Review/ Tea Sparrow April Subscription Box

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Tea Sparrow is North America’s first monthly tea club. They service both the tea industry and tea drinkers by hosting bi-weekly tea parties where local Vancouver members taste and score teas from around the world.

Each month, members receive the 4 highest rated loose-leaf teas: one each of black, green/oolong, rooibos and herbal and you can get roughly 35-40 cups of tea from this monthly subscription. All of their teas are free of artificial ingredients. They ship to Canada and the US and all shipping and taxes are included in the $20/month subscription fee for Canadian subscribers and its $30/ month for international subscribers. Members can pause or cancel their subscription at any time.

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Please note that I was provided the April box for free for a honest and sincere review.

If your looking for a fantastic gift to give a mom for mother’s day or any special day or just because you think she would enjoy this then I highly recommend this subscription.

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The teas arrive in a flat box so it will fit into a mailbox perfectly. Inside the box you will find a product card with a little note and on the flip side it tells you how to make the perfect cup of tea.

The teas in the April box are:

IMG_3108Clouds and Mist organic green tea, also known as ‘yunwu’, has a compelling aroma of smoky, citrus and vegetal. Its earthy taste, reminiscent of sweet, roasted artichokes, is well-rounded, with a slight note of toasted pecans.

I have to admit that I was a little unsure of this at first but after making it and trying it I have to say I really enjoyed it. I had a cup of it hot and then I made it into an ice tea. I think this is one of those teas that taste much better warm.

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Organic Cheery Fruit Tea. Honey brings out the flavours of this original blend. Lovely natural sweetness with a hint of orange.

I have to say this was another one I wasn’t sure about of the fennel bitter dark and drinking it I could taste a bit of it but once I added a little more honey it was fine. I enjoyed this and for me I thought it made a nice ice tea.

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Blood Orange Smoothie. This creamy blend of naturally caffeine–free South African red rooibos, orange, and vanilla is herbal bliss!

I think by far this was my favorite tea. It tasted much better with some additional honey to balance the taste out from the bitterness of the orange. My friend said that it smelled a little bit like a creamsicle. We tried them both as a hot tea and an ice tea and we both liked each one.

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Finally the last tea is Chocolate Blueberry Organic. This blueberry chocolate tea combines the maltiness of Assam black tea, the sweet aroma of blueberries, and a creamy chocolate finish. Add a touch of honey and it makes a wonderful dessert!

I was a little worried about this one because I have a slight allergy to blueberries and I wasn’t sure how I would react and I am happy to say that there was no issue with this and this turned into my absolute favorite tea this month. It was like a dessert in a cup when you add some honey to this. This was the perfect hot tea. I haven’t tried it as an ice tea yet but I will be.

This month there was some fruity flavors but that is okay for me because this week the weather has been HOT and it makes you want to start drinking some of those ice teas out on the deck and that is exactly what I did.

Do you like herbal teas? Ice tea? Is this something you would want to try?

 

Subscription Saturday/ Ipsy August Edition

One of the great things about going away on vacation is you do some re-evaluating. While I was on vacation I thought about my blog and what I wanted to do, how I wanted to do things, etc.

I want to include my book reviews, author events, book tours as usually but I also want to include other things that I really enjoy as well such as make up, hauls and beauty box subscriptions. In order to make that all work I decided that I really need to make a schedule and try to stick to it.

 
So for now until I can see how it will all look and go together I have decided that this new feature called Subscription Saturday will feature all my beauty box subscriptions on Saturdays only. Now there will be Saturdays I only feature one unboxing and sometimes it will be more then one.
 
Currently I am subscribed to the following: Ipsy, Lip Factory Inc, Beauty Box 5, Starlooks, Mademoiselle En Boite, Season’s Box (although I am thinking of canning this one because this box is always late and there always seems to be issues getting it) and The Soap Box (this one only comes out 4x a year) . Topbox is a guest post from a friend and she subscribes to the box and graciously does guest posts for me.
 
