Innocent and Twisted Alchemy June 2015 Subscription Unboxing

 This month's theme for i+ta's subscription is based on a character from one of Linda's old comic books named Ethereal who was the subject of her most popular drawing ever (see the angelic powder and it's baby eyeshadow twin). Mostly, I'm excited that she gave us a print of Melusine which she did for Aromaleigh's Ephemera subscription and I love it. It's so pretty I am actually considering framing it and putting it on my wall.

 This is the bag my subscription came in. The back of the bag is actually bright yellow, which is kind of cool, and very summery.

 We only got two bonus samples this month (though it is compensated for with extra products in the actual collection). Included is a sample of a bronzer from DarkHeart Designs, and a sample baggie of Mermaid Tears from Uponaworld Cosmetics, a color specially made for this month's subscription.





Here are closer shots of the jars this month, as always sealed with decorative tape. It usually doesn't do very much, but this month the powder was pretty messy and the tape did a good job keeping me from opening a box of eyeshadow insanity.

We also got another angelic powder, which I am so excited about because I loved the last one, it made it into my favorites and will probably be my go to for special occasions for a long time.

To the left is the new angelic powder, and on the right is the bronzer. The angelic powder is a cool toned pink, goes on beautifully, if you have the right coloring this could be a holy grail level product for you easily. The top of the swatch is heavy, and the bottom blended out. You can see how it settles into the skin and attracts the light without leaving a sheen when blended out, but still gives you the option of applying it heavily for an intense highlight.

The bronzer, is a different story. Of course it doesn't help that the label is illegible and looks like my ten year old sister drew it with a sharpie, but the product itself is patchy and chalky. Once you get past the patchiness though, it has a nice subtle shimmer, kind of a satin finish bronzer. It is too dark for my skin tone, but doesn't pull too orange so I'm sure someone is going to like it.



These swatches are done using my elf eyeshadow brush. The top and main part of the swatch was done using the elf eyeshadow primer, the middle/lower section was with no primer, and the bottom was done over Geek Chic's Power Up Primer.

Left is Mermaid Tears, right is Divine. Next to Mermaid Tears Divine looks very blue but it's actually a strangely well balanced turquoise.

The colors look super matte in the photo above, so I've also included an angled shot so that you can see how glittery these are in real life. Mermaid Tears has a beautiful golden shimmer, while Divine has blue and purple sparks.









From top to bottom: Breaking Down, Ethereal's Tears, and Voiceless

Breaking Down definitely benefits the most from a primer, and it is a very interesting shadow because depending on the primer you use it can look completely different. I'd say you can get like three distinct shades out of this.

Ethereal's Tears has one of the better formulas, I think it applies the most consistently out of all of Linda's shadows this month.

Voiceless is a much more shimmery shadow in person, but it is subtly shimmery like it almost wants to be a satin finish.



Also, here is a picture of the swatches after I gave them a decent rub with my hand.

Final Thoughts/ Value

i+ta deluxe sample shadows (4) = 12$
i+ta angelic powder deluxe sample = 6$ (?, no idea, this is just a conservative estimate)
DarkHeart Designs bronzer sample= 1$ (? also a conservative estimate, it is likely more)
Uponaworld sample= 1$

Total Retail Value (w/o shipping) = 20$

As always, this box goes way beyond its actual cost (12$ shipping included), and now I'm interested in looking into Uponaworld shadows because I adore Mermaid Tears, it has a fantastic formula. I am glad we got to see some bright fun colors for summer, though most of these products will be getting passed onto a friend this month so the personal value wasn't there for me.

Julep Maven June Box Review

For more information on what the Julep Maven is I wrote an explanation of it late last year. This month though I customized the box so only one item is a surprise. Instead, I'll be doing reviews on the contents of my box.

Here are the promotional cards and extras from the box. If you can't read the 30% off code it is GOWILD.

Candy is always appreciated by me, so these fun lollipops will be eaten at some point.

Finally, they reformulated the Luxe Lip Conditioner, and so I'm interested to see how exactly I feel about it.

Konjac sponges are made from the fibrous root of
the Japanese konjac plant. One of their big boasts is
that these sponges are biodegradable. 

First (because it was the first thing I saw when I opened the box) was an extra I paid for. I've heard a lot of stuff about konjac sponges and I decided I might as well try it.

For non-mavens this sponge costs 12$

For mavens as an individual purchase this sponge costs 9.60$

For mavens as a box extra I think I paid (they won't give me the exact prices of each item in my box history)  7$.

