Review: Mary Kay Influenster Vox Box goodies

I recently received this voxbox free from Influenster for me to review. This time the voxbox was full of Mary Kay products. Surprisingly, I had never used Mary Kay products up until I received this box. Although I received this box for free, the reviews are 100% honest and 100% my own. As a beauty blogger, I think it is critical that you are able to trust me on products to tell the truth. Anyway, let's jump into it!

The products came wrapped up in this little box that says, "hello gorgeous." Reading that made me feel really fancy. It's nice when companies take the time to create adorable boxes. It makes unwrapping the boxes all the more fun.

The box came with four products and a brush. A lengthening mascara, lash primer, cream shadow, lipstick, and brush to apply the cream shadow were included. As a makeup addict, I was completely excited to see so many products! I really do love trying out new products.

The Mary Kay voxbox included a lipstick called Rose Cherie. The packaging is silver and is pretty sleek. The lipstick pops out of the tube to reveal the color. I like the packaging as it protects the lipstick and will not have the lipstick pop out on accident. It would be a good lipstick to take traveling for this reason. 

The lipstick is a more sheer coverage, similar to a Revlon Lip butter. I found that as a result, the lip color did NOT last very long at all. It was fairly hydrating, but the staying power just wasn't there. I found myself reapplying the lip color often to keep it showing up. 

The actual color was a very soft pink. The color was great for a natural look. I don't find the color to be very special though. I feel like a lot of brands have a similar color to this. Given the fact that you have to have a salesperson to get Mary Kay, it may be easier to just hit up the drugstore and get Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake. I find the colors to be pretty similar. 

It is also important to note that this lipcolor has a HEAVY perfumey scent. I found that I could still smell the lipstick even after it was on my face. If smells bother you, I'd stray from this lipstick.

The next product that I received was a cream eyeshadow in the color violet storm. I really enjoy using cream shadows as bases, so I was pretty excited for this one. 

The packaging is pretty similar to most cream shadows. It comes in a little jar with a screw on lid. The packaging faintly reminds me of Maybelline Color Tattoos. 

The color is a light purple, close to a lilac or lavender shade. The product has a bit of a shine to it too. 

 The swatch looks pretty accurate to what I see in the jar. The pigmentation was pretty similar to other cream shadows that I have used. I wore this cream shadow as a base for a purple shadow that I have. I used the included brush from Mary Kay to apply it. The brush applied the cream shadow pretty well, but I still blended it with my finger. I find that using my fingers to blend cream shadows is the best way to go about it. The cream shadow held up all day and did not crease.

The Voxbox also included Mary Kay's lash primer. I've never used a lash primer before, so it is a little harder for me to review this item since I don't have anything to compare it to. I'll try my best.

Here's what the wand looks like. When I combed it through my lashes, they seemed a little longer and more separated. I also found that mascara went on smoother and was less likely to clump if I used the lash primer. It seems like a good product to me.

The final item in the kit was Mary Kay's Lash Love Lengthening Mascara in black. I've tried a lot of mascaras, so I was curious what this mascara might offer me.

The wand is very similar to the curved wand in Covergirl's Clump Crusher mascara. This Mary Kay Lash Love mascara claims to be a lengthening mascara and I would completely agree with this claim. In fact, I've never used a mascara that made my lashes so long. Due to my hooded eyes, my lashes were actually touching the hood after using this mascara. This mascara did not clump on me and seemed to hold up all day. 

I enjoyed trying out these products for sure. I think the lash primer and the cream shadow were the real gems here. 

Influenster's College Voxbox 2012

I received my College Voxbox from 2012 from Influenster, which is a website where you can read/write reviews on products (beauty products!) and submit reviews of products that they will send you. I was soooo thrilled to receive this Voxbox and wanted to test out the products for review.

The picture on the left shows what the voxbox looks like when it is sent. Let's get into a review of the products!


