Giveaway: Just because I'm cool

Holaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! It's meeeeee!!! I'm back with a fun Giveaway! I will be adding prizes (I ordered some stuff online and it's on its way) and might add an extra winner depending on the number of entries!

Why am I doing a Giveaway? Because I'm cool like that! hahaha and also because I have been buying way too much stuff and I wanna share! All of the prizes will be beauty related products, makeup, nail polish, hair, skin, etc. The prizes will be mixed, drugstore and high end (because you can find great products in both categories, and if you are a snob I don't wanna play with you!). 

All the products are brand new, either dupes of stuff I already have or purchased specifically for this Giveaway! I will have at least 3 winners, due to mailing restrictions this one will be open to US and Canada only (if you are in another country you can still enter, as long as you have a friend in the US or Canada who can receive the prize for you!)

Take a look at some of the prizes! I tried to gather a good mix of products for you! Once the Giveaway is closed I will basically put together "surprise beauty bags" for the winners and send them out! 

Update *** 03/04/2013 *** I have added some prizes and decided I want to have 5 winners instead of 3! Do I spot the Sinful Colors Sugar Rush collection and the Almost Famous collection???? Ohhhhh!!!!!

What are you waiting for? Enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for stopping by!

Fiorella :)

Starbox...a very short affair!

Back in November I got suckered into yet another beauty sampling subscription, this one is called Starbox, and it is fulfilled by a cosmetics company called Starlooks. I had never heard about this company before but the reviews that were out there were tempting so I gave in, plus there were hints of December's box being awesome... The price tag on this one is $15 a month + $1.98 (tax or something) so we will call it $17 a month. 

Here is what my November Starbox looked like:

I got a referral code so I got an extra brush with that box. There were LOTS of complain on their Facebook page and several of the groups I belong to, because packing was an issue. I was lucky and my products were intact, but some girls received broken/shattered eyeshadows :( I would have been extremely sad! Here are the contents of the box:

 Close up:

 The lipstick I got is called "Cream Caramel": 

 Here is the eyeshadow quad: 

This month was supposed to be all about the basic makeup look, the colors of the shadows are actually nice, I've used them once or twice and the quality is ok in my opinion, but the packaging is what I didn't like. 

This is another reason why so many people got shattered shadows! (The first reason is that while they shipped in a bubble mailer, the contents in the box were not secured or wrapped individually). The palette is not magnetic, the pans were just sitting on the palette on their little spots. I can only use this at home, I would not dare putting it in my makeup bag and in my purse (unless of course I go through the trouble of adding glue to these pans?

See how much room there is? they can definitely fall out of the palette if you are not careful!

The other item was this crazy looking tool that serves to prevent from getting mascara all over your face hahaha, it actually works, I've used it a couple times. 

 The extra item, small angled brush:

Overall I though November was ok but I wasn't thrilled about receiving products from just one brand to be honest. I guess while I understood the concept of the box when I signed up, I was hoping to be more excited when I received it, and I wasn't... and this is why I didn't blog about it any sooner than almost the end of the year!

December was the main reason I signed up, they were sending a palette with 15 shadows, which they retail for $99 so it was "a great value". Here is the box, very festive:

Inside, a cute little card and glitter confetti??? cute but my carpet did not like it... this thing made me vacuum, and if you know me, you know how much I loooove to vacuum... not!

 The palette:

 Close up:

The size of the shadows is pretty good, I have seen some swatches online but I haven't swatched mine because I'm not sure I'm keeping it I guess, might sell it or give it away at some point. From other reviews, I believe the pigmentation is pretty good on these and I love bright colors... so I guess I will keep it and use it soon. 

Overall, if you like the brand, the monthly box is a good deal, because their retail prices are quite expensive (in my opinion); if you like trying different products from different brands... then you might be better off with ipsy (which is $10 a month)

What do you think? Have you tried Starlooks products? Do you subscribe to Starbox? Love it? Hate it?

Thank you for stopping by,
Fiorella :)

ipsy December 2012 Review! Loooove!!!!!

ipsyyyyyyyyyyyyyy tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimeeeeee!!!!!!!! Hi! I actually got this bag a couple of weeks ago but was soooo busy I couldn't post until now! December was another great month for ipsy :) still the best $10 spent every month! 

