Walmart Beauty Box - Fall 2014 Unboxing & Review

Today was a good day, my Walmart beauty box arrived in the mail!! This box is FREE but costs $5 shipping per quarter (that means you get 4 boxes a year, one per season). As far as I could tell there were two variations of this box, you can check them out out at NouveauCheap. I read from multiple sources that which box was received would depend on the age of the subscribers - I received the < 35 years old box, if this is true.

Contents of Walmart Beauty Box for Fall 2014

I received quite a slew of products, varying from small foil packets (yuck) to deluxe sized samples and even 3 full sized items! So far it's looking like a pretty good deal for just $5.

Contents of Walmart Beauty Box for Fall 2014

You can see I received the following products:

1. L'Oreal - Glossy Balm in Lovely Mocha (Full size)
2. CoverGirl - Glosstini Glowing Nights Nail Polish in #AfterDark (Full size)
3. Secret - Clinical Strength Invisible Solid Deodorant in Completely Clean (Full size)
4. Dove - Pure Care Dry Oil (Deluxe sample)
5. Dove - Advanced Hair Series - Shampoo (Deluxe sample)
6. Dove - Advanced Hair Series - Conditioner (Deluxe sample)
7. Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday Perfume (Sample)
8. L'Oreal - Youth Code Pore Vanisher (Sample)
9. Neutrogena - Nourishing Long Wear Makeup (Sample card & $2 off Coupon)

L'Oreal Glossy Balm in Lovely Mocha

Before and After L'Oreal Glossy Balm in Lovely Mocha

I'm so happy I received this item, it retails for $6.97 at Wal-Mart and I didn't want to shell out the almost-$10 it retails at my local drugstores. This chubby stick L'Oreal Glossy Balm in Lovely Mocha turns out to be a "my lips but better" shade for me. It evens out the color of my lips and adds a nice shine to them, it's very comfortable to wear and you don't need a mirror to apply. This is going into my purse immediately. This product already paid for the shipping of the box in my case.

CoverGirl Glowing Nights in #AfterDark, Swatches from The Polished Spoon

The next most interesting product in the box is the CoverGirl Glowing Nights nail polish in #AfterDark (retails for $2.97 at Wal-Mart). This is a really beautiful turquoise color that is probably most suitable for spring/summer for me.

Secret Clinical Strength Invisble Solid Deodorant

The Secret Clinical Strength Invisible Solid Deodorant in Completely Clean is a full sized item which retails for a whopping $11.97 at Wal-Mart (I guess Clinical Strength means it's more expensive?). I don't use these types of deodorants so I will probably pass this on, I prefer to use natural deodorants without Aluminum, parabens, and as few hormone-disrupting ingredients as possible. 

Dove Deluxe Sample Products

The Dove Advanced Hair Series Shampoo and Conditioner (Value: $0.42) and Pure Care Dry Oil (Value: $1.42) were nice additions to the box, I like receiving travel-sized minis of hair-care products because it's just enough for a few uses and gives me a good idea of whether or not I would re-purchase them.

Foil Packets and Small Sample Products

I'm not even going to bother trying to calculate a value for these small samples because I'm sure you can get them for free in magazines or any store. I do like that Neutrogena included a $2 Off Manufacturer's Coupon with their sample card for the Nourishing Long Wear Makeup, so you can use this to stack with your store-rewards and sales. The perfume vial is a standard size of the Nicki Minaj Pink Friday, the smell is of some fruity candy so probably best suited for a younger person (or someone who likes cloyingly sweet scents). 

The L'Oreal YouthCode Pore Vanisher is basically a copy of any other Dimethicone-based primer, so you can expect that same slick feeling on your face when using it - these products always work well to "fill up" any large pores you may have (the cheapest alternative is always to use Anti-Chafing Gel as your primer, it's made up of the same ingredients and sells for a much lower price than cosmetically-branded primers).

Was this box worth it? Heck yes! For $5, I received stuff I'll use, stuff I'll give away, and a bunch of new things to try! The total value of my box was $24.17 (not including the 3 smaller samples) in Wal-Mart prices - this means that at my local drugstore, the price would probably have been closer to $35. The Wal-Mart Beauty Box is a wonderful program and I hope that it continues to have success so they keep it around in the future and more brands want to participate for the great exposure. 

