Citrus Lane November 2013 Review

Citrus Lane is a great kids box that Emily always looks forward to! For $25 a month (or $21 a month if you sign up for a 6 month subscription - I actually did upgrade to this for her! They have some awesome Black Friday deals going on right now for even less which I'll mention at the end of this post!), you get 4+ items selected for your child’s age (they offer boxes up to 5 years old). You usually get a mixture of useful things (like toothpaste, sunscreen, food items, etc) and toys or books.

This month for Citrus Lane, I decided to mix things up a bit. I switched Emily's profile to a slightly older boy (~4 yrs old) since, in the past, she's been a bit unimpressed with typical girl toys that come in these boxes. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of girly things she likes - her baby doll and stroller, her kitchen (ok, that one could go either way), her princess castle, etc - but she also LOVES cars and her favorite color is blue, so when it comes to these boxes, occasionally I'll see something in the boy version, like the Hape cars that came in either Citrus Lane or Stork Stack a couple months ago, that I think Emily would have much preferred to what she got. So, I just wanted to see what she'd get in a boy box for once. Turns out, there wasn't a whole lot of variation this month for the 3-5 year old set. Oh well.

Opening the box

Info sheet

The first thing Emily saw was a Green Toys Build-A-Burger set ($8.49). Green Toys doesn't actually seem to sell this individually. It's part of the Sandwich Shop Set, which actually, she got in a previous Citrus Lane box - I think May. That annoys me a bit that she got the full set back in May and now they're breaking up the set and sending out pieces to everyone again. Seems cheap of Citrus Lane. We do love Green Toys, but seeing as how she's already got this, it's going in the trade pile. I'm sure someone will enjoy it - Emily does have fun with her set. The other 2 Green Toys options I saw for different ages were a tug boat for the youngest set and a crockpot with utensils for the middle. It would've been nice to get the crockpot. 

We have this!

Green Toys Build-A-Burger set

Next, Emily pulled out the biggest item in the box, a Bumkins Insulated Lunch Tote ($12.95). Like with Stork Stack's lunch bag, I'm again a bit disappointed to get a lunch bag. Emily doesn't need this. Yes, I did age her up for this month, so the older crowd might need these, but I saw that even her age group got one of these in their box this month. It is at least insulated, so I may keep it just to bring drinks on outings, but I'm not sure. I do like the crocodile print. Much cuter than the ribbons print she would've gotten if I had kept her profile as it was. But, again, I wish we had gotten something that came in one of the younger boxes - Bumkins reusable snack bags. We take snacks everywhere! We usually use snack cup containers, but the snack bags would be great to have around too.

I think she liked the crocs too

Bumkins Insulated Lunch Tote

The next 2 items Emily got this month went together: a Faber-Castell Doodle Pad ($2.49) and a set of 12 Beeswax Crayons ($4.99). Emily wanted to draw right away! This seems to be the winner of the box for sure! The crayons are triangular so they don't roll away and they're nice and soft and pigmented to draw with. The pad is a pad of paper. Nothing terribly special, but the pages are multi-colored and made from 50% recycled material. I really like this set and so did Emily!

Faber-Castell Doodling Pad and Beeswax Crayons

Drawing a face. I love her little faces!

The last thing Emily pulled out was a mini bag (.53 oz vs. .7 oz snack size and 2.3 oz full size - why make a slightly smaller bag than their regular snack size? Just include the regular one!) of Good Boy Organics Organicasaurus Baked Organic Corn Snacks in the flavor cheddar cheese ($1.36 based on Amazon prices). Emily got a bit excited when she saw this because she thought they were dinosaur Cheetos, but alas, they are not the same. I'm sure these are healthier because they're organic, but they had an odd sweet taste that just didn't taste like cheese. She tried one and then handed the bag back and said "No thank you.".

Oooh, Cheetos? Sorry, kiddo.

Organicasaurus Cheese Snacks

No thanks.

Finally, there was a "bonus" coupon - 4 free sets of address labels and free shipping from Tiny Prints, but ONLY if you spend $99. Nope. Not a bonus. Maybe if I had already planned to get a buttload of Christmas cards from them it would be a nice little extra, but we already got our Christmas cards at The Picture People (for way less than $99!), so this won't be used. If you'd like the code, go ahead and let me know and I'll send it to you (it's unique, so I only have one).

