Influenster Beauty Bloggers Vox Box 2012!

Hey guys! I hope you are all doing well after Hurricane Sandy. I'm from NYC & I live in Queens & we were hit extremely hard by the hurricane. I'm just glad my family & friends are safe. We lost a lot of things but all of that can be replaced! Today I have a blog post that isn't about nails. I was watching some YouTube Beauty Guru's and they had received a box from this company called Influenster. In the box were a bunch of samples of new things to try. This is one of the videos that I watched so you guys can get a better idea. Influenster Summer Beauty Vox Box -- Influenster is completely free to join. You do have to use some sort of social media, whether you have a blog, make YouTube videos, or use Twitter. You have to answer surveys & earn badges (super easy). I honestly didn't think I would be chosen to receive a box but after a couple of months of signing up & answering surveys & earning badges, I received an email from them saying I had been chosen to receive this box. After you receive the box you have to use the products & then review them. Again, it's 100% FREE! I got a really awesome box & was very happy with it. The box also came with a coupon for Bath & Body Works for a 3-wick candle for $10 (they're normally $20) & I had a limit of 5 CANDLES! I was super excited when I saw that I could get 5 candles for $10 because usually coupons say only one per customer. Here is a picture of everything I got.

Let's start with the mini Bath & Body Works candle. I love Bath & Body Works & I've always purchased candles and body care from there, so I was really excited when I got the coupon & the mini candle. I never tried the Cider Lane scent and I really liked it. For this little candle it had such a long burn time and made my whole room smell so good. I was honestly surprised because I usually only buy the 3-wick candles & I figured the mini just wouldn't be enough. The mini candles retail for $3.50. On the Influenster card it says: 

"Mini but mighty! Bath & Body Works Mini Candles provide and amazing fragrance experience exclusively developed and tested by a team of Home Fragrance experts, including the world's best master perfumers."

Here are the other candles I got with my coupon

French Gardenia, Twinkling Night, Fresh Balsam, Fireside, & Cranberry Pear Bellini

My favorite from these is Twinkling Night. The scent description on the bottom describes it as: "An inspired, shimmering fragrance to set the scene for the perfect holiday fete - luscious blackberry and sweet nectar layered with notes of dark wood and patchouli". I honestly think $20 for these candles is a bit too expensive so I stock up when they have their 2 for $20 sale! If you have never purchased a candle from Bath & Body Works I would definitely recommend it. 

Next I have these Goody Simple Styles Spin Pins. Honestly, if I ever saw these in the store I would never think of purchasing them. I have very long, very thick hair & I wouldn't think these would be able to hold my hair (especially only 2 of them). I was wrong! These 2 pins actually held my hair up! These retail for $7.29. I'm not sure if I would definitely purchase these but I'll definitely use them for lazy hair days. The card says:

"Never have the time for a great updo? Not anymore! The Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin allows you to easily achieve three chic updo styles. Simply twirl your hair and spin the two Spin Pins in for a perfect undone bun, side bun or double bun!"

 Here's a picture of how I did my hair with them:

Next is NYC New York Color IndividualEyes Custom Compact. I'm not a huge fan of NYC makeup I tend to purchase more things from Wet n Wild instead of them. These eyeshadows were okay. I guess for the price you can't really complain. It retails for $4.99. They were very pigmented and I really liked the colors for a smoky look (though I like a matte smoky look more than a shimmery one). The eye shadows were a little difficult to blend together because they would end up just looking like one color and it didn't last long. After an hour or two it just looked like one color eye shadow was on my eyes (even using the primer that it came with). If I saw these in the store and saw a different color palette that I liked I would purchase it and use it for a daytime look for work, but I wouldn't use these at night when I was going out. I never really use the applicator that comes with palettes, I always use my own brushes. I also didn't think these shadow colors enhanced or intensified my eye color. I have brown eyes and I think blue, purple, or green shadows enhance my eye color. I didn't even bother to use the highlighter that came with the palette it was too white! The card says:

"This all-in-one compact comes with everything you need for a complete
eye look: primer, illuminator, applicator and complementing shadows.
With four colors, specially coordinated to intensify and enhance your eye color,

you can create a look as individual as you are. Make your eyes pop!"

