From My Vanity

Beauty, Skincare, and a bit of Lifestyle

From Food to Makeup — it’s all in Influenster’s Refresh VoxBox (Unboxing & Review)

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It has been a long time since I received my last VoxBox from Influenster — see what I got in my J’Adore box — so I did a little happy dance when I received an email saying I was selected to get the newest #RefreshVoxBox.

If you don’t know what all the fuss is about VoxBox’s from Influenster….read my previous post to get all the details. It’s basically a fun program where you get sent products for free to try out and talk about — and you don’t have to have a blog or Youtube channel! If you have some form of social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), then you can join this program and get sent free stuff!

If you want to join this (FUN!) program….leave your email address below and I’ll send you a personal invite ASAP! 😉

So do you want to see what I got in my box?? This post will be an unboxing/mini review on all the products I have tried so far. (Because who doesn’t love an unboxing post, right?!)

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What’s In My Mailbox? Influenster J’Adore Voxbox!

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Good Monday morning, all! Make sure you take a look at the giveaways on my sidebar on the right. The giveaway for a DVD of Grace Unplugged is ending tonight — don’t miss out!

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For those who follow me on Instagram know, I received my Influenster box in the mail last week, this one called the J’Adore Voxbox. I’ve reviewed two other boxes from them before — the Sweetheart Voxbox and the Violet Voxbox — and was excited to receive another box from them to put to the test. 🙂

Remember: If you are interested in joining, please let me know in the comments below and I will be happy to send you a personal invite to join! 🙂

For those of you who don’t know about Influenster, it’s a “…community of trendsetters, social media masterminds, and educated consumers who live to give opinions of products and experiences.” When you are active in the Influenster community (sharing reviews and answering questions), Influenster invites you to participate in exclusive Voxbox programs where they send you a box filled with things to try and review.

It’s always exciting to open to see what’s inside. 🙂 This time I received…

– Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask
– Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolates
– Frizz Ease 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray
– Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes
– Red Rose Simply Indulgent Teas

I know I did a terrible job getting all the products visible in this picture (my bad!), but we’re going to go down and give you a really quick first impression of all the products. 🙂

Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask…
I was really excited about this product. I use a clay mask once a week to help keep my acne under control, and I really enjoy the benefits and results that I get. So I am all about putting this to the test! Let me just forwarn you — this mask is pretty liquidy! Make sure you shake it up before opening it so you mix the liquid and clay, or you’ll do like I did and get a rush of water shooting out and onto your lap. 😛 Haha! Anywho, I’ve already used it once and liked it. Now to wait and see if it makes a difference on my skin. 🙂

Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolates…
I’m sure this is a no-brainer, but I was super-excited to get this huge bag of Kisses with the box. I already know I love chocolate, and Hershey Kisses have always been on my “like list”. So, yeah, I think it took all of 5 seconds after opening the box before I cracked this bag opened. I snapped a picture of the cookies I made with these over on Instagram. They sure were yummy — and I still had some left over after I make all the cookies! 😀

Frizz Ease 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray…

I’ve never used anything from this brand, but I am thrilled to get the opportunity to! This flat iron spray has some high claims, and I am all about putting it to the test. As those of you who’ve followed my blog for some time know, my hair can be pretty frizzy-looking if I don’t flat iron it. I’m excited to try it out and see if it keeps my hair straight and frizz-free for three days. 🙂

Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes…

Okay, I’m going to be straight-up honest here, and say I’m not really that into fake lashes. I’ve put on individual lashes once — and only because I had to during Cosmetology school — and it wasn’t a thrilled experience. Now, I know individual lashes are harder to put on than a strip, so that makes me feel a little bit better about trying these out. I’m curious how I’ll like these — I don’t mind getting a little bit more volume and length…but I don’t want to look like a spider’s on my eyeball! (ew!) So, anywho, we shall see when I give them a try. 🙂

Red Rose Simply Indulgent Teas…

I’m not a huge tea person, but I do get in the mood sometimes and enjoy curling up on the couch with a cup of hot tea. 🙂 I received three Creme Caramel and one Lemon Chiffon — which I was happy about. The Caramel one sounds like something I will enjoy!
And those are all the items I received for review. Be keeping your eyes out for the reviews in the coming weeks. 🙂

Question for Readers: Out of all the products I received, which are YOU most intrigued about? 🙂

I received this product for free from Influenster in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services I have personally used or experienced and that I believe will be good for my readers.

