Reviewer's Diary: August 2015

August 30, 2015

Finish 16 by 2016 (Project Pan) ~ Update #1

Welcome to my channel. Here is my first Project Pan update for Finish 16 by 2016. From taping the intro to taping this update was about a week.

Watch my YouTube Video

Here are the products – you can see what is and is not cruelty free below. It is my intention to work through all the non-cruelty free stuff and never buy again, and work through cruelty free stuff to see if it’s worth buying again.

1. Bath & Body Works Cherry Blossom shower gel – cruelty free

2. Bath & Body Works Cherry Blossom lotion – cruelty free

3. Almay Eye Makeup Remover – NOT cruelty free

4. Garnier cleansing oil – NOT cruelty free

5. Olay BB cream – NOT cruelty free

6. NYC lip gloss - NOT cruelty free

7. Elizabeth Arden palette – want to hit pan on 2 colors – NOT cruelty free

8. Nuxe Mask – NOT cruelty free

9. Too Faced Melted in Peony – cruelty free

10. Ulta Lip butter – cruelty free

11. 2 hand creams – Camille Beckman and Crabtree & Evelyn – both cruelty free

12. Color Whispier lipstick – NOT cruelty free

13. Elizabeth Arden lip liner – NOT cruelty free

14. NYC blue eye liner – NOT cruelty free

15. Ulta eyebrow set – cruelty free

16. Ponds antiaging cream – NOT cruelty free

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Boxycharm

Walmart Beauty Box

E.L.F. Play Beautifully Box
Starlooks

Here are subscription boxes that I recently, sadly, unsubscribed from:

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Unless otherwise stated in my video or description above, this product was purchased by me. I am not affiliated with manufacturers or any subscription service and am not compensated for the review. I promise you that you will always get my full an honest opinion.

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 29, 2015

Finish 13 by Halloween (Project Pan) ~ Update #1

Welcome to my channel. Here is my first Project Pan update for Finish 13 by Halloween. From taping the intro to taping this update was about a week and a half.

Here are the products – you can see what is and is not cruelty free below. See the video for more details. Go to the playlist to watch all my Project Pan videos.

Okay, so to recap, here are the things from this Project Pan:

1. Lancome Crème Radiance face wash – was 2 oz and have about 1 oz left – not cruelty free

2. Lancome Tonique Radiance – was 4.2 oz and I used slightly less than an oz – ditto above

3. Lancome Benfait UV 50+ - Super Fluid Facial Sunscreen – exp 10/2015 – ditto again

4. Pur-lisse moisturizer with SPF 30 – had 1.7 oz and have about 1 oz left – is cruelty free

5. Man Kind for Women cologne – could not find cruelty free status

6. Harvey Prince Hello cologne – is cruelty free

7. Milani Cream to Powder Foundation in 09 Buff – cruelty free

8. Milani Eye Shadow Primer – about half done – cruelty free

9. NYC Smooth Skin Pressed Face Powder in 702A Naturally Beige – NOT cruelty free

~~10. NYC Smooth Skin Perfecting Primer in shade 684 – have about half an ounce left – NOT cruelty free~~

Replaced by CeraVe moisturizer with SPF

11. Maybelline Age Rewind concealer – NOT cruelty free

12. L’Oreal Feel Naturale blush duo in Full Bloom – NOT cruelty free

13. Elizabeth Arden mini blush in Neutral #3 – NOT cruelty free

14. Coastal Scents Mini Quad in Balerina – cruelty free

15. E.L.F. eye shadow quad in Teal Dream – cruelty free

16. Two eye pencils – Elizabeth Arden is NOT cruelty free and Lord and Berry IS cruelty free

17. L’Oreal Voluminous mascara – one of my favorites for years – NOT cruelty free

18. Ulta nail polish mini in Peach Parfait – all Ulta cosmetics are cruelty free

19. LipFusion mini in Babydoll - is cruelty free

20. Ulta chubby stick in Sugar and Spice – cruelty free

21. Elizabeth Arden lipstick in Plum Pearl – NOT crelty free

22. Urban Decay lip samples – cruelty free

Watch My YouTube Video

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Boxycharm

Walmart Beauty Box

E.L.F. Play Beautifully Box

Here are subscription boxes that I recently, sadly, unsubscribed from:

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

Finish 4 books by December 4, 2015 (Project Book)

Welcome to my channel. This project is a twist on the Project Pan series we all love to watch. How many of you have books you haven’t read, or have fallen out of the reading habit? Join me in this challenge and read 4 books over the next 3 months, and you’ll finally read again. Books have a way of transporting us out of the present, they can be poetic, they can be thrilling, they can be magical. So join me in this challenge and be transported to other worlds…. And use those tired brain cells.