Ipsy August 2014 Glam Bag Unboxing

This is the August Ipsy Glambag I received - I wasn't particularly impressed with anything but all of the items were definitely usable. I received a Urban Decay Perversion Mascara, Klorane Dry Shampoo, Lord & Berry Eye Pencil, Jersey Shore Mongongo Lip Conditioner, and Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo. 

I like that this month they switched up the shape of the bag, as this one is definitely more spacious and great as a pencil case compared to the usual flat rectangular bags. It's constructed of a fairly stiff plastic material, however, so I could see this breaking after some extended usage.

The Coastal Scents Forever Blush Samples are extremely small but the pigmentation really packs a huge punch. A little of this blush probably goes a very long way and it seems like a worthwhile purchase from Coastal Scents.Value: $1.99

I am a huge fan of Dry Shampoo so this one from Klorane really hits the spot with me since I often cannot carry my full-sized ones in a travel bag (since they are too big for the TSA). This one is the perfect size for traveling.Value: $6.49

I was a little bummed I didn't receive the purple eyeliner from Urban Decay but this new Perversion  Mascara is worth a try. I like the natural brush fibers and the sleek packaging.Value: $5.50

This is a very tiny Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil in Black - This is great for throwing into a small purse when you're on the go and you may need to touch up your waterline. However, I've tried it out and the lasting power isn't great, it's fairly easy to smudge out and rub off.Value: $7.83

I love this Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo Anti-aging Lip Conditioner. I can never get enough lip balm and this is the only full sized item in my bag this month. Value: $5.50

Total Value of Ipsy Bag: $27.31 - this is actually on the lower end of the value of bags I have ever received from Ipsy in the past year and a half.

Glossybox March 2014 Unboxing

This month's Glossybox had 7 items for me and arrived very late (today, March 28th) which is not unusual for this subscription service. This subscription service costs $21/month (sometimes you can get various deals on it, however) and I used the promo code GBFRESH to get a bonus fresh Lotus Youth Preserve face cream (full size!).

My box contained the following 7 items:

Alterna Haircare Bamboo Luminous Shine Mist - value $5

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush - value $18 (Full size!)

Alex and Ani Scent 7 Soap Bar - value $14 (Full size!)

Nails Inc. Polish (color Baker Street) - value $4 

Sisley Paris Black Rose Cream Mask  - value $28 for deluxe sample

Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream (new subscription code for March) - value $14.82

Alex and Ani Swan Charm Bangle (bonus item) - value $28 (Full size!)

TOTAL VALUE: $111.82

The Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream was a bonus item I received with the code GBFRESH. I've received this in a box before and I really loved the way it made my skin feel as well as the scent so I was excited to get another one. The value of this is $14.82 but it really does feel more luxurious than that!

Alex and Ani was a featured brand this month for Glossybox. The brand was nice enough to include a Swan bangle (you could have received either gold or silver, mine was silver - $28 value) as a bonus item for all subscribers. We also received either a hand lotion, body mist or bar soap from them. I received the soap bar ($14 value) which I'm okay with but I would have preferred the body mist! I love the scent, it's sort of woodsy and spicy and manly (that's great considering my husband will probably use it all). 

Here's a picture of what the bangle looks like on:

The most disappointing part of this box for me was the Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush (value $18) and the Nails Inc. nail polish in Baker Street (value $4) - now while these products are fine products, I have received them before in August and July of 2013 from Glossybox and I'm not loving the repeats :(. I have emailed their customer service to see if they could send replacements for these items. I took a photo of what the lip blush looks like on.

Another issue with my box was that the Alterna Haircare Bamboo Luminous Hair mist (value $5) leaked all over the box since the top pump was loose... this has happened to me quite a few times over the past 6 months so I think I'm just having bad luck with my subscriptions lately! The last item is the Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask which I'm excited to try, I'm loving the rose scent, though! This is a very luxurious and expensive product, with the full size retailing for a whopping $158/2.1oz (the sample is valued at $28)!!!

Ipsy Glam Bag Unboxing Video - December 2013

Hi all,

I was on vacation until this week so I wasn't home to get my subscription services... so now I'll be bombarding you with what I've received! Hope you enjoy the video! If you want to sign up to IPSY, click here: http://www.ipsy.com/r/1lfc

Here's a quick snapshot of my Glam Room so you can see the products I received this month:

For similar products that you can easily order (or my personal favorite dupes), click on the links below:

Birchbox December 2013 Unboxing

Click below to watch the video of my December 2013 Birchbox unboxing!

