Ayres Body Butter

Recently Birchbox ran a contest on twitter for their Birchblogger community where they were giving away Ayres Beauty Body Butters for to try and review. I entered the contest and I was selected. I was super excited and couldn’t believe that I was selected. But my surprise does not end there. For the contest we had to tweet what Ayres Beauty Body Butter we wanted to try. I chose Patagonia. So I thought I was just going to receive the Patagonia body butter and a sample of the Patagonia Shea Butter soap, which was another item they were going to include. When I received the package, I was soooooooooooo excited to see that I had received all three scents of the Ayres Body Butter…..so of course I started dancing around from the excitement. 

 

 

The Ayres brand is inspired by the street, bars and women of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In traditional Spanish, the name of the city was spelled "Buenos Ayres"m hence the name of the brand Ayres.

 

The Body Butters have a paraben-ree formula, contains a signature blend of natuarl plant emollients, herbal extracts, shea butter, and vitamins, such as Vitamin E to soothe and moisturize skin. The Body Butters are currently available in Pampas Sunries, Midnight Tango, and Patagonia.

 

 

 

The Birchnox Shop describes the scent as follows:

 

Pampas Sunrise: anchored by cedarwood, invigorates with citrus, patchouli, and spearmint notes.

 

Midnight Tango: a blend of orange blossom and vanilla

 

Patagonia: is a soothing mix of jasmine, lavender, ylang-ylang, and fir

 

The soap is a rich blend of cocoa butter, shea butter and olive oil cleanses, hydrates and softens skin. Available in the same scents as the body butters.

 

All three Body Butters smell amazing, but my favorite is Patagonia. You do not need to use a lot of product to feel your skin instantly smoother and moisturized. Another plus about this body butter is that it is absorbed very quickly by the skin, so you do not feel greasy or oily as some other lontions/body butters may feel.

 

The soap is really moisturizing and does not leave the skin feeling dry and it smells amazing.

 

After using the producst for a little bit, I think I might have fallen in love and I'm definitely picking up more of the body butters after I use all three of them and I will try out Ayres' other products as well. If you have not checked Ayres out yet, you should definitely do so at either the Birchbox site or Ayres' site. The Body Butter sell for $28 for a 6.75 oz tub and the soap sells for $10 for a 6.35 oz bar at the Birchbox Shop and Ayres site.

 

*Disclaimer: I received these product through a twitter contest. All opinions are mine and I did not receive any monetary compensation from Birchbox nor Ayres.

Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spas

I'm writing this blog post to tell you guys about a product I received complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. I recently received the ViolteVoxBox, and one of the products was the Montagne Jeunesse’s Red Earth Clay Spa Masque. I'm always excited to try masks, so needless to say, I was super excited to receive this product.  

The clay spa masks are applies lie a paper mask. You leave them on for 10-15 minutes and then massage and rinse the remnants. It was quite funny looking at myself in the mirror with the mask on. I felt like someone from a horror movie (think Jason, but with a red mask). The mask was cool when I first applied it. As the minutes went by, I started to feel my face tighten a little bit, which is typical of clay masque. What I liked about this mask though was that it was not as drying as most clay masques. Once I rinsed my face, it instantly felt really soft and hydrated. I would highly recommend these masques. They reasonably priced at $2.49 at Walmart. These masques are also available in Dead Sea Mud Spa and Glacial Clay Spa.

Influenster Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation Unboxing

Hey guys... I wanted to share my review of the Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation. The foundation will be available for sale starting January 2014

I have tried it a couple of times and I am pleased to even though I don't think my skin type is the best for this foundation in particular, it is a great foundation for people with oily skin. I have combination skin (it can get a little dry during the winter), so I don't normally have problems with foundation making my face look shiny. In the video above I have a before and after picture to demonstrate how the foundation looks on. From the pictures, you can see that I have a little shine before applying the foundation and no shine when I have the foundation on. I do have to say that the shade I was provide was a tad light for my skin tone, nonetheless it does not take away from the functionality of the foundation.

 

To get a natural matte finish on my skin I start by applying a moisturizer and a bit of primer. After it set I applied the the Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation (color is True Ivory) using my beauty blender. A little does go a long way, so you do not need a whole lot of foundation. I would suggest starting with a small amounts and applying more if you would like a bit more coverage. 

 

The foundation doesn’t feel heavy on my skin, which I like because I do not like the feel of heavy makeup. It was super easy to apply and it blended well. I would say that it has a medium coverage. After applying it, I definitely noticed a more even skin tone and minimized pores. I really enjoyed trying out this product and I definitely recommend it. Thanks Influenster and Rimmel London.

 

Will you be buying Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation once it hit stores?

 

Disclosure: I received the Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster. As always opinions shared here are 100% my own.

 

 

Birchbox Sneak Peek: October 2013

I am happy to show my lovely readers an early Sneak Peek video of Octobers Birchbox. Also Birchbox is giving my readers an exclusive 15% off any purchase of $50+ in the Birchbox Shop just for sharing the Sneak Peek. Use code BIRCHBLOGGER15 at checkou to get your discount!

BeautyFix Summer 2013!!!

