So I Won a $25.00 gift card from Amazon. Here's what I got!

A while back I did a review on Dino Lingo that came in my Influenster Mom Box. I guess they liked it because I won a $25.00 gift card for Amazon.com for the review blog post! Link to post http://ssbeautyreview.blogspot.com/2012/07/dino-lingo.html Woot Woot!!!! Of course since I knew before hand that I was getting the gift card I already knew what I was going to use it on. Here are the products I bought!

Coastal Scents Go Palette in Sydney and Shany Cosmetics Aluminum case with cosmetics included. I got them both for $28.70.

I am going to start with the Coastal Scents Palette! The cost on these are $8.95 and there are 7 different cities to choose from, after getting this one I am definitely going to be buying the rest of the set!!! Here's why!

First off the packaging is great! I really like that the outer box has both the picture of the country to go along with the city name. In this case the palette is based on Sydney, Australia! The compact is about the size of my palm. It is very sturdy and has the push button open instead of where you have to dig your fingers in the little slot to open it up. 

 Here she is all opened up. The colors are AMAZING!!! I loved them as soon as I saw them on the website, but they did no justice to how they look in real life, this picture doesn't even hold a candle to the truly brilliant vibrant colors!!! I cannot wait to start trying out each and every color!

Since this is just one in the collection of 7 I am going to share the stock pics of the other 6 with their names and my order of which ones are going to be next for me to buy!!! Remember these are just the stock pictures from Amazon.com. 

There are so many other products that Coastal Scents offers as well! I intend to thoroughly check all that they have to offer out!!! www.coastalscents.com

Ok, now on to the big item/s. When I saw this case I knew I haddddd to have it, not really because of the makeup inside but really for the case itself. I like to read reviews on anything I am even contemplating buying so when I saw what everyone was saying about the case and some of the cosmetics I knew exactly where the bulk of my 25.00 was going! The case cost a whopping $19.75.

Sorry for the icky picture quality, there were so many shiny bits and bobs that my camera was just not wanting to cooperate with me at all! Even without the cosmetics the case itself is so worth the 19.75 all by its lonesome! Makeup= Icing on the Cake!!! The case is aluminum and really really sturdy, as you can tell it will hold a whole lot! I am thinking of using it as my eyeshadow storage and then when needed my travel makeup case! Now lets get into the cosmetics it came with. At first I was confused because I ordered the product from Shany Cosmetics, but all the makeup said Cameo after a little googling I found out they are the same company.

Here are the items!

4 nail polishes, I know the first and last one look like the same color, but their not. One is more red and the other is more brown. I haven't tested these out yet, so we will see how they do.

4 Lipsticks. I really like these colors! They all have a shimmery quality and as you can see the one on the bottom left has a purpley iridescent to it as well. These seem to be alright. I used the one on the bottom right the other evening to go to a training meeting, it is very light, but when paired with Jouer gloss in Tender it is a match made in heaven the peach from the gloss makes this lipstick have so much depth!

2 Blush colors. I love blush so these are a win for me! I used the one on the right for the training meeting as well. It builds nicely, and is more pale pink than the picture seems, to much yellow light in my house.

It came with one large brush, a brow brush, a compact that will fit any of the square products, several foam applicators, a small brush to fit in the compact and 2l liner pencils one eye in black and brown, and one in light and dark pink for lips, I will be using both as eyeliner though.

The  final products in the box are eye shadows, 8 squares, with 4 each for a grand total of 32 colors! The colors are all very very nice and I like that they are set up like each is a different eye look. I have tested these out and while they are not super pigmented like say a Korres shadow, they are build able and not at all crappy to work with.

So for 3 something out of my pocket I think I did pretty well with this purchase! I hope that next voxbox I will be able to win another brand challenge so I can continue to try out some pretty cool stuff!

What do you think of this haul?

Glade Expressions Collection Product Testing!

