Sunday, August 11, 2013

August '13 Birchbox!


Oh yay, a Birchbox to remind me that school starts in less than a month. Well, okay, technically it has nothing to do with school school but the fact that the theme has the word 'school' in it at all gives me the heebie-jeebies; don't mind me if I grab Galileo and do the under-the-sheets-hibernation-huddle (DON'T ACT LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT)...

Ahem.

I know my box looks quite empty this month but I can assure you it was filled with some intriguing goodies! Take the jump to read all about it :)



Obligatory card shots for anyone interested in reading through them; if you're like me though you'll just skip to the products and read the card afterwards (my mom is always appalled at the fact that I read the last chapter[s] of a book after the first chapter or two... I can't help it! I want to know what happens haha #typicalGemini).


(MALIN+GOETZ) is a brand that I haven't dabbled in because of the insane price tag attached to their products so I was pretty excited about receiving a sample this month... EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT'S IN THESE STUPID RIPPY-PACKETS. 
Uuuuuuuugh...
Seriously, this madness needs to end. If a brand can manage to sell their products for upwards of $100 a pop, surely they can scrape together a few extra bucks to package their samples a bit more luxuriously.

I'm pretty happy to have something from (MALIN+GOETZ) to try out nonetheless so hopefully the product overrides the packaging and proves superior; time will tell!



Now here's a brand that understands the importance and appeal of a pretty package.
The last time I received a Juice Beauty product was waaaaaay back in December (of last year... yikes!!) but, even though the product was... erm... not so great, I remember it because they put it in a package that isn't a hassle to use (nice sized squeezy-tube, safety sealed, etc.); it's rare that I'll get to the product if the package is less than appealing and creates a mess.

So we'll see on this one! I remember not liking the last Juice Beauty thing I got (a CC cream) because the smell was overwhelmingly unpleasant but who knows? Maybe this one will be a winner (I haven't smelt it yet because I want to keep it sealed until first use). Anything that screams acne-prevention has my utmost attention!


Something I'll never turn down (in a Birchbox or otherwise) is fashion tape. Pretty sure I don't have to go into detail about this since, if you've seen any of my fashion videos (i.e. my OOTW or How I Style series) you'd know that I have a very, erm... prominent bosom. I don't run a personal peek-a-boo service so I'm always making sure my girls are behaving and not popping any buttons!




When Birchbox first revealed that they were going to be giving lipsticks away in some people's boxes this month, my hands immediately went up in the air and flapped about screaming "PICK ME PICK ME PICK MEEEEE!!!" I have a definite 'thing' for lipsticks (it's hands down the thing I hoard most in terms of makeup) so I was beyond enamored to see this beauty rolling around in my box this month. 

While it's not a 'wow!' color by any stretch of the means, I think every girl needs to have a neutral (or two... or ten) in their lipstick wardrobe for classier or professional occasions (I know, I know, it's funny hearing that come from a student, huh?). I have yet to try this on my lips but the color looks promising and the formula is fantastic; extremely soft, creamy, and pigmented. The smell is a little... off? But I like it haha. It's a mix between old-lady lipstick and delicious gummy snacks so definitely not something everyone would be happy with but it doesn't bother me.






The last thing that I got in my August Birchbox was another product that I was extremely tickled to have received and that is this little quad of shadows from Coastal Scents. Coastal Scents is a bit of a cult classic brand in the beauty community and I'd be lying if I said I haven't gone on their website, put handfuls of palettes into my online cart, then apprehensively wavered between the 'checkout' button (bad Cassie!) and 'x' button of my browser screen (good Cassie...). My wallet's happy that I haven't purchased any palettes from Coastal Scents but I really have been overly tempted by their humongous and cheap palettes.
Thankfully I got this little guy to finally try out... unfortunately I have mixed feelings.

First off, I have to say that these shadows are GORGEOUSLY formulated; all four of them were silky smooth and incredibly pigmented (the above swatches were only one swipe). However, the light blue "Sea Spray" applied patchy-looking and "Peach Fuzz" and "Sand Dune", while uniquely beautiful in the pan, end up looking nearly identical on the skin (the only difference being a shimmer or frost finish). The blue/teal colors are absolutely beautiful though and should prove fun to play with; I have plenty of nude/champagne shadows in my hoard already so if any of them had to be letdowns I'm glad it was them.



