Monday, March 21, 2016

Review: Natural Skincare Products! Hops Hands Infused Hand Salve & Hops Lips Infused Lip Balm by Spindrift Soap Co

Hello Everyone!!
Today is going to be a review on some all natural skincare products that I was sent from Jointle!
In case you're not familiar with Jointle, they are a platform that supports small local makers and their website is full of American made goodies! They do not sell any mass produced items, so if your into supporting small businesses, I highly recommend this site!

I was sent two products by Spindrift Soap Co: Hops Hands Hops Infused Hand Salve with lemongrass and ylang ylang & Hops Lips Infused Lip Balm with peppermint and rosemary!

The first quality I noticed about these products is that they contained essential oils.
I love essential oils, I use them daily, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that these products contained so many of the oils that I use on a daily basis!
Also, I was thoroughly impressed by how small the ingredients list was for each product, and the fact that I knew every ingredient on each of the list was very comforting. All of the ingredients will be listed with the products in  full the review below! 
Also, links to the products I'm reviewing and the website will be linked at the end.

Now, time for the full review!!



(clockwise: Hops Hands, Hops Hands Product inside, my lips with Hops Lips on them, Hops Lips)

Hops Hands Hops Infused Hand Salve with Lemongrass and Ylang Ylang

Ingredients: Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Apricot Oil, Beeswax, Vitamin E, Citra Hops, Lemongrass Esential Oil, Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

The ingredients, in my opinion, are amazing! The only ingredient I wasn't familiar with was the Citra Hops and after some googling, a lot of websites claim that it has healing and anti-inflammatory properties, which fit right in with the rest of the ingredients.
 When i first opened it, it smelled just like lemongrass essential oil! I personally love the scent of lemongrass, I use it in my diffuser regularly. 
The consistency when you first open it is very firm, almost hard.
I just dig a small dab out (a little goes a long way) and then rub it between my hands till it turns into a more liquid consistency. 
This product is very rich and hydrating and I find that it applies best when I have just gotten out of the shower. 
I prefer to apply this at night, because it is so rich, as an overnight treatment for my skin. 
Although it says its a hand salve, I apply it to my knees and elbows; Basically any area that I feel needs hydration.  I've even applied some to my lips.


Overall, this is a really nice product. I love the ingredients. This is a great product for super dry skin. 


Hops Lips Infused Lip Balm with Peppermint and Rosemary

Ingredients: Organic Bees Wax, Organic Coconut Oil, Citra Hops, Vitamin E, Peppermint Essential Oil, Rosemary Essential Oil

Once again, I love how simple and skin loving the ingredients list is. This lip balm does everything a  lip balm should. I love the scent and slight tingly effect that the peppermint oil give. 
This lip balm is very similar to coconut oil in consistency. I would not recommend taking this lip balm somewhere extremely hot, because it does seem to melt a tad bit easily.
 If your going to work or school though, it will be fine.
Because it gets slightly liquidy when it gets warm, it leaves a very pretty glossy wet look on the lips.
I have applied this numerous times by itself and over other colors and I love the sheen it gives. 

Overall, I really love this lip balm. It is simple, natural, and effective.

I really enjoy finding ways to incorporate natural products into my beauty routine, because honestly, I feel like natural products are better for you! They are just harder to come by. 

Thank you, Jointle & Spindrift Soap Co for the amazing products!


Links: 






I hope someone found this helpful,

Macy

<3












Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Why I'm Switching From Ipsy To Birchbox! & First Impression, Swatches, & Review of February Birchbox With $25 Free Gift!

Hello World!
I'm back from my midterm hiatus! YAY!
During my little hiatus, I signed up to Birchbox. During the month of February, Birchbox was sending a $25 gift upon signing up, so I thought this would be the perfect time to test out the Birchbox waters! 
I've been getting Ipsy for almost two years now and I have accumulated a ton of makeup bags! I've been thinking about switching to a new subscription service for a while now due to the fact that I have so many makeup bags and I haven't been all that impressed with their samples lately. (They've sent me three flesh colored lipsticks that make me look dead. I retook the survey in case I clicked something that would insinuate that I look good in flesh colored lipsticks, but I still received similar colors.) Anyways, I thought this would be a great time to change it up and try out Birchbox!