Goody Athletique has done a fabulous job creating Ouchless headbands! (Product Review)

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Today’s the last review for Influenster’s Violet Voxbox! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the new goodies and will keep an eye out for these winners (like today’s review) when you go shopping next. 🙂

If you missed any reviews, just click the links to go read my review on them — Unboxing/First Impressions, Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak, SoyJoy Fruit Bar, Sally Hansen Triple Shine Nail Polish, and Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spa Masks.

About Goody Athletique Ouchless Headwrap…


Goody Athlétique provides hold and comfort so you can be physically active and strong in body and mind.

Ouchless Quick Dry Headwraps


Moisture-wicking fabric keeps you cool and dry

Reversible design gives you two looks in one 




My Review…

How it Wears…
For those that don’t know me, I really enjoy wearing headbands. They’re quick and fun and keep my hair out of my way. The only major problem I always have is that I get really bad headaches behind my ears when I wear them for any length of time. So I put Goody Athletique Headwrap to the test and wore it all day…and never felt a headache at all!

This really thrilled me, as did the fact that, because of the Velcro in the back, I was able to wear it to fit my head perfectly and it never started slipping. The color I got to review was in black, so I’ve been able to wear this on MANY occasions — it’s really easy to glam this up or just use it to keep all your hair out of your face on a regular day.

Major Likes…
That it doesn’t give me ANY headache!! I am so thankful to have finally found a headband that I can wear without having to take it off mid-day because of the headache I have.

Major Dislikes…
None really….the band IS pretty wide, so I wouldn’t have minded if it was a bit thinner. But maybe I just have a small head. 🙂

Final Thoughts…
This is a great headband to have in your collection! I know this is geared toward women who work out (it’s supposed to soak up sweat and such), but I’ve loved it just as a way to style my hair for any given day. 🙂 Two thumbs up from me!

I received this product from Influenster for free in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this product, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services that I have personally used or experienced and that I believe will be good for my readers.

A neat idea behind the Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spas masks (Skincare Review

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I hope y’all have been liking these reviews every day. Next week I will resume my normal schedule of posting only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you have any other suggestions or recommendations, you know I love to hear from you! Just leave me a comment below! 😀

About Montagne Jeunesse…

Breathe life back into skin with intensely invigorating and revitalizing Dead Sea Minerals. We’ve harvested the oceans nutrient rich Seaweed and Kelp right from the source – A satisfying boost for thirsty skin and then some!

Start your new weekly skincare regime with Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spas, three NEW ground-breaking face masques that deliver a unique, enhanced cleansing experience. Specially sourced clays are infused into natural bamboo fabric making deep cleansing your skin quicker, easier and more convenient than ever before – creating a whole new type of face masque, a world’s first in face care!
Places you can connect with Montagne Jeunesse…

My Review…

First Impression…
I’ve always enjoyed doing a mask on a weekly basis for my skin. I can tell the difference in my skin — masks help keep my acne from getting bad and just all around gives my skin a very lively and fresh appearance. I was thrilled to get a Montagne Jeunesse mask to try in my Voxbox. I hadn’t heard of this company before, but sheet masks are becoming pretty popular and I haven’t tried one yet. 🙂

Application…
The directions were pretty easy to follow — just pull it out of the package, unfold it, and place it over your face. Well, the first problem for me was that the face sheet was way too big for my petite face! Which posed a very big problem when I was trying to make sure my face was all covered with the sheet and still be able to see out of the mask. 😛 Let me tell you, it was quiet a comical picture that was staring at me from the bathroom mirror! 😛 But, before that, the biggest thing that turned me off about this product was the smell. I got the Red Earth Clay Spa in Pomegranate…and I now know that I do not like the smell of pomegranate! After I finally got it situated on my face, I was very near gagging from the overpowering smell as I waited out the ten minutes.

