FabFitFun Summer Box Review

I received my FabFitFun Summer VIP box last week! For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a quarterly subscription box that comes with $200 plus worth of products. It's $49.99 a quarter and there are opportunities to earn a discount on each box and even earn some of them for free (all based on a referral system). I have a chance for you all to try this out and get the summer box at a discount and will include that info at the end of this post.

It is worth mentioning that I have cancelled my other beauty subscriptions and am only doing this one. I am super impressed with the value, variety and quality of the products in these boxes!

First off, we received a Slim Fast Birthday Cake bar (I haven't eaten that yet) and Salt & Vinegar Pop Chips (I have eaten those, hence why you don't see them in the photo). We got food last time too and I like that. I like treats in the mail, especially new treats.

We also received this adorable clutch/makeup bag (there were four or five different designs, this is just the one I got) with a $30 gift card to the site to spend on whatever we want. And THEN we got a bottle of nail polish (which it sounds like there were two or three colors sent out). From Zoya. My fave brand of polish. AND...it was a color that I DIDN'T already have. I know. Shocking. The color I received is Thandie, and it's an orangey-coral color that I really like. I posted a pic of my mani using this on Instagram.

Also pictured above is probably my least favorite item out of the box. A duo of lip balm for making out. Um....am I 16? So it's two different flavors that, when mixed together, are really supposed to be delicious and awesome fuel for your face sucking needs. I got sweet and sour. Ew. Not impressed and will most likely toss them or give them away to someone. Kinda lame.

Next up are some hair and skin care items. The first one is a facial that apparently celebrities use. And it's supposed to be awesome (this tiny little bottle retails for $95). I've tried a few times now and I don't see any results. I mean nothing. Maybe I'm not using enough product? Maybe my skin is already so amazing this just doesn't do anything? Whatever.

The middle bottle is hair oil. This is fine. I prefer Morrocan Oil, but hey it's summer and I can always use a good hair oil. This smells a little weird to me, but once I have it in my hair it's fine and I don't notice it.

Then we got a face moisturizer from pur-lisse. I haven't tried this yet, BUT I have tried other products from this brand and really like them so I will give this a shot and let you know. It has SPF 30 in it so I'm excited about that!

And finally we received a water bottle with a diffuser in it for fruit and stuff, shave gel and some feminine hygiene products. Love the water bottle. don't really need another one, but it's so cute. And smaller than the other ones I have so that's cool. I've tried this shave gel before and really like it so I am excited to have a travel size version for all of my upcoming work trips!

The always pads are kind of meh for me. I mean hey, a girl can always use these things and I'm sure I will, but I just haven't had a need for them yet. TMI? Oh well.

All in all I was very satisfied with the summer box. I love trying new things and I love that we get such high quality products and they aren't repeats of what I got in the last box.

And before I forget, the details about the discount are below.

The first three people to use this code 2280115 can get a Summer VIP box like the one I got for $15 off! Redeem at vip.fabfitfun.com!

April Favorites

I apologize for the delay in postings, but life gets crazy every now and again so what's a girl to do? 

Anyhoo...I hope you all had a great month! I surely did :-) It was my birthday month and right now I am currently on "vacation" so April has been awesome. 

So let's talk about favorites. Above is a picture of all my April faves. These are products that I used a lot and really stood out for the month. 

Above is my Tangle Teezer, Batiste for dark hair, Kai perfume oil, Loreal Damage Erase Balm and Vaseline Rosy Lips lip balm. Really none of these are new, but all of them have saved my butt this month. First off, if you do not have a Tangle Teezer, please stop reading and go immediately to your nearest Target and buy one. It has made a HUGE difference in combing out my wet (and dry) hair, I can't even tell you. I think that if you have kids you really need this and I know brushing kids' hair can suck and be down-right painful for them (and you) and I am telling you this makes a difference. Life changing. Seriously. 

The Batiste dry shampoo for dark hair is awesome! I love the smell and the fact that it doesn't turn my (formerly) dark hair white or ashy. It won't stain you hair, but if you have dark hair you know what I'm talking about. 

The Kai fragrance oil is so frickin fabulous I can't stand it. I received this in my spring FabFitFun box and am so in love. It's so light ad fresh (smells like lilacs, but is apparently different on everyone). 

The rosy lips lip balm from Vaseline is super. It keeps my lips really hydrated and the smell isn't too intense. It's like $1.50 at Target. Go get it.

And finally my Loreal hair mask. I've talked about this before so I won't get into too much detail other than to say that if you heat style or color your hair you also need this. I recently dyed my hair blonde again and holy lifesaver. Seriously awesome, add it to your shopping list, you will not be disappointed.

