Birchbox May 2013

So far, my experience with Birchbox has been rather disappointing, so I decided to give one last box a go and then decide whether or not to continue with my subscription. I knew that something was not right when I saw this month's box still wrapped up in its little parcel waiting for me when I got home late and completely failed to get excited over it. Whereas beauty boxes used to have be on their toes and I'd be running down the stairs as soon as I heard the door bell ring when it was beauty box time, this time I practically had to force myself to take at least a little peak.

1) OPI | Nail Lacquer

Full size: £11.50 / Sample value: £2.88

OPI! A great brand which I love for its nail polishes and I'd quite happily own every single shade they make (even if I'd have to rent a separate room to store it all). Unfortunately there is no shade name included, so if I wanted to buy the full size I'd be left guessing. The colour itself doesn't appeal to me at all - I own a similar shade and it just looks horrendous on my nails, but you never know, as this might be completely different. It's still very small, though, even as far as mini polishes are concerned.

2) Murad | Hydro-Dynamics Ultimate Moisture For Eyes

Full size: £57 / Sample Value: £13.50

This is another very small sample once you get it out of it's cardboard outer. As it's an eye cream I would imagine you don't need to use a lot, however, so I'll still get a fair few applications out of it.

As a brand, Murad are well known to me and their products have been a bit hit and miss so far, so it's nice to get something new to try out. But even if I love it, I honestly doubt I'll be spending £57 on a full-sized eye cream.

3) Biorganics Hair Therapy | Salon Secret Elixir Hair Perfecting Oil

Full size: £12.99 / Sample value: £3.99

Oh, there we go: Another tiny mini sample. Biorganics actually sell this on their website for £4 for anyone who wants to try before they buy (even though you're technically still buying, just a smaller amount). This is not a brand I am familiar with, but it's nice to have some hair care that is free from any chemical nasties and I'm a big fan of hair oil anyway, so I'm sure this will get used up.

4) Wei | Chinese Rose Foaming Cleanser

Full size: £25 / Sample value: £1.67

Another sample that turns out to be tiny once you get rid of any unnecessary packaging. I reckon I'll get about 3-4 uses out of my tube. However, the cleanser does smell amazing: Zingy, yet comforting due to the mix of citrus and rose. I'm also a bit of a fan of Asian skincare, so it's not going to lay around and gather dust.

Beauty Extra: Wei | Pomegranate Buffing Beads

Full size: £13 / Sample value: £0.65

I know I've been going on about sample size a little this month, but come on... I almost chucked this, because I thought it might be one of those gel-pearl bags that you get in new handbags to keep the moisture out. You're meant to mix these with your regular cleanser to turn it into a face scrub - a nice addition seeing as the box contained a cleanser from the same brand, but the size is just ridiculous. Sure, I'll use it, but I still won't know properly how the product works and performs after just one application.

Lifestyle Extra: Kusmi Tea | Detox Tea

Full size: £13.85 / Sample value: £2.22

I've seen these pop up in beauty boxes before, but never got one for myself. I do like the pretty tin and seeing as I love tea I'll enjoy having a few cups of this. Not sure I believe in its detoxifying properties, but it will be nice to try. I'm sad to say that the little lifestyle extra actually got me more excited than any other products in this month's box.

So, the overall verdict on my May Birchbox? Shocking.

Technically all the samples amounted to a value of £24.91, which is not only very low compared to usual beauty box contents, but overall I feel like I've been ripped off with this box. The samples are tiny and getting one or two applications out of something won't help me decide whether or not it's any good at all.

After doing a bit of research and seeing what some other people got, I am actually genuinely pissed off. I already own the makebelieve bronzer that some people got in theirs, but even though I would have had no use for it, at least it would have shown me that Birchbox have tried. To me it looks like they're desperate to get samples for their boxes and there is just no effort involved in making the boxes exciting.

So, for me it's goodbye Birchbox. I tried and you failed me on three separate occasions and believe me, there are other ways to spend my money.

OPI RapiDry Review

This was an "on-a-whim" purchase. Originally I wanted to buy a bottle of Seche Vite, but I would have had to order that online, whereas OPI's version was right there in a shop, stood in front of my nose, just waiting to be taken to a better home where it would get all the love it deserves.