Hey guys as you know I am a BzzAgent. As a BzzAgent every once in a while I get the opportunity to try out new products on the market at no cost to me, all they want from me is my opinion. This time around I was trying out the new Glade Expressions line of home fragrance.

 

I was able to pick up 2 of the starter kits at no cost. I chose the Lavender and Juniper Berry Oil Diffuser Starter kit, and the Cotton and Italian Mandarin Mister Starter kit.

 This is the Oil Diffuser. I chose to put it in the Kitchen as that is where the bulk of odors come from. I really really love the scent, but it just does not spread and permeate through the room as much as I would like it to. I think these are best suited for small closed spaces, like bathrooms. I normally can barely smell it unless I am standing right in front of it. The thing I do like is that it really fits into room decor nicely! I might buy refills for it to use in Diva's bathroom.

 This beauty on the other hand I am in love with! The easy squeeze handle makes it awesome!!! I always end up getting stuff on my fingers when using the top button air fresheners, no issue here!!! The scent is lovely, it neutralizes odors quickly, and the scent lingers for quite a while! I will definitely buy refills for this Mister and may buy a couple more to keep around the house for easy access!!!

Well, until later, be happy!

So, Maybe It's a Suitcase... What's in my Bag!

Looking through beauty blogs lately I have seen a lot of "What's in the Bag" posts. So, I thought what the heck I will go for it, I am in between sample boxes and other sampling at the moment. Only thing is, I carry not a little bag, or average sized purse for that matter, I carry a huge bag. I have been carrying big giant bags for years, like before the trendiness started years, lol. I have attempted to whittle my stuff down to little purses, but then they end up so stuffed that I can't get anything out, so I have given up.

So, here we go. What's in Patricia's Bag???

This is my bag at the moment. It is made by Bueno, and this picture makes it look kinda washed out. It is a little bit darker in person. I was drawn to it because of the A. Size B. Tons of Pockets and C. The fabulous tassels! It's all just preppy wonderful! 

 Here it is from the top, having the 3 sections is really handy for organizing everything!

And here begins the reason I cannot carry a little bag. These are the things I keep in the right hand pocket, all of these are things that I like to keep handy and easy to grab. We have, my wallet, my keys, glasses case ( I wear glasses and prescription sun glasses), my notepad, gum, and a quick lip balm in this case its Organic Indulgence Chocolate Mint Lip Butter that I got from my first and last Green Grab Bag. My phone is usually in this side too.

 The center zipper compartment holds my tissues, mini first aid kit, and my pen collection! I will say now that I might have a pen addiction, from glitter gel pens to colored ball points I heart them all!!!! There are probably a dozen pens in my purse at any given time...

The other side of my purse holds 3 different lotions they are Avon, CO Bigelow, and the Borghese I got in my sample society box. The 3 makeup bags you see hold my medications, purse makeup kit, and a clutch for when I only need a couple of things with me mostly for Jags Football games!

My purse makeup kit includes one of my 2 Dr. Jart+ BB creams,Ulta blush, Neutrogena skin clearing pressed powder, an ELF smokey eye shadow trio, a Bonnie Bell eyeshadow compact, an ELF black liquid eyeliner, Almay Intense I-Color mascara, and a variety of brushes. The kit works well for those mornings when I have to run out of the house because I woke up late. Or if its so flaming hot, as South GA can be, that my makeup has oozed off my face and I need to wash and redo before going out for the evening. I highly recommend a small kit like this for every woman to carry. As you can tell from the random variety, this kit has stuff that I don't particularly love, but they are ok... My gym bag kit is even more random, but has more color options because I am usually getting ready for work after my workout.

