Fortune Cookie Soap Box: Fall 2014

Ah, Fall! My absolute favorite season. Chunky sweaters, crunchy leaves, cinnamon on everything, and the sweet sounds of Lambeau Field down the street from my house... 

I already knew I was going to love this edition of Fortune Cookie Soap's Soap Box because 1) I have loved ALL of the Soap Boxes so far and 2) I knew it would have fall scents which means cinnamon, pumpkin, and spicy goodness! But then they went and made the theme The Wizard of Oz/Wicked and that made it absolutely perfection for me!

If you're not familiar with the Fortune Cookie Soap Box, you'll find more information here. Basically, they release four larger collections per year & the soap box is a chance to check out the new scents + products! You also get a $10 off coupon inside the box to use towards full size products in the shop!

But, enough chit chat. Let's see what's in the box, shall we?

Such an exciting box to open up! And I could immediately smell everything at once which is both overwhelming and amazing!

"There's No Place Like Home" Fortune Cookie Soap

Curled Macintosh apple peels lovingly kissed with a hint of cinnamon, allspice, and clove, make this fragrance warm and cozy, just like home--as long as home's not in Kansas! ;) 

"Miss Popular" Bubble Bath Powder

As bubbly and sticky sweet as they come, but maybe not quite what you'd expect, with a depth of scent that is both unexpected and enchanting. The most delectable, sweet, honey nectar shamelessly flirting with touches of star anise, star jasmine, sweet orange, and blushing violet. 

"The Shiz" Perfume Oil

A woodland hike through damp balsam woods, with top notes of maple leaves blowing through new dawn blossom, laurel, and sweet clove. 

"Swankified" Walnut Facial Scrub

Bunches of ripe bananas mashed into sweet, sugary cake batter, then topped with walnuts and baked to a golden brown. 

"Hair Flip" Hair Oil

Strands of sweet hazelnut woven throughout rich, buttery vanilla cream. 

"Roy G. Biv" OCD Hand Sanitizer

A full spectrum of bright citrus notes and florals against a cool fall background. Dusky breezes and bonfires, wind-blown leaves and charred woods brightened by notes of lemon, mandarin, cotton blossom and soft vanilla. 

"Flying Monkeys" Personal Space Air Freshener

Mischief is in the air with this fruity, breezy blend of peach, watermelon, neroli and jasmine with air and aquatic notes. But the real star of this fragrance? Fresh, ripe bananas!

"Green Is The New Black" Whipped Cream

Sweet pumpkin pie filling with the perfect touch of cinnamon, ginger and brown sugar, finished with a generous dollop of fresh whipped cream. 

This time around there were actual four different varieties of the Whipped Cream. Here are the other scents that some subscribers received:

"BFFs" Blueberries and pumpkins might be considered an unexpected friendship, but in this unique scent, they're inseparable! Stick, sugared blueberries, and luscious baked pumpkin with all the fall spices atop a warm cake accord. 

"No Good Deed" Creamy pumpkin puree, ground cinnamon, Vermont maple syrup, run, french vanilla and caramelized sugar. 

"Wicked, Good" Top notes of orange, apple, pear, pineapple, and cherries lured into autumn by pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, all rounded out with warm vanilla-infused sugar. 

Did you get the Fall Soap Box? What was your favorite product or scent? I always love the whipped creams and I am really loving the hair oil from this box! Favorite scent is The Shiz, hands down, but I also really like There's No Place Like Home & Green Is The New Black. 

The collection actually launched last night in the store and on the website (sorry, late on my review!) so a lot of items are currently sold out but they'll be restocking soon! Some of the new products added with this launch are the walnut facial scrub, hair oil, foaming hand soap, & leave in conditioner. They've also added larger sizes of the whipped creams & OCD hand sanitizers. :) 

The 'Witch Please!' collection can be viewed in it's entirety here. 

REVIEW: Impulse Cosmetics Lipsticks

Hello beautiful readers! If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen quite a few of my swatches of indie eye shadows. The obsession started with my Glamour Doll Eyes subscription and has just sort of spiraled out of control. So. Many. Eye shadows. Indie companies are great because they have all sorts of awesome and unique shades that you won't necessarily find in mainstream make up brands. 

Anyway, I finally took the plunge and ordered my very first indie lipsticks from a wonderful company called Impulse Cosmetics. WARNING: Taking a look at their shop might make your wallet cry. I only ordered three lipsticks to start, but I already have a crazy list of lipsticks and eye shadows that I plan on purchasing in the very near future!

The three lipsticks I ordered were all from the Opaque Matte Lipstick collection. Here's the description from the website:

"These lipsticks were formulated with you pout princesses in mind... and if you're not a lipstick fan, we're about to make you one!
Our lipsticks are creamy and moisturizing while giving you that opaque finish you crave in one swipe!"