November 2013 Citrus Lane

Really the only thing I'm thrilled with this month was the crayons and paper. Had Citrus Lane not already sent us the full Green Toys sandwich set, I would've loved the Build-A-Burger as well because it is a fun toy, but I'm annoyed they split up the set and sent them again. Everything else was meh. The overall value this month was $30.28, which isn't bad, but the lunch bag was the biggest value this month, which is kind of a bummer. Oh well. Not every month can be great.

So, Black Friday deals! These actually run through Dec. 5, which is nice. So, if you head to their site (and I believe you and I both still get $10 credits if you use that link! That's how it normally works anyway.), you'll see the deals:

• monthly is unchanged at $25/month
• 3 months is $18.67/month (save $19!)
• 6 months is $17.50/month (save $45!)
• 12 months is $16.33/month (save $104!!)

Typically, the 6 month price only goes down to $21/month (that's the only monthly plan I had written down, I'm not sure of the typical prices for the 3 month plan or 12 month plan, but I know they're higher than what they are now. If you wanted to sign up or even renew for a longer plan (this is available to existing customers too - that hardly ever happens with their special discounts!), now is the time!

(And just a disclaimer: I bought this box myself and was not compensated for this review in any way. All opinions are my own. I have included referral links.)

Birchbox November 2013 Review

Birchbox is one of the lower priced subscriptions where for $10 a month (or less if you subscribe for a year), you get 4-6 sample products (though looking through my history, I have a box of 8 in there!). They're usually of the smaller variety, given that this is only a $10 sub, but there's occasionally a full sized item thrown in too. When you sign up, you fill out a profile (basic stuff - skin type, hair color/type, what basic kinds of products you like, etc) and there are I think 50 possible box combinations each month that you can get, which is, I suppose, somewhat based on your profile. You can also review your items each month, which doesn't have any impact on your future boxes, but does give you points - 10 points per review (100 points = $10) which you can ultimately use in their pretty large shop, which sells full size products. I recently resubscribed for a year with Birchbox after being away from them for about 6 months.

The theme for November was "More Good". They want to emphasize the good things you can do to help others. I'm not entirely sure how this box really fits the theme, but they are donating a part of their proceeds from the Birchbox shop this month to No Kid Hungry. 

Opening the box

Info card

First peek

First up, we have a good sized sample of Ayres Midnight Tango Body Butter ($4.00). This is supposed to be a nice thick, moisturizing body butter. I say supposed to because after I opened the top, I could tell the scent way waaaay too floral for me so I didn't try it. I knew I wouldn't want that scent hanging on me all day, so I closed it back up and put it in the trade pile. It's supposed to be a mix of vanilla and orange blossom, but unfortunately I don't smell the vanilla at all. Oh well.

Ayres Midnight Tango Body Butter

Next was a single application of WEI Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask ($5.25). This one I am excited to try. It's supposed to clean, remove impurities, and tighten pores. I've always had pretty good skin, but I've noticed lately my pores are getting a bit noticeable, so hopefully this will help! The packaging is a bit odd - it kind of looks like a creamer!

WEI Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask

Also from WEI, I got 2 sample packs of Pomegranate Buffing Beads ($2.00). I haven't gotten to try this yet, but I'm super excited to. I love that it's just the beads necessary to make any cleanser I already have into an exfoliating cleanser. That's a great idea!

WEI Pomegranate Buffing Beads

The next product was a sample of Joie Folle de Joie eau de parfum ($1.96). I'm not a huge fan of samples of fancy perfume. I tend to like indie perfumes and roller balls. Simpler ones. At least it's a sprayer sample and not one that just opens that you have to tip onto yourself. Those are a pain. This scent is a mix of sweet citrus, light woodsy floral, cognac, jasmine, rose, "spicy and rich wood", and leather. It's ok, but not my favorite scent.

Joie Folle de Joie eau de parfum

My last beauty product was a half-size sample of Eyeko Black Magic Mascara ($12). I was excited to get this because I love eye stuff, as I'm sure you know! The soft tube is definitely different from what I'm used to with mascara. I kind of wonder what happens as you use it up. Does the tube make it easier to get every last bit, or harder? It has a nice thick, curved brush, too. When I tried it, it wasn't bad, but I didn't feel that it really lived up to its promise of "drama, volume and curl". It was a fairly standard mascara. Oh well. I do really like their liquid eyeliner, which I think I also got from Birchbox at some point months ago.

