April showers bring Horse Boxes

North Carolina is having its usual bipolar weather. In one week it went from nights with near-freezing temperatures to sunny days topping out in the upper 80's (Fahrenheit, that is). Today it decided to cloud up and taunt us with the possibility of rain.

Tut tut it looks like rain...

Box: A Horse Box

Price: Monthly subscription is $29.99, longer subscriptions are less

Shipping: Free and around the 15th of the month (I say "around" because once it shipped a day early!)

Contents: 4-6 horse and horse-related products with a value of $35+

Note: I'm aiming this review at both horse-people and non-horse subscription box fans, so some things may be overly explained or simplified. If you're confused about anything, feel free to ask! I've been around horses since I was a child, so sometimes I forget that certain things aren't common knowledge.

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!

A Horse Box March review

So in my usual bad-budgeting self, I subscribed to A Horse Box. This is perfect for me as it merges my love of subscription boxes with my life-consuming hobby (and currently my job as well) of working with horses. I'm attempting to make this review a bit more user-friendly for the non-horsey subscription boxes lovers who just want to read about any sub box for curiosity's sake. So horse people, please forgive me if I simplify or over-explain some things.

Box: A Horse Box

Cost: $29.99/month (cheaper with longer prepaid plans), free shipping

Products: 4-6 horse and equestrian products with a total retail value of $35-$100

Address blurred because you really don't want to visit redneckville. Trust me on this.

It's here! It's here! In the subscription box world, the packaging would be a disappointment. No fancy box? No snazzy packing material? No problem for me! The prices in the equestrian world often make the notoriously overpriced makeup and skincare world look cheap by comparison. No frills needed in this barn, save the fancy-box money and put it into substance.

 March's box is A Horse Box's 3rd anniversary! I didn't really detect a "theme" in this, but that's neither here nor there. Themes for boxes are nice, but not really needed if the products are good.

Leather Therapy Saddle Pad & Blanket Wash (16oz for $13.00): If there is one thing you can count on with horses, it's dirt. Lots of dirt and fur. On everything. Saddle pads and blankets get especially grimey, and this washing detergent is designed specifically to get those items clean and leave no irritating residue. Plus it's lavender scented.

No Thrush Powder (Sample size, maybe 1oz or so based on full-sized images online. 2.5oz retail for around $15, so I'll guess the RV is $7.50): Thrush is a bacterial infection of the horse's hooves that is exacerbated by moist and damp conditions. Wetness is the enemy here! No Thrush Powder claims to help dry out the parts of the hoof that are infected and fight the bacteria. I've read some mixed reviews of it, but that's normal as hooves aren't the easiest thing to fix when something goes wrong. It's kinda like skincare, where even if you have a product with science backing it, it might work better for one person's acne than another's.

Pony Pizza Company horse treats (3 treats for approximately $6, as their website sells 4-packs in a fancy box for $8.99 and jars of 20 for $19.99): Horse treats that look like pizza! I love cutesy horse cookies, so these were nice to get. Big Mike wasn't quite sure about the flat shape at first and took a bit of coaxing to try it, but Ready and Redwing inhaled their treats in a heartbeat! These are supposed to be peppermint and apple flavored (I'll take their word for that, no interest in eating horse cookies myself). They also included a coupon in the box for $5 off your next purchase.

Showsheen Finishing Mist (15oz for $11): This is a non-aerosol spray that repels dirt and makes the horse's mane, tail, and coat shiny. It is a very quiet mist sprayer so even people with nervous horses can use it without upsetting them. I like that it contains silk proteins and pro-vitamins to nourish and strengthen the hair rather than just providing an aesthetic finish. I'm going to try this on my friend's horse Ready, who is the most dirt-loving horse I've ever met. His tail also needs a bit of help, whereas Big Mike's tail is already long and full.

Vetrolin Deep-Penetrating Liniment Gel (12oz for $11): Liniments are always popular in amongst the horse competition crowd. Do they do anything? Yes, no, and maybe. Many contain some ingredients that can be soothing to sore muscles and joints, but they aren't miracle workers. That being said, I adore liniments! Even if their effect on the horse is miniscule, the physical act of massaging your horse's legs and back with the liniments is cathartic for both horse and rider. This gel also contains hyaluronic acid to help condition the horse's coat as you massage them.

