My Favorite Things: June 2014

Hi, friends! It's the end of the month, and you know what that means: monthly favorites! Below are the things I've been loving this month (and a few items that I've been really not liking, but more on that later).

Tree Hut Tropical Mango Shea Moisturizing Body Lotion ($6 for 9oz)

I always use body lotion when I get out of the shower (shout out to dry skin), so when I ran out, I searched the drugstore for a new one. When I saw Tree Hut in Walgreens, I thought I would give it a shot since I've heard good things about it. This one smells like mangoes and it's awesome. I'm not too picky about my lotion, and I have no complaints about this one. It was a good price too, for how much you get in the bottle. 

Birchbox: June 2014 Review

Hi, friends! Today I am unboxing for you my monthly Birchbox. Last month I wasn't too pleased, but I'm a lot happier this month!

Birchbox? What's that? - Birchbox is a monthly beauty and lifestyle subscription service. It sends 4-5 deluxe samples that are curated to your beauty profile. It is $10 a month, and has a wonderful rewards program, in which you can earn points for reviewing products and making purchases in the Birchbox Shop. You can then redeem those points for full-sized products in the Birchbox Shop! It's probably the best rewards program out there, in my opinion, which was one of the big draws in me signing up. If you're interested in subscribing to Birchbox, I would love it if you used my referral link. Thank you!

Wantable Makeup Box: May 2014 Review

Hi, friends! Today I'd like to share with you my newest Wantable Makeup Box. Even though it is technically May's (it features May's products) I received it at the beginning of this month, since I am not a regular subscriber. I've worked with Wantable once before back in November, and they contacted me to do another review on the blog. I figured why not? I wouldn't have been able to review this box for you otherwise. But enough about that; let's get on to the review.

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Wantable? What's that? - Wantable is a company that offers multiple subscription services, including Makeup, Accessories, and even Intimates. Each Makeup box contains 4-5 full-sized products, picked based on the specific survey you fill out. You can subscribe for $36/month or $40 for a single box. You can click here to sign up. (This is an affiliate link)

Beauty Scenario (Tag)

Hey, friends! I missed you on Friday! Sometimes real life gets in the way, but I'm back with a fun tag post for you today. Heather at Coconut & Cotton tagged me to do this over two months ago, and now that I'm on summer vacation, I finally have the time to do it! I hardly do tags, so this is going to be fun. Let's get started!

1. You have to get rid of all your foundations and you can only keep one high end and one drugstore, which do you keep? 
Well, I don't wear foundation, but I suppose this could be transferred to BB Cream! For the high-end product, I would definitely pick my DR. JART+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45 ($39 for 1.5oz)

DR. JART+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45

It has been both a monthly favorite and a 2013 Favorite, and with good reason. It has a fair amount of coverage (I would say medium), while still leaving the skin looking natural. Also, it blends easily with a brush or your fingers (I use my Sigma Sigmax F80). Plus, I love that SPF 45, as well as the other added benefits of using a BB cream as opposed to a foundation. The Dr. Jart+ is definitely one of the more authentic BB creams, rather than the ones you'd usually find in the Western Hemisphere. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a balance of coverage, while still keeping your skin looking like skin. 

For drugstore, my mind immediately turns to my MAYBELLINE Dream Fresh Beauty Balm in Light Sheer Tint ($7 for 1oz)

MAYBELLINE Dream Fresh Beauty Balm in Light Sheer Tint

Another long-time favorite of mine, I love using this. They aren't lying when they say it's a "sheer tint"; it's basically a tinted moisturizer with an SPF. If there are any serious skin concerns that you want your foundation not to show, this isn't the product for you. I like this because it evens out my skin tone a little, while still providing a great amount of moisture. It's slightly buildable, so I can take a little more on a concealer brush and go over the redness around my nose to tone it down. What I love most about this product is that skin feels so soft and smooth while I'm wearing it. I especially love it for the cold winter months (which in Boston is basically November to April). This isn't a true BB cream by definition, but it sure is a nice, affordable product for those with dry skin or even combination skin (like myself).

Beach & Pool Bag Essentials

It's the first of the month, and you know what that means: The Beauty and Fashion Blog Community Blog Hop! This month we're talking about our summer essentials--things were absolutely need in our beach and pool bags. The weather in New York has been beautiful lately (minus some surprise showers), so this post is only getting me more excited for summer! Woohoo!

Enough about that. Let's get on to the good stuff~

SUN PROTECTION

This is huge. The #1 thing that I make sure to have in my bag (besides the usual ID/keys/wallet stuff) is products with SPF. Here are a few of my favorites.

SOLSCENTS Angelica SPF 30 Sunscreen ($14.95 for 8oz)

I raved about this sunscreen in my Solscents Brand Overview. It's a sunscreen, body lotion, and fragrance all in one: you can't get better than that. I have the Angelica one, which is passionfruit, lily, and wild rose. Now the people who complain about the scent of sunscreen no longer have a reason to go without! It's a pretty short bottle, so it also fits nicely in a bag. 

My Favorite Things: May 2014

Hi, friends! Today I have some very exciting news to share with you: College Beauty Buff now has a registered domain! That's right, from now on you can just go to www.collegebeautybuff.com and it will send you here! How exciting is that? But enough about that. Let's get on to the good stuff--my favorite beauty products for the month of May!

WEN Cleansing Conditioner in Pomegranate ($29 for 16oz)

I have mentioned Wen in countless posts, such as my 2013 Favorites, but I fell in love with it all over again this month. I've been testing out some new shampoos and conditioners recently, and after I went back to using this, I wondered why I'd ever stopped. I don't use it as intended (my hair doesn't feel or look clean when I use it as a shampoo), but I adore it as a conditioner! I use about 8 pumps, and my hair is down to the lower-middle of my back. I'm thinking of chopping my hair off and going for something shoulder-length or shorter, and of course as soon as I announced that out loud, I started getting a bunch of compliments on my hair! Either way, this is a winner in my book. There are a bunch of variations in terms of scent/hair type of this, but in my opinion, they all work the same and the Pomegranate smells the best.

Products I've Used Up: May 2014

Hi, friends! It's getting near the end of the month, which means it's time to share with you the products I've used up this month (aka my trash). I'll tell you what I thought of them, if I would repurchase them, and it'll be oh-so fun. I didn't do one of these Empties posts for April, so we have quite a bit to get through. Let's get started! 

FEKKAI Brilliant Glossing Shampoo ($20 for 8oz)

I received this in my January Birchbox, and since subscription boxes are the reason I never have to purchase shampoo, I got around to trying this out. To me, it's no better than any other drugstore shampoo, though the price would say otherwise. I would use it again, but it didn't wow me, and for the price I would like to be at least a little enthusiastic about it. This is a sulfate-shampoo, just like all the others, so I'd rather save some money and purchase a bigger bottle of shampoo for a quarter of the price.