Today's Mail Haul- July 2014

So Many Goodies, I had to share!

Look at all this fabulousness!!  

Who doesn't love mail?  Well, SOME mail.  No one likes the mail we all wish would just never come AKA bills...  BUT who doesn't love receiving goodies in the mail?  I know that it has become a bit of an obssession / addiction for me to get mail. But fabulous goodies that you don't have to PAY for, that's even better!!  I honestly started the day thinking that today wasn't going to be a fun mail day!  I wasn't even all that stressed out about checking my mail today.  So, when my daughter walked in my room with a bundle of packages, I have to admit my eyes started sparkling...

Some Background Info:  

Birchbox is a $10 monthly subscription service focusing on beauty products.  Every month subscribers receive 4-5 samples; ranging from hair care, skincare to cosmetic products.  It gives women the ability to try - before they buy.  A really fantastic thing about Birchbox is that every month subscribers can review / or leave product feedback for the samples they receive every month.  For every product reviewed, subscribers can earn 10 points.  With an average of 5 products per month, that gives users that ability to rack up 50 points every month.  100 points is equal to $10.  Points are redeemed in increments of 100.  There are probably thousands of products available on Birchbox.com.  Everything from beauty, hair care, skincare, to jewelry and housewares.  You can find a good variety of item on Birchbox.  It is one of my favorite parts of the whole service.  Birchbox also has a far superior customer service department to other services that I have personally tried out.

Ipsy:  Ipsy is a $10 a month service which features more lower to mid and sometimes high end samples as well as full size items each month.  Subscribers receive 4-5 samples and / or full sized products each month. Ipsy, while they also have a variety of items, seems to be more geared towards actual cosmetics.  In addition to the samples and full sized products that you receive, subscribers also get a cute little Ipsy bag.  The Ipsy bags, are always a unique bag, that only subscribers have access to.  This is one of the fun parts of the service, the bag itself.  $10 most times won't even pay for a make-up bag, let alone a make-up bag jam packed with fun items!!

                                     

From a Swap - On Facebook: Life Love Beauty: Ipsy Talk & Trade Group

On Facebook, I am a part of a group called: Life Love Beauty: Ipsy Talk & Trade.  It's a group of women who predominately subscribe to Ipsy, while most subscribe as well to Birchbox as well as other sub services. July was like the WORST month for me and Birchbox.  I thought I might have to breakup with them, but alas they were able to redeem themselves... More on THAT later...  So, last month Birchbox offered for the first time the ability for subscribers to choose one of their samples.  We had two options:  Cynthia Rowley lip gloss stain OR Ruffian polish.  We also had the chance to choose our colors.

However, me and my luck, I didn't receive my choice.  So, I took to my groups, luckily I was able to find a couple of people who wanted to swap.  Luckily, I traded with a super sweet girl who went over and beyond the normal swap.  All I was expecting to find was my Ruffian Ambrosia polish, what I got was all that is in the pic above!  I definitely racked up!  Swaps can be a great thing, but you have to be really careful or you can end up spending as much trading your unwanted items as you do for the subscription itself.

This, however, was definitely worth the $1.93 it cost me to send her items out.  However, it cost her a tad more to ship, because she went to the post office and paid.

TIP: If you do ANY shipping AT ALL, do yourself a favor and get a Paypal account.  When you go to www.paypal.com/shipnow and ship through paypal, you will save yourself a TON of money.  I have been shocked at the amount of people who were even paying for $7 shipping labels (for apps like Threadflip) or either spending way too much to ship through the post office.  I don't know how, but somehow the USPS will way overcharge you.  If you are going to do a lot of shipping INVEST in a digital scale!  This can also save even more.  I was over estimating an average of $1.50 per package.  That adds up VERY quickly!

There are many benefits to being a part of groups like the above mentioned Ipsy group.  There are several such groups spread all over Facebook.  One of the benefits is being "in the know".  Users are all the time sharing when they find a "hook-up" to legitimate ways to get samples.  The above picture shows the samples I signed up for last week and received today.  All I did was fill out a simple questionnaire here, about 24 hours later I received an email and at the VERY bottom there was a small link telling me if I wanted to receive my samples to click the link.  Sure enough I clicked the link, entered my address and a week later they were in my mailbox.

