Brazen's Friends with Benefits January 2014 Review

Well, I was just going to do a compilation of the...4 (ahem...)...mineral eye shadow subs I tried this month, but I'm still waiting on one of them - it doesn't appear to be the company's fault. The owner talked on Facebook about how USPS has had problems with tons of her packages this month. According to the tracking, they shipped it out a while ago (the 12th) and it's just been sitting somewhere in Illinois since the 22nd. <shrug> Hopefully it'll get here eventually. So, anyway, I guess I'll just split them up.

The first, one I've been with for a little while now is Brazen's Friends With Benefits. They've been pretty consistently good for me from the beginning. I wasn't thrilled with December, but only because they sent out mattes and I don't love mattes. Personal preference. Anyway, as a reminder, they have 3 levels of subscription that vary in what you get (I get silver):
1. Silver ($15) - 3 3g pots of limited edition or unreleased shadow, a 3g pot of limited edition or unreleased lipgloss, and some ordering rewards, early access to sales and a 10% discount on their site.
2. Gold ($20) - Everything in silver plus a full sized lip gloss and 15% off on their site.
3. Platinum ($25) - Everything in gold plus a full sized eye shadow and 20% off on their site.

I forgot to take a picture of the bag with everything in it, but it was fairly simple this month - a clear bag with a silver tie.

Info card (blurry, I'm sorry)

The goods! Top row: Blizzard, Snow Day, and Frostbite. Bottom: Turn up the Heat

 Yay, back to non-mattes! Rather than just state what the info card says, I'll give my own impressions of each product:

•  Blizzard - a nice dark blueish silver with a good amount of sheen (I'm not quite seeing the duochrome mentioned and I see more sheen than particle sparkle). 
• Snow Day - a light silvery white, also high sheen (also not really seeing the duochrome - maybe I have to try without a primer underneath?) 
• Frostbite - a medium shiny silver
• Turn Up the Heat - woot, another lip gloss I love! Very sparkly lightish pink. Awesome!

Swatches, top to bottom: Turn up the Heat, Blizzard, Snow Day, Frostbite

I like the 3 shadows (and I think they'd look great together!), but I'm a bit bummed that I'm not really fully seeing what the description states. I may try them out again without primer because colors tend to be much bolder with primer, so maybe I need it a bit more powdery to see all the aqua duochrome and sparkle the descriptions talk about. Funny enough, I think my favorite product this month is the lip gloss! I'll definitely use it! 

January 2014 Brazen Friends with Benefits

If you got Brazen's Friends with Benefits this month, did you like it? If you got a different level, what else did you get? If you're interested in signing up, head on over to their site.

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

December 2013 Summary Part 2

Oddly, I think I might be feeling a tad better today. Still coughing some, but it's not quite as bad sounding or frequent. Hopefully, this is a sign that it's on its way out. <crosses fingers> Anyway, onto part 2 of my December sub summary. And again, I'm only doing it this way for December because I've been sick for a while and I just want to catch up. January subs will go back to normal reviews. :)

PopSugar Must Have

December's box included a Lulu Frost bracelet ($110), a set Mixt Studio wrapping paper ($9), a full size Modelco Fiber Lashxtend mascara ($24), a set of 4 Govino Go Anywhere flutes ($12.95), a package of CC Made Caramel Corn ($4), a pack of NCLA Nail Wraps ($16), and 2 packages of Ghirardelli Squares - caramel and a holiday mix (I can't find the holiday mix, so I'll guess about $10 for the 2 packages). I wasn't overly thrilled with this box. I like the nail wraps and we ate the Ghriardelli Squares, but pretty much everything else ended up in my trade list. Also, I'm baffled by the super expensive bracelet. It's ok (just not my style), but not really worth $110 to me.

