Well, according to the website:
Influenster is a place for culture junkies to come together and share their unique opinions of products and experiences. Active members of Influenster get exclusive access to deals, promotions, and swag from brands that thrive off the input (the good, the bad, and the ugly -- they just want to know what's up).
I am nothing if not opinionated and I delight in being able to review products - just because these samples were provided and not purchased doesn't mean I won't give my 100% honest opinion. I don't want anyone spending their hard-earned money on things that I don't think are worth it.
So what was in the box?
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| 1. Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit 2. Boots Beautiful Skin Cleansing Lotion 3. Boots Beautiful Skin Night Cream Normal / Dry Skin 4. Not Your Mother's Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream 5. Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin 6. EBoost Effervescent Powder 7. NYC New Color IndividualEyes Custom Compact in Dark Shadows 8. Bath & Body Works Mini Candle in Nutmeg & Spice
For a beauty box, I was slightly puzzled to receive a candle and the Eboost - I guess beauty does begin from the inside. Anyhow, I've received EBoost packets in a couple of beauty subscription boxes now and they're ok. I don't notice a huge perk in energy or anything, but the taste is pleasant.
As for the candle, whether you think it's on-theme or not, I love the Nutmeg and Spice scent. My apartment smells absolutely yummy.....which is great, except when it makes me hungry.
Now I have to say that it is difficult for me to properly review some of the products I received simply because they don't really suit me. I have dead straight, non-frizzy, Asian hair, so I can't really speak to the quality of the curl defining cream. As for the Boots No. 7 skincare - it is geared to people with normal / dry skin whilst I have combination / oily skin.
That still leaves plenty left to review....
Goody Spin Pins - $7.49 for package of 2
Now, as I mentioned before I have dead straight, slippery Asian hair. To illustrate - it took over 100 bobby pins and a half a can of Elnett hairspray to keep my updo from falling on my wedding day. I was dubious about using the Goody Hair pins, expecting them to simply slip out of my hair. I was pleasantly surprised. My go-to style these days is a top knot and the spin pins worked brilliantly to keep my hair up without the used of an elastic to tie my hair into a ponytail first.
I wouldn't go for a run and expect the pins to keep my hair in place, but for the usual hustle around town, my hair held up great. My bun felt secure and I imagine if I put any gel or mousse in my hair to give it a bit more texture, the pins would hold even better. I will definitely be purchasing these in my hair color.
Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit & NYC New York Color IndividualEyes Custom Compact
I love the look of full, lush lashes and since my natural set are nothing to write home about, I've increasing turned to falsies. I do have a steady hand but even still, have to occasionally wrestle with false lashes to get them on just right.
Looking at the Kiss Ever Pro Started Kit, I'm not sure if I would ever choose this particular set of lashes, since they are so dramatic, as I tend to favor a more subtle look. However, paired with the NYC eyeshadow palette, if full drama is what you were looking for, these could be the products for you.
The color payoff for the shadows was pretty good. I'm not sure if it was simply because of the color on my skintone, but I found the lighter shades in the palette to be slightly chalky. I did like the final look that I could achieve with the palette - one can't go wrong with the traditional smokey eye.
I didn't use the primer that was included in the kit as it was much too light for my skin, but I used my own primer just to protect against creasing. Looking at the photo above, despite the use of a primer, it seemed that the shadow was prone to creasing, so I would play around with different primers to see if that could be prevented.
It was a nice idea to try and include the primer and a cream "illuminator" in the palette, but I think it could have been executed better. The shadows were on the drier / more powdery side and the cream products had quite a bit of dark shadow flecks all over it. Also, the primer would be limited to those with lighter skin tones, so it's essentially unusable for anyone with a tan.
After a couple of hours of wear, the creasing wasn't much worse, but I don't think I will be purchasing these shadows in future.
As for the lashes, as I said before, these are perhaps too much lash for me, but I did really like the adhesive that was included in the kit. My eyes are pretty sensitive and many lash adhesives cause my eyes redness upon the initial lash application. That wasn't so in this case. The falsies stayed on great, even at the corners where they tend to lift off. I would definitely repurchase the adhesive again.
All in all, I had mixed results with the products included in this VoxBox. Perhaps Influenster in future may be able to get a bit more personalized with the products - half the products sent to me were not appropriate for my hair / skin type and thus, I couldn't give an honest review of them. Even the Spin Pins, though they worked great, were sent in the wrong color. Just my two cents.
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Gorgeous eye makeup x
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