Beauty Army April 2012

This is my fourth month of Beauty Army and I am SO excited that they had much more items to choose from this time around. Granted, it was still more skincare but there were a few make up items there! I didn't choose all make up because a lot of it wouldn't work for me but props to BA! I am 100% happy with my box this time around. When I was going through the list, I wrote down 5 things I wanted and after tweaking my quiz, I was able to get all 5 things, success!

I apologize for the quality of the images. I took these at night because I wanted to use the mask so I had to take the pictures quickly!

Here is what I got in my box:


Lets go through each individual item:

ClickR No More Derma Drama - $20.00

I don't know if mine was used or what but the instructions say on your first use to click it 15 times to get the serum to the brush but mine had serum all over it already. It also feels pretty empty so I am not sure what to do with it. I emailed BA to see what they can do. I mainly got this for my husband. I don't really have skin that gets zits (thankfully) but he is always fighting them so I like to get him things like this. Plus this already paid for the box almost twice over, unless it is empty and used, gross.

Karuna Anti-Blemish Treatment Mask - $7.00

This was ok. I love sheet masks, they always make me look crazy. I didn't see anything exceptional about it that would make me want to spend $7 on one but it did leave my face feeling pretty moisturized.

Purely Cosmetics Pure Mineral Foundation - $5.00

I am not much of a fan of Purely Cosmetics, not the products themselves, but the owner. She was really rude to my mom at a show one time and it has always left a bad taste in my mouth. I did however, find this intriguing. I don't typically wear face products but I thought I would give this a try. I am getting into BB creams a lot lately so I need something new to set them with. The sample size is fairly small (5 gram jar) so it will be tricky to get out to use, but who doesn't love a challenge?

M.A.D Skincare Redness Rescue - $4.16

I got a sample pack of products straight from M.A.D and this is one item that I REALLY wanted to try, but of course didn't get so I was excited to see this on BA. I believe mine is broken though, I can't get anything out of it. The tube on the "sprayer" looks cut off or broken so I emailed BA to see what they can do for me. I have really red skin so I am hoping this will help a little.

Control Corrective Clear Med 5 % - $1.14

This is the one item that wasn't on my "NEED" list but it looked intriguing. I didn't get this because of the acne treatment, I got this because on the BA facebook they say its good for redness.

pur~lisse pur~lip comfort - $21.05

They were sending this out through myglam last month and I didn't get one. So glad I could get one through BA. It is a nice lip balm but I am not sure its worth $21.05 that a drugstore lip balm wouldn't do.

The breakdown:
Box: Beauty Army March 2012
Price: $12.00 a month
Monetary Value: $58.35
Keeping subscription?: Yes!

I love that BA is growing and listening to their customers when we say we want more of selection!! Thanks BA! :)

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Beauty Army March 2012

This is my third month of Beauty Army and without trying to sound like a broken record, I am still disappointed in the selection. I don't know how many times I have heard that they're working on putting up more selection but I just don't see it. I did my survey several times and still got the same 9 selections and it makes it hard to choose things when it's mostly skincare. Although I am getting into skincare (and VERY little I might add), I don't want to have just skincare in all these boxes. I don't have problematic skin in anyway but using all sorts of different things on your face every month is not ok for finicky skin. It's very important to find something your skin will handle and stick with it.

Remember, this is the service where you get to choose what you want your samples to be. The samples that are selected for you (which you then get to choose 6 of the 9 selected) are based off your quiz, which I don't feel really reflects your answers too much yet but hopefully in the future. They have also told me that they will have a skip option in the future, which I think will come in handy for the times when you just don't see anything you'd like.

This is also the subscription that has a really nice reusable box!

Here is what I got in my box:


Lets go through each individual item:

BANANAS & BAOBABS Whipped Shea Butter Body Creme - $2.00

This wasn't one of the items that was originally chosen for me, however, I heard so many people talk about it from their box, I emailed them and asked them to switch it for me and they did no questions asked. A+ for customer service. This smells like banana pudding, it smells awesome. I have tried it out (once) and can say it feels moisturizing, it just makes your hands feel greasy for a bit which I don't particularly like. This is a huge sample though considering other body creme/butters I have received were 1/4 this size.

