BoxyCharm - September 2014: value breakdown, swatches & mini reviews!

Hello, Beautiful!

This is my September 2014 BoxyCharm! Check out everything I received in my box!

BoxyCharm is a monthly subscription service where you receive a box filled with FULL SIZE and luxury size beauty samples from a variety of brands - including well known high end brands! The amount of items varies month to month, but it's usually between 5 and 7 items per month. The cost of BoxyCharm is $21 a month with free shipping.

If you want to sign up for BoxyCharm just click here or follow the link below (it's my referral link). Sign-up link: https://www.boxycharm.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/10912/

September 2014 BoxyCharm

 

Shipment Quick Stats:

• Value of this month's BoxyCharm: $77.95 (value is approximate)
• Total # of Items Received: 5
• # of FULL SIZED items: 5
• # of makeup items: 3
• # of beauty tools/brushes: 0
• # of nail items: 1
• # of hair care items: 0
• # of skin care items: 0
• # of body care items: 0
• # of fragrance items: 1

Now I'll talk about each product...

tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss
Shade: Tipsy

 

• MY THOUGHTS: Earlier this month I posted a review on the tarte LipSurgence Lip Glosses in shades Flush, Blushing Bride, and Park Ave Princess. I really like these lip glosses, even though they are on the sheer side. When I saw there would be one in this month's BoxyCharm I got a little worried I'd receive a shade I already had, even though there are 10 shades currently in the line. Then I saw somewhere (I think BoxyCharm's Instagram) that there was 4 shades going around in the boxes, and 2 of those 4 shades were ones I already have. Luckily I receive a shade I didn't have, Tipsy. This shade in particular has to be the one that is least noticeable on my lips. It's described as a sheer coral but on my lip it hardly changes the tone and looks more like a glossy clear shade. But I did find it makes a great topper to other lipsticks that need a slight boost in tone.
• FULL SIZE VALUE: $19.00

NCLA Nail Lacquer

Shade: Catwalk Queen

 

• MY THOUGHTS: I've always wanted to try NCLA polishes because I've heard they are really good, but I hated the $16 price tag. I did get a set of NCLA Nail Wraps in my February 2014 Blush Mystery Box (and come to think of it, I still haven't used them). The nail polish shade I received in my BoxyCharm is Catwalk Queen, which is a cream nude shade. The shade is just eh, okay to me but what I LOVE is the formula! It went on so perfectly and was opaque in ONE COAT! It's not often that you find a creamy nude polish to be opaque and not streaky in a single coat. I'll certainly be wearing this shade, paired with other polishes (I already have a mani in mind that involves this shade and a gold glitter polish). 
• FULL SIZE VALUE: $16.00

Coastal Scents Go Palette

Shade: Cairo

 

• MY THOUGHTS: This arrived broken, and of course it was a dark shade that broke (why does that always seem to happen; it's always the darkest shades that break?!). But I was able to clean it up a bit and swatch it out. It's your standard Coastal Scents shadow quality; pretty good but nothing amazing. The shades are pretty, but I have so many neutral palettes that this was honestly a bit of a boring palette to receive. There were three going around in the boxes and I really wanted one of the more colorful palettes to play with. Ah well, I think I'll try to get some use out of this or I'll likely pass it onto my nieces. 
• FULL SIZE VALUE: $12.95

Tarina Tarantino Fleur de Lash Mascara

Shade: black

• MY THOUGHTS: I have to say, I was expecting the Tarina Tarantino Hyperdream Eye Brightener (or whatever it's called) because BoxyCharm had posted (or emailed; I can't remember where I saw it) that if you were a newer subscriber - aka me, since this is only my second box - then you'd get the eye brightener since newer subscribers missed out on it. Older subscribers - anyone that already received that product in their past BoxyCharm boxes - would receive the mascara. I was so excited about the eye brightener only to find the mascara in my box. I really shouldn't complain though, because it is full size and I will eventually give it a try. I'm not opening it yet because I have so many open mascaras at the moment, but I'm looking forward to trying it out. Love the packaging, as always, on Tarina Tarantino products!
• FULL SIZE VALUE: $19.00

Harvey Prince - Hello

• MY THOUGHTS: I'm really, really, really not a fragrance/perfume person so I'm always bummed out/let down to receive any kind of fragrance in my subscription boxes - especially because my nose is so picky when it comes to smells. Everyone seemed to rave about this scent though, but I wasn't wow'd. I thought it was just okay; it wasn't an offensive scent or strong scent - which is good - but it also wasn't a scent that I was sniffing over and over again out of pure love for it. I did spray some on one of my arms to see how the scent would wear on my skin and I didn't even notice a scent after awhile. I'll likely give this another go in the future. It's a great size though (10 ml).
• FULL SIZE VALUE: 1.7 oz @ $55 -- this is 10 ml, making it an $11.00 value. For whatever reason, BoxyCharm lists this as $29.00 (and in my quick Google search I couldn't find this listed for $29 anywhere)

My Thoughts On The Entire Box...

