November Sample Society

Huzzah my November Sample Society box finally arrived! I guess that hurricane Sandy really held things up didn't it? Well, the good thing is that the box arrived. The bad thing is that it wasn't all that. Here's my loot:

L'Occitane Shea Hand Cream (full size $28) - I'm pretty happy about this one because I had been intending to purchase one anyway, but the sample is so small! I was hoping they were going to send the 1 oz size (which is like $10), but instead it is only 0.3 oz. It also doesn't smell as good as I imagined, it just smells like any old lotion. Oh well, at least it is purse friendly.

Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Dry Oil Mist (full size $24) - I'll be honest, the first thing I thought when I saw this was "ANOTHER Alterna Bamboo product??" Seriously, now I have the UV spray, smoothing spray, salt spray and this. However, I used this last night and I quite liked it! The mist is so so so super fine that initially I didn't think anything was coming out. But it left my hair super soft and manageable.

Diego Dalla Palma Lipstick (full size $34) - The color I received is #29 which is a medium pink. It doesn't look too bad in the swatch photo, but it is a little too blue based for my skin tone/tastes. I've learned that I really need to be careful with my pinks because if it is too blue, I feel like I look very 80's or like Barbie. The texture is nice and creamy though.

Diptyque Volutes Eau de Toilette (full size $120) - I've always wanted to try Diptyque fragrances, particularly their candles, but after receiving two in Sample Society boxes, I have NOT been impressed.  Again, I'm going to chalk this up to just receiving scents that are not my style. I think Volutes would smell amazing on a man, but for me it is too musky and manly. The website describes it as "voyage of your dreams...redolent of adventure and spice...volute and tobacco." Yeah, not exactly my taste.

Dermalogica Precleanse Oil (full size $35) - Another one that I wasn't that excited about. I mean, do I really need to PREcleanse?? But I'll give it a shot because I'm using a cleansing oil right now that just doesn't wash off very well, so I'm curious to see if this is any better.

So that's my November Sample Society. I really hope the next box is better because the last two months have been pretty disappointing!

October Glossybox

After my disappointing Birchbox and Sample Society, I am having a total love affair with Glossybox. Like I said, it costs a little more ($23 something in CA, including tax), but you really get mostly deluxe to full size products from amazing brands.

I just realized that while cleaning up this morning, I seem to have thrown away the product info card so I'm going to have to wing it and do some googling to figure out the descriptions and prices! I think the theme of the month was something like a home spa day, but if it was up to me, I would have called it the month of amazing smelling products. Yeah, that doesn't sound as nice, but whateves. Here we go...

Alterna Bamboo Luminous Shine Mist (full size $22) - I always enjoy a good shine spray and this should come in handy since a sleek look is in for fall. I'm not super familiar with the Alterna brand although I have received quite a few samples of their products through beauty boxes and shops. What are your favorite Alterna products?

Carol's Daughter Almond Cookie Shea Souffle (full size $13.50) - OMG holy deliciousness! I love love love the way this smells! I love it so much that I already placed an order for the spa set which includes a shower gel, scrub, oil and another souffle. The smell kind of reminds me of the L'Occitane almond line - a little nutty, marzipan-y, and sweet. I'm not usually one for sweet/cookie type scents, but this one blew me away. The texture is reminiscent of a body butter, but as the name suggests, it is a lighter more whipped consistency.  I have so many shower products waiting to be used, but I can't think of any more appropriate for the holidays than this one.

Heartland Fragrance Co. Exfoliating Loofa Soap (full size $8) - This is an interesting product in that there is a piece of loofa inside of a glycerin soap. I'm always looking for scrubs and exfoliating products, so this will definitely be useful. I received the Secret Garden scent which smells more fruity than floral to me, but delicious none the less.

Nastassja Skin Enzyme Facial Peel (full size $40) - Another product that smell amazing - very citrusy and fresh. You just need to put a thin layer on your face and neck, let it sit for 2-3 minutes, then massage in circular motions. Dead skin is supposed to start pilling off. This is perfect because I just used up the last of my REN Glycolactic Renewal Mask so I needed a new exfoliating product.

Model Co. Lipstick/Gloss duo (full size $39) - I'm not entirely sure if this is an actual product because I can't find it on their website. I think the full size price just reflects the cost of a lipstick plus the cost of a lipgloss. In any case, $39 is pretty steep even if you are getting two products. I've never had a lipstick before that smells so good! It smells like gummy candies or something. I like that the color is a very wearable pinky brown with a peachy nude gloss. However, I will say that lipstick/gloss is really big and somewhat unwieldy when applying the lipstick side. There is also a built in mirror on the side, but it sort of defeats the purpose because you can't really use the mirror and the lipstick at the same time if that makes any sense.

Overall, another great Glossybox. I can't wait for my next one!