Last, but not least is the back zipper pocket of my suitcase... It holds my other obsession, lip products and as you can see blotting papers, again I live in South GA they are necessary!!! So lip products, from left to right, Carmex Moisture Plus balm lip balm, CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine, Fresh Sugar Rose tinted lip treatment, Nivea A Kiss of Shimmer lip care, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten, MyGlam Glam Gloss #1, Beauty Treats Shimmery Lip Gloss, Ulta Super Shiny Lip Gloss in Stellar, Ulta Lipcolor in Good Year for Wine, and finally Korres Mango Butter Lipstick in #18 Peach. Though it may seem unbelievable I actually use all of these quite often. I use this pocket as a surprise when I need one, just reach in, pull the first one you feel out and put it on. I love all of these products so keeping them on hand is highly important!

And that Ladies and Gents is what's in my bag!!!!! Hope that was a fun trip for you, it just reminded me that I carry around a ton of stuff!

UnReal Candy Bzzzzz Campaign!!!

As a BzzAgent Member I get the opportunity to try out new products to see how I like them and if I would buy them in the future! I receive these products for free to review, I am under no obligation to say they are great to get a paycheck, lol. If you would like to sign up to be a BzzAgent too the website is https://www.bzzagent.com/ Ok, now that all of that is out of the way lets talk about what I am reviewing today!

 

 These Yummy Candies are made by UnReal! The big thing with UnReal is that they want to unjunk junk food! I am down with that! BzzAgent sent me a coupon to get a free candy to try out. I bought mine at CVS and at the time they were also running a 2 for $2.00 deal so I picked up 2 varieties to try out!

These are what I picked up, sorry for the not the greatest instagram pic, I took it before diva girl and I inhaled the peanut butter cups! Like I just said I got the peanut butter cups and the candy coated chocolate peanuts! I have not tried the candy coated chocolate peanuts yet, I am waiting for that moment when I really really need a pick me up. I did try the peanut butter cups and OMG they are awesome! The big turn off from Reeses for me has always been how sickeningly sweet they are, these conquer that issue head on, from the REAL chocolate flavor and texture to the unsuper sweetened peanut butter in the center. Diva even liked them! Her reaction was if she was spending her own money and had the choice between these or Reeses right beside each other she would not know which to choose! From a 6 year old that is a glowing review! These are 190 calories for 2 cups but the richness will make you second guess even eating the 2nd one in the pack I know I wouldn't have been able to! So try them out and if you would like to have a bogo coupon I have several that BzzAgent sent to me and I would be happy to send one to you so that you may try the yumminess out! Just drop me a line on here or on facebook with your email addy so that I can get your physical address!

Beauty Box Subscription Debut!!!! MyGlam Bag!!!

Hey guys!!! Since The Look Bag decided to call it quits, and then decided to come back after 2 months, and is being in general weird, I decided to try a new beauty subscription. There are so many on the market now that being able to trial and error all different type of companies is great! With my definite keepers being Birch Box and Sample Society I have one slot left. After a lot of research and looking at the different products offered month to month I decided to try MyGlam https://www.myglam.com like many other subs they send out one box (in their case bag) a month filled with 5-6 products to try out! The cost for this one is $10.00 a month. At the moment there is a wait list. So here is what I got in my MyGlam bag!!!

This is how the products are packaged, every month you get a different bag which is really awesome because I can store so many different things in these little makeup bags! 

Here is a quick shot of all the products before I get into them individually.

Like most all other subs you get a card with the theme for the month and a list of products. This month's theme was Endless Summer!

Up first is Eclos Regenerative Cream. I have not tried this out yet, because I am still getting through other creams I am testing out as well. This company is owned by Freeman who make a lot of different kinds of beauty masks. The sample worth is $3.12.

Also, I received Eclos Facial serum. I haven't tried this either, I kind of want to try them out together to see how they work as a pair. This sample is worth $7.35.

Next is a Demeter roll on perfume oil in Clean Skin. This smells really good! Very light I would compare it to BBW's Clean Linen mixed with a very light floral. But, as usual scents are very varied to every person based on your own hormones and skin. This one was very easy to price since the Demeter web site sells these in this size. The sample price is $10.00.

