Summer Beauty VoxBox Review

I’ve been meaning to get this written up for a bit- and what’s better than a rainy day to sit down and finish up blog posts and reviews!

Are you familiar with Influenster?  I signed up a few months ago, and was very excited when I was selected to be one of the recipients of their Summer VoxBox- a small box filled with 5-6 samples of summer-related items!  After you receive the box and have a chance to test the items out, you’re then encouraged to review all of the products.  What better forum to do that than right here?  So here we go!

The box I got contained 5 things: A full size bottle of Sally Hansen’s Magnetic Nail Polish in Graphite Gravity, a deluxe sample size of Sally Hansen’s Nails & Cuticles Hand Creme,  deluxe sample size of Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Sunscreen, a Quaker Soft Baked Bar in Banana Nut Bread, and a sample box of Tampax Radiant collection products.

First up: Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen

I’ve been a bit of a hermit this summer, so I haven’t had much of a chance to use this.  I was hoping to use it at the pool today, but then mother nature decided it should storm instead.

I did, however, put it on just to test everything but it’s sunburn protection feature 🙂

I really love the scent- it’s nothing too unusual, it does remind me of the coconut-tropical scent you find with most sunscreens, though this one has a delicate floral smell along with it.  Overall the scent isn’t overpowering and smells very nice but subtle.

It made my arms feel very silky smooth just like a moisturizing lotion would, and was absorbed in quickly.   There was no greasiness or excess lotion once I rubbed it on.  Right now and with my kids I tend to use the quick spray-on sunscreen, but I think I may switch to this one for myself in the future!

Next up:  Quaker Soft Baked Bar in Banana Nut Bread

I found this photo on Quaker’s listing for this very bread– because I forgot to photograph it before we ate it.

I only got to try a little bit of this, because it did set off a minor allergic reaction when I ate some (I have a lot of minor food allergies and there’s never any telling if I’ll have an oral reaction, or just be itchy).  What I did have, though, was very good!  It’s fairly moist, didn’t crumble, and definitely tasted like banana bread.  The saltiness of the nuts was a good contrast to the sweeter banana taste.  My husband, who ate most of it, said he wouldn’t mind me buying more- so I guess that’s a positive review! 🙂

Now we’re getting into more of my blog’s comfort zone!  Sally Hansen’s Nails & Cuticles Hand Cream!

I really loved this product.  Since I began blogging, I’m a lot more  aware of how my hands and specifically my cuticles look.   This lotion made my hands super soft and smooth, and did soften my cuticles a bit.   The scent- I’m not sure if I like or hate the scent.  I’m really not even sure what the scent is?  It’s a bit citrus like, so maybe lemon- but it honestly smells like a  starburst candy and a skittle blended together.  Not a bad smell- but not exactly what I want to smell like, either.  And the scent is not subtle at all, its quite strong.

I also received a full size bottle of Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish in Graphite Gravity.

While not my first magnetic polish, this was my first by Sally Hansen.  I’ve only tried a few other brands, but this one in particular is the best I own.

The application was very smooth, the instructions were very clear, and the magnet was easy to work with.  In some of my past experiences, I had trouble keeping the magnet from bumping the wet polish- and with 1 major brand, I couldn’t get the magnetic waves to show a majority of them time!
With this polish, though, every single nail was perfect on the first try.  I simply held the magnet over the nail for 10 seconds, pulled it away, and the swirled design was there!

While these aren’t the cheapest (Most stores sell them for around $10), they’re absolutely one of the higher quality magnetic polishes.  Big thumbs up!

My last item to review is the Tampax package.  If you’re squeamish about slightly personal topics, feel free to stop reading now!  I promise not to get graphic, but I know some ladies (or men!) aren’t exactly comfortable talking about these things.

The Tampax items all came in this cute little zippered bag.  I have no idea if this is available for sale- but I love it!  I’ve always meant to get a small container to keep personal products in, but never remember to actually do it.  This is the perfect size to fit in my purse and keep everything organized!

I haven’t had a chance to actually USE the products, but as a long-term user of Tampax and Always products, I know they’ll be wonderful.  I’ve been a very loyal Tampax user for about 17 years now (I think- give or take), and will continue to be.

The package included 3 unscented panty liners, 1 scented pad, 1 regular tampon, and 1 super tampon.  These are all part of Always/Tampax’s new Radiant line.

For the panty liners- they are very thin around the sides, but the center absorbent area looks to be thick enough to perform it’s job well.  I don’t often use panty liners or pads, but I tried this one out to see if it was noticeable- one of the tag phrases of this new line is ‘Invisible Protection, Invisible Fit’.  The entire liner is a soft, non-plastic material with an adhesive backing, so it actually isn’t very noticeable at all.  It’s also a bit smaller than other panty liners I’ve used in the past, while not being too small to function.  Definitely worth another look!

The scented pad- I don’t use them.  The only time I ever have is when my mother wouldn’t let me use tampons yet, and when the doctor forced me to after I had both kids.  So I’m not going to be a very good judge on this one!  The scent isn’t bad, but I personally don’t like scented feminine protection items.   The scent is quite strong actually, and its a bit of a fruity/flower scent.  I’m not a big fan.  On the plus side however- the pad itself looks to be a super-absorbent material.  When I push down on it, it takes a second to come back up- almost like a memory foam.  It’s very thin, and not overly large from side to side, either.  There’s 2 long wings to help keep it in place.

The tampons… well, this is interesting.  I took one out to take a picture and examine!

Have you ever seen such a *fancy* tampon?  I mean, I won’t lie, I am a sucker for things with details like this, but… it just seems a bit unnecessary given the function of a tampon.

So yeah, the applicator has scrolled designs on it.  It’s also the soft plastic material that we’ve already seen on the Tampax Pearls- which I think is a good thing.  I removed the tampon from the applicator, and rather than being stiff cotton, it’s actually a bit softer and definitely smoother.  Not to get overly TMI, but I think it’s a good thing.  I’m sure ladies can figure out why.

One of the other new features that I really like is the reusable wrapper.  Each one is wrapped in the typical plastic wrapper, but rather than opening it, you pull up a sticker section to remove the tampon, which can then be re-sealed.  Why is a removable wrapper needed or important, you may ask?  It’s for disposal purposes, of course!  You can now neatly dispose of both the applicator and tampon in a sealed package.  These will definitely be what I pick up next time I have to buy more!

So that’s it for this box- if you stayed for the whole thing, I hope maybe you’re interested in one of the products, or at least know more about them!  Everything in this box was completely new to me, so it was fun trying the new things!  Thank you, Influenster!