Hier handelt es sich um einen Spontaneinkauf. Eigentlich wollte ich ja eine Flasche Seche Vite, aber die hätte ich im Internet bestellen müssen. Im Gegezug dazu stand die OPI Version schön in einem Geschäft, gleich vor meiner Nase, und wartete darauf in ein liebevolles Zuhause mitgenommen zu werden.

 

OPI RapiDry is a top coat which is supposed to dramatically shorten the drying time of any nail polish it is applied over. Now, I'm a serial complainer about how much time you have to set aside for applying nail polish - it's impossible for me to sit still for two hours without fiddling about with my hands and causing chips and smudge marks on wet nail polish.

OPI RapiDry ist ein Überlack, der die Trockenzeit von Lacken, über die er aufgetragen wird, dramatisch verkürzen soll. Ich beschwere mich ja gerne schon mal drüber, wie zeitaufwendig Nägel lackieren sein kann - für mich ist es unmöglich, zwei Stunden lang still dazusitzen ohne mit den Händen rumzufummeln und somit Schäden am Lack zu verursachen.

 

We shall start with the positives: It works. It genuinely works! You do need to wait about 10 minutes for the top layer of your nail polish to dry, or otherwise you're gonna drag it around with the RapiDry brush and cause streaks. Alternatively, if you're really impatient (like me) you can just dot on huge blobs of the top coat and avoid the streaking issue that way. If you opt for the latter it will take about 15 minutes till your nail polish is rock hard. Feel free to do whatever you want with your hands, without having to worry about ruining all your hard work.
When I first used this I was so excited I couldn't stop telling everyone about it. Why on earth has nobody told me about this before?? Think of all that time I've wasted with my hands flapping about like a T-Rex, too scared to touch anything! Think of all the agony when I really, really wanted a piece of chocolate but was too afraid to get any because my nail polish was drying! Those times are gone! Forever!

Beginnen wir mit dem Positiven: Es funktioniert. Es funktioniert wirklich! Man sollte etwa 10 Minuten warten, bis die oberste Lackschicht angetrocknet ist, sonst zieht man mit dem Bürstchen am Lack und verursacht Streifen. Solltet ihr jedoch wirklich ungeduldig sein (wie ich), könnt ihr auch dicke Klekser auf den Nagel geben und somit das Streifenproblem umgehen. Solltet ihr die letztere Methode wählen, dauert es etwa 15 Minuten bis der Lack steinhart ist. Man kann machen, was man möchte, ohne all die harte Arbeit zu ruinieren.
Als ich den Topcoat das erste Mal benutzt habe, war ich so begeistert, dass ich nicht aufhören konnte, davon zu schwärmen. Warum hat mir bislang niemand hiervon erzählt?? Denkt an all die Zeit, die ich verschwendet habe mit meinen T-Rex-ähnlichen Hängeärmchen, weil ich so viel Angst hatte, etwas zu berühren! Denkt an all den Schmerz, als ich richtig, richtig Lust auf Schokolade hatte, mir aber keine holen konnte, weil mein Nagellack trocknete! Diese Zeiten sind vorbei! Für immer!

 

Well, if you've watched Some Like It Hot, you'll know that "Nobody's Perfect". RapiDry isn't perfect, either. For a start, it's a little stinker. Think really bad nail polish smell that gives people headaches and mulitply it by ten. I could actually still smell it on my nails a whole day after applying it, so make sure you open a window before you use it or apply it somewhere with lots of fresh air.
Secondly, it doesn't get on with all of my nail polishes. I wasn't too sure at first, but after using it a couple of times I realised that it causes some polishes to chip faster, rather than prolong wear time like a top coat should. My nail polish always cracks about 4mm down from the tip and eventually flakes off, about a day or two after application. This doesn't happen with every nail polish (so far, Model's Own did the best in surviving a coat of RapiDry), but I still feel this is a major set back, as I don't particularly feel like buying myself a new nail polish collection, just cause RapiDry doesn't like some of them. You gain some, you lose some - application becomes much easier and faster, but in return you have to reapply nail polish much more often. For me, I'm going to carry on using it, but probably won't repurchase and try a bottle of Seche Vite next, even if I do have to place an online order for it.