Overview: So this box contained 5 products (3 full sized) with an approximate retail value of $48.50. I say approximate because the prices for most products vary by a dollar or two depending on the store, and that's not even adjusting for potential shipping costs to order things online! Are these things that I "omg need to have"? Nope, but they're all interesting things that I'll definitely use.

I purchased this box with my own money, much to the chagrin of my cat who is a bit of a judgemental little pick about my purchases. I'd buy her a cat box, but she'd probably just ignore the toys and eat the packing tape (again). Questions, Comments, and Casual Insults welcome.

A Horse [Box] of course!

Horses + subscription boxes? Be still my heart! But it's true, A Horse Box is a monthly subscription box that sends out fun goodies for horse and rider.

Cost: A six month subscription is $25.99/month, a three month is $27.99/month, and the monthly subscription costs $29.99/month.

Product: 4-6 products with a total value of $35-$100 from both small businesses and large companies.

*Note: I received this box for free. Not intentionally for review, but randomly selected because of a funny story I told on their social media about one of my horses. All opinions are my own*

The February Horse Box theme was well-loved favorites and included a good selection for pampering your horse and tack.

Horse Health Products Leather Cleaner & Conditioner (Large sample size, full 15oz size is around $8, so this is maybe valued at $2 or so? It is a generous size sample): I'm always game for new leather cleaning products, especially single-step ones that don't require an additional conditioner!

Banixx Wound Care (Two 2oz spray bottles, $3 value oops AHB corrected me, these bottles retail for $4 a piece, giving this pack an $8 value!): If you have pets and haven't heard of Banixx, go get some! I adore this stuff. It is an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal spray that is odorless, non-staining, and free of antibiotics and steroids. You can use it on dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, cattle, horses, etc etc...  I can vouch for it being non-irritating, as I have sprayed it on one of my own open cuts to make sure it didn't sting. AND it is made in the USA!

Farnam Slick 'n Easy Grooming Block ($3.95): This is perfect timing! Our horses have already started shedding out in NC and this simple fiberglass brick is a classic for helping that along. It catches loose hair and makes the spring shed a little less painful to deal with. I intend to attack Big Mike with this tomorrow.

Big Mike takes a little siesta

Farnam Laser Sheen Volume-Enhancing Detangler (12oz bottle, $12.95): Anyone who has worked with horses knows how tangled their tails can get. You can use this detangler straight up & applied with hands or dilute it in water & dunk their tail in the bucket. It also contains sunscreen, so it will help prevent dark colored manes and tails from fading in the summer!

HylaLUBE supplement (1 pint/16 day supply for a horse, approx $12.50 value): HylaLUBE is an apple flavored hyaluronic acid supplement designed to support healthy joints. My mother, who used to own a tack shop, has heard good things about it. I would say it is one of the more affordable hyaluronic acid supplements on the market with a high concentration of HA per oz. You can also give this to dogs (dosing directions for canines are on the bottle, too). Horse Box also included a coupon for a $10 mail-in rebate on a purchase of a gallon of HylaLUBE (Non-horsey people: mail-in rebates and buying by the gallon aren't uncommon in the horse world, so my reaction was more "oh cool!" than "eww tacky" like if I got something similar in a makeup subscription box).

Cowgirl's Kitchen Cassino's Kisses treats (2 cookies, $2 value): Aren't these horse treats just the cutest thing ever!? They're made from a molasses & flax base and topped with a sugar heart. Perfect for Valentine's day, and Big Make gives his firm approval on the taste.

Cutest horse treats ever.

Unless I math'd wrong (I majored in humanities and social science...), the products add up to a value of approximately $36.50 $41.50, not including the $10 mail-in rebate if I decide to buy a gallon of HylaLUBE. I'd definitely say that A Horse Box delivers a good box. They included some useful staple items alongside new things that I haven't tried yet. I can see the potential for some boxes falling flat with some horse owners, but that is the usual risk of a subscription box service!

BeautyDNA vs my ugly hands (a subscription review)

I love BeautyDNA because I still can't get a handle on what to expect. While everything meshes up with the seriously massive survey, I always find myself opening the box and saying "huh... I wouldn't have picked that...but I'm really intrigued by it!" Sometimes the products end up working out well and other times they're a solid "meh".
BeautyDNA has a pretty strict policy that forbids reselling/trading product that you get from them, so those products that fall in my "meh" category get gifted to friends and family along with a delightful spiel about how BeautyDNA works.
No, there isn't a referral program for BeautyDNA, nor do I get anything free or discounted from them.

You heard me right: I shill for free, yo.

