On to the beauty products! (If you missed Part One, you can find it here.)
*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*
I was very excited to have a chance to try the imPress Press-On Manicure. The Influenster information card said:
I wasn't quite sure at first if they were similar to the nail polish strips, but they are not. As far as I can tell, they are like regular press-on nails, but the adhesive is stronger, the nail is thinner and looks less fake, and the variety of designs and colors is pretty cool.
I received the style Joyride, which is a bright, almost neon purple with an iridescent blue shimmer. You may remember in my last post that I said that I'm not able to give a real review for this product. I excitedly opened up the cute packaging which looks like a nail polish bottle (you remove the cap and the 'bottle' opens up pretty much like a clamshell), and I started to try to match up which sizes would be best for my nails. Fail. There were none that were a good fit for my nails and not even ones that were close enough. So I didn't attach any of them to my nails; that way someone else will be able to use them. Such a shame! They were very pretty, and I've had great success with some of Broadway Nails' other products.
Next was an 'or' product, in the sense that each Influenster received one of three possible products from Schwarzkopf Professional OSiS+. These were the possibilities, as listed on the included $5.00 off coupon:
The hair product I received was Dust It. The product information card describes it this way:
There are a lot of powder products for hair on the market right now, but I hadn't tried any of them before. I was confused by the description because I wasn't sure why you would want to mattify your hair. Aren't we usually looking for glossy shiny locks? But apparently the key is in the rest of the description: lift, texture and control. The matte effect is more about texture than appearance. My hair will often slip out of a style, for example, because the texture is too smooth and straight. This powder gives you control over that.
The effect of Dust It is like a cross between what I imagine dry shampoo does, and ratting your hair for volume. It seems to absorb oil to an extent, and it gives your hair enough texture that it will hold most of the volume that you put into it (either through curling or doing an up-do or just pulling up on your roots for some lift).
The powder is some of the most finely milled I've ever felt, incredibly soft and light. Once you rub it, it appears to evaporate because it just blends in so quickly and completely with your hair or skin.
I've shown before and after photos below of Dust It at work on plain, clean hair. Before:
Although the powder appears to evaporate, you can definitely feel that there is product in your hair. It gives you a flexible control. It's not something that I would have purchased on my own, but I think it will be very useful for up-dos. Maybe my bobby pins won't fall out for once! My hair is thick, but I think that people with thinner hair could probably use Dust It for root lift and some body. After:
My favorite product in my VoxBox ended up being the NYC Glossy Lip Balm. Here's the full product name and description from Influenster's product information card:
I wasn't expecting much from this product at all, since I have a gazillion lip products and some of them are pretty spectacular (I'm looking at you, Tarte Lipsurgence, my love). But first of all, look at the cute little design on top (yep, I like cutesy stuff like that):
Secondly, and of course more important than the cute little apple core, is that I felt this balm lived up to its claims. Color, shine and moisture for a healthy look--I would agree with that. I've included a photo of my bare lips for reference, so you can get an idea of how much color is deposited. The other photos are just after different amounts of time passing, as I was happy with its lasting power, although I did not eat or drink during that time.
This VoxBox was quite a bit smaller than the one that I received last year, but I was very happy with it. I will use everything except for the imPress Manicure, and I would have used that had it fit.
Samples are such a great marketing tool, whether you pay a fee for procurement/curation to subscription services like ipsy or Birchbox, or you get them free through services like Influenster or BzzAgent. It has given me many new staple products in my beauty routine, but also saved me from products that aren't right for me.
*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*
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