July Birchbox: Suki Nurishing Kit Review by Sis

My sister is in her third trimester of pregnancy and has the best pregnancy skin I have ever seen. Even before her pregnancy, she has always been conscious of what she eats and puts in her body. Now there's a little one coming she is more conscious on what's in the products these days. 
And so with her own words and few questions for guidance, my sister has written her own intense personal review on the Suki Nourishing Kit that I gave her from the July Birchbox I received. Here is what she had to say:

--had read about this brand in one of the fashion magazines within the last year or so

--wanted to try it but the slightly expensive price kept me from seeking it out, since I also was not sure how effective it would be

The Creamy Foaming Cleanser is made with acai oil and apple juice to hydrate skin as it washes away impurities. 

--it was like creamy milk with a hint of botanical scent 

--slathered it on my face and neck and massaged for a good 3-minutes or so

--after rinsing , it left a very light waxy feeling; it was not able to take off the light mineral powder make-up I had on so I followed it with a cotton ball soaked in toner; the toner removed all the left-over make-up

Rich in green tea and other botanicals, the Concentrated Nourishing Toner balances out skin’s pH levels. 

--fresh light scent; this was very refreshing and didn't leave my skin dry

The daytime Intensive Nourishing Cream and nighttime Pure Facial Moisture keep skin hydrated 24/7 while fighting the signs of aging. 

Intensive Nourishing Cream 

--very creamy to the touch and  went on my skin with an almost opaque rye tint; hint of botanical scent but not off-putting

--massaged it onto my face until it vanished; surprisingly, it didn't feel heavy on

--used it in the evening as I wanted my skin to absorb as much nutrients 

--woke up with soft skin but I looked kind of ashy; I didn't break out which usually happens with any creamy moisturizer 

Pure Facial Moisture

--used after toner as instructed; slightly botanical scent 

--it is an oily serum with a slight yellow tint and a few drops went a long way; it was easily absorbed by my skin and did not feel heavy at all

--woke up with soft skin and a hint of a glow which stayed even after I washed my face; my skin looked so good that I went out of the house with no make-up that day!

Finally, the Intensive Nourishing Masque evens out your skin tone with a unique time-released form of potent vitamin C.

--thick masque with a slight botanical smell, but not overpowering

--left it on for 15mins as instructed and splashed warm water to rinse off; it left a waxy film on my face so I used a damp tissue to wipe the film off

--left my skin slightly moisturized and woke up with the same soft skin but looked a bit ashy

Overall

--I would definitely recommend this product especially for expecting women given the pure ingredients; our skin at this time is so prone to breaking out and the rich moisturizers in this regimen kept breakouts away, at least for me

--However,  it would be good if each item could be purchased separately as only some of the products worked very well with me

July's Birchbox Review & August Birchbox is Here!!!

After a few weeks of using my samples from the July Birchbox, here's my review on it:

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in Olive Green

• the felt tip is pretty pointy, but I had a hard time getting the "ink" to the tip
• love the deep olive green color, it really compliments my tanned skin for the summer! Just needed to built up to get to the dark color I wanted, but that might just be the sample I got since the color is not evenly distributed on the felt tip.
• its smudge-proof which is great for the hot summer days! This one is definitely not for smokey eye effect since it dries quickly as soon as you put it on

theBalm cosmetics Stainiac in Beauty Queen

• the gel consistency is not greasy to the skin
• the color looks great on my cheeks and its buildable if you want a more flushed look
• it didn't look great on my lips since it's a sheer stain, it looks uneven on my two-toned lips. Maybe putting a concealer first will help, but I really don't do that on a regular basis.
• over-all: love theBalm since I have a very very sensitive skin

Juliette Has a Gun in Miss Charming

• love the light sweet, fruity smell just perfect for the summer
• the scent seemed to have lasted day on my skin, even after sweating a little bit under the hot summer sun.
• dab it behind the ears, collarbone area,wrists, and inner part of the elbows and knees

suki Nourishing Kit 

• it came with one packet of each: a cleanser, toner, moisturizer, nourishing cream and nourishing masque
• i gave this to my sister since I am on a strict face regimen from my dermatologist
• her first impression: its unscented, she said " It don't smell pretty, smells like just what the natural ingredients are in it."
• she also said the packets can only be used once since as soon as you open it, the product are exposed to the air and need to be used immediately so you can really only give a first impression on products that comes in small packets. 

Overall, it's a good box since I got two extras in it which are the Birchbox Exclusive earbuds and a LaraBar!

I love most of the products that came with it and just with the eyeliner alone that costs $15, pays off the box already.

In other news my August Birchbox is here!!! I was not expecting this month's box to be coming this early so that topped of my day yesterday after a long exhausting day in the city. I will include a picture of the box and will give you the review on it at the end of the month.

I'm in loove with my sunblock!

The Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydrating with SPF30 Sunblock is my all time favorite sunblock!
My skin feels so moisturized! I guess you can say hydrated as that is what the packaging says, duh! And supposedly keep your skin hydrated for 12hours! I don't usually believe packaging ads like that but I gotta say they're pretty true to what they say. My skin feels "silky" moisturized all day! Even after being outside sweating a bit from playing with my dog, it does not have that greasy feel like all the other sunblock lotions I have used before.
The SPF30 seems to be just enough coverage for my Filipino dark skin. I really don't get sunburn, I just get really really dark like a burnt toast so I usually like to put at least an spf50 lotion but since Walgreen's didn't have it in stock then I just bought the spf30 one. It actually covers well! My dog, Major and I will be out for 30mins to an hour outside - every morning, mid-afternoon and late afternoon, and I see no tan lines on me or darker spots on me at all from the scorching hot July sun. I've had enough sun exposure and tanning in the beginning of summer and really have no plans to be darker. I really just want to keep that tan color on me and Hawaiian Tropic is doing it's job keeping me "just right" and not burnt-tan.
The scent, OMG! It just takes me back to Hawaii since it has that tropical: coconut smell that is not overpowering at all.

It's not too late to purchase the Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydrating Sunblock since we still have one more month of Summer2012 peeps. Add this to your must-try shopping list cuz this ones a keeper ;)