Befine Food Skin Care Night Cream - $8.82

I have been wanting to try this since BB sent this out months and months ago. I could never seem to get it in my box though when I saw this available through here, I was super excited. I have tried this (once) and really like it. It lives up to its name. It is not heavy at all so it's great for night time. I don't typically wear a night cream so I think I just might now. Now I really need to try the lip scrubs they offer!

Mad Skincare Youth Transformation Age Corrective Serum - $7.02

Again, not too much into skincare but this was pretty much all they offered. I mixed this with the befine night cream when I used it and in the morning my face did feel nice. I wouldn't repurchase this but it's nice to have until its up.

EyePrep FX Anti-Age Smoothing Primer - $10.27

I don't really need an eye primer since I have one that I use all the time and it works great for me but I thought I would pick this up since the hype is pretty big around it. It is really expensive so I don't see myself buying a full size of it but I can't wait to try it. It is really thin and more of a cream consistency which I am not used to with a primer.

cellCeuticals PhotoDefense Anti-PhotoAging Daily Skin Protector SPF 55+ - $7.43

Although I live in the desert, I don't typically go outside, silly I know but I just work too much and never have time. I am going on vacation in April so I figured this would be a nice to take along with me to make sure I don't get burnt. Being fair skinned, I do get burnt very easily!!

Babor High Protection Sun Lotion SPF 30 - $5.18

Another thing I got for my vacation. I will not burn!!

The breakdown:
Box: Beauty Army March 2012
Price: $12.00 a month
Monetary Value: $41.34
Keeping subscription?: Yes!

I think this is the lowest box in monetary value I have ever gotten from them but it is still almost 4 times the amount I paid for it, and I got to pick my items. Please add more items BA!!!

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Beauty Army February 2012

This is my second month of Beauty Army and I feel like the company is really starting to get their name out there. The samples are still great size and I feel like some are still in the "what is this brand" range but it gives me a nice variety when I choose. I do hope for more make up in the future but as my second month, I am still satisfied.

Remember, this is the service where you get to choose what you want your samples to be. The samples that are selected for you (which you then get to choose 6 of the 9 selected) are based off your quiz, which I don't feel really reflects your answers too much yet but hopefully in the future.

This is also the subscription that has a really nice reusable box!

Here is what I got in my box:


Lets go through each individual item:

Indie Lee Coconut Citrus Body Scrub - $5.06

I haven't tried this yet since I like to blog about the stuff first but it doesn't smell like coconut citrus. To me, it smells like lemon and crackers or something. The formula seems a bit "dry" compared to other scrubs I have seen but I can't wait to try it out.

SunFX Body Shimmber - $8.11

I got the body wash in my last box and I wasn't much of a fan but I decided to try this because some of the other samples weren't that appealing. One thing I can say is that it smells FANTASTIC. Although, every time I open it up, product comes oozing out. I am not too big on the whole shimmer thing but I can just wear it when I am not going out to avoid looking like a disco ball.

Weleda Iris Hydrating Facial Lotion - $3.40

I didn't look at the description when I picked this but this is for oily to combination skin. Since I have dry skin, I won't be using this. I am going to add it to my sample drawer and maybe a friend or family member can use it.

Mama Mio Boob Tube Bust & Neck Firmer - $13.24

This is interesting. It is never too late to try to defy migration I suppose! It smells citrusy.

myface blingtone eye shadow in bellbottom blues- $20.00

I wasn't much of a fan of the shadow I got in my last box (it was brown, but way too glittery for me) so I knew that I wanted to get this for the giveaway. This will be added to February's giveaway!

LaRocca Skincare 24K Exfoliating Cleanser - $11.25

This looks really cool. I haven't tried it yet but the reviews are awesome. It kind of smells like feet and lemons to me so I am not looking forward to that but hopefully the smell with be different once applied.

The breakdown:
Box: Beauty Army February 2012
Price: $12.00 a month
Monetary Value: $61.06
Keeping subscription?: Yes!

Their boxes value always come up to almost 5 times what I paid. Granted monetary value isn't everything but it is nice to be able to get nice deluxe sized samples for once, seems like other companies are giving out mini samples lately. I really enjoy this service and I can't wait to see what is in store for March!

