Turntable Kitchen...

I just signed up for a rather awesome sounding sub box.  Turntable Kitchen is a curated music & food pairing subscription that sends a 7" vinyl record, a digital mixed 'tape', 3 fancy pants recipe cards and a sample of a special ingredient to use for the food.  It's only $25/mo, which is kind of amazing to me considering the amount of effort I assume would go into matching food to music.

This one is very interesting to me because a.) I mostly just eat macaroni and cheese, and should probably knock that off and b.) I have a record player and hardly any records.  I can see how if someone kind of knows how to cook and already has a set taste in music this may not work out for them.  I really want to expand my horizons in both categories, so this is perfect.

I didn't see much on line in the way of reviews, so I went ahead and ordered a gift bundle from their shop for $30 to try out before committing.  I ordered it Sunday night, and it was processed and shipped across the country and delivered today (Wednesday).  I am already hugely impressed by that.

It came with a T shirt (American Apparel - super soft), a record by Ghost Loft, who I had never heard of and now madly love and a set of 3 perfectly matched recipe cards that share ingredients and range from easy peasy to 'oh God a whole chicken? where do I buy that? do I pluck it first?'.  I really like that it includes things I feel confident about and offers up a challenge to improve my skill level without being too frustrating.  I also love that it provides an experience that can be shared with others.  Hopefully this will also increase my lacking entertaining skills.

Needles to say I have signed up and I am really looking forward to the regular subscription boxes, as well as trying out the recipes included in the gift bundle.  If you want to learn more you can check them out at www.turntablekitchen.com.  

Also, assuming I don't burn my house down I will try to post pictures of the finished food in a week or two =)

ETA update:  The chicken soup recipe went amazingly well!  The ingredients were affordable and the steps easy to follow.  I still can't believe I made soup from scratch with an actual chicken.  I invited family over for dinner.  They were impressed with the meal, and even quite interested in the record.  I can't wait to see what new recipes and music the July Turntable Kitchen box will bring!

Ipsy June 2013

Cutest bag ever...

No doubt I am biased, as I am convinced it looks like my allegedly part Bengal (but probably just patch tabby) cat Nikita.  She rudely scratched me in my unbagging video when I tried to hold her up for a comparison.   

This adorable bag contained the following:

NYX Blush in Angle $5
Starlooks lip liner in Tipsy $12
J. Cat eyelashes EL66 $3.99 - Someone on MUT was awesome enough to point out that they have weird (and mean/ridiculous) shipping policies listed on their site for anyone outside the continental US, so heads up.
J. Cat cream palette in Suzie $4.49
Cailyn eyeliner in purple $21

I already own a couple of lip liners in Tipsy, and used an open one for the swatch below.  It is a beautiful summer coral.  The NYX blush in Angle is also a new favorite.  It is close to my skin tone, and I feel it gives a very light, natural hint of color on me.  It is also swatched below, but hard to see just beneath the tipsy liner:

I am not too sure about the glitter palette, as it may not be suitable for use around the eyes, but an awesome person from YouTube suggested working it into some nail art, so there is still hope.  I have not used the lashes yet either, but as it is my first ever pair, I am very happy to have received them.

The Cailyn eyeliner is nice, really nice.  It stays put very well.  I find it a bit pricey though, and the brush is a bit on the scratchy side.

So yeah, not everything was awesome, but the stuff that worked did so wonderfully, and everything was full sized!  Ipsy is only $10/mo, and while I find them historically hit or miss, they have been amazing for the last few months consistently.  You can check them out at ipsy.com, or you can use my referral link http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h7wnv8b3vz9fy3.

Unbagging, plus minor mauling by my spoiled little fuzzbutt:

Birchbox June 2013

Birchbox.  I love you.