Well, I'll sing their praises so long as they keep doing a good service.

But my December product is one of those products that, whilst good, isn't quite what I need and will be passed on to a good friend.

Product: 3LAB Perfect Hand Cream
Retail Price: $45

This is one expensive hand cream! It has lactic acid and green tea which are wonderful, absorbs quickly, doesn't leave a greasy residue, and has a nice soft fragrance that kinda reminds me of baby powder mixed with clean laundry dried outside on a nice summer day (I know, I'm such a poet). That being said, it isn't quite enough for the sorry state that my hands are in.
If you have normal-person dry hands and need an anti-aging moisturizer, you'll adore this. But I live on a horse farm and my hands take a beating. The current appearance of my hands is enough to make a manicurist cry out in fear.

They're rough, I'm working on it.

That being said, this elegant hand cream will not be enough to beat my skin into submission, so I'm not going to waste it's beauty on a beast. It will be handed on (haha...) to a close friend with hands that are more salvageable than mine.

Now if you excuse me, I must go prepare my spiel.

I purchased my BeautyDNA subscription through GiltCity with my own money and all opinions here belong to myself (and this six pack of porter). Questions, Comments, & Casual Insults are welcome as usual.

December Original BuluBox (aka month of nom)

Receiving and reviewing my December Original Bulu Box was massively delayed due to the Holidays (on USPS side) and horse-sitting jobs (on my end). But here it is, the infamous $5 sample box of health and fitness stuff. Okay it's technically $10, but there are enough lifetime coupon codes out that that you should not be paying $10 for it (see previous review)

My dog is an idiot & a December Pet Giftbox review

Jake's had a rough week. Last Wednesday he stole some pumpkin-muffin cookies from the counter where my mother had left them to cool.

The problem: they contained raisins.

Grapes and raisins contain something that is toxic to around 50% of dogs. Scientists still haven't been able to isolate whatever toxin that is, or determine why some dogs suffer kidney failure after eating only a few raisins whilst other dogs can eat pounds of them with no problems. But for those dogs that do react to it, the damage is severe. So we rushed Jake to the emergency vet where he was forced to vomit up the 32 raisins he ate then had to stay there overnight for monitoring. Poor dude, all he wanted was a cookie.

It's a good thing that his December Pet Giftbox came today and cheered him up! I purchased Pet Giftbox because I have no impulse control through Groupon and paid $10/box for a 3 month subscription.

December 2015 PetTreater Box Review!

I spoil my pup. He's a whiny, inattentive, pain-in-the-butt hound, but I love him. PetTreater has quickly become his favorite subscription box and gets extremely excited when he see's the shiny green and orange box show up.

Each box comes with a cute letter addressed to the individual dog,which I forgot to photograph because I was too busy fighting with Jake over toys. Hence the slightly blurry pictures!

This picture was taken after I took the tags off the squeaky Santa-dog toy and consecrated it with a game of throw-and-run-all-the-fuck-around-the-yard. Jake doesn't do fetch. He does "chase meeeee!" with toys.
We later took the tags off the blue alien toy to give it a try. Supposedly the squeaker in it is at too high a pitch (octave?) to be heard by human ears, but dogs can till hear it. Jake it apathetic about non-squeaky toys, so I tested it out by taking it outside, hiding it behind my back, and squeaking it. I didn't hear anything, but Jake went nuts. Both toys met Jake's approval!

The card on the left is an edible rawhide card for dogs! I like that the note attached explained that they usually didn't include rawhide products in the boxes, but this one was too cute to pass up. I agree with them on that! I put it up and will give it to Jake on Christmas.
The packet on the right are dog-themed Christmas cards for the human. This is much better than the last PetTreater "For The Human" I got (an oven mitt...) as it actually is dog related. The outside says "Happy Holidays" and the inside reads "Wishing you all the splendor of the season", which is great for both religious and non-religious people.

Oh my god...a Star Wars leash. I seriously squealed when I pulled this out of the box! Perfect timing with the new release coming this month!

Treats! I got an extra bag of treats this month as a reward for emailing PetTreater a picture of Jake playing with his goodies from the last box. They say you'll get an "extra toy", but I actually prefer to get the treats for him (we have a lot of toys floating around now...). I ended up giving the second bag of venison treats to a friend's lovely German Shepherd who is on a grain-free diet for canine lupus. She is very picky about treats, but nommed this one and came back begging for seconds!

