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. 

Kickstarter Projects for Steampunk Card Games

I recently received the Steampunk goggles and cards project I had backed so I decided to do a post about all my cards so far. They had a selection of goggles that matched the cards and I chose the goggles that matched the Jack of hearts as they reminded me of this curio I made a few years ago. They both have a bee theme. Now I need to make a costume to go with it.

I actually received two deck with this project. I believe the other is probably at AnimeIowa with the kids right now. The deluxe box cover had a train on it and the cards had gold details.

Various backers chose to pay higher levels to get their likeness on the cards. 

 My first deck through kickstarter is a flip deck. When you flip through from the back the gears turn and from the front the numbers tick down on the time machine.

Another favorite deck was the steampunk pirate decks. I am also missing one of these decks. I believe the kids layed them down somewhere. The face cards on these are based on authors and important people. One of my favorites is Edgar Alan Poe. The Steampunk ABC's was from a previous project that I bought as an add-on with the cards.

This deck, designed by Tesh is fun. I have backed a few of his related projects. The face cards are based on inventors like Nicolas Flammel or tinkers like Tomas Edison. I added on the two dealer coins and received two free dragon treasure coins. The free coins are from backing another persons project. It was a dragon card game and the other dragon coin is with that game. I am currently backing another project by Tesh. It is for more coins. The coins will have holes in the center for axles so they can turn as gears. I missed out on the poker chips that matched this set. Saddly I can't back them all.

My first kickstarter project ever was the tinker dice. I recent received these as we are still waiting for production on the gear punk dice. I chose four gearpunk dice; a D4, a D20, a count down D20, and one I cannot remember. I do remember I chose the zinc finish for those. It has been such a long drawn out process that I was starting to get discouraged. It felt like they would never get done. Getting these beautiful dice in the mail helped renew my faith. I'm sure the others will be just as lovely.  

I have backed several other projects that have succeeded. Some even include steampunk themes. Espionage cosmetics came out with geeky nail wraps including steampunk and tentacles. I recommend you check out their website, the wraps are amazing. They have space, comic book themes, and so much more. I also have a geeky sprinkle project I am backing that is in production. Those will include edible sprinkles in fun shapes like gears, tardis, and lightening bolt. I am also backing a card game that is based on steampunk inventions. It is either still funding or recently finished. 

June Ipsy and July Ipsy and Birchbox

I really like July's Birchbox. Lip crayon are my favorite lip product other than a healing lip balm. I had not tried Laqa and Co yet so I was happy to give it a shot. This color was perfect to go with the new dress I bought Alex so she stole it. The Naobay body cream smells like ginger to me. I used the Supergoop eye cream this morning. It absorbs similar to their other products. It is not greasy or overly hydrating, it is just okay. I have received a few products from their line and I do feel good about using them. I played around with one of the nail wraps. The sample only included half of the sizes so I can do my thumbs and my ring fingers. I like the print but have not decided what color to pair them with. I'm thinking maybe a red creme polish. Perhaps I will add a little flower or dots to the accent nails. The small pot is a lemon scented face scrub. I have not tried it yet because I keep forgetting to take it to the bathroom. I also chose two upgrades for this month, but they were shipped separately. I ordered the dry shampoo and the portable charger. The charger is a pretty navy and white pattern. I have it tucked in my purse for emergencies. Perhaps like the night my phone was dead and we had to take a different route home in the middle of the night due to flooding. To top it off the power was out in all the neighboring towns and there were no street lights. We made it home but it pays to have a charge for your phone. 

