Morea Naturals Hyaluronic Acid Age Delay Serum

Morea Naturals puts out this very nice Hyaluronic Acid Age-Delaying Serum. I'm not sure that I noticed any "age delaying" going on while I used it but it definitely made my skin feel a little nicer. Unlike other serums, it did not make my face feel sticky or gross. On the contrary, once the serum sank into my skin, it felt soft and smooth. Maybe I will have to take a closer look at my wrinkles to see if there was any improvement going on.

Another thing that I liked was the bottle. The bottle is large enough that I could get a good grip on it (there are way too many tiny beauty bottles out there) but not so huge that I didn't have anywhere to store it. Also, the pump worked very nicely. It wasn't a spray pump. It was closer to a squirt pump, which I have had issues with before. This one, thankfully, pumped out just enough product to smooth over my face without making a mess of my bathroom counter or getting it all over my clothes. Thumbs up on this one.

Overall, this is one of the better serums that I have tried. I can't guarantee that I would buy more once I'm finished this bottle but there is a possibility that I will. Maybe if it really is making those wrinkles fade away into obscurity. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

UNi 100% Rosehip Seed Oil

This may be a little TMI but I'm going to say it anyway. I have stretch marks. Most of my stretch marks are on my abdomen from my pregnancy a million years ago. (OK, it was 12 but it feels like a million.) Since they are kinda gross, I try my best not to look at them. But it would be nice to get rid of them.

I saw that this Rosehip Seed Oil stuff might lighten the stretch marks a bit and I figured I'd give it a try. At worst, it won't do anything. However, it just make might the marks less noticeable, which would be awesome.

The instructions are pretty easy. Put about three drops in your hand, rub your hands together, and smear the stuff on the affected area. I tried three drops at first but it didn't feel like that was nearly enough oil to cover my stomach. I upped it to six drops instead. That seemed to cover my skin a lot better.

So, after my morning shower, I would apply some rosehip seed oil to my stomach and let it dry a bit before getting dressed. Now, it's possible that I am imagining it but, after about a week, I did notice that my stretch marks were fading a little. They were still there. They just weren't as obvious. I have to say that I was very surprised at the results. I don't think that the oil will get rid of the marks totally. But it is nice that they don't stand out quite as much anymore.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

InstaNatural Thangs!

InstaNatural sent me three product to test and review. Their Pore Tightening Vitamin C Facial Toner, their Advanced Formula Vitamin C Serum, and their Youth Express Eye Gel. I have tried all three of them together as well as separately. Here goes:

The facial toner is my favorite of the three. You spray it on your face then wipe it with a cotton ball before allowing the toner to dry. It made my skin feel really soft after using it. I also noticed that my pores did, indeed, look smaller. I thought that it was just me, but my husband noticed it as well. Especially on my cheek area.

While the Vitamin C serum has a lovely citrus smell, I didn't like it quite as much as the toner. It was another product that I had to wait to dry, which makes your routine a little long when you use all of the products. I also think that this is what caused a pinkness in my cheeks. My face didn't break out or anything but my cheeks looked flushed all the time after I used it. I think it was from all the acids in the serum.

My least favorite was the eye gel. It comes in a little pump can that makes it very difficult to get the appropriate amount of product to come out. The directions don't tell you how much you should use. However, when I used a full pump, the area around my eyes got very sticky. When I used a half pump, it was slightly better but I still had a lot of stickiness in the eye area. Every time I used it, I ended up washing it off after about a half hour. 

Since the toner was so good, I am interested in trying some of their other products. I think the serum and the eye gel just weren't for me. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

MaskerAide facial mask

A couple of days ago, I told you that my Beauty Box 5 arrived on Monday. I also said that I really wanted to try the facial mask that was in said box. After spending my evening at a 6th grade band and chorus concert, I decided to relax a bit and try the mask.

The mask I received was the Detox Diva. It is supposed to help minimize pores, absorb impurities, and exfoliate. Hm. OK. The instructions told me to cleanse and tone my face. I don't use a toner so I just washed my face as I usually do with Lush's Ultrabland, which is already a moisturizing cleanser. After I washed, I opened the packaged, unfolded the mask, and slapped it on my face. I adjusted all the parts to make sure my face was mostly covered and I even rubbed the serum into my neck, since the instructions said to do that too. Then I was supposed to relax for 10 - 20 minutes.

