Kate Spade Twirl

I got a sample of Kate Spade's "Twirl" eau de parfum in my  December Birchbox, and it was the absolute perfect size to take with me on my New York City getaway this past weekend.  After a few days schlepping around the city wearing it, I have to say that I am in love with this scent!  It has a light, floral scent that is certainly not overwhelming.  I think that it's the kind of scent that just about anyone can wear - the perfect holiday gift for any 20- or 30-something on your list. (Hint! Hint!) My only gripe with it is that for an eau de parfum, it's a little quick to lose it's scent-power.  I could still smell it lingering on my skin at night, but not quite as strongly as other eau de parfums that I have used.  Nevertheless, this is definitely a scent that I can see myself wearing on a daily basis come spring and summer.  Bonus points for being contained in an absolutely adorable bottle that will look cute on anyone's bedroom dresser top!

Overall score: B+

Blinc eyeliner

Today I decided to try out the Blinc eyeliner that came in this month's Birchbox.  I was really excited to get this product, as I've been considering changing up eyeliner brands.  A recent Black Friday purchase was Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof eyeliner, however, the colors that were discounted were koi (a gold shade) and silver dollar (a silver shade). Fun colors, but I'm more in the market at the moment for a nice, classic black eyeliner. So getting the Blinc eyeliner this month almost seems like pure fate!  The only issue is that it's a liquid eyeliner.

Now, I've heard great things about liquid eyeliner, but liquid eyeliner and I are not friends.  I much prefer a kohl pencil, and that has been my eyeliner of choice for several years.  Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot.  With promises of staying power and crisp, clean lines, why not?

The promises of Blinc stayed true.  The eyeliner did, indeed, stay put all day.  When I got home from a long day, the liner did not budge or smudge from the morning.  Here is where I must say that I was thoroughly impressed by the product.  I'm an eye-rubber, and so it's typical to have absolutely no eyeliner left by the afternoon - it's usually on my hands!  So, that aspect was a definite pleasant surprise.  I mean, how often are the claims true?!

Removal is also a breeze, as promised.  I had to use a q-tip a few times in applying it this morning to clean up the lash line, and the product came right off.  Similarly, removal in the evening just took a swipe with a warm tissue and some slight pleasure.  During the day and with normal wear, however, the product stays put.  A-mazing!

The downfall in my eyes (no pun intended) of this eyeliner is that it comes in liquid form.  No matter how many YouTube videos I watch or articles I read about how to apply liquid eyeliner, I don't think that I'm ever going to be able to apply it just right to get that nice, smooth line.  Perhaps the old, cliche saying "practice makes perfect" will ring true as I continue to use my deluxe Birchbox sample of this eyeliner, but I don't think that I'll be ordering this particular product full-size.

Overall rating: B

Why can't something with this kind of staying power be in an easy-to-use pencil form? The search for a new eyeliner continues ...

December Birchbox ~ The Welcome Box

Well, the title of this blog is "Books and Babble," so this is where the "babble" part really comes in, I suppose.

For the holidays, my loving mother got me a year subscription to something called a "Birchbox."  Essentially, each month I get 4-5 deluxe samples of "designer" beauty supplies delivered straight to my doorstep.  The idea behind the Birchbox is to try higher end beauty products without having to buy the full-sized product to figure out that you hate it.  And if you end up loving the product, you can go right on the company site, Birchbox, and buy it!  They even give you points for your purchases which you can then redeem for additional months of subscription or other products.  Awesome idea, Mom!!! :)

So today when I came home from work, my first Birchbox was waiting for me at the door.  The exterior box is bright, hot pink and very vibrant and exciting.  The box that the products come in is very chic.  I love it!  It's like opening up a birthday present - and I get to do this each month!  The anticipation of finding out what's inside is so much fun :)

So I opened the box, and all of the samples were nicely and neatly packed.  I can't help but wonder if the wonderful people at Birchbox package their goodies by hand.  They also included a little note welcoming me to Birchbox.  On the back of this note, there's a short description of each item included in my Birchbox.  This definitely helps a lot to someone who is somewhat familiar with different beauty products, but certainly no connoisseur when it comes to these things - especially hair products. (We'll get to this later, as one of the samples I received this month is a hair elixir.  That'll be interesting!  The nice thing is that anything that I can't use, I can share with my mom.)

In this month's box the lovely people at Birchbox sent me:

* Blinc eyeliner

* Kate Spade New York - Twirl perfume

* Orofluido - Beauty Elixir

* Zoya nail polish in Noel

* Deborah Lippmann nail polish remover gloves

* BONUS TREAT: Alex and Isabelle hair tie

As I try out these products over the next week or so, I'm going to share my reviews of each.  This is something that I can commit to on a monthly basis - though I hope that over winter break, I can get back on the reading band wagon as well :)