Next is the Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit. I did not like this product at all. I wear fake lashes sometimes and I normally wear the brand Ardell. I also like fake eyelashes to look some what natural. The ones that came in this box were so dramatic! The kit came with the lashes, glue, and an applicator. I hated the style of the eyelashes, I hated the glue it came with, and the applicator is a waste. I could not get these lashes to work with me at all! I tried to put these lashes on for at least 20 minutes. Sorry but if I'm putting on fake lashes it means I have some where to go and I can't be wasting time trying to get them on my freakin eye lid! lol. I will be sticking to my Ardell lashes, sorry Kiss! These retail for $5.99. The card description says:

"Bring the salon home with this eyelash starter kit, complete with eyelashes,

adhesive, and applicator. This latex-free glue has a 24-hour hold,

for lashes you can bat all day and all night."

Last is Not Your Mothers Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream which retails for $6.00 for a full sized 4-oz bottle. I received a really nice size sample of it. I love the way it smells. It smells like coconuts. I was getting asked all day what product I had in my hair because it smelled so good. I have extremely frizzy curly hair. I always straighten it though. I put this on when I got out of the shower and I let my hair air dry. The next morning I straightened my hair and my hair was shiny & silky. My mom already went out and bought a full size bottle for herself! I would purchase these. I had purchased a dry shampoo from Not Your Mothers and I liked it but the smell was gross so I stopped using it. I wouldn't say this product reduces styling time like it says it does. It took the same amount of time for me to straighten my hair (1 hour!!). The card describes this product as:

"Smooth Moves fights out of control hair and reduces styling time with coconut and silk extracts."

I hope you ladies enjoyed this post even though it wasn't nail related. Let me know if any of you have ever used any of these products and what you thought about them! 

*These products were sent to me complimentary from Influenster for review.

Essie - No More Film

I really love dark nail polishes for the fall/winter & I always get really excited when a new season starts. For this mani I used Essie - No More Film. I absolutely love this color. I saw it at the store and had to grab it. Essie describes it as a creamy, seductive deep violet. I think it's a perfect description. This is from the Essie Resort 2012 Collection. When I first saw this collection all together I wasn't impressed with any of the colors. But I ended up buying two of the colors randomly not knowing they were from this collection. The other color I have is Pink A Boo which is a gorgeous pink with blue shimmer. Anyway, the formula with this was okay. You can use one coat but I used two. It's extremely runny, it goes where ever it wants to go. But I really do love the color, especially for fall & winter. On my ring finger I used Essie - Stroke of Brilliance which is from their Luxeffects line. I love this glitter. I had absolutely no problem with it. I put two coats on just to get good coverage. The big hexagon glitter came out just as much as the smaller glitter and it covered the nail in two coats.

Fishtail Mani 2

Another Fishtail Mani! Told ya I loved these. I used Orly - Frisky (also told you this was my favorite summer blue lol!) with Essie - Good as Gold & Sinful Colors - Snow Me White. I've really been liking golds mixed with aquas, turquoises, and corals. 

Gradient Mani

This is a mani I had done during the summer. I love using the colors pink, orange, and yellow together during the summer. This is the first gradient mani I did. I wouldn't really categorize it as a gradient mani. I would say it's more of a tie-dye kind of mani. Whatever you want to call it, I really liked it. I used Orly - Lemonade, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Sun Kissed, & Essie - Tour De Finance. I painted my nails the Orly - Lemonade as a base and then I sponged Sun Kissed onto it with a make up sponge that I ripped in half so the sides weren't so smooth and then I sponged Tour De Finance on the tips & put a top coat over it so they blended together better.

Fishtail Mani

This is another mani that I'm late with posting (again I post my manicures to Instagram faster than posting them on here). I absolutely love love love this design. For my base color I used Essie - Lights. It's an awesome hot neon pink. For the fishtail part I used Essie - Fear or Desire (I'm not a huge fan of orange nail polish but I love this one) and Essie - Shorty Pants which is a great bright yellow. 

Caviar Mani

I know I'm so late with these manicures but I haven't had the time to post. I posted these pictures to Instagram just because it's so much quicker than writing a post. This is the Caviar Manicure I did a while ago. I painted my nails with Orly - Frisky (one of my absolute favorite summer time blue's). I bought the microbeads from Michael's craft store. They're the Recollections brand. I got a pack of 6 for I forgot how much but it was so cheap. The color beads I used were Capri. I was not spending all of that money on Ciate brand microbeads and a nail polish, sorry! Definitely not worth the money in my opinion. 

Essie - Play Date

I don't have much to say in this post except that this is my absolute favorite purple! Seriously it's unlike any other purple I have it & when I wore this I got so many compliments on it. Awesome formula, awesome color.