Last of the easy stuff that was in the bag is Salty Cosmetics mineral eyeshadow in Glama-ZOID!. When I first pulled this out of the bag I thought is was just a basic white eyeshadow and was just going to add it to my giveaway bag since I have several white shadows. Even when I looked closer at it after opening it to swatch it looked like a basic white with a little shimmer. And then I actually swatched it. HOLY COW this stuff is beautiful. It is iridescent, the colors change from the white, to a pink, to a purple color! I have yet to try it on my eyes since I have been hitting the gym pretty hard the last few days, but I cannot wait to get the time to actually try it out! This is another one of those that the actual website sells this sample size. It's value is $3.97.

 First off, this is a horrible picture. But, it was the only picture I could get that showed the color for some of it's glory. The color is Ringmaster, and it is a full sized bottle! The company is new, like so new these are not even on sale yet so I have no value for them. It is from Andrea's Choice and the line of colors is called Circus. This color is AMAZING, so much more neon colored than the picture depicts it to be. Diva girl is so excited to get this on her nails! I haven't done it yet, but that is because she is grounded at the moment, no TV and no nail polish. It is killing her.

This last item is made by MyGlam. It is called Glam Gloss, I got color #1. It is so very very pretty! The formula is very nice too, there is no shimmer in it either which is a different change of pace for me, almost all of my glosses are shimmery or glittery. This is another item that I cannot price, because they are not sold, it was a special product from MyGlam. I am going to guess and say it would be considered full size since it is the size of most of my other full sized glosses and bigger than some others. 

Last but not least is the bag itself. I really like it! The mesh is a heavy duty plastic and the zipper is sturdy! I decided to use it to hold my cotton makeup remover pads. 

So, all in all I really like what MyGlam sent this month! They are possibly going to be a keeper depending on what the coming months offer! The total sample value without the Polish, Gloss, and Bag is $24.44. For not having prices on 3 items that is still over double what I paid!!! I must say this month has been great for my beauty subs, I really hope they all continue to be just as great!!

*I buy these with my own money, all reviews are honest and my own!*

August Birch Box! Beauty School???

After waiting what seems like forever this month I got my August Birch Box!!! This month's theme was Beauty School, I guess it's their attempt to tie in the beginning of the school year and their charity project.

As usual this is how the box looks when you open it up. One big difference this month is that there isn't just a card telling you the products. Instead there is a fold out pamphlet that gives a lot of tips, much like Sample Society.

This is the pamphlet. lots of interesting stuff to read.

 This is the charity interest I was talking about. It is called Pencils of Promise. A percentage of all sales from the Birch Box shop will go to this charity.

And now on to the actual products!

 As usual everything is packed away semi neatly with the wrapped present!

And here is a shot of all the products, as you can see one of my qtip thingys are out of the packaging. I am going to be emailing Birchbox about this.

First up are Beauty Fixation Makeup Remover swabs. My first thoughts on these without using them are, aren't these basically like the iodine swabs that use to come in first aid kits? You break them to make the solution come out then use them to take away makeup goofs, much like a cotton swab dipped in water... The biggest difference are that these cost $5.00 for 24 of them, and it costs $2.00 for around 500 cotton swabs and water is free.... As you can see I got 3 of them, one wasn't in the packaging though and was just in the box. After looking at the individually wrapped packaging, and realizing that the one on the end wasn't sealed at all leads me to believe that this one was just thrown in the box, so I only have 2 to use... Not cool Birchbox, a little quality control goes a long way... The sample value of these are $.62.

 Second in the line up is Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy La Fleur. I haven't smelled this yet because I have been cooking but no matter how it smells it has something going for it right out of the gate. A spritz top!!!!! In the world of sample fragrances these are a rare gem! The sample price is $1.40. 

 

 Miss Jessie's Original Quick Curls is up next. I have been able to sample a couple of other Miss Jessie's products lately and I will say I love them!!! My hair has been manageable with the slightest amount of effort here lately!!! I cannot wait to try this out tomorrow morning!!! The sample value is $8.00.

