Target Beauty Box

Jill woke me up a few weeks ago with a link to this magical Target beauty box. I got the Wal Mart box a few weeks ago and I liked it but I am much more of a “Target Girl” than a “Walmart Girl” (we all know the difference) so I was excited when Target released their own box. This isn’t a subscription box but it’s the same idea. And it comes in a box, so it qualifies for the blog. Jill and I both got this box so we’ll review it like the others we get together.

The box was so cute. Target really nails it with their marketing and promotional materials.

Onto the contents!

Elnett Extra Strong Hold Hairspray

Lauren: This is the hairspray I had been using prior to getting the Oribe hairspray in my September POPSUGAR Must Have box. I really like this spray a lot and I have a full size at my house and Matt’s. Beauty bloggers have been raving about this stuff for years. You always see it backstage at fashion shows, too. (Not that I am there. I just see it in pictures.) But since it’s good enough for models, it’s good enough for me.

Jill: I have never used this hairspray, but since my current one (Oribe) is so expensive, I am thrilled to have a free backup. On the occasions I feel fancy enough to justify beach waves, this will definitely do the trick. I love having smaller, purse-sized bottles of things too. Whenever I bring along something to do a touch up with, I never need it. Purse-sized items become little insurance policies, because if I don’t have it I will desperately wish I did at some point in the evening.

Fekkai Professional Blowout Hair Refresher Dry Shampoo

Lauren: I am new to the dry shampoo game but I am ALL IN. I have finally figured out how to use it. I think a lot of people use it on their hair to avoid washing it (which I do sometimes too) but I use it on my shiny clean hair to give it a ton of volume. I also read a tip once that it works well when you wash your hair at night and then put it in there so it really works its way in and then you have more volume the next day. It’s legit. I always have to use a little more the next day because my hair tends to be flat but I bet most people do not.

Jill: Yay! A dry shampoo I have yet to try! I also use it for volumizing like Lauren, but prefer other things for that. I am always down to try a new dry shampoo, and I will put it to the ultimate test tomorrow morning after I wake up – when my hair is a giant mess. We’ll see how it holds up.

Laneige BB Cushion Sample

Lauren: I was actually pretty impressed with this. It provided really nice all over coverage for a sample, and it came with 3 shades so most people should be able to try this. It was heavily fragranced, though. This doesn’t bother me in the least because my skin doesn’t hate that and I liked the scent, but just something to be aware of. This seems like a really nice BB cream, and after looking at Target.com to check the price, $34, it better be. It definitely feels like a high end product. It’s typical for a BB cream to have SPF, but this one is SPF 50 which is pretty impressive. If I wasn’t already so impressed with my current Dr. Jart+ BB cream, I might give this one a go. I also like that it comes in a compact so it’s more portable. However, anything is portable if you try hard enough. 🙂

Jill: I don’t usually wear any concealer or foundation, but my engagement shoot is a week and a half away, and I think I might give this BB cream a shot to be photo-perfect. It comes in several shades, and it appears to be a little sponge pre-soaked with the cream. My experience with BB creams in the past has been that they are fairly light and easy to blend, so I may try a couple of the shades in advance to see where I land. I love that they didn’t just send one shade, makeup is never made for just one skin tone. (Lauren’s edit: I recommended that Jill go to Sephora to get color matched so she is sure to have the perfect shade of makeup for her pictures. It’s free and I did it the other day. They use this handy gadget that they created with PANTONE to find your perfect shade and then they show the products that come in your perfect shade. I decided to do this because I want my wedding pictures to look PERFECT and I don’t want that dreaded neck line. I love that this is a free service!) 

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil

Lauren: I was really excited about this particular product. You might wonder, ” Why? What is so great about a white eyeliner? How can you even use that?” Well, this is why it’s so great to know me. I will tell you these things. White eyeliners like this one are the key to making bright eye shadows really POP. I’ve bought palettes in the past with colors that look bright in the pan, but when I put them on my lids, even over primer, they are just sort of wahhhh. For example, a long time ago, I got this Kat Von D palette:

Some of the colors were on the lighter by design but others, like the blue/green/pink/purple weren’t as pigmented as I would have liked. I held onto this palette anyway because i am a makeup hoarder and years later I got a white eyeliner pencil and it changed everything. I went through a phase of doing really bright eye shadow on weekends and I was finally able to get the colors I had hoped for. Obviously my particular example isn’t for every day but you get the idea. With a white base you can get the true intended color of any color of shadow and the eyeliner also gives the shadows some more staying power than they would have on their own.

Jill: Lauren and I came to the hilariously obvious conclusion the other day that we can swap each other things we don’t like/do like from boxes we receive. This is one of those items that Lauren will get a lot more use out of than me, and so now she owns two of them. I have mentioned this a few times before, but I don’t really wear makeup. I pay good money for lash extensions so that I don’t have to be bothered with eye makeup.

L’Oreal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Lipstick

Lauren: I got this in Nude Ballet. I was a little sad because I had seen other people get a berry-ish color that I wanted. However, I really like the formula and the smell. I was thinking that the lipstick looked weird on me but as I wore it for a little while I think it looks ok. This one might be a keeper. I think I am just more used to wearing darker, berry colors so I don’t wear these nudes too often.

Jill: I also got the Nude Ballet, but I am less bummed than Lauren about it. I actually like more neutral lip colors, so I think nude is kind of cool. From testing it out, it looks pretty cool with a clear gloss over it. I think it would look great with a smokey eye for an upcoming wedding I am going to!

To top it all off, we also got a $3 coupon to use on Target beauty products! It expires at the end of November which gives me plenty of time to use it. WHEN I’M MARRIED or whatever. They also included a coupon code for 20% off a purchase at  Dermstore.com which I had never heard of previously. On the card, there were fancy brands pictured like Clarisonic, Stila, and Deborah Lippmann so I’m intrigued. I will definitely look around this site to see if there is anything I need to get for 20% off.

Lauren: I’m rating this box an A+. This was 100% worth the $7 I spent. I’m totally psyched about the hairspray, the dry shampoo, the eyeliner, the lipstick AND the coupons. This box was really a steal. I feel bad for people who didn’t buy it like I did. Not everyone has awesome friends like Jill who will wake them up to tell them about boxes they need to buy. Those people probably also have more money but oh well. 🙂

Jill: I am also rating this box an A+. Definitely worth the tiny price tag, and I like almost everything in it. I hope Target puts out more boxes like this, I would love to snatch up another one!