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Beauty Army January 2012

Beauty Army is a new company, started in January of 2012, that allows you to pick your samples and create your own "kit", as they call it. I have known that this was going to start up for at least a month, if not 2. I was super excited to try it. The girl behind the facebook page basically made it sound like it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. They say they're the ONLY company that allows you to choose your own samples (which is false, as BeautyFix allows you to choose) and they said that the samples were going to spectacular.

January 1st came around and of course the site crashed, as most do on a huge reveal and once I finally got on, 3 hours later, the samples weren't that great. I wasn't expecting a whole lot but by what the girl was saying, it was supposed to be AWESOME. I was under the impression that there was going to be a nice balance of hair, make up and skin care but the majority (and I mean like 98% of it, was skin care). I decided to go ahead and give it a chance anyways, they're a new company and I have high hopes that once they become more established, their items will come much better!

The Beauty Army team is made up of enthusiastic and dedicated beauty industry insiders who believe that trying before buying is the future of the beauty world. We give our members the opportunity to discover, learn, try and buy beauty products. It’s the smart way to buy beauty products and we’re thrilled to offer our service to you.

We believe in providing a premium level of personalization, that’s why our service offers two levels of personalization. First, we recommend a selection of beauty products for you based on your answers to a short beauty profile then we allow you to select up to six samples from a larger selection. If you don’t want to select your samples, we’ll choose the ones that we think you’ll like the most. Don’t feel like all six samples? You have the option to choose anywhere between 1 and 6 samples!

I don't feel that there was much "personalization" going on as in the survey, I said I only wanted make up and nail. The samples I got back, were again, all skin care.

Here is what I got in my box:


I actually want to talk about the box that it came in first, which I never do.






The box is really cool, nice and sturdy so that you can reuse it. The top of the box has lots of things like "eye shadow", "eye liner", "perfect pout", "strong nails", so it's definitely got a "beauty" feel and the inside is pink camo!! Get it, beauty ARMY.

Lets go through each individual item:

myface blingtone eye shadow in morococo - $20.00

I have never heard of this brand before but it looks promising. The container that the shadow is in is very sturdy. The color feels really thick when you touch it but it's not as thick when swatched and its also very glittery, VERY glittery. Can't wait to try this for an all over the lid color.

Boo-Boo Cover-Up - $4.17

This is the smallest sample I have EVER seen. It says its .1oz but I do not believe that. If it is .1oz and this "sample" is worth $4.17, what a rip off!! This says its for the body, so I swatched it on my hand and its far too dark for me, kind of a bummer since its supposed to be personalized for us. It is also extremely peachy. Not too excited for this.

LaROCCA Multi-Active Lip Balm in Proseco - $16.00

This is a full size product and I love the color. Love love love the color! It is so pretty. It is nice and sheer so that it's not like a lipstick and as far as I can tell, its very moisturizing. I am not much of a fan of the taste, tastes familiar but I can't pin point it but I can get passed that.

Joico K-PAK Bio- Advanced Restorative Treatment - $4.01

I have used this stuff before and I loved it. Every time I try to grab it at my local Ulta, they're always out, so I was so excited when I saw this to pick!

SunFX Body Wash - $3.11

I have NO idea why I picked this. I am at a loss for words. I think maybe I thought all the samples were gonna go fast, so I saw body wash and grabbed it, but this is to maintain your fake tan, which I do not do. Every time I open it up, stuff comes oozing out, it does smell good though. I will try it, I don't know how it will work but we will see.

Chella Anti-Fatigue Eye Mask Kit - $12.00

I can't wait to try this. I already talked about it a little in my NewBeauty TestTube haul, I am so glad to have 2 so that I can share one with you, hopefully it doesn't make my eyebrows fall off or something!

The breakdown:
Box: Beauty Army January 2012
Price: $12.00 a month
Monetary Value: $59.29
Keeping subscription?: Yes, I hope they come out with more make up soon!

It's pretty obvious by just the first eye shadow that this box is worth the value. I hope that this company sticks to the demands of their consumers and bring in more awesome items. I can't wait to see what I get to pick from for February's box!

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