I won The Happy Rebel Box, so I'm reviewing it

The Happy Rebel Box is a new subscription box that is targeting women who are into style with a bit of an edgy twist. This pretty much describes me perfectly. I was a kinda-goth kid back in high school and now in my mid-twenties I still have a penchant for the darker vibe mixed in with a more mainstream chic love of fashion.

USPS kinda banged up the box a bit

 This box ships quarterly and costs $100. I didn't pay for this box, however, because I won it through their Instagram contest! Yay! That doesn't really have any influence on my opinion of the box's contents, as being detached and cynical is pretty high up on my list of talents. Anyway, on with the review!

BeautyDNA November Product (and the promotion is still on GiltCity!)

I got my November BeautyDNA product today, but instead of waiting until December and posting them both together, I'm making an early post because BeautyDNA is back on GiltCity until December 4th! That is the promotional that I used to purchase my initial account...and I kinda sorta dropped the money for another 4 months (yes, they will add it onto your existing account if you email them politely).

Here is my one little shill moment: if you use my referral to join GiltCity, you get $25 and I get $25 to spend on Gilt/GiltCity. Here is my Referral Link if you want to use that to join, if not (or if you already have an account) you can just go here and buy the BeautyDNA promo. 

BeautyDNA November Product: Olie Biologique Huile Moderne 004 Hydrating Oil

Retail Price: $78.00

Cosdna Link

The package arrived late this afternoon and, thanks to the lovely winter snap we've been having, the heavy glass bottle was wonderfully cool to the touch. I can't stop petting it. Its so prettttyyyy. 

I love to use oils as moisturizers! This one is primarily Argan oil and Rosehip oil, both of which I've heard wonderful things about for skin. This one is supposed to be good for acne and breakouts, so hopefully my skin will like it. The good thing about BeautyDNA, though, is that if you don't like a product, they are of a high-quality that would make for wonderful re-gifting to friends and family (BeautyDNA is strictly against re-selling products received from them!).

Note: An oil-loving friend informed me that Bergamot oil is photo-sensitizing due to a compound called Bergapten. Some bergamot oils have this compound removed and should be labelled as "Bergamot FCF". This oil is not labelled as being bergapten-free, so please exercise caution and use it only at night.

I paid for this awesomely [discounted via GiltCity] subscription with my own cash because I'm too uncool modest to get free shit. Questions, Comments, and Casual Insults always welcome. Especially the latter, it gives me a sort of a bitter nostalgia for my high school years.

BeautyDNA: September and October 2015

BeautyDNA is a subscription that I had been itching to try for a good while. For $25 a month, they send you one full-sized skin/hair/body product that is selected for you based on a detailed survey you fill out when you sign up. The value of the product is supposed to be greater than the cost of the subscription and you can change up the answers to your survey at any time if you want to. For someone like me who has a pretty good sized backlog of samples, deluxe samples, and even full-sized products that I have yet to try (but still a hankering for new crap), narrowing it down to one item a month that is supposed to be a good selection for you seemed like a plan for me. Yeah, there still could be duds, but at least there won't be a box of several duds to go through at once.

So when Gilt.com did a discounted special on 2- and 4-month subscriptions to BeautyDNA, I promptly purchased a 4-month subscription and signed up near the end of September. You subscription starts as soon as you fill out your beauty survey, and my product shipped only two days after I did that. Since I joined at the very end of September, my September month product arrived a few days into October (but hey, having it at the very end/beginning of the month is a good way to remember when my subscription is coming).

I waited until I had two months of products to do a review of BeautyDNA, and will do the final two months at the same time, too. Please note: Your products will probably be different than mine, as these were selected for me, based on my survey responses.

September Product: Epicuren Alpha Lipoic Omega Facial Serum
Retail Price:  $90
CosDNA Link

So there is actually a story about my first product, because there was an oopsie at BeautyDNA. I have selected on my profile strictly no SPF products, as I am picky about my sunscreen and I don't like moisturizers with sunscreen that could possibly have filters that interfere with what I'm using. I'm obnoxious like that. Well my first product I received was a moisturizer...with SPF 15. I emailed customer service, assuming that maybe the "no" I checked on facial SPF was only referring to actual sunscreen, and asked how to edit my profile so that I would not get any more products that happen to contain sunscreen ingredients. She profusely apologized and said that my survey was perfect how I had it, and that the moisturizer had accidentally not been tagged as a sunscreen product in their system. They promptly shipped out my replacement product that day and it arrived via FedEx only two days later. Yay for customer service! A+!

