Have you heard of Birchbox?

I’m sure most of you have, but if not it’s a Beauty Box subscription service where you pay $10.00 a month and get 4-5 deluxe beauty samples delivered to your door monthly.

I’ve been meaning to join for awhile now, but just got around to it last month and yesterday my first box arrived.

Here’s what I received in my September box.

They send out a nice note with each box telling you about the products you’ve just received.

The contents of my box.

1. Colorescience Pro Sunforgettable Mineral Powder SPF 30 Medium.

A mineral sunscreen that evens and mattifies skin + lasts all day.

2.Jouer Lip Enhancer

A lip balm that can hydrate, plump, and condition all in one go.

3. Jurlique Purely Age Defying Firm and Lift Cream

This luxe moisturizer spurs collagen production and new cells to keep skin healthy and youthful.

4. Incoco Nail Polish Strips

Nail strips for your fingers or toes.

5. Attimo by Salvatore Ferragamo

A sophisticated fragrance with delicate peony and jasmine.

6. Birchbox Friendship Bracelet

A friendship bracelet from Birchbox. How cute!

So there you have it my first ever Birchbox.

I have to say I love it and can’t believe I waited so long to join.

Look for reviews of each of the products at a later date.

Are you a member of Birchbox?

What did you receive this month?

Not a member?

You can sign up at Birchbox.com.

I’m a soap fanatic.

I think I have about 12 different bars of Lush soap in my bathroom at the moment.

That’s not counting bath wash, shower gel, etc.

Told you it was bad! Haha.

So I had to tell you about this new soap company I’m loving at the moment.

iVi Scents.

All iVi Scents products are nontoxic and totally free of:

Sulfates
Parabens
Phthalates
Triclosan
Mineral Oils
Genetically Modified Organisms
Animal Cruelty

On top of all that they also smell amazing and are packaged in the cutest packaging ever!

My favorite scent at the moment is Knight In Shining Armor, Smells just like sweet citrus and luscious berries.

Yummy.

This soap retails for: $6.99 at iVi Scents.com.

Have you tried this brand before?

What were your thoughts?

Please share!

I’m loving the new promo shots for Illamasqua’s Toxic Nature Spring 2011 Collection.

I can’t wait to check the products out in person, so far from the look of things I want it all!!

What do you think? Will you be checking out the new collection?

If you follow me on Twitter you probably saw me tweet about this polish yesterday. But it’s such a fabulous shade I couldn’t go without blogging about it as well.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Rare is a bright and cheery neon yellow with a matte finish.

It screams 1980′s!

It screams summer!

It screams look at me!

It’s amazing or at least the color is….

The polish not so much….it’s a pain in the butt to apply.

I applied three coats to get what you see in the photo, but I still couldn’t keep it from looking streaky.

Thankfully, once I applied the top coat it looked a lot better.

Maybe, it’s because I’m not used to matte polish?? You think?

I don’t know, but I would still highly recommend it.

I mean where else can you get such a gorgeous highlighter yellow shade of polish?

Thank you Illamasqua for such a fun, vibrant color.

And Thank you Florida for being in the 80s so I can wear it without feeling like a fool.

Retails for: $14.00 at Sephora

Happy Wednesday! How is everyone? Hope you’re all doing well.

Today I want to tell you about two amazing new products I’ve been using a lot lately. They’re from the company It Cosmetics and they rock!

The first product is called Bye Bye Under Eye.

Do you know those girls who can leave the house without a stitch of makeup on and still look fabulous? Yeah, me too. Don’t you just hate them?

I kid I kid, but seriously just for the record I’m totally not one of those women. If I even try to leave the house without concealer on I’ll get asked about 1,000 times that day if I’m sick,tired,etc.

If you can relate then you have to check out the product Bye Bye Under Eye from It Cosmetics. I was sent this product a few months ago for review and I love it!

I’m being 100% honest when I say no other concealer out there can hide my dark circles as well as this one can. Bye Bye Under Eye is waterproof, applies easily and doesn’t settle into my fine lines. What more can you ask for? Oh and it pretty much lasts forever, because you only need to apply the tiniest amount. Jamie Kern, creator of It Cosmetics, says to use a pea sized amount, but I use even less. It’s that pigmented!

Bye Bye Under Eye is great for all skin tones and comes in four shades; light, neutral medium, tan and deep.

Bye Bye Under Eye is available for $24.00 here.

The Second Product is Bye Bye Pores.

Bye Bye Pores Hd Micro Powder is the perfect way to finish off any look. I own two other HD powders, but this one has to be my favorite. Bye Bye Pores is infused with line smoothing hydrolyzed collagen, luxurious silk for a poreless finish, and vitamin K to help reduce discoloration. It also contains anti-aging anti-oxidants Vitamins A,C & E to help ward off free radicals throughout the day. This powder is as soft as silk and leaves your skin looking amazing. Pores and oil are gone just like that. This is a must have product for anyone who suffers from large pores/oily skin/etc in my opinion.

Don’t take my word for it though check out this before and after photo:

Bye Bye Pores is available for $24.00 here.

It Cosmetics has a huge celebrity following including Julianne Hough, Holly Madison and many more. You can find It Cosmetics online here.

Have you tried any of these products before? What were your thoughts?

Note: I received a press sample of these products for review.

Hi Girls. How’s it going? I hope your week is going well so far!

Today I thought I’d post a list of my favorite beauty products. I get asked all the time to do this so I decided why not it should be fun.

I’m sure this list will change in the future, but at the moment these are the makeup products I reach for the most. Enjoy.

