Birchbox Skincare Fundamentals Kit Review

I travel a few times a year and I was getting low on my samples, so I purchased the Skincare Fundamentals Kit from Birchbox. I think it's an amazing deal and has everything I need for on-the-go skincare.

*Disclaimer: This box was purchased by See, Shop, Love!

This kit contains favorites for each step of your routine to cleanse, treat, moisturize, and protect. It costs only $22, which I think is a great price for a Birchbox kit (they're usually priced around $30 or higher). I even got this during a sale so it cost me round $15.

The Skincare Fundamentals Kit comes with 12 samples packaged in a travel-friendly clear plastic pouch (with a zippered top). You could honestly throw this whole thing in your carry-on and be all set for travel!

This kit caught my eye because there were a few specific products I wanted to try, plus some from brands I already knew I loved.

• HUM Nutrition Glow Sweet Glow Gummies: This is a bonus item. The supplements boost skin's moisture levels with hyaluronic acid and Vitamins C and E. The packet had two gummies that were heart shaped. They're also vegan.
• Sweet Chef Kale +Vitamin B Fresh Pressed Sheet Mask: Do I like kale? Hard no. Do I like sheet masks? Very much, yes. This one hydrates and protects skin and has no parabens or mineral oils.

• Marcelle Micellar Water - Normal Skin: This micellar water removes makeup, tones, and cleanses with a calming, all-in-one formula. This is an especially handy item for travel since it accomplishes so much in one product.
• Vasanti Brighten Up! Exfoliator: I've used this before and I really like it. It helps reduce dullness and wrinkles with papaya, microcrystals, and aloe.

•  Kieh's Ultra Facial Cream: I love Kiehl's products! Their creams are always so decadent and are decently priced. This hydrates for a full 24 hours without feeling greasy or heavy.
• Air Repair Super Hydrating Eye Cream: This potent cream reduces undereye puffiness, fine lines, and dark circles.
• GLAMGLOW SUPERTONER Exfoliating Acid Solution Toner: I honestly bought this kit specifically for this product. I've seen it around Sephora but at $42, it's quite pricey to buy before trying. It has alpha hydroxy acids to exfoliate, charcoal to detoxify, and witch hazel to refresh. It has a licorice scent like the Supercleanse, which isn't my favorite. Overall I think this is nice, but since toners are on your skin for such a short amount of time, I don't think I'd buy a full-sized bottle.

•  Coola Dawn Patrol Classic Primer SPF 30: COOLA makes sunscreen products and this one has SPF to prep skin for makeup and protect against UV rays.
• Malin+Goetz Grapefruit Face Cleanser: I've used this cleanser before too and it's very nice. It's made with grapefruit to prevent future blemishes.
• Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips: This balm is for hydrating anywhere and soothes sunburns, tames brows, and nourishes cuticles. It's a nice, thick balm that provides deep hydration.

• Real Chemistry Environmental Rescue Daily Serum: This is not a full-sized bottle, but it's a pretty decent size at .5 fl oz (the size of some full-sized serums on the market). It has antioxidants that help diminish fine lines and improve elasticity. The formula feels a bit sticky to me and takes a minute or two to really absorb into skin, but I've had good results with other Real Chemistry products so I think this will work well, too.

•  Sunday Riley C.E.O. Glow Vitamin C + Turmeric Face Oil: This face oil has Vitamin C to brighten and golden turmeric to boost radiance. I've never used Sunday Riley before, but I know they make excellent skincare so I'm excited to try this.

Bottom Line: I think the Skincare Fundamentals Kit from Birchbox is a great way to try out new brands and skincare products. I think you'll definitely find some new favorites and you can't beat the price of only $22.

• Visit Birchbox to purchase

Yangu Beauty Bright Eyes Cream Review

Yangu Beauty is a skincare brand that creates natural and technologically-advanced skincare for a beautiful complexion. I've been using their Bright Eyes Cream and it's wonderful.

*Disclaimer: This product was sent to See, Shop, Love! in exchange for an honest review.

Yangu Beauty translates to "My Beauty" in most Bantu languages and KiSwahili, which are spoken by more than 180 million people. The company uses tried and true herbs, plants, and oils from Southern Africa and combine them with new science to create skincare for women of color, developed by women. The line includes moisturizers, cleansers for oily skin, serums, and more.

The Bright Eyes Cream is a hydrating, anti-inflammatory cream that soothes the delicate skin around the eyes. It contains a peptide complex to firm and tone while also reducing dark circles and puffiness, and hyaluronic acid to restore and retain moisture.