Watch my YouTube Video

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Boxycharm

Walmart Beauty Box

E.L.F. Play Beautifully Box

Here are subscription boxes that I recently, sadly, unsubscribed from:

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 24, 2015

Finish 16 by 2016 ~ Project Pan #2

Here I am with another project pan challenge. This one is to use 16 products by 2016. I first noted this challenge by a fellow YouTuber LizzieLovesLife.

Please see also my recent foray into Project Pan with my first Project Pan video. I expect I’ll be on to update about every two weeks and will build them (there will be many more) into a neat playlist:

Project Pan Playlist

As usual, I am working through and using up a mixture of cruelty free and non-cruelty free items. I will not repurchase the products that are not cruelty free.

For more information what is and is not cruelty free, go to the cruelty free section of this website.

Watch my YouTube Video

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 23, 2015

Dual Unboxing ~ Ipsy & Boxycharm ~ August 2015

IPSY AUGUST 2015

BOXYCHARM AUGUST 2015

Welcome to my channel. I’ve recorded a dual unboxing of my August subscriptions of Ipsy Bag and Boxycharm. Almost everything is cruelty free. Two items couldn’t be verified – MicaBeauty and Doll 10 cosmetics. I’ll have to write to both companies to find out. Neither company shows up in google searches regarding cruelty free status, on PETAs website, or Paula’s choice animal testing report card.

For more information what is and is not cruelty free, go to the cruelty free section of this website

Please see also my recent foray into Project Pan with my first Project Pan video. I expect I’ll be on to update about every two weeks and will build them (there will be many more) into a neat playlist:

Project Pan Playlist

Watch My YouTube Video

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 22, 2015

Last Box-a-Month video ~ E.L.F In Bloom Beauty Bundle

This will be my last Box-a-Month unboxing. I have so much stuff and already belong to too many boxes! I already discontinued Birchbox and put Allure on hold (nice that you can do that), and I’m thinking Ipsy has to go too. Yikes! I really wanted to try this bag to see if I might like to subscribe to it. I’m a bit against the shipping charge though, so I’m still thinking about it. One of the best things about E.L.F. is that their cosmetics are cruelty free.

Please see also my recent foray into Project Pan with my first Project Pan video. I expect I’ll be on to update about every two weeks and will build them (there will be many more) into a neat playlist:

Project Pan Playlist

For more information what is and is not cruelty free, go to the cruelty free section of my website:

Watch my YouTube unboxing video

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 21, 2015

Unboxing ~ August 2015 ~ PopSugar #musthavebox

Welcome to my channel. This may be one of my last PopSugar boxes. It’s quite expensive and I keep wondering, how much stuff do I really need? Especially after reading about, and doing KonMari tidying up. Maybe just one more month.

My first Project Pan Video

The one beauty product that was included in this box was cruelty free. Go to the right pain of this website for a link to my cruelty free or not page.

Watch my unboxing video on YouTube:

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 19, 2015

Finish 13 by Halloween Project Pan Challenge - I'm game - I'm doing 21 items!

First, thank you my lovely subscribers and everyone else for watching this video (see below). I really love the whole Project Pan concept, since it forces you to shop your own stash and actually use up some of your products. You can only keep makeup safely for so long before it turns bad and gives you an infection. So use it up!

I was going to stick with 13 products, but ended up expanding to 21. Some will be gone rapidly while I may only just hit pan on others. The blushes are least likely to be used up (or hit pan on) because my skin is fair (light in the foundation world) and I can’t use too much blush or I’ll just look like one of those painted ladies – don’t want that at all.