Face Primer:
Nars and Smashbox are tied

Liquid Foundation:
Nars Sheer Glow or Illuminare Fantastic Finish Foundation

Mineral Foundation:
Bare Minerals

Concealer:
MAC Studio Finish

Powder:
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

Blush:
Bare Escentuals Golden Gate and MAC Love Rock

Bronzer:
Bare Escentuals Faux Tan

Highlighter:
Benefit High Beam

Lipstick:
MAC Hue or MAC Angel

Lipgloss:
NYX Sweet Heart

Eye Primer:
Urban Decay Primer Potion

Pencil Eye Liner:
Urban Decay Zero

Liquid Eye liner:
Revlon Colorstay

Mascara:
MAC Studio Fix Lash

Eyeshadows:
I will be doing a separate post on my top 10 eyeshadows in the next day or two so watch out for that.

What are your must have beauty products? Please share!!

Happy Holidays from Illuminare Cosmetics. To get a 10% discount on ALL products (Retail Only), enter “10Percent” as the discount code in shopping cart. If your order is over $100 (Retail Only), enter “15Percent” as the discount code in shopping cart. Offer ends January 4th at midnight PST. ALL ORDERS (Retail only) will be shipped free within the USA!

Happy Shopping!

If you’re a makeup lover, which I’ll assume you are since you read this blog, then I’m sure you’ve heard of Illamasqua before. The internet has been all abuzz about this line for months now and I’m very excited that I’m finally getting to try out some of the products for myself.

What they say:

Known for their intense colors and dramatic makeup, Illamasqua is your go-to brand for nighttime makeup whether it’s an evening out at the opera or the dance club. Conceived amidst the dark drama of Berlin in the 20s, Illamasqua was developed by professional makeup artists and launched in 2008 in the U.K. Embraced by celebs and alternative cultures alike, their colors allow you to express your most daring, boldest, and most intense sides with professional nighttime makeup that’s richly pigmented and long lasting. Are you ready to release your alter ego?

Our thoughts:

I was recently sent two products from Illamasqua to review and they were the Powder Eye Shadow in Poem and a Pure Pigment in Furore.

Poem shadow is a gorgeous violet shimmery shade. I love the color of this shadow, but I wish it were slightly more pigmented. It takes several applications to build the shadow up to the shade you see in the container. After having problems with the pigmentation of Poem I headed over to Sephora to check out the other shadows from Illamasqua. The good news is it seems the poor pigmentation is only a problem with Poem. The other shadows all seem to be very highly pigmented.

The Pure Pigment in Furore is a peach champagne shimmer. It’s very highly pigmented and such a gorgeous shade. I wore this pigment on my eyes to a Christmas party the other night and got so many nice compliments on it. You don’t have to wear this as a shadow though, you can also wear this product on your cheeks and brows as a highlight. I tried it today on my cheekbones and I absolutely love it!! Just be sure to only use a tiny bit or you’ll look like a disco ball!

Another great thing about the Illamasqua pigments is the packaging. I love that it has the little stopper built into the lid. It’s a lot less messy than my MAC pigments. I’m so in love with Furore that I’ve started a “Illamasqua Wish List” it includes the pigments Incite and Fervent, Liquid Metals Solstice and Enrapture and several different shadows and glosses. I sure hope Santa brings me that Sephora giftcard I’m asking for.

Final Thoughts:

This company reminds me a lot of MAC and as you all know MAC is one of my favorite companies. I can see my Illamasqua collection growing quickly in the near future. I highly recommend either of these products, but my favorite has to be the Furore pigment.

Have you tried any Illamasqua products before? What were your thoughts?

Illamasqua Pigments Retail for: $ 24.00 and Shadows for: $20.00 at here and here.

Note: I received a press sample of this product for review.

I wanted to tell you all about this great deal from Illuminare. If you don’t know Illuminare is my favorite liquid foundation out there. I’ve recommended it to so many people and they all end up telling me how it’s now their favorite foundation as well.

To get a 20% discount on ALL products (Retail Only), enter “20Percent” as the discount code in shopping cart. This offer ends November 30th at midnight PDT. ALL ORDERS (Retail only) will be shipped free within the USA!

I get emails a lot from people asking about my favorite foundation so I thought why not do a post on it. Hope you enjoy and please feel free to share your favorites with me as well. I’m always on the lookout for a great foundation.

Bare Minerals

I’ve been using this product since 2005 and it’s still my favorite. This foundation is light, it feels amazing on my skin, and it leaves me with a nice natural glow. I honestly can’t say enough wonderful things about it. Have you tried it? What were your thoughts?

Retails for: $25.00 at Sephora.

Illuminare Fantastic Finish Foundation

This is a great foundation for someone who loves mineral makeup, but wants a little more coverage.

Retails for: $27.00 atIlluminare.

Revlon Colorstay

I’m not a fan of liquid foundation so when it comes to using one I’m very picky about it. Colorstay beats all the high end foundations I’ve ever tried. If you want a liquid foundation I don’t think you can go wrong with this one.

Retails for:$13.99 at CVS

Korres Ginger & Vitamin Foundation

This product is closer to a tinted moisturizer than a foundation in my opinion. It’s a great product for those days when you don’t want to wear a heavy foundation, but you still want to look put together. It’s great , but I don’t recommend it if you have any flaws (zits,scars,etc) to cover because it’s not heavy enough to cover them in my experience.

Retails for:$28.00 at Sephora

What about you? What are your favorite foundations?