And finally a PetTreater Christmas bandanna for Jake! He surprisingly doesn't mind bandannas, so this one he will wear once it gets closer to Christmas.

So for $25 Jake got toys and treats that he likes, and I got holiday cards and a cute leash for him. Win-win for PetTreater!

This box was purchased with my own money and all opinions are my own and Jake's. He's easily bribed with peanut butter, though. Questions, Comments, and Casual Insults welcome par usual.

Starting Tretinoin: 4 Asian products to help fight flakes

Tretinoin: The dreaded dry skin flake-maker that promises to eliminate our acne and smooth our wrinkles. After attempting to fight my hormonal acne with AHA, BHA, benzoyl peroxide, Voodoo, Vitamin C, and anti-androgenic birth control, I finally caved in mid-October and scheduled a dermatologist appointment to get a retinoid prescription.

Now after around two months of using Tretinoin almost every day with very very minimal of the infamous flakies, I figured I'd write a quick blog about the Asian products that helped me survive starting tret. Yes, I use a lot of Western products too, but this post is just focused on the Asian ones. No, I don't use these all at once, I mix and match as needed.

I am not a doctor (nor do a play one on a TV show. I do, however, have a background in Theatre if you're casting for one...) so please take everything I say with that in mind. And remember: your mileage may vary (YMMV).

Cupidrop, Tatcha-cha-cha, and Etsy extravaganza

I had three mini-hauls lately, one utilitarian, one frivolous indulgence, and one completely random. This is a quick overview of them all:

Cupidrop

 I placed this order with Cupidrop for three reasons:

1. I was running desperately low on oil cleanser and wanted to try something new
2. Fan-b's review of the Cosrx low pH cleanser wooed me 
3. Samples. Because every time I start browsing Cupidrop's website I start thinking about all the sweet sweet samples that came in my last order and crave moarrrrr!

So I actually didn't want the Cosrx cleanser as a face wash- I wanted it for a body wash! I have my Minon foaming cleanser for my face, but it is too hard to come by to justify using it on my acne-prone body areas. the Cosrx is a pretty large tube and a little goes a long way. I have to be careful to cleanse my back properly or else I get some nasty backne from wearing a sports bra, sweat, and general barn crud. Since some areas of my skin are especially acne prone, I decided to go with a gentle low-pH cleanser instead of a traditional body wash to help protect that skin barrier as well.

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.

Golden Tote: Because I can't go naked

At the end of January of this year I returned home from England weighing 150lbs. My narcolepsy had gotten bad and I spent a good 2/3rds of the day sleeping. My normal weight was around 130lbs.

Enter: New medication, awake-ness, eating healthy, moving more

I am now (and have been for several months) 120lbs. And all my clothes are too big now. So I pounced on the chance to try Golden Tote. If you are unfamiliar with it, at Golden Tote you get to pick out 1 or 2 of the clothing items in your tote, and the stylists there pick out the rest of them according to your style survey. There are new releases each month and it is an absolute madhouse of people trying to get certain in-demand styles before the sell out. I selected the $149 tote, so I got to pick out 2 items and the stylists picked out 4 more for me.

Oh yeah, and it comes in an actual tote, too

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. 

Jake's First Box: PetTreater Dog Subscription box

Our family never intended to get a dog. We already had four horses and three cats to take care of, which was more than enough trouble at the time. But in January of 2011, this is what looked up at me when I opened the door one afternoon:

I live in the countryside. so hunting dogs passing through is a fairly normal occurrence. Usually they'll poke around for a bit, grab some water out of the horse trough, and then head on their way back home. We waited a few days to see if he moved on, but he never left our farm, so we took him to the vet. The vet didn't find a microchip on him, but did find a whole lotta worms and a skin condition. As there were no "missing dog" ads that matched his description in the area, and his time running short, we paid the $1,000+ to get him back to health and named him Jake.

Today, Jake got his first subscription box!

Bulu Box: If you're healthy and you know it, clap your hands

The concept of "health" is a fickle thing when you have a chronic illness. Am I healthy? What defines health? Does this disorder that I had no hand in developing count against me being "healthy"? Or is "healthy" only determined by those factors which you have at least a modicum of control over? And why am I getting so philosophical in a $5 subscription box review?

