Zoya nail polish ~ Noel

In this month's Birchbox, one of my deluxe samples was Zoya nail polish in Noel.  According to the insert, "This shimmery denim shade from Zoya's holiday 2011 collection fits just right - kind of like your favorite blue jeans."

Although I had never heard of the brand, Zoya products apparently have a positive reputation, according to my mom. Doing a little bit of research, they pride themselves of being free of toluene, formaldehyde, DBP (phthalates) and camphor. The absence of these ingredients, makes for a safer product.  (Formaldehyde is a well-known carcinogen - yikes!)

Sans-chemical status aside, I was a little hesitant about the shade of my Zoa nail polish sample.  Would it be "too wild?" but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the color once I put it on! I did a quick swipe on my pinkie finger and it is a pretty metallic aquamarine, almost blue-green shade.  I'm excited to give myself a full manicure before the holiday festivities as I know that this shade will look awesome with a white sweater and jeans or black pants.  Definitely a nice "pop" of color amidst the winter white.

That said, I don't know if this would be a color appropriate for everyone.  I'm still in my 20's, so it's still within reason for me to paint my fingers with more "outrageous" shades.  I don't know if anyone over the age of 35 could really pull this off without looking a little silly.  But of course, that's just my opinion.  I enjoy it, though, and I'm planning on bringing it over to my parents' house next time I visit to give my little sister a manicure, as I know that this will be a fun shade for her to enjoy as well.

Overall rating: A-

Noel may not be for everyone, but Zoya makes a wide range of colors to suit everyone's needs and in the end - it's not the color that really matters, but the quality of the product, right?

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 :)