PopSugar Must Have: January 2017

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Hello and welcome to the first subscription box post of 2017! I absolutely loved this month's box and am so excited to start the year off with all of these new products. The PopSugar Must Have box is a monthly subscription ($40/month or less if you make a 3, 6, or year long commitment)  that sends subscribers full-size versions of the season's must-have beauty, fashion, and home products. If you're thinking about diving into the subscription box world, I would highly recommend trying out the PopSugar Must Have - it's my all time favorite subscription box! ♥

Manduka: eQua Mat Towel in Playa - Retail $38

One of the biggest problems I face in yoga classes is slipping all over the place because my hands sweat! I own quite a few yoga towels as a result, but this yoga towel is definitely one of the better ones I've received so far! It has great grip and really soaks up moisture quickly.  

Sourcebooks, Inc: Instant Happy Notes - Retail $8.99

These little sticky notes are so much fun! Each one has a little motivational, inspiring, or happy note on it for those days when you just need a little bit of encouragement. I love writing all of my favorite motivational lines on post-it notes and putting them around my apartment, so this little pack of notes is already one step ahead of me! 

Daily Concepts: Your Hair Wrap Towel - Retail $18

This hair wrap towel looks so cozy and warm - I'm excited to use it! I've recently really gotten into taking baths and I think it will be the perfect wrap for keeping my hair out of the way if I'm using a hair mask while taking a nice soak in the tub :) 

Dean & Deluca: Peppermint Loose Leaf Tea - Retail $10.75

Even though I'm not a regular tea drinker (not enough caffeine - I need coffee!), I have always loved the idea of drinking tea and love trying new flavors. This peppermint tea smells absolutely amazing and is such a wonderful flavor to receive in a subscription box because it's such a universal, simple flavor. I'm a fan!

Goldfaden MD: Fresh A Peel Multi Acid Resurfacing Peel - Retail $85

First thought when looking at this product description? Thank God I received this in a subscription box - Is that price tag real?! Don't get me wrong, I love a good skincare regimen but as a lady on a budget, I keep myself to a strict $50 limit. If a single skincare item is more than $50, it's off the table for my current budget. So far, this peel has been nice to use but I haven't really noticed too much of a difference in my skin after using it. I recently received an O.R.G. face peel in my last FabFitFun box and prefer that one since I can see exfoliation happening directly on my skin. Although this Goldfaden MD peel might be good for people who need a more gentle peel, I prefer peels that really allow me to see the effects of the product quickly. 

Glade: Coconut and Beach Woods Candle - Retail $4.99

This was a little bonus item for this month and I am so excited about it! Ever since I moved into an apartment I actually love, I've been obsessed with making my home as cozy as possible. I'm perpetually running out of candles because they are such a huge part of my cozy home routine. This smell is light and simple - a perfect little candle for my office! :) 

May Designs: Desk Calendar & Notecard - Retail $25

Saving the best for last - this was my absolute favorite of the entire box! I recently re-decorated my home office space and have been on the lookout for a cute, colorful desktop calendar. This May Designs calendar is beautiful, simple, elegant, and complements my current office décor perfectly. Plus, this is another one of those moments where my PopSugar Box sends me something that is already on my wish list, saving me the trouble of actually going out and buying the product myself! 

This month's PopSugar box was absolutely perfect for me! I wish every month's box was as spot on as this one was! I plan on using all of the products I received and they are all products from categories that I regularly purchase on my own anyway (i.e. candles, yoga stuff, stationary, tea)! What did you think of this month's box? I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

PopSugar Must Have: December 2016

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For some reason, my favorite season for subscription boxes is winter! I think it's because of all of the cozy, warm, and fuzzy products that show up in my boxes due to the cold-weather season! The PopSugar Must Have box is a monthly subscription ($40/month or less if you make a 3, 6, or year long commitment)  that sends subscribers full-size versions of the season's must-have beauty, fashion, and home products. If you're thinking about diving into the subscription box world, I would highly recommend trying out the PopSugar Must Have - it's my all time favorite subscription box! ♥

Dessange Professional Hair Luxury: Top Coat Serum - Retail $11.99

Honestly, I haven't tried this one yet since I'm not really one for hair products usually but I'm excited to try it and I love that it's actually a decently sized product. 

Baublebar: Snowfall Pendant - Retail $28

I've heard of Baublebar but have never actually tried any of their products myself - until now! I'm always so happy when my subscription boxes give me products or brands I've been meaning to try but have never really gotten around to trying! 

Sisters' Gourmet: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix - Retail $6.99

I haven't actually gotten around to making this mix (way too many cookies left over from the holidays!) but I am so excited to try it! Or if I don't end up getting to it, it will make a perfect little gift. 

Winky Lux: Lip Pill in Bunny - Retail $14

The packaging on this lipstick is absolutely beautiful. The lipstick shade inside is a beautiful rich red shade but I think the part about this lipstick that stands out is really the design of the tube! 

