December 2012 birchbox

Merry (post-)Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas day, all nice and snuggly with their loved ones :)

Great news! My December bb came before January.. what a pleasant surprise! To be exact, it came on the 22nd but I just didn't have time to post until now.. tehe.

Another pleasant surprise was that they completely made-over the products of my initial bb. I'm not one to complain, especially since the previous box had 4 out of 5 items I knew I wouldn't even bother trying.

So here is my December bb.. I don't know what # box this is, sorry! 
Nonetheless, enjoy :)

So yes.. I was highly disappointed by the fact that I didn't get the holiday box which is all nice and festive and reminiscent of candy canes :,(

Oh well, gotta deal.

You can already see 3 of 5 products..!

And here it is! My December bb included (from left-to-right):

1. amika Obliphica Nourishing Mask - 500 mL
2. ModelCo SHINE Ultra Lip Gloss in Berry Pink - Full size
3. Juice Beauty Stem Celulluar Repair CC Cream - 5 mL
4. Emily's Chocolates Chocolate Covered Fortune Cookie
5. Juicy Couture by Juicy Couture - 3.4 oz

I'm yet to try the amika mask (for conditioning hair), but I tried the other 4 products and here are my two cents..

ModelCo lip gloss -- 5/5

• Great texture and scent
• Tasteless
• Non-sticky 

Juicy Beauty CC Cream -- 2/5

• (detailed review below)

Emily's Fortune Cookie -- 4/5

• Quality chocolate and cookie
• Great crunch contrasted by bitter dark chocolate
• Subtle peppermint taste

Juicy Couture eau de parfum -- 3/5

• Floral and very (cloyingly) sweet
• Heavy scent is suitable for fall/winter

* * *

Here is a more detailed review on the Juice Beauty CC Cream --

CC, abbreviations for "color correcting" or "color control", cream is a 12-in-1 multitasker much like the BB cream but better (or so they say). Currently there are only two shades made by Juice Beauty which are Natural Glow and Warm Glow. I got the sample in Warm Glow.

First of all, it was nice to know that Juicy Beauty was an all-natural, organically rooted company with certified organic products. After all, who would want to slab pesticides on their face?

I opened the product and was overwhelmed by the fruity-earthy scent of the CC cream. I'm very particular about fragrances in make-up or skin care, even more so if it's a face product. Immediately I knew I wouldn't want to put this cream on my face because of the strong fragrance (and it's not even pleasant! I know it's odd, but the scent reminds of Froot Loops).

I tested a tiny dallop of product on the back of my hand, as you can see below:

 

 

I blended out the product and found that the tint Warm Glow was a bit too orange and dark for my light yellow-toned skin. Natural Glow may be more suitable for my skin tone. Also, I noticed the coverage was quite sheer as you can still see my blue veins through the CC cream. Consistency-wise, the product was not too easily spread out (non-water based I think). Think BB creams but a tad thicker. It wasn't drying, but it wasn't hydrating either.

All in all, I gave the CC cream 2 out of 5 due to it's off putting scent, small range of available shades, too-sheer of a coverage, and thick consistency. Would I use it on my face? Unfortunately, I don't think I'd risk it.

Here is the card of the product list, in case you wanted to read the descriptions.


Overall, I was content with this bb and thought it was worth it with the full-size lip gloss and fortune cookie alone. I was also glad I got to try out CC cream (though Juice Beauty disappointed me).

How was your December bb? I'm jealous of those who got the mini-vaporizer this month! I could really use one of those..

Stay warm and beautiful 0:)
xo Karries