• VALUE: The value was approximately $77.95
• USAGE: I've already used the tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss and have plans to use the NCLA nail polish very soon. I'll try out the Tarina Tarantino mascara in the future, and probably use the Harvey Prince perfume. I honestly don't know if I'll use the Coastal Scents shadow palette, only because the colors don't excite me at the moment. Maybe I'll use it to try and find dupes of some higher end palettes/shades. 
• FINAL THOUGHTS: I think this was a good box. Not as high of a value as last month (although they did list the perfume as $29 instead of $11, which would make the value $95.95). I think there was a great mix of brands and products in this box. I can't wait to see what October's box is filled with!

Let me know what you think...

Did you receive a Boxy Charm this month? If so, what are your thoughts on your box? If you don't receive a Boxy Charm box yet, click here to sign up! Discuss in the comments below.

Milani Constellation Gel Eye Liner - all 3 shades: swatches, pics, review!

Hello, Beautiful!

I ooh'd and ahh'd over how absolutely gorgeous the Milani Constellation Gel Eye Liners are... they are so super pretty that I almost didn't want to even swatch them. They are probably the prettiest gel liners I've ever seen! With that being said, that pretty factor is just a gorgeous over-spray to the actual product that lies below. But don't let that let you down; these liners still have a beauty all their own! Check out all the product info, along with my full review, after the pics!

Milani Constellation Gel Eye Liners
Shades: 01 Enchanted Lapis, 02 Enchanted Black Opal, 03 Enchanted Emerald
Continue scrolling down to see more pics of each individual shade.

Milani Constellation Gel Eye Liner
Shade: 01 Enchanted Lapis

 

Milani Constellation Gel Eye Liner
Shade: 02 Enchanted Black Opal

 

Milani Constellation Gel Eye Liner
Shade: 03 Enchanted Emerald

 

Milani Constellation Gel Eye Liner Info & Review:

Cost/Availability: $5.99 (0.14 oz full size). Available on the Milani website, at Walgreens and CVS.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Kisses!

Product Info...

Have you ever gazed into the night sky and experienced the rich velvety blanket of darkness harmoniously decorated with twinkling diamonds of light? Now you can capture the beauty of the night sky in a classic cat eye or a sultry smokey eye. Constellation Gel Eye Liner allows you to achieve a variety of looks from a striking liner to a shimmering shadow that is long-wearing, smudge-proof and will last from dusk till dawn.

Each gel eye liner comes with a mini liner brush.

Although I'm not 100%, I do believe these are limited edition - so if you want them, grab them when you see 'em!

Available in three shades:

• 01 Enchanted Lapis
• 02 Enchanted Black Opal
• 03 Enchanted Emerald

My Review...

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I was absolutely in awe of how gorgeous these are straight out of the package. Milani really knocked it out of the park with such a gorgeous galaxy-in-a-jar, looking gel eye liner. My curiosity grew as to wonder if it was just an over spray or if it was throughout the entire product.

The gorgeous galaxy look is just an over spray, which may be disappointing at first but then you look closer at the actual shade that lies beneath and you may just fall in love all over again! What I want to point out is that Milani actually lists on the back of the product that it is a shimmer over spray - which is nice to see, since a lot of products have an over spray and don't disclose it at all. Although it isn't listed on the cardboard packaging. Still, at least they mention it!

Out of the three shades, I thought I would like Enchanted Emerald the least but it actually turned out to be my favorite! In my opinion, it's the one with the most dimension -- truly one shade you need to swatch and see in person! I would describe it as a gorgeous metallic emerald green with a black smoke thrown into it. There's also green glitter that doesn't look chunky - it's just the right amount to add sparkle. It's seriously such a gorgeous shade and the one that I love the most --- which is saying a lot, considering I don't normally like green shades. I love this one so much I've used it all over my lid for a dramatic green smokey eye and it was gorgeous.... why I didn't photograph it, I don't know... I'll have to re-create it in the future and do an Instagram post or something.

The next shade I really loved was the Enchanted Lapis. Although this one seemed to be the only one that had no shimmer or glitter after the over spray, it still was such a gorgeous navy blue shade that had hints of purple to it that made me love it oh so much. You really can't see the purple in the photos, but trust me in person it's there. I really like using navy blue to make the whites of my eyes look brighter!

Enchanted Black Opal isn't very black at all, at least not to me. I'd call it more of a charcoal with silver glitter. Even though I do like this shade, I don't think it's terribly unique - but it's still very pretty and if you want a gunmetal eye look, this will get you there in no time flat!

As far as how to use them, of course use them just as you would any other gel liner - with the included brush or whatever eye liner brush you prefer. But you can also use them all over the lid as a cream shadow, and I have done that and shadows layer over top nicely once they dried down.

I do want to say I felt like when I did use them all over the lid (and even when swatched on my hand), it took a bit to really fully dry down and set, so don't discourage if you feel like they wipe off after a minute or so, give it some time to set and you'll be good to go!

They are very creamy and very pigmented. They really do glide on easily and I think the shades are flattering on all and everyone no matter what eye colors you have, since they all have a bit of dimension to them.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with these - both by looks (first looks and after swatching) and performance. The Enchanted Emerald shade is definitely the one that is the most unique out of all three, but I really do like them all and have used them all. For $5.99 each, they're a steal - especially with the included brush! Plus, you can usually find some sort of sale/deal going on at the drugstore!

Now let me know what you think...

What do you think of these gel liners from Milani? What shade is your favorite? Have you tried them or are they on your beauty wish list? Discuss in the comments below.