I’m taking a break from my recent steady stream of Alaska blogs to go down a bit of a different path.

A little over a month ago I wrote a blog about a box of goodies I received (aka voxbox) from a website called Influenster.  I must say, Influenster is a pretty cool site. Part of me wants to keep it to myself in order to keep the pool smaller and increase my chances of receiving products in the future, and the other part of me wants to tell everyone I know to sign up because it’s that cool.

From what I can tell Influensters main purpose is product testing/reviews.  Once you sign up you put yourself in the running to receive what they call a Voxbox.  This is a box of free items that you get the chance to test out and review.  Sometimes there are items from multiple brands in the box, sometimes it only focuses on one, it really depends.  The probability of someone being chosen for a voxbox also depends on a couple of factors, demographics being a huge one, but also your social media presence as well as how active you are on their website doing reviews etc.

I signed up for Influenster at the beginning of June and already received my second Voxbox, the Vitality Voxbox, last month!

Before they choose you to receive a box Influenster sends out an email survey to make sure you qualify.  In this case I wasn’t feeling to confident because the first half of questions were all about coffee, and if you know me you know I think coffee is gross.  The big bummer about that though?  Ya, last month Influenster launched a voxbox with the new Keurig 2.0!  People received the Keurig to try out for FREE.  I was so bummed, if only I liked coffee!  But, despite me obviously not qualifying to receive the Keurig I did qualify for this other voxbox and I still think it’s pretty great.

So you wanna know what was in it?  Here’s a little picture overview…

This time around I really wanted to try everything out (well, to the extent that I could) before writing this blog so that I could write thoughtful reviews.  So here’s what I thought about everything

First Up,

First Degree Advanced Burn Cream ($5.97-$8.99)-  Between cooking and flat ironing/curling my hair I get little burns all the time, but you know what?  I’ve had this burn cream for a month, ready to go and not a single burn!  I mean, in all honesty that’s a good thing.  I would never wish for a burn nor burn myself on purpose just to try out a product.  So yes, I haven’t used this yet, but I have heard great reviews from others if that makes a difference.  According to the box it “helps reduce the appearance of scars, protects against infection” and “soothes the pain and cools the burn,” all of which are a plus.

Elizabeth Arden FLAWLESS FUTURE Powered by Ceramide Caplet Serum ($60 for 1.0 fl oz)-  That’s a bit of a mouthful no? So, I didn’t receive a full size of this in my box but I did receive a big enough sample to give it a good try.  I do really like the packaging, or I guess moreover the appearance of the serum.  As it sits in the bottle there appears to be little pearls suspended in a clear gel but then once you pump it out everything gets mixed together into a pearlescent serum.  The purpose of the serum according to the packaging is to “reinforce skin’s essential moisture barrier, even skin tone, retexturize, and reduce the appearance of early signs of wrinkles.”  I’ve been using the serum everyday after I wash my face and I can say I’ve noticed a difference.  While wrinkles aren’t really a problem for me just yet I have seen my pores shrink as well as my skin just tighten and brighten overall.  The serum is also very lightweight and dries quickly, which is nice.  The only thing not so nice?  The price.  It will probably be a little while before I can get some for myself but for any of you willing to spend a little extra on your skincare routine I definitely recommend it.

Just ignore the ugly chipped fingernails pro favor, they’re really bad but the serum is really good.

Playtex Sport Fresh Balance ($3.99)- Playtex/PLaytex Sport Tampons aren’t new to me.  I like them a lot and have used them for years.  The only thing I don’t like about these specific tampons are that they’re “lightly scented.”  From my experiences in the past scent is just not a good thing in this area so I probably wouldn’t buy these specific tampons in the future.

Pure Leaf Iced Tea (Sweetened)- I don’t like iced tea, I just don’t. Hot, Chai tea?  Yes, but ice tea, no.  That being said, I really debated whether I would try this or not in order to review it.  In the end though, I knew what I would think about it.  It could be the best sweet tea in the world and I still wouldn’t like it.  The positive is that I have a roommate who likes tea a lot so I decided to give it to her and have her tell me what she thinks.  The verdict? She liked it!  At first she thought it was to sweet but she let me know that it grew on her and she liked it in the end.  She has also tried the unsweetened version before and really liked that as well. #contest @PureLeaf

Softlips Cube ($3.49)-  I have to admit, this was the item in the box that I was the most excited about.  I’m such an 8 year old at heart haha.  If you know the softlips brand you’re probably used to seeing their packaging as long, skinny tubes.  In recent years other brands with more squat, cute packaging have been gaining popularity.  I’ll admit, I bought some of the competitors because I liked that I could just sit them on my desk at work and they wouldn’t roll away.  Softlips must have been paying attention to this because now they’ve released the new Cube version in three different flavors.  I received the fresh mint flavor in my box.  I was a little apprehensive at first because I don’t usually gravitate toward mint, but this mint must have some sort of menthol in it because my lips felt cool and icy as soon as I put it on.  I definitely liked it and I totally recommend it!  If you’re thinking of trying out this new chapstick here’s a link to a coupon for $1.00 off two.

and last but not least,

Bikini Ready Energy Gummies ($14.99/Jar)-  Some select voxboxes contained full size jars of these gummies but I unfortunately only got a sample, therefore I don’t think my review will hold as much weight was someone who was really able to try it out, but I will tell you my thoughts.  My little pack contained 2 gummies, which is essentially a single serving.  According to the packaging they “taste great,” and it “boosts metabolism” and “increases energy.”  But also if you read the small print on the back it says “two Bikini Ready Energy Gummies provides approx. 20mg of caffeine equivalent to 1/4 cup of brewed coffee.”  I don’t know about you but based on that statement I would need to eat a whole lot more than 2 gummies to get the energy boost I need.  The gummies themselves remind me of small sugar covered gumdrops.  The taste isn’t bad, not great like the package claims, but not bad.  The aftertaste however?  Horrible!  And it lingered.  I had to go drink a cup of juice just to get rid of it.  I also didn’t notice an increase in energy or metabolism however I’m sure it would take much more than one days worth to notice a difference there.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

So there you go, the #vitavoxbox.  If you like getting free things I definitely recommend going to their website and signing up, it’s really easy (and no, I was not asked to advertise them, I just think everyone should get a chance to take advantage of the opportunity if they would like).

You can follow my link here to get yourself all signed up!

So have you tried any of the above products before?  Anything you’re going to try?

* I received the above products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.  The opinions are my own.