So I apologize that this photo is lopsided. I tried for 20 effing minutes to get it to turn and saved and re-saved the damn thing like 1,007 times and it wouldn't work. Ugh. Moving on. These are my make up faves for the month. The E.L.F. HD Powder is $6 at Target and it's so amazing. The powder itself is white, but it doesn't  leave a color behind (so I guess that would make it translucent, duh.) and is so great for setting your makeup and your concealer. I use this in my T-zone and under my eyes. I am also in love with the E.L.F. HD lifting concealer. This doesn't do much to actually conceal, however it brightens like nobody's business. If I were a betting gal, I would bet that this product rivals other products twice or three times the price. I am also digging my Loreal Voluminous mascara. I had to ditch the Maybelline Rocket mascara because the last two tubes I bought flaked like crazy. This mascara is a tried and true product for me and I always go back to it. 

And finally, drum roll please........the best palette known to (wo)man...the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. And yes, it does smell like chocolate. Yes. Yes, it does. You get 16 shadows for $49 on Sephora. And it is worth every.damn.chocolately.penny. I treated (haha, get it?) myself to this for my birthday and couldn't be happier. I wish I would have had this before the Naked palettes. Or any other nude/neutral palette. There is such a variety of neutrals along with a burgundy, a purple and a greenish brown and a couple of pinky shades in here. It is glorious. Glorious I tell you. The outside packaging (to include the box it comes in) is all designed to look like a chocolate bar. And the shadows are made with actual cocoa powder (hence the smell, which does go away when you put the product on your eye, but for allergy purposes you might need to know that). And just ugh, admire the awesomeness will you? All the shades are really pigmented and blend well. A couple of them are gritty-er than others and have a little fall out, but overall this palette is phenomenal. A great buy for the makeup enthusiast, the chocolate enthusiast, your mom, grandma, yourself, or your niece who is just learning to use makeup. I just. I need to stop before I get too carried away. It's awesome, check it out the next time you are in Sephora or Ulta.

FabFitFun VIP Spring Edition 2014

I received my first ever FabFitFun box a week (or possibly two) ago, and am super impressed by what I got! For those of you who haven't heard of FabFitFun, it's a quarterly subscription service (that's 4 boxes per year), and it's $49.99 per box (so roughly $200 for the year). There are opportunities to refer friends and earn free boxes and they offered $5 off the spring box. I realize that $50 is a lot to spend on a "grab box" BUT it's only 4 times per year and the value in this box was $217.91, so that's actually a pretty good deal. IF you are interested in the types of products they send and IF you are open to trying new things. I am sure that there are boxes that are better than others (which is true of any subscription service) but it's a fun way to try new things at a reduced cost. Note: everyone's box is the same and you cancel at any time.

First item we received is a Cult Gaia Turband (retail $28). Mine is white with black polka dots and pink and red cherries. It has a wire in it so you can twist the ends around and secure it in your hair. The print is very retro to me, and in all honesty this is the one item I may not use much. But I do see a lot of potential for this once the weather gets warmer and cabin season starts.

Next up we received Cover FX SPF 30 Protection Primer (retail $38), Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo Invisible Spray (retail $25) and Kai Perfume Oil (retail $48). I have not tried the Cover FX primer, but this has some pretty stellar reviews so I'll let you know. I used the Oscar Blandi dry shampoo a couple of times and I love it! It smells good without being over-powering and works well with my dark hair. The Kai perfume oil is by far my favorite thing in the box. Hands down. It's light and smells fresh (Tony says it smells like lilacs) and is just yummy. And because it's an oil, it lasts longer. The roller ball is not that big, but it seems to be lasting a long time. This is something I would totally purchase.

Then we received some "healthy stuff". HA! We were sent Kale and Spinach chips. Yeah. The Better Chip Spinach and Kale with Sea Salt (retail $1.99). I had to share these with my good friend Virginia as she is a health nut and these seemed right up her alley. She tried them first as I was extremely skeptical (my reaction was exactly "Why would they ruin potato chips?!") but she liked them so I tried a piece of one and they weren't bad. I think they would actually be good with dip or guacamole. I don't have the bag to show you, but this paper has a coupon on it for future purchase which is cool.

Next is the Merrithew Mini Stability Ball and DVD (retail $28.94). Haven't tried this yet but the DVD is 88 minutes long with a 45-48 minute work out in it. I'm open to trying new workouts so this should be fun.

Next up are the Dermasuri Deep Exfoliating Mit (retail $19.99) and the Level Naturals Shower Bombs (retail $7.99 for four). I haven't used the mit yet, but I have used the shower bombs. I gave myself a pedicure yesterday and used the shower bomb in the tub and it worked pretty good. They smell like Aveda. That's the best way I can describe it, and are very powerful with the menthol and eucalyptus scents so if you don't like those then you won't like these. I am curious to see how they work in the actual shower. I wouldn't take a bath with these but for a pedi or a shower I think they are great.

And finally, I had to share a picture of Diesel wearing the turband (He's looking at me like "You're posting this on your blog?!?"). Yep, he's such a good sport.

Are you a FabFitFun VIP? What do you think? Do you want to sign up now? Tell me in the comments below.