Rocks Box Set 3

I was really happy with this set of bracelets. The small Gorjana Chaplin bracelet ($50) was cute, but a bit too dainty for me, so it was rated a "like". The Ashlar Drusy Wrap ($60 according to Rocks Box, $65 on the Ashlar website) put me through a range of reactions, haha. When I first saw it balled up in the organza bag, I was like, "What the? Is this a hair tie?", but then I took it out and saw the cute stone on it (I'm really liking drusy stones since discovering them through Rocks Box!), so I liked it a lot more. Really, the 2 problems I had with it were 1. The length was such that I either had to wrap it an extra time around and make it quite snug or wrap it less and have quite a bit of fabric dangling that I'd have to tuck in (and tuck back in as it fell out throughout the day), and 2. The stone kept getting turned around on my hand so that the pretty side was hiding. Too much hassle for a $60 bracelet, no matter how cute it is, so it also got a "like". The last one, the House of Harlow Sunburst Bangle ($68, link is for a different color). Oh, I loved this as soon as I saw it. The sparkly stones and the navy leather together were just so pretty. I kept my box a bit longer than usual because of this bracelet. Oh, I was so tempted to buy it. But, budgets. I do kind of wonder what kind of turn around in brands Rocks Box has. Maybe after I rack up some more credits, I could ask them to send this to me again and then I could buy it. If they still have it around by then.

Rocks Box Set 4

This was another fun set of bracelets. I'm definitely enjoying getting just bracelets from them much better than having them send me a mix. Anyway, from the top. The top wrap is a leather CC Skye Double Wrap Portico Bracelet in Silver and Black ($155 - I think this is the priciest thing they've sent me yet!). I like it because it's edgier, but the clasp popped open 2 or 3 times, which is 2 or 3 times too many for a $155 bracelet. The second bracelet is a Edge of Amber Tamri Bangle in Silver (Rocks Box prices it at $85, the Edge of Amber site prices the gunmetal color (they don't seem to have silver) at $90 on sale for $45). I really liked this bangle too. I love the shape. I'd be a little annoyed to pay even the discounted $68 from Rocks Box though when you can get a similar color (that I like just as well) on the Edge of Amber site for $45 on sale. The last set of bracelets is an interlocked pair of Anuja Tolia Polk a Dot Bangles in Silver (Rocks Box say $56, the Anuja Tolia site says $65). I just wasn't wild on this one. Very noisy jingling and so big that it pretty easily fell off my wrist unless I was wearing something else in front of it, like in the picture.

Starlooks Starbox

Well, I tried to guess which palette it was going to be based on their look book, but they surprised me and sent out an unreleased palette! I like it though! There are some really pretty colors in this - plenty for a neutral look and some to add some pop! I'm very happy with it! And a funny thing - last month, I noticed I didn't get my little monthly crystal shard (I'm not sure if it was just me or everyone, but it was not a big deal at all - it's just a tiny free touch Starlooks has always popped in the box for fun). This month, there were 2 in there! Ha! Also, an added bonus - there was a card in the box saying that starting now, Starlooks is starting a loyalty program where continuous subscribers get a free $35 gift every 3 months! Awesome!

Brazen Friends With Benefits

This month was a matte month. Meh. We got a matte very light beige/almost white and dark brown, a very light pink blush, and a dark red sparkly lip gloss. I'm not wild at all on the eye colors, but I may be able to use them mixed into other looks. The dark brown one isn't too bad now that I see it again. The blush seems very light, even for me. I do like the lip gloss, but I have to use it super sparingly to keep from looking ridiculous because it's so dark. The bonus this month was a little lip palette, but oddly, the colors are very, very similar to each other. There's seriously, like, half a shade of difference between each one, if that. I'm not a huge fan of it. For me, this month was a little bit of a let down, but that's mostly because I don't like matte colors. I appreciate getting to try a blush, but it really doesn't work for me. Hopefully next month will be back to at least a mix of sparkly and matte.

