Philip B Light Weight Deep Conditioning Creme Rinse Paraben Free Formula Review

I got this in May of last year. Almost 9 months ago. It came in my Bergdorf Goodman Glossybox and for some reason I just never got around to trying it. I am making a concerted effort to use up and try all my products. I moved two months ago and in the process have managed to give away now SIX large shopping bags full of products and this is part of the cleaning and purging. USING!

I like that the product comes sealed. Its a little thing so many companies overlook and for me it makes a really big difference. Now this product comes in two formulas. Classic and Paraben Free. I really have no opinions one way or the other on paraben free, or even sulphate (or sulfate for you Americans) free products. I do automatically use a fraction of the sulphates simply by virtue of my not using shampoo.

As you can see, this product is THICK. Like look at it hang out of the tube thick. It also SMELLS!! It has a very strong fragrance that is kind of a floral scent. But a very strong and stinky one (from the girl who hates floral scents keep in mind).

Now, for the claims it makes:

Packed with plant and flower extracts, this light-weight conditioner tames frizz, seals split ends, and leaves hair silky and tangle-free  

A rich, fortifying blend of African Shea Butter, Wheat Germ and Soy Proteins locks in moisture  

Vitamin-rich essential oils (California Lemon, Orange, Lavender and Gardenia) give softness, shine and a sumptuous, fresh garden scent  

color & keratin-treatment safe

Now it certainly tamed the frizz. We are not talking about a magic potion that got RID of the frizz. But it made a big difference. My hair didn't feel any more moisturized than normal if I was being real, but it also was not at all drying. The big issue was that the scent is both strong and it LINGERS! So much so that smelling my hair an hour later I could still smell it. And for someone like me who hates floral scents that is an absolute deal breaker.

I do LOVE the feel of this shampoo, the texture of it, the way it works, the results. EVERYTHING you want in a conditioner EXCEPT the scent. And the scent is a deal breaker So sadly, I have passed on the rest of this tube to my mother.

Above is as it was drying, and below is when its basically dry. No hair products in the hair and it really has almost NO frizz! That is fricken amazing in itself! LOVE the way it works!!

This can be purchased at Bergdorf Goodman, the Phillip B website, Nordstrom, the Skinstore and other retailers, both online and in store. It comes in a 2oz, 6oz or 32oz size tubes and the prices are $10, $26 and $90 respectively. This is the $10/2oz size

Overall if floral scents dont bother you, I highly recommend trying this .

July Glossybox Unboxing

So this is a very late review. That is my fault, NOT Glossybox. This arrived on time about 3 weeks ago but I had no chance to drive across the border to pick it up until now. So its a quite late review, and the August box should be shipping this week!

Now this box was the first Glossybox I have gotten I could have done without. The Glamglow while not needed at all now that I got so many in Los Angeles did however make the box worthwhile and prevent me from being pissed off about it.

This serum does piss me off though. There were three different versions. We took a quiz when we signed up. I have my preferences listed and my skin concerns etc. So why the hell did they send me the anti-aging one (my mom APPROPRIATELY got this and loves it. So she has mine now) when there were 2 others that would have FIT MY FREAKING PREFERENCES?

Body Cream. What can I say. Its a cream you rub on your body to moisturize you. It is like every other cream out there. Notice I don't get excited by moisturizers. It doesnt smell disgusting, so its got that.

This brand I love. The product smells slightly like vinegar. If it works as well as the other Philip B products I have used then I could happily overlook the smell. But, it has silicones in it so I wont even try it. This, along with the moisturizer and the serum were given to my mom.

Glamglow. This is great. Its a $19 value but in a squeeze tube instead of the pot this size normally came in making it much more user friendly. This stops me from bitching about the fact that I spent $21 on this box.

A lip balm. A more high end brand, this is sold at Nordstroms. I can honestly say I would never have picked it up at $12 for squeeze tube of lip balm. In a sample box however it is a good sample and I will try it out.

