Beauty Army: April 2012

This month Beauty Army added a Skip option! Now if you aren't happy with the selection, skip away.

Don't know what Beauty Army is? Beauty Army is a once a month beauty subscription service that delivers a GORGEOUS kit of premium beauty samples to your door. So how is it different from any of the other services out there? Well you get to CHOOSE your samples. Each month based on your preferences (long, thoughtful style quiz that can be changed at any time) you will receive 9 products to choose from. From those you get to pick 6. The products this month ranged from beauty, skincare, hair, body, and more. Some of the products you can choose from are full-size items. Beauty Army costs $12 a month, and your kit will always be valued way above!
Click here to join Beauty Army.

April 2012

Last month I was really disappointed with the product selection. There were multiple repeat products and brands from February, a very monotonous selection (almost all skincare/moisturizers), and no matter how many times I took my quiz I couldn't get different products to show up. This month they hinted that they had a ton of new products to share with us, and they did not disappoint! I had so many new options that I had such a hard time just selecting 6! The selection was so well varied: skincare, beauty, tools, nails, etc. And I was able to retake my survey multiple times and each time I got new products. Even though Beauty Army has the skip option, if they keep offering such varied and new products I won't ever use it!

Information Card:

Products:
Clickr Skincare: Acne Spot Serum
Lethal, yet loving, bad boy combo serum that eradicates blemishes without killing skin in the process. Fast, furious, and functional.
Full Size: 0.11oz ($20.00)
Size Received: Full-size! 0.11oz ($20.00)
I was really excited when Beauty Army announced that they were partnering with this all vegan, plant-based acne company. Instead of harsh benzoyl peroxide it uses 2% salicylic acid and lactic acid and an anti-bacterial. It works fast to penetrate pores and exfoliate while cleaning skin of acne-causing bacteria. I love that it can work on top of makeup. I know some days my skin is awful and halfway through my day I'll find a new zit. Well now I can keep this in my purse to start the healing process way before I get home. It is a nice clear, formula that cools on touch. I have no active blemishes right now since dermalogica's mediBac overnight clearing gel worked wonders last night, but next time I do I'll be trying out this bad boy. It has gotten so many great reviews that I bet it will be a winner!

Cover FX: SkinPrep FX
This hydrating and smoothing primer really does it all. For all skin types including sensitive skin, this paraben, oil, and fragrance free primer will help makeup look fresh all day.
Full Size: 1.0oz ($45.00)
Size Received: 0.16oz ($7.20)
I can't help myself when it comes to primers. It is the one thing that I feel like I have not found my perfect match so I love hunting around for new ones. Last month I tried the Cover FX Eye Prep primer which I did like, so I figured why not this one. Apparently this primer does double duty and has an anti-aging serum formula. So not only will it smooth out fine lines and pores but it might actually reduce their appearance. Sounds good to me.

LaVaque: Crystal Nail File

Double-sided crystal nail file gives your nails a remarkable flawless edge. File can be cleaned and sanitized and used for years. Goodbye emory boards!

Full Size: 1 nail file ($5.95)

Size Received: Full-size! 1 nail file ($5.95)

It was only in my March Julep Maven box that I received my first real nail file! I like the soft buffing side of it, but the actual filing side doesn't do that great a job. It causes the top of my nails to get trimmed down really far, but the bottom layer turns to dust. I have to manually peel off the bottom layer, and then I realize I have uneven nails. This happens no matter what angle I use that nail file. When I tried the crystal nail file, although it made me shiver, it quickly and evenly filed down my nails. Its great! And the fact that Ill have this for years and years is amazing. 

myface cosmetics: mymix Foundation in Fair 02
Upgrade your image with this smooth, weightless foundation. Goes on seamlessly and provides a flawless finish that lasts all day.
Full Size: 1.18oz ($34.00)
Size Received: 0.5oz ($14.41)
Since summer is approaching I want to find a lighter foundation. Lucky for me this color matches my skin very well! So great job on Beauty Army for getting my skin tone right. And the sample is a great size! I'll get weeks of use out of it! The website promises that it is a color-correcting formula that will help eliminate redness. This is a huge perk for me. My skin is very pink and has a lot of red blotches. I hope that it does work well in covering up my redness. The test will be if the coverage lasts all day. I'll be using this foundation tomorrow and I'll report back on what I think.

Purely Cosmetic: Diamond Perfect Finish Powder

Made with read diamonds (seriously), this powder is the perfect finishing touch to your makeup routine. Achieve a red-carpet, airbrushed look with this light, weight translucent powder.

Full Size: 0.21oz ($18.50)

Size Received: 0.1oz ($8.81)

I'm new to setting powders. I love and use fixing sprays every day, but what I dont love is that half way through the day my skin gets oily and shiny. Last month I got to try out Young Blood's HD finishing powder from my Sindulge box and loved it! It kept my skin matte all day, although did it help create an airbrushed look? Probably not. This product has real diamonds that will help illuminate the skin. It says it will reduce the apperance of shadows, wrinkles, pigmentations, and discolorations! This is possible because the diamonds will refract light, but they are so finely milled that they will not give off a shimmer/shine. I tried this out on my makeup-less face and HOLY CRAP! Immediately I saw it reduced the visibility of my pores and fine lines! It did make my deep shadowed eyes a little brighter and it mattified my skin is seconds. I'm so pumped about this stuff! 

Chella: Razor with Brush and Comb

For a quick touch-up or when hairs are too short to pluck, this unique grooming tool fine tunes your brows.

Full Size: 1 razor ($10.00)

Size Received: Full-size! 1 razor ($10.00)

I've never used a razor on my brows before, but Im obsessed with fixing up my brows. It may be the fact that I have no brows to begin with that shaping them has become my favorite past-time. The directions say to stroke the razor lightly against the grain of the hair's direction growth. Like many blondes, my face is covered in bleach blonde peach fuzz. I think I am going to have a lot of fun with this razor removing all that peach fuzz. The hair is so fine that sometimes wax won't even get it all up. And there is no way that Im going to wax every inch of my face. This worked amazing and in just 3 minutes I removed a ton of peach fuzz! No longer with my foundation look crappy because of how light my hair is! And it did a great job at removing stray eyebrow hairs. I wonder how long the razor will stay sharp... Either way so happy about this guy. 

Total Value of my April 2012 Kit: $66.37
I am very, very happy with my April kit! What a turn around. I think I'll have used everything in my kit by tomorrow night! And I've still not tried some of the products from last month! My faith in Beauty Army has been revived!


What do you think of the products I selected? Have you tried any of them? What did you select in your Beauty Army kit? Let me know in the comments below!
If you don't get Beauty Army, click here to join!

P.S. I used my school loaned Nikon D3100 and Nikon Speedlite SB-900 for these photos! I'm really excited how they turned out! So excited that I plan on buying the camera kit once my class is over (I get a huge discount for buying the used equipment)!