First off, my daughter is back in school. She loves her new school and has made quite a few friends so that makes me happy.

I just moved my son into his college dorm, but the semester hasn't started yet. I'm alternately so happy and excited for him and filled with anxiety and sadness because I miss him so much. When you're a mom, you have that mom-sense that tells you where in the house (or the world) your little ones are. You just innately keep track of them and now that my son is an adult and doesn't live at home, my mom-sense is driving me crazy. I'll get over it. :)

Otherwise, just plotting along and trying to handle everything that gets flung my way. We finally got the roof finished (yay!) but I can't get them back to put the wires back up that they took down to do the roof (boo).

I was in a car accident (I think I mentioned that?) and finally got everything sorted. I was so glad to be able to drop off the rental and drive my own car home! Is it just me or is driving a rental nerve-wracking?

Now for the Sephora Boxes. The good thing about being so behind is that I've had plenty of time to try everything out, so it's not just an unboxing, but I can tell you what was good, bad, and useless.

The first one is the June 2018 box.

The first thing I grabbed was this Verb Sea Spray. I had a chance to use this during the summer and I actually liked it much more than my usual sea salt spray. It gave me great beachy waves with an amazing scent. I've been pleasantly surprised with all of the Verb hair products I've tried, so this is a company I'll consider for future purchases in the hair care realm.


The next were these Marajó Hair Care Nourishing Cleansing Creme and Deep Treatment Butter samples.

I have a pet peeve: Do not give out a sample of a shampoo/conditioner with only one use in it. That will not tell anyone how it will really, truly perform in their hair. *end rant*

Having said that, it didn't wow me.


Neither did this Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation. They did send a sample color that I could actually try out, but the coverage, which I thought would be full, was actually around a medium coverage. Meh.


I'm a big fan of matte liquid lipsticks, so I was excited to try this Too Faced Melted Matte Long Wear Lipstick in Queen B. It went on smoothly and did last for a good part of the day. I liked the color they sent and it wasn't drying like most mattes, so this one was a win!


An old favorite: Clinique's Take the Day Off Makeup Remover. This will come in handy for travel situations.


I also received a little jar of Murad Age Reform Water Gel. It's a nice water-based moisturizer that left my skin feeling hydrated without that gel stickiness or a film on my skin. Like.

Now for July 2018. This box was all about natural beauty.


It came with a generic Play bag this time but had lots of products to wow me.


Except for this one. There's no way that I'm not using a conditioner, so this single-use Briogeo Blossom & Bloom volumizing shampoo was totally useless for me.


I can get behind a good mask and this Ren Evercalm Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask was a nice one. It was almost like an ointment and a cream had a baby. It was super-calming and nice to use.


Next was this Caudalie Concentrated Brightening Essence. I was excited to try it because I do have some discoloration due to sun damage, aging, and waxing. :(

It was a watery liquid that you apply with a cotton pad, but I think you would be better off just applying it with your fingers since the cotton pad wastes so much product. I was able to get 4 uses out of this little bottle and I really think it did some good. This one is worth the full-sized purchase.


I also received the Honey Drop Lightweight Moisturizer from Farmacy and I have to say it was nice and light but also soaked in well, but with my dry skin, I need a bit more from my moisturizers.


I was really excited to see this Agave Lip Mask from Bite. I chose their Lip Kit as my birthday gift this year (I shared that in my Instagram stories) and the Agave "lip balm" sample in that kit was like smearing on moisturizing and protective beeswax. It was really thick and ointment-like but pleasant? I liked it a lot and after putting it on before I went to bed for a few nights, my lips were super-soft.

I tried this lip mask and I swear it's the same product. Maybe the sample I got was mislabeled? Not sure, but I was hyped to have a whole tube of this stuff! LOVE IT.


The last product in the box was this Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Paaarty. It's a lovely, warm color and came in a great little compact. Another pet-peeve: Blush samples in tiny cardboard packages. If I can't roll my blush brush around on it, I'm not likely to bother. If it arrives broken, ditto. This was a very nice blendable blush.

So that's my wrap-up! I'm going to try to get my August Play box out asap in its own post. I'm really digging these boxes and want to try out another. I've looked at a few and I think FabFitFun is the one for me. It's a quarterly box with a lot of lifestyle-type products in it, not just beauty. I was impressed when I saw some of their past boxes, so I'll be ordering that one soon and I'll unbox it for you. :)

Does anyone else love subscription boxes? Fashion, beauty, fitness, lifestyle, food, or nails? What are your favorites and why?