December 2014: Target Beauty Box--For Her

Target has beauty boxes that go on sale every once in a while (monthly or bimonthly?), and this time I managed to snag a couple! The boxes differ from subscription services like Ipsy or Birchbox because you have to order them when they go on sale on target.com; they're not automatically sent to you. This December box was $10, limited edition, and is currently out of stock online. This was my first Target Beauty Box, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The website said that it has a value of $50. We shall see! 

The packaging. Very pretty and holiday themed, but in the end, it's just a cardboard box. 

The two cards included in the box. The white one on the left has a list and description of the 7 (!) full-sized products included,as well as two coupons: One for 20% off Women's Apparel on Target.com, and one for $3 off a Beauty purchase of $15+, either online or off. The red one on the right is another coupon, this one for $10 off a purchase of any size on Dermstore.com. I've never ordered from there before, but a free $10? Hard to resist. 

The products! The eyeshadow was flashed out, which I didn't realize until after I had already unpacked everything in the box. But this box had 8 products, most of them full-sized as I mentioned earlier. Most of these are drugstore products or products from Target's beauty section, but just from looking at it (without adding up any of the value yet), it looks like a much better value than the Ipsy glambag or Birchboxes (I say this having been a long-time subscriber to both of them). 

COVERGIRL Eye Enhancers in 286 smokey nudes. The website does not list the price since it's not sold online, but at my local Target, it was $5.99. It seems to run between $4.99-$5.99, but we'll just go with the local Target price. Value: $5.99

ChapStick Total Hydration 3-in-1 Lip Care in Sweet Peach. This is a Target exclusive. It smells incredible, and it actually works on my lips to moisturize, which is surprising because I have only ever found one chapstick that works. Value: $2.99

Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Advanced Serum. This is a .1 fl oz sample, so it rings in at about: Value: $2.99

Clairol Hair Food Moisturizing Hair Mask in Apricot Honey. This has an awesome smell and it left my hair feeling incredibly soft and smooth, even more so than my conditioner and previous Aveda hair mask. I will definitely re-purchase this in the future, if I ever run out. It's a 6.3 oz bottle and you don't need that much, even with my thick and long hair. Value: $11.99 

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask. My picture makes it look much bigger than it is, it's actually 20 mL whereas the full-size bottle for sale is 80 mL. Even this small size has a lot in it, and I can't wait to try it. Laneige is a very popular South Korean brand, and I love Korean skincare products, so it's neat to see that Target carries it. Value: $5.75

L'Oreal Butterfly Intenza Mascara in Black Noir. I have not tried this out yet, so no idea on how it is, but it claims to "[give] instantly glamorous lashes with a formula that stretches and lengthens to create the perfect winged-out look." Value: $7.99

Revlon Ultra HD Lip Lacquer in Strawberry Topaz. I actually already own a couple of these glosses, so I was happy to add this to my collection. It has a beautiful red color that I love in my lip products, and it's not overly sticky. Plus it's beautiful and shimmery in the tube. Value: $7.99

Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Black Noir. This eyeliner is incredible. I tried it on when I got it, and it stayed almost the whole day, even when I rubbed at my eyes (the pain of wearing contacts). It's a crayon liner, but thinner than most other ones. The color is very intense. Value: $6.10

All in all, this box was amazing. I'm glad that I was able to grab one before it went out of stock! Although the products were not super incredibly high-end stuff, and it didn't include any nail polish, it was still a great value: worth $61.79, much more than they had advertised! I also bought the Target Beauty Box For Her Natural Version, so I will post a review of that soon!

(This box was purchased by me, and all thoughts and opinions are my own. The links lead to the Target site, as that is where the box was purchased, but none of the links are affiliate.) 

Sunflower nail art!

I have some new nail art! It's been ages, but I had a ton of down time today and I was in the mood to do some nail art! I browsed Pinterest (Pinterest.com/rakuzen) and found a cute sunflower ish nail art.

The cast of characters: 

From left: China Glaze Agent Lavendar, Zoya Arizona, Zoya Wednesday, Zoya Shelby, Revlon Dreamer, OPI DS Illuminate, and a Sinful Colors yellow striper. 

First step, two coats of each color. These colors show up on my blog a lot because they're basically the only spring/summery ones that I have. Most are dark and more suitable for fall. 

