So in efforts to be a better blogger, I signed up for a few new partnerships and opportunities that I’m hoping you guys will enjoy. One of them is Influenster, which provides influencers – bloggers, social media bosses, and consumers – with full-sized products to test and review. Shortly after joining, they sent me this Moda VoxBox which included a bunch of goodies I’d love to share with you!
I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.
Hair Food Moisture Hair Mask
I obviously have to talk about the hair product first as this is primarily a natural hair care blog, but it was also the first thing I tested out. Remember when I washed my hair post mini twists and pre curlformers? Well, I used the Hair Food – which is a brand new hair line by Clairol – Moisture Hair Mask, which has honey to coat for protection and apricot oil to hydrate for softness, to deep condition my hair. I found the mask to be incredibly thick and creamy, just like I like my hair masks. Unfortunately, the smell was not as fragrant as other brands I’ve tried (aka every product made with naturalistas in mind), which comes as a disappointment since it does claim to be food – and for me food means yummy taste and smell. Soft scent aside, my hair sure was soft, so mission accomplished. The Hair Food collections, which include the Moisture Collection, the Volume Collection, and the Root Cleansing Shampoo, can all be found at Target.
Puffs Softpack
I was fascinated with the innovative Puffs SoftPack, because I remember when I still lived with my parents there was always a constant struggle of crumbled up tissue boxes in the backseat of the car. I feel like this was the most universally useful of everything that came in the box – I mean, who doesn’t need tissues at some point! I’ve been grateful not to have any sniffles this season despite the NYC winds slapping me everyday, so I’ve been using the box of Puffs set in my bathroom vanity as makeup wipes. At night, I simply spray a mix of olive and jojoba oil on my face, wipe it off (along with my makeup) with one tissue, then wash with black soap. The tissues are super soft but also strong/sturdy enough to be used on your face. I had actually been toying with a DIY makeup wipe tutorial that involved paper towels, but I’m glad the Puffs Softpack came instead. The box has a cute pattern, the softness of the pack makes it travel friendly, all 132 wipes are about to last me a good 6 months, plus I now have way less makeup on my washcloths!
Rimmel London Scandaleyes Rockin’ Curves Mascara, Moisture Renew Lipstick, and Moisture Renew Lip Liner
Clockwise from top left: Rimmel London Products, Scandaleyes Mascara, Mascara + Lip Liner, Lipstick, and Final Look
I’ve been loving mascara lately, so I was excited this box included the Scandalizes Rockin’ Curves Mascara from Rimmel London. Isn’t the name super cute?? The curvature of the wand is super cool and is definitely long enough to catch all your lashes, but if you don’t hold it right, you’ll get a whole lot of mascara on your eyelid. It’s a voluminizing mascara, which isn’t what I need – my super curly lashes need elongating – but I still like it and have been using it pretty regularly. I received the Moisture Renew Lipstick in Berry Rose, and it is a slight shimmery/frosty medium pink. It had ok staying power but is definitely non-drying. I couldn’t really tell how and if the Moisture Renew Lip Liner did anything, since it was clear. It is helpful though in theory since I have a bunch of lipstick colors without complimenting liners.
Swiss Miss Simply Cocoa
http://instagram.com/p/vZI4xcpJ1e
This five ingredient hot cocoa mix, with sugar, cocoa, nonfat milk, salt, and natural flavor, is yummers! It says to make with warm milk, but I’ve been drinking almond milk exclusively for the past few weeks (to great success btw), so I warmed up some almond milk and mixed it right up to drink immediately. The packet is only big enough to make a half mug (8 oz), so that was a bit disappointing – I ended up with more like a shot of hot chocolate than a full mug. I’m worried people who don’t follow the instructions will add a full mug of milk and then be underwhelmed by the taste, but when taken as directed, it is delicious.
Resource Spring Water
http://instagram.com/p/vXh-kJpJ8c
There’s not much you can say about water, but Resource Spring Water is a 100% natural spring water with naturally occurring electrolytes and a bottle made from 50% recycled plastic. It was refreshing on a veryyyy long day and had a distinct “something a bit extra than water” taste, but not strong enough that I felt I was drinking mineral-filled water. I loved the #RefreshwithResource hashtag though, I refreshed with resource after writing out all the things I have to do in the next few months for my PhD program!
JERGENS Ultra Healing Extra Dry Skin Moisturizer
So let me tell you, the first SECOND I put this lotion on my hands, I was like… OHHHHH. Five minutes later, my hands still felt like buttah. BUTTAH. I like to think of myself as having averagely tough hands (not too hard but not super soft), but this lotion is something else. I was kind of mad at myself for not trying it as soon as I received it – but alas, better late than never. The 3oz size I got was perfectly small enough to carry around with me to use throughout the day as a hand lotion. I was supposed to try it for 7 days, and I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t always consistent. But in this BRICK weather NYC is throwing at me, I have found myself reaching into my purse for the Jergens a couple times a day. The only thing I wasn’t feeling so much was that the lotion kind of got stuck in my ring, unlike the body butters that I typically use for my hands. I don’t know about the claims that the Hydralucence blend locks in moisture for 48 hours, but maybe my hands are really that much of a struggle.
I like them both