Major Likes & Major Dislikes…
I think I’ve already mentioned, above, what my major dislikes were. I really don’t mean to sound totally negative about this product — those were just two big issues I had with this mask…and they are a big part of this mask – the size and smell. There were some positive things I can say about this mask, though. For one, it was very refreshing on my skin. I wouldn’t say it left my skin totally moisturized afterwards (I still applied my night time moisturizer), but it felt very soft and clear. I felt like it toned down the red, inflamed areas of my face very nicely and, since using that mask, a lot of areas on my face that looked like they were about to get a really bad ‘acne outbreak’ have cleared up. 🙂 So this is a major plus for me — I’m always battling acne.

Final Thoughts…
I can’t say I loved this product, or that I would even use it again. If they came in different sizes — for petite girls like me 😉 — I would definitely give these masks another try. Just not anything with pomegranates in it!

Do I recommend this product? If you have a more average-size face (that sounds weird saying it that way, lol!) and don’t have a dislike for weird-smelling things on your face, I would definitely recommend you give one a try! They aren’t very expensive, so just purchasing one to test out on your face — see how your skin reacts…and how YOU like it — would be a good idea. 🙂

Question for Readers: Have you tried one of these Montagne Jeunesse masks?? Did you like it? If you haven’t tried one of these before, what masks do you use in your skin care routine? Please share with me in the comments below! 🙂

I received this product from Influenster for free in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this product, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services that I have personally used or experienced and that I believe will be good for my readers.

Eat a SoyJoy Fruit Bar & Paint Your Nails with Triple Shine! (Beauty Review)

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Today I’m going to be reviewing two of the products that came in my Voilet Voxbox from Influenster. 🙂 They’re both rather short reviews, so I thought it fitting to combine them together. 

About SOYJOY Baked Whole Soy & Fruit Bar…

Unwrap the perfect snack! SOYJOY offers complete protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber; all 7 SOYJOY varieties are all-natural, certified gluten-free, and just 130-140 calories per bar. Baked with ground whole non-GMO soybeans and real fruit pieces, SOYJOY is a great on-the-go option that raises the bar on snacking. SOYJOY is full of joy, not junk!

My Review…

The Bar, Packaging, & Taste…
I’ve seen these bars around before, but haven’t ever had the opportunity to try one. I just took a quick look at Target and saw that for a box of 12 bars is only $12.99. Considering that these are healthy bars that are filled with nutritional ingredients that are good for you, I think that a little over a dollar a piece is a pretty good price. The wrapper that my bar came in was really thick and felt like a “good quality” wrapper…if that doesn’t sound too weird. Like, in comparison to store-brand bars and this bar, the wrapper was really thick and well-sealed. A nice perk I appreciated.

The bar is pretty dry. I could instantly tell this when I broke off a piece. This wasn’t a negative for me, since I enjoy eating bars that are too soft and squishy. It wasn’t hard (I can’t stand bars that hurt your teeth just to chew!), just dry. It broke apart easily with no mess. The bar I got to review was the Cranberry one and I thought it was delicious! It very faintly reminded me of those Fig Newtons I used to eat as a kid. And since I’ve always loved Fig Newtons, this bar was an instant win for me! 🙂

Final Thoughts…
When I go to eat a snack, I always appreciate when I can eat and know that what I am putting in my body is good for me (as opposed to eating a cookie or M&Ms as a snack! :-P) This would definitely be a bar I would keep handy to throw in my purse when I am out and about on a busy day.

About Sally Hansen New Triple Shine Nail Color…





NEW Triple Shine™ Nail Color from Sally Hansen! Daily defense from water and wear. Defend against the Triple Threat: Tap, Salt, and Chlorine water. Water to workout, day in and day out, nothing will dull these nails. 

The gloss is protected with the Ultimate Shield Complex, exclusive to Sally Hansen, designed to help polish withstand the wear and tear of everyday living for non-stop shine. Outshine ’em all with our 30 shades!

