December 2012 Influenster Holiday Box Review!

This is another really late review, which I completely apologize for, on the Influenster Holiday VoxBox of 2012! I really should be studying, but this review is long overdue.

If you have no idea what Influenster is, please refer to my post here if you'd like more details. Basically, it is a community of reviewers in which you join and review things on their website. Once they get your demographic information, and see what kind of reviews you do, that's how you would qualify for a free VoxBox. 

A VoxBox is like a subscription box, with full size products (usually) that you're able to try out absolutely free, and all you have to do is make sure to review the products on the site in the mandatory survey (or else you won't qualify for anymore boxes). The mandatory surveys can get pretty time consuming if you put a lot of thought and effort into it, but you're getting free stuff, so it's a small price to pay. It's a pretty brilliant program actually, and I'm very happy to be a part of the Influenster community. I think they come out with new VoxBoxes every few months with a different theme, and then they'll email you a pre-survey if you qualify (whether it's based more on demographics, or your activity, or how many facebook friends you have, I'm not really sure). After you do the pre-survey, they'll usually email you back in about a week if you've qualified to receive the VoxBox. I guess I must meet the demographic, or they must have noticed my blog because I was lucky enough to receive two of these boxes already, the College VoxBox and the Holiday VoxBox. I still haven't figured out the key to it, but I'm just grateful to be chosen whenever I do get that elusive email. I pre-qualified for three VoxBoxes since I joined the program (on September 20, 2012), but after taking the pre-survey for the Beauty Blogger VoxBox, I didn't qualify for it. I don't blame them though, since I had just started out my blogging at that time.

Anyway, let's get to the good stuff!

Influenster Holiday VoxBox 2012 Unboxing!

These are the items that came in the box:

I love that they put the prices on the card.

A code to use on Solesociety.com: Influenster25

Too bad it's already expired. I decided not to try it since you have to pay extra depending on which shoes you pick. Plus, I have a thing about always having to try out my shoes in a store, at least, before I buy them. Online shoe shopping is a scary area for me, since I have wide, flat, feet that hate almost any type of shoe.

What came in the box!

The items:

Kiss Nail Dress in Limited Edition Style KDS03WG Couture ($6.99/set):

I absolutely loved seeing this in the box. It seems like every VoxBox I've gotten now has given me the opportunity to explore new forms of making your nails pretty. These were adhesive "stickers" that you could put on your nails instead of polishing them! They were really easy to use too. All you had to do was match up the correct nail sticker to the size of your nail, similar to using press ons, and then there's a tab that you peel off to expose the sticky part, then you just line it up and press down evenly to stick it onto your real nail. I would recommend soaking your cuticles and pushing them down before you start. Once you have the sticker on, you just fold over the remaining part that's too long over your nail, and then take the file to file the rest of the adhesive off. Took me about 15 minutes top from start to end. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and it came out pretty nicely, even though I didn't match up some of the nails correctly (some came out too narrow). I thought the pattern that I got was pretty cool because it was 3D-ish, and it looked really fashionable. My boyfriend thought it looked busy, but he doesn't really like things that are asymmetrical (#Engineerforabf). It didn't last for more than a day, but that's expected for me because I didn't get to smooth out the ridges out on my nails. I have really deep ridges on my thumbs, so no adhesive ever really stays for long unless I take a nail drill to it and smooth it out some. As soon as I took a shower that night, it started to come off at the top, so I just peeled them off. That was a great feature, since I didn't need any acetone. I do wish it would have lasted longer though. Next time, I'll do a better job at preparing my nails and see if that makes a difference. Also, another thing, which could be a pro or a con is that since it uses the shape of your real nails, you have to be really good at shaping your own nails yourself. When I used the press-ons from the College VoxBox, all I had to do was take a nail clipper, and cut my nails short. With these adhesives, I was, unfortunately, going through a bad nail week where I had broken a couple so I had to cut them all short. Usually, my nails are a nice medium length and these probably would've looked nicer if I could have kept my nails unbroken that week, but it was New Year's Eve, and I really wanted to try these out. So it could be a pro if you have lovely length and shape on your nails, but if you have no idea how to shape it and have really short boy nails (like me in the pic below), then you're wasting the value. It's a little pricey for me, but I would say it was worth it since you can't really do that kind of design on your own using nail polish (unless you're some kind of nail guru). I would purchase again.

NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City ($2.49/0.24 fl oz):

This color was so perfect! It's a light nude color with a hint of shimmer to it. It looks so natural when I put it on, and it kind of smells like cotton candy, which I like. It's a gloss I could definitely wear everyday. The only complaint I have is that when it fades away, it tends to leave my lips dry, and then I have to start rubbing the dead skin off. When it's on though, it does seem pretty moisturizing and does feel smooth. It's got a little bit of stickiness to it, but all glosses are like that. And with all glosses, it doesn't last very long, especially after eating or drinking. I would purchase again, especially at that price.

Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal+ in Apple Walnut Oatmeal ($1.69/cup):

I actually tried this today, and for an oatmeal, it's excellent. I am not much of fan of apple oatmeal, so I just had a bite and Henry ate the rest. Henry said he liked the sweetness of the apple and the crunch of the walnut. I believe he said "It's scrumdiddlyumptious." I did have to agree with him. I'm not much of an oatmeal fan since I love texture, and well, oatmeal doesn't ever really have any. I liked that they incorporated nuts into this new line, since it gives it some texture and it's not the same ol' boring mouthful of mush every bite. You can see in the pic below that without the water, it just doesn't do it justice, since you can't really see the color of the cranberry or really distinguish anything from each other. When it's cooked, however, it looks great. Well, maybe not in my picture since I probably could have let it sit longer after I stirred it up, but you get the idea. I would probably want to try the cherry pistachio flavor next.

Eboost Natural Energy in Acai Pomegranate ($1.40/packet):

Me and Henry tried this right before going to the gym. It's supposed to be a natural way to get energy. When looking at it's nutritional info, it seems that most of it's energy comes from glucoronolactone and green tea extract. It has a LOT of vitamin b12 in it, which could or could not be good for you. I would have to look up some studies on that to determine a conclusion. Anyway, did it give me energy? Perhaps. I always feel much more awake when I get to the gym and I'm running a 5 on the treadmill. I probably should have tried this for a night of studying when I was crashing miserably and was suffering from a cold. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, so I can't make any claims to how it did with the energy boost. It terms of taste... I thought it was okay. It was a bit sour, but you can dilute that easily by putting in more water. It did have that "vitamin-y" taste to it. I probably wouldn't buy these for regular use. I didn't much enjoy the flavor... Crystal Light is much tastier.

Goody QuikStyle Brush in Half-Round Shape ($11.99):

This brush actually pushed me to do my very first blowout ever. I don't do my hair. I am the most low maintenance person when it comes to doing my hair ever. I'm not sure what it is. My hair routine consists of running my fingers through my hair to get the big tangles out, or I put it in a ponytail. And not even an interesting ponytail. Just a Goody No-Hurt band ponytail. I think that doing your hair is the most time consuming and frustrating thing ever... Henry really wishes I would try to put it some effort, so I've started trying to hairspray my little frizzies down as a compromise. Anyway, I really wanted to make the most out of this brush, and got inspired when I watched a YouTube video of a fellow Influenster trying it out. This brush has microfiber bristles that kind of remind me of the ones that I have on the sponge I use to wash my car. They're really soft and smushy, and do a great job at absorbing water. It claims to make drying time for your hair shorter since the bristles help soak up some of the water after you towel dry your hair. It's true. It does make the drying time faster. I usually just let my hair air dry, and did try doing half my hair brushed with the Goody QuikStyle, and left the other half just normal towel dried. The half that was brushed was dryer when I checked it about 20 minutes later, and my hair looked nicer on that side. So I've been using this after I shower now ever since then. I also looked up a YouTube video on how to do an easy volume blowout, which came out great using the Goody QuikStyle! It wasn't bad for my first time, but I wish I had taken a picture. In terms of keeping it clean, it's not that bad. I just pull out the hairs that get stuck in the bristles and wash the soft bristles once a week with soap and water. I think a brush like this would be really handy in a gym bag, or during the summer when everyone is going to the pool or beach. I was skeptical about the brush at first, but since I got to try it now, it does seem to make a little bit of difference in drying time.

