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 September 2014 Glam Bag Unboxing

Ipsy bag - September 2014

At first glance, it seems like Ipsy was really trying to make up this month for their blunders of last month so we got a good selection of products in decent sizes.

Hikari Lipstick in Cabernet - Value: $13 (Full size)

I was excited to see a lipstick, not that I don't own a million already, but because this is a full-sized makeup item that I'm likely to use since the color is a nice deep muted red (at least compared to some of my other reds). It's very moisturizing and somewhat sheer so you can dab it on to your lips for just a "stained" effect if you're not a full blown red lipstick kind of gal. I've never heard of this brand, but hey, that's why I'm signed up to Ipsy so I can try out new makeup.

Pacifica Waterproof Eye Pencil (Fringe) - Value: $5.50 (Deluxe sample)

Let me preface this by saying that there is no makeup that I love more than eye makeup, so if you're going to send me multiple items in a bag with an "eye" theme, I'm the happiest girl. This waterproof eyeliner from Pacifica is a maroon-brown shade (Fringe) and I really have been enjoying using it on my waterline (the waterproof claims are true!)

Crown Brush Crease and Shadow Brush - Value: $6.99 (Full size)

This brush is impressive, the bristles are soft and remind me of my Real Techniques eyeshadow brushes. There is a big difference in quality with this compared to my ELF and Costal Scents brushes. I'm very thrilled to have received this full size item.

Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Deep Conditioning Mask - Value $5.00 (Deluxe sample)

I love receiving hair masks to try out, it's for dry and damaged hair (that's me!) and has no parabens or phthalate so I'm hoping it works!

LeeAnni  Eco 3-in-1 Revolution Light - Value $3.75 (sample)

This may be a deluxe sample but it's only 0.5oz so I'm going to call it just a regular sample. Supposedly this is a magical toner, serum and moisturizer in one. I can't make any assessment as to whether these claims are true or not since I have yet to use it but it does have a pleasant, fresh lemon verbena scent to it. This is probably the only sample I was pretty "meh" about this month.

This month's bag didn't smell like any weird chemicals, in fact it had no smell at all, and it had a cute faux leather feel and studs (yay!). I think this bag is much more fashion-forward than the 6 year old's pencil case we received last month, so that's a bonus!

Total Value of Ipsy for September 2014: $34.24

While this isn't the highest value I have received for my $10/month subscription, I do thoroughly enjoy 3 of the products in the bag so I consider it a great month.  I love trying out new hair masks and face potions as well so I'll give the other products a whirl during a pamper night in!

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Ipsy Glam Bag Unboxing - April 2014

Here's what I received in my April 2014 Ipsy Bag.

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil - Travel Size - Value $15
dr. brandt Microdermabrasion - Deluxe Sample Size - Value $9.75
Elizabeth Mott Pop! goes the shadow (Champagne) - Full Size - Value $12.99
Mary Kay At Play Jelly Lip Gloss (Teddy Bare) - Full Size - Value $10
Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse - Travel Size - Value $6

Total Value of this my Ipsy April 2014 bag - $53.74

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I definitely received my money's worth and then some, I just wasn't extremely thrilled about the products - it all seemed a little... basic for my taste. I like to experiment with makeup and I have so much that a neutral eyesahdow (although I love the quality, a nude lip gloss, an exfoliator, a black eye pencil and a hair mousse really isn't very thrilling. I can't say I loved the bag but I also didn't dislike it. I'm using it in my purse currently because it's the perfect size for me to store coupons.

I received this Teddy Bare shade of the Mary Kay at Play Jelly Lip Gloss. I am happy this is a full size product but extremely bummed that this nude is a color that completely washes me out. I also didn't like that this product stuck to any dry patches on my lips and really accentuated them, it was also very sticky and thick in consistency. I would not repurchase this lip gloss, especially at the high price of $10!

I was happy to receive an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil in their new Velvet line (color: Black Velvet).  This is a similar size to the travel pencils that they sometimes include in their Book of Shadows (various editions) and other palettes. I have quite a collection of these and was happy to see this one smudged well, clearly being intended for a smokey eye. It's more of a charcoal black rather than a pure dark black due to its intended use. The value of this product was $15.

This was my surprise favorite item in this bag. I have received a couple of other Elizabeth Mott products in the past and also enjoyed them thoroughly (through Ipsy, Glossybox and Birchbox). I'm a fan that I'm always receiving something different from this brand, rather than just the same product sent out in all my subscriptions! Also, this eyeshadow reminds me of Stila's Kitten (which is an amazing compliment). I absolutely love this shade, it's very universal and wearable, super glowy and extremely buttery. This product is worth the $12.99 price tag, I would purchase it and I'm glad that it came in my bag. 

The last 2 products are my absolute duds for this month. I have plenty of exfoliators and although I've heard great reviews of dr. Brandt's products, I just can't seem to get myself hyped about cleansers. It retails for a fortune so even this extremely small sample is valued at $9.75. I also received the BigSexyHair Root Pump Mousse (valued at $6) and this will be an okay product that I can put in my purse if it's very humid out and I really want to control my hair. These two products are the reason why I unsubscribed from Birchbox, I want a purely makeup subscription and not really cleansers and hair products. With that being said, Ipsy usually does the best job of the affordable makeup subscriptions of sending primarily makeup products.

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