January 2013 TopBox & Ipsy / My Glam Review

Hello Lovelies!
I know I'm a little bit late posting this but I figured it is better late than never. I received my monthly beauty subscriptions TopBox and Ipsy, formerly known as My Glam for January right after returning from vacation, and because I've had school work and work work to catch up with I didn't have the time to test out the products I received. Now that things have finally settled down I've had the time to look at things properly so that I can give you guys a great review. I decided to do both subscriptions in one post since I am so terribly late, I figured it'll be the easiest way.

TopBox 

From Left to Right: Clinique Rinse Off Makeup Solvent, Clinique Clarifying Lotion, Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector, Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow duo

This month's Topbox was a Prive Box which I signed up for. What this is essentially is that every month, instead of sending a regular topbox, they send a prive box which has products from only one brand. This months Prive box was full of items from Clinique. I was ecstatic to try these products because ironically enough, on my cruise, they sold Clinique products in the duty free shop and I hesitated to buy them because of the high price tag. I definitely did not regret the decision not to buy after I received this box. Here is what they sent me:

Clinique Rinse Off Eye Makeup Solvent
This eye makeup remover works very well. It does not leave an oily residue on the skin after removing makeup. However they recommend that you rinse off with water the excess makeup remover. I do not see why, but I'm guessing it is for those who want to re-do or apply fresh makeup right afterwards. However I don't think it necessary.  A full size bottle is 25$ for 125ml, which considering the size of the bottle, I don't think it is worth it. I use L'oreals' gentle eye makeup remover, which gives overall the same results. It is a much cheaper alternative.

Clinique Clarifying Lotion
When using this product I was surprised to find out that the clarifying lotion has a bit of a sting when you apply it to the face. They sent me the clarifying lotion created for combination oily skin, which was perfect for my skin type. The lotion however is part of a three step system, and the other 2 steps were not provided. This was disappointing, as I would have liked to have seen the results of using the system as a whole. The lotion is more like a clear liquid toner, and it dries very quickly. My skin felt refreshed and smooth after using it, and the cotton pad I used to apply it had a lot of dirt and impurities on it. This shows me that the lotion does what it was intended to do, and that is to clarify the skin. I would definitely go out and buy the full size product which is either 16$ for 200ml, or 27$ for 400ml.

Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector
I think that the gods were trying to tell me something by sending me this product. Recently I've been getting wrinkles on my forehead which I am assuming were caused by sun damage from the last few years. I have a tendency to not wear sunscreen when I go on vacation out in the sun, and after I'd say 4 years of doing so, it is taking its toll on my skin. I've wizened up now, and use a sunscreen of SPF 15 - 30 on my face at all times when going out into the sun, but I was definitely in need of something to help minimize and correct the damage I had already done. I applied this product to my face, mainly to my forehead and around the eye are and I have to say I was impressed with the texture and the finish. It did not feel oily at all and it seemed to instantly fill in lines and wrinkles. I will continue to use this until it runs out and see the results it gives me. If it proves worthy, I may consider buying a full size, which is either 57$ for 30ml, or 86$ for 50ml. 

Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo
This eyeshadow quad has two very gorgeous colors. The pink shade is a somewhat iridescent pink with golden shimmer, and the brown is a mauve brown with a slight iridescence to it as well. These colors were paired together nicely in this duo and I think they would make an excellent everyday look. My only complaint is that the shadows feel very dry and powdery when swatched. They do not have that slightly velvety creamy consistency as some other dry shadows do such as Urban Decay. With a price tag of 25$ for only 2.5g of product, I highly doubt that I would purchase this again.

Ipsy / My Glam

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Ipsy Glam Bag in Navy Blue, Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Hairspray, Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil, Nailtini Nail Polish in Frappe, Pacifica Tuscan Bloog Orange Body Butter, London Soho New York Crease Brush

London Soho New York Crease Brush
The brush has very soft bristles which are quite firm. The handle is nice as it has small grooves in which your fingers mold to nicely. The brush is not very dense however and from the looks of it the brush hair seems to not be of great quality. I have a feeling that this brush will eventually shed. When compared with my sigma E40 tapered blending brush, you really cannot compare the quality. This may be good for someone who is just starting to experiment with makeup, but for professionals or more experienced makeup connoisseurs, I wouldn't recommend it. This brush is available at any Walgreens.

Nailtini Nail Polish in Frappe
The color of this nail polish is almost like a sheer pale pink. It applies onto the nails almost completely sheer and dries extremely quickly.  It has a very glossy finish to it. What I like about this polish is that it gives your nails a very natural and glossy look. There is hardly any color to it and I doubt that even after 3 coats that it would be anywhere close to opaque. However, I would probably wear this polish on days where I am too lazy to paint my nails a specific color and just put a top coat over it. It has a way of enhancing your nails natural beauty, therefore I would probably repurchase this even though it is 13$ for a full size bottle. You can buy this polish ClICK HERE.

Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter
This body butter really surprised me. At first I thought it was a hand cream because silly me didn't read the bottle properly and I ended up taking too much for just my hands. However the smell of this cream is absolutely divine, the texture is smooth and creamy, and it does not leave an oily residue on your skin. These are all must have qualities in a good cream. At only 7$ a bottle, I would definitely purchase this again.
If you'd like to try out this cream, Click Here.

Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Hairspray
I always wanted to try this hairspray ever since I saw the advertisements with the Pussycat Dolls many years ago but never went out to buy it.The hairspray does not have that stiff sticky consistency, but the hold is still strong. As for its volumizing properties I wouldn't say it is any better than any other hairspray out there. At 17.50$ for a full size bottle, it's not too bad. I would consider purchasing this again.

Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil
I have always been an advocate of argan oil for use in my hair because I have seen great results from using it. However I never tried pure argan oil and wanted to see if it made a difference. I currently use L'oreals argan oil and have never had a problem with it. However when compared the forumla's of the two products, I can see that the Josie Maran's is much more liquidy, but it gets soaked into the hair more easily. Even when you have the product on your skin, you see that the Josie Maran oil soaks into the skin much easier. You can purchase this product here. It is very pricey for one full size bottled, 48$ to be exact. I may consider buying this however only if my hair became extremely dry and unmanageable. If you want something that works just as well, try L'oreals Argan Oil.

That's it for the review loves. I hope that it was informative and helpful. Once again, don't hesitate to comment below and if you like my blog please follow me on bloglovin, GFC and even instagram or pinterest! More reviews and a fashion and beauty products haul to come soon so stay tuned!

Fashionabli yours,

Suzy 
xoxo