Boxycharm Product Review-Jan 2016

Okay,  straight up no bullshit, I love the products that came in my January 2016 BoxyCharm box! I know I am a few days late writing my reviews but I have been a little busy.  So let's get started on what I think about the Royal and Langnickel Revolution Eye Shadow brush set, Coastalscents Smoky Eye and Starlooks Luxe Pro Long ware Eyeliner Pen.

Now to be fair I have to say this:  I am a mascara junkie, no lie. I have tried very expensive, and very cheap mascaras so I know what I like. I did try on the Blinc Mascara Amplified BUT only one coat on one eye because I did not like how it was going on. HOWEVER, I plan on trying a full application of the mascara before I fully review it. So I will get back to this one!!!

I love, love the Royal and Langnickel Revolution Eye Shadow brush set! I love how the bristles pick up just enough product and the application goes on soft and gentle.  The little card that was included in the Boxycharm box reads that the bristles are 100% vegan. synthetic natural fibers that mimic the performance and feel of fine natural hair for a flawless finish. I will totally agree with this description. I would without a doubt purchase additional brushes from this company.  I loved the crease brush when I applied shadow under my lower lashes and in the corner of my eye. Perfect.. and the blending brush is wonderful. It is soft, blends your shadows great and when I wiped the brush off on Scott towel no bristles came out.. to me that is a huge plus!! I cannot say enough good things about these brushes!!

The Coastal Scents Smoky Eye-Shadow pallet gets a double thumbs up from me. As most of you know by now that reads my blog, I am officially a QC Makeup Artist student and not only am I learning so much already but my view on makeup has changed more than I expected. I will tell you, if I like it I will wear it and if I don't I won't. Although, I love shimmery shadows I have found in my age group, matte shadows look better. THAT DOES NOT MEAN NO SHIMMER SHADOW AT ALL!! That means the shimmer shadows should be used a lot less. This Coastal Scents smoky eye pallet gives just the right amount of matte shadows and shimmer shadows. I love how smooth the shadows go on, how easy they are to blend, the color combinations are endless and the shadow lasted (on me) all day! I would carry this brand of shadow in my makeup artist case-I loved it that much!

My favorite item in this box no hold bard is the Starlooks Luxe Pro Long ware Eyeliner!  This liner will become one of my everyday go to makeup items. When anything reads waterproof, smudge proof, blah, blah, blah, I have to question it because of my experiences with these kind of items. This liner said it would last all day.. well, it lasts longer than all day!! I feel asleep with the liner on and it looked as fresh the next morning when I got up as it did when I first applied it the day before. I love how the liner glides on, you can apply it thin or bold, light or dark.  I would gladly pay the $19.00 for this eyeliner pen.

So there it is folks... my first review on my first BoxyCharm box!! Now I am excited to see what next month will bring.. so as far as the BoxyCharm box goes, more reviews to come next month.  I will be writing more makeup post.. so bookmark me if you like what you read, links are below to the sites I have mentioned!

Beauty from the eyes of a makeup junkie!

BoxyCharm

Royal and Langnickel 

Coastal Scents

Starlooks Luxe Longwear Eyeliner

BoxyCharm First Box

Jan 2016

I have been impressed a lot in my life, but I have to admit today when I opened my first package from BoxyCharm I was beyond impressed! True story: my boyfriend was sitting at the table when I opened my package.. of course him being a guy; he does not realize a lot of differences between makeup, HE WAS impressed to see such great items!!!

A monthly subscription to BoxyCharm is $21.00 and they send four-five full-size products. When I signed up I thought okay that will average out to be approximately $5-$4.50 per item.  Well here is a rundown of what I received in my box:

I am not sure if each month they run a new theme but this month the card read: "Eyes on 2016" it also has the retail price of each product and some directions how to use the product. So the first thing I saw was a set of (3) Royal and Langnickel Revolution Eye-Shadow Brushes.  (1) is detailed eyeshadow application brush (1) is a professional pointed crease brush (1) is Precision eyeshadow detail smudge brush.  The brushes are full size with a silk touch grip handle. They alone cost more than the whole BoxyCharm box this month. The brush set retails for $23.97

Now this item just about floored me: It is a Coastalscents Smoky Eye-Shadow pallet with 20 eyeshadow colors. It has rich deep dark matte shadows and beautiful mid-light tone frosted shadows.  The eyeshadow palette retails for $39.95. I have never tried Coastalscents products before that I can remember, so I am excited to try these shadows.  Since I will soon be starting my makeup artist course.. I am sure I will learn how to work with these shadows in new, different ways.