Even though I know this picture makes it look like I have a thousand chins, here I am relaxing on my couch:

After about 15 minutes, I was really bored so I removed the mask. This is really where it gets kinda weird. The instructions say, after discarding the used mask, to pat the moisture into the skin. I tried that. It didn't seem to work very well. So I took option two: give a quick rinse and pat dry. That was much better.

Let me start off by saying that I am used to slop on/wash off masks, not paper masks, for facials. So this felt very weird to me. However, once you get past the fact that you look like a mummy, it isn't too bad. The mask is very moisturizing. You could feel the serum stuff seeping into your skin. I don't know how exfoliating it was though. While my skin felt a lot softer afterwards, I can't say that it ever felt like it was removing dead skin or gunk. Despite that, I did really like the mask. I think I'd like to try some of the other masks, especially the All Nighter. That one claims to de-puff your eyes. My eyes could really use that!

Beauty Box 5 - May

My Beauty Box 5 box showed up in my mailbox yesterday! I always love when a subscription box shows up. I think I might have an addiction now. That would explain why I am always looking for new ones to subscribe to.

OK. OK. Let's take a look at this month's box. The theme for May is Fresh and Focused. It's all about getting yourself back in the zone instead of daydreaming about the beach. What did they give me to accomplish that?

The first thing I pulled out was a perfume sample. It is Hello by Harvey Prince. It is a very floral scent with a bit of a citrus undertone. Very pretty. I don't usually wear a lot of perfume but I might give this a try.

Next up is the Ban Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths. The package looks like they are regular wipes. However, it sounds like there is some sort of cooling effect from them. Like, if it is super hot out and you feel gross, wipe yourself down with these and you'll not only feel cleaner, you'll also feel cooler? I'm not sure really. I'll have to figure out a way to try them out.

The next item out of the box was the H20 Plus Aqualibrium Marine Cleansing Gel. My daughter recently got a Clarisonic Mia. It looks like this cleansing gel has sea salt in it to make it exfoliating, which would mean she couldn't use it with the Clarisonic without tearing up her face. I will definitely give this a try though to see how it works. I'm always looking for new cleansers that will clear the gunk out of my pores.

The Cattiva Presicione Eye Liner came out next. Mine came in black. I don't wear makeup on a day-to-day basis. But, much like the cleanser, I'm always on the lookout for eyeliner that doesn't smudge or make me look like a raccoon. I will have to give this a try too!

The final item is one I have been dying to try for awhile. It is a MaskerAid Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask. I love face masks. A lot. I have never had the chance to try out a sheet mask though. I'm always too nervous to spend the money to buy them. What if I hate it? Now I get to try it! Yay!

I am happy with this box. There are a lot of things that I never would have purchased for myself and there isn't anything I wouldn't use at least once. I will try to post some product reviews of the stuff I do try. Keep an eye out!

Julep Maven - May

My new Julep Maven box arrived on Saturday! Julep allows you to choose which package you receive so I already knew three of the colors I was getting. I upgraded to get a fourth mystery color. Julep has recently changed the rules for their Maven boxes though. I don't think you can choose which package gets delivered to you any more. Well, I'll see how it works when next month's box gets ready to ship.

Onto the May colors!

As I said, I received four colors this month. Most of them are spring-like pastel colors. The colors are: Paulette, Bess, Jules, and Iona.

Paulette is a sort of lavender color. Even though the color doesn't seem it, it is actually really shimmery. As a result, it does take a few coats in order to get it to show up well. Two coats worked fine.

Bess is a pretty baby blue shade. This is probably my favorite of the bunch. It covers very well. Only one coat is needed but I found that the second coat makes it pop more. This was the mystery shade I added onto my subscription.

Jules is a peachy pink color. I mainly picked this specific shade because my daughter loves all things pink. Unfortunately, this one is disappointing. One coat barely shows up on a naked nail. Two coats works a little bit better but it is still rather see-through. We tried to do a nail design with the Jules on top of Bess but the blue still shone through unless we really thickly applied the pink. Maybe we'll figure out what to do with it later.

Iona is my second favorite color, just behind Bess. It is a deep purple shade that matches Paulette very well. When I have some time, I might try to do an Iona/Paulette pattern to see what happens. It might be too awesome for words.