The three colors I ordered were Bombshell (bright, watermelon/coral pink with an strong orange undertone), Medusa (dark, merlot red with a strong purple undertone), & Ecstasy (bright, almost fluorescent pink with a blue undertone). They're all $6.99 for a full size tube, but you can also purchase samples for $2.45. They also sell five shade lip palettes which are $19.99 or $23 for a customized palette. 

So, here are some quick swatches. When they say these lipsticks are opaque, they really mean it! This is just one swipe of each shade. GORGEOUS.

And of course, swatches on my face. My camera refuses to capture the brightness of these beauties. Ecstasy and Bombshell are much more vibrant in person, more similar to the swatches above. 

Ecstasy.

Bombshell.

Medusa.

If you're in the market for new lipstick shades, I'd definitely recommend checking them out. I ordered all kind of tame shades to start, but they do offer all sorts of awesome colors ranging from reds, purples, and pinks to greens, blues, and oranges. 

Happy shopping, ladies!

Memebox Special OMG Box

It's been such a long time since I did a Memebox post and I have SO MANY that I need to get on here! It's a full blown addiction, I'll admit it. 

If you're not familiar with Memebox, it's basically a company that curates boxes filled with Korean beauty products. It's NOT a subscription service. They do have what I'd consider 'monthly boxes' which are their global boxes, but they still all have to be purchased individually. They also come out with 'special' Memeboxes which are themed and 'super' Memeboxes which have full sized products. 

I started out buying the global boxes, but they've started coming out with so many cool sounding special boxes that I had to start ordering some of those too. 

This box is called the 'OMG Box' and it was supposed to be filled with all of the sort of weird beauty products you hear about all the time over in Korea. The description from the card insert is:

"Our OMG Box will literally make you go 'Huh?' 'Hmmm..Cool!' because we've loaded this box up with weirdly awesome, yet effective beauty treasures that will work miracles for your hair, skin, and body! If you're a daring beauty enthusiast or a beautyholic who is open to trying bizarre new trends, we dare you to take this beauty challenge!' 

It sounded great in theory but unfortunately this box was sort of disappointing as far as the theme goes. No 'OMGs' from this girl as I unboxed it!

Behold, the not-so-OMG OMG Box!

Let's take a look at the products & descriptions:

Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask

This is the ultimate one-step facial mask with both pore care and cleansing functions. Not only is it packed with green tea extracts, pomegranate extracts, and charcoal extracts, this clay mask contains carbonated water which starts to bubble up the very moment it's applied on your face and deeply penetrates into your pores for getting all the gunk out without having to harden up like average clay masks. 

Pure Smile 3 Step Bust Pack

This is a quick 3 step process for taking care of your bust, especially recommended to be used before wearing a bikini! The gommage, the hydro-gel pack, and the cream are enriched with various nutritious ingredients for maintaining your bust skin soft and well-moisturized. 

Hope Girl Night Diva Gloss

This is a lip gloss with two different shades gradated together in a single product! Despite it being a gloss, the Night Diva Gloss is non-sticky, smoothly spreading, and highly moist all in one. Also, it carries a build-in LED light and a mirror, so you don't have to take out your hand mirror or visit the ladies room for a quick touch-up anymore!

SKINAZ The Kissable 24H Lip Tattoo

SKINAZ takes lip makeup to a whole new level with its Lip Tattoo! This will be the ultimate no-makeup makeup since it actually works like an impermanent color tattoo on your lips and does not smudge or get erased for 24 hours long. Plus, it comes in five lusciously radiant colors.

SKINAZ Premium Vitablet

You might wonder-what is a vitablet? Vitablet comes from combining 'vitamin' with 'tablet' and refers to SKINAZ's unique tablet-type of vitamin cleanser rich in vitamin C and aroma oil. What's so special about this that it even takes care of skincare while cleansing with its skin beneficial formula containing more than 300g of vitamin C which is equivalent to 43 whole lemons. It'll be like having done a nourishing vitamin pack!

Ladykin Aqua Exfoliator For Body

In Korea, going down to a local public bath for a nice scrub is a very common and popular thing. You can get a quick glimpse into the world of 'body scrubs/exfoliators' with this gentle exfoliator from Ladykin! Enriched with cellulose components from papaya and pineapple extracts, this Aqua Exfoliator For Body removes all bodily dead skin cells and unnecessary impurities without having to scrub down hard enough to stimulate your sensitive skin. All you need to do is spray this product all over your body and softly roll away the dead skin cells, for cleaner, fresher, and smoother body skin!

 I really like this box and I'm excited to try all of the products in it, but I'd call everything more 'interesting' than 'OMG.' Since this box was released, they've released OMG 2 and OMG 3 but unfortunately they have all sold out. With the current trend of boxes, I wouldn't be surprised if OMG is on the way though so keep your eyes open!