 ImPress Press-On Manicure - Rating 7/10: I want to start off by saying that I was super excited to try these. The pattern was absolutely awesome and the kit actually had sizes that fit my man-like large fingernails (particularly my thumb nails). The application was very easy. You simply wipe off your nails with the alcohol pad and then peel off the plastic on the back of the nail and then press on. Super easy! Perhaps the reason for such a low rating from me is that the nails simply did NOT stay on for me. Part of this may have something to do with the fact that I was sick and running a fever, which left my hands very wet. They looked nice, but I wish the hold was better.

Pentel EnerGel-X Campaign - Rating 9/10: I absolutely love this pen. Being a graduate student, I write a lot. It's nice to have pens that write smoothly and easily. This pen has very easily become my favorite and I have been using it constantly since I got it. I would definitely repurchase this pen in the black color as well.

Necco Tropical Wafers - Rating 6/10: These wafer candies were sort of like a hit or a miss for me. The green one tasted incredibly delicious, but some of the other flavors were way too tropical-y for me. The texture was very dry and chalky. I probably would not buy them on my own, but I ate the whole pack that was sent to me.

NYC Show Time Glitter Eye-liner Pencil - 10/10: I was completely blown away by the quality of this eyeliner pencil. The color is very pretty and has just the right amount of glitter. I used this eyeliner on my top lashes and it smudged out really well. It also stays on my water line pretty well.

Energy Sheets - 3/10 : I actually misplaced these, so I do not have a photo. They are energy sheets that are meant to give you a burst of caffeine to get through the school day. I found that these had a pretty terrible taste. They kind of taste like really bad mint. You put the little sheet in your mouth and it melts away. I also did not find that these gave me any extra energy. 

Relaunched Influenster!

Hi everyone! If you remember a few months back I did a review on the Love Voxbox for Valentine's day from Influenster.com. The voxbox was really awesome and for free I was able to receive samples of products to review for all of you. Influenster has gone through a makeover that shows your rating compared to other influensters. It is a really neat way to see how you rank and to help you qualify for even more Voxboxes or different Influenster programs. Go to Influenster's website to sign up and start working towards badges!

Review: Venus & Olay Razor

Hi lovelies! I have yet another review from my Influenster Free Voxbox Review Program. I received this Venus & Olay Razor from Gilette to review for you all. I want you to know that the following post is 100% my opinion. I will always be completely honest with my readers about products that I am reviewing. With that in mind, let's get started!

Overall: 9/10

Pros: Smells nice, is easy to use, is moisturizing

Cons: Not as close of a shave as my other Venus

 This razor has 5 blades, which is super nice! This razor also features Olay Moisture Bars. The bars contain Petrolatum to lock in moisture in the skin and Glycerin to get that glow that all of us are after! This razor also still has the pivoting head to get harder to reach spots. 

First Impressions: 

I was very excited to try out this razor. I have loved all of the Venus razors that I have tried. I thought it was very interesting that this razor has the Olay strips. Olay products always make my skin feel fantastic, so I was hoping that this razor would be the same. The sample contained one cartridge to try out. I also really liked the wall hanger for this razor. It was not bulky and stuck very well to the wall. I was eager to try out this razor.

First shave:
I was blown away by how easy it was to shave with this razor. I normally shave with conditioner to make my legs soft. This razor really cut that whole step out for me. I simply wet the razor and shaved on. The Olay bars lathered up really well. They made the razor glide easily across my legs to make them soft and smooth. Despite this, I felt like it didn't get as close as a shave as the earlier Venus razor (which also has five blades). It felt like the Olay strips kept the razor from making direct contact with my legs. I do not think this was enough of a problem to keep me from loving this product. I definitely still rate this product a 9/10 and would definitely purchase it again.