The LAQA&CO is obviously going to be my favorite right off the bat, being a lip product.  I am thrilled to have gotten it, and I may buy the mini duo set for $16.  I love the travel friendly size, and while the color is quite bright, it can be applied more lightly for a less delightfully blinding effect:

Case in point, one layer on the left and a mountain on the right.  This also feels fantastic and the coverage is smooth, even and long lasting.  After a couple beers and a greasy burger last night, I headed off to touch up and was very surprised that it wasn't necessary.  I did anyway, and after a few more hours, more drinks and snacks the coverage was still very lovely and consistent.  I am absolutely thrilled with this brand.  It may be my favorite thing ever received in a Birchbox.

Moving right along, the Suki exfoliating cleanser is also completely amazeballs.  It smells like a citrusy sugar smoothie and leaves my skin very soft without drying.  I have and love Vasanti, but it is quite drying and I have not been able to use during colder months.  The full size of the Suki is a bit off putting at $33, but with the Birchbox point system I can see it as worth saving for.

I am grateful to have received the Coola Sunscreen in my box, as I need a lot of sunscreen and it is hard for me to find something that doesn't irritate my skin.  Sadly, this didn't pass my itch test.  Smells wonderful though, like the freshest cucumber.

Wow, the Color Club in London Calling is bright.  Like, really bright.  I am less adventurous with my nails than my lips, as I can wear a bold lip color for a hour then take it off, but I am stuck with a loud nail for days.  I do like getting polishes,  but this particular neon pastel line isn't a fit for me personally.

And then there are a couple of tiny, tiny foil packets.  100% Pure Body Cream.  Meh, there isn't even enough to determine if it will irritate my skin, and the one I bothered to open smells vaguely plasticy.  No dice.

I am overall super happy with this months BB!  It also came with the most adorable postcards to match its travel theme.  Birchbox is only $10/month, and you get about half of that back in points for leaving feedback on the items received.  You can check them out at http://birch.ly/1a0bbzg (that is a referral link, you can just use birchbox.com if you prefer =)

Stylemint Summer Escape Mystery Bag!

My bag is in and it's mostly a hit.  I received two great dresses that fit nice and can be jazzed up or dressed down.  I would have liked to have seen some actual t shirts, as I don't often wear dresses (I just don't get the wind thing.  Why I am the only one that ever seems to be constantly trying to hold her skirts down?)  I do wish I wore them more often though, so it is a great opportunity for me.

This yellow one has a very loose fit around the waist, and I prefer it with a wide belt.  It is a touch short on me (6' tall, mostly leg) but I love it.  It would also be fantastic as a beach cover up as it is such a simple, easy piece.  The hemline gives it extra character and style.

The brown one didn't show up well against the brown door.  I don't see it on the Stylemint website anymore, but I believe it is called the Maggie dress.  I REALLY wanted it when it first came out, so I am very excited to receive it.  It is extremely soft and comfortable.  The included rope belt is nice and kind of goes with the yellow dress as well.

And then there was this...

Some sort of laptop cozy maybe?

It doesn't quite fit.  How about a cat agitator?

 

Well, that actually works pretty well.  

 

To be fair, trying new things and keeping up with new styles is why I love Stylemint.  Despite this being wildly inappropriate for my age and body type, it does look kind of nice under a cardigan.  I am very much open to other suggestions for styling the tube top in ways that do not involve my belly button if anyone has any experience with this.

This mystery bag also came with some twistband style hair ties in a heart shaped plastic container.  I think that is actually a nice extra touch, although my hair is too short to use it.  I tried them out around my wrist, but unfortunately I came down with my annual 'oops was that poison ivy I was weeding, my bad' monster rash all along my wrist and arm the next day.  I was a bit worried they may have some of the oils on them and had to throw them out instead of giving them to longer haired friends.

Stylemint is a clothing subscription service and one of the more affordable ones at $29.99/month, with most items priced at the $29.99 mark.  You do have the option to skip between the 1st and the 4th of each month.  Mystery bags seem to be more or less seasonal and cost $34.99.  www.stylemint.com.

 

For a closer look at the items and to see how they fit, here is my unboxing:

Starlooks Starbox May 2013

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Starlooks? Because it's considerable. This months box, in addition to being adorable, included a brow shading kit, a pigment luster and a cream blush.