Montagne Jeunesse Mud Face Mask in Chocolate ($1.99):

I remember seeing these in drug stores/grocery stores when I was younger. They've been around a really long time, but I've never had the chance to try one. Until now! And the Chocolate one, no less. I love chocolate! This was a wonderful experience. I actually decided to try it while getting my bath ready one night. I don't usually do masks since it's pricey sometimes, and I'm really not that girly. This particular mask advertises itself to be "anti-stress", which I can actually say was true. Of course, chocolate usually does relax me, and I was sitting in my bathtub watching Vampire Diaries on my iPad, so I was pretty relaxed already. The chocolate smell was really pleasant, and the mask was thick and goopy in my hands as I rubbed it on. It also seemed to do a good job of drying pretty quickly. It claims to do some deep pore cleansing, but you're supposed to use it weekly, and I have only used it once, so I can't report how it does with preventing breakouts. I'll probably pick up more to see if that claim is true. A weekly at-home spa day sounds like a wonderful idea, and at $2 a mask, that's really not bad at all. I wish I had taken a picture of myself with the mask on, but it would have taken a really long time to clean the mud off my hands and I just wanted to jump into my bath! This would be a fun idea for a girl's night in or a sleepover. Or a nicer way to draw on a drunk friend's face, instead of using a sharpie. They probably wouldn't be as mad if you had given them a facial, instead of permanent marker they'd take hours to scrub off. :)

Total Value:

$26.55

Overall, I was super happy to be able to try out items from another VoxBox! How can anyone complain about that? But honestly, I did enjoy a lot of the items in this one, and not just because they were free. That's pretty rare for me since I'm a picky person about most things. I'm not sure if I would have bought the Goody QuikStyle brush if I hadn't had the chance to try it, only because I am so skeptical about these novelty products sometimes, but I actually did enjoy using it. The Influenster program is a great one, and they have brand challenges for the people who qualified for the box, where you can finish certain tasks like "liking" the brand on facebook, or posting a picture on instagram and tagging them, and things like that... and you could win even more prizes and free stuff. A lot of them require a separate review for each individual product, so I decided to make a separate blog just for the products that I get in my VoxBoxes. It will probably still be the same things I wrote in my VoxBox reviews, but just separate so it's easier for any brands to feature my review for their product if they decide to. Anyway, it was really fun! Now it's time for some Bachelor and studying (don't judge me).

Thanks for reading!

TheRxNina

January 2013 Loot Crate: Excelsior Review!

Hey geeks and geekettes!

Henry's Loot Crate just came on Thursday, and we were super excited to open it up since they had given us the theme to their crate early on their facebook page, "Excelsior". We had come to assume a Marvel related theme, of course. This made my expectations for the crate high since we hadn't received a crate in a while that really wow'd us. I had tried speculating on what kind of Marvel goodies would be in there, but there was just so much potential epicness, that I just settled on trying to be patient for the crate to arrive. And alas, it did!

Here's a quick rundown on things you should know about Loot Crate:
- Monthly subscription box for gamers and geeks
- Items can range from food, shirts, energy drinks, toys, etc.
- $19.37 a month with shipping and handling (gets cheaper with the more months you buy at a time)
- Referral program
- Being a subscriber means you get the chance to win a Mega Crate! (~$250 in value)
- They do NOT ship internationally (yet)

January's Loot Crate: Excelsior!

It came in a larger box than usual this month!

The item list almost seemed to be cut off at the bottom.

Spiderman! First thing I saw when I opened it!

Hmm... looks a little... empty?

What was in this month's box?

Marvel Spiderman Workman's Carry All, Translucent 7 Dice RPG Set from AwesomeDice.com + Chessex, 8-Bit Zombie Power Pack from 8BitZombie.com, and Hello Panda Chocolate Snacks from Meiji.

Total Value:

$22.00

Translucent 7 Dice RPG Set in Smoke w/ Red ($5.50):

Wow, when I saw this, I was like thinking... "What the heck am I going to do with these?" Henry also had the same look on his face. I guess we aren't as geeky as we thought. :/ I'm actually disappointed to realize this. I do have a few friends back home who'd know exactly what they'd use it for though. I guess if we ever buy a board game that needs these or start playing a card game, it'll nice to have extras? I mean, they look pretty nice. I like the smoke color and I love red. Just.. have no idea what to do with them.

