Do You Birchbox?

Have you heard of Birchbox? Birchbox is a cosmetic subscription service. For $10 a month you can receive a box of beauty samples in the mail.

I love it. It's always fun to get a package in the mail, and it's really fun to get a box full of surprise beauty samples. Each month I get fun samples from brands like Jouer, Redkin, philosophy, Stila and much more. Plus, each month they add in a fun non-cosmetic gift, like a Kind bar or a cool ponytail holder. There are other subscriber benefits, such as free shipping on full-size version and Birchbox points when you buy products.

I highly recommend you try it out. I gave a subscription to my sister for her birthday. She loved it so much, she got a subscription for our cousin.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Weekend Retreat

This bathroom makes me want to paint my bathroom black.

I hope you all have a warm, relaxing and bath-filled weekend.

Travelling in Style

Since yesterday's post was about travel toiletry basics. I thought it would be fun to look at some luxury travel items. Sometimes when I go on trips for work, I try to schedule a little bit of time (maybe one evening) for myself. With a full-time job, two young kids, a husband and a cast vying for my time, downtime is hard to come by. So I like to order room service, rent a chick flick and relax. It's also a perfect time for a little pampering action. Here are some great pampering products:

• Aveda Balancing Ritual.This contains Sandalwood Single Note (essential oil), Chakra Balancing Body Mist,  Foot Relief, and a Chakra Ritual Card.I love that this set comes with instructions! I think most of us could use some instructions on how to relax.

• Bond No.9 New York Gift Collection The Voyage Travel Candle Set: These candles are beautiful. They are a little pricey, but they would certainly make me feel like I was having a luxurious vacation even if I was staying at the Holiday Inn.
  

• vbeaute It Kit: I also picked this kit because of how cool it looks. I don't usually go for really expensive skincare, and I don't think I'm the only one because I couldn't find any review of this brand. (Anyone out there tried it?). It includes Undercover Agent serum, Rub Off exfoliater, Evidence Eraser cleanser, Buying Time moisturizer and Eye Never cream. 

So, what about you? Do you like to take some "spa time" when you travel? What are your guilty pleasures?

A Moveable Spa

I love travel kits. I know they are sort of wasteful, and I should just dispense my full-size products into reusable travel container. But that's no fun! Plus I always forget what I put in the containers. Is that conditioner or body lotion? And how long has it been in there?!?

One of the best things about travel kits is trying out new products. I am planning a trip to Las Vegas in about a month, so I might need (OK, want) to buy some new fun things.

I really want a kit that has shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and lotion. Let's check out some options:

• philosophy The Travel Agent: This looks promising. It includes Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser, Hope in a Jar Moisturizer, Amazing Grace Shampoo, Bath and Shower Gel, Amazing Grace Firming Body Emulsion and a Amazing Grace Hair Conditioner. This has everything I need plus face cleanser and moisturizer. I love the Amazing Grace fragrance, so this would definitely work for me. 

• Westin White Tea Aloe Travel Set: I recently stayed at a Westin hotel, and I loved the scent of the in-room toiletries. I am thinking that when I run out of the bottles I took from the room, I may have to order some more. It's so great they have a Westin store online called Westin at Home. Since I have always wanted to live in a hotel, now I can pretend that I do. I would also like to try the other Westin scents, which include green tea grapefruit and chamomile lavender.

• Malin + Goetz Essential Kit: I haven't tried out Malin + Goetz products yet, but I hear good things about them. I found this kit, which includes grapefruit cleanser, vitamin e face moisturizer, bergamot body wash, peppermint shampoo, cilantro hair conditioner and b5 body moistiurizer, on 3floz.com. Their motto is "for those who travel, those who are curious and those who can't commit." That pretty much sums me up, which is also why I love Birchbox (post coming soon).

So what do you think? Do you like to try out new products when you travel? Next time I'll look at some travel kits that are a little more fun and less utilitarian. So let me know if you know of any brands that do travel sizes and travel kits well.

Weekend Retreat

It's almost the weekend. Relax!

This bathroom is a little more traditional than my usual taste. But with the French doors, the checkerboard tile and the 18th-century French buffet used as a sink, it does feel nice and cozy, like the bathroom at my (well, not mine but some rich grandma with really good taste) grandma's house.

I hope you all have a warm, relaxing and bath-filled weekend.

Christmas Goodies

When I was a kid, one of the best parts of Christmas was telling my best friend what I go. So I thought I would share a few of my favorite Christmas presents with you.

I got a Fresh Brown Sugar gift set from my husband that contained the perfume (shown below), a Sugar Rose Tinted Lib Treatment and Brown Sugar Body Cream. I love the smell of the perfume and the lip balm has a great color for when I'm going casual. I think I will use the body cream when traveling, so I don't have to pack the perfume bottle. I don't think this exact gift set is available any more, but Sephora and Fresh have plenty of other gift set options.

Next up, my mom bought me a Clarisonic. When I visited Canyon Ranch Miami last year and got a facial, the aesthetician used a Clarisonic on me, and I've been dying to get one since then. I didn't do a lot of research, I just told her I wanted the turquoise one. So far I've been pretty happy with it. It does feel great on my skin, and it gets me motivated to actually wash my face (instead of just using a makeup remover wipe, which is what I usually do). We'll see if the motivation lasts.

I got a bunch of other great stuff, like some slippers, a Silpat baking sheet, some jewelry and more. I know. I'm spoiled. But I'm dying to hear what you got. Do tell.

Happy New Year

Since it's that time of year, I've been thinking about some New Year's resolutions, or rather some vague promises to myself. I would like this year to be a year in which I focus more on my accomplishments and less on what I'm not getting done. I would like to focus on learning some new skills instead of just acquiring new things. And, as always, I want to focus on taking time out to relax.

I hope that you all had a great holiday, and I wish everyone the best in 2012!