I was able to shave the next day again without getting any razor burn, thanks to the Olay strips. This razor was just so fantastic. It really made shaving easier and less messy, since I didn't have to use conditioner. A refillable Venus & Olay with one replacement cartridge sells for approximately $8.99-$10.99 at places like Walmart. I will definitely be looking to buy a replacement for this razor now that I have used it a few times.
I would definitely recommend buying this!

If you have used this razor, let me know what you think down below!

Review: Truvía® natural sweetener Product Review

Here's another free item that I received courtesy of Influenster's Free Voxbox Review Program. My opinions are 100% mine. I will always be completely honest with my readers. With that in mind, on to the review.

Overall: 10/10

Pros: Easy to use, tastes good, no weird aftertaste, kosher

Cons: None

I want to start out by saying that I never use sweeteners. I am a sugar kind of person. This made me feel a little uneasy to receive this Truvía® natural sweetener in my Love Voxbox. I was a little hesitant to if I would like it or not.

I was pleasantly surprised. This sweetener does not have that normal aftertaste that I notice from other sweeteners. It really tasted like eating regular sugar. This was quite surprising to me. I used 1 packet per cup of a tea (See my review on the Stash tea to see what tasty tea I was talking about!). I really enjoyed how easy it was to use this sweetener. Normally I have to deal with getting the right amount of sugar for my tea. That is just normally so tedious. As a graduate student, it is important to me that I can have easy non-time consuming things in my life. This Truvía® natural sweetener made it a lot easier to drink tea. I noticed that I was way more willing to have tea in the mornings as a result of how easy it was. 

I would definitely buy these. The sweetener tastes great, is easy to use, and doesn't have any strange aftertastes. It is also kosher, which is important to me because my husband's whole family is Jewish. That means that I could recommend this product to them, which is wonderful! Definitely recommend picking this up at the grocery store!

10/10

Review: Stash Herbal Tea Sampler

I want to begin this review by saying that I received this Stash Herbal Tea Sampler from the Influenster Free voxbox Review Program. Despite this, my review is 100% my opinion, so you can trust that I will always give you my honest opinion. With that in mind, let's get to the review!


Overall: 10/10
Pros: Easy to brew, tastes wonderful, smells wonderful
Cons: None - wish it wasn't caffeine free

This Stash Tea Sampler included 2 of each of the 9 flavors of Caffeine free tea. The flavors were: acai berry, blueberry superfruit, chamomile, cinnamon apple chamomile, lemon ginger, licorice spice, mango passionfruit, peppermint, and wild raspberry hibiscus.

I was incredibly excited to receive this in my Love Voxbox because I really do love tea! I started drinking tea in the last 8-9 months after visiting my mother in law in Connecticut. My mother in law drinks a lot of hot tea and after drinking it myself, I became hooked. I have only really had hot black tea and regular iced tea before, so this was truly a new experience for me. I was worried that the herbal tea might taste too herbally for me (if that makes any sense at all!). 

Overall Thoughts: 

This tea was so delicious. The flavors were strong enough to be able to tell what they were supposed to be, without being too overwhelming. Each flavor was unique and just as good as the previous flavors I had tried. All of the tea bags also smelled wonderful. They weren't too herbally at all! I would definitely purchase these from the grocery store. (You can also buy them at tea and coffee shops!).

Preparation:

Preparing these tea bags was quite easy. I simply boiled water for a few minutes and then poured the boiling water over the tea bag inside of my coffee cup. 

Favorite Flavors:

I really loved the Mango Passion Fruit and the Acai Berry. The mango passionfruit turned my tea a sort of yellow orange color, which was fun and colorful! I love adding color to my day. 

I would definitely buy these on my own! 10/10 for sure! Be sure to check out Stash's Website and Influenster. Sign up for the Voxbox Review program to receive products for free to review on your blog or through youtube!