My July Ipsy bag was okay. I was surprised to find some love for the Bare Minerals 5 in 1 cream eyeshadow. It is a very matte brown cream that stays put once it dries. The color actually has the word wine in it but it is brown. It actually is the same color as my natural eyelids. After testing it on the back of my hand I wondered if it would work on he cholesterol patches on my eyelids. It covers them perfectly without budging. I had to order a full size version of this. Now I have a small one for my purse and a full size for my kit. I can even use it when I am not wearing any other make up. I used the Be fine moisturizer on my face this morning. It works well and like supergoop add a spf protection. I tested the cheek stain on my hand, but have not used it yet. It seems like it will give you a natural rosy glow. The Big look mascara... it is water proof... it also happens to be a thinner formula with a flexible wand. If you are like me that means little black specks all over you. Maybe if I blot it first. Wayne Goss did tell us how important that is, after all. The tanning oil does not interest me, I do find the bag cute though.

 Last months bag was super cute. I guess I never posted it earlier as Maddy had already seen what I had gotten. In it came an eye brow pencil, a NYX butter gloss, Beabombshell mascara, Marc Anthony dream waves beach spray and a Real tree perfume sample. I was happy to have a spare eyebrow pencil and mascara for my purse. The previous travel mascara was dried out so it needed replaced. The butter gloss is a nice neutral shade and looks good on me. It has a sweet scent and is creamy without being too sticky. I was not real crazy about the perfume, but Maddi liked it so I passed it on to her. I have almost used up all of the Beach Spray. It isn't something I use every day, but it is fun to change things up every now and then. My favorite hair product is 12 Benefits, it leaves my hair soft and allows the waves to do their thing.

My June Birchbox picture is on my camera which I have misplaced. My camera also has a couple pictures of my niece and nephew from their visit.

Birchbox has already released spoilers for the August Box. They added more options this month. They had four items to choose from as one of your samples or to choose a separate curated box. I decided to go for the alternative box as it had the Benefit Its Real Push up eye liner. I really want to try it. especially since I have misplaced my black liquid eye liner that I love to wing out. I also chose one of the upgrades and decided to get the necklace. I wont give any more details though as I want to keep it a surprise.

July Julep and Homegrown Collective Subscription Boxes

I decided to order the It Girl selection from Julep this month. I believe it included the graphite stardust polish, the yellow mustard creme polish, and the pink creme polish. I added on the blue and the red stardust polish. I can't seem to find my nail polish bag at the moment so I'm not sure of the names. 

I probably could have skipped this month, but I do like the graphite glitter, the red glitter and the blue cream polishes. 

The Homegrown collections theme this month was summertime. It included everything to make homemade sunscreen, insect repellent, and after sun lotion bars. As an extra the also sent a large aloe vera leaf. I need to search a good way to use it before it goes bad. The website shows how to freeze it as ice cubes to cool sunburn.

The lotion bars will be one of my first projects. It sounds like something I would use regularly. 

Limited Edition Make-up Collections

I received two make-up boxes in the mail today. The first is a Be a Bombshell look that is on sale.

It also came with a lipgloss called taupeless. None of the items are duplicates from my make-up bag and the mascara was a needed item for my purse. My other one needed replaced. The one color of eyeshadow I don't have is black, so hopefully the eye crayon will come in handy some time. I usually just use one of many dark brown eyeshadows for the crease for a more subdued smoky look.

The other box was a limited edition box from Birchbox. It was their mermaid theme box and I used my BB points to get it for free. I was also able to get an eyeliner in lime green for less than half of its listed price.

I really like this box. I'm a fan of sea salt sprays for summer and have been meaning to get a lip product with UV protection. I'm wearing both the green and navy eyeliner today with my green eyeshadow. The nail polish and mirror are fun. I tested out the blue nail polish on one of my residents.

*both pictures are linked from the companies. I did take pictures on my cell phone but don't feel like chasing a cord down.

May 2014 Subscription Boxes

Maddie gets disappointed when I don't share my subscription boxes. So I will start sharing them again. I have been holding off on canceling my Julep subscription. In part that was due to the plie wand debuting this month. Since this months colors were mostly different to what I have I decided to go big and upgrade to the full collection.