Party time!

 Close up:

 Loooove the actual bag!

It's pink inside!!!! It has a flat base which actually makes it super roomy, I have been using this bag for my makeup essentials and it is now living in my purse :)

This is Mai Couture Highlighter Papier, no real clue as to how to use it, and haven't taken the time to explore it, but it looks interesting enough!

be a bombshell "hot mess" lip gloss! RED! woah! I have a fair amount of lip glosses but this is my first red one :) excited to see if I can pull this off!

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania, looks like they sent out different colors, mine is LP06 Black Pearl. I've always loved cosmetics and especially eyeshadows! and lately I've been wanting to experiment more and more; that being said this is black and it's powder so I am a bit scared, I can see black powder all over my face the first time I use it hahaha but I will definitely try it out :)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On pencil in Zero (black) looooove!!!! I probably have 254521215787 black eyeliner pencils but I did not have any UD pencils or any UD products up until just a few days ago, so I was glad to get a brand like this one in my bag this month. I tested the pencil on my hand and it sure glides on!!!

Last but not least, Mirabella Prime (for face and eyes). I got a single eyeshadow from this brand a few months ago and it was nice, they sell the entire line at a beauty supply place I go to but it is quite pricey so I have never bought any there. The size of this sample is pretty generous for a primer and the fact that it is meant to be used for face and eyes, makes it very interesting! One less thing to pack if you are traveling!!! Woo hoo!!!

Overall, I feel I got way more than my $10 worth of products this month, I keep loving ipsy! :)

Thank you for stopping by,
Fiorella :)

December 2012 My Last Birchbox and what I got with my points

Well hello! Let me start by apologizing for being so absent lately! Work and school have been consuming my life! But here I am! I started my Birchbox subscription with the May 2012 box, and the December 2012 box was my last one. Looking back, I think I kept the subscription as long as I did, mainly because of the "points" system, basically you get about $5 back in points every month just for reviewing the products you get in your box. The box costs $10 a month so if you do your reviews you can call it $5 in your head.

My issue with Birchbox and the reason I cancelled is not the $5 or $10 price tag, it may have just been my luck, but I just don't feel like I've fallen in love with more than 2 or 3 products that came in my boxes since May. Since this is a beauty sampling service, if I am not liking what I am sampling, then I have to conclude is not the right service for me.

Here is what I got this month:

The card, blah, blah, blah!

The contents:

Juice Beauty CC Cream sample, I might try it or I might not, just kinda blah!

Kerastase Resistance Cement Thermique - Protect (2 foil packets)

Perfume sample - Nicole. Unlike many, I don't mind these samples, and I do use them (unless they are horrible and they stink haha) Bonus view of my awesome nail polish (GOSH in Silver and Sation Beauty Band)

theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer, this month, this is the only thing I was excited to get! I do not own any highlighters (that I am aware of), nor do I know how to even use one! hahaha but it's something I've been wanting to try!

 Oh yeah, fortune cookie!

 Chocolate covered fortune cookie! I ate it!

 While my "fortune" is true, I have no more patience left for Birchbox.

I had 500 points or $50, I decided to use them before I cancelled and was able to get the following:

theBalm NUDE'tude $36

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner $15

Benefit thePOREfessional deluxe sample (free with a coupon code)

They also had free shipping (I think they always do above $50) so my out of pocket total was $1 after using all my points. I got the palette because apparently I'm on this nude eyeshadows kick and wanted to try a good palette! This one had great reviews! 

The eyeliner is amazing and while it was sent by Birchbox a few times this year, I never got it in my box, I got one in a swap with one of my internet polish/makeup nerds buddies :P so I got a backup! :) I got a sample of the poreFESSIONAL last year at Sephora and I like it as well, but I use it sparingly and would probably never spend around $30 for the full sized tube.

At the end of my Birchbox journey, I am glad I tried it and I believe their rewards/points program is great, but I am done with it. I am extremely happy I was able to save my points to get some nice products. What do you think about Birchbox? Do you have it? Do you love it? Did you leave it?

Thank you for stopping by,
Fiorella :)

The Giving Girl Hair Ties! Review and Giveaway!