Eyeko Black Magic Mascara

Finally, the bonus this month was a food bonus. I think some people got tea, some people got Chuao chocolate samples (I just used some of my BB points on the set of samples - so good!! I love the ones with the popping candy in it! Can you believe I've never had Pop Rocks and was totally surprised at how it felt?), and some got dipped pretzels. I got the pretzels - one mini stick of Fatty Sundays Chocolate Covered Pretzel in the flavor toffee crunch. I'm not sure if the pretzel we got is full size or not in terms of length, so I don't know if this is valued at $1.40 or $0.70. It seems small for $1.40. It was pretty good. Not as good as the Chuao chocolates, but I'm definitely glad I got it over the tea.

Fatty Sundays Chocolate Covered Pretzel in toffee crunch

November 2013 Birchbox

I'm a little less enamored with this box compared to last month's, but overall, I'm still pretty happy that I got some new things to try. Plus, it had a value of $25.91, which certainly isn't bad for a $10 sub. My only real disappointment is that this is now the second subscription to not give me the Chella Highlighting Pencil when it's available that month as an option. I've heard good things about it and really want to try it!

If you get Birchbox, what did you get for November? I know there are quite a lot of variations (I got variation number 39). If you don't already get Birchbox and are interested in signing up, please use my link! When I logged out, it looked like the normal month to month sign up had a 2 week wait list, which isn't really that bad, but maybe being invited would help skip that wait.


(And just a disclaimer: I bought this box myself. I was not compensated for this review in any way. All opinions are my own. I have included referral links.)

Rocks Box November 2013 Set 1 Review

Hoo boy, the holidays are getting a little hectic. I'm a bit behind! So, lets start off with a new box - Rocks Box! When I signed up, there was a deal to get the first month free, so I decided to give it a try. Rocks Box is a jewelry rental subscription - it's kind of like Netflix. For $19 (or less if you go with a longer subscription), you get a box of 3 pieces of jewelry, wear them as long as you'd like, then pack it back up in the included paid envelope, and they send you another when they get it back (as many times as you'd like per month). A twist to this box is that if your really love something you get, you can buy it from them at 20% off retail (you just keep the piece and they charge you for it). When you sign up, you take a quiz to determine your style and the kinds of pieces you want (earrings/necklaces/bracelets/rings) so that the pieces they send you are tailored to that style. When you send a box back, you also fill out some feedback on the pieces you got, which I believe they take into account for your next box.

For my free month, my goal is mostly to get a good idea of the service and what kinds of pieces they offer, so I've only been keeping my pieces for a few days and then sending them all back to get another box quickly. I think I'll probably end up having seen 3 sets total (I was a bit slow on the first box). This review is for the first set I got.

The box

Info sheet (includes prices and a feedback form)

Opening the box

First good peek

Everything inside was individually wrapped in an organza bag to keep things from tangling. My first piece was an Anuja Tolia Sticks Necklace in Silver (you can tell them whether you like silver or gold). This retails for $76 (well, that's what Rocks Box says, the site says $90) and the sale price is $60.80. This was suuuuper heavy when I put it on! I was really torn on whether I liked it or not. Even though I don't typically go for big statement necklaces, I did want to branch out a bit with this sub and I do actually like the idea of it and I think it looks great laid out. On me, I'm not so sure. I have a big chest. I'm just not sure if this big necklace plus my big chest isn't too much together. I rated this a "like" for the general style of it, but I knew I'd definitely be sending it back. I just don't love it $60 worth.

Anuja Tolia Sticks Necklace in Silver

Next up was a Robyn Rhodes Marie Bracelet in Silver (retail $78, sale $62.40). I LOVED this bracelet. Had it not been quite so expensive and had it not been the holidays (budget), I definitely would've picked this up. I love the raw stone in it. So much that I've actually been hunting Etsy for more bracelets like this to possibly pick up after the holidays! The cuff was a tad hard to get on my wrist because it's not terribly flexible, but once on, it fit perfectly. It didn't roll around so that they stone was hidden under my wrist at all. It just sat perfectly on display. Definitely rated "love". I wore this each day I had it. I actually almost regret sending it back, but budgets and all.

Robyn Rhodes Marie Bracelet

My last piece was a set of Sandy Hyun Colorful Dagger Earrings (retail $85, sale $68, retail site not working at time of review to link). This was the only piece I didn't really like. They look cute off me, and I think maybe they're so expensive because they're leather? Maybe? The info on the designer says she uses leather in her designs. Unfortunately, they felt a bit cheap, like something you'd find at Claire's and they hung really weird. They didn't hang down, they hung at an angle pointing a bit behind me. Plus, my hair is very dark, so unless I wore my hair up, you couldn't see these at all on me. I just wasn't really a fan of them, so they were rated "Dislike".