My Review…

Product & Application…
I really enjoy painting my nails and have a large supply of nail polishes in my desk drawer, but I didn’t have a color similar to Sally Hansen’s new Triple Shine nail polish in Make Waves. I was thrilled to get this color in my Violet Voxbox. 🙂 If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’ve tried this bottle out on a cute winter-themed nail art. I am now currently on day 4 of wearing this polish and I only have two nails (my thumbs) with major chipping. For me, personally, this is a great record! Usually nail polish only lasts a few hours — maybe a day — before chipping starts to happen. 😀

Major Likes & Dislikes…
I really liked the size of the brush on this polish! It isn’t too big, but it isn’t too small, either, and it makes it really easy to get into the corners of my nail. The top to the polish has a casing that comes off (as you can see in the picture here), which I thought was a little interesting. Not bad, not good…I just couldn’t figure out the reason for that extra top. The only downside to this polish was that its a very sheer polish. It took a lot of coats to get this how opaque I like my colors. That isn’t a really a big downside, since the layers are thin and they dry fast. And even though I did 4 or 5 coats, there wasn’t any air bubbles are funky stuff going on from so many layers. They all dried beautifully!

Final Thoughts…
I really like this polish! Depending on where you go to purchase these, they retail for about $4 or $5.

For me, this is a little expensive for nail polish — but I’m going to be on the lookout for sales and use a coupon with it.

Then it’ll be a steal and I’ll have some beautiful, shiny polishes that last to add to my collection! 🙂

I received this product from Influenster for free in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this product, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services that I have personally used or experienced and that I believe will be good for my readers.

This is ‘Not Your Mother’s’ Clean Freak Dry Shampoo! (Beauty Review)

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The first product I’m going to review (from the box of products I received from Influenster) is the dry shampoo from Not Your Mother’s.

About Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak….

Get that perfect hair (and the perfect guy!) before all the other girls. Expect more room on your social calendar because this salon formula dry shampoo will have you and your hair ready for a night out on the town.

Absorbs excess oils
Cleans without water
Light matte finish






My Review…

First Impression…
I like the packaging of ALL Not Your Mother’s hair products, and Clean Freak
is just as eye-appealing. I love how the can is mostly white but with the grassy look at the top it really adds something unique. I just think the packaging looks so high end. 🙂 As I said in my post yesterday, this product was the one I was the most excited to try…so, of course, it’s the one I’m going to review on here first. 🙂

The Product & Application…
The nozzle on this can is really perfect — I love how it sprays out and really gives you a strong stream, but not too much product, in my opinion. It’s very misty and, when I used it, it didn’t leave any white residue in my hair. Which I was very thankful for! 🙂 The smell for this product is really hard to put a finger on…(I’m really bad at naming scents)…but it’s kind of close to an air freshener scent….but not the kind of air freshener I like. Haha! 😛 It is pretty strong when you first spray it, but it goes away very quickly and doesn’t linger in your hair at all. So not a big deal for me. I sprayed it at my (very oily) roots and after letting it sit for a minute, I used a brush to make sure it was dispersed throughout my hair. The oily-ness was instantly gone! It gave my hair a very matte, fresh look that I want when I have 2 or 3-day old hair.


Major Likes…
The best part about this dry shampoo was that it didn’t make my hair feel all cakey/dirty. Usually, with the dry shampoos I’ve used in the past, after I use them my hair feels really heavy, cakey, and…just all around yucky. It’ll looks clean, but it’ll feel dirty. But! With Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak
, it doesn’t do that! Even now — a day after I used the dry shampoo in my hair — my hair still feels great. Not really oily, either! This is a great bonus for me, since I personally don’t like washing my hair every time I shower — it’s healthier to let your hair several days before washing. So, all that said, the fact that this Clean Freak
not only made my hair look clean, but feel clean to, made me fall in love with this dry shampoo!

Major Dislikes…
It would have to be the smell. While it isn’t bad…it is pretty weird when you are using the stuff on your hair. I am really thankful that it doesn’t linger more than a minute or two. With this kind of smell, though, it might not bother some people. It might just be a quirk of mine. But even though it doesn’t smell the greatest, I still plan to use this bottle up and purchase this for my use in the future. The smell doesn’t last long and the results of this product is awesome and does last long. 🙂

Final Thoughts…
If you haven’t guess — after reading all my remarks above — I really, really like this product and highly recommend it! The smell is the only slight draw-back to this product — if Not Your Mother’s fixed that, this would be an instant holy grail of mine. 🙂 In comparison with my previous experiences using other dry shampoos, Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak
is the best I’ve ever used!

