Monday, June 24, 2013

Beauty News! - Target's First Beauty Box

BEAUTY BOX BY TARGET

Or is it Tar-zhey to you, darlings? ::wink wink:: So, Target tried out a possible new beauty subscription box just this past month that was only for.....::ahem pause for dramatic effect::.....FIVE DOLLARS! That's right, a $5 beauty subscription box, I nearly passed out! Obviously, before I did, I went and snagged myself a one-time subscription! 

The only thing I'll say about this box, is that it DID take FOREVER to get to me, as it did with everyone else that ordered it. The shipping dates were estimated between 4-6 weeks. It took nearly 7 1/2 for me. However, it was well worth the wait in my opinion...take a look at what I received!

LOVE IT


This box is seriously fabulous! C'est magnifique! (Hey if you're calling it Tar-zhey, might as well pull out some French vocab, dontchathink?) It was a wonderful surprise and I was very excited to read what was on the included card:

"Welcome to the first edition of the Beauty Box by Target!

We're creating a monthly program that will let you receive samples of 4-5 products from a few of our favorite brands. Some brands you'll know, and some you may not have heard of yet. You will also receive a special beauty offer that'll have you looking gorgeous-for less."

 I'm in, I'm in, I'm in! I definitely want to be included in this awesome deal! So it seems that they shall try to start up this monthly beauty sub, no word yet from Target or their Facebook page, but ::crosses fingers::, we shall see!

Here are the merveilleuses goodies! 
..."Wonderful"...it means "wonderful"....oh just go with it!


GILETTE
VENUS AND OLAY RAZOR PACK
in Sugarberry
         
See...here's the thing with me and female razors: they never work for me. They're usually too blunt, or soft, or don't shave close enough to the skin because of the thick guards, etc, etc. So I received this product. I open it up. I inspect it. I think....sure, let's try this. Stop the presses, my darlings, this razor is PHENOMENAL. I jest you not, you will fall magically in love it! It's a 5 blade razor, with Olay sugarberry scented moisture bars on either side that hydrate, and gently moisturize the skin so shaving cream is not necessary for use with this product. Would you like me to repeat that again...you DON'T have to use shaving cream with this razor. I feel all the women in the world shouting a joyous hooray! Don't get me wrong, I love a good shaving cream when I have the time to luxuriously shave, but most of the time....you just want to shave and dash! It glides so smoothly on your skin and the sugarberry scent is amazingly sweet but light and fresh. This pack only has one disposable razor cartridge, but you can purchase the pack of cartidges for further use. BONUS: This pack comes with a handy dandy little suction cup shower holder for the razor that works very well. My Hubby thought it was the cutest thing seeing my little pick razor hanging on the shower wall...especially since he's used to me using the men's Mach3 Turbo razor. Well, pink is not really my go-to color and the Mach3 Turbo works so well...you know what, all that doesn't matter....just GO and try this amazing Venus razor. I PROMISE you, you'll be as enamored of it as I am!





LA ROCHE-POSAY
EFFACLAR DUO

A dual action acne treatment, this little product definitely impressed me as well. It is supposed to reduce the number and severity of breakouts as well as improve pore size. It's also fragrance free, which I know is a plus to a lot of people. It is recommended that you use it all over your face 1-3X daily. I only used it once a day in particularly bad blemish areas since it is only a foil and not a lot of product. I did notice a slight change after a few days! I really don't have regular acne anymore like I did when I was a teen, but I do have adult cystic acne that pops up every once in a while on my chin, so when it does flare up I like to have a good product on hand that can slow down the infection/inflammation fast before it becomes difficult to treat. One thing about this cream, though, is it DOES sting the skin a bit after a few minutes of wear. It did not bother me as I don't mind sensations on my face from products, but just fair warning if you have sensitive skin or don't particularly like any sensation (tingling, stinging, etc.) from any product on your face. A little does go a long way, so I think a full-size should last a good long while! I'm certainly going to be buying it!





FEKKAI
GLOSSING CREAM

 I've actually never tried a Fekkai product before! So, I was superdupes excited to see this in my box.....but....I know, we don't like hearing 'but'.....it really just didn't do much for me. It's supposed to add a brilliant shine and help keep frizz down, but honestly, I didn't see a huge difference. A SMALL one in regards to a little bit of shine, but nothing for frizz. Granted, I think this product would be much more suited towards someone who has straighter-styled hair. With my hair, I try to up the curl factor as well as volume, so when I scrunched in this product after styling, I just didn't see anything. I added more...still nothing....I added a bit more (mind you, it says pea-size amount is recommended, I added almost 4X that amount) and after all that I did notice a bit of a shine, but nothing that blew me away. I also tried adding this product to my hair while it was still damp, then styling. Nope. Alas, not everything will work for everybody! As I said, I think this cream would be better for someone who has a straighter-style hairdo or possibly thicker hair for frizz control. This makes me sad though, because the sample size bottle is DELUXE! I may still try out other combinations with this product and see what might work better...