Check out all the boxes currently available here! (affiliate link) 

Right now you can get 2 points (+$2) for signing up for a new account. :)
A5Z5 : Get $5 off any Memebox order!

MEMEBUNDLE3:  Get $5 off on orders when you buy 3 or more Memeboxes

MEMEBUNDLE4: Get $8 off on orders when you buy 4 or more Memeboxes

FREESHIPPING: Get free shipping on purchases over $70 on only Memeshop items

You can also click on these links for additional savings!

Memebox My Cute Wishlist

I've been ordering Memeboxes since February or so and while I've loved each of them for different reasons, THIS ONE is my favorite. Behold, the My Cute Wishlist box!  The second I saw 'cute' in the title, I knew I had to have it. I'm such a sucker for packaging and there are so many Korean products with ridiculously adorable packaging!

If you're not familiar with Memebox, it's basically a company that curates boxes filled with Korean beauty products. It's NOT a subscription service. They do have what I'd consider 'monthly boxes' which are their global boxes, but they still all have to be purchased individually. They also come out with 'special' Memeboxes which are themed and 'super' Memeboxes which have full sized products. 

The My Cute Wishlist box was a Superbox.

I opened this box & audibly shrieked. LOOK AT HOW ADORABLE IT ALL IS!

Honestly, I looked at all this stuff and didn't even really care what the products actually were. I just wanted all the cute things displayed on my vanity! Cupcakes, pandas, and Snow White!!

BUT there are some great products in here, so let's take a look at everything in the box. :) 

Descriptions are from the Memebox product card insert. 

a;t fox Lifting Cream Black Tea 

If you've been stressing over sagging bags under your eyes or starting to notice little wrinkles and creases here and there, a;t fox's Lifting Cream Black Tea is just what you're looking for! With its softly melting texture and black tea extracts, this lifting cream with guarantee you healthy, younger looking complexion with high resilience and firmness. 

a;t fox  Jasoyup Tea Whitening Capsule Cream

What makes this cream so special is that it combines the deep hydration of a moisturizing cream and the brightening effect of a whitening essence. The whitening capsules inside the gel cream removes uneven, dark spots on your skin and helps create cleaner and naturally glowing skin tone. 

a;t fox Gyoolpy Tea Water Gel Cream

High concentrates of Vitamin-C from the Gyoolpy Tea deeply nourishes and moisurizes the skin, leaving a refreshing lasting glow on your skin. Also, being a gel-type cream, it spreads and penetrates int the skin smoothly and without curdling and at the same time creates a thin moisture layer over your skin to prevent dehydration. 

Thoughts: These all sound really interesting to me & I'm happy to get to try them out in small sizes! Plus once I finish the creams, I have adorable little cupcake containers to put something else in!

Pure Smile Muddy Girl Charcoal

A wash-off type mud pack made from naturally derived ingredients such as clay, mud, and charcoal. It works to soothe, purify, and moisturize the skin, preventing possible dehydration and surface roughening. 

Thoughts: I love masks, charcoal especially. Will use this ASAP!

Etude Sweet Recipe Candy Stick in 'Oh! Orange Candy'

Enriched with bilberry, sugar cane, sugar maple, orange and lemon extracts, the Sweet Recipe Candy Stick is a gloss type lip tint that moisturizes and plumps up your dry, chapped lips for a long-lasting radiance. 

Thoughts: Sigh, more orange lip products. Why you gotta be like that, Memebox? 

Etude Missing U Hand Cream in Peach

Enriched with organic olive oil and shea butter, Etude's adorable Missing U hand cream comes in four scents-fiona, green tea, baby powder, and peach. Also, it contains no parabens, sulfate, ethanol, or artificial coloring and is extremely gentle and nourishing to skin. 

Thoughts: This is my favorite item in the box. I can't deal with it's cuteness and I love peach scented things!

Beauty People Snow White Special Edition Season 2

Beauty People's popular eye liner special edition #2 containing only the hottest Fall/Winter color combinations! Mix and match five different eye colors for adding more depth and vibrancy to your eyes. These cream-type eye liners boost minute-size glitter pearls, waterproof formula, and a long-lasting finish. 

Thoughts: The sassy looking Snow White tin is pretty awesome in itself, but I also really love the shades of liner they included. Metallics are huge for Fall this year and these will be perfect!

Kocostar Split End Therapy

Kocostar's sensational split end therapy contains 8 types of amino acid complex which works to prevent hair breakage and static electricity. Its specifically formulated to instantly repair split ends and protect hair from any future damages. An interesting fact about the hair therapy is that you don't need to wash it off after application. 