Here's my YouTube video - be sure to check out my list below

I got really interested in Project Pan watching Ashley Elizabeth

Amber F really explained the process well

Two young ladies came up with this particular challenge:

Megan

Tatum

For those who haven’t been watching my channel, just a quick note: I am converting over to cruelty free products, but rather than throw everything out, I’m using it up instead, and replacing used up products with cruelty free alternatives. For more information what is and is not cruelty free, go to the cruelty free section of my website:

Okay, so here it what is I’ll be using in this Project Pan:

1. Lancome Crème Radiance face wash – was 2 oz and have about 1 oz left – not cruelty free

2. Lancome Tonique Radiance – was 4.2 oz and I used slightly less than an oz – ditto above

3. Lancome Benfait UV 50+ - Super Fluid Facial Sunscreen – exp 10/2015 – ditto again

4. Pur-lisse moisturizer with SPF 30 – had 1.7 oz and have about 1 oz left – is cruelty free

5. Man Kind for Women cologne – could not find cruelty free status

6. Harvey Prince Hello cologne – is cruelty free

7. Milani Cream to Powder Foundation in 09 Buff – cruelty free

8. Milani Eye Shadow Primer – about half done – cruelty free

9. NYC Smooth Skin Pressed Face Powder in 702A Naturally Beige – NOT cruelty free

10. NYC Smooth Skin Perfecting Primer in shade 684 – have about half an ounce left – NOT cruelty free

11. Maybelline Age Rewind concealer – NOT cruelty free

12. L’Oreal Feel Naturale blush duo in Full Bloom – NOT cruelty free

13. Elizabeth Arden mini blush in Neutral #3 – NOT cruelty free

14. Coastal Scents Mini Quad in Balerina – cruelty free

15. E.L.F. eye shadow quad in Teal Dream – cruelty free

16. Two eye pencils – Elizabeth Arden is NOT cruelty free and Lord and Berry IS cruelty free

17. L’Oreal Voluminous mascara – one of my favorites for years – NOT cruelty free

18. Ulta nail polish mini in Peach Parfait – all Ulta cosmetics are cruelty free

19. LipFusion mini in Babydoll - is cruelty free

20. Ulta chubby stick in Sugar and Spice – cruelty free

21. Elizabeth Arden lipstick in Plum Pearl – NOT crelty free

22. Urban Decay lip samples – cruelty free

Okay, so I went way over 13, but it was time…..

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 15, 2015

Writing the synopsis

Wow, was going through my YouTube page and see that this video filmed five years ago is one of my most watched videos. Goes to show there is a writing community out there interested in more about writing. I do still write, but barely fit it in between my two jobs, three if you count the literary journal I started and am terribly guilty of neglecting.

Here's the video:

(the cat kept jumping on the table causing a lot of jiggling, apologies - I was a novice)

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

Unboxing ~ my last Allure Beauty Box ~ August 2015

Here is my August 2015 Allure Beauty Box. Right after this video is published I’ll be going into the notation screen and entering cruelty free status on every product. About half of this box was not cruelty free (my daughter also won’t use anything that isn’t cruelty free). All non-cruelty free items were listed for swap. We won’t use them. I am slowly working my way through products and replacing anything that is not cruelty free with items that are cruelty free.

For more information, go to the cruelty free section of my website, by clicking the hyperlink for that page near the top of the right panel.

Watch my YouTube unboxing

Follow me:

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

And, I’ve suspended my Allure membership, so they won’t ship again unless I reactivate my account

Allure Beauty Box

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 12, 2015

An Important Announcement

It’s not an easy endeavor to slowing go cruelty free, but that’s the plan. There is too much pain being inflicted out there for me to ever buy anything that is not cruelty free again. So my plan is to review things the same way I always have, but also say whether something is cruelty free or not. Eventually I will be completely cruelty free. Since I’m not made of money, I need to do this gradually. On my blog, I’ll establish a database that I will build over time. (DONE: click here)

Watch my YouTube Video

To read the PETA article about how NYX pledges to remain cruelty free in spite of being owned now by L'Oreal, click here

Follow me:

YouTube
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Bloglovin’

Beauty boxes I subscribe to:

Boxycharm
Ipsy
Allure Beauty Box
Walmart Beauty Box
PopSugar Must Have

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month):

Birchbox

Unless otherwise stated in my video or description above, this product was purchased by me. I am not affiliated with manufacturers or any subscription service and am not compensated for the review. I promise you that you will always get my full an honest opinion.