Sandy Hyun Colorful Dagger Earrings

Wearing them. This shot isn't actually so bad because I got them to kind of lay right for the picture and my hair is off to the side.

Wearing all 3 pieces (excuse my unmakeuped face)

So, overall, I think Rocks Box did a pretty great job getting my style. When I first saw them, I definitely thought each piece was really pretty. Not necessarily all things I'd immediately pick for myself, since I made my profile a bit more branched out in terms of boldness, but pieces upon seeing them, do make me think they match my style. Apart from the earrings just not working out on me, I was really happy with the other 2 pieces, especially the bracelet. Given the prices of the pieces sent (and I do understand they're expensive because they're quality pieces), I'm not sure I'll be buying things terribly often with this subscription, but I think I'll definitely have a lot of fun renting them! Another thing I like about Rocks Box is that if you tweet or Instagram a picture of you wearing their pieces, you can earn a $5 credit per set. That will definitely come in handy if I ever really want to buy something!

Unfortunately, the deal I used to get my first month free is expired now, but if you sign up with my link, you'll get $10 off your first month, which at least is about half off! If you get Rocks Box, what kinds of pieces do you get? Anything you've loved and bought?

(And just a disclaimer: I bought this box myself (well, this month was free due to a deal open to everyone - it was NOT provided to me in exchange for a review) and was not compensated for this review in any way. All opinions are my own. I included referral links.)

December Julep Selection Time!

It's that time of month again! Time for mavens to pick their Julep box! The window opens today, the 20th, and it stays open until the 24th. As many Julep polishes I have, I'm still really, really enjoying this subscription.

December's theme is "The Glitterati Collection" and seems to be a bit more themed towards New Years than Christmas, which makes sense. Not everyone celebrates Christmas. I like that I see several sparkly colors!

Julep's December collection

This month's featured beauty product is a neutral eyeshadow palette! Unlike last month's lip gloss collection, this one has me excited!! I love eyeshadow! This retails at $24 (or $19.20 member) and includes 5 neutral shades that can be used to make a variety of looks.  Also, unlike last month, there aren't different palettes spread out through the different profiles (though I do hope they make more palettes!), so you don't have to choose polish you don't like to get a palette you do or vice versa.

Julep Sweep Eyeshadow Palette

 For the 5 box choices, as usual there are:

• Modern Beauty - this is the beauty product only box. No polish. You get the eyeshadow palette as well as their new Blank Canvas Mattifying Eye Primer (retails for $22).
  As much as I want both of these, I need polish too, so I just can't pick this box.

  

  Julep Sweep Eyeshadow Palette and Blank Canvas Eye Primer
• Boho Glam - The eyeshadow palette plus Misti, a "smoky blue-gray creme" and Joelle, a "smoky holographic glitter".
  I must have Joelle. It looks like it would be an amazing topper. I'm less sure of Misti - it's really pretty and I like their ideas of it paired with Joelle or Gianna (which you'll see in a bit), but I'm not entirely convinced it will be terribly different from their Amy or Claire (no longer on the site - is that because this is just a renamed Claire?).

  

  Julep's swatches of the Boho Glam polishes Joelle and Misti

•  Bombshell - Eyeshadow palette plus Andrea, a bronze glitter and Cara, a "cranberry frost". I can't tell if it's more red or pink. I think pink.
  These are both really lovely. I was initially worried Andrea would be too much like Oscar, but it definitely looks much warmer. And I amazingly enough don't have a color like Cara, even though I would think that would be a fairly popular color seen in even a basic collection!

  

  Julep's swatches of the Bombshell polishes Cara and Andrea

• Classic with a Twist - Eyeshadow palette plus Jillian, a "deep eggplant with bronze molten" and Mia, a greenish silver metallic.
  Jillian looks like it will be gorgeous and I definitely don't have anything like Mia. It's possibly an odd color, but I think I need to see it in person.

  

  Julep's swatches of the Classic with a Twist polishes Mia and Jillian

•  It Girl - No palette, just 3 polishes: Evelyn, a "magenta purple creme", Celia, a light green metallic, and Shoshanna, a yellow holographic glitter.
  Evelyn is pretty, though looking through my swatches I'm not sure how different it will be from Nellie (oddly, their swatches of Nellie look way lighter than mine) or maybe even Janel (no longer on the site), without the hint of shimmer. I'm hoping since their Nellie swatch is lighter than mine and looks very different to their swatch of Evelyn, they'll be plenty different. Celia is something I don't have and although I have a gold holo, I don't have a yellow one, so I'm interested to see if Shoshana's different. It almost looks like it has a greenish tint in the bottle.