Thoughts: Didn't think this was that cute until I saw the polka dot hair band inside. I do have really bad split ends, so hopefully this will help. And, if not, at least my hair will look cute while I have the treatment in. 

Pure Smile Neco Punch Point Pad Hibiscus & Lemon Grass

Pure Smile's Neco Punch Point Pad is enriched with vitamin E, collagen, hyaluronic acid, arbutin, hibiscus and lemon grass extracts, and works to moisturize and control excess sebum and secretions to maintain a healthy balance in your skin. 

Thoughts: I've never heard of these before, but I love the idea of pin pointing certain areas on your skin that you want to treat! 

So, yeah. This is my favorite box ever and I am absolutely kicking myself for not ordering My Cute Wishlist 2 (now sold out). I DID order My Cute Wishlist 3 (also sold out) so I have that to look forward to at least!

Need a promo code for your next Memebox purchase?

A5Z5 : Get $5 off any Memebox order!

REVIEW: Make Up By One Direction

**Sponsored by BrandBacker**

I had previously posted some information about the NEW Make Up By One Direction Collection from Markwins & I am very excited to share my review of some of those products with you today!

My original post has some basic information about the collection, including the contents of each set. The set I received for review was the 'Up All Night' kit!

• "Taken" - Liquilights Glow Gloss: Powerhouse glitter pink lip gloss that glows to a neon orange under UV light
• 4+1 Eye Shadow Palette in :
  • "More Than This" - soft blushing pink
  • "Gotta by You" - silvered taupe shimmer
  • "Save You Tonight" - shimmering turquoise blue
  • "Another World" - royal blue shimmer
  • "Up All Night" - sapphire glitter crème
• "I Should Have Kissed You" - bubblegum pink crème lipstick
• "Little Black Dress" volumizing mascara in perfectly black
• "Na Na Na" Aqua-blue metallic chrome nail varnish
• "Stand Up" dark denim eye and body crayon
• Includes 5 piece decorator stencil set! Decorate yourself, your stuff, your friends with ONE DIRECTION doodles.

First, here's a look at the tin itself! This would be a really great gift for an avid One Direction fan, but I think it's a little bulky for someone who's more interested in the make up itself. I'd suggest removing the contents & storing them with the rest of your make up & displaying/using the tin elsewhere!

The back of the tin has three looks you can create from the contents inside. Definitely handy if you have a hard time coming up with color combinations!

Here's a look at the inside. Lots of blues & pinks in this one! 

Here's a look at the eye shadow palette!

Clockwise from top left: More Than This, Save You Tonight, Gotta Be You, & Another World. Center: Up All Night. 

Swatches Left to Right: More Than This, Save You Tonight, Gotta Be You, & Another World.

Swatches Bottom to Top: More Than This, Save You Tonight, Gotta Be You, Another World, Up All Night. 

The actual shadows are very creamy and easy to work with, on par with Wet 'n' Wilds other shadows. The glitter, however, is pretty sparse & would require a bit of work to make it opaque. 

This is the Eye & Body Crayon in Stand Up, a dark denim shade. 

It wasn't quite as smooth as I would like my eye pencils to be, but the color is nice & it's easy to create a nice thick line. 

Here's the 'Little Black Dress' volumizing mascara. Honestly a little disappointing! I didn't think it did much as far as volumizing goes. Just a basic black mascara. 

Aaaaaand here's an eye look! You could definitely do a more neutral eye look with this palette but I decided to showcase the blues since that seems to be the dominant color in this kit! 

Hightlight: More Than This, Crease: Gotta Be You, Lid: Save You Tonight, Liner: Stand Up. 

Next up, lip products! I was REALLY curious about this Liquilights Glow Gloss because it's supposed to glow orange under UV light, but unfortunately I didn't have access to a UV light to test it! The gloss is not too sticky & I only needed one quick coat to get a nice even color. 

It DOES have glitter in it and I found that I had glitter on my lips even after I tried to remove the gloss, so beware! :) 

Liquilights Glow Gloss in Taken

The I Should Have Kissed  You lipstick is a bubblegum pink cream. Not a fantastic formula. It's quite chalky and not very smooth to apply! I personally really like the color, but I can definitely see how it wouldn't be for everyone. 

Lipstick in I Should Have Kissed You

The kit also comes with a nail polish called Na Na Na, an aqua blue metallic chrome. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to use this yet, but the color is gorgeous! 

The kit also comes with a pack of stencils that can be used for decorating anything you want! If you wanted to use them on your body, you could use the Body & Eye Pencil from the kit for easy wash off. A cute extra! :) 

Overall, the make up is not super impressive but it's decent and they're great items for a One Direction lover, that's for sure! 

Available NOW in US stores! Macy's, Stage Stores, Dillards, Beauty Brands, & Lord and Taylor. 

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/MakeupbyOneDirection :)