March 2013 Favorites

Spring is in the air, and I'm absolutely LOVING it.  Not loving the pollen or forthcoming allergies, but I will take the bad with the good.  Also, thinking about enforcing another no-buy for the month of April.  I did quite a bit of shopping this past month for my birthday, and though I didn't go crazy with it, I could still probably reel it in a bit.

Home:
Tiki Beach candle from Bath & Body Works- I don't burn candles as much in spring/summer as I do in fall/winter, so I picked up a few of their smallest candles in a variety of scents. This one smells summery and divine.
Kitchen Lemon Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap from B&BW- Soap should always smell this good.

Food:
Healthy choice greek froyo- my Kroger carries these in two flavors (Vanilla Bean & Strawberry), and both are delicious! And only 2 WeightWatchers points a piece.
Subway- Again, keeping WeightWatchers in mind, I've been frequenting Subway and getting my favorite turkey sandwich.

Beauty:
MAKE Cosmetics matte eyeshadow in "Burnt Umber"- Got this in my Birchbox this month (the other color I got in my 2nd box is "Santa Fe"--long story, see this post), and it is just wonderful. Very pigmented and blendable.
BalmShelter tinted moisturizer from theBalm- I've had this for a while, but I still love it. I think it offers pretty good coverage as a tinted moisturizer, and it feels very lightweight when worn. I know I'll continue to reach for this instead of foundation as the weather gets even warmer.

Style/Accessories:
New sunglasses from Target- Gold toned aviators.
iPod Nano- Birthday gift from a special someone!

TV:
Pretty Little Liars- I mean...who else was freaking out during the season finale a couple of weeks ago?? I know I'm not alone.
Nashville- Yes, please.
Smash- I'm loving the rebooted season 2 (and literally ALL of the songs from "Hitlist"), but I'm very sad to be hearing rumors of impending cancellation. Say it ain't so!

Music:
Pink "Just Give Me A Reason"
Tegan & Sara "Closer"
Smash Soundtrack "Heart Shaped Wreckage" 
CHVRCHES "Recover" (below!)

Hope everyone had a great month of March! 

Birchbox: March 2013

This has been an odd month for me in the world of Birchbox.  I received my shipping e-mail earlier in the month, and 10 days later, the tracking still had not updated.  This is unusual and can sometimes mean the box is lost.  So, I e-mailed Customer Service and they said they would ship me a new box but that it might contain different samples from my first box.  That same day, my first box arrived.  I checked my profile, and my items had already been changed.  Luckily, they're all practically the same as the first box, so I'll just have duplicates of most of these items.  Odd, right?  I'm not sure when my 2nd box will get here, but here's what I got in my original box:

This month's theme is "March Madness".  Let's not even talk about NCAA Tournament brackets because mine is crap.  Also, I've decided to start calculating the value of the boxes I receive.  A Birchbox subscription is $10.00 a month, and if you're interested in subscribing, click here.

MAKE Matte Eyeshadow:  This first box contains the color Burnt Umber, a dark cool-toned brown.  The second box might contain a different color--won't know until I get it.  The card inside the box says, "This new brand's pretty pigments have serious staying power, and we love that one-third of all sales are donated to charity." Full-size: $18.00, Sample size: $5.40

I'm glad I received a neutral shade, at least in this box; I wouldn't get much use out of a crazy color.  Excited to try this out!

MAKE Face Primer Broad Spectrum SPF 30:  "Pump up your makeup's endurance and protect skin with this two-in-one base and SPF." Full-size: $30.00, Sample size: $5.46

This primer has a faint sunscreen scent, and I looove that about it.  Some people hate when things smell like sunscreen, but I love it because it always reminds me of the beach.  Makes me happy.  We'll see if this truly helps the staying power of my makeup on my oily skin.

Nick Chavez Beverly Hills Color-Saver Sulfate-Free Shampoo:  "The Hollywood stylist devised this sulfate-free shampoo to enhance the vibrancy of your hue.  It's loaded with yummy apple and lemon extracts that boost volume." Full-size: $22.00, Sample size: $5.50

Smells wonderful.  I still haven't finished the last Nick Chavez volumizing shampoo sample I got back in November or December, so I know this will last me forever.  I'm probably going to get my hair colored in April, and this will come in handy! (This is the one differing product in my 2nd box.  Instead of this sample, I'm getting a sample of volumizing mousse from Oscar Blandi, which I'm actually excited to try.)

Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream: "The organic shea butter in this foam-free shaving cream makes for an insanely close shave and leaves skin incredibly soft.  We love the exclusive blueberry scent." Full-size: $20.00, Sample size: $2.93

The blueberry scent is really unique, in a good way.  This will be good for travel.  Eh.

*Beauty Extra* Madewell for Birchbox Emery Board: "We teamed up with Madewell to create this adorable mani savior, patterned after a print from their new spring collection." Full-size: $5.00.

Super cute pattern.  I prefer glass nail files because I think they have a much more fine texture, but I might keep this in my purse or something for emergencies.

So, the monetary value of the samples in my original box is $24.29.  Definitely worth the $10.00.  Not my favorite Birchbox month, though.  I feel like I said this about every product, but these are all things that will come in handy.  I'll use everything, but I'm not particularly excited about any of it.  And I'm not even that excited about getting two of almost everything haha.  I kind of wish my 2nd box had all completely different samples.  I shouldn't complain though, since they sent it to me free. 

I heard through the grapevine that Birchbox is teaming up with Women's Health magazine next month.  I hope that box is awesome since this one left me underwhelmed.  Bring on April!!