Mane Message: Date Night Bobby Pins - Retail $10

These bobby pins are perfect for the holidays! A little bit of sparkle but nothing too over the top! ♥

Odeme: Catchall + Ring Dish - Retail $67

Saving the best for last, this catchall and ring dish is exactly what I needed! Catchalls are one of those things that I never think to buy but as soon as I have one, I'm using it all of the time! I have a bad habit of leaving bobby pins, earrings, and lipsticks on any and all horizontal surfaces and this thing is currently filled to the brim with all sorts of goodies. I love this! 

Despite deciding to ditch subscription boxes overall, I'm still pretty happy that I decided to buy 6 additional months of my PopSugar box as a Christmas gift to myself! It's one of the only ways you can give yourself a surprise gift! :) What did you think of this month's box? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Shop Miss A Haul - Part 2!

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Shop Miss A is a fashion, beauty, accessories, and stationary website where everything on the site is $1. I love a good bargain so testing out Shop Miss A's products is a lot of fun for me! It's been a little while since my last Shop Miss A Haul so I thought I'd check out some of their new products and see if their might be any good stocking stuffer ideas there!

With bargain websites like Shop Miss A, it's really all about knowing what categories to shop in and going into it the purchase knowing that there's a chance the product you're buying will be a dud. While there are some misses on the Shop Miss A website, since every product is only a $1, I think it's a definitely worth a visit if you're looking to buy certain types of products or looking for some small gift ideas! I got a little bit of everything this time around so below are some of the hits and misses of my haul! 

HITS

Lip Liners: I bought two lip liners in the brown color family that turned out to be pretty much identical. While I wish they were a little more different on the color spectrum, they are very wearable and a great shade! 

Brush Cleaner: I've been wanting to try a make-up brush cleaning mitt for a while but haven't really made the effort to go buy one because sadly, I don't clean my brushes often enough! This little brush cleaner is just big enough to fit two fingers in and has all the right knobs and lines to help get stubborn make-up out of my brushes! 

Lip Scrub: This actually turned out to be my favorite product of the haul! I love this lip scrub - it's effective, it smells amazing, and the sugar just melts nicely onto the lips after exfoliating. A+ 

Earrings: This is definitely my favorite category to shop in on the Shop Miss A website. If there are any accessory trends you want to try but aren't sure if you want to go all in buying a more expensive product, Shop Miss A has some great options to test out that won't break the bank if it turns out you don't love the trend after all. This time, I took home a handful of back-front earrings and have thoroughly enjoyed them so far! 

Face Masks: I figure you can really never have enough face masks because it's always nice to have different types to try and they make awesome gifts for any beauty lovers out there. So far, I've only tried a couple of these masks but have found them to be similar to any other face masks I might buy. I loved the variety of different masks on Shop Miss A's website and would highly recommend this one as a category to buy from.  

Scarves: I purchased a ton of scarves for this haul to use as Christmas stocking stuffers and was actually quite pleased with the result! I was worried that a $1 scarf might turn out to be too short, too thin or any number of things - but these actually turned out to be very standard, fluffy, colorful scarves that I'm excited about gifting this year! I loved them so much I'm even keeping a couple for my own collection (despite already owning way too many scarves!).

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MISSES

Liquid Lipsticks:  I've been on a huge nude lip kick recently and thought that I'd give some of their nude liquid lipsticks a try! The formulas are great on all of them, however, some of the liquid lipsticks have such a strong artificial smell that I can't stand putting them on my lips. Unfortunately, this makes them almost unbearable to wear so this one's a dud for me. 

Make-up Remover Wipes: These wipes were just a meh product. They were okay at taking off my make-up but took a little bit of extra scrubbing to get everything off. When there are make-up remover wipes out there for comparable prices that don't take all of that extra scrubbing to get things off, this one just becomes kind of useless. 

Washi Tape: I should have learned this from my last Shop Miss A Haul but if you can help it do not buy washi tape from Shop Miss A. Last time I bought a pink polka dotted washi tape that had almost nothing on the roll and this time, I bought two rolls of beautiful tape that ended up being so thin, you can hardly tell it's on the page at all! I haven't tried any of Shop Miss A's other stationary type products, but after my experiences with their washi tape, I think that'll be a category I avoid from here on out. 

iPhone Lighting Cable: I'm always in need of new iPhone charging cables, but this one just flat-out didn't work. It was a little disappointing, but also kind of expected given that a $1 charging cable seemed too good to be true.  

Final Verdict: I'm pretty darn happy with my latest Shop Miss A haul. While there were a couple of duds, if you know which categories to shop in, then you'll get a great batch of small gifts that are perfect for the holidays! Have you tried any Shop Miss A products? What was your experience like? I'd love to hear your thoughts!