This particular sponge is infused with charcoal. I am a huge fan of the recent activated charcoal movement and I recently had my wisdom teeth out so my cheeks aren't quite up for my Clarisonic yet.

This sponge comes on a string with a suction cup, which is really convenient but means you ultimately create more waste because the string and the suction cup aren't compostable while the sponge is, and you can't buy this particular sponge in any sort of refill pack. It is also wet when you receive it. I tried to get some of moisture droplets off the film plastic for the photo, but they actually wet the sponge and stick it in a sealed container. I don't know about you, but that just sounds like a recipe for mold and mildew.

The sponge itself is an incredibly gentle exfoliant, my skin isn't particularly sensitive, and I don't usually wash my face more than once a day but this would probably be great for people who do. I've used it a few times and it keeps my face clean but I wouldn't say it magically clears up any of my breakouts or clogged pores.

Ultimately, I probably wouldn't recommend that you buy this from Julep. From Ulta you can get alternative sponges that are cheaper (5$ per sponge), including ones that contain charcoal. However I would recommend a konjac sponge to people with very sensitive skin, people who wash their face several times a day, and people who are trying to cut down on waste in their lives.

The next time I decide to pay 12$ for a face sponge that will last me a little more than a month with frequent usage I will probably get it from here because they specialize in konjac sponges, package them dry so the sponges have an unopened shelf life of 3 years, have free USA shipping, and cater to a lot more skin types.

These are the Ta Da! Quick Dry Drops. I have no idea how much I paid for this as an extra. I would say 8-10$ for a full ounce of product.

For non-mavens this costs 14$
For mavens this product costs 11.20$

This product smells very lavendery, so if you don't like lavender this may be an issue for you.

My only other dry drops product I own is the Drip Dry by OPI because upon doing my research they were the most consistently loved drops out of the 5 or 6 options available to me. I am almost out of my Drip Dry because I only got the .3oz version, but I had enough to test my new Julep drops against the OPI version.

The OPI dry drops have little to no scent, and would likely be suitable to people sensitive to fragrance (or who don't like lavender because nail polish is one of the strongest scents ever, lets be real).

Ultimately I would say that OPI dry drops are marginally better. For me its not really enough to pay 26.50$ per ounce though.  Not to mention there are tons of other cheaper drug store options. One of them will probably work just as well for you.

This was one of my box items. I chose higher price items this month so I only got to pick two products meaning I paid 12.50$ to get this brush.

For non-mavens this brush costs 24$

For mavens who are purchasing this brush on its own the cost is 19.20$

I chose this because I didn't own a fan brush, and my first brush experience with Julep was pretty good. I chose the shader brush and while it is really well made I haven't quite worked out the best way to use it yet. I didn't want to go out and get an elf shader brush because so many of their products are hit or miss that I didn't want to be turned off from fan brushes forever because of a poor quality product.

Anyway, this brush hasn't really grown on me much, but that may just be me as the brush itself seems very nice. Ultimately, the bristles are soft, I haven't noticed any shedding and the curved shape helps keep me from putting highlight too close to my nose (there is a fine line between glowing skin and going to the bathroom to powder my nose).

Luxe Up Your LIps in Blushing Rose

The new luxe lip conditioning treatment in blushing rose. This cost me 12.50$ as a part of my box this month.

For mavens and non-mavens it costs 19.20$

So, something that should be noted is that Julep still kept around the clear luxe lip conditioning treatment, but reformulated the colored versions and marketed them out as Luxe Up Your Lips

I have what is technically the original sheer pink Luxe Lip Conditioning treatment (which is now a part of the Luxe Up Your Lips line) and now own blushing rose which is part of the line with more pigmentation.


I am loving the new fuller coverage formula. It is a little thicker, and more pigmented but still not sticky. This is truly the lipgloss for people who hate lip gloss. My only regret is that I like this more as a fall/winter color which means I will likely be sticking with the sheer pink for most of summer.



My final extra that I chose was the Julep Gel Eye Glider in Rich Brown. Basically, I needed a third extra to get a free polish and only have half of a brown eyeliner left.

For non-mavens gel eyegliders cost 16$ each
For mavens the cost is 12.80$ each
As an extra I think it ended up being less than 10$

These are pretty good. They set in 30 seconds which gives you a lot of time to smudge out your eyeliner or whatever else you want to do, goes on smoothly, and is moderately affordable if you happen to be a maven.


Top is Rich Brown swatched (I know its a terrible swatch, I don't even know what happened there), and the bottom swatch is a hand swatch of the Blushing Rose lip treatment.