Thanks for watching this video! These opinions are solely my own, I'm not sponsored by any companies and I'm just giving you my honest opinion as a consumer about this product.

Birchbox: http://birch.ly/1kBMFFs

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Sorry if I seem especially harsh but this box was such an unpleasant surprise that even my husband said "that doesn't look like it's worth $10" about the things in my box... and he's right, I wouldn't pay half of that for this box. Who needs 1 random hair band? Who needs another really small sample fragrance? A phone wipey?? 1 use of a moisturizer?

I think there are 2 very important components to a perfect subscription service:

1) the items should be curated for everyone based on their likes and dislikes and 2) the subscriber should always feel as though they're getting more than they paid for.

It seems that Birchbox has just gotten too big for its britches, they don't invest the proper time to get to know their subscribers, what's on trend, and which companies we're really interested in trying out. I feel that the quality of their products has become mediocre, the variety is uninteresting and I would rather spend my $10 monthly on new drugstore makeup (since drugstore brands have been stepping up their game significantly). If you consider that for that price, I could get 3+ Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trios (that's 9 full eyeshadows!!) what am I wasting my money on this box of things I'll probably never use for? At least give me some products I'm halfway excited about. Ipsy and Glossybox get it right every month somehow and their customer service is exceptional especially when responding to complaints or re-sending damaged items. So I'll be saving this $10 from now on.

Let me know what your experiences are, I know everyone receives different products in their boxes. I'm curious to find out if anyone else has had any similar or even differing experiences.

October IPSY Glam Bag Unboxing

Ipsy is a consistently amazing beauty subscription service, sending out 5 deluxe sized or full sized samples each month in a zip-up makeup bag (this doesn't count as one of your items but is an extra bonus each and every month). So far out of the ones I've been getting (Glossybox USA, Birchbox and Ipsy) this one is the best value. For only $10/month you will consistently get a box that is valued much higher. It is in direct competition with the Birchbox but it sends out far less foil packets which is great (I don't think I've ever received one even though I've been subscribed since March)!

The subscription: Ipsy

The cost: $10 US/month

Total product value: $28.79+ free bag

Why is it unique? You get beauty products curated by Michelle Phan, made famous as being the most popular YouTube beauty vlogger/guru. Every month you get a free makeup bag. You have a customizable profile which lets you choose the type of products you want to receive.
Where can I subscribe? Click here





For October, the products were housed in this adorable (yet not autumnal themed) makeup bag, constructed very well and which will last you a long time (this is customary for their quality). My only criticism is that this bag looks like it belongs in February for Valentine's Day, but I will use it just as I use the ones from their previous months (to house my beauty blender sponges, lip liners, or facial masks)

First and foremost, my favorite cleansing product of all was sent - makeup remover wipes! I received a La Fresh Oil-Free Face Cleanser sample, 30 wipes retail for $9.99 but we received 10, so this is a $3.33 value. While this isn't a full sized product, I am happy that I received 10 wipes rather than a few.

I also received a very useful tool that is quite universal and I don't think anybody would be upset to receive. You can never have enough eyeshadow brushes, so thanks for the Coastal Scents Medium Shadow Brush. I am happy to report that this is a nice and dense brush at the affordable price of $2.49 and I received the full sized product.

My absolute favorite product in this month's bag was the Zoya nail polish (color "Neve") which is a shimmery navy blue (or sapphire blue metallic), perfect for fall. This nail polish is also free of formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate and camphor. This sample was full sized and retails for $8.

The next product which I was very excited about was the Wet n Wild Fergie 5-Color Eyeshadow which is full sized and retails for $4.99 at Walgreens in the color "Desert Festival". See swatches of the colors on the right. The colors were of a nice consistency, as I have come to expect from Wet n Wild eyeshadows (the best eyeshadows you can purchase in the drugstore) they are creamy, blendable and easy to work with. All of the colors are flattering and would work well on any skin tone and the compact is so large you get a ton of product.

Sexy Hair Big Sexy Blow Dry Volume Gel was also in this month's bag, and we received a 1.7 fl oz. sample (since the full size is 8.5 fl oz and retails for $14.96 regularly) the value of this deluxe sample is $3.00. I'm excited to try this and I have heard many great things about this brand!





My bag had a total value of $28.79
I'd love to hear about what others got in their Ipsy Glam Bag this month, I saw there were many other possibilities for products!!