I have to admit that I am pretty happy with this month's selection. The Maven subscription is $19.99 and the mystery shade addition was an extra $4.99 so my total this month came to $24.98. The nail polish normally retails at $14 each but Mavens get a 20% discount off of anything in the store plus free shipping. Even though I'm not particularly enamored with Jules, I do like the other colors. I'd have to say this box was a success.

Subscription Box: Beauty Box 5

It is time for another subscription box review! Yesterday's mail brought me the Beauty Box 5. BB5 gives you 5 beauty products. Most of them are sample sized but sometimes you get a full-sized product. In my opinion, the cost is very reasonable. If you pay monthly, it costs $12. However, if you choose the quarterly option, it is only $30. The last option is yearly, which is $99. Most women probably pay more than that per month on regular beauty products. Now you get to try new things!

When you first open the box, you are greeted with the month's informational postcard. The front of the card tells you a little bit about that month's theme. Turning the card over, the back gives you a detailed description of each product in the box. You also get a card with five codes that allow your friends to get their first and fifth boxes for free. Update: Sorry, that is a different box that I will be reviewing next week.

Here is the inside of the box I received. Due to the way it was packaged, you can't see all five products in this shot. But there are definitely five products there. Let's go through them one by one.

First up, Blum Naturals All-Purpose Cleansing Wipes in Citrus Scent. The bottle contains 30 wipes with a grapefruit smell. I adore citrus scents so I think this will get a lot of use. If all goes well with it, I would buy the full-sized version for the house.

Next up is the bh cosmetics California Collection eyeshadow palette. The palette has three shades: Hollywood is a deep purple color, San Francisco is a bronzey sort of color, and Malibu is a yellowish gold. These are some awful pictures of the shades but I couldn't get both the purple and the bronze to show up without making the gold look garish. In reality, all three are very nice colors. I would most likely wear San Francisco the most but my favorite color-wise is Hollywood.

The next two products go together so I'll talk about them at the same time. One is NickAK New York Hydro Lipstick in the Gypsy Begonia shade. I love this color. It's like a deep berry color. I really can't wait to try this one out! With it came a Bonne Bell lip definer. Unfortunately, this came with the pencil tip broken off. So I can't tell you much about the shade. It seems to match the lipstick but I can't be positive.

Finally, there is a 3-day Natural Glow moisturizer by Jergens. I believe this is supposed to be similar to spray-on tanners. I've never used fake tan products before. This appears to be a sample sized product so I'm not sure how much coverage you would actually get from it. You might be able to cover your face and your arms but it definitely will not cover your entire body. I doubt that I will personally try this one out but maybe I can find someone to try it for me.

And that is it! I am quite happy with what I received in this month's box. Out of the 5 products, I will definitely use at least three of them. I have two more boxes left in my subscription package so I hope this is a trend that will continue!

Subscription Box: Julep Maven

I've recently decided to start trying out subscription boxes. Subscription boxes are a (generally) monthly box of goods sent from a company for a monthly fee. The first box I'm going to review is Julep Maven.

Julep is a company that specialized in beauty products. Normally, this isn't my "thing" but I've seen a few unboxing videos and it was enough to talk me into trying their monthly subscription box called Maven.

When you first open the purple box, you'll find the obligatory advertisements that come in pretty much every order you've ever made. One of the differences between Maven and other subscription boxes is that you can customize Maven to your own style. When you sign up, you can take a beauty profile quiz that will help direct you toward which type of box you'd like sent to you. While I would have gone with the "Classic" style, I chose the "It Girl" style for my daughter. The "Classic" box would have come with two nail polishes and one beauty product. The "It Girl" comes with three nail polishes, perfect for my brand new nail polish fiend. Other options include "Boho Glam," "Bombshell," and "Modern Beauty."

Here are the three nail polish colors we received. While they were not labeled, I believe the orange squares are nail buffer/file/things. I'm not sure they will get used much. From left to right, the three colors we received are: Angela (a glittery blue-green shade), Hope (a white satin color), and Catrina (a bright yellow polish). My personal favorite is Angela. However, I can see the three of them coming together to make a cute nail design. Keep an eye on my Instagram for upcoming photos of the colors in action!

If you really like nail polish, this is definitely the box for you. Since my daughter loves painting her nails, I will most likely keep the subscription for a few more months. Click the link here to sign up for your own box.