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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

New to Me Subscriptions...

So, I'm super excited about two new subscription services that I will be trying this month.  I've tried a few subscription boxes, only to end up canceling them. 



Lip Monthly: $10/ monthly fee
So, Lip Monthly is one of the newest subscription services out there!  They are pretty much a subscription service dedicated to the pucker.  They send you 2-3 full size products, as well as a couple of samples.  This is such a new service, that there weren't a whole gaggle of info out there, as there are with other services.  However, I did watch a few of the Unboxing videos on YouTube, and for $10 a month the amount of product that you receive is truly staggering!  

I am super excited to get to try this service. It seems like a pretty good deal.  $10 for 2-3 full sized products, plus what looks to be 2-3 deluxe sized samples is a pretty good deal for $10 a month.  It's one of the lower priced boxes, rivaling Birchbox and Ipsy. Although, with Ipsy and Birchbox, you are never guaranteed to get a full size item in your box.  In fact, I have yet to receive any full sized products from Birchbox as of yet.  Although, Birchbox has it's own strengths and reasons for staying with that service. 

Ipsy is a service that I'm at this point on the fence about.  When I first started using these services, I have to admit that it irked me to hear complaints and people threatening to quit. I now, after only a few bags can truly understand people's frustrations with the service. When you keep receiving products that you would never use, it can get grating. Especially when they have fab items that month, you just are never once receiving end.  Example:  May that had the very coveted Too faced Soliel bronzer sample.i would have been super happy had that been on my bag and would have overlooked the other less exciting items. The bags aren't very well balanced and I think that's where my aggregation comes to play. They quite often do have a few enviable products each month, but instead of having a balanced bag, you wind up with some bags having all of the fab items and other bags without even one if the super fab goodies.  The month they had the Too a Faced Soleil bronzer; I got a sunscreen that I honestly won't ever use, a moisturizer (a pretty low end moisturizer at that), and a Pacifica eyeshadow as well as a very cheap eyeshadow brush which is way too stiff to use in my shadows.  I mean when you work in the beauty industry, you have to know which products people are going to be excited about and if you have, say three top notch items and the other items are just so so, then take those three items and spread then out across all of the bags, making sure that each bag has at least one of the goodies instead of some bags having mediocre products that they can find at their nearest K-Mart.  OK. SO you aren't on here to hear me whine and moan about my frustrations with Ipsy. (I am still very hopeful that this is goo to be a love affair- not ready to send them a break-up note quite yet! )

So, Lip Monthly, may end up being my Ipsy replacement. I'm not sure yet. I know Ipsy just costs $10 a month, but when you are on the lower side of the income line, $10 is a lot to be throwing away every month for a service, that doesn't seem to be catering to you.  I have some other things that really irk me with Ipsy, but this isn't a bash Ipsy post.  And I do still love the cute bags I get, and the samples that I'm not wild about, all go onto my swap board or inside customer packages (Through my Sassy Gal Shops boutique). 

The Lip Monthly Unboxing videos I watched on YouTube, were really very exciting. Although, they do seem to be sending out the same products to everyone. Hopefully, they at least take your profile into consideration when picking your shades. However, as this is a new service (This is their third month). I'm quite sure that there will be a learning curve for them and we just will have to hang on while they adjust their service as they find out what is working and what's not.  I can be patient for a service this new!

I have no clue how long it should take for me to get my first Lip Monthly package, but as soon as it comes, you can bet I will be posting about it and telling you whether or not it's a go or a major fail.

Since, I haven't personally received a Lip Monthly box, I went online to snag a couple of pics for you guys to see some of their past boxes.  May was there first box, so there wasn't an overwhelming amount of information available. 

I think that these little boxes are so super cute!

I so wish I had been able to get this Stila liner, as it's now a discontinued item!
I can't express to you how stoked I am to get my first box.

I don't know about you, but I get super excited when I look at those pictures.  The service seems pretty awesome for just $10/ month.  If you have some other pics that aren't shown here of more fab items from e Lip Monthly service, please email me!  I would love to update this to include even more fabulous pics.  A pic is always way better than words.


Lip Factory, Inc. : $22/ monthly
So, being new to the whole subscription box world, it's taking me quite sometime to weed out the not so fab services and find some really good services offering a good bang for your buck.  I was super impressed when I was googling for Lip Monthly and came across YouTube videos about this Lip Fsctory service. Every month you get what seems to be at least 5 full sized products.  Despite the name, it isn't a service that focuses solely on the lips. Although, every three or four months they will do a box dedicated to the love of the lip. 

Side Note:  they also contribute a portion of the proceeds from every box to a charity. It's always nice to spend your money with a company that thinks about giving back.  

So, I had watched quite a few Unboxing videos for Lip Factory, and to be quite honest it as the Mememe blush box that really had my mouth watering for this service. They seem to be sending products from brands O have yet to try out. The Mememe blush appears to be a lower priced option compared to the Benefit blushers.  I realize that havijust been inside a Lip Factory box, I'm not going to unfortunately be seeing this in my box anytime soon, although I will definitely be on the lookout to purchase or swap for one.  

I have heard people complain about being overloaded with Be a Bombshell cosmetics out of all the subscription services and to be honest, I have seen this brand popping up in quite a few of the pictures of various subscription services.  However, I have only tried the One Stick (in shade Sunset), and I really enjoyed it.  It is a product that you can use either for your blush or for your lipstick!  I, personally am all about multiple-use products. It cuts down on baggage, when going out and having your makeup handy for touch ups to use items that you can use for multiple things.  

If you know anyone who has this fab Mememe blush and wants to sell or swap, Pls let me know!

I have to be honest here, I have never once tried nail wraps (I'm assuming that's what is in the above pic). I have no clue if this is a product I would actually use or not, but it would be nice to every now and then get a product new to me, so I could try it through a sub service before going and shelling out for a full sized item at full cost. 

And that's the whole point of all of these services. If you haven't yet gotten in the sub box game, and find the obsession with subscription boxes comical, then I urge you to think about the value inside these services.  For not a whole lot of money, you are getting to try out new brands, products, and even items you may not have considered purchasing before.  Granted, you probably aren't going to be 100% happy with every single item that comes, but it's a fabulous and economical way of finding fabulous new products that you might not have ever tried on your own.

Unlike Wantable where each box is picked based on your individual likes and dislikes, these boxes seem for the most part to each contain the same products (although the shades may vary, not sure). There are a few boxes that are in the same price range, and I may eventually give those a try as well.  For now, I chose this box, because it's a box I hadn't really heard all that much about and sometimes you just want to be a little different. 

Note:  Please consider using my referral code when filling out your beauty profile, should you choose to purchase Lip Factory.  They have a point reward system, although to be quite frank, I'm not quite sure what you get with your points. But rewards are always a nice thing!  So if you decide to purchase a subscription after reading about it, I am always super grateful for anyone who uses my links or referral codes.

Well, that's it for now.  Stay Tuned for the Unboxing of these fab services in just a couple of weeks.  Be sure to come back and see what goodies I got this month in all my boxes.

July boxes:
Birchbox: http://www.birchbox.com/invite/sassygal ($10- monthly)
Ipsy:  http://www.ipsy.com/r/9f23 ($10 monthly)
Lip Factory: http://Lipfactoryinc.com Referral Number: 387068 (enter during the beauty profile) ($22)
Lip Monthly: http://mbsy.co7gBSq ($10 monthly)
Beauty Box 5: http://www.beautybox5.com/?u=11822 ($12 monthly)
Love With Food: http://lovewithfood.com/invite?m=r&ref=NC2 ($12 monthly or $20 for deluxe)

Note:  I know I haven't even mentioned the Beauty Box 5. I signed up on maybe June -5th, thinking I would be receiving the June box, but later found out it wouldn't be sent until July boxes were mailed out.  So, as soon as I receive my subscription, I will definitely update you on whether it's a flop or a fab box!  I have heard some not so awesome things about this service, so I can't really feel ok with promoting it as of yet.  I honestly haven't been that impressed with pictures I have seen as of yet, but who knows. Just FYI:  $12/ monthly I'm not certain what all you receive in this box. I signed up because it was for a free box. So you can't much complain with free, but whether or not I keep the service is still to be decided.

In all I will be spending: $64 on 5 subscription boxes. It's a little high, but I'm not sure whether I will be keeping them all.  I may also add the Popsugar Must Have box back into the lineup when I see what's in this months box.  I loved all the goodies from last month!  Especially the book!!!  

Well, that's it for today folks. I know I have an increasing problem with these services. But, I am really quick to cut a service off if I don't feel I am getting a good return on my investment. This is becoming my source for receiving make-up.  There are also a ton of swap boards available for people who aren't wild about the items they receive. So, you can usually make good with your purchases regardless!  Thanks so much for tuning in!!  

Check out all the fun Unboxing posts as they become available. I didn't even do Ipsy or Popsugar (when you've seen one Popsugar unveiling you've seen them all). If you would like to see more Unboxing than I have been doing , feel free to comment. I just know that there's an overwhelming amount of blogs posting all the Unboxing. I try to concentrate more on reviewing the actual products.  Seek gas as I didn't use any of the Ipsy items, it was kinda hard to do that. Lol. Although, I am working on a post that will show pics of some past sub boxes I've received including my Birchbox, Ipsy, and Wantable boxes.  

Feel free to give advice or suggestions on what sort of info you would like to see. I don't have an outside job, so I spend an incredible amount of time doing research on random things. I know a lot of you are working women who may not have time to do your own research and so, that's a lot of the purpose of this blog is to try to cut out some of the guess work. 

My son accidentally broke our only computer, so I as of now, only have my iPad mini to use for all my blogging and work. It means that ins might not be quite as crisp as I'd like for them to be.  It's super hard because my work gets erased sometimes if I go into another app for a second and forget to save my work.  So please, bear with me until we can figure out a way to replace our computer!  Thanks so much for your support and sticking with me during this initial phase of being a newbie...

Xoxo

Sassy Gal

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