I'm A Greedy Gus

Shout out to Big D, aka my grandmother, for teaching me that phrase and countless other gems!

But yes. It's true.  I'm a Greedy Gus.  Because June's Birchbox arrived!!!

It actually got here last week, 2 hours before my shipping notification email came.  I'm not complaining. That was awesome.

June's Birchbox is titled Wanderlust.  

Because aren't we all itching to get somewhere this time of year?

1. Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo: a 2.5oz sample is a simple stubby travel bottle. The no fuss label makes me think this is meant for business! It says it has moisturizing Indian fig extract and olive oil.  

Are my homeland figs moisturizing?? I need to look into this. 

The label itself says for dry & frizzy hair. Oh, I'll be the judge of that, for sure.  The scent hits me at first like dish soap. Seriously, a dish soap. I can't put my finger on which one. So at first it's like...uh oh, but if you can get past the first 2 seconds, you can start smelling other things. Citrus and just light, very clean...something.  It's not bad! I could dig this. 

2. Davines Love Smoother Conditioner: Now this one says for Harsh & frizzy hair. I don't know that means. I've never heard of anyone refer to hair as harsh.  Is my hair harsh?? How do I find out?? Don't fail me now, Google!  I can't sniff this one because it's in a sealed little pack. 

3. Davines Oi/Oil Absolute Beautifying Potion: Well this sounds promising! It says it contains Roucou oil. You're killin me June Birchbox!! I have lots of things to Googlize. This says it's an "antioxidant-packed potion to instantly tame frizz and strengthen hair over time."    

It's a very small packet, but I'll give it go one day.  When my Moroccan Oil isn't looking. 

4. This might be my faaaav! LAQU & Co Lil' Lip Duo: This fat little lip pencil isn't like the rest. I can't compare these to my beloved tinted balms, because it's not! This comes out like a full satin finish lipstick! The color is amazing and rich and very pigmented, with one swipe I have complete full lipstick!  But, like the tinted balms, it's still got the mintyness that I love!  Recap; hot pink lipstick, in a small lip pencil, that is creamy and minty and feels amazing. There is nothing not to love here.

If you're hip to the Birchbox and have 'liked' their facebook page, then you already know that this product is exclusive to Birchbox and was one of the products that every member in June received! Birchbox sells these in a duo pack, exclusive to Birchbox, for $16! The one I received is called Pink Man and here's a photo to demonstrate just how awesome these colors are for every skin tone! 

5. Furlesse Elevens Frown Line Reducing Patches: So these are suppose to be patches that you put in certain spots on your face that reduce the appearance of lines as you sleep. This pack of Elevens is for the frown lines between your eyes. They have other patches; Crows, obviously for eye lines ; Lip-sticks, for lip and expression lines and Rows, for the forehead lines. 

I don't exactly have these lines, yet, so even if I try these, I'm not sure I could review them very well. 

There are 3 patches in this trial pack and each is shaped like an open Japanese fan. Just the right shape for between the eyes! Now I just have to find someone to try these out....

6. Color Club Nail polish: This is actually Birchbox + Color Club, who have come together to make a Wanderlust Collection just for Birchbox! And I am ecstatic about this color! It might not read very well on screen, but in person this color is a neon peach. And I am in such lust with it!   I have quite a few nailpolishes. More than I should, and of those, most are brights. This is the one color I don't have and I'm beyond excited to wear it! 

Again, if you were hip to The Box, then you would know already that every box contained one of the Wanderlust Collection polishes. I'm so happy I scored the one wanted.  50cent Bubble Prize Machine Vindication!!

7. To round out the Wanderlust box, Birchbox sent along 5 postcards of different cities around the world. Each one has a little blurb on the bottom called One Perfect Day where it gives you a great day's itinerary for each city.  Who doesn't love postcards??

If you're still unsure if you want to sign up for a Birchbox of your own, let me just say this...

DO IT!!!!   Seriously...have you not been paying attention?? Did you not see what I've been getting??

Just click on this link and sign up. It's 10 bucks. That's less than 2 fancy coffees.  And you can stop them at anytime! You know you want to!

Wanderlust Desert Collection by Bare Escentuals

During an impromptu Play Date at the Bare Escentuals Boutique last week, I checked out the Wanderlust Desert Collection gift set , on sale for $35 from $49 and fell in love with this perfect ensemble.



