to splurge for my birthday.

I also Splurged on the two limited edition boxes that Birchbox curated from CEW favorites. The Prestige box had 100% Pure nail polish in Velouria. It is a soft nude pink. It reminds me of  calamine lotion. The next products were the Coola after sun lotion, Fekkai glossing creme, Josie Maran argan oil, and the Philosophy night cream. These items will all come in handy. They also sent a few extras. Some toe seperators which I will pass on and a pocket mirror that will come in handy.

The Mass Appeal box came with a Burt's Bees lip gloss which I have been using and a Vaseline Lip therapy that I gave Alex. I like products that I can take to work and not have to worry about putting my fingers in.  Also was another body wash, this time by dove, Simple moisturizer, and Tresemme keratin infusing serum. These will all get used as needed. Hydrating hair products are especially welcome right now. I also like the nice sized sample of the simple moisturizer. I recently picked up another item by this same brand, Simple eye make-up remover pads. The final product was L'Oreal Butterfly mascara. So far I am liking it. It did not clump or smudge and washed off cleanly. I'm not sure if it was long lasting though.

I added on the Beauty Protector Protect and Shampoo. It is the same brand as the dry shampoo I got last month. I had received a sample of it in a previous box and liked it. I have also sampled the coditioner and oil and loved both of those as well. The only item I'm not a fan of was the dry shampoo. Purchasing the shampoo allowed me to try the Protect and Tangle for free and brought my price up to $35+ so I could get a mystery pack for free as well. I received a Coola  mineral sunscreen sample and a folle de joie perfume sample. Both of these items are repeat samples for me. I also used my points which were worth $20. So basically I paid for the shampoo I love and $4 each for the boxes. 

I recently tried a few items from another limited edition box. Biore self heating masks. I had misplaced them awhile ago and was thinking about them as I was using the Crest whitening strips that came in the same box. I was cleaning off the bench in the hall when I found them. I tried them out and was surprised by the heat as you applied it to your wet face. I liked that it only took one minute to work before you wash it off and enjoyed the cooling sensation that was left afterwards. I liked them so much I shared a couple with Joyce and Maddi and bought more for myself.