Another huge reason Birchbox drew me in, is their point system. Compared to Ipsy, it is much more efficient and a better value. Ipsy only lets you select from a few travel sized options in their point shop. Birchbox allows you to build up your points and get actual products from their store. You can earn up to 50 points just by reviewing the products you receive. 50 points= $5. You can earn back 50% of what you actually spend on the Birchbox each month and put it towards anything in their store. You also have a much wider variety of options to spend your points on. They may be more expensive than the sample sizes Ipsy offers, but I'd rather get $5 off of a full size product I love rather than pick out a sample of a product that I don't necessarily care for. Also, you earn points from the purchases you make in their store; One point for every dollar you spend. If you spend $50, you get 10% back since 50 points = $5.
Your points are good for a year, so If you review every item you receive, you could save up $60 by the end of the year! 

Lastly, I love the fact that you can customize the box you receive! They will have two (i think, maybe 3) different box themes you can pick from. So, If you want to have some control over what you receive, that is a great option. But, if you enjoy the element of surprise, you can just skip the whole customization option and see what they send you! 

I'm not hating on Ipsy,I adore the numerous makeup bags I've collected. I just feel like Birchbox has more perks! Plus, its always fun to change it up and try something new.

By the way, this isn't sponsored by Birchbox or anything like that, after some research, those are simply some of my reasons for switching from Ipsy to Birchbox. 

Anyways, on to the review!

I received:
  • Hey Honey Take It Off Exfoliating Peel Off Mask - 2/5 I've actually tried this mask before and I'm not a huge fan. I don't particularly like peel off masks. It dries to a clear almost plastic looking barrier on your skin. When you peel it off, it does feel like its pulling the gunk out. If you have any peach fuzz or accidentally touch your eyebrow though, it will pull the hair out or just hurt. This mask does what it says and gets the job done. I'm just a clay mask kind of girl.
  • Corioliss Argan Conditioning Mask- N/A I rarely use hair masks, but when I do, I will update this post. 
  • Naobay HydraPlus Cream- 4/5 I really enjoyed this moisturizer. Its rich and creamy. It didn't break me out. 
  • Color Club- Thats My Jam 5/5 I love the formula of this nail color! I've been wearing it for three days now and It hasn't chipped yet. It has a sheer but buildable gel like consistency when you apply it. I only needed to apply two coats for it to be opaque. I wasn't crazy about the color, but I want to purchase some other shades because the formula is amazing!
  • Pop Beauty Matte Velvet Lipstick- Cozy Crimson - 5/5 This was, by far, my favorite item from my Birchbox! The formula is velvety (like the name suggests), the color is vibrant, and it smelled very tropical like Sun Bum. The scent alone is amazing and I would probably purchase a chapstick if it smelled the way this lipstick does. I will definitely purchase more shades in the future! I love this lipstick!!! 
  • Mally Beauty Evercolor Shadow Stick-  5/5 This was the free $25 gift I got for signing up. This is an absolutely amazing cream eye shadow! It doesn't budge. I've been using it as a base for other shadows & wearing it on its own. One thing I love about this cream shadow is that you can blend powder shadows seamlessly on top of this with out having to set it. Usually I have to set cream products with a similar powder shadow, but not with this product. I've been applying this all over the lid and up into the crease then just blend a darker shadow into the crease to add dimension. 
Overall I really loved my Birchbox! I'm excited to see what other samples I receive!
For the month of March I actually chose one of the customized boxes. I'm so excited to try out the products that it had listed!

Also if you decide to sign up, please use my referral link. Anyone who signs up gets their own referral link and for every person you refer, you get $5 to spend in the Birchbox Shop!

Let me know if you prefer Ipsy or Birchbox!
What Birchbox samples did you receive? Did you like them?

I hope someone found this post helpful!

<3

Macy

Swatches in the third box from the top are the Pop Beauty Lipstick & the Mally Evercolor Shadow Stick. Color Club nail polish is on my nails in the lower left hand corner, & the same Pop Beauty lipstick swatched on my hand is on my lips in the lower right hand corner.