These samples were really neat because they came with a booklet showing the whole line of products available, as well as a cheat sheet of sorts for those like me who have NO clue where to begin or which product to use when.  It went through each step telling me what product to start with in the morning and lead me along each step of the way.  It also provided pics of the face that showed how to rub the products in.  It was extremely helpful and informative!  I would definitely suggest to anyone wishing to find a new skincare regimen to give them a try.  I tried some of the nightcare products tonight and loved them.  My face felt so super soft, especially after using the flower & tonic mask.  To fill out the questionnaire, click here here.

AND THE MAIL KEPT COMING....

LIP FACTORY:  A $22 monthly beauty subscription service that sends out 5 full sized and sometimes sample size products every month.  Every three months they have a box dedicated to only the lips.  This is a new service for me (I get my first box tomorrow... I'm soooooo excited to see what goodies I'm getting!!)

Earlier this month, I was looking for a new beauty service to subscribe to and stumbled across some YouTube unboxing videos for LipFactory and fell in love with all the fab items that they were offering!  They even allow you to go back and purchase previous month boxes!  I am definitely going to be trying to get me a May box!  It looks soooo fabulous!  Anyway, so shortly after signing up I noticed a giveaway that they were having and was shocked when I went looking for some hints or sneak peeks and instead found a pic with all the winners of the giveaway!  Needless to say, I, me, was a lucky winner!  My daughter thought I was insane when I squealed like a 12 year old girl whose crush had just looked her way.... LOL  I know I'm a nerd...  Who doesn't love to win things though??  I know I do!

Last but NOT least....

I previously mentioned how Birchbox had kinda made an error.  July was like HORRID for me and Birchbox.  First I look on my profile to take a sneak peek at what will be in my July box and am horrified to discover that I WASN'T getting the Ruffian polish I had chosen.  So, I shot an email to Birchbox, in which they kinda apologized.  THEN when I really got to looking and noticed that I was once again getting Supergoop.  Ok, Birchbox has a TON of brands and products that they send subscribers every month.  July marked my fifth month of being a subscriber.  Out of the five months, THREE of those months I have received Supergoop products.  Supergoop is a brand that focuses on sun protection.

So, two months ago after receiving what seemed like an endless supply of haircare AND my 2/3 boxes with Supergoop, I had spoke with support who helped me adjust my profile to help me get more products that matched my preferences.  So, I had one month without and once again to see Supergoop in my list of products I was getting, I was just a little more than mad.  Some people have subscribed to Birchbox for MUCH longer than I have and NEVER had a Supergoop product.  So, I once again shot off an email stating that I was more than displeased with #1 not getting the correct sample then #2 ONCE again getting Supergoop (I was certain after the fuss I kicked up a couple of months ago my profile had a huge flasher on the screen that said DO NOT SEND SUPERGOOP)  I guess I was wrong.

THEN the kicker:  I GOT THE WRONG BOX!!!!!  So, I was already a little mad, but hey it DIDN'T have SuperGoop!  However, once I got to opening my box, I discovered that there were two samples that weren't even close to being right for my skintone.  Luckily I was in contact with a CS at Birchbox who was extremely nice and sent me the above samples to replace the items that clearly weren't intended for me in the first place.

(By the way, I ordered a Mermaid box and a "mystery" sample pack (two samples) and wouldn't you know it had SUPERGOOP!- it's starting to feel like a conspiracy maybe??)

However, I have to say that Birchbox support went out of their way to make up for my horrible month.  They comped my August box as well as added 100 points and sent these three samples!  So, kudos to Birchbox for having customer service that cares!!

Sooooo.... What did you think of all my goodies???  It definitely turned a dreary day into a fun filled one with all my packages of goodies!!  So excited to try them all!!

Thanks so much for checking my blog out!  I hope I didn't bore you to tears...  If you like me, please consider following or whatever it is your supposed to do...  Thanks!

Until we meet again...

XOXO

Sassy GAL :)