  

  Julep's swatches for the It Girl polishes Celia, Evelyn, and Shoshanna

The add-ons this month are mostly populated by all the above items individually, but there's also an eyeshadow brush (I have way too many brushes, don't need it!), a polish duo that comes in a little bag, presumably for gifting, that comes with Evelyn and Christine, a bronze microshimmer. I couldn't find Christine in the store, so it looks like for now, this add-on is the only way to get it. I just wish it didn't come with one of the same polishes from the main collection! Make it 2 exclusive polishes and that's way more attractive!

Julep add-on set that includes Evelyn and Christine

Finally, their last featured add-on is Gianna, a "jagged gold glitter top coat". I don't have super great luck with this type of glitter polish - they tend to be very chunky, thick polishes, but their swatches of it are all so gorgeous and it looked so nice on top of many of the above colors, I decided to add it on anyway.

Julep's swatch of Gianna

On the upside, I only have 1 add-on this month! On the downside, I liked so many of the polishes and beauty items, I just upgraded to the full box, which comes with all the polishes (except the add-on exclusive ones, hence my adding on Gianna), the eyeshadow palette, and the eye primer for an additional $35 on top of the monthly $19.99 cost, so a total of $55 for the full collection. Well, at least I canceled a bunch of the other subs I had to give me a bit more room in the budget for holidays...I may change my mind. Probably not though. I can go without Starbucks (it's decaf lately anyway) next week to make up for it!

As usual, if you want to join Julep's subscription service, please use my link! If you use promo code, FREEBOX, you can get your first box free! You just pay shipping!

(And just a disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post in any way. All opinions are my own. I have included referral links.) 

New Beauty Test Tube November 2013 Review

New Beauty Test Tube is a subscription box that used to be just a twice-a-year service, but now arrives every other month. For $29.95 plus shipping, you get a box with a big pink tube (and often an extra bag of stuff that didn't fit in the tube) filled with deluxe samples and a few full sized items as well as a copy of the New Beauty magazine. It appears now that they're sending the magazine separately, so that you get something from them monthly. Sadly, this may be my last month (for now at least) with NBTT due to holiday budgeting. Technically, I wouldn't be billed again till January, but I cancelled just in case so I can decide then.

Opening the box

So, like always, I started with the little bonus bag. In my bonus bag, I had:
- A foil packet of Eraclea Pure Hydration Serum/Zinc (<$1). This is supposed to be good to calm and hydrate irritated skin. A single foil packet won't tell me much, but my skin doesn't get irritated often anyway, so I probably won't get to try this soon.
- A foil packet of Rodial Stem Cell Superfood Facial Oil (<$1). I almost see the name of this and think they're just using words that are "hot" now to get people to buy it. It contains antioxidants, vitamins A, B5, C, and E, and Phytocell Alp Rose designed to nourish, hydrate, protect, and reduce wrinkles in skin. I may give this a try. My biggest problem with it is that they advise using 2-3 drops for your whole face and that's kind of hard to accomplish with a FOIL PACKET!
- A good size sample bottle (1 oz vs the full size 3.5 oz) of John Frieda Frizz Ease 3 Day Straight ($2.53). This uses keratin to keep your hair frizz free and straight. I do love to straighten my hair, so this is great for me! Yay!

Bonus bag products - Eraclea serum, John Frieda 3 Day Straight, and Rodial Face Oil

My first real product didn't fit in the tube and was a pretty good size Votivo Aromatic Travel Tin candle in the scent Icy Blue Pine ($12). Not sure why they don't seem to be selling the travel tins in the scent I got. Anyway, it'd definitely piney smelling and it reminds me of Christmas, which I like, but I generally like my pine scents mixed with something else, otherwise it's just a bit too strong. The site does say it's a mix of "a potent powerful punch of prickly pine pleasure with the underpinnings of sweet and spicy stripped cedar bark topped with merry crumbles of crystallized, ice cubes", but really all I smell is pine. What are ice cubes suppose to smell like anyway? I may try this out in our family room when we put the tree up, since we use a fake tree and it's always nice to have a little bit of pine scent. Hopefully since our family room has a raised ceiling and is open to the kitchen (more room to fill with scent), it won't be too overpowering, but just right!

Votivo Icy Blue Pine Travel Tin

Onto the tube!

Totally full!