Overall, the value in the box was good if you like the products, but I have no use for two and have 3,303,203 different moisturizers already. I must say I am getting tired of them putting one in every freaking box. Hopefully next months box will excite me more.

Glossybox USA July Sneak Peek!

LOOK WHATS IN THE JULY GLOSSYBOX!!! And if you use code HAIR you get a $50 bottle of nixoin hair thickener for free!

BUT SERIOUSLY!!!! GLAMGLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I really was going to cancel after my first month. Not my fault the boxes have been too awesome! I blame them)

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!!

May 2014 Glossybox Reveal and Review

So I have made one or two posts about this box already. I figured with a $25 gift card it was a sure bet at $21. Now I hadn't at the time realized the gift card expired so soon (June 15th) and might not have done this had I known that since that gives me only two weeks to run down to the post office box (across the border) and pick this up. Thankfully my father happened to be going the day after it arrived so it worked out well.

This box again is $21 and does not ship to Canada. It also bills at the beginning of the month but ships at the end of the month. I have no personal issue with this (heck, my julep box usually takes til the end of the month to reach me. I am STILL waiting for my May box) but some do so I thought it was worth mentioning.

Because of the collaboration with Bergdorf Goodman we actually knew what was going to be in this box. We were to get 6 items off a list of 13 possibles and were guaranteed one of the two Lancer eye products and one of the two Revive products.

First off I got this gift card. There is no shipping, taxes or other fees when ordering off the website so it was great. I ordered an Oribe Beach Spray for $21.50 which is en route as we speak. So that was something I wanted, would have purchased to try eventually and covered the cost of the box.

The first item was one of the ones I wanted! Its the Napoleon Perdis Primer. A value of $13.24

Next I got the revive serum. I have used this morning and night for two days now and while I like it, the pump is horrible. No matter how hard I try, I cant manage to not pump out enough for at least 6 eyes. What a waste of such a high end product! The value of this is $28.

**edit - day three the pump broke all together. I called glossybox (mainly to see if this was a known problem or if there was a way to fix it) and they are sending me a new one! yay!

Next up is a Light Weight Deep Conditioning Creme Rinse from Phillip B. I will admit I was disappointed to see this in here. I was hoping for the Alterna caviar cc cream and I guess they ran out because this wasn't even supposed to be an option.  That being said, a Blush mystery box introduced me to the Phillip B adjusting hair spray which I really like, so I will give this a chance. Its silicone free so I can use it, and its the full travel size Phillip B sells on the website for $10.

Next up was the Cologne. I freaking HATE rose. HATE rose. HATE HATE HATE HATE. My mom? She loves that god awful scent so this went to her. Nice size to try though from the pictures I had seen of it I was expecting a slightly larger bottle. A $10 value.

The Lancer Eye Contour Lifting Cream I have been using for the last two days over the Revive Serum. Its nice. Its a third the size of the regular one so its a fair amount to get to try it out. As I said, its nice, but I am not sure I would at this point in time be willing to spend $100 on an eye cream. Ten years down the road, possibly. A $32.30 value

This little container of Lancome elixir I can only assume is made by unicorns. At $350 for a mere 1.7oz jar, it better be! I have not tried this, I have no plan on trying this and I simply gave it to my mom saying "I hope you hate it". When she questioned why I would say that I told her the price. I have no urge to even TRY something like this. What if  I loved it? I prefer to remain in complete ignorance. This little sample is a $35! Its seriously the size of my thumb nail. Tiny tiny sample.

The value of this box $130 not including the Oribe product that I ordred. making this box come in over the $150 mark! A great value, and although I think this box was skewed very much towards anti aging and skincare, I certainly got enough to make me happy, if only the conditioner, primer and gift card. Since I am using the serum and eye cream, I really cant complain!