L'OREAL MAGIC
SKIN BEAUTIFIER B.B. CREAM

I don't even need to try out this product to tell you how awesome it is, because I already use it daily! However, this little packet is a shade too dark for me. I am so pale, of course I wear the Fair shade! These BB Creams come in 4 different shades: Fair, Light, Medium and Deep. What's so interesting about these creams is that they don't appear to be skin-toned until you blend them in. Mine for example looks pale gray, but it has encapsulated pigments infused in the lotion that burst open when you apply and blend. They smoothly work right into your skin-tone and correct coloring, even pores, and hydrates the skin. This cream gives my skin an all-over even canvas to work with. It softens the redness, and even gently lightens blemishes so they're more easily concealable. Plus, the formula is so light, you won't even know you have it on! It also never gets cakey like a lot of foundations, and it doesn't smudge. I really didn't take a picture, because honestly, if you look at pretty much any picture of me, I probably have it on! Voila!




        
SALLY HANSEN 
SALON EFFECTS REAL NAIL POLISH STRIPS
in Lust-rous #470

 The only item in the box that varied from person to person! They sent out multiple different styles of these strips and I LOVE the one they sent me. Gorgeous! Once again, this is a product I've never tried. I HAVE however, tried nail strips before, but not Sally Hansen's. Also, OUI, you ARE reading the French side of the Sally Hansen box....OUI, I did it on purpose and OUI, the English translation is on the other side. Here is what came in the packet - 

On the left is a plastic package that contains a double sided nail file that has a rough grit, light grit and a buffer pad, as well as a cuticle pusher nail stick. On the right are two packets of the nail strips with each container 8 strips each in multiple sizes. I kind of feel like it's a little bit of a waste to have 6 stripes left over, so I'll be keeping them in case I ever want to use them as accent nails for a mani! They applied fairly easily. I used the cuticle pusher to fix my poor poor cuticles and the buffer to polish and buff the top of my nails (which I haven't done in FOREVER, oh my, it was glorious), then I applied the strips! -




 A moment of silence please for my poor nails. I ripped the middle finger's nail off a few days ago, then I cracked my pointer finger nail, then I chipped an edge off my pinky nail. I don't know WHAT my nails have against me right now, but they are being REBELS! So I have a completely and ridiculously short middle finger nail, and the others I had to file down. I sniffled a little while filing. 

Enough of that drama, so as far as the strips...I was a little disappointed that the actual strips weren't as sparkly as the box shows. They were also very different in design/sparkle added from each other too. For example, the strip that fit my pinky nail ended up having pretty much no glitter on it, but the thumb nail strip had a fairly good amount. I almost felt like I wanted to add some topcoat glitter to them! At first I was worried that they wouldn't stick because the ends felt a little flimsy, soft and easy peel-able, but after an hour or so they hardened up and now, 3 days later, they are stuck like glue! lol Definitely good quality strips that will last you a few days, and it's perfect for those of you who need a quick mani but don't have time to dry them or want to risk smudging the polish afterwards. I'd definitely recommend trying out a style you like! They have a bunch to choose from!



WORTH AND PURCHASE: 

 *(I priced everything according to their prices at Target.com, your Target or other stores may vary)

 1) Gilette Venus and Olay Razor Pack:
  •  Full-size is 1 razor stick, 1 cartridge and 1 shower holder - $8.99
  •  I received a full-size!

2) La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo:
  •  Full-size is 1.35 oz - $36.99
  •  I received a 0.17 fl oz sample foil - $4.66

3) Fekkai Glossing Cream: *Price from Fekkai.com
  •  For a 4 oz size bottle - $25.00
  •  I received a 2 oz size sample bottle - $12.50


4) L'Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier B.B. Cream:
  • Full-size is 1.0 oz - $7.99
  • I received a 0.025 fl oz sample foil - $0.20

5) Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips: *Price from local Target
  •  Full-size is 16 strips, 1 mini buffer, 1 cuticle pusher stick - $8.50
  •  I received a full-size!

Total Paid for Box:  $5 
    
Total Worth of Box:  $34.85!!!

Oh my word. That has the be the BEST WORTH box I have EVER received! If Target doesn't continue with their monthly subscription I will be one sad Cookie...




FINALE

I am blown away by this (hopefully) new beauty sub. I think it had just the right diversity of product - nail, skincare, makeup, beauty routine tool, hair - and the price can't be argued with. They also were kind enough to include a $3 OFF coupon for a Beauty purchase of $15 or more at Target or Target.com. If you haven't checked out this sub yet, go to their TargetStyle Facebook page:
        

and "Like" them to get faster updates as to what's going to happen with this new development. Here's hoping that they pull their shipping act together, because I think this could be the next big Beauty Sub!

     

Mise heureuse sur le maquillage!  
      
(if you don't know what that says, then you don't read enough of my posts...::wink::) 

 
Avec Amour, Cookie

5 comments:

  1. That is a phenomenal box!!! And for only $5? I'm so disappointed that I missed out on this :(


    LOVE the nail strips btw and I wholeheartedly agree with women's razors being extremely sub-par, I even switched to men's razors because of it!

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    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness girl! How'd you miss it?! I'm sorry, I wasn't posting "Beauty News" posts at the time it came out, or else I definitely would have informed everyone! :-/

      and YES, O lordy, I've been using mens razors for YEARS lol

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  2. I'm sad that I missed this because $5 is such a bargain for all that was included!!! I'm going to go ahead and just like Target's Facebook page right now in case they make this a regular thing.

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    Replies
    1. Make sure you like their Target STYLE page, I think that's the one that shows the box updates :-D

      I'm crossing my fingers we hear something soon!

      Delete
    2. Noted and liked. I hope they keep the $5 price tag, too.

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