The brow shader kit includes four colors, a mini brow brush and a tiny mirror, perfect for home or travel. I already have no idea how I ever got along without this. It's incredibly easy to use, and the colors can do double duty as eyeshadows. The case doesn't seem to snap completely closed on mine, although it does hold securely. Sometimes Starlooks packaging does seem a bit chintzy to me, such as logos wearing off the lipsticks, a cracked lipgloss cap, the lash primer cap popping off. The actual products/formulas seem very high quality though, and none of the cosmetic (lol, see what I did there) issues with the packaging seem to effect usability. The full retail of this kit is $21, which I think is a great deal and I would repurchase.

The pigment luster in Cinnamon Toss is a very pretty color, although I find this sort of loose pigment difficult to work with (messy). Retail is $17, which seems a bit steep. I am guessing this type of product is more for the pros, as mixing seems like it would be easy, fun and useful.

The Cream Blusher is a stunner, and also $17. Starlooks has renamed all of their products with the launch of their new website. I am not positive, but it looks like this may be the current color Merlot. As a lip color it held up amazingly well, over four hours, and then I had to go to bed, lol! It also sheers down to the loveliest blush in the universe. LOVE it.

Please excuse my miserable selfie skills, I don't look like a space alien in person. Here is what everything looks like, blush on the cheeks and lips, brow kit on brows and eyelids, pigment luster as an eyeliner:

And my unboxing for a closer look at the products.  Oh!  And there was a mini nail file.  Last seen with suspect: 4 years old, ~1' tall. Talks loudly and often in unintelligible language.  Suspect described as having short fur, stripes and spots.

So - Starlooks is awesome, $15/mo+ shipping.  Best suited to people who like to try new products and are not afraid of variety, but want specifically good quality makeup from a subscription service (instead of skin and hair care).  www.starlooks.com

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Birchbox: Nuance by Salma Hayek

I arrived home on a Friday a couple of weeks ago to find I was one of the lucky Birchbox subscribers to receive a special, free Salma Hayek Nuance sample box. This is not the regular monthly sample box, and the sizes and quantities included are not an accurate representation of the BB service in general. I want to throw that out there even though I really like Birchbox just to make sure no one subscribes with unrealistic expectations.

I received a full size body cream, 8oz. This is actually really nice. The scent is very low key and natural. I use it very often, and would certainly repurchase. Retail $14.99

The shampoo and conditioner are not color safe (although the line does have color safe options), and I am hoping to get a friend to review these for me. Retail $7.99/ea

The super magic eye trio stick thing is a blast to use. I decided to put it through a particularly harrowing test by going for a run with actual runners while completely out of shape. The color held up wonderfully with no creasing, however the eyeliner smeared off easily.  Retail $8.79

One I figured out how to open the anti aging cream, I was impressed with what I found. This type of product typically burns my sensitive skin immediately, however this has yet to cause even a touch of redness. I never noticed any sort of aging benefit after about a week of use on half of my face, but it feels amazing and moisturizes well.  Retail $19.99

Right after receiving this box I headed out to what I like to call the 'party' CVS. It is a 24 hour location that tends to have a better selection than my local store. They had a lot of Nuance products available both in the cosmetics area and the skin care section. I did notice that a lot of the prices were about $1 higher than the listed msrp, which is unfortunate as CVS is the only place you can purchase these items. The packaging is absolutely georgous. I really want to try the eye makeup remover, which look like the dual layer style, and the color safe shampoo. The tinted moisturizer looks nice too. My receipt printed with a $3 off coupon, so you may want to keep any eye out for the same if you are interested in picking some of these products up.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Starlooks website up

Good news! Starlooks has revamped their website. It is much easier to get a feel for the colors of their lip and eye products now before buying. The bad news? They also raised the prices on some of their products. By kind of a lot. I can't recall the previous prices perfectly, but it looks like the increase is about 15-20% on lip and eye colors. They even bumped their infinity lipstick from $13 up to $15, which is MAC territory. I would love to do a side by side quality comparison, but I don't own any MAC. Primarily because its expensive, lol! I do love the look of the new website though, and the cost of their subscription Starbox hasn't changed.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad