Tag Archives: Egyptian Magic

Finished Products Review October 2016

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When the new month starts, I toss everything I finished the previous month. I give a mini review of each item. Items I love are usually repurchased, so some of them appear in the Empties Series a lot. If I like or am indifferent to an item, I will not rush out to repurchase, but I would be willing to use or try it again. Items that are not for me may not always be empty. Generally, I finish them but do not use them again in the future. If they’re really awful and new samples find their way to me, I give them to someone else unopened. For items I really love, I spotlight ones I’ve finished and others I have yet to finish, so I can discuss them in more detail.

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Finished Products Review June 2016

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When the new month starts, I toss everything I finished the previous month. I give a mini review of each item. Items I love are usually repurchased, so some of them appear in the Empties Series a lot. If I like or am indifferent to an item, I will not rush out to repurchase, but I would be willing to use or try it again. Items that are not for me may not always be empty. Generally, I finish them but do not use them again in the future. If they’re really awful and new samples find their way to me, I give them to someone else unopened. For items I really love, I spotlight ones I’ve finished and others I have yet to finish, so I can discuss them in more detail.

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Subscription Box Finds – Is Joining a Subscription Box Right For You?

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I love sampling new things. The thought of discovering my latest and greatest FabuFind is always with me. There are items I adore and will probably always repurchase, but trying new things gives me the chance to find things I love even more. My sample obsession started with purchasing packaged sets. These usually contain items I really want to try or items I’ve tried in the past and need more time with. Sometimes, you find sets that are great values, so it is actually cheaper to purchase them if you really want most or all the items in the set. Although I still purchase sample sets, there is something surprisingly welcome about not knowing what I will get. Subscription Boxes seemed like the logical step to try items I had not considered.

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February 2016 FabuFinds

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Every month, I review my empty products. Some products are not worth thinking about once the month is over. Others are wonderful and seem like they’re made for me. Those are FabuFinds, and I generally devote a little more time to discussing them. They are items I have repurchased and will continue to repurchase even at full price if I could not find a good promo code.

To eventually spotlight all of my FabuFinds, I will never repeat items already mentioned in a past article. That does not mean they lost their magic. It is also possible an item not spotlighted in a past Empties article may get promoted as I try it more and fall deeper in love. Other times, it is because I had a lot of FabuFinds in a previous month and had to condense the article. There were five products I consider FabuFinds in my February Empties that I have not discussed yet.

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February 2016 Finished Product Reviews

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When the new month starts, I toss everything I finished the previous month. I give a mini review of each item. Items I love are usually repurchased, so some of them appear in the Empties Series a lot. If I like or am indifferent to an item, I will not rush out to repurchase, but I would be willing to use or try it again. Items that are not for me may not always be empty. Generally, I finish them but do not use them again in the future. If they’re really awful and new samples find their way to me, I give them to someone else unopened. For items I really love, I do a separate product spotlight to discuss them in more detail.

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The Real Deal That is Egyptian Magic, The Secret Magical Cream

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If you’ve never used Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream, I assume you are reading this to see if it is as magical as they claim. Spoiler Alert. It’s even better. Why do some tout this magical moisturizer as the best thing ever while others call it a greasy mess? The truth is they’re both right, kind of. While it claims it is a cream, it quickly gains an oil like consistency as you warm it up. Part of its appeal is the very thing that turns some people off. There are only six ingredients in the formula: Olive Oil, Beeswax, Honey, Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly, and Propolis Extract. These six simple agreements do not bring any new anti-aging ingredients to the table, but they also exclude potentially harmful ones many would like to avoid.

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A Year of Birchbox Gifts: It’s a Wrap

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See recent Birchbox articles and all Welcome Box articles.

Thanks for following along with My Year of Birchbox Gifts Series. After ordering 16 subscriptions this year, I am finally done. I love stats, so I thought it would be fun to wrap the adventure that way. Of those 16 subscriptions, 14 went to lucky gift recipients, and I sent 2 to myself. This does not include my main subscription, which dates back to February 2014. A little trivia. The top of the body remained very similar across most articles as did the base. Did you notice toward the end of the series that I started to change the wording at the bottom to show the end was near?

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A Year of Birchbox Gifts Volume Nine

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See recent Birchbox articles and all Welcome Box articles.

Welcome back to the year of Birchbox gifting. This is the year I decided to send all the women in my immediate family three-month Birchbox gift subscription for their birthdays. On 04/28/15, I ordered a subscription for my sister, who was about to turn 37. I selected 06/19/15 for her ship date, because her actual birthday was two months away. The box she received had more to do with the ship date than the order date.

I redeemed $10 in points and ordered this for $20 from my third account using the code SUBSCRIBENOW50, which I already used on my primary account and my second account. This code gave me 50 points with the subscription order.

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Beauty Birthday Offer L’Occitane

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There are so many retailers with fabulous birthday offers. Do not forget to check the birthday offers before your big day arrives. When I learn of a new offer or a change in offers, I update it. Even though I was not really shopping around my birthday, because life in general got in the way, there were a few Birthday gifts I had to pick up.