The bold pink at the top is called Maddy, so I bought two. I have tried the plie wand a few times. For a quick job on myself I find I prefer to go without. When I am doing someone else's nails it can be helpful. I am still planning to try it on my toes and see how that works. The gold shimmer in the pink, lavender, and apricot seemed to interfere with the flash.

Maddie is also an Ipsy bag subscriber, so it can be fun to compare bags and swap items. This month my bag had more supporting items and only one make-up item.

The bag itself is lovely, I can see myself using it. I received a Calvin Klein roll on perfume. I traded Alex that for the jasmine roll on I gave her last month. She preferred this one. The Avene mineral water spray I had in a previous birchbox and will enjoy again. The Eva-nyc hair mask smells like cotton candy. It reminds me of another hair product line I like. The Pacifica eyeshadow duo came in purple and white shimmer. It seemed to fade and leave me with a lot of glitter fallout everywhere. The Jersey Shore sunscreen has a lot of zinc oxide and is very white. When rubbed in thoroughly it lightens your skin tone. Still it should come in handy.

My birchbox is typical in that it had one make-up item, one lifestyle item, and the rest supporting beauty items.

The candle tin is cute and the scent is called Azure Garden. I was concerened I would get two foil packs from Caldrea, but luckily only one was. I have not tried the coconut fig leaf body lotion yet , but the body wash in aloe water apricot has a pleasant scent. This months make-up item is a tinted tip balm from Pixi. It has a subtle color that reminds me of a stain. I just finished up my sample of supergoop's other sunscreen, so this one is welcome. The 8 in 1 serum has a gel texture, I will have to try this out to make an opinion on it.

Birchbox, Ipsy, and Estee Lauder Samples

Last week my Birchbox came right before Charles and I left to buy his first car. It was rather exciting. Now we just need to get mine fixed. After the paperwork, I spent the day with my sister and niece.

My birchbox included a Chella highlighter pencil(18), Orange-a-go-go Chocopod(1.50), Vasanti Brighten Up!(5.67), Tocca hand cream(5), and Color Club polish in TopShelf(4). I was most excited to try the Chella pencil. I had seen it used to highlight your brow, which mine needs. It alone costs $18, the box costs $10, valuing at  $34.17. Since I got six items in my box to leave reviews on I basically earned $6 dollars in credit. So basically, I am ahead by $30. I can also earn more points by purchasing items and referrals. This is my referral ink http://birch.ly/1fd6rcA

 While shopping with my niece and sister we stopped at a make up counter where my niece's friend's mom works and got makeovers and free samples. The small sample is a bb cream that matches nicely. The eyeliners come in black, brown, and plum. These samples will be nice to keep in my purse. She tried an orange lip stain on me and it actually looked good. I would consider purchasing it.

 My ipsy bag came the next day. It included a Pixi bronzer (9?), a nailtini polish in Champagne (13), a Starlooks eyeliner in Topaz (14), anEM lipstic in Hug Me (16.50), a Bombshell lip crayon in Hot Damn (14) and a sample of Aphrodite from the Galaxy Chic Baked eyeshadow palette (1.20). Actually the full palette at $14.95 was a steal. This give my $10 Ipsy bag purchase a value of $67.70 (not including the bag) and while you do receive points for reviews they are not redeemable unless you get sign ups. It is still a great value. My referral link  http://www.ipsy.com/r/2tce

Starlooks pencil Topaz is more silver than blue.

 EM Hug Me on left and Bombshell Hot Damn on right. Both are somewhat sheer. Hot Damn is drier, buildable, longlasting and vibrant. Hug Me is creamy and subtle. My first thought was concealer. I wore it around the hose yesterday and it was okay. I'm still tempted to try it as concealer.

The Pixi bronzer was also on the light side. I could not see it on the far right of my hand just bits of shimmer. I've been trying it as a highlighter.