The cream itself is rich and decadent, but not heavy at all. It has exactly the texture I want from an eye cream. Just a dab along the eyes is enough to provide soothing moisture that feels wonderful on the skin. The jar contains .5 oz of product and I could see this easily lasting me a whole year, considering you only need to use a little at a time.

• Visit Yangu Beauty to browse their full line and purchase
• Connect with them on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

Bottom Line: I'm very pleased with the Bright Eyes Cream from Yangu Beauty! I love that it is made with natural ingredients and is formulated to provide high quality results. Even better that the company is women-run!

January 2020 Book of the Month Selections and Coupon

Picking out my Book of the Month is always my favorite way to start the month! The January 2020 selections are now live.

*Disclaimer: Post contains referral links.

Book of the Month costs $14.99 per month for a brand new, hardcover book. You can choose from one of five books that were selected by a panel of judges. Here are the selections for January:

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James:
Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn't right at the Sun Down, and before long she's determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd:
Bridie Devine—female detective extraordinaire—is confronted with the most baffling puzzle yet: the kidnapping of Christabel Berwick, secret daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick, and a peculiar child whose reputed supernatural powers have captured the unwanted attention of collectors trading curiosities in this age of discovery.

Winding her way through the labyrinthine, sooty streets of Victorian London, Bridie won’t rest until she finds the young girl, even if it means unearthing a past that she’d rather keep buried. Luckily, her search is aided by an enchanting cast of characters, including a seven-foot tall housemaid; a melancholic, tattoo-covered ghost; and an avuncular apothecary. But secrets abound in this foggy underworld where spectacle is king and nothing is quite what it seems.

Tightrope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn:
With stark poignancy and political dispassion, Tightrope draws us deep into an "other America." The authors tell this story, in part, through the lives of some of the children with whom Kristof grew up, in rural Yamhill, Oregon, an area that prospered for much of the twentieth century but has been devastated in the last few decades as blue-collar jobs disappeared. About one-quarter of the children on Kristof's old school bus died in adulthood from drugs, alcohol, suicide, or reckless accidents. And while these particular stories unfolded in one corner of the country, they are representative of many places the authors write about, ranging from the Dakotas and Oklahoma to New York and Virginia. But here too are stories about resurgence, among them: Annette Dove, who has devoted her life to helping the teenagers of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, as they navigate the chaotic reality of growing up poor; Daniel McDowell, of Baltimore, whose tale of opioid addiction and recovery suggests that there are viable ways to solve our nation's drug epidemic. These accounts, illustrated with searing images by Lynsey Addario, the award-winning photographer, provide a picture of working-class families needlessly but profoundly damaged as a result of decades of policy mistakes. With their superb, nuanced reportage, Kristof and WuDunn have given us a book that is both riveting and impossible to ignore.

Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey:
Miranda Popkey's first novel is about desire, disgust, motherhood, loneliness, art, pain, feminism, anger, envy, guilt—written in language that sizzles with intelligence and eroticism. The novel is composed almost exclusively of conversations between women—the stories they tell each other, and the stories they tell themselves, about shame and love, infidelity and self-sabotage—and careens through twenty years in the life of an unnamed narrator hungry for experience and bent on upending her life. Edgy, wry, shot through with rage and despair, Topics of Conversation introduces an audacious and immensely gifted new novelist.

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald:
Sometimes life isn’t as simple as heroes and villains.

For Zelda, a twenty-one-year-old Viking enthusiast who lives with her older brother, Gert, life is best lived with some basic rules:

1. A smile means “thank you for doing something small that I liked.”
2. Fist bumps and dabs = respect.
3. Strange people are not appreciated in her home.
4. Tomatoes must go in the middle of the sandwich and not get the bread wet.
5. Sometimes the most important things don’t fit on lists.

But when Zelda finds out that Gert has resorted to some questionable—and dangerous—methods to make enough money to keep them afloat, Zelda decides to launch her own quest. Her mission: to be legendary. It isn’t long before Zelda finds herself in a battle that tests the reach of her heroism, her love for her brother, and the depth of her Viking strength.


Selections are active now and I chose The Sun Down Motel for my book! Which will you choose?

• New subscribers: use my referral link to get your first book for only $5!
  

December Bespoke Post: "Dim" Review and $20 Off Coupon

I've always been intrigued by Bespoke Post and I decided to sign up during their Black Friday sale. They're classified as a Men's subscription box, but they have great items for anyone, in my opinion.