I received this product from Influenster for free in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this product, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services that I have personally used or experienced and that I believe will be good for my readers.

What’s In My Mailbox? Influenster!

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It’s been a little while since I’ve had anything show up in my mailbox to share with y’all, but this past week I got another box from Influenster to review called the Violet Voxbox. 🙂 Because of my temporary break from blogging the last two weeks (explained in a post here), I’m a little bit behind in reviewing the items I got in the box. So this week it’s going to be exclusively “Violet Voxbox Reviews”.

For those of you who don’t know about Influenster, it’s a “…community of trendsetters, social media masterminds, and educated consumers who live to give opinions of products and experiences.” When you are active in the Influenster community (sharing reviews and thoughts on products), Influenster invites you to participate in exclusive Voxbox programs where they sent out a box filled with things to try and review.

If you are at all interested in joining, please let me know in the comments below and I will be happy to send you a personal invite to join! 🙂

The neat part is that you don;t have to have a blog or YouTube channel in order to participate. If all you have is Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, you can still join in on the Voxbox’s and review your products through those social medias. 🙂

Okay, so enough of an introduction! 🙂 Let’s get into this Violet VoxBox!

For my Voxbox, I opened it to find it packed with several different items. 🙂

– Goody Athletique Ouchless Headwrap, Adjustable

– Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak (Dry Shampoo)



– SoyJoy Baked Whole Soy & Fruit Bar



– Montagne Jeunesse Red Earth Clay Spa


– Sally Hansen Triple Shine Nail Polish in Make Waves




So let’s do a quick rundown of my first impression of all these products…

Goody Athletique Ouchless Headwrap…
I was really happy to receive this in my voxbox. I enjoy wearing headbands — they’re easy, but still looks like you did something to your hair — but the problem I always have with wearing headbands is that I get a bad headache behind my ears and a little below the occipital bone. So I was all up for trying a new type of headband to see if I can find one that doesn’t give me a headache when I wear it. (I’ll inform you of whether this gave me a headache or not in my review of this headband later this week. Stay tuned! 🙂

Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak…
For me personally — since I am all about the hair after going through Cosmetology school — this was the item I was most excited about getting in my Violet Voxbox. 🙂 I have only tried one other product from the Not Your Mothers line, but I loved that one and so am thrilled that I get to try something else from that line. These bottles are the perfect size to try something new — and to use if I go on a trip, too! 🙂

SoyJoy Baked Whole Soy & Fruit Bar…
I think it’s so fun when they include some sort of food in the Voxbox. (My favorite was when they sent chocolate!! 😉 I’ve actually never tried anything by SoyJoy in the past. This bar looked yummy and healthy, so I was intrigued to try and see if it tasted as yummy as it looked. The problem I always have when I get food to review is to decide when I’m going to try it. Haha! Call me weird, but I just like to ‘review’ them and try them at a time when I would normally eat something like that — in this case, when I would normally eat a snack. 🙂

Montagne Jeunesse Red Earth Clay Spa…
This was another product I was excited to receive! With my acne-prone skin, I really like doing mud masks to help keep any bacteria purged from my skin so it doesn’t give me acne. I’ve never tried this sort of sheet-mask before (I just use a clay powder I mix with water), so I am really curious how this is going to be. I plan on using the mask tonight, before I go to bed, so we shall see how well it works! 🙂

Sally Hansen Triple Shine Nail Polish…
Last, but certainly not least, was this nail polish. For those who know me, they know I always enjoy painting my nails, so I was thrilled to get another bottle to add to my collection — and I didn’t have this type of color before, so all the better. 🙂 If you follow me on my Instagram, you know that I’ve already used it to great a winter-themed nail art. So far I’m loving how shiny it’s staying. The real test is to see how long it goes before it starts chipping. My nail polish ALWAYS chips quickly, so I’m hoping this TripleShine by Sally Hansen will withstand the test of time on my nails. 🙂

Well, there you have it! Those are the products I got last week. Stay tuned to tomorrow’s post, as I will be reviewing one of the items I’ve just mentioned.

Question for Readers: Out of all the products I received, which are YOU most intrigued about? 🙂


I received this product for free from Influenster in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services I have personally used or experienced and that I believe will be good for my readers.

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