Hi all, I received my Beautyfix Box a while back. I finally got off my lazy bum and decided to share it with you guys. For those of you that do not know anything about BeautyFix, it used to be a quarterly subscription (the summer box was the last box. Now instead of beautyfix, you can get the blush mystery box instead which is a monthly subscription) where you will get to choose 8 products you would like to receive from the panelist selections. The cool thing about this is that most items are either full size or deluxe sample. The cost is $49.99

The first two items I received were the Nailtiques Hand Conditioner ($13.99) and Nailtiques Color Lacquer in the color Vienna ($10). I'm not a fan of the smell of the hand cream, but probably I will like it better when I actually use it. The nail polish is ok. I had received a very similar color in my Lip Factory box, so I kind of wish Beautyfix would have sent me another color (I did not choose which color to receive for the nail polish).

The next two items were the Exuviance Rejuvenating Treatment Masque ($34) and the Vichy Acqualia Thermal Cream ($18.34). I'm Excited to try these two items out. The masque will probably last me a while since I don't use a masque daily. I've never tried products from either brand, so I can't wait to see whether I would like them or not.

The next two items are the Arcona Magic White Ice ($20) and the Lisa Hoffman Night & Day 2 Vitamin A & C Serum ($47.50). Both of the items are serum, so I have serum to last me for a while. I have not used any products from these brands either, so I am excited to try these too.

The last two items are the Pedi Buffer Black Mandarin Bamboo Infusion ($10.99) and the Jane Iredale Lip Drink with SPF 15 ($12). I do my own pedicure for the most part so I am excited to try this buffer out. Plus this smells amazing. I have used other Jane Iredale products. This lip drink is moisturizing and it also has SPF which is a plus.

 

All in all the total value of this box was $166.82 and I only paid $49.99. Its too bad that this box was discontinued because you definitely get a very good value for what you pay for. What do you guys thing of this box? Are you disappointed that it was discontinued?

Birchbox New York Fashion Week Birchblogger Event

On Monday, Birchbox held an event for its BirchBloggers Network at Birchbox Local. The even was completely free. In the event you were able to get pampered (manicures, makeup, hair, etc), enjoy free drinks and candy as well as create your own Birchbox. There was also a Q&A session with Katia and Jean Godfrey June, Beauty Editor of Lucky Magazine. Birchbox local is open to the public from September 12, 2013 to September 16, 2013. For more information, visit www.birchbox.com/local.

Below are some pictures from the event

 

I created my own Birchbox by choosing 5 samples from the sample wall or Oasis as Birchbox calls it. Below are the items that I got

 

 

The first item is Mally Beauty Age Rebel Waterproof Shadow Stick ($12.95) in Smoky Quartz. I gotta say I am absolutely in love with this eye shadow and the color is perfect for fall. I think I might pick up more of these when I get a chance.

 



 

The next item is the Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow ($22) in Medium/Deep. I can't wait to give these a try. I've only used a brow pencil before, so it would like to see how this compares.

 

The next item is the Pur Minerals Dirty Girl Detoxifying Mudd Masque ($3.63). I've been dying to try a mud mask so when I saw this as one of the samples, I made sure to grab it.

 



 

The next item is the Marcelle Gentle Make-Up Remover for Sensitive Eyes ($15). I'm not sure if I have sensitive eyes, but I think I do, so I can't wait to try this. It looks very similar to the Neutrogena eye make-up remover that I'm currently using.

 



 

 The final item is the Origins Modern Friction Nature's Gentle Dermabrasion ($9.40). I can't wait to give this a try once I'm done with my current exfoliator.

 

 

Al in all the value of my FREE box is $62.98. Thank you Birchbox for hosting this even. I hope that I get to participate in future events.

 



Influenster Sargento Cheese VoxBox

I received my first ever VoxBox from Influenster. I received all the products complimentary from Influenster for review purposes.

Influenster is an online community where you can review products and learn what people think about products you are interested in. It is completely free to join. The more active you are on this site as well as the social media interactions you have with this site, the higher you will be rated (i.e scored). Based on this score you will be able to qualify from time to time for free VoxBoxes to review. You can learn more about Influenster at Influenster. If you are interested in joining you can leave a comment down below with you email so that I can send you an invite or go directly to Influenster and request an invite.

A lot of people might be like, free cheese, I'll pass, but I am actually excited to have gotten this VoxBox because I love me some cheese!!!

I have already tried various Sargento Cheeses before and they are usually my number 1 choice when it comes to cheese. Soooo to the fun stuff...What was in the box you ask?

Inside the box was a cheese stick cooler, which I think is really cute and very practicable. I will definitely be using this to take my cheese sticks for snack to work. I also received a coupon for a free natural cheese snack of 5oz or more and a $1 off any natural cheese snack of 5oz or more.

I redeemed my free cheese coupon at my local supermarket. I live in NY, so things here are a bit more expensive than in other states. A 12oz Natural Cheese Snack costs $4.29. It might be a bit pricier than other cheese snacks, but Sargento Cheese is definitely worth the price. I got the Light String Cheese, which is made with 2% Milk and 50% less fat. Each cheese stick is 50 calories, so I won't feel bad if I have two cheese sticks instead.

Overall I was very happy with the VoxBox, so I want to thank you Influenster for choosing me to review Sargento Cheese. I can't wait to be chosen for other Influenster programs.