*Disclaimer: This box was purchased by See, Shop, Love!

Bespoke Post releases a selection of boxes each month containing a variety of lifestyle items. They'll choose a box based on your interests profile that you fill out when signing up, but you can change to a different box or skip a month if you're not interested in any of the selections.

Boxes cost $45 per month with $3.95 shipping to the contiguous U.S. and $10 to Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada. All orders over $75 get free shipping. They also pay all duties for Canadian addresses, so you won't owe anything extra when you get your box.

What I love about Bespoke Post is they have so many different box options with a ton of high quality items. I'd been considering getting some smart lights for my apartment and when I saw that Bespoke Post was having a Black Friday sale, I immediately snatched up their Dim box.

The box contains a Philips Hue Bridge and two White Ambiance bulbs. The Bridge itself retails for around $60, so the fact that I was able to get that and two bulbs for only $33 with the sale price was an amazing deal! It still would have been a great deal at the regular $45 box price, too.

I was a bit surprised when I opened the box that the packaging wasn't very fancy. I mean, everything was well-protected and nothing broke in transit, but I at least expected an info sheet or something with more information about the box, considering how classy Bespoke Post seems otherwise. Instead, the box contained only the items with some paper filler to protect them during transit.

I'm so glad I got this box! I thought smart lights were kind of unnecessary for the longest time, but then my brother got some (also Philips Hue) and I changed my mind. I especially like them because I live alone and can now control the lighting with my voice, since I hooked them up to my Google Home. I can also set them on timers or to turn on during random times throughout the day, which is added security that gives me peace of mind.

These specific White Ambiance bulbs can change from a yellow to white to slight blue hue with varying brightness. I like this because a bright, white/blue light is my favorite, but sometimes I set them to a dim yellow for when I'm taking a nap or reading. There are also pre-set colors available through the Hue phone app.

• Visit Bespoke Post to subscribe
• Use my referral link to get $20 off your first box (only $25!)

Bottom Line: I think Bespoke Post is a great deal. Even though it's targeted towards men, don't be afraid to check it out if you don't identify as male. I think a lot of the box options are unisex and I'm really excited to receive more!

November and December Shades Club Review and 50% Off Coupon

I mixed up my Shades Club reviews! I marked last month's as November, but it was actually my shipment for October. This month I'm posting November and December together because, due to holiday shipping craziness, I didn't get my November Shades until mid-December.

*Disclaimer: These boxes were purchased by See, Shop, Love! at a discounted rate in exchange for an honest review.

Shades Club sends a pair of stylish, high quality shades for men and women each month. You can choose Men's or Women's when you sign up. Their shades are manufactured in the same places as brands that sell at much higher price points, and in my opinion, they are just as great of quality (if not better)!

Here are their pricing options:

• Monthly: $29 per month
• Four Months: $112 every four months/$28 per month (one month free)
• Six Months: $162 every six months/$27 per month (1.5 months free)
• Yearly: $288 every 12 months/$24 per month (two months free)

Shipping is free to the U.S. with all subscription options. You can also buy individual pairs and accessories in the Shop.

I'm in love with the November shades! They're the Day-Trippers style in Fire Island. The warm tones of the mirrored lenses are absolutely gorgeous, and they pop especially well against the bold black frames. They're also branded with the Shades name/logo on the left lens, as you can see in the second photo above.

Each pair of shades will also come with a microfiber drawstring carrying case that doubles as a cleaning cloth.

The shades are also branded on the inside of the arms with the name of the style and color and a fun "Best Day Ever" message.

Shades Club also updated their packaging for November and December, which I really appreciate. Shades previously shipped in a box inside of a box, which is kind of wasteful, even if both were recyclable. Now they're packed in a sturdy cardboard box that's smaller in size.

The December Shades are called The Everyday in the Shades Club Blue color. They're a wayfarer shape with plastic frames in the same blue color as the frames. The color is really interesting for winter, not what I would expect, but surprisingly apropos. They remind me of icy winter weather.

These are also branded with the Shades logo on the lens and arms.

• Visit Shades Club to subscribe
• Use coupon code seeshoplove for $15 off your first box OR LOVE50 for 50% off for life ($12 per box)!
• Connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram 

Bottom Line: The November and December Shades Club sunglasses are amazing! I love both of them for their bold colors and sturdy frames. They fit my face shape well and are excellent quality.