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great and relaxing weekend! A few months ago I purchased some elastic hair ties and headbands from The Giving Girl via Copious, since I started using them, I have not looked back! I don't use any other kind of hair ties anymore! 

The owner sent me some super cute hair ties this time, the colors are perfect for fall and winter. I love them and I hope you will too, the owner is super sweet and sent me two sets of each, some to keep and some for this Giveaway!!! All you need to do is enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post! (This Giveaway is valid within the US only).

If you like Twistband, you will love The Giving Girl, they are way more affordable, tons of variety and the quality is great!

They are soft and cute, yet they hold all kinds of hair, mine is thick, curly and abundant and these babies stay in place all day! I wear them on my wrist sometimes and like to mix them up when I do a side ponytail, sometimes I wear more than one in different colors just to give my hair a little touch of fun :) 

I haven't had a chance to wear the new colors yet but wanted to show you some pictures I have wearing the ones I purchased a few months ago.

Both the headband and the hair tie are from The Giving Girl

 Red headband for 4th of July! and do you see the hair tie on my wrist?

Wearing 2 hair ties on my side ponytail, on some random day :)

Check out The Giving Girl on Etsy and Facebook (I hear they are having a sale!) and enter below to win some fabulous hair ties (8 ties total)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for stopping by,

Fiorella :)

Note: While I have purchased from this vendor previously, these specific products were sent to me free of charge for the Giveaway!

ipsy/MyGlam November 2012 bag!

Good evening and thank you for stopping by. This post will be kinda short as tonight is laundry night! haha! Well I got my ipsy/MyGlam bag for November! Overall I am pretty happy with this month's goodies, I am definitely keeping this subscription as it does not disappoint!

Here is what I got:

Pretty huh? Keep reading for the breakdown :)

This month, the bag was a dark brown color, I have found myself using most of the MyGlam bags so this will be a great addition. I usually carry big purses and I found that using these little bags helps keeping my "stuff" in order! I will put my makeup in one, medicine/pills in another, etc, etc :)

Oh yes! Nail polish! This is the first time I hear about this brand, you can check out their website here. The polish I got is called Millionaire, they describe it as "teal & gold tinsels awash in rose-gold microglitter" and it retails for $13! Score! Did I mention this bag is $10 a month including shipping? so yes! definitely getting my $$$ worth once again!

Now, as soon as I saw the polish it reminded me of tokidoki SANDy, which I picked up at Sephora a couple months ago. The tokidoki polish is now discontinued. What do you think? Dupes?

The one on the left is nailtini, the one on the right is tokidoki, 2 coats each... I don't know about you, but they look exactly the same to me!!! Crazy but not a bad thing, I love the polish, it's soooo sparkly! now I just have to swap my tokidoki or something :)

The next product in the bag is an Eyebrow Defining Gel by Chella, you can see the full size product here, it retails for $18, the site doesn't specify what size it is, I don't think the one that came in the bag is full size, but still a pretty good size to try out. Now, my eyebrows are thick and out of control so I am definitely trying this out!  

Next up, marvelous Moxie lipgloss in "Dare Devil", by bareMinerals! One can NEVER have too many lipglosses!!! and the color is so pretty and unlike any of the ones I already have. 

Also, I believe this is my first bareMinerals product! yay! The full size retails for $18, this one looks to be about half that size :)

I got an eye pencil by Starlet Cosmetics, the color is "black, the total absence of light". This is the first time I hear about this brand, the pencil looks ok, and on their site they have other eye pencils that retail for $11, the packaging is different, but you can see them here. Mine is definitely full sized!

Last but not least, eyeshadow!!! "Meet Matt(e)" by theBalm, the color is Matt Batali, it's a matte grey-ish brown! this will be fun for smoky eyes!

I don't believe the shadows are sold individually but theBalm sells a palette for $34.50 with 9 different matte shadows, you can see it here.

What do you think? I think the bag was pretty awesome! Last month's is still the best ipsy/MyGlam bag in my opinion, but this one came pretty darn close! and I can't wait for next month! I have a feeling December's bag is going to be legen.... (wait for it!) ...dary! hahaha bonus points if you know what show I've been watching lately! 

Have a great night and thank you again for stopping by!
Fiorella :)

PS. I have some goodies up for sale here.