The kit includes;

• Prime Time^TM Primer Shadow in Gold Nugget (radiant gold)

• Heatwave Eyecolor (glimmered blackberry brown) (size: small)

• Round the Clock Waterproof Eyeliner in Midnight (blackout)

• Canyon Blush/Citrine Radiance All-Over Face Color (velvet terracotta/warm golden beige)

• 100% Natural Lipgloss in Angel Food Cake (sheer peach shimmer)

• Flawless Definition Curl & Lengthen Mascara in Black

• Travel Bag

The Prime Time Primer is a gold primer and is VERY gold. But it feels really nice and stays put really well. This isn't anything I'll be using daily but it will be perfect for my upcoming Halloween costume makeup! (yes, Halloween references in July, you'll get used to it)



The Heatwave Eyecolor is a shimmery dark coffee brown. I normally don't go for earth tones in my makeup but this is a truly great color. It's even making me consider trying out more 'natural looking' eye makeup and going out in public in earth tones. gasp!  It's the perfect tone to accentuate the crease in an eye or to make a daytime smokey eye look.  You can even pair it with the colors in the All-Over Face Color pot to create a gorgeous summery eye. 


The Round The Clock eyeliner I was originally going to buy this alone, until the nice woman told me this liner is in a discounted kit that they are running right out.  Kit? Discounted??  You got me lady. You got me.  


The full line of these eye liners are named after hours of the day. 11am, Noon. 5pm etc etc. Brilliant! Midnight, that comes in this kit, is a true deep black color. It goes on amazingly. Smooth and effortless with the feel of a liquid but in a sturdy, easy pencil. It only smudges when I want it to and doesn't end up on my eyelid or around my eye throughout the day. I felt in love with this as soon as I tried it.


I tried it on my lower waterline yesterday for the first time and it stuck pretty well, for a while. But I've found that nothing stays on my lower waterline without fading and needing touch ups, even the smashbox, mac, and all the other brands.  But that's a personal problem and considering how long it did last, it would probably work really well for most women's waterlines. 


All-Over Face Color. One side is a lovely light terracotta color, the other a shimmery golden beige. In the little pot these colors look rather daunting and scary for a girl with tan skin. I was sure the colors were going to make me look washed out and sickly. Boy was I wrong. The Canyon Blush was THE perfect bronzey blush summer shade for me. It went on with a corally glow and the Citrine shimmery beige was the exact perfect color to give my skin a wonderful highlight without that frosty 80's disco thing happening on my face.


When we layered the Canyon Blush over my regular summertime bright pink blush by B.E. called Fruit Cocktail, I believe I gasped.  I have been searching for a great summertime coral blush for about 2 years now and I've come up empty every time. But this, this small little pot of magic from Bare Escentuals, just ended my long journey. It was a Mall Day Miracle!  


The Curl and Definition Mascara is actually quite great too. I felt like it curled my lashes some without the need of a lash curler. It's a great black color and I would recommend this mascara to many, but I won't lie, I'm partial to my CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara and won't be giving that up anytime soon.


Natural  Lip Gloss. I haven't really used outright glosses in a while now. I'm just not in a Glossy Phase right now. But this color really complimented this whole kit so wonderfully. It had just the right amount of peach to it without being too overt or cartoony. I could see this being a really great compliment to layer on lipsticks or other glosses. It does have some flecks of 'shimmer' in it...which seemed more like full glitter to me. Great from afar, but a tad too 'Da Club' for me.  But I'll definitely keep this one around and use it from time to time. 


The Travel Bag is a really great addition to. It's a great size and I love the colors. Bright yellow on beige, completely up my alley! It's also totally laminated , inside and out, so you can wipe it down easy and never have to worry about spills or messes.


I admit that my Impromptu Play Date was caused by a total summer brain melt down when I accidentally left the house without putting on any  makeup. I was driving my visiting family,and new niece to the mall and somehow in the confusion of the morning left the house bare faced. After a small moment of panic when I realized what I had done I remembered there was  B.E. Boutique in the mall and high tailed it there soon as I parked the car. The result was me taking home this kit but it has been the best thing I've purchased since I found their foundation.  I know this is a limited run kit and I'm highly considering picking up another kit just to make sure I have a back up of the All-Over Face Color. Not to mention another eyeliner would be a great bonus since I know I will be purchasing that again.   You've done it again Bare Esceuntals. And this time without any infomercial!