Hello Panda Chocolate Biscuit Snacks (~$1.50):

Hello Panda!!! I love these! Right after Yan-Yans though. And although I do love these delicious little pandas to death, I was disappointed to see them in the box, ONLY because I feel like I could just go to my local Asian supermarket and buy it if I wanted to. But maybe that's because I'm Asian. In any case, I freakin' love Hello Pandas, and I'm glad that it's making it's way into the lives of people who have never had it before. They are really crisp and light, and have a milky, smooth chocolate center with the cutest panda prints on the biscuit itself. I actually ended up putting it in my big purse and snuck them into Hansel and Gretal: Witchunters to munch on.

8-Bit Zombie Power Pack ($5.00):

Henry thought this was kinda cool. But we've gotten stickers in the past crates and I think he's actually getting a little tired of it, since we only have so many places we can stick it. Buttons are okay since he pins them on his lunch cooler. He's started a little loot crate button collection there. I didn't care much for this item since I'm into cute, fluffy things like Pokemon. Zombies are definitely not cute and fluffy. This definitely should have been in October's crate. Another thing that I was a little bothered about was that when I went to check on the price of the Power Pack on 8-Bit Zombie's website, it listed more things than we got in our pack. 

8-bit NES PACK: 
1 Logo patch with iron-on backing 
2 8BZ GPK stickers 
1 Die cut Powerglove sticker 
1 Mondo NESball sticker 
1 Mini NESball sticker 
1 Logo sticker 
2 Random vintage NES cards 
4 Random pixel buttons

The description says that it should come with 6 stickers, a patch, and random extras, but we only got 5 stickers, 2 buttons, and no patch. This is the reason that I bumped the value of this down to $5.00 instead of the original $10.00 that it says on the website. They're cool collectibles though.

Marvel Spiderman Workman's Carry All (~$10.00):

This was the star of the box for sure. Henry's not really into Spiderman though. I think he probably would've liked getting the Captain America tin that other people got, but that's the luck of the draw, I guess. His brother in-law is REALLY into Spiderman though and would probably love this. I think we might store it away for next Christmas as a cool way to wrap his actual gift. He doesn't read my blog so I'm not worried about ruining the surprise. I did think about using it myself as a lunchbox or a "frequently used" nail polish storage, but I just wouldn't appreciate it as much as our friend. I think I'll save it for him. It's kind of small so I wouldn't think that you could pack a real man's lunch in it... maybe a dieting girl, like me. I mean, it is a pretty nice looking tin though. I wish they had other characters from the Marvel line available in these tins... I kind of get the impression that Spiderman and Captain America aren't really the most popular Marvel characters. It would have been super cool to get an Avengers or X-men tin. Although, you know, they did make like four movies out of Spiderman.

Overall, both Henry and I thought this month's crate was still just okay. The value still hasn't changed much from the original price I paid for it, and being a Marvel themed crate, I thought it could have used a lot more "Marvel" to it. I think because I was so excited for a Marvel themed crate, it made me expect that it was going to have some really awesome items in it, but most of the items weren't that exciting. There was also only four items in it this month, which was kind of a bummer, and only one of those items were something Marvel. I guess they just didn't hit the demographic with us this time... it probably would have been much more fun to open up if we had kids. We still have one month left on our subscription, so I'm hoping February's box is AWESOME, or else we're going to have to let this one go, because the price is just not worth what comes in it. The worst part is that I probably wouldn't have bought any of these items on my own, except for the Hello Panda, and even if I wanted to buy them on my own, it'd come out to be about the same price. In the words of another Looter friend I have, "The novelty is starting to wear off." :(

Sorry, Loot Crate... I was really hoping that this month would've been one of my favorites!

I totally give the Loot Crate team props though, since I know that they work super hard to try to put these boxes together for their loyal Looters, and they always have excellent customer service. A friend of mine also organized a St. Jude's Casino Night at our school recently, in which all the proceeds go to charity, and Loot Crate was kind enough to donate January's Loot Crate and a code for a free 3-month subscription that they were able to raffle off. The recipient was very happy and was smiling like a maniac when I saw him claim his prize. They were also able to raise $2,500 in ticket sales for that event, which was partially because the prizes that were donated were so awesome. So don't get me wrong, Loot Crate makes a TON of people happy every month, I'm sure. It's just doesn't seem to be working for me and Henry that well, and that's fine. I'm almost certain that once they get bigger, and can really start upping the value and quality of their crates, I will be subscribing again. 