The next item was a Starlooks Luxe Pro long wear eyeliner pen. It is black and has a felt tip applicator end that can apply thin soft lines or thick bold lines. I drew a line on my finger last night it is still on my hand this morning. That is after washing my hands a ton of times since last night. So needless to say, it is waterproof!! This pen retails for  $19.00

The last item is Blinc Mascara Amplified. It  adds  volume and lengthens your lashes and creates little tubes on your lashes and is waterproof. I am a mascara freak.. mascara and lip products are two of my favorite things.. so I AM really looking forward to trying this. This mascara retails for  $26.00.

I am going to try each of these products today and write a part two to this post.  So, let's add this up. The retail price of this box is $102.92 and I paid $21.00 for it AND the products are full size, and beautiful.  So am I excited about next month's box... HELL Yeah!!!

If you are interested and want to sign up and get a BoxyCharm subscription here is my link:  If you do not want to bother with clicking on my referral link and just want to read more about BoxyCharm click here! 

Alright Lets do some Sexy Lips

So if you read my blog post called lip care made easy, and decided to try my techniques chances are you have soft, smooth lips this morning.  Just the right pallet to build those full, lushes, sensual, sexy lips!!  Now let's build those lips and fill them with a beautiful dark rich color.  I am going to be using  NYX Liquid Suede in Amethyst and Palladio waterproof Lip Liner in Blackberry.

Recently, I have been experimenting with lip primers. Rule of thumb is when you wear a lip primer you need to make sure it is completely dry before applying your lip products. A primer is suppose to help keep your lip color on longer and it is suppose to stop it from feathering.  But I learned the hard way and applied my lip products before my primer was completely dry and it made the whole lip experience not a good one.

There are several different brands of lip primers out there.. the two I have tried is: Stila Water Plumping Primer and Lip Insurance by Two Face.  I cannot remember trying any others unless e.l.f. sells one..  But here are my thoughts on the two lip primers I have tried. (1) Stila Water Plumping Primer... I love this product! It is a little pricey $21 at Sephora  I do not like it as a primer. Sometimes in the evening after using my coconut sugar lip scrub, I will wear this product instead of the vaseline. It feels excellent on your lips, it makes them soft and smooth... I just really like wearing it alone. I have tried using it as a primer but I may have done something wrong.. one time I know I did not allow it to dry before applying my lip product. Who knows, I may try it again. (2) Lip Insurance by Two Face... I had to try this product again this morning because I forgot how it worked the last time I used it. I am not impressed with it at all. I have actually had a hard time with my lip color this morning and that is after allowing the primer to dry. So.. bottom line for me and primers until something better presents itself to me... I will stick to adding a little of my powder foundation to my lips to give me a smooth clean pallet to work with.  All you have to do is lightly take your makeup brush with powder on it and gently run it across your lips... BAM... your lips are primed!

I wrote an article called How to Apply Lipliner Tips. You can read it if you want too just click on the link.  But here is a fast run down on how to line your lips. You should always start with a darker liner than the color of lip color you will be wearing. I am not sure if this rule applies to everybody or everything but it has worked for me and many others for a very long time. Start on your top lip in the middle and outline the two mounds, next draw the line down to one corner and then the other. Draw a line on your bottom lip in the middle and attach those lines to the corners. If you read the article I wrote it will go more into details. I also wrote how to make your lips appear bigger or smaller.

Next apply your lip color! As I have mentioned many times, I wear a lot of stains because I want lasting color. I am not the type of person to carry around lipstick and reapply it a million times a day. So I put it on in the morning and take it off at night.... mine last throughout the day: eating, drinking, kissing and ugg... yes smoking! What I do is apply the stain and wait for a few minutes and blot it. Repeat a couple of times until hardly any color comes off on the tissue when I blot-this assures me my stain has set. Oh.. and as crazy as this is going to sound.. use Scott towel to blot not tissues. Tissues WILL stick to your lips.  I know this sounds a little time consuming but truly it isn't. I do this every day I put my lipstick on. Another thing I do just for reinsurance is: when I apply my lip stain, I also lightly go over my liner.. the liner remains darker, but it just makes me feel a little better knowing my liner will stay in place. 

Have beautiful Friday Night. I would love to hear some of your favorite lip liner and lip color combinations!!

It's Never too Late to Make Dreams Come True

Well, I just took the plunge and enrolled to take a professional makeup artist course. Am I nervous.. hell yeah but on the same hand, I am so excited. I have always loved makeup so much, so now I will have the opportunity to hopefully do something with it.

So along with the two makeup clubs I have joined (oh, which I heard from BoxyCharm today and they have mailed out my first box) and will be writing reviews on the products; writing about my own techniques and experiences with new makeup I have been trying and now my makeup course I am taking.. I believe I will be able to take my blog post to different levels.

So see, here I am 57 and starting a new journey with a passion I have had all of my life... working with makeup... and I decided to take a plunge. That goes to show.. it is never too late to pursue a dream, regardless of your age or whatever the dream may be-we set our own limitations....