So that's it folks!! As always, I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my Birchbox samplings of the month and, as a little bonus, here's a couple pictures of Galileo for you! I feel like it's been awhile since he's made an appearance on the blog (he always monkeys around in the background of my videos) so hopefully these photos make up for his absence :3

Are you subscribed to Birchbox?
What did you get this month?
Aren't subscribed?
What would you have wanted to receive?
Do share!!

xoxo - Cassie 

18 comments:

  1. wahh it seems like all subscription boxes have the same brands: coastal scents, juice beauty and model co have been in other boxes :(

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    1. Yeah, I'm sure that if a company likes the idea of being in a subscription box then they'll team up with as many as possible; I guess I'm glad I only subscribe to one haha!

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  2. The Coastal Scents little quad has beautiful shades, but yes it's quite disappointing that the two neutral shades look almost identical when swatched. The Juice Beauty moisturizer sounds amazing, hopefully you'll like it more than the other product you got from them! xxx

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    1. Agreed with everything you said, thank you for the well wishes with the moisturizer as well :)

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  3. Oh and I forgot to say that you're cat is the cutest ahaha!

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  4. I'm lusting after your box! Mine was a complete fail this month :( (except for the Ann Taylor coupon, I have to be honest). I want to give it one more shot, but I don't know.

    -Melissa

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    1. Oh no, that's so sad to hear :( Hopefully the next box will be better for you!!

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  5. I was really excited for my lipstick too! I got a lighter nude, and I'm loving it. I keep saying it smells like mango. Other than that your box totally kicked mine's butt! I got these weird towels to wipe off your feet with.

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    1. Ahhhhh I could see mango!! Glad to hear it's nice on the lips as well, I'm excited to try it out :) Haha I saw the feet towel things in the reveal video and was like "PLEASE DON'T SEND ME THOSE"... just such a weird thing; if my feet are dirty I'll just take a shower! Sorry you got them though, hopefully you can find at least a little joy in using them :/

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  6. I got almost the same box as you this month!only I got hair detangler instead of the lipstick,womp womp:(...Anyhoo,I tried the juice beauty moisturizer and it smells Ok, kind of acne mediciney ,but on ME the texture was realllllyyy sticky,it was such a strange feeling ,I guess it's my own body chemistry but if felt was like I covered my face in Elmers glue or something until it dried
    down ,weird!

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    1. Oh that sounds so weird o__O Definitely a little scared to try that out now but excited as well haha.

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  7. that eye palette is beautiful!

    http://lifeslikearoadwetravelon.blogspot.com/
    xx

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  8. Hi there! I realize this is an old post, but I just had to share this with you as I think it is downright hilarious. Apparently we are not only both beauty bloggers, but we share the same cat! LOL

    http://www.makeuptalk.com/t/139658/birchbox-january-2014-spoilers/900#post_2259713

    I suppose I should introduce myself, my apologize, I'm Cookie from The Charming Cheshire blog. :-) I'm a moderator on the website Makeuptalk.com and someone mentioned in a Birchbox thread that my photos came up when they did a Google search for Coastal Scents Revealed Birchbox. A few of your photos, including ones with your adorable cat, were in a screen shot they took and I actually thought it was MY cat for a second until I realized that the background wasn't my house! How funny! They could be TWINS I'm telling you, both ragdolls, same design and coloring, and lay exactly the same way. Long lost twins? Haha!

    Pleased to meet you! (and Galileo!)

    Cookie (and Artie, my ragdoll)

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    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh, that is so crazy!!! Artie and Galileo really do look alike :D They'd be long lost twins for sure if Galileo was a Ragdoll but he's actually a Siberian… so maybe long lost cousins many times removed haha? Either way they really do look alike and I could see that being a shock for you to see at first; even I was amazed! A lot of people say their cat looks like Galileo but yours is the first where my jaw actually dropped ;)

      Pleased to meet you and your adorable (if Galileo and I do say so ourselves) Artie <3

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    2. Oh wow, he's a Siberian! I had no idea they look so much like Ragdolls! ....well drat, now I want a Siberian LOL

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    3. I know, they really do look similar!! Little differences here and there (hence different breeds haha) but overall they tend to look like they could be kitty brethren :) Get yourself a Siberian! I'm sure Artie would love a friend… Siberians are such loving and loyal animals <3

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