One of my biggest reasons to order a subscription box every month is high value, and that way, I don't have to feel so guilty about spending a certain amount of money a month on things I wouldn't normally buy because it was worth it. But that is just my personal thing. Loot Crate is a great company and if you feel like you would totally love these items, that's awesome! Sign up for a subscription! You can also use the code "3OFF " to get $3 off your first subscription, but I'm not sure how long that will be good for.

Oh, and here's January's Mega Crate (if you were curious to what it was)!

I also wanted to say a big thanks to the people that have used my link to sign up for a Loot Crate! I feel very honored to have readers that appreciate my reviews even if they're not always the brightest and shiniest. It's always important to stay honest! :)

Thanks for reading!

TheRxNina

December 2012 "Glamour, Glitz, & Gloss" Glossybox Review!

Hey everyone! Just catching up on some reviews after my grueling exam this morning.

I was really excited to get my second Glossybox, as it's one of the higher quality ones I subscribe to. This month was definitely a nice one! It's kind of like Ipsy's My Glam Bag or Birchbox, but I would say that the products and brands that come in GlossyBox are much more expensive, or not as well known. That makes sense though, if you're paying $11 more, that it would have a higher value to it. 

Here's a quick rundown of all the things you need to know!

Glossybox

- High end beauty box

- $21/month, and it gets cheaper with the more months you purchase at once
- Shipped by USPS

- Referral program (if you get one friend to sign up through your link, you get 200 "glossydots" in which you can exchange for a Glossybox, or you can take surveys on your box and the products in it for about 20 points each survey. 1000 glossydots = 1 Glossybox)

December Unboxing!

This month's theme was "Glamour, Glitz, & Gloss".

What was in this month's box?

Lipclick Luxe Lipstick in m.powerment petal from mark., Plume Divine 40" Necklace from Jewelmint, Bath Salts in White Tea from Heartland Fragrance Co., Denise Richards Volume Extend Finishing Spray by Cristophe, Pleats Please Eau de Toilette sample from Issey Miyake, Velvet Amplifier from Wella, Nail Lacquer in Electra from Zoya

Total Value:

$56.05

The Items:

Lipclick Luxe Lipstick in m.powerment petal from mark. ($12.00/.106 oz):

This is a really cute rose nude color. I like these types of shades because they look really natural and don't make you look overdone, but still give you a nice healthy color to your lips. What's cool about this particular lipstick is the packaging, which makes it unique from other lipsticks. The cap "clicks" onto the bottom part of the tube when you close it, using magnets, so that it keeps the cap on tight that way. It's a novelty type of packaging, in my opinion, only because I've never really had problems with caps coming off with regular lipsticks, so I feel like the magnets aren't really that much more convenient or necessary. The tube is a very shiny, chrome pink, which is so adorable. Another thing that I like about it is that it's not that expensive, compared to the usual Dior brand I get. Of course, the mark. lipstick doesn't go on as smooth or is as hydrating as my Dior one. It's very obvious where the dry skin is on my lips, although maybe all lipsticks are like that. In any case, I liked that I got a lipstick that I could use on a daily basis and not look overdone.

Divine Plume 40" Necklace from Jewelmint ($29.99):

This is the item that I was super surprised about getting, only because you usually expect a cosmetic or beauty product in Glossybox. It came in a little velvet baggie, and it's basically a really long necklace that goes down to about my belly button, and it's got little gold and silver feathers at the end. It looks a little steampunk-ish, which I like. I was excited to see it since I never accessorize, so I don't have many things like this. It is a little weird how the clasp to undo it is down by where the feathers are though. I'm not sure why they decided to design it that way.

Bath Salts in White Tea from Heartland Fragrance ($1.83/5.5 oz):

The moment I opened the box, I immediately smelled this. It was definitely a flowery smell, and almost overwhelming (but I have a very sensitive nose). But bath salts!! I love baths! I think taking a bath is one of the most relaxing things in the world, so I was very happy to see this in the box. Sometimes you just have to take a break from life and sit in some good smelling water, you know? Anyway, I got White Tea, which definitely didn't smell like white tea to me... but it did smell nice. I saved it for a night when my muscles were tired from working out, since they are epsom salts. I was pleased to find that the overwhelming smell dissipated into a pleasant, mild, fragrance that made my bath that much more relaxing and enjoyable. I probably should have tried to take a handful and exfoliate with them first, but I was just so excited that I ended up dumping everything out the moment I could.