When you add three extras Julep will throw in another extra for you. I rarely have the need or desire to add three more Julep products to my box so this has only happened twice for me but you can get just about anything. Last time my extra was a lip plumping primer. This time, it was a silk finish polish in Marcy.
I hate this polish, but I am ultimately glad I got it (you know, for free, as an extra).

Silk finish is a fancy name for satin or demi-matte.  The formula is horrendous. It is not good at self leveling, and this photo was taken after three coats of polish. Also, while I know many people love polishes that have matte or satin finishes I personally don't. It's not that I adore shine that much, but I just feel like I could invest in a good top coat

However, I do love the color. The all-white nail isn't for everyone and I think this is a very elegant way to rock a white nail. I will be on the look out for similar colors.

Graze Box- College De-Clutter

**This is not a sponsored post, I do not get paid or receive these boxes for promotional purposes. I have a standard referral code given to all graze box participants that does give you and me a discount on boxes, but that is it and it does not reflect my review**

About the Service

Graze is a wonderfully customizeable snack box that costs 6$ a box and can be delivered in essentially whatever intervals you want. I get my boxes monthly, but you can also get them weekly or bi-weekly, snooze them for as long as you would like and schedule vacations. It is incredibly easy to cancel as well, no phone calls, no nothing, you just log in and say you would like to cancel your subscription.

They focus on healthier snacks in proper portions, a lot of their snacks are based on using a mixtureof whole foods to create something that tastes good with minimal sweeteners and what not. For example, one snack option has unsalted almonds and pecans and then includes dried cranberries. Another snack I like uses dried banana coins, dried unsweetened coconut, and dried pineapple. The banana coins and pineapple have their own natural sugars that bring out the flavors of the coconut without needing to add sugar to the mix. I am an incredibly picky eater not known for my healthy dietary choices, and I like quite a lot of their snacks.

Their popcorn comes in the most adorable single serving bag. It tastes delicious and I get compliments on my cute popcorn bag every single time I make it. Dear graze, if you are reading this, please make the tiny popcorn bags available to purchase on their own in multiples.

My sampler box, contains four snacks. I really like this closure method
 using the two plastic pieces. It is very secure, but also minimizes waste.
Film plastic can be recycled with your grocery bags. 

You can get the usual sampler box, or larger bags of some of the most loved snacks with 20 portions of the snack inside. I think recently they also started offering a bigger box so that you can get more snacks in every delivery. Most of their packaging is recyclable, which I really appreciate. 

What snacks you get is also really customizeable, they have sections available so if you are not severely allergic to anything you can easily just 'trash' what you are allergic to (they cannot guarantee that trace amounts of tree nuts will not be in your snacks but if you aren't so sensitive that trace amounts of nuts will provoke a reaction but a whole nut will it is easy to remove those from your boxes) or do not like, such as spicy food. 

Each snack is described to you on their website, you can get its nutritional information there but they also send you a card with your box with the nutritional information of each snack on it. You can at any time mark any snack you would like as trash, try, like, or love. Trash means they will never ever send you that snack, try means you have not yet tried it, like means you want it sent sometimes, and love means you want it sent regularly. After your first few boxes the boxes they give you become a mixture of snacks you like and love and snacks you have marked as try. I have never ever gotten a box where I hate every single snack in it and that is saying something.

You also get 4 little tear away cards with your personal promo code on it so that you can share with friends. I used to put them in with trades.

Unboxing, Discount, and Why I Won't be Taking this to College 

This is my box for the month, as I usually get my boxes monthly.  This is my 11th box with them and I am still trying new snacks. The top two snacks are ones I have eaten and liked, and the bottom two are brand new snacks I haven't tried yet.









Deconstructed Carrot cake is carrot chews, cinnamon flavored raisins, walnuts and ginger fudge

Herby Bread Basket contains mini basil breadsticks, oregano rice crackers and garlic crostini

Vitamin C Crush is mango, pineapple pieces and coconut flakes

Nature's Essential Nutrient Nuts contains roasted unsalted cashews, brazil nuts and raw pistachio kernels.

I don't think I will be keeping it for college though as I will be in a large city with lots of new foods to try as well as being on a meal plan and I just don't need it. If you pack a lot of lunches though or you are a parent looking for good things to get your kids as a care package this may be a good option for them. It is especially a great option for people who aren't picky eaters. I happen to be a very picky eater, and while I still love this box I feel like people who like more foods and like trying new things would benefit the most from this box.


