Baby's First Birchbox

For those of you who don't know what a Birchbox is, it's pretty simple. For $10 a month, Birchbox will send you a box of beauty and "lifestyle" samples. I'm not really sure what a "lifestyle sample" is, but whatever. You can also go to their website to write and read reviews, watch tutorials, and shop for the full size versions of products that are sent in the boxes. When you sign up, you're asked to complete a short survey about your style and what types of items interest you, so they can somewhat customize which samples you're sent, as not everyone is sent the same things.

There are several other sample subscriptions out there [Glossybox, for example], and I'll probably try a few others at some point too. It's a pretty inexpensive way to find out about different products and who doesn't love getting packages in the mail? BECAUSE I DO.

See? Even my dog likes getting mail.

February was the Red Carpet Ready box, with "an assortment of products worthy of the red carpet", AND CHOCOLATE APPARENTLY. But wait, inside that little package in the center is MORE stuff.

Included in the box is a little card that tells you exactly what samples you've received and some details of each, so here's the rundown of what came in my box:

• CHOCOLATE. I'm sorry, it's a Ghiradelli's Milk & Caramel Square and the card says I should try baking it into a cookie, but who makes one cookie? I ate that thing before I had even finished reading the card and it was delicious.
• Dr. Jart Black Label Detox BB Beauty Balm. Isn't BB Beauty Balm redundant? Anyway, it says," From the brand that brought BB creams to the US, this gold-standard formulation has mineral SPF 25 and satiny, matte finish". It did have a really nice feel to it, but it's just slightly too dark for me, so I think I may pass this off to my mom.
• Nicole Richie Fragrances' Nicole by Nicole Richie. Nicole Nicole Nicole Nicole Nicole. I like that this teeny sample is the kind with a sprayer, but I did not like this fragrance. It's not bad, but it's not something I would wear. I'm super picky about fragrances, and this was just a bit too baby-powdery for me. Other people would probably love it though? It says, "For her first fragrance, the Hollywood starlet conjured up a blend of creamy amber and rose touched with a hint of vanilla". I still think it smells like baby powder.
• Vasanti Brighten Up! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator. "This exfoliating cleanser uses professional-grade microderm crystals and papaya enzymes to brighten skin". I love an exfoliating cleanser, but I'm often disappointed by how gentle most of them are. I need the hard core density of St. Ives to slough off my dry skin, not some wimpy "scrub" with barely any "beads" in it. When I first put this Vasanti stuff in my hand, I thought I was going to be disappointed again. It was creamy, and I couldn't feel anything else, but when I actually started pushing it around on my face I realized it's actually PACKED with super duper teeny tiny itsy bitsy scrubby things and I liked it. It didn't feel like I was scratching my face off, it just felt like it was doing its job. I might actually consider buying the full size.
• FusionBeauty LashFusion XL. "Part mascara and part lash conditioner, this creamy essential adds tons of volume". This was my favorite thing in the box. I have blonde lashes, so I do actually consider mascara an "essential" in my makeup routine. Plus, look at this mega brush:

          This thing is not playing games! My one complaint about this mascara was that it seemed to de-curl my lashes a little bit. Not a major issue, because I really liked it otherwise, but if you like to curl your lashes up to the sky, you might not like this. I will definitely be using this until it's gone. It probably won't replace my  Covergirl Lash Blast waterproof mascara though.

Overall, I am pretty happy with this! I like the surprise element, and I like getting to try a bunch of stuff from brands I'm not familiar with. I also like opening packages, frankly! I'll definitely be looking forward to the March Birchbox.

Conditioner Only in the USA

Ya'll, I refuse to call it "no poo". Plus, I'm not really sure it's still "no poo" if you use traditional conditioner. Whatevs.

I'm not out to shock anyone when I say I haven't used shampoo in years. That's just a fact. I wash my hair just like everyone else, I just use conditioner only. If you're my mom, you will think this is ruining my hair forever. If you're not my mom, hear me out.

You know how some people have "combination" skin? Well, I have "combination" hair. Lots of people have it. My hair is thick but not super thick, wavy but not super wavy, and most importantly it is oily at the roots and dry at the ends. You know how you're not supposed to use a bunch of harsh shit on your face because it will dry it out and cause it to overproduce oil and just generally be frustrating? Same goes for my hair. Shampoo dries it the fuck out, and then I have to slather a bunch of moisturizing stuff on it to fix it.

Or, I used to. I heard about this method about 6 years ago, when I was browsing some long hair forums on LiveJournal. I know, LiveJournal? True experts, I'm sure, but IT WORKED. It CHANGED MY [hair's] LIFE.

Now, obviously, this might not be the magic bullet for everyone. Every head of hair is different, BUT! If you suspect that your hair may be similar to mine in some way, I highly recommend giving it a try. The key, I think, is using a pretty "cheap" conditioner. You don't necessarily want a super rich conditioner, because they tend to be really hard to work into the hair, and don't rinse out all the way. I started off using Suave Naturals in Coconut. All the Suave Naturals conditioners work pretty well for this job, but I think the coconut one is just slightly creamier and more moisturizing. I found VO5 to be too runny for my liking, but if you have thinner hair it might be perfect for you. I also use to be in love with the Target brand sunflower conditioner but they BROKE MY HEART and discontinued it about a year ago. No lie, I had one bottle left and I rationed that shit for months and months. I went through a lot of other conditioners looking for a dupe, and ultimately came up short. However, I did discover this Yes To Carrots conditioner that has a really similar consistency and I love it even more than my deceased Target conditioner.

Now, yes, it is several times more expensive than the conditioners I was using before, but it still clocks in well under $10 and I haven't even gotten to the best part:
I don't have to wash my hair as often anymore.

I had always heard fairy tales about women who were able to skip washing their hair for a few days and still look amazing, but I was definitely not one of them. Even for the first few years of doing Conditioner Only, I was still getting oily roots, I just wasn't shredding the rest of my hair with shampoo anymore. Now that I've been at this for awhile I've learned a little more about what my hair likes and it's balanced out to the point that I can get a couple of days out of one hair-washing and another by just spraying some dry shampoo at my roots. One bottle of conditioner lasts me forever, and I'm not even shelling out that much to begin with. And, I'm not shelling out at all for leave-ins, hair masques, or oil treatments to re-moisturize my hair. I do have dyed hair, so I do use a heat protectant to preserve the hue, but because I don't have to wash it every day and my hair is healthier, it retains color pretty well.

Seriously, if you have color-treated, dry, or damaged hair it's worth a shot! Try it on your day off! Go crazy!

Oh herro.

So, here's my deal: I love beauty junk.

  I love conditioners, creams, serums, sprays, glosses, polishes, gels, brushes, and powders.I do not love l otions or shampoos, but I'll get to that later.

  Despite browsing the makeup aisles for an inordinate amount of time, and being a sucker for shiny new products, I consider myself a pretty simple lady. I enjoy painting my face, but I don't like it to take longer than 15 minutes, and I balk at the idea of having to put on more than 3 layers [including topcoat] of nail polish.

  My goal is to find those elusive Holy Grail items [the perfect mascara, the perfect conditioner, a lotion that doesn't make me feel claustrophobic...] so that I can have my routine down to a science. Then, perhaps, I'll have to take up a hobby that doesn't include wandering Target for hours reading the backs of packaging. Maybe knitting?