Birchbox Man: August 2012

I've got to give it to Birchbox — they're killing it when it comes to the mens boxes! This month Richard got some pretty good stuff. 

The t-shirt is from Barking Irons; it's amazingly soft and is this really awesome grey color. They say it's "vintage fit with short, angled sleeves" but other than the sleeves it seems like a pretty normal tee to me!  It's $46 for a two-pack of these shirts so getting one in a $20 Birchbox? Worth it. Next up is the Oribe Ultra Gentle Shampoo and Conditioner which Richard has yet to try but from the looks of it they seem pretty good, especially because they're gentle and hopefully gentle enough for sensitive skin.

As per each Birchbox he's recieved so far, there were some things wrapped in some green paper with a Birchbox sticker-type thing holding it together. Inside we found three pretty awesome little products. 

Richard's not much of a lip balm person but he has enjoyed using the C.O. BIGELOW's My Favorite Lip Balm. It's got shea butter and almond oil and isn't too thick or greasy on the lips aka perfect for men. The Marvis Classic Mint Toothpaste is bomb. Seriously. I tried this and love it and am honestly considering purchasing it. Not only is the package all vintage and badass, but the toothpaste is so good that the sample is already gone. The last thing in the box this month was Kiehl's Ultimate Brushless Shave Cream. Kiehl's is a pretty great brand when it comes to skincare so this seems like a pretty great product. It's a menthol-infused cream which means you'll get a nice cool shave (literally).

What do you guys think about these products? Have you signed up for Birchbox Men yet? 

LUSH Emotional Brilliance

My lovely sister-in-law works at LUSH in England and sent me a few things for my birthday. I was super excited because I love LUSH to bits and the fact that they were coming out with a make-up line was just too perfect.

The marketing for the line is pretty wonderful; it's all about conveying and portraying yourself through their cosmetics and colors. Feeling a little passionate? Pop on their Passionate lipstick. As LUSH Co-founder Mark Constantine said, "You choose the colour that represents a word. As long as you believe in that word, it’s got nothing to do with anyone else.". Obviously not everyone is going to use them this way, but the idea is cute, non?

I'm absolutely in love with what I've used so far. Sophisticated is my new favorite cream eyeshadow — it's perfect for my skin tone and is versatile enough to be used day and night. The Feeling Younger skin tint is seriously amazing. It works wonderfully as a highlighter, adding a bit of glow and shimmer right to your cheek bones. I'm already planning to do a FOTD (face of the day) using most of the products I can so you guys can see just how amazing this stuff is.


What do you guys think of LUSH's makeup line? Do you think their marketing will be successful in getting people to wear how they feel, so to speak?

MAC Angel Lipstick

MAC Angel Lipstick · $15.00

I've been wanting to get a few more lipsticks to add to my collection as I've just started getting really into wearing them. I used to be a bit fearful of wearing any colors on my lips but that all changed once I started frequenting the MAC counters and stores. I started with Saint Germain (go figure), then Cosmo, and now Angel. 

I wear Cosmo quite often — it's a nice reddish tone and is totally different to Saint Germain which is a super bright Marina Diamandis-esque pink. I wanted something a little more subtle for daytime and something that would really suit my skin. The woman at the MAC counter in Bloomingdales kept handing me bright colors (lol) but then handed me this. Immediately I loved it, asked Richard for his opinion, and 3 minutes later I purchased it.

It's the perfect pink for me and is a lot lighter on the lips than you'd think. I was afraid of the frost finish as I've got quite chapped lips most of the time, but it seems to be okay with a little lip balm. I've been wearing it every day since I got it which is a good sign (except for the fact that I ordered another lipstick from MAC which I love even more than this and it should be here tomorrow, oops).

What do you guys think of Angel? What's your favorite MAC lipstick/finish?

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm · $45

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm is a product I've heard a lot about, especially from the UK bloggers that I follow. Though I haven't really been into skincare before, I'm starting to get into a basic daily regimen. I have normal skin, I rarely break out, and redness/oiliness isn't really an issue for me. For a while I naively figured that if I had such great skin I didn't really need to partake in cleansing, toning, exfoliating, etc. but I'm slowly learning that the more I take care of my skin now, the better it will be in the future. 

Beauty Flash Balm can be used two ways: as a primer/base for makeup or as a  10-minute mask. The directions (for the base/primer) say to smooth onto the skin — don't rub — and immediately apply makeup, so that's what I did and the results were pretty fantastic. Almost immediately I saw my skin go from normal-dull to dewy and the addition of my liquid/créme foundation only made it better; I was basically glowing. My makeup lasted all day without needing any touch-ups so I'm pretty thrilled at the results. I'm interested to see the effects it has on my skin over time and if it really does "minimize signs of fatigue/stress" because god knows we all need a little help with that sometimes!

Have any of you tried this before? What other Clarins products should I check out?

Weekend Recap: BIRTHDAY!

Ahhhhhhhhh, birthdays. This past Saturday I turned 23 and I've got to admit it was one of the best birthdays I've ever had! Shopping, movie nighting and In-N-Outing with two of my favorite people! Woo!

I picked up some cute stuff from Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, as well as Sephora (obviously?!). I'm still waiting on a few things that needed to be shipped to me which is fun because it's kind of prolonging my birthday happiness! Yay.

Although I got some gorgeous clothes and cosmetics and even some stuff from my wishlist, my favorite gift was what I got from Richard. As you can see by the little Instagram shot of the cute card he illustrated for me, we're going to New York next month to see Marina & the Diamonds (since I missed the show here, which we had tickets for). I literally cried from being so excited/surprised/happy. I'm a lucky girl!

I hope everyone else had an amazing weekend! I literally couldn't have asked for anything more :)