Next months box is said to have a couple polishes in it and if you use the code "HAIR" at sign up you will also get a free FULL SIZED, $50 Nioxin product. I like that these boxes seem to be (at least for your first one) totally risk free. Who cares if you hate everything in the box if you get a $50 product you know you want for $21?

I honestly was going to cancel after getting this box, but I think I will get at least one more box and decide after that! I wont get the free Nioxin product so I will give them a month to see if they can hook me!

Did you get this box? If so, what did YOU get? Would you have been happy with this box?

Blush Mystery Box

So today is kind of a bizzare post. I am posting the contents of a box that is 10 months old. I guess I need to explain somethings. I was talking to the company in the end of August and had said I would love to review a box and share it with all my readers. I was being sent a past box, but that was fine with me. It should have arrived in early September and been only 7-8 weeks late. It never came and I thought little of it. In December the box came. I think it arrived the last week of November to be exact. The postmark was actually from August so I have no idea what happened, I assume it got lost and found at some stage of the shipping process. I kind of tossed the box to the side as I figured there was no point in showing a box that was now 5 months old. In January when I got back from IMATS I opened it, took pictures of it (gave my mom the nail polish that I already owned) and planned on posting it. But it was 6 months late and I talked myself out of it. Now its four months AFTER that and I am trying to clean out my folder of images for my blog and I come across these pictures. And I realize a few things.

1. It really was a GREAT box and should be shown
2. It was sent with the intent of my reviewing it and its not the brands fault that it got lost in transit for four months
3. I started using one of the products recently and freaking love it!!

So here is the box. 

Now I am going to put away the disappointment time wise with this box because postal errors happen. And if I was a subscriber, I would have called up after a few weeks and I am sure the issue would have been rectified. And the value of this box was $148.83. I will note here that all prices are in USD and I am not using Canadian prices as this is a box only available in the USA.

Lumene Vitamin C+ Pure Radiance 24H Lotion – Value $20:

Deborah Lippmann Nail Color  – Value $19

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Glow Pad Anti-Aging Exfoliating Self-Tanner – Value $18:

Now I must say I am glow in the dark and have no ability to tan whatsoever. One ill fated attempt at a tanning salon (which is so unhealthy and unnecessary and I am glad it failed and I never went back) where I got a total of 0% darker combined with my complete and total inability to go more than a shade darker than my natural casper white has taught me I lack the melanin in my skin to tan. But I have been terrified to try these for fear of turning into one of those orange or patchy people that are the butt of the jokes around self tanners. I think I may have to simply get over the fear and give these a go!

Hydroxatone AM/PM Anti-Wrinkle Complex SPF 15 – Value $50:

Bioelements Quick Refiner – .25 oz Value $3.83:

Emani Organic Lip Shine in Blush –  Value $16:

Philip B. Self Adjusting Hair Spray – Value $22:

And this is the product that I have started using that has led to my feeling guilty about not posting this review. Its great! Its a non aerosol spray which to be honest  was initially a turn off. I have always proffered aerosols to the other options out there. For the most part I find they don't spray as well, they seem stickier and they just don't work as well. I think most of that is because you don't get quite as fine a mist meaning you get more product concentrated on a smaller area. But on a recent trip I was packing and didn't feel comfortable packing aerosol bottles in my checked luggage. It just makes me nervous. I usually take a few travel sized aerosol hair products in my carry on, but didn't have the room this time. So I took this. And I love it! It gave good hold, didn't feel crunchy or sticky and just did the job!

And a few little extras:

Overall, the value of the box was fantastic. I would have been more than happy had I paid myself for it, and now that I am putting on my big girl panties and moving on from the 4 month delay in getting my box I am thinking that I really should purchase this box! Months and months later, the boxes are all still full of full sized products, always valued over $100 and in the last three months alone there has been full sized Oscar Blandi, Laura Geller, Jonathan, StriVectin, Peter Thomas Roth and Bioxidea.

This box costs $24.95 a month (or $34.95 for a one time purchase) and can be purchased HERE.