It’s time to talk about the BoxyCharm for July! While June was a little underwhelming, I am over the moon with a lot of what July held for me, both the base box and the add-ons. I trusted my gut with choice and lucked out as well. Let’s dive in!
Laura Geller
The first item IPSY chose for my July box is an eyeshadow palette. Now – that’s not my favorite thing ever, honestly. I typically use liquid eyeshadows right now: since my lids get so oily and I work long days, any powder looks I do get completely eaten. But the palette is actually very pretty and it has been a few months since I’ve gotten a new one to try, so I’m not super upset.
I’ve heard this brand name before and have probably reviewed other products, but nothing comes to mind sit couldn’t have been that memorable.
The Seasonles Staples Wildflower Wishes Palette has 14 pans and a good mix of shimmers and mattes, and the color scheme goes from left to right lighter to darker. The names of the shades are all flowers although they’re not necessarily inspired. Some of the colors aren’t the ones that would jump to mind.
I gave the palette a try and it’s not anything revolutionary. The formula for the mattes is pretty powdery, the shimmers are pretty buttery, there’s a lot of fallout and it was a challenge to build up the color. Once the color was on, all the shades were turning warm on my skin tone. Marigold is like a pinky nude matte but went completely orange once it was on me. Cornflower is shimmery and silver, but it turned gold once it was on.
It’s just another palette, honestly. Nothing groundbreaking. I’d probably recommend it for someone younger who’s wanting to play with colors but keep it basic. It retails for $31, which is a little more than I’d expect to pay for it. Maybe $26 or something closer to that. This palette doesn’t make me want to check out this brand more or anything.
Volition Beauty
You might remember this brand from a little over a year ago, I believe it was the moisturizer. I tried it and liked it, and then IPSY followed it up with an eye cream that I also enjoyed. Now they’ve chosen a serum for me to complete the skincare set. I love when IPSY offers serums. It’s the best way to determine how hard a brand’s products go.
This is their Semillon Overnight Retinol Serum. Its star formula contains Hyaluronic Acid and Niacinamide. I already really enjoy this formula and have been looking to try other retinol serums. As you might know if you’re a long-time reader, I am pretty partial to the one from Asarai and even have it on subscription. But it’s great to be able to try others.
The packaging is very on-brand. All their items are in white packaging with this mustard yellow background text and black front text. The serum is dispensed from one of my least favorite packaging inventions, the button dropper. The one where you press down on the button on the top instead of just squeezing a dropper. These are very hit or miss for me and although this one works pretty well, I recommend brands stop using them.
The formula is very milky and opaque, and I realized a little too late that it’s specifically overnight and used it today before work. Hopefully it doesn’t eat my makeup. I did use it last night as well though and should have noticed because my face felt just a thousand times smoother.
It retails for $72, which is a lot more than I pay for my Asarai one. I think I pay a little under $35 with the subscription. I know serums are expected to be much pricier than other skincare. If the price dropped and this fell into Choice or Add-ons somewhere between those amounts, I would probably get another.
Olehenriksen
Another item you might remember! I was so happy to see it again. This is Olehenriksen’s Banana Bright+ Eye Creme. I got one of these around this time last year and used it religiously because not only did it feel hydrating, but I noticed that it was helping me brighten my undereyes even when I wasn’t wearing it.
It comes in their on-brand orange packaging with a white lid, and it’s in a tiny jar which I like a lot because you can really see how much you’ve used and make sure you use it all.
The formula is a whipped texture and the creme is actually very heavy, so I tended to use it in the evenings before bed and just let it soak. I’ll probably continue to use it that way.
It is $44 retail, which is not that far off for an excellent eye cream, although maybe a little steep. But if this showed up in shop or add-ons for anything less than $30, I’d definitely buy a few for me and my sisters.
Laruce Beauty
I decided to get this Kayla brush set from Laruce because IPSY set the tone with the palette. It’s a four-piece set with some standard brushes, a large fluffy blender, a shorter dense blender, a flat brush and an angled brush. The large blender is not dense enough to hold much shadow especially with that palette, so it was a challenge to build up the look I was working on. The angled brush was a little better and I was able to use that for the outer third and building up the contour shade.
The case for these brushes is absolutely adorable and I would keep them in it, if it would stay clean.
$42 for four brushes and a case is absolutely ridiculous. I would never recommend that anyone get this retail.
Refreshments
I don’t typically get anything from IPSY’s Refreshment brand because it doesn’t strike me as something people would want reviews about. But this item is the Velvety Body Cream and I decided to get it as a choice item, because I don’t currently have a body cream that I use regularly, and I’ve let it slip a little.