To get your first and fifth boxes for free (you can cancel before your fifth box and will still get your first box free) you can use my personal promo code 3XQX2HXNB. I think I get 1$ off of a box for each person who signs up, but since I'm considering canceling I'm mostly giving it out so you guys can try the box for free. 

College De-Clutter

Over the next few months I will be doing a series of  blog posts about my process in pairing down my amount of things I will be taking to college with me. Most of this will be beauty related, but some of it won't be. I will include things like subscription boxes I am cancelling, and how I am pairing down my clothing to fit into my limited space. I will still continue to post my usual blog posts as well, but I thought it would be good to make the announcement now since I'm finally starting to feel human again after having my wisdom teeth removed and am getting my first post ready to go.

Innocent and Twisted Alchemy May 2015 Subscription

The theme for the month of May was Alien, as in the movie. I am ashamed to admit I don't think I have ever seen this movie. Good news though, this review is done completely without fandom bias which is something I can rarely say, so its an interesting new perspective. I want to apologize for how late the review is this month, I'll get more into it in my monthly favorites but essentially I was graduating, and after I graduated I had my wisdom teeth removed and am still recovering from that.

New subscription swaps open up each month, deluxe sample size subscription costs 12$, and I believe full size subscriptions cost 20 or 21$, this includes shipping.

 Above is the packaging my subscription box came in, you can see in the back shot of the samples that it is a brightly colored plastic sandwich baggie. The samples this month include a petite jar from both Femme Fatale and Limnit Lipsticks, alongside two other traditionally sized samples.

 Linda apologizes in this month's note for using mostly neutral colors, but I personally love neutrals and I feel like overall the products in this box coordinate so well that it more than makes up for any lack of color this month.

I have raved about i+ta's shadows for a while now but another thing I like is that while this month's colors are neutrals and make great neutral looks, they are unique (particularly with regard to drone). Yes, I do own similar colors that would create a similar result, but I don't own the same colors.

Also, getting a box of neutrals for summer is great for girls like me, because I like to lean towards neutral eye shadow looks with bright lips and cheeks instead.





Left: Drone
Middle: Face Hugger
Right: Ripley

This month's swatches are heavy brush swatches done over elf's eyelid primer

From left to right: Limnit Lipstick Extraterrestrial, Femme Fatale,
Siren Song, Quarantine by Aromaleigh 

As always, I am impressed with the brand selection this month, receiving shadows from Femme Fatale, Limnit Lipsticks, and Aromaleigh. 2/3 of the samples this month are also deluxe size, which is super cool. I have ordered from Aromaleigh a couple of times before, and I love this brand quite a lot. Femme Fatale is a brand I was never super jazzed about, but a brand I am glad to get to try out, and I had been looking at Limnit Lipsticks for a while now.









The Femme Fatale eyeshadow is a deluxe sample size, packaged in a small jar that had a heat sealed shrink wrapping, and also a sifter and plastic sticker over it. This is incredibly fancy for being a sample.






The Limnit lipstick is a petite sample jar of their new color. It is a lovely brown shade. This is applied with an elf lip brush, though I like it more applied with my finger. As I type this I am recovering from the removal of my wisdom teeth, but I am hoping to try this using an eyeliner smudge brush and plan on ordering tubes of lipstick.

Also, attention readers, I now must admit to an indie sin. When I had first heard about how great this brand is I thought it was probably really good for being an indie company, but after honestly getting to try the formula, it is just as good if not better than a lot of high end product formulas. It dries down to a satin (semi-matte) as described, is true to color, and feels very solid but comes off creamy and pigmented

Value and Final Thoughts

 Once again, overall I am quite happy with this subscription, the only thing I would say is that being an end of spring/early summer box the looks you would create with this box are all pretty winter/fall oriented (given just this box and nothing else). However, overall I am impressed once again. I love the amount of love that goes into each monthly box concept, and even more than that I adore that Linda is able to include that love and creativity into her monthly box without sacrificing value and quality.

Limnit Lipsticks 2g Extraterrestrial-  4.60$
Femme Fatale Eyeshadow Petite- 3.85$
Aromaleigh Quarantine Eyeshadow Sample- 1.00$
Siren Song Cosmetics Clam Shell- 3.00$
Innocent and Twisted Alchemy Deluxe Sample Jars (x3)-  9.00$

The total retail value of this box works out to 21.45$

that is 9.45$ over the actual price of the box just for the product. This isn't even taking into account the amount you save in shipping, the custom label art, and the 30% of coupon code you receive every month.