Then using the brown color, paint a small circle in the corner. Using a yellow striper (it was yellow, although it did turn green on the middle finger), draw petals around the brown circle. Finish with top coat and voila!

Super simple design, but I love it! Has just enough sparkle for me. It was nice to get back into nail art too, I haven't had much time or energy lately with working and taking classes all summer. 

Flowery nails~

Some more nails that I did while preparing for exams. I did fine on them, just in case you were wondering. So doing my nails during the study break may have actually helped? Also it was nice because I haven't had a lot of time to do them throughout the school year.



They look a little messy, but whatever. I had inspiration from a nail art picture that I had in my files, but I don't really know where the source is. Also, I feel like they were a little messy, but they looked fine up close!





For the french mani tips, I used my ArtDeco white striper. I never do french tips, but I figured that since I would do a design on them, it wouldn't matter. (And as you might be able to notice if you look closely, it is kind of sloppy.)

Then I used my black nail art pen/brush to draw the branches. I got it for like, a $1 at Rite-Aid during the after-Halloween sale and used for the first time when I did these nails. I love it!

I used Revlon Impulsive for the purple flowers and Essie Mod square for the pink. First time that I used either polish! Then my Seche Vite as top coat.

Hope you like it and that it inspires you to do nail art! I just got a book about Nail Art in the mail that was sent to me for review, so I'll try a few of the designs and post about the book soon. Stay tuned!

`Rakuzen

Beauty products that I'm loving this month (April)

Hey guys,

This is just a quick post on beauty products that I'm loving right now. First, for my face/makeup in the morning:





This is my makeup routine! From left, Rohto V Eye Drops (as seen in Michelle Phan's Simple Fast Makeup video), Aquafina chapstick, Yes to Carrots Acne Spot Stick, Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner in Black, Revlon Perle 045 Black Galaxy, ELF Studio Concealer Corrective Palette, and NYX Slim Eye Pencil in Purple.

Quick reviews of everything:

The Rohto V Eye Drops, I bought from Walgreens when they happened to have a sale. I think it was around $4. The Amazon link sells it in a pack of 4, but you can get it at any drugstore. It has this awesome cooling sensation and it makes your eyes whiter. Perfect for the mornings when I didn't have time to let my eyes rest enough. But I usually use it at night before I go to sleep when my eyes are red from wearing my contacts for too long.

Aquafina Chapstick: Miracle-worker. Nothing else works on my lips as well as this does! ChapStick chapstick, vaseline, Baby Lips, nothing. I usually buy these at the dollar store. I usually use the square, blocky one but I couldn't find it this morning, nor could I find it at the dollar store when I went last week. I hope they didn't discontinue it because it is literally the only thing that soothes and hydrates my lips.

Yes to Carrots Acne Spot Stick: I love this. In the morning after washing and moisturizing my face, I roll this on my acne spots and let it dry before applying concealer or foundation. It seriously works! Plus, if you keep the roller cold (it's winter here in Michigan, so when I leave it on the metal windowsill it's really cold), it can feel really nice.

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner: I got this from a Birchbox a few months ago. I love this! It makes such a beautiful line and it's so dark. So much love. I will definitely re-buy this!

Revlon Perle Black Galaxy: Because my eyelids are hidden double eyelids (where they have the crease, but the crease disappears when I blink), if I wear the eyeliner alone it will smudge really bad. So, I have to set it with this eyeshadow, which is nice because it's very glittery. Also, you can use a makeup applicator, get it wet, and use it as an eyeliner (which I do on the bottom eyelid).

ELF Studio Corrective Concealer: This has some bad reviews but I love it. A brush doesn't really work well with this formula, so I usually use my fingers and just rub it on the spot that needs to be concealed.

NYX Skinny Eyeliner in Purple: I love this! NYX has some really nice quality products. Pencil eyeliner usually doesn't work for me (smudges too easily, too harsh on my lids), but I put this under my eye and it lasts for a long time! That's my makeup for the morning for now... I switch out products as I discover them (my friend was helping me clean my room and was reorganizing my makeup train case and I found a lot of stuff... All unused haha. So I change my makeup style whenever I feel like it

I'm going to try and do a post like this every month since my products run out and I lose interest and start digging in my makeup box for different products. This is April's! Hope it gives you some good ideas and some good product choices.