I give my birthdate upon retailer request. On 03/01/15, offers started coming in. They continued to roll in throughout March with most of them arriving on my actual birthday, March 15th. Remember to save some of your birthday shopping budget for your actual birthday, because so many offers will not come in until then. For the retailers who send the offers after your birthday, they seriously need to step up their game. As I mention on the birthday offer page, some offers are general. Others are unique. If you try to redeem before you get your own unique code, it will not work. Also, check the main retailer page before placing your orders, because the birthday offers are not always the best available offers.

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Why I Canceled Ipsy and Scoff at Most Birchbox Versus Ipsy Posts

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See recent Birchbox articles and all Welcome Box articles.

There was a major update that changed the rewards program at Birchbox effective 07/11/16. I compared Birchbox to Sephora Play (another $10 a month box) without factoring in the monthly review points if you’d like to see a current match-up. Everything below the line was the case when the article was written, so I want to leave the original article in tact. Since the Ipsy program makes redeeming points difficult (I could never redeem any) with lower value and limited items, I still do not consider its rewards program valuable. The box comparisons are still an accurate match-up of the two. All current offers and details regarding the new rewards program are on my Birchbox Subscription page. It is no longer the best reward program EVER (as described below). I’ve remained subscribed to Birchbox under the new reward program based on the strength of the items in my boxes. As long as I keep getting great boxes, I will continue to subscribe without extra points.

My suggestion is try Birchbox, even without the old reward program, and customize your profile as much as possible to get items geared toward you. If your boxes miss the mark, play around with your profile to get better ones. Cancel if the boxes do not meet your expectations. They meet mine (for now), but we are all different. The standard box format is five deluxe items from different beauty catgeories: hair, fragrance, skincare, body, and makeup. While you can limit how many fragrance samples you get, you cannot limit the other categories. It is extremely uncommon to get more than two from any category (outside of bonus foils typically in the hair category). Look at pictures of all my recent boxes, and you will see the product mix is in every box. Those who do not want hair samples or want more makeup may not like that all boxes are a good mix of beauty products. There are other subscription programs that usually send more makeup per box, including Ipsy and Sephora Play! People looking for mainly makeup samples will likely be unsatisfied with Birchbox, so I’d suggest picking another subscription.

There was a six month period in 2014 where I subscribed to both Ipsy and Birchbox. When I started Ipsy, it impressed me. Every item in the bag was exciting. The best thing about the Ipsy subscription was the little bag that accompanied the samples. Most of them were very cute. If you have a beauty addiction, odds are you will never use any of those incredibly cute bags. Why? They’re way too small unless you are rocking a very natural look with little makeup, so my cute Ipsy bags are not used. Whenever I gift something small, I always put it inside a Birchbox now. They make great gift boxes or you can even repurpose them for something else.

Ever since Birchbox introduced box themes, I find them incredibly cute, like the Ipsy bags. When I run out of the boring brown boxes, will I be able to gift using my colorful treasures! Probably not. Although, I will probably not repurpose them another way, so I know I should.

Birchbox and Ipsy both cost $10 a month or $110 a year. Since Ipsy restructured its format, they both send a variety of beauty samples. You can expect to see hair products, perfumes, skin care, body care, makeup, nail polish, and more from both. The similarities end there. Ipsy stopped sending mostly makeup, which disappointed many, including myself. When Ipsy got into the skin care game, they did not enter it the same way Birchbox did. They started sending mostly low-end brands, whereas Birchbox sends items closer to mid range. I am not anti low-end brands. Some of them are good, but the nice ones tend to be the exception and not the rule. While I have no problem trying the low-end makeup Ipsy samples, I found I could not even bring myself to sample some of the low-end skin care.

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Drugstore.com 29 Piece GWP Haul

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When it comes to drugstore makeup, I do not really buy it.  I am not naive enough to think there are no quality items of the drugstore variety, but I find it harder to sample or swatch these items.  Many of the items I buy are the direct result of sampling or swatching.  If I really trust a brand, I will buy something without sampling or swatching it.  My product research must yield excellent results, because I very rarely make impulse purchases. As I never return products to the stores unless they arrive damaged, I try to only purchase things I know I will like.  Someone in my life can take items that failed with me off my hands, so I never feel compelled to return anything.  A failed product for one person can be an HG product to another one.  Who knows how many hidden gems I am missing out on by refusing to buy things I have not researched, swatched or sampled?

Whenever I get a chance to sample a drugstore product through a subscription box, foil or GWP, I try to accept the opportunity with arms wide open. Sample Society sent me a Loreal Extraordinaire ColourRiche Lipcolour in my July 2014 box, which I loved.  When Target released its Beauty box containing that item, I ordered it on 10-20-14.  The Target Beauty Box is not a subscription box.  It is a one time box that ranges in cost from $5-$10 with free shipping.  This one was $7.  The value of the items always exceed the cost you pay, so it is a good deal if the items interest you.  I like that you get to see the items before making a purchase decision.

