January Birchbox

I spent the entire month of January roaming the streets of Paris and eating crepes all over my favorite city in the world. So now I'm back to the Polar Vortex of Minnesota ready for another semester of school. I arrived at my apartment a few days ago to a wonderful surprise. My best friend gifted me a three month Birchbox subscription for Christmas! I didn't know about it because I hadn't been to my apartment for so long and she is good at keeping secrets! So excited about three months of fun goodies. Yes, this can almost be categorized as a full month late, but I only opened it a few days ago!

First of all, Birchbox has a fabulous packaging strategy. The products come in an adorable printed box and it's presented as a gift complete with bright pink tissue paper.

Inside January's box was a 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara, Gilchrist & Soames Shampoo and Conditioner, a sample of Juicy Couture Original, and Reviver Dry Deodorant Wipe.

I've tested the mascara and absolutely love it. It smells like berry black tea and gives natural looking lashes while also pumping up the volume a bit. I'll be testing it out a bit more over the next few days, but if I like it enough I might just go buy it. It's a natural mascara and I've been on the hunt for more natural products recently.

Haven't tried the shampoo and conditioner yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Both smell like passionfruit and citrus. I'm not too picky with shampoo so I'm assuming I'll like this. My only concern is if it is too heavy for my hair. We shall see!

The Juicy Couture Original perfume sample is nice, but I wouldn't purchase this in full size. It's expensive and it's not my type of scent. The scent description says, "Mandarin, rose, and sandalwood." To me, it's much too floral, but I know many people who enjoy this scent.

The Reviver Dry Deodorant Wipe is surprisingly the product I'm most intrigued by. The card says, "The first-ever deodorant for your duds, this handy cloth whisks away odors on contact." Being the scent girl that I am, I am constantly worried that my clothes smell like the restaurant I just left (or that I'm sweaty). That happens too. Anyway, I haven't had a chance to use this yet, but I'm very interested in what it can do.

The box also came with adorable colorful cards. They're full of happiness and motivation so, naturally, they've already found a place on my wall.

I'm loving this first Birchbox and cannot wait until February's box arrives!

July Favorites 2013

July is my favorite month of the entire year so writing about how it is the end of the month makes me extremely sad! I don't want summer to be over, but it's flying by me and I have so many things to do before I go back to school. I can't get too upset though because my best friend, Meghan,  who I haven't seen in months, comes home from Germany today! Without further ado, here are my July favorites!

Essie Topless and Barefoot: I have been absolutely loving this shade on my nails this month. For some reason I've let it sit in my nail polish collection untouched all summer long. Fortunately I've picked it up and rekindled our love with just enough summer left to enjoy it. I think when I tried this before it was in the dead of winter and I didn't like the stark contrast between ghostly pale white and the nude nail polish. But, now I've got what I call a "summer glow" (if you know me, that's a joke) and I think it is my perfect nude shade.

Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Poppy Paradise: I posted a haul with this blush and mentioned that I'd come back to post about how I was liking it. I obviously have not gotten around to a full review, but since this is a favorites post I think that says a lot about the product since it is included in here! Beautiful natural color that stays pretty much all day long.

Revlon Lash Potion Mascara: I'm not one to venture out to try new mascaras, but the packaging on this one got me. I love the formula and it doesn't clump. Not much else to say! It's great!

Psssst Dry Shampoo: I'm a dry shampoo fanatic lately because who has time to wash their hair in the summertime? Not me! I ran out of my Batiste Dry Shampoo and grabbed this at Walgreens. I'm in love. It's like every new dry shampoo I try is my new favorite. Maybe I'm on to something...

Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel: This is my everyday cleanser and it's basically an everyday all the time favorite so I felt like it needed a mention. This is a gentle cleanser that has never given me breakouts and I love the scent of herbs and freshness. This product was feeling left out of my blog so I needed to add it because I love it so much.

Caress Passionate Spell Body Wash: I ran out of this body wash in July and now I need to repurchase it because I love it that much. It's amazing. I suck at describing smells. Just go buy it. It's amazing.

What are your July favorites?