Influenster Holiday 2011 VoxBox Discussion and Review

I mentioned before I had signed up at Influenster.com and I received the Holiday 2011 VoxBox for review. So here I am to share my goodies (and thoughts) with you.

The fun stuff inside!

imPRESS Press On Manicure. These are fun, I love the packaging - looks like a nail polish bottle, but with nails inside. I'm such a sucker for cute packaging. I couldn't put these on because at my work you can't have artificial nails (boo) but I had my mother try these while I was there for Christmas. She even agreed to take some photos (thanks mom!). 

According to her, she really liked them. They felt very strong on her nails, not flimsy or easily popped off, and they wore for a six days before the first one popped off (and that's through LOTS of typing/office work, shampooing hair, doing dishes without gloves, and lots of puppy back scratching!). They're easy to put on - no messy glue or fingers sticking together - you just peel off the clear backing and press on to the nails. Very easy! We put them on in under ten minutes (including the prep pad to clean the nail beds and picking out nail sizes!). For the cost ($8.99/set I believe), a weeks worth of fun nails is worth it. That comes out better than most manicures with acrylics AND when she removed them, she just popped them of without any nail damage underneath.

Larabar is a yummy snack without a bunch of random ingredients. My Larabar was Cherry Pie, which only included dates and unsweetened cherries. My husband and I munched on this one. Very tasty! Slightly bitter but in an unsweetened dried fruit, type of way. Like OJ without extra sugar. I may have to get some of these.

Montague Jeunesse Passion Peel Off mask. I haven't tried this yet, but I'm definitely curious! I have such sensitive, acne-prone skin, I'm worried my skin will freak out. But the packaging makes me wanna tear into it! 

Mentos Pure Fresh Sugar Free Gum. I didn't even know Mentos made gum! I do love gum. I chew it a lot, especially after my morning coffee. I shared this with a few friends at work to get their ideas. Very minty and powerful, clears your sinuses if you're blocked up (haha). The flavor is intense for the first minute or two while you're chewing up the hard shell, but it dies down quickly, and after about 15 minutes the flavor is gone. But you remain minty fresh for a good bit of time afterward.

NYC Liquid Lipshine Nude York City. This one I was excited about. Makeup!! And full size. Wee! NYC Nude York City is a soft, shimmery nude beige. It smells like vanilla and it doesn't really have a taste. On the lips (and mine aren't overly pigmented) it just leaves a soft shine. Not too sticky, doesn't taste bad, and it stays on the usual few hours before completely vanishing.

Garden Botanika Eyelash Primer. I'm not a big fan of eyelash primer. I used to use it, then figured out it was all the mascara and the primer didn't add much. So I was pretty hesitant about using this one. It wasn't bad in the end. It didn't really do much for my lashes, but it did make my eyelashes hard and crunchy. I didn't feel this one was worth it, but it makes me wonder if it would keep my mascara from flaking if I used one of my previous mascaras.

Softsoap Coconut Scrub. As strange as it sounds during this day in age, I still use soap. I used to be a liquid soap gal, but now, I don't know, I like regular soap. The smell of this stuff is great - nice and light and coconut-y. (Random fact: I LOVE the smell of coconut but HATE the texture of it in food. Almond Joy - bleh! German chocolate cake - gross.) Anyway, I really like this soap. You can feel the scrubbers in the soap. I don't know how exfoliative it is, but it cleans well. I did notice the soap dried me out a bit. It might have been in conjunction with the cold, winter weather, but I needed to wear lotion when I used this to make me nice and moisturized.

So that's all I have for you today! Any of you have any experience with Influenster or similar programs?