Wer "Manche mögen's heiß" gesehen hat, der weiß: "Niemand ist vollkommen". Auch RapiDry nicht. Zum einen ist er ein kleiner Stinker. Denkt an richtig üblen, kopfschmerz-erregenden Nagellackgeruch und verzehnfacht ihn, dann seid ihr da. Ich konnte ihn einen ganzen Tag nach dem Auftrag immer noch riechen, also sollte man darauf achten, ein Fenster zu öffnen oder ihn überhaupt an einem gut belüfteten Ort zu benutzen.
Zum anderen verträgt er sich nicht mit all meinen Lacken. Erst war ich nicht ganz sicher, doch nach mehrmaligem Auftragen habe ich festgestellt, dass manche Lacke durch ihn schneller abblättern. Dabei sollte ein Topcoat doch eigentlich die Tragezeit verlängern. Mein Lack bekommt erst etwa 4mm von der Spitze entfernt einen Riss und dann blättert alles innerhalb von einem bis zwei Tagen ab. Das passiert nicht mit jeder Marke (bislang überlebte Model's Own die Behandlung mit RapiDry noch am längsten), doch trotzdem ist das für mich ein großes Manko. Mir ist nicht unbedingt danach, meine gesamte Nagellacksammlung zu ersetzen, nur weil RapiDry nicht alle Marken mag. "You gain some, you lose some" - der Auftrag wird zwar viel einfacher und schneller, dafür muss man auch viel öfter neu lackieren. Ich persönlich werde ihn zwar bestimmt zu Ende benutzen, doch statt ihn nachzukaufen probiere ich nächstes Mal doch lieber den Seche Vite, auch wenn ich ihn online bestellen muss.

NOTD - OPI "I Eat Mainely Lobster"

Ridiculous reason to buy a beauty product #246: I didn't own anything from the brand and the name made me giggle. It reminded me of an inside joke, but now it just reminds me of my ex-boyfriend (=FAIL).

Blödsinniger Grund, aus dem man ein Beautyprodukt kauft #246: Ich hatte noch nichts von der Marke und der Name löste in mir Kichern aus. Er erinnerte mich an einen Insiderwitz, doch jetzt erinnert er mich lediglich an meinen Ex-Freund (=FAIL).

Nevertheless it's a pretty shade for spring and summer and my very first OPI varnish, so it must be worn. "I Eat Mainely Lobster" is from the Touring America collection which was released for autumn 2011, but I still saw it in a shop last Friday, so you might still be able to get your hands on it if you'd like to.

Dennoch handelt es sich um eine schöne Frühlings- /Sommerfarbe und es ist mein allererster OPI Nagellack, also muss er getragen werden. "I Eat Mainely Lobster" ist aus der Touring America Kollektion, die im Herbst 2011 herausgekommen ist. Ich habe sie aber letzten Freitag immer noch in einem Geschäft gesehen, also müsste sie immer noch erhältlich sein.

OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster in daylight

OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster with flash

The colour is a fairly true coral which leans a bit orange in some lights and redder in others. Some artificial lighting makes it look a tad pink as well.
It has some tiny golden shimmer particles in the bottle, but they're hardly visible once on the nails. I reached opacity with two coats and lasting power was average. Overall, it's a fairly easily dupable shade, so if you missed out there's no need to despair.

Der Farbton ist ein klassisches Korallenrot, das in manchem Licht etwas ins Orange sticht und manchmal eher ins Rote. In künstlicher Beleuchtung sieht er oft auch ein bisschen pink aus.
Der Lack enthält winzige goldene Schimmerpartikel, die jedoch nur in der Flasche erkennbar sind und auf den Nägeln fast ganz verschwinden. Auf den Fotos trage ich zwei Schichten und die Haltbarkeit ist auch durchschnittlich. Alles in allem sollte es relativ einfach sein, Dupes für diese Farbe zu finden, also kein Grund zum verzweifeln wenn ihr sie nicht mehr finden könnt.

But now on to the most important question: How did I enjoy my first OPI polish?? To be honest with you, I'm not overly impressed with the formula. It's good, but no better than my beloved Rimmel or Barry M polishes which cost a fraction of the price. Needless to say, I love the quirky shade naming, though I'll be buying nail polish for the colour and not for the name from now on!

Aber nun zur Preisfrage: Wie gefiel mir mein erster OPI Nagellack?? Um ganz ehrlich zu sein, hat er mich nicht gerade umgehauen. Er ist gut, aber nicht besser als meine geliebten Rimmel oder Barry M Lacke und die kosten deutlich weniger. Natürlich liebe ich die lustigen Namen, aber von nun an werde ich mich wohl eher an der Farbe als am Namen orientieren, wenn ich mir einen neuen Lack kaufen will!