Julep Maven for November

I got my Julep package and was excited to try the fall colors. It had Alexandra- blond cream, and Aisha- burgundy plum creme with Brielle- burnt orange, Autumn- red orange glitter, and another Alexandra for my Alex. They also had lip gloss this month. My boho glam box came with Charming- a mauve color.

 I tried Autumn over my favorite fall nail polish before taking it off to try my new colors.

 I used Brielle for the main color then accented with Aisha and Alexandra with a top coat of Autumn. Not bad for swatching them all.

I couldn't get an Aleandra color and not do Alex's nails. Today I used Brielle with gold swoshes and brown leaves and accented the thumbs and ring fingers with branches and Autumn glitter for fall leaves.

I decided to use my Wet and Wild eye pallette to do a matching fall make up look. I waxed and plucked her brows, something she hates but loves the look. She has amazing features that are fun to play up.

I may as well do a Halloween picture dump here too. 

 I helped Ramon with his make up.

 This was my first time to try false eyelashes. I liked them and may try them again. Something more subtle though.

November "Badass" Booty Bin and Harry's shaving supplies

The boys booty bin came today while Alex was visiting. The theme was Badass. It included a t-shirt this month. The design is the tattoo that Snake eyes has from GI Joe. This box did not have any candy. It did have Star Wars cards that Alex took, a potato gun, and two stickers. The first was a Clint Eastwood sticker that Danny chose and the other was a Zangief sticker. I would not have known who that was but I recognized him as the same character as a cosplayer from a Seth Hendrix video. You really should watch him on youtube. He also does Loot Crate unboxings so that is fun. Oh right, the sticker, apparently it is from a fighting game. Alex knew who he was too.

I had ordered a shaving kit from Harry's for Danny's first shave. It came while Their father was visiting so I sent it with him to help Danny. I'm not sure Danny is convinced that shaving is fun, but at least he did not cut himself like he was afraid of. I wanted a nice set for his first shave. It is one thing to not shave because that is how you want to look or because you are lazy, but I did not want him to be afraid of shaving.

November Birchbox Man and FFA Fundraiser

The same day I got the Birchbox Man in the mail I also got the package from Maddie's fundraiser. It was a great day for guy stuff.

 Manly scents; a cologne sample from English Laundry was clean and spicy and Apolis candle was cypress fig scented and smelled like a man's cologne.

 A matte moisturizer from the same brand of an earlier shave cream. I gave them both to my nephew. We also got another shave cream sample from Vitamin and Sea. I was going to save this one for Danny, but one of their friends had a shaving emergency Halloween night.

 I was excited to try these wipes, but they burnt my face so I gave them to my sister to use to remove Halloween make up from the boys. I had had Charles and Ricky test them for irritation first so there weren't many left.

 Meat sticks from Maddie's FFA fundraiser. Probably the most welcome item of the day. They did not last long.

 I had also ordered some girly items from Birchbox. I ordered the Brush Guard brush cleaning kit. This will come in handy.

 I also ordered a black soap cleanser/exfoliator and a sea salt spray for my hair.  Both products work well. The soap is different, it goes on like chocolate syrup, burns a little at first, and does not lather. It seems to work though. You have to be careful not to use too much sea spray as it will build up and flake off, you also need less shampoo the next day.

Survival Loot Crate

October's Loot Crate had a great theme, survive the zombie apocalypse. It included a filled marshmallow eyeball, pixelated zombie theme buttons, a zombie card, infected/not infected tattoo, zombie survival guide, a zombie hunter badge, and a Ewoking Dead T-shirt.

I love the bite mark tattoo. I would have used it for Ramon's zombie costume but I had left it at home. I drew one in instead.

 The card is fun, I'm not sure what I will do with it, an envelope would have been nice.

 I had this on the Nook, I guess in a real zombie apocalypse you would need it in paper.

 I used the $5 off code from the survey on the Dead Pool Aid T-shirt. They sent me a small instead of a large though and it isn't Danny's style. He still loves his coffee T-shirt though.