L'Oreal Influenster VoxBox

Recently I got this stacked VoxBox from Influenster to try out a bunch of makeup products from L'Oreal, which particularly focused on lashes. It came with two eye shadows, eye liner, a mini brow kit, Voluminous mascara primer and Voluminous mascara.

Makeup-snob in me wasn't expecting much. Besides my coveted e.l.f. $2 liquid eyeliner, drugstore brands don't often make it into my bag. I was out of state for a couple of days visiting my mom, so I figured it would be a good time to try these products for a couple of days when I figured I wouldn't have to be out in public much (Oregon, versus San Francisco on a daily basis).

First up was the eye shadow duo. I used the light on my brow bone & the darker on my lid & crease. The shimmer slate actually had amazing dimension - It looked shimmery where I wanted it to, but also appeared matte in my crease where that would be more ideal. It reminded me of some of my favorite Too Faced eye shadows - which is one of my favorite eye shadow brands. 

The brow kit seemed pretty light for my skin and hair - as my natural hair color is dark brown. I ended up bleaching the top part of my hair about a week after I received this VoxBox though, so it ended up working out perfect - and I've been using this on a daily basis since!

I have mixed feelings when it comes to mascara primers. Maybe it's because I'm not used to them, or I'm picky with my natural eyelashes, or the fact that Makeup Forever Smokey Extravagant is still my #1 mascara for over a year and a half now. The primer was slightly more thick then I would have liked it to be, but it DID do a great job of making my lashes appear fuller, which is always a plus, no matter how full your lashes already are naturally. 

I would definitely recommend trying the eye shadows and Voluminous primer & mascara. I'd probably like to try out some more eye shadow colors to see if they have similar effects, and this is now the #2 drugstore brand mascara I would buy - Rimmel London made me a fan of their Lash Accelerator Endless a couple of years ago.

All products I receive from the Influenster VoxBox program are free to me for testing purposes. I enjoy sharing my both good and sometimes brutally honest negative reviews with all of my readers. 

Feel free to message with any questions!

Yours in health and happiness,

Samantha Marie 

Winter VoxBox Reviews

- Curel - Marc Jacobs - KISS Lashes - Biscoff - 

It's been a great winter & I've had the opportunity to try & test a variety of VoxBoxes so far courtesy of Influenster and their Voxbox programs. Curel's Itch Defense spray was great for getting all the angles of your legs. It was fairly moisturizing for those dry winter months.

The Jingle VoxBox was really fun! The Biscoff cookies were delish! I already had the same exact Twisted nail polish color from Pure Ice - I didn't realize it at the time, but after thinking it looked familiar, went & checked to confirm.
Hallmark's Itty Bittys were cute too! Really cute. Kinda have a little girl I want to give them to. They are very soft. :)
NYC eyeliner is great to line the inner lash line. It's been on my bathroom counter this past month to use when I do some quick makeup at home. Kiss false eyelashes and lash glue were included too.

Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara was a disappointment. You kinda get some volume at the base, but that's about it. No length what so ever, definition was difficult to obtain, and overall just wasn't happy with it. I've used it a few times when I'm planning on mostly being around the house or running some quick errands, but that's about it. I've really liked most of what Marc Jacobs has been putting out recently in makeup (great new lipsticks!) and perfume, so I was pretty bummed on this outcome & having to report so. Oh well Marc, you're still amazing in many other areas!

Designer vs. Drugstore: YSL and Rimmel Face Off

Another Makeup Monday:
"The most coveted VoxBox yet!" is what it declared when I was chosen as an Influenster to receive the new YSL Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils for testing purposes.

I love mascara. It's probably my 2nd most must-have product to wear daily right after lip gloss. Of course I was stoked to try one from a fabulous YSL line.

"Volume" and "False Lash Effect" are plastered everywhere I try to look up the product online.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Well... There's some definition, I'll give it that. But volume? Recently this past year I've been wearing Makeup Forever's Smoky Extravagant Mascara which is pretty fabulous. Definitely didn't have near the volume as MUFE. I had tried a Rimmel Mascara for testing sometime last year too, which I had compliments on. I decided to purchase this drugstore brand again which retails around $8 to put head-to-head in a face-off with a brand that I'm sure is going to charge 4 times as much. Here are the results.

Rimmel Accelerator Lash Endless & YSL Volume Effect Mascara vs. My Bare Eye

I took these photos without any other makeup on & used no filters or touch-ups of any kind.

YSL Mascara

Rimmel Mascara

YSL on the right side, Rimmel on the left side

If Rimmel doubled its price to $16 and YSL went on clearance for $8, I'd still buy the Rimmel.

This just goes to show that designer names and a high price point really don't mean anything when it comes to getting what you want out of a product.