Each BeautyDNA product comes with a "Skin Report" that has information on how this product matches your survey. The key terms are bolded (although some things that are bolded, such as fragrance-free, paraben-free, and sulfate-free, are things that I selected "don't care" for rather than "do not want").

I have never heard of the brand Epicuren before, but the ingredients (see the CosDNA link) look nice. It has propolis extract!

October Product: Dermaquest SkinBrite Cream

Retail Price: $73

CosDNA Link

I might have misplaced my Skin Profile for this product (beautyDNA does provide you with a pdf copy to download via your account if need be) but it is a lightweight cream that absorbs very well, contains multiple proven antioxidants and skin whiteners (as in, lightening dark spots, not bleaching). It is supposed to be good for skin that is sensitive as well, but I am putting this aside for now and will start using it after I finish my Tretinoin purge that I began last week!

So far I am really liking beautyDNA. I just find it to be an interesting and fun concept! We will see what November and December bring.

This subscription was purchased with my own money. Please feel free to leave Questions, Comments, and Casual Insults below. 

BareMinerals Mystery Box September 2015

Every few months BareMinerals offers up a one-day special: a set of mystery items for a heavily discounted price. These are usually combinations of full size and deluxe samples that are discontinued, clearanced, overstocked, repackaged, or extras that were a part of a set. Supply is limited and they tend to sell out very fast! I just happened to be online one Sunday when MySubscriptionAddiction updated their website to announce September's BareMinerals mystery box was up for sale. This time the mystery box contained 10 items and costs a total of $30 plus tax and free shipping. So it cost me approximately $32 for the 10 things I received.

The whole set, kinda cut off the black deluxe sample tube of lipstick in the corner though...

September 2015 Mishibox

September is almost over and I'm just now getting around to posting about this month's Mishibox. I will own up to this lack of posting being due to sheer laziness rather than being busy or exceptionally ill.

While you all ooo and ahhh at my stellar photography skills.

The Great Pink Bunny ships consistently around the second week or so of the month (I don't remember the exact date, but they update you and really are on the ball regarding all that stuff), and arrived safe and sound to my house after only two days.

Products 1 & 2: Cleomee Snowy Pore Balm and Donkey Real Milk Oil Mask

The pore balm appears to be somewhat of a skin conditioner and makeup primer. It has donkey milk and donkey oil in it, and promises to "minimize the appearance of your pores and fine lines, brightens skin, neutralizes redness, and evens out uneven skin tone." as well as control excessive sebum production in oily skin. The sheet mask contains some amazing ingredients: donkey oil, donkey milk, Centella Asiatica extract, niacinamide, sodium hyaluronate, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, and other lovely things.

Sadly I cannot use either of these products, as I do not use horse nor donkey oil. Donkey/Horse oil is extracted from the fat of the animal slaughtered for other purposes (usually consumption), and I'm just too close to equids to be able to use those products without getting squeamish. I wish they just had donkey milk in them instead of milk AND oil.

However, I do not fault anyone for using these ingredients! They are wonderful skin conditioners that have done amazing things for so many people! If you have no personal issues with donkey/horse oil, these would be total win products. I already have promised mine to a good friend who is excited to try them.

Products 3 & 4: Holika Holika Nail Polish and Skylake Silk Cocoon Hair Conditioner (bonus free sticker!)

The Holika Holika nail polish came in four different color options pulled from the 2015 Spring/Summer collection, all being almost-neon level brights. The one I received is Pink Blossom, a very bright pink shade. Too bad I abhor pink. That is really just bad luck on my part! This one will be handed over to my older sister who also loves Korean beauty products (and does her nails often).

The hair conditioner from Skylake is based on traditional Korean herbal ingredients, so it has a very interesting smell that some might not like. I like it, though, so it is a keeper. This conditioner does contain two silicone ingredients, which is something that I try to avoid in my haircare products, but the mini size amount means that using it sparingly won't take forever to empty it like a full sized bottle would.

Pardon the dust from the packing material that I didn't bother to wipe off.