Glamour Doll Eyes Of The Month

Busted sample, Fire Breather sample, My First Time blush as eyeshadow, My First Time blush as blush, Mistletoe Makeout, and Christmas Calories Don't Count

 Well, I didn't think I'd get to pick this up this month because we were actually at the airport leaving for Disney World when the store opened up for December's OTM. My phone was going super slow, but I got it. And I'm glad I did! Apparently, December is a special month for Glamour Doll Eyes. It's considered a bonus month that is sold separately, so I couldn't get a 3 month sub starting this month (I'll have to try for that next week). It also cost a little bit more (I think it was like $9 or 10 instead of the normal $7) because she sends out more in December! Normally, its one color of the month and a bonus item, maybe 2. This month we got 2 eye shadows, a blush, 2 baggie samples, a Black Luna Lacquer nail polish, a Suds N Sass soap, a Sedona Lace blender brush, and a little bag of candy. I LOVED everything I got. My blush was purple and I even ended up really liking that!

So, that's it for December!

Brazen Friends With Benefits November 2013 Review

Brazen's Friends With Benefits is one of my new favorite subscriptions because they send my addiction - eye shadow! They have 3 levels of subscription that vary in what you get:
1. Silver ($10 if you sign up now, $15 once they hit 100 subs) - 3 3g pots of limited edition or unreleased shadow, a 3g pot of limited edition or unreleased lipgloss, and some ordering rewards, early access to sales and a 10% discount on their site.
2. Gold ($15 if you sign up now, $20 once they hit 100 subs) - Everything in silver plus a full sized lip gloss and 15% off on their site.
3. Platinum ($25 - they've already hit 100 of this level, so the price went up from the original $20) - Everything in gold plus a full sized eye shadow and 20% off on their site.
As usual, I couldn't wait to see what we got this month!

Opening the bag

I get the silver level, since I really didn't need the extra lip product (though I maintain I would've upgraded if the gold had the bonus eyeshadow instead!). The 3 eyeshadow colors we got were Restless (metallic sparkling maroon), Wanderlust (metallic coffee brown), and Gypsy Soul (metallic warm gold). I loved them as soon as I saw them. Such beautiful fall colors. That maroon!! And they're all so nicely shimmery, which I love. Great pigmentation on them all as well. The lip gloss we got is Fancy Free ("firey rich russet" although to me it's more a liquid version of the Restless shadow and looks more maroon/burgundy). It's a bit dark, but I actually like it. I may just wear it sparingly.

Brazen Restless and Wanderlust

Brazen Gypsy Soul and Fancy Free

Swatches (top to bottom: Gypsy Soul, Wanderlust, and Restless)

Blurred shot to show sparkle

Swatch of Fancy Free (bottom)

Brazen Friends with Benefits November 2013

Once again, I'm thrilled with this subscription. I love everything in it and will use everything! If you got Brazen's Friends with Benefits this month, did you like it? If you got a different level, what else did you get? If you're interested in signing up, they're still offering most of the lower prices (except the top level), so head on over to their site.

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

Brazen Friends With Benefits October 2013 Review

After loving my first month of Brazen's Friends With Benefits, I definitely wanted to keep the subscription and looked forward to getting it this month! They have 3 levels of subscription that vary in what you get:
1. Silver ($10 if you sign up now, $15 once they hit 100 subs) - 3 g pot of limited edition or unreleased shadow, 3 g pot of limited edition or unreleased lipgloss, 2-3 samples of various products, and some ordering rewards, early access to sales and a 10% discount on their site.
2. Gold ($15 if you sign up now, $20 once they hit 100 subs) - Everything in silver plus a full sized lip gloss and 15% off on their site.
3. Platinum ($20 if you sign up now, $25 once they hit 100 subs) - Everything in silver and gold plus a full sized eye shadow and 20% off on their site.
After some complaints last month about the size of the samples, Brazen announced they were doing away with the baggies and instead using 3 g jars. I couldn't wait to see what we got this month!

Opening the bag - what a cute bag!

Info card - we didn't get one last month, so this is a nice addition

Silly little bonus items. Emily likes them!

So, this month in the silver level of the subscription, I got 4 products, all of which looked to be packaged in 3 g pots. I wonder if there will always be 4 similarly sized items now that they're onto pots instead of baggies. Like the info card shows, I got:

• Caramel Apple Whipped Lip Butter - I'm not sure how well it matched the description, since it's more like a balm (hard rather than looser like a body butter), but it smells great and feels nice on (and it's colorless)! Plus, I love the packaging!

