Loose Powder

This month’s Birchbox is a special Glamour curated box with the Senses as its theme.

Inside this fun summer box were six great items:

• Color Club Blue-Ming
• Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner in black
• Harvey Prince Eau Flirt
• Supergoop! City Sunscreen Serum
• Lifestyle Extra: Tea Forte Minteas in Ginger Pear
• Lifestyle Extra: Birchbox Exclusive earbuds

I keep getting Harvey Prince fragrances, but they haven’t impressed me. Most commercial perfumes smell the same to me and Eau Flirt is more of the same. I can smell a bit of the  jasmine and amber, but there’s still the basic floral chemical perfume smell.

The Supergoop! City suncreen I haven’t had a chance to use yet. The Tea Forte Minteas are okay, but they have a bit of a medicinal/vitamin taste. I appreciate the ear phones, but I have several pairs already – never hurts to have a backup, though!

I love the Color Club Blue-Ming polish, but it looks similar to China Glaze’s For Audrey or Wet ‘n’ Wild’s I Need A Refresh-Mint. It’s a great color that’s going in my stash, though.

I’ve used the old Eyeko Graffiti Eyeliner pens and I’ve been excited to try the new Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liners. This draws a great, sharp line and once set doesn’t smudge. Mostly. This eyeliner is not water resistant and moisture will cause it to smudge a little.

The tip on the Eyeko liner is very sharp and stiff. I’ve found the best way to apply it is to press the tip at an angle against my eyelid and make a line that way rather than just drawing straight across.

So, I’m not entirely sure how long I’ve been a Birchbox subscriber, but the company sent me a special thank you gift separately in the mail. It was a lovely leather keychain!

It’s designed to hold a small sample or maybe a small lip product. It was a fun surprise and I appreciate the company sending out a little gift to customers.

Birchbox is a monthly subscription service. For $10 a month, you’ll receive a box of four to five deluxe sized samples in the mail.

I’m always looking for a great eyeliner that isn’t going to smudge or migrate during the day. I previously reviewed the Stila Smudge Stick eyeliners in Koi & Silver Dollar and found they stayed all day with no problem! Ulta had a promotion this Spring during their Week of Beauty and I was able to pick up Lionfish and Stingray at a great discount.

Lionfish is a dark brown with a gold metallic shimmer and Stingray is a dark black with a tiny bit of silver shimmer. Not to worry, there are no glitter particles to irritate your eyes. This liner applies smoothly and you can smudge it immediately after application, but it sets quickly.

This is a twist up pencil, so no sharpening is required. Good thing because there’s only 0.01 oz of product in the pencil and considering these retail for $20 each, I wouldn’t want to waste any in a sharpener.

As usual, I can’t get these eyeliners to stay on my waterline, but they will stay just fine on my lower lash line.

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner retails for $20 and is available at Stila’s website, Sephora, and UIta.

Just a quick review on the NYX Slide On, Glide On Eyeliner. I picked this up at Ulta while I was still searching for a good waterproof eyeliner for my waterline.

NYX claims this is a waterproof eyeliner that glides on like a liquid liner. It is a traditional pencil, so a sharpener is needed when you’ve worn down the point. The cap stays on fairly well, but I probably wouldn’t just throw it in a bag.

In the middle photo, I’ve swatched the eyeliner on the back of my hand. I’ve smudged it in the middle, but once dry, the line wouldn’t smudge even with rubbing. The last photo is the eyeliner on my waterline. It applied very smoothly and darkly. Setting it with black powder helped the liner stay longer. Unfortunately, my eyes did get irritated – they felt itchy and dry so I ended up having to remove it after a couple hours.

I did like the way this eyeliner applied, but the irritation is going to keep me from using this on my waterline again.

NYX Slide On Eyeliner retails for $8.00 and is available where NYX cosmetics are sold.

After trying out the Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner in peacock, I decided that I’d like some more. This set of silver and gold eyeliners were on sale at the Stila website for $10!

I wanted to get a silver eyeliner for highlighting and I thought the gold might make a nice change from black in the waterline area. How convenient to have both in one set!

These applied very smoothly without dragging and are metallic without being glittery. If you smudge it as soon as you draw the line, you can soften the look. Once it sets, it’s smudge resistant and waterproof.

Unfortunately, just like the peacock pencil, these don’t last very long on my waterline. On the plus side, the colors are both light enough that I can apply them and even if they don’t stay long, the fading isn’t very noticeable.

I’m still a fan of these eyeliners and would definitely purchase other colors!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner retails for $20 and is available at Stila’s website, Sephora, and UIta.

I received this Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in my January Birchbox and have had a couple months to try it out so that I can let you know what I thought of them.

The color that I got was Peacock – a bright blue with a bit of a metallic sheen. I was quite excited to try it out since I’m always looking for a waterproof eyeliner that actually stays on my waterline.

This is an automatic pencil, but it’s definitely not retractable. It takes some effort to get the pencil to start twisting up, but you can’t twist it back down. The pencil is very soft and easy to draw with. Smudge it quickly before it sets up because once it does, it doesn’t budge.