Products 5 & 6: Magis Lene Cell Precieux Toner and Emulsion (bonus serum and cream foil packets)

These are the types of products that I like getting samples sizes of: really expensive shit that I could never afford to try otherwise. The toner and emulsion run between $65-70 each, while the serum retails for $135 and the cream for $170. I like that there are two little samples foils of the mega-expensive serum and cream thrown in. They aren't counted as products, but it just feels like a little extra to play with. All of these products are based on traditional Korean ingredients (hanbang) like the Skylake conditioner, and have ingredients lists almost a mile long. I'm really excited to try these. I still giggle like a schoolgirl when I look at them.


Closing Thoughts:

I felt like this box was really well put together. It had a mix of high end and affordable products, some good full sizes things, and very interesting samples. Even though a lot of these products were a personal miss for me, objectively it was an awesome box. There was haircare, skincare, and cosmetics (the pore balm has both cosmetic and skincare uses) in good balance. After having three months of Mishibox I feel like this subscription would be good for both newcomers to the Asian Beauty scene as well as people who already have a stock of stuff on hand, as they send a good mix of unusual brands and more common ones.

Sadly, I had to cancel my Mishibox after this one. Not because I dislike the box, but because of a lack of funds! My subscription box budget is being taken up by other things (like needing new riding boots), and being unable to have a real job and only able to make cash doing odd jobs for other barns and babysitting doesn't exactly lead to an overflowing bank account. Hopefully I will be able to re-subscribe one day!

Mishibox purchased with my own money. Please feel free to leave Questions, Comments, & Casual Insults below.

Modcloth Stylish Surprise September 2015

This is my first Modcloth purchase ever. I had zero expectations of what I'd receive, and my "stylish surprise" dress lived up to all of them. Take that statement how you will.I bought the "stylish surprise" on a whim when I saw that they hadn't sold out of the dresses several days after launching. In case you don't know (like I didn't before someone posted a link to it on Reddit...), sometimes during the changing of the seasons Modcloth will do some "stylish surprise" products where for a set price, you select your size and they send you a random item in that category. The shoes and general apparel categories had already sold out, but since there were dresses left I placed my order for one in a size Small for $20.

It looks so harmless just laying there....

What I received: A Tie-Dye Muumuu Minidress.It looks so deceivingly lovely laid out on my bed like that, under the soft glow of the lamp. Here is a picture of it on the model from Modcloth's website:

You know Modcloth has that thing taped and lit to look the best..and it still is only meh

The picture doesn't quite show the colors correctly; the peachy color is really a bit more of an orange sherbet shade and the blue doesn't 'pop' as much in person/kinda has more grey in it.

It seems like they decided to make a muumuu, but a rogue hippie came by and stole most of the fabric so they just decided to end it right below the butt. The sleeves can be worn long or bunched short, but either way if you lift your arm to wave hello someone is going to know exactly what underwear you are (or aren't) wearing. There's no definition to separate the batwing sleeves from the body of the dress, and when I first opened the package I was absolutely certain that Modcloth had accidentally sent me a funky skirt instead of a dress.

This is all I can think about when I see those sleeves

For what fabric it lacks down below, they made up by having it kinda balloon out the back and stomach area. On the bright side: I can pull my head and arms inside, tuck under my legs, and read a book in the privacy of my tie-dye mini-tent. I purchased a size small, but the dress appears to be cut for someone with a massive bosom. There is elastic gathers below what was intended to be the chest area, which I'm convinced is purely for decorative reasons.

The fabric is remarkably soft, but also strangely heavy. I assume that since I'm getting it discounted at the end of summer that the dress is intended as a warm weather garment. After less than 10 minutes of wearing it in my air-conditioned house, I was feeling muggy and worried I had sweat dripping down my back. Summertime I think not.

Downside: This dress is ugly as sin and I would never wear it in public unless I was dressing up as slutty Mimi from the Drew Carey Show. You look at the pictures and say "oh, it isn't that bad". Yes, yes it is. It fully earned those 1 star reviews on Modcloth. I wouldn't hate the fabric so much if they swapped the heavy sleeves and non-existent bottom style for a strappy maxi-dress. But that fit combined with the tie-dye is just unforgivable.

Yay? Nay?

Upside: It is really freakin' comfortable as lounge wear or a nightgown. I'm actually going to get some good wear out of this paired with some leggings in the winter. I still won't leave the house in it, but I foresee many a Netflix binge nights in this dress.

Would I buy a Modcloth "Stylish Surprise" again? Maybe, but I'm kind of a glutton for punishment when it comes to these sort of mystery packages.