Fresh
This next item is a little confusing. You know, if you’ve been here a little while, how much I love the Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Moisturizer. It does an excellent job, it has an intoxicating fragrance, it’s just an awesome product. I always choose it when they offer it.
This item is labeled on IPSY’s website as the Lotus Youth Preserve Line and Texture Smoothing Day Cream. The actual package, however, is the other name, just Lotus Youth Preserve Moisturizer. I’m not sure if they’re just renaming it and that’s why it’s available?
Either way, I thought I was trying out a completely different product from this brand, but it turns out it’s the exact one that I love and enjoy using. So feel free to refer to my previous ranting and raving about this product, and I now know I can expect it under this new name.
Kinship
It’s been a long time since I’ve used a product like this, so I was greatly looking forward to trying it out. These are the Insta Swipe Lemon Honey AHA Exfoliating Pads from Kinship, which is a brand I’m not super familiar with. The packaging is beautiful, a bright yellow-orange color, and the cap opens to show the wipes. I’ve been using them the past few days as a follow up to my normal cleansing, and I like them a lot and feel very clean after. The only thing is, the directions say it should “stingle” and there’s nothing. I feel nothing when I use them. I think maybe I’m not using enough?
They’re going to be a great help for the days that I’m a little extra sweaty in the summer and the AHA should help with my texture as long as I don’t pick. So I like the idea of using them continuously.
The jar retails for $26 but I was able to add them on for $12, and I’d definitely continue to buy these for that amount, especially in the hotter months.
Danessa Myricks
DM needs no intro, but there are actually two items from this brand this month and I’m excited about both of them! Also, they are both new shades of products I have tried before!
ColorFix
I have worked with the Color Fix pigments before and had to buy this shade, called Desert Rose. It’s a deeper shade than the ones I’ve used previously, but it’s matte just like I like. This formula is absolutely stunning and you can read more about these in general here.
To summarize, these are incredibly pigmented, very blendable products that took a lot of work to become comfortable with, and now I want one in every shade.
Dew Wet Balm
I reviewed this product a few months ago and I recommend reading up on it here because I just want to talk about my surprise at how well this new shade works for me.
So the last one of these I received was Sweet Water, which is a coral color, very pink like blush, and I actually used it as blush for a few weeks to see if I could make it work, and I did enjoy it. But I also know these are designed as highlighters and I really wanted one that I could use with that purpose.
When I saw that this one, Hot Water, was available, even though it was still a little dark for my skin tone, I decided to try it to see if I could make it work, and I was absolutely able to. This one is a million times less pigmented, or the pigment just happens to work invisibly on my skin, to the point where this is just a beautiful dewy highlighter. Also, the photos of this in the sunshine blew my mind with the amount of shimmer and just wet.
I want to get the third one called Morning Dew and complete the collection. There is a fourth one but it’s a clear skin gloss and doesn’t contain shimmer.
These products don’t seem to draw out my texture like other dry highlighters, and I can’t recommend it enough. Also, for only $24 at Sephora? You need one.
Bare Minerals
I remember this brand from back when I worked at the mall. One of my favorite lipsticks, before I knew how to wear lipsticks, was from there. They discontinued it, and it was my first makeup heartbreak.
I haven’t given much thought to the brand recently, especially because I remember that a lot of their products were powders and that would draw out my texture.
But this I had a lot of hope for! It’s their Ageless Firming Sleeping Mask, and I absolutely love it. I think it might be my favorite item I added onto this box. It has everything I like in an overnight sleeping mask but none of the things I don’t:
First, it’s not in a tub, it’s in a squeeze tube, so it doesn’t get everywhere when applying. Second, the color is a minty green and it actually makes my face look less red when I apply it. Not that going to bed is the time for looks, but it still made me happy to see my redness fade away. Third, it is very, very thick and hydrating, but somehow not incredibly sticky. I don’t know how they managed it.
When I woke up the next morning, I immediately noticed that my skin felt softer, less textured, and generally smoother. Especially my forehead, where none of the product rubbed off onto my pillow. But even the other areas felt the same way. Using this product on top of the new retinol serum, and my skin is just glowing.
This retails for $55 which is a good amount of money for the item’s size. But if I can find it on Poshmark or Ebay for less, I’d absolutely jump on it. I’d like to use this as I start the transition from late 20’s to early 30’s.
Innisfree
This brand is new to me, I think, although I am familiar with a brand just called Inis, from when I worked at a department store. Maybe this is the same brand, a little rebranded?