Bulu Box is a sample box of health and fitness vitamins/supplements/lifestyle/stuff that usually costs $10 a box. You can pick the "weight loss" themed box or just get a "general fitness" one (I picked weight loss for some reason, even though I don't actually need to lose weight). I used the discount code MYSUB5 from MySubscriptionAddiction which gives $5 off the subscription forever, so my boxes cost $5 a month. Which is good, because really it isn't worth $10. They only promise you sample sizes, not even deluxe samples, but you will occasionally get full sized products. I've heard that the full size products they send are often ones that are only a few months until their expiration date, but that doesn't bother me as Bulu Box is intended for sampling purposes.

What sold me on subscribing to Bulu is that you don't really lose your $5 even if you hate all the samples that month. With each box you get, you can go online and fill out a very quick survey for the products and earn 10 points to spend in their store. 10 points = $1. So if you had 6 products in your Bulu Box, that is $6 you get back after filling out the surveys. Just for having a subscription you get points each month (I believe you get 5 points per $1 you spend, so my $5 subscription box gives me 25 points a month). Their store has a wide enough variety of stuff that generally there is going to be something you want in it. You also get 50 points for referring friends to join, and if you're interested in joining after reading this review, I will have my referral link at the end (clearly marked as such so you don't click it if you don't want to!).

Pretty box, messy floor

My hopes for this subscription are:

1. Find products that I can use for energy due to my narcolepsy
2. Find healthy snacks that are easy to grab when I'm having a rough day
3. Find products that don't interact with one of my many medications (big one!)

Review of A.True Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Moisturizer

I've been a bad bad blogger and procrastinating on well...everything. But I have an excuse! or seven... First it was practically monsoon-ing here, and all that weather craziness made my narcolepsy act up. And then I was pony-sitting!

Who would want to stay inside and blog when you could hang out with a pony like this?!

Okay, now on to the actual review:

Please excuse the shoddy attempt at cleaning up the cellphone camera image. Also. I've used about twice this amount since I took this picture...

Product: Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Moisturizer
Brand: A.True
Purchased: Cupidrop.com for $26 (not an affiliate link)
CosDNA Link

Intro:
I bought this because I was going mad looking for a daytime moisturizer that was just enough but not too much. My skin is combination, leaning towards oily slightly, and kinda rides the edge of being "almost dehydrated" due to my weirdass medications. Previously I had been using Innisfree Green Tea Balancing Moisturizer, but since I started using more actives it slid over to being not hydrating enough for my poor skin. I needed a moisturizer that packed a stronger punch, but didn't leave me greasy or dewy. Sorry guys, I know the dewy look is hip in Korea, but in the American south people just think you're overly sweaty. What sold me on trying the Violet Petal was the description on Cupidrop's page of it being "velvety" and "fresh". Spoiler: I don't regret buying it.

Good sized bottle.

Packaging:
I love love love love deep breath love LOVE A.True packaging. It's just so clean and pretty. The bottle is a very solid frosted plastic that seems like it would hold up very well with use. I mean, I haven't chucked it around much to test, so don't go punting it against a brick wall to see and then go blaming me if it breaks. The pump seems like it is very good quality and dispenses a lot of product when pressed all the way down. Thankfully, it is very easy to just lightly depress it and get out small dollops of moisturizer.

It's a pump nozzle. It works. Quite well, actually.

Smell:
Kinda like violets with a hint of tea perfume? Floral and vaguely sweet? I'm pretty bad at describing scents. It smells nice, okay?! It is definitely fragrant, but not the type of smacks-you-in-the-face smell that Innisfree products have. It is a ladylike scent, which I think goes with their "A True Lady" marketing.

One pump. Kinda looks like an upside-down heart. Or a cock & balls. Depends on how you look at it, I guess.

  Performance:
A.True promises a fresh and velvety moisturizer, and they deliver. There's nothing super special in the Violet Petal moisturizer. It doesn't whiten. It doesn't exfoliate. No anti-aging miracles. It only claims to moisturize effectively without making your skin too oily, which is exactly what it does for me.

The A.true Violet Petal moisturizer is of medium to slightly thin consistency. It feels almost closer to a cream than a proper emulsion. It spreads easily and dries quite quickly. When it is dried, you can still feel it slightly on the surface of you skin, but it isn't a sticky gross feeling. It really does feel velvety soft and hydrated. I felt like my face maintained a good balance of hydration throughout the day, and I had no problems applying sunscreen/makeup over top of it. People with dry skin might like this in combination with another emulsion or stronger cream to add an extra bit of umph. I sometimes use it beneath my night cream when the air conditioner is running high and drying me out. Did I mention that it actually does make my face feel kinda velvety? Seriously, I'm really happy about this.