Last in the regular Birchbox line up is a Pixi Beauty Lid Last Shadow Pen in Bronze Brilliance. This is a full size product. As you can see on the right I swatched it for all to see. Its really pretty and goes on pretty easily, I might take this for a test spin tomorrow.

The value of these are $18.00 and they come in tons of different shades! I am actually really happy with this color because I really don't have anything like it!

Last up is what Birch Box is calling a find. Its a Schick Hydro Silk razor. If y'all remember I got one of these for free a while back too. I really love getting it! With razors and blades being so expensive a couple lying around doesn't hurt my feelings at all! The sample value on this is $5.29.

So all together a great Birch Box this month, minus the whole qtip thing... The total price for all the samples is $33.31. With the cost of the box being $10.00 I think I made off well this month! 

This month I only have one sample box left to come in, and it said it was in Orlando when I checked it early today, so I might get it tomorrow!!! It will be a debut for me even though the company has been around for a while, but, no spoilers til I get it!!! 

*I buy these with my money, all reviews are honest and my own.*

August Sample Society Goodness!

I really think Sample Society gets better and better every month! I am really impressed with this box and I will definitely use everything in it!!! And I get to figure out what I am going to store in this month's box, maybe I will just expand on the boxes I have instead of throwing everything into one category.

Here is what I got!!

As usual the box was packed fantastically so that no products got messed up. On top of the products is the always included booklet with great tips on how to best use the products in the box.

And here is a pic of all the products before we get into the individual pics! Very nice!!!

 The first item listed in the booklet is by Phyto it is their Phytonectar Treatment Oil. This is a pre shampoo nourishing oil treatment for your hair. I am very interested it giving this a go, I have never used an oil treatment in my hair. I am not sure how long this sample will last with the length of my hair, but we'll see. The sample value of this is $5.82.

Next is a full size Deborah Lippmann nail lacquer in the color Private Dancer. As soon as I read the name my brain started singing Private Dancer by Tina Turner, lol. The color is so pretty and the formula is amazing, not streaky, drys super fast, and only takes 2 coats to get the full intensity of the color. I can see why is costs $18.00 a bottle and to think I got a full size as a sample in a box that costs $15.00 a month!

 The third item listed in the booklet is a new concept to me. This is Jane Iredale Longest Lash Mascara in Black Ice. Why this is a new cocept is because I have never seen a mascara come in a squishy tube before this month, and now it is everywhere. It is suppose to help control how much mascara you use, depending on the look you want. I am really going to have to test this before I can pass much judgement. This sample is worth $7.85.

Next up is Elemental Herbology Facial Detox Purifying Mask! YAY!!!! I love masks, and as hot and humid has it has been around here lately I can defiantly say that this is so welcome! This is an awesome sample size as well and I know I will be able to get multiple uses from it! I think I will be trying this out tonight once the diva child goes to bed! This sample is worth $9.20.

The last of the normal box items I recieved was Arcona's Cranberry Toner. I haven't used a toner in a long long time, mostly because of the burning that I use to get because of it, but I am curious about this one, and maybe my skin has toughened up a little since the time I was a teen. It is so pretty in the bottle to, all swirly and pink. The sample is worth $8.60.

Finally, this month Sample Society sent out an extra of Malin + Goetz Vitamin E Face Moisturizer. I am very happy that they as a company really sticks by their promise to send out deluxe samples as the normal samples and chose to send this as an extra. It is a pretty tiny foil sample even foil samples go, maybe one or 2 uses max. The sample value on this is $.45.

So, as I said at the top of the post, awesome box this month!!!! The total value of the box is $49.92, well over the $15.00 I spent on it. Next up will be my Birch Box and a new sample subscription I decided to try now that the Look Bag called it quits, but more about that later.

*I purchased this sample box with my own money, all reviews are honest and my own.*