July Birchbox!

It's that time again, readers!

Yes, its BIRCHBOX time! Hooraaaaay =D! I love when my Birchbox comes, its like a little box of happiness =]! Seriously, whenever I receive it I instantly get in such a good mood =]! However...I am slightly saddened by this month's box only because I was one of the few who didn't get a mini Zoya. Kind of a bummer when you LOVE nail polish, you know? That's ok, because I've stated from the start that although this blog will focus mainly on nail polish/art, I really love makeup and other beauty products too! In fact...I have some cool makeup posts coming up this week, stay tuned =]! Anywho, back to Birchbox. If your interested about how this service works, click here, I explained it in my first post about Birchbox =] Ok, here's what I got!

As many of you know, this month's box was a collaboration with designer Cynthia Rowley. She chose some of her beauty must-haves and they were included in the July box =] They also changed the look of the box  with this cardboard sleeve and blue (instead of pink) tissue paper inside.

The explanation for the July box. There's that blue tissue paper, I like it! Very pretty color =]!

The first item I found in my box was Korres Showergel. I'd say this definitely counts as a deluxe sample because it's almost 14  fl oz.! I have to admit, when I first smelled this product, I was WAAAY overwhelmed with the smell of fig and soap...but after I've used it once or twice in the shower, I think I like it! The smell is still really concentrated in the bottle, but it doesn't linger on your skin too heavily. It lathers up really well and was quite gentle on my sensitive skin. This is good stuff in my book!

The next thing I received was an 8 oz. Philosophy Purity Facial Cleanser. I haven't tried this little guy yet, but I'm pretty excited about it! It smells super pretty and I know Philosophy products are pretty awesome =]!

Next, I got this Redken Shine Flash 02 Spray. It basically does what it says, makes your hair shiny and pretty =]! I haven't used this one myself yet, but I've seen quite a few bloggers that like this one in moderation (too much might make hair greasy-looking). I don't have any products that do this, so I was pretty happy about receiving it!

In place of a mini Zoya, I received a YBF Beauty Automatic Eye Brown Pencil in universal taupe.

Here is a swatch of it so you could see the color =]

The cool thing with this brow pencil was it's two ends. One end has this little brush to smooth your brows...

This side had the pencil! This is retractable by the way, so you can twist it in an out as your please. My only complaint with the two ends is the although the caps the cover both ends look similar...they are NOT. I made the mistake of switching the lids on the ends and completely smooshed the pencil end =[ The good news is since it's a brow pencil, it doesn't have to be at a point to work well, but if the lids were different colors the problem could be avoided all together!

*UPDATE* Yeah, I made a mistake...the caps are actually the same, I just left the pencil side twisted out too far, hence the smooshing...my bad =P

I wanted to show you guys how well it works, so here is a before picture, no makeup.

Here's after! Still no eye makeup, I just used the brow pencil and brush. I like it! This product is really easy to use and obviously it makes quite a difference =]!

Last but not least was this little bonus, a Kind Almond & Apricot bar! Unfortunately...as random as it sounds, I may have an allergy to apricots so I'm not able to enjoy this treat, but I was happy to share it with my friend =]

Group shot!

There you have it! The July box wasn't my absolute favorite so far, but I was still pretty happy about it! I think I'm just jealous of everyone who got a Zoya =P Can you blame me, though =P? Didn't think so =P

<3,

Lindsey