You can see in the swatch in the second picture above that after some vigorous rubbing, some of the liner gets removed, but it stays on pretty well. Regular eye make up remover was enough to get it off.

Unfortunately on my waterline it doesn’t last, even if I make sure to run a cotton bud on my waterline to remove the moisture and allow some dry time. On the plus side, it kind of fades away rather than running down under my eye. If I put the liner on in my lower lashline, it will stay all day with no problems.

Overall, I’m very pleased with this Stila eyeliner even though it’s not great for my waterline. I’ll probably be purchasing other colors when I see them on sale.

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner retails for $20 and is available at Stila’s website, Sephora, and UIta.

My  mother got this BareMinerals liner in one of her kits from QVC, but doesn’t use eyeliner so she gave it to me to try out.

The Round the Clock Waterproof Eyeliner advertises 8 hours of long-wearing eye color. I can’t find these on the BareMinerals site, so they might be an exclusive to QVC. The color I have is Noon, which is a navy blue.

This liner wasn’t very soft, but it drew a smooth line and once you gave it a minute to set, it was smudge proof. The third line in the swatch was after I tried rubbing the liner. I also wore it in my lower lashes, where it stayed all day and even required makeup remover to clean it all off.

I thought this was actually a great liner despite the fact that it was a little dry. I used it several times since I got it last Fall but then didn’t touch them again for a few months.

Unfortunately, I discovered the other day that the liner had completely dried out. It was really difficult to draw a line on the back of my hand and the pencil has separated from the outside casing, causing it to wobble when drawing a line. Sharpening it did nothing nor did heating it with a hairdryer or using some water. I just ended up with a crumbly, waxy line. There’s no way I’m going to try that on my eye.

Other liners from this line are great, but I can’t recommend BareMinerals’ Round the Clock Eyeliner. Even if they’re okay for 3 months after purchase, they are much too expensive ($22 for two) to keep repurchasing.

At the beginning of the year, Physicians Formula released these kohl kajal eyeliner trios styled more like traditional kajal rather than in a pencil form. Like the rest of their Shimmer Strips line, these eyeliners come in sets for specific eye colors and I bought the one for brown eyes. It includes a black, brown, and purple eyeliner.

Physicians Formula claims that the eyeliner is 100% waterproof, hypoallergenic, paraben free and gluten free.

The cone shaped eyeliner probably looks scary to use, but I found it easy to apply the product to my waterline. If you’re trying to apply a fine line to your eye lid or the lower lash line, this might not work that well once the point wears down.

Each eyeliner has a clear cap that snaps on, so there’s no worry about them sliding open. They apply to the waterline very smoothly without tugging or scratching. Unfortunately, I didn’t find them to be very pigmented on the waterline. It took a couple of swipes to get any of the colors to apply how I wanted. However, in the lower lashline, I did get decent color.

From left to right above are the black, brown, and purple eyeliner on the waterline and the lower lash line. You can see that the colors come out much better on the lower lashline than the waterline, although the black does look the best. Here’s another set of swatches together on my wrist with more even lighting.

On dry skin, the liner does set without with very little smudging. It is moisture resistant, but washes off with some soap and water. Unfortunately, none of the colors lasted very long on my waterline. After about 3 hours, the black had all but disappeared, although any liner stayed on my lower lashline with little smudging.

I did find that these felt dry on my waterline, but didn’t cause other irritation. This set retails for $10.95, but there was a coupon on the box so I was able to get it at a reduced price.

I like the idea of a drugstore brand kajal, but these didn’t really work well for me on the waterline, which is what I wanted them for. Looks like I’ll have to keep looking!

I’m always on the hunt for a great eyeliner for my waterline that doesn’t run down my face after 15 minutes. After much blog hunting, I read up on traditional Indian kajal eyeliner and thought I would give it a try. Indian kajal is not exactly a cosmetic item as it’s used by many as preventative eye care and treatment. The herbal ingredients are supposed to pamper your eyes and help grow eyelashes.

When looking for a kajal, you have to be careful what you buy because some brands may contain lead. You can read this report from the NYC Dept. of Health about lead being found in certain brands of kohl, kajal, and surma. After more research, I came across a few reputable brands and decided to try Shaeyes Herbal Eyeliner by Shahnaz Husain.

The product is packaged very simply. On the back are directions and a list of ingredients. The two items that aren’t exactly natural is the polyparaben and the coloring, but you’ll find both of those in commercial eyeliners so I wasn’t very concerned. The eyeliner comes in a lipstick tube with mirror on the cap. There’s a holographic sticker sealing the tube that was kind of a pain to remove, but I guess that’s okay. The plastic of the tube does feel a little cheap, but I think it will hold up fine.

Taking the cap off, you’ll see that the product is a cone shape that twists up just like a lipstick. At the base, there is a sticker indicating when the product was made and when it will expire. I  actually wish all cosmetics had expiration dates on them! Big plus here.

The first photo below shows one line of the eyeliner and another above it smudged. The liner is very creamy and applied smoothly with little pressure. This is not a waterproof or smudgeproof product! I knew that going in, though so it didn’t bother me.

