I get both in my mailbox each month. Sometimes on the same day, sometimes a day or two apart. I love them both for different reasons.

Birchbox and I have been together almost a year and a half. Most months are really great, a few months have been lacking. Overall though I have found products I never ever would have found otherwise. Some of them I still use to this day!

Ipsy was something I got in on it month 2 of it’s launch (when it was still MyGlam) which puts us together for a solid year this month! Ipsy seems to be more makeup driven in my opinion but with the hard facts I am proven wrong. Still, I stick by my words because it definitely has more makeup than Birchbox. 

I am truly glad to see both of these in my mail each month. I used to post pics of my boxes but then sometimes I couldn’t take the time immediately and so I felt like I couldn’t dive into my boxes. I love my boxes! I want them nooooow. 

My fav thing to get in the boxes is lipstuff. I love lipstuff. I have found great eyeliners and makeup brushes too. And boy howdy do I love the mud masks and exfoliaters! 

Well, can’t wait to take advantage of this months products! I should start documenting them again. I did turn a bunch of people into Birchbox people! 

Both boxes are monthly things that arrive in your mail for the very happy price of $10 each! Birchbox comes in a hot pink box with a brown box inside. It is full of skin creams, cleansers, hair products, and sometimes mascaras, eyeliners, blush, lipstuff.. Ipsy comes in a hot pink bubble envelope that has a makeup bag inside (quality is getting better as they go. I have watched this company struggle from nothing to pretty awesome.) and it’s full of nail polish, shadows, blushes, hair products, lipstuff, etc.

I can tell you some brands that I now swear by that I learned about from either Birchbox or Ipsy. Yes to Carrots brand makeup wipes called Yes to Cumcumbers (almost daily). Eyeko Skinny liquid eyeliner (weekly use), Benefit POREfessional ( I swear by this every single freakin day!!!), my glam eyeshadow brush (daily), Buxom lipstuff, Mirenesse lip bomb, Chella eyebrow gel (daily use!), Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil…

Need I say more? Oh and let me mention that you usually get a travel size product! Sometimes it’s a one use thing, but usually it’s travel size so you can try it over and over. Honestly I would not have tried those things I mentioned if they had not been in those monthly deliveries. I mean seriously, it’s like a teeny bit of Christmas every single month!

Winter spring cleaning..

Since I have free time from school I am trying to get my house back in order. It has been far too out of hand for far too long. It took more than a weekend to get this way and will take more than a weekend to fix. But I am working on it. I like "stuff" so my house will never look like something out of a Nate Berkus design (I LOVE YOU NATE!) but even an abundance of stuff can be neatly handled. I feel better when the house looks better.

Baby Got Back

“This is the one song you can turn up and I won’t judge your penis.” is what I said in the car yesterday (to my daughter, son, and my daughter's boyfriend) as Baby Got Back came on. I really judge people who turn up the bass so loudly that it vibrates the ribs of people in other cars. I assume they have a teeny penis and need to make up for what they lack. However, Baby Got Back is the one exception to the rule. Because it should be a law that that song gets turned up every time. 

BACHELORS DEGREE I AM NO LONGER IN YOU! My work here is done.

What I Learned About Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are pretty universally known and loved. We learn about them as a kid even before school most of the time. Through the compulsory courses of science we expand our knowledge further until the fun is almost taken away and put into such a deep science we forget the initial spark we felt as a kid.

Life continues and we procreate, or know someone else who has. The new children, wide eyed and full of rawrs, continue the dinosaur legacy. We want to share with the little rugrats what we know.

Brian Russell has illustrated and written a very fun book that combines the initial childlike wonder meshed with bouts of science. The book is mixed with humor and science, and has a personal touch of his experience  in learning about them (which is very likely to be on target with your experience too.)

Give the book a read if you get the chance. I think you will enjoy it. It will be for sale at a later date. If you don't have kids, find nieces and nephews or grandkids or godkids. It will make a good Christmas/birthday present.

Rawr,
DJ

P.S. Kickstarter has brought a few fun things into my life and this is no exception. If you haven't ever toured the site, you should. You can help make dreams come true.