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Sadly, I received the exact same color I had already received in the Sample Society box.  Considering how many color possibilities there were, I thought receiving the same color was funny.  I sent the duplicate one onto a friend (and I need to follow up for the sake of this article to see if she liked it).  Due to the fact that I have never finished a lipstick or gloss, I had no desire to hang onto a backup.  All of the Target Beauty Boxes are out of stock, but I will let you know when they come back and what will be inside. Birchbox sent me an amazing sample of a product called Egyptian Magic in my June 2014 box.  This is an oil based cream that works wonders on my boys’ eczema patches.  After one application, the patches start improving.  By the third application, the dry patches are gone.  This product heals their eczema better than their prescription.  The ingredients are eczema friendly without the chemicals in the prescription.  It is without a doubt one of the favorite items I have ever found in one of my subscription boxes and something I plan on repurchasing often.  I was going to order this product anyway, when I saw the following offer from Drugstore.com.

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With a $75 purchase from Drugstore.com, all of the items listed and pictured below are free.  Other than the Strivectin, Sally Hansen and the Nicole by OPI, I own zero of these brands.  I love trying new things, so I knew this would be a great GWP for me.  Luckily for me, Drugstore.com carries Egyptian Magic.  I just needed to find a few more things to buy.  It is winter, and my skin is extremely dry.  Thus, I can never have too many skin moisturizers.

Drugstore.com Offer

Drugstore.com Offer Details

With my boys having eczema, they use moisturizers after each shower as well.  Rather than buying our usual Aveeno or Eurcerin, I decided to try some brands that would be new to us. Cetaphil and CeraVe are highly rated.  I’ve done my research and know they will be safe for my boys.  The other lotion is vanilla scented, so I will not allow the boys to use that one.  It was pretty cheap, so I will have no problem tossing it or giving it to someone else if I hate it.

Drugstore.com Purchase 011415

Drugstore.com GWP 011415

The GWP was supposed to include 29 items, including the tote bag.  Sadly, mine was missing the Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Advanced Serum, so I only received 28 items.  Luckily, according to the picture and the Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Serum (which I received), it was just a foil.  If I had to be missing a foil, I am glad it was one that is probably very similar to another.  Thus, I do not feel like I am missing much. I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Real Techniques makeup brushes, so I am the most excited to try that.  This year, I would like to do my nails more regularly, so the nail pen could be a very awesome treat.  Strivectin is a product I already know and love.  I thought I was getting a sample elsewhere and just found out I am not.

The items I received were: Iman Deja Vu Lip Kit, L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Pin-Up, Elnglish Laundry Arrogant, Real Techniques Shading Brush, Boots No 7 Protect Intense Advanced Serum, Hydroxatone Anti-Aging BB Cream in Medium, MDSolarSciences Mineral Beauty Balm, Lumene Bright Now Vitamin C Night Cream, Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser Foaming Fomula, Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Stick Bright Berry 40, Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Cloths, Prestige Primed & Ready Eye Primer, StriVectin SD Advanced Intensive Concentrate for wrinkles and strech marks, Nexxus Color Assure 3-Step Regimen, Toni & Guy Casual Sea Salt Texturising Spray, Toni & Guy Classic Shine Gloss Serum, Toni & Guy Cleanse Shampoo for Damaged Hair, Toni & Guy Nourish Conditioner for Damaged Hair, Tresemme Keratin Smooth 7 Day System, Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes, Nicole by OPI Cinna Man of My Dreams, Rimmel Stay Glossy 6 Hour Lipgloss All Night Long, Rimmel ScandalEyes Retroglam Mascara, Sally Hansen Big Matte Top Coat, Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Punch Drunk, and Tom’s of Maine Lip Shimmer.

I am not swatching the lip products, because I am unsure how many items I plan to keep. If I end up using them, I will add swatches and looks.

The Nicole by OPI Cinna Man of my dreams is a beautiful cinnamon color. Compare this to my other salmon and wine polishes.

Nicole By OPI Cinna Man of My Dreams

The Sally Hansen Big Matte Top Coat is very matte with a whitish tint. Compare it to my other nail treatments, base coats, and top coats.

Sally Hansen Big Matte Top Coat

Sally Hansen Punch Drunk is a purplish-pink. Compare it to my other pink polishes.

Sally Hansen Punch Drunk

drugstore.com, inc.

I am pretty excited about receiving that one here as well. This Drugstore.com offer is available through the 23rd and only works with Drugstore.com beauty items, so you cannot load non beauty items or Beauty.com items into your cart.  If you are unsure what items qualify, just play around with your cart.  I tried loading vitamins and an electric toothbrush, which did not work.

Remember to check all Beauty.com and/or Drugstore.com offers before placing an online order. You can only use one promo link per order, but banner offers (they pop-up at times when you’re browsing on the site), and promo codes (uncommon) usually combine with one another. There are some exceptions. See other Drugstore.com articles. Read Tips For Getting the Best Deal at Beauty.com or Drugstore.com.View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

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