Unlike last month's tube, this month's tube was chock full. We got:

• A deluxe size sample of StriVectin-EV Get Even Brightening Serum ($52.35!!). When I say deluxe size, I mean 1 oz vs the full size 1.7 oz. This is a good size tube! And super expensive! As something I'd probably never buy on my own simply due to price, I'm super happy to get this in NBTT! This one thing is well over the price of the tube. Anyway, this is designed to combat uneven skin tone and age spots. I don't really have many/any (?) of those yet, but maybe it will brighten a regular skin tone as well?

 

StriVectin-EV Get Even Brightening Serum

• Full size Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips ($2.50). This is new and doesn't appear to be on the US site yet, but is shown in a different tube on Amazon and the UK site (linked above). This is something I can definitely use. I like nice, simple lip stuff like this. It really didn't seem to have much of a color at all, but that's ok for me. Perhaps a little disappointing for someone who bought it so that it could give them a tint as advertised, though. I have to admit, I kind of wish I had gotten one of the special edition blinged out ones ($45) NBTT showed in their video and said 20 lucky subscribers would get!

Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips

Blinged out special edition!

• Deluxe size sample of Glo-Therapeutics Refresh Facial Polish ($14.12) - This is an exfoliator that is supposed to work without irritating your skin and contains mint oil to leave your face tingly. Sure, I'll try it!

Glo-Therapeutics Refresh Facial Polish

•  Sample tube of John Frieda Frizz-Ease Straight Fixation Smoothing Creme ($1.34). While not nearly full size like the other samples I've talked about so far, it's still a good enough size to try it out for more than one hair drying. Like the 3 Day Straight, this is designed to help reduce frizz and keep your hair straight. This also blocks humidity, which is big where I live! Thankfully, it isn't so bad this time of year, so I'm getting to straighten my hair more, but I think this would help even more to keep it straight even when it's still warm out (it was 85 degrees on Sunday. 85.).

John Frieda Frizz-Ease Straight Fixation Smoothing Creme

• Full size Lumene Time Freeze Anti-Age CC Cream ($11.24 on Ulta's website). Everywhere I looked the packaging was different, so I'm not sure if this is very new or they just changed the packaging recently. Either way, this is a color correcting cream. According to Ulta's website, "it protects against the signs of aging with arctic Lingonberry, nourishes, hydrates, covers imperfections, evens skin tone and illuminates all while providing Broad Spectrum SPF 20 coverage from the sun.". I got the color Light and it seems to be a pretty good match. I may try this one out to see if it beats my Loreal BB cream.

Lumene Time Freeze Anti-Age CC Cream

•  Deluxe sample size bottle of Molton Brown Nourishing Body Lotion in the scent Pink Pepperpod ($13.86). This is a great size bottle (3.3 oz) and smells really nice! I will absolutely use this!

Molton Brown Pink Pepperpod Nourishing Body Lotion

•  Full size Camille Beckman Morelia Monarch Glycerine Hand Therapy ($4.99). I'm a bit unsure of the description of the scent of this - "Mandarin Green Tea, Sensuous Amber and Vanilla Orchid". Green tea and amber aren't really my go to scents and I'm not sure if vanilla orchid smells floral or vanilla (I do like vanilla). I'm just not sure I want to open this when I'm not sure I'll like the scent. It does sound moisturizing though. I do think a few different varieties went out - I've seen Midnight Monarch (Jasmine Tea, Bergamot, Orange Orchid Nectar, Damask Rose, Midnight Patchouli and Vanilla Amber) as well as French Vanilla (no big long scent list here). I really would've preferred the French Vanilla.

Camille Beckman Morelia Monarch Glycerine Hand Therapy

• A duo of travel size Dove Daily Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner ($0.73 for the set based on Amazon prices). Not the most expensive set of samples, but useful nonetheless. I'll definitely stick these in my travel bag. As useful as they are, I do sort of wish they had not included this set. I'd rather see a new brand I'm unfamiliar with. Even at the same value. 

Dove Daily Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner (they came in that little organza baggie)

November 2013 New Beauty Test Tube (bonus bag not pictured, whoops)

 I'm pretty happy with this tube. Lots of new stuff to try, and a great value at $116.66! I'm a little sad to let this sub go...It was one of the pricier ones though and if I have to choose, I'd rather keep the ones that have more makeup and polish. Maybe I'll resubscribe next year though - my birthday is in early January (when the next tube is out!) after all! :) What did you think of this month's products? Did you get anything different?

(And just a disclaimer: I bought this box myself and was not compensated for this review in any way. All opinions are my own.)