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 11, 2015

Equitance 60 Day Callenge Day 30 @equitanceUSA

This is my day 30 check in for the Equitance challenge.

I was given free products to try and review by Equitance - serum and vitamins. I’ll be using the products every day for 60 days. I’ll be taking pictures on day one (done here), day 30, and day 60. Even though I received these products for free from Equitance, as always you will get my honest opinion.

Here are a couple links you may wish to explore:
My day one video
The Equitance website

One disclaimer that I would like to add is that every single day of this challenge I wore sunscreen, even if I only went to the mail box. I figured it didn't make much sense to use a lightening product and also expose myself to the sun. Everyone repeat after me: the sun is not your friend.

Watch my YouTube Video

Follow me:

YouTube

Twitter

Instagram

Bloglovin’

Beauty boxes I subscribe to – please click the links below to see what these companies offer:

BeautyFix

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month)

Boxycharm

August 8, 2015

June/July Box-a-Month box ~ Goodebox Special Box

Here is my June/July Box-a-Month unboxing – since I just subscribed to three boxes that all started in July (PopSugar, BeautyFix, and Allure Beauty Box), this one box will count for both months. You can watch my recent unboxing on my YouTube channel. This will be my last Box-a-Month unboxing for a while. I get too many boxes and am looking to pare it down to just a couple boxes.

This is a special one-time purchase box from Goodebox. Apparently they sell pretty fast, so this may be gone already, but apparently they put out boxes like this every couple months, so if you can’t get this one, you can always buy another one.

Here’s what was in this box:

1. Elegant Rose Boutique Mini Bath fizzies – pack of two – full size is a pack of 4 for $16 (use one per bath)

2. Poppy & Elle 3-Pack Knotted Hair Ties – full size is 5 hair ties for $6.99

3. MSC Skin & Home Scent 002 Parfum – sample tube – full size is 35 ml for $50 (guess I won’t be buying this after all)

4. Ellovi Tinted Lip Butter – this is full size 0.15 oz – full size tube $5

5. HH Natural Feminine Wipes – 2 sample packs – full size pack of 10 is $4.79

6. Wild Honey Apothecary Buttermilk Sandlewood Honey Mask – sample ?oz – full size 2oz is $22

7. Suntegrity 5-1 Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen – 0.25 oz/7.5 ml sample – full size 50 ml is $45

8. Modern Minerals Mineral Eye Shadow – deluxe size sample 0.035 oz - full size is 0.17 for $12

9. CV Skinlabs Rescue and Relief Spray – deluxe sample 1.0 oz - full size is 6 oz for $34

10. Meraki Botanicals Rose Grapefruit Face Oil – cleansing oil sample 1.0 oz – full size is 2 oz for $20

11. Derma E Evenly Radiant Brightening Crème – 0.5 oz deluxe sample – full size is 2 oz for $29.95

12. Lotus Moon Natural Skin Brightening Complex – 0.5 oz/15 ml sample – full size is 30 ml for $44.95

13. Ecojot Mini Notebook – this one is about 2 x 3 – full size is 5 x 7 for $10

Watch my YouTube unboxing video

Follow me:

YouTube

Twitter

Instagram

Bloglovin’

Beauty boxes I subscribe to – please click the links below to see what these companies offer:

BeautyFix

Here's one I, sadly, unsubscribed to recently - but it's a great affordable box for someone just starting out with subscription boxes ($10 a month)

Boxycharm

Marketing: I would be open to trying products from any company. Contact me if there is something you would like to send for me to try and review.

August 6, 2015

Amazon Haul ~ Real Techniques, Too Faced, Laura Geller

This is just a small haul from Amazon with some very impressive products. I have many brushes, but my favorites are the Real Techniques brushes, so I got more of those, so now I have a pretty impressive collection of brushes. The small Too Faced palette has been on my wish list for a while now, so it was nice to finally get it. The colors are very nice on and have major staying power. And finally, the Laura Geller foundation is beautiful on.

Watch my YouTube Video