Pleats Please Eau de Toilette by Issey Miyake ($0.81/0.03 oz):
I usually dislike getting perfume samples in my beauty boxes since I'm very particular about the type of fragrance I like. My regular bottle right now is Jennifer Aniston, and it has a jasmine smell to it that I absolutely adore. It's fantastic. This sample of Pleats Please was kind of cool to get because they are an exclusive online launch partner through Glossybox. A regular bottle is also pretty pricey at $92 for 3.3 ounces. I have to say that I liked the smell since it was very bright and upbeat. I'm not good at picking up certain notes to things in perfume, so I'll just list what they have on the package: nashi pear, peony, sweet pea, cinnamon, cedar, patchouli, vanilla. I probably still wouldn't replace my regular perfume with it, but it's always a win when you find a perfume sample that you like and can stick in a clutch or purse when you're going out somewhere. Am I right?

Denise Richards Volume Extend Finishing Spray by Cristophe ($3.00/1.5 oz):

I actually still haven't had the chance to use this yet, but I'm always into travel size hairsprays, since it's always a pain to drag along a huge bottle when you're going on a roadtrip. I'll update once I get the chance to put it to use! Pretty cool that it's paraben and sulfate free.

Velvet Amplifier from Wella ($0.42/0.05 oz):

This was another hair product that was in the box, although, I really have no idea how to use it. A style primer? Foreign language to a girl who brushes her hair with her fingers everyday. But! This is why I picked hair products as my preferred items, so that I can actually be forced to learn how to DO my hair. I shall update once I figure out what I should do with this. I need to do more research.

Nail Lacquer in Electra from Zoya ($8.00/0.5 oz):

Zoya! I was happy to see it in the box since I haven't been able to try this particular brand yet, but apparently, it's supposed to be a lot healthier for your nails than regular nail polish. Mine has long slivers of silver foil in it, which looks great in the bottle, but I'm not sure how it would come out on my nails. I'll update with a pic once I get to try it. This company recently had a promotion where they gave out 3 nail polishes (a bunch to choose from) for free and all you had to do was pay for shipping and handling, which was $10. A pretty good deal, in my opinion! The 3 that I chose were "Snow White" (white), "Nina" (chocolate brown/maroon/black), and "Zuza" (shimmery light blue). I tried Nina and it came out pretty well, although I was confused about what color it really was. It said dark chocolate on the site, but it looks black in some lighting, and I also saw a tinge of purple/maroon on the edges where I didn't get a perfect two coats. I'm still uncertain how I feel about it compared to my regular OPI, but I'll let you know once I try it again.

Overall, I was pretty happy with December's box, with a value over twice as much as I paid for it. I do wish that it had more things that I could use everyday, like when they included BB cream and face cleanser in their October Box. I would have REALLY enjoyed that one. I was really happy with the lip stick and bath salts. 

I do have to make a note though, mentioning that today is February 1st, and I still haven't received my January Glossybox. This is a big no no in my book, since a subscription box that is supposed to come every month, should come at the same time every month. At the moment, it's stuck in Indiana somewhere... hopefully it moves in the next couple of days. Apparently, they had such a huge demand in January that they had some backorders for products that were supposed to be in the box that they had to wait for. They did try to make up for it by giving us 50 Glossydots to our accounts, but seeing as you need a 1000 to get a free box, that seemed a little skimpy to me. I would have been happy with a bonus product with January or February's box, but 50 Glossydots? Come on! But I think some people might have unsubscribed just for this error alone. Although I'm a little annoyed about it, I'm still willing to see what's in February's box before I decide for sure to cancel or not. From what I know, this isn't a usual behavior for Glossybox, and that a lot of subscribers have never encountered this type of problem before. I did like every box I've gotten so far so I can't say that it's not worth the wait... hopefully when it comes, I'll forget all about how long it took to get to me!

If you'd like to take a chance on Glossybox (and help me get Glossydots), click here to subscribe!

As always, thanks for reading! :)

TheRxNina