Brazen Caramel Apple Whipped Lip Butter

•  Lipgloss in Flim Flam - Shimmery and pearlescent as described. If I apply this very thin, it's very pretty! Too thick and it starts to get too opaque and white.

Brazen Lipgloss in Flim Flam

•  Eye shadow in Mysterioso - Pretty much like described above, it's a shimmery dark purple with a subtle pinkish/reddish sheen. I love purple, so I love it!

Brazen eye shadow in Mysterioso

•  Eye shadow in Abracadabra - Medium purple with strong aqua sheen. So pretty!

Brazen eye shadow in Abracadabra

Swatches This one is mostly for the lip products (I wasn't satisfied with the shadow swatches, so I redid them). So, on the bottom, I have 2 swatches of the Flim Flam lip gloss - thin on the left and thick on the right.

Shadow swatches. Top is Mysterioso and bottom is Abracadabra. I think you can see the color better in this shot than the one above.

Brazen Friends With Benefits October 2013

I'm really happy with this subscription again. Everything was great this month and will be used! Hopefully, the larger sized samples makes people happy. There are fewer things overall (4 this month vs. 6 last month), but it still fits in with the description of the subscription, so hopefully no one will be upset about that. I'm not. I was happy before, so the bigger sizes are just a plus for me.

I suppose if there was one thing I like a little less with this set up, it's that it's perfectly balanced with lip and eye products.  Last month had a bunch of shadow shades and only 1 lip product. I liked having more eye stuff than lip - if we're sticking with 4 products now, I'd like to see 3 eye, 1 lip. Maybe it wouldn't have always been so skewed towards eye even with the baggies though. But, even as someone who doesn't love lip products, I loved the lip butter and I liked the lip gloss choice this month, so I'm still happy. If we get a month where it's red and purple lip glosses, well, maybe that won't be so great, but again, with subscriptions, you never know what you'll get and that's part of the fun. And I'm almost guaranteed to love whatever color eye shadow they send. I'm not sure I've ever tried a mineral eye shadow I didn't like. I am a bit more drawn to the sparkly ones as opposed to matte, but they've all been pretty great. Neutrals, bolds, whatever - gimme!

Anyway, if you got Brazen's Friends with Benefits this month, did you like it? Did you get anything different or did you get a different level? If you're interested in signing up, I think they're still offering the lower prices (though I'm not 100% sure - I know their Facebook page said there were only a few of the higher level ones left at that price about a week ago. The page still advertises the lower prices though.), so head on over to their site.

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

Brazen Friends With Benefits September 2013 Review

After getting Brazen several times in Beauty Box 5 (and that being what I liked most about that sub), I was actually pretty excited when Brazen announced they were starting up their own subscription service, Brazen's Friends With Benefits! They have 3 levels of subscription that vary in what you get:
1. Silver ($10 if you sign up now, $15 once they hit 100 subs) - 3 g pot of limited edition or unreleased shadow, 3 g pot of limited edition or unreleased lipgloss, 2-3 samples of various products, and some ordering rewards, early access to sales and a 10% discount on their site.
2. Gold ($15 if you sign up now, $20 once they hit 100 subs) - Everything in silver plus a full sized lip gloss and 15% off on their site.
3. Platinum ($20 if you sign up now, $25 once they hit 100 subs) - Everything in silver and gold plus a full sized eye shadow and 20% off on their site.

I was somewhat tempted by platinum because of that full size eye shadow, but I don't need or want the full sized lipgloss in addition to the 3 g pot of lipgloss. I think if they'd reversed gold and platinum where gold got the full sized eye shadow and platinum added in the lipgloss as well, I'd have gotten gold for sure. Anyway, since I signed up on the day they opened up subscriptions, I got the $10 silver sub. They're still available at the discounted prices, though!

Brazen's packing - I like the tape and that it has a handwritten thank you!