Rebuy? Yes. I will still keep looking and sampling other day moisturizers (it never ends...), but unless I find something even more awesome before I finish this bottle I will 100% rebuy the Violet Petal Black Tea moisturizer.

I bought this product with my own money, yo. Feel free to leave Questions, Comments, & 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.

Review: MINON Mild Facial Foam

   When bouncing around on Rakuten and Ebay, searching for things I hadn't heard of with descriptions I could actually read, I ran across the brand MINON. MINON seems to be a brand that focuses on creating products for sensitive skin, which I don't really have, but what caught my eye was the constant mentioning of "formulated with weak acidity to protect skin barrier". Weak acidity? A promise of a low pH? Okay, you have my attention.

   On one ebay seller's listing for the Mild Facial Foam, the description mentioned that it was formulated not just for sensitive skin, but for people who had to wash their face multiple times a day. That would be me! After I got into skincare, I learned pretty quickly that my face will break out if I do not wash it with a cleanser in both the AM and the PM. None of that 'splash with water in the morning' shit for my dainty face. That is all find and dandy, but it becomes a problem when my schedule has me needing to do a mega-cleanse around noon.

You see, I wake up in the morning at about 6am, cleanse and apply sunscreen, and then haul my still-half-asleep butt off to the barn to babysit my trainer's child, ride horses, and clean stalls. When I get back home around noon or 1pm, I'm covered in sweat, sunscreen, horse hair, and dirt. Oil AND Foam cleansing is not optional here.

So that is how I began seriously washing my face 3 times a day. 

My tried-and-true cleanser since I started Asian skincare has been Hada Labo Tokyo Moisturizing Cleanser. The US version is easy to get via Amazon Prime or a quick trip to Ulta, so I had no worries of running out of cleanser and having to pray to the USPS gods that my cleanser arrive before my face goes to shit. But I wanted to try something new, something different, and so I ordered MINON Mild Facial Foam off ebay and waited patiently while it made its way to me from Japan.

Shop Review: Cupidrop

This is going to be a very brief review of the US-based Korean Beauty online retailer Cupidrop since I have heard people recently ask about their reliability.

From my Instagram yo: UnlacedDreams

Shop Name: Cupidrop

Ordering & Shipping:
   The Cupidrop website is easy to use and the payment secure. I had previously received a code for 15% of my first order when I joined their mailing list, which is what finally made me pull the trigger and make an order with them. I placed my order late on a Friday night, received an email with a pre-shipping tracking number on Saturday, and my package finally shipped out with USPS Priority Mail on Monday from New York. Because my order was over $50, shipping was free! Priority mail took 3 days to get down the east coast, which I find pretty standard for where I live.

Packaging:
   This is what I really regret not taking pictures of: how amazingly well the Cupidrop box was secured. The box was damn near encased in custom-made tape with the word "Cupidrop" printed on it. Custom tape? Okay, color me impressed. Inside the box, each item was individually bubble-wrapped and secured with more custom tape. I could have thrown the box out of a moving vehicle and the products would have survived unscathed, they were that securely packaged.

Products Purchased:
   I intend to review these at a later date, so I won't dedicate time to discussing them here

• A.True Real Black Tea True Active CC cushion in 01
• A.True Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Moisturizer
• A.True Real Black Tea True Active Mask (x3)

Free Samples:

• Kicho Sheep Oil Cream
• Kicho Phyto Natural Refreshing Toner
• Kicho Phyto Natural Total Essence
• Cosrx Advanced Snail all-in-one Cream
• Cosrx Aloe Vera oil-free Moisture Cream
• Cosrx Natural BHA Skin Returning Emulsion
• A.True Violet Petal Black Tea Hydrating Toner
• A.True Black Tea All Day Aqua Sun Gel
• A.True White Snow Tea Brilliant Aurora Cream
• A.True Darjeeling Black Tea First Anti-Wrinkle Cream

Overall:

   The prices were reasonable, the shipping was fast, the packaging perfect, and the samples plentiful. What more could you ask for from a K-Beauty retailer? Cupidrop doesn't have a huge selection at the moment, but what they have is good quality and hopefully they will expand their product offerings in the future. Would I buy from them again? Yes, yes, and YES! They have officially become my favorite US-based shop for skincare products, no doubts about that.

*I have no affiliation with Cupidrop and I paid for all this stuff myself*