SO....... I will finish writing a blog post I started about a fantastic lip stain color which I am madly in love with tomorrow. 

Lip Care Made Easy

Okay, beautiful lushes lips, lined and filled with a rich dark color lipstick is not only sensual and sexy but they need to have a routine to be taken care of also. Yeah, I know right, who needs to add more time to a cleansing routine when time is so limited these days. Well, I hate more than anything to have a long cleansing routine, but trust me when I say this.. what I am about to share with you will not take long and the results.. well, let's just say your partner will absolutely adore your lips!

First, especially in colder weather our lips dry out, get chapped and when we apply our lip colors our lips do not look smooth, sensual or sexy.. they look dried out with loose skin everywhere.  What none of us want is to spend time making our lips look beautiful than turn around and look like crap because we did not want to do a simple routine that will take five minutes top! You can purchase expensive lip scrubs.. and you can purchase cheap stuff that could work just as good if not better. Personally, I like using things I have on hand that I would use for other things as well.

Recently, I ran across a really good product called "Garnier Skinactive Cleansing Water". this item in an all in one product.. it cleanses and refreshes. There is no rinse, no harsh rubbing and it is for your eyes, lips and face.  Since I mainly wear lip stains and because of the routine I do, getting my lip color off takes a little time, so I needed something that was not real expensive and that would take the product off without tugging and rubbing my lips off. This Cleansing water is a 13.5 fl. oz bottle and I got mine at Walgreens for $8.99.  All you do is put some on a cotton pad and wipe off your lipstick.... Yes, it is that easy and the color comes right off.

So after you have your lip color off, take a small amount of coconut oil and place it in the palm of your hand.. add a tiny amount of plain sugar and rub them together until the coconut oil melts. Next rub the scrub over your lips gently.  I rub it on my lips for a minute or two.. afterward, wipe off your lip and rinse if you choose.  Next put a good moisturizer on your lips.. I recently purchased a small container of Vaseline lip therapy with Shea Butter (to be different) I got mine for a little over a $1 and it takes very little.  I actually put a small amount not only over my lips but above them too... (to ease up on the lines around the lips). In the morning, my lips feel and look smooth which makes for a good day for applying your favorite lip color!!

My New Year Plan-Lets Talk about Makeup

Okay, my New Years new project.. I am going to write reviews on different makeup products. Now, I know there are already a ton of reviews out there.. some like things, some don't, some could care a less. But the main reason I have decided to add my two cents in, is because of my love and passion for makeup!

I have always been a makeup junkie. I love it and have taught numerous people how to put it on. Makeup is used to enhance your natural beauty, but it is also a lot of fun to go dramatic, trendy and sexy!

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of different things out there about beauty clubs. You pay so much a month and you get a package with a few sample products and so on in it.  After researching them, I decided to join a couple I will post the links, yes they do offer referral but I will post the direct site link too in case you do not want to screw with clicking on referral links.  Each month I plan on writing a blog post about each club and the products they sent.  You are not locked into a lifelong contract with these companies.. you can cancel anytime you want. I will see how it is for a few months and decide if it is worth staying or not or changing companies or not.

Okay, so ipsy is a beauty club that cost $10 a month. I have not received any packages yet because I just signed up. My referral link is:   Ipsy-WhiteOak57   or if you want to go directly to their site: Ipsy

The other site I joined is: BoxyCharm. They charge $21 a month and supposely send mostly full size samples in their boxes.  We will see. My referral link is: BoxyCharm Eva or if you want to go directly to their site: BoxyCharm

Both clubs offers free shipping and different ways to earn points so you can get additional products.

I am wearing 

Cherry Skies NYX Liquid Suede Lipstick and Cherry Kiss lipliner by Rimmel.

I want to touch a little on LIPS in this post... I will be writing more in-depth post about the lips and lining them.

Okay the lips... years ago I wrote an article for a Goth Magazine about "sensual lips". To me, the lips says a lot. I have always loved the deep dark colors and that is what I wore up until about 14 years ago, now I am back at it. The darker the better... but you will hear people say over and over.. anyone over 50 should not wear dark lipstick.. why?  Well, I am not saying dark lips is right for everyone over 50 but I love it and it is right for me.

Here are a few of my favorite shades and products that I have just recently been introduced too. I am completely hooked on NYX Liquid Suede Lipstick. It is not real expensive... on Ultra.Com it cost $6.99. It is a stain that goes on smooth like butter and once it dries it remains soft and flexible.  Most lipsticks that are long wearing comes with a small clear lip balm you use on-top of the color once it dries. That is because it dries hard and heavy... NYX liquid Suede does not do that all.

I have also found that NYX Liquid Suede Lipstick is rich in color. After you put it on, of course you will blot it a few times but once it dries.. the color remains dark, rich and soft!  Truly I am very hooked on this brand.