I just went and looked online and it seems like it’s a different business. So! This is a new business to me! And the first item I’ll try from them is their Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Cream. I added this to the box because I love everything about how it looked, and it’s name, and I knew I’d like the product.
First off, the packaging is adorable. It’s a fully white, rounded tub with green text, and it twists open. Their website clarifies that there is green tea in it, as well as pressed green tea seed oil.
The formula is very smooth and it’s one of those moisturizers that you don’t need much of to still feel like you doused your whole face. The texture is similar to the Fresh Lotus one that I love but a little more lightweight, making one perfect for day and one perfect for night.
This retails for $29, which is absolutely worth it and you should buy this right away. This amount is perfect for this item, I honestly would have expected $32-$35. I highly recommend this, especially if you can get it at a deal. I’ll be looking for this in the future.
Byroe is Back!
Every product I’ve tried from this brand has been excellent. The packaging, the formula, the textures and colors and fragrances, genius in every aspect. I love the tea theme, and I love that it’s not skin-deep like, “CHAMOMILE THINGY” and “GREEN TEA THINGY.” The products are thought out.
I chose two Byroe products for this box.
English Breakfast Tea Treatment Essence
This product is beautiful and I want to tell you everything about it. It comes in a tall bottle, and the first thing you’ll notice is that the product has separated. At first, I actually thought that there was something wrong with the product because it looked very different from the photo, but I understood pretty quickly. The bottom 3/4 of the bottle is a dark liquid like a cup of tea, and the top 1/4 is a white foam like the suds from soap. I’m sure it’s meant to look like a cup of tea with a milk foam on top.
When you shake the product, it mixes together and turns into this beautiful golden beige color like brown sugar, but it almost immediately begins to separate again and the foam starts to rise to the top. It is very watery, like an essence lotion or toner, which I actually didn’t expect. For the first week or so I was using it alone like an essence lotion, just splashing it on, but I also tried it on a cloth like a toner, using it to wipe away as another step after cleansing.
The fragrance is also on-point and it mimics a black tea perfectly. They caught every detail when creating this product. As far as hydration, I do continue to use it as an essence lotion before my serums, and it does give the im pression of my skin having a sup of tea. My skin feels softened and conditioned after using it.
It retails for $85 on Byroe’s website here, but there’s also bottles on Ebay and Poshmark for $45-69, so if I want it again I’ll probably find it there.
Pear Serum Oil
I also added this item to my box, partially because of the cute packaging, which I was disappointed to find wasn’t accurate. The image on IPSY must be of the old packaging, or maybe the new one, because I got something that looked a little different. But as long as it’s the same product, right?
So I don’t usually choose oil serums for daytime and planned to use this mostly overnight, which I have been doing. It’s a very nice texture and comes in a pump bottle. I have been using a few pumps overnight and I really enjoy it, the fragrance, the texture, etc. It is definitely an oil serum, but it’s not a straight oil like the Non Gender Specific Phytonutrient Concentrate. I can still put other products over it if I want.
It retails for $65, but it’s all over poshmark an Ebay for much less, $30, $35 etc.
I wouldn’t probably purchase again because I’ve had other serums and oils that I’ve enjoyed more, but I will absolutely use up the rest of it.
Kiss + Smink
What is a smink and why does it sound like a dirty word? This is a new brand to me, and I’m going to predict that it’s not a brand I run back to a lot. The website is pretty basic, and I don’t see anything shocking or groundbreaking. It looks like they have this lip gloss, the Lip Aura, and a couple cheek sticks like stick highlighters and blushes, and a lip crayon.
The gloss is very pretty and a lot more pigmented than I usually get, so it’s very pink on my lips. It’s not incredibly sticky or soft or fragrant or anything, it doesn’t really stick out much to me at all. I’m wearing it now and I can see a little shimmer in my reflection in my computer screen, but nothing that makes me crazy like the TYS Beauty gloss that I love. Speaking of which, I need to put that on now.
Much better.
This gloss is on their website for $22 – just buy the one from TYS. It’s softer, shinier, prettier, etc. Just buy that one instead.
Recap
This has been a great box! I found some excellent, very expensive things to now be addicted to. I’m this close to buying the Dew Wet Balm in a shade that works for my skin, and I’m so excited to have the Olehenriksen eye cream back in my life. And this sleeping mask by Bare Minerals has already been a life saver. I have to pick my items for the ICON Box tomorrow too and I’m thrilled to see what the options look like.
Thanks for being here to look over everything with me!
Talk soon,
Dani