The middle photo shows the Shaeyes kajal freshly applied. It wasn’t as scary to use such a giant applicator as I thought and it was easy to work with. I really like the way it looks… and wish it would stay all day. The third photo shows what the eyeliner looks like after 2 hours.

It should be noted that I did not apply any primer nor did I set the eyeliner with powder. For subsequent applications, I used liquid liner in the lower lashline, the Shaeyes on the waterline, then set it with black eyeshadow. This kept the product from running under my eye, but after about 4 hours it was mostly gone from my waterline and gathered in the outercorner.

The plus side to this kajal – and probably others – is that it’s easy to just swipe it away from your under eye area. If you kept the kajal in your purse, you could reapply it as needed. However, I’m not someone who likes to mess with my makeup through the day so I would find it to be too much of a hassle.

Overall, I do like this kajal but it’s the first one I’ve tried. There are a few other brands that are popular in India that I might purchase in the future (Himalaya and Lotus) as well as German brand Lakshmi (see this review), but that one is rather expensive.

I purchased this kajal from ShahnazHusainUSA, a NY based distributor for Shahnaz Husain products. It cost $10.99 with free shipping and arrived quickly.

Hi, everyone! I am quite excited by this month’s Birchbox because there was an amazing item inside! Let me just show you what was in my box this month.

Here’s a listing of the items:

• Beautyblender makeup sponge
• dermalogica Daily Microfoliant
• EYE ROCK Designer Liner – Classics pack
• Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint (in Pearl)
• Extra: Heart Shaped Nail File
• Extra: six songs by Green River Ordinance

The Eye Rock liners look pretty cool and I might try those out when I go to a convention next weekend. I haven’t used the Dermalogica exfoliant yet since I’ve still got a few I’m working through, but I definitely look forward to trying it out. Here are some swatches of the Jouer tinted moisturizer:

I thought the Jouer Moisture Tint sample in Pearl was a good color match. It wasn’t oily, but there was thin coverage. I would consider getting this if it weren’t for one thing: the very fine shimmer. I know it’s a luminizing tint, but it was ridiculous amount of sparkle. I’ll pass on this, but if Jouer ever comes out with a non-luminizing version, I would definitely want to give it a try.

And now… the free Beautyblender! The day before this box arrived, I was actually about to purchase the Sonia Kashuk imitation blending sponge. So glad I didn’t! I’ve been using my Beautyblender to apply tinted moisturizer and it works great. I’m going to try using it to apply BB cream and mineral foundation to how well it works with those since I’m actually having difficulty finding a tinted moisturizer that like.

If you haven’t seen the Beautyblender before, it’s an egg-shaped latex-free cosmetic sponge. When you wet the  Beautyblender, it will expand to twice its size. Squeeze out the water so the sponge is just damp and then you apply your foundation or tinted moisturizer using a stippling, bouncing motion. There are lots of reviews and tutorials on YouTube if you need more instructions.

There are things I don’t like about the Beautyblender, of course. First, a single sponge costs $15 or you can buy a set of two for $25 – I feel like that’s a lot to spend in a sponge that you’re supposed to switch out every 3 to 6 months. Cleaning is also more involved than with a brush or the usual sponge. The company advises you purchase their special cleaner, but I’ve found that gentle shampoo or makeup cleanser work. Right now I’m using Body Shop’s Earth Lovers Shower Gel and it works great.

One tip for cleaning the Beautyblender: don’t wash it right away. You can try and rinse out some product after you finish your makeup, but I find it’s much easier to get the Beautyblender totally clean if you let the sponge dry for a few hours first. So, put your make up on, try to rinse out extra product if you want, then just put it somewhere and come back in a few hours. When you’re ready to clean it, dampen the Beautyblender, massage in some of your chosen cleanser – as you squeeze the suds out, you’ll see your foundation or whatever in it. Rinse out all the cleanser and set the sponge out to dry overnight. Easy!

My mother is subscribed to Birchbox as well and sometimes she’ll give me something from her box. This month, she had no use for  the Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Serum.

I love this stuff! After washing my face at night, I put a little bit of this serum on any flare ups and in the morning they’re greatly reduced or gone. I will certainly be buying a full size when I run out of this sample size.

Birchbox is a monthly sample subscription service. For $10 per month, you’ll receive a box of 4 or 5 items just for you, based on a survey you will out when you sign up.

The theme for January’s Birchbox is Clarity and to help us start the year off, this box includes some lovely samples!

My box for this month included:

• Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash – multi-tasking cleanser for combination skin
• Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner – in peacock
• VMV Hypoallergenics Re-Everything Face-Hand-Body Lotion
• Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy fragrance
• Extra: Larabar mini bar
• Extra: Birchbox logo magnet

I’ll be reviewing the Stila Smudge Stick in a future review once I’ve had some more time to use it.

Larabars are great snack bars to have when you’re out and about. I usually keep one of these or a Luna bar in my purse so I have something when my blood sugar gets low.

The Origins Checks & Balances cleanser has a very fresh scent and leaves my face feeling clean without drying it out.

Overall, this was another great Birchbox! Can’t wait to see what I get next month!