Review: Kiss Nail Dress

Hi lovelies. It is finally time for me to start reviewing products from the free Love Voxbox that I received from Influenster. Influenster is a website where you can sign up to receive free boxes that contain different products. You qualify for these products by unlocking badges. I unlocked the right badges to qualify for this month's Voxbox, which was called the Love Voxbox. So, once you receive these products and test them out, you review them for the website. I want to start out by reviewing the Kiss Nail Dress that came in the box.

Overall rating: 9/10 - I absolutely love these and would definitely buy them!

Pros: Easy to apply, so adorable, several different sizes to choose from
Cons: Didn't last the full 10 days as it says on the packaging

I am going to break my review down to talk about it in more depth.


First Impressions:
When I first saw these in the Love Voxbox, I was so excited to try them out! I have very large nails for a woman (you'll see in the photo down below), so finding nail strips that actually fit my wide nails is super difficult. I was pretty excited to see these, but also a little worried that they would not fit my fingernails correctly. I opened up the box and realized that there were many different sizes for finger nails, as well as some for your toes. Embarrassingly, I had to use the strips that are supposed to be for your toes to fit my thumb nails. I thought it was a little silly, but it fit and worked out just fine! There were also several "pages" (28 Strips in each package!) of the nail dress to use, making it so you could do at least one hand again. There was also a little filing board to file down your nails.

Application:
I found the best way to apply these was to lay my hand flat on the table (after I selected the right size for my fingernail) and to put it round side down just above where my cuticle starts. After that, I smoothed the nail dress from top to bottom and cut off any access. I then folded down whatever was left and filed it until it looked just how I wanted. The nail dress was extremely sticky, so it made getting it where you wanted so much easier. I was so happy to see the filing board inside of the package because I actually do not have one. I rate application a 10/10!


Wear:I was able to have these on my nails for several days. I had them on for 8 days before they really started to look bad to where I had to take them off. The packaging says that you can have them on for up to 10 days. That was not too far off, but they could not have lasted 10 days on me. I also am sort of rough with my hands and always seem to mess my nails off, so this might just be error on my part. Rating: 9/10

Removal:
These were so easy to remove. All I had to do was peel back the nail dress. They were still incredibly sticky when I took them off. Well done to Kiss Nails!

I really enjoyed receiving these and would definitely purchase them on my own. They can be bought at pretty much any drugstore. I know that they are at Target for about $6.99.

Be sure to check out Kiss Nails and Influenster to purchase the nail dress and get involved in the Free Voxbox Review Program!

Influenster My Love VoxBox Finally Here!

I am ridiculously excited to show you a sneak preview at My Love Voxbox from Influenster! I have been waiting for the last week to receive this. I will be posting a full review very soon once I have had a chance to try out all of the products.Note: I received this products for Free from Influenster's Voxbox program.

What the box contains:

• A Venus and Olay Razor From Gilette: I am stoked to try this out! I really love Venus razors! It looks like it is going to make my skin feel so soft after the shave. I normally shave with conditioner to get this effect, but it looks like this razor may save me some trouble. I can't wait to try it out!! :)
  
• A Gourmet Milk Chocolate Creamy Devotion Bar from Ghirardelli:  This chocolate bar looks so creamy and silky. Anything by Ghirardelli is wonderful, so this should be just as fantastic, and even maybe more fantastic!
  
• Kiss Nail Dress: I am particularly excited for this. I have a hard time finding nail things that will fit my very wide nails. There are some in here that look like they may be large enough to fit my fat nails! :)
  
• An Herbal Tea Sampler from Stash: Since I am a graduate student, I am always drinking tea or coffee. I opened this tea to take a look at it, and I have to say that it smells so delicious and fresh. There are a variety of flavors that I am excited to taste.
  
• Truvia: As someone who drinks tea a lot, it is important to me to have some sugar or sweetener to put into it. I think this will go so wonderfully with the tea in this Voxbox.

Thank you Influenster! Be sure to go to www.influenster.com to check out their website and become a member to receive a future voxbox! I will be posting a review very soon, so hang in there! :)