Opening the bag

I liked that everything was wrapped in tissue paper and the bigger items were tucked into a cute little bag. For my samples, I actually got 4 instead of the 2-3 the description lists, so yay! I got 3 eyeshadow samples - Karma, Tease, and Aphrodisiac. I really loved all 3! Shimmery, pigmented, and lovely! Just what I expected from Brazen. And really, the samples (these are a fairly standard sample size compared to other mineral eye shadow brands I've tried) are a pretty good amount. I usually dump the baggie into a little 3 gram jar and it lasts a good amount of time for me! My last sample is a large sample of their Goodbye to You Undereye Brightening Powder. It's a big bag! I'm just not sure about the color. It seems a bit dark for me, so I'm not sure how brightening it'll be (and I haven't had a chance to test it other than to swatch it on my arm).

Brazen samples

Swatches (top to bottom): Undereye Brightening Powder, Karma, Aphrodisiac, and Tease

For my 3g products, I got much more neutral colors. My lipgloss was a coppery pink called Hush. I initially thought it looked decent on my hand, but as soon as I put it on my lips, I was pretty turned off by it. I looked like the tin man in copper. So shiny. Way too metallic and thick and not at all sheer. Into the lip graveyard (a box I keep for unknown reasons) it went. My eye shadow was much better. It was a light brown with a golden sheen and I think a hint of green, called Impulse. It's definitely a neutral, so not quite as exciting as the sample colors, but I do like it. It's something I could wear all the time.

Brazen Hush lipgloss (top) and Impulse eye shadow (bottom)

Brazen Friends With Benefits September 2013

I'm pretty happy with my first bag from Brazen. I like all the eye colors I got, even if I'm unsure of the undereye brightener and I really don't like the lipgloss. I'm kind of hoping in the future for maybe a more neutral shimmery gloss, but I'm not sure this company does anything so tame.

For what I paid, the discounted price, I think I got a fair value. Having stocked up on LOTS of shadow samples in recent months, I'd say those little baggies average about $1.00 each, 3g jars go for about $3-4 and 5g jars go for $5-6, so this is at least $10-11 worth of product based on the other 7 or 8 indie companies I've ordered from (and may one day get around to reviewing...). Had my subscription been the full $15, I might be a tad upset. I have seen some unhappy people though (I was actually surprised by it), mainly complaining about the sample baggies. As I said, knowing the competition's value, I'm not upset, but I suppose I can see how someone who has never ordered just samples may not know their value. Most indie companies don't just give these away free, unless you're buying something else from them.

The one thing that has concerned me just a bit is that I've read on a forum that one person got a response from Brazen stating "Due to an overwhelming response, we are doing away with the sample baggies this month & instead increasing the other items. We are using 3g pots, which hold almost as much as a full size they just don't come with a sifter/fancy packaging. It gives us a chance to offer more selection at a lower cost to our friends.". Which, to me, initially sounds like all we'll get this coming month are 2 products at the silver level, just in slightly increased amounts. I'm not disappointed in the samples!! I liked the sample colors and I really liked having 4 colors total to play with. I want the samples! If last month had included just the 2 main products, I would've been pretty upset since I don't like the lipgloss at all and, while the shadow is nice, it's very neutral. I liked the variety in this bag. I sincerely hope I misunderstand the plan. I'm just unclear on what "other items" is specifically talking about. Maybe "other items" are the bonus items? I hope. Reading it again now, specifying that they're using 3g pots, which they're already using for the main products at the silver level, may indicate that they'll also use 3g pots for the samples too. That seems like a big jump in amount of product though. I mean, I do usually dump the baggies into my own 3g jars, but they aren't filled (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 filled based on the company). I just dump them for easier use. I don't know. I suppose we'll see! EDIT: Well, strike most of this. I just went on their Facebook page, like I probably should have first, and it turns out the second scenario is what they meant - they're replacing the sample baggies with mini pots. So, I'm still happy! :)

Anyway, if you got Brazen's Friends with Benefits this month, did you like it? Did you get anything different or did you get a different level? If you're interested in signing up, they're still offering the lower prices, so head on over to their site.

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