So you can expect to see the above unboxings on Saturdays. I am going to try and have them up early in the morning.
 
If you want to know more about ipsy please check them out online http://www.ipsy.com and I am including my referral link below in case you want to sign up as I would appreciate if you use me.
 

Join me on ipsy and subscribe to the Glam Bag! You get 4-5 beauty products every month delivered to your door, for just $10. Michelle Phan curates the bags! Check it out here: http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051evi8e4zxvu3

 
I have to say that at first I was worried about getting so many make up bags but after getting so many great bags I kind of like it. This months bag is a great back to school bag and its Ipsy Glamour Academy all over the bag. I really like the purple and gold.
One of the downsides to Ipsy is that you really don’t get a detailed product info card like in other beauty boxes. The reverse side of the card just tells you about the discounts you can get if you decide to purchase the item.
 
The other card talks about a promotion that Benefit and Ipsy are doing. This caused a lot of back lash from the Canadian ipsy subscribers because we were excluded from this. They were going to offer 1000 ipsy subscribers to have a house party with 9 girlfriends and send them glam swag bags so they can talk about the make up etc.
 
I have to admit I was disappointed because I am an ipsy subscriber and I do like benefit make up and these kinds of things turn me off companies. I would understand if we didn’t have benefit here in Canada but we do. So needless to say this has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
 
I have to admit that I am on the fence at times with ipsy and one bag I say I am going to cancel and then before I can they come out with an awesome product but even that lately is a bit of a disappointment because I never get them.
 
I have decided I am going to wait until after my December bag to decide what I am going to do about this.
 
Anyways I have rambled on long enough lets get into this months bag.
 
The first item I saw was Chella’s Dazzling Dark Brown Eyebrow color pencil.
 
This European-designed mechanical pencil has a creamy consistency that glides into place creating a beautiful, fuller looking brow. The fine tip allows you to create hair-like strokes and can also be lightly smudged for a more natural look.
 
This sells for $18 online
Not sure how I feel about this because I don’t color in my eye brows. I don’t know is this something I should be doing? It was creamy and went on nicely.
 
The next item I was thrilled to receive because lately I am a big BB/CC/DD cream person. I am always looking to try out new ones so I was thrilled to get this in my bag this month.
 Its Pacific Natural Skin Care “Alight” multi-mineral BB cream.
 
The Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream hydrates, primes, illuminates, and perfects leaving a sheer bare skin finish. Specialized mineral pigments instantly adjusts to your skin shade allows one color to work for many and can be built up for just the right amount of coverage. Your skin will look natural, dewy, youthful and radiant without looking like you are wearing heavy make-up.
This is a sample size of 10 ml and the full size is 30ml for $16.00
The scent wasn’t that strong and it blended into my hand really nice. I was worried because I thought it was too dark but its skin matching technology so you will always get the right coverage. It actually left my skin nice and soft while it was on,
The next item in the bag was this Pixi Lash Booster Mascara in Blackest Black. I don’t know what this is like because I didn’t open it yet. I am trying to go through my open mascara now so this will eventually get used.
 
This unique mascara truly boosts your lashes, giving them a “push-up” effect that lasts all day. The dense, rich formula coats lashes with maximum pigment, for long-lasting full color and the cone-shaped brush coats each lash evenly. Long lasting, smudge-free and waterproof.
It sells for 12.50 pounds
 When I pulled this out I wasn’t sure what it was at first until I turned it around. I love the packaging of the Noya Cherry Lip Balm. I have been wearing this since I got it and I love it. Its smooth and very moisturizing on my lips.It makes chapped fry lips nice and soft.
 The noya Lip Balm is a lightweight, all-natural formula that moisturizes, smooths, softens your lips and packs a full punch of flavor. And because it’s natural, you can lick your lips as much as you want – and trust us, you’ll want to often.

Glam Bag subscribers who receive this product will receive Cherry or Vanilla. I am so happy that I got the cherry because its fantastic and smells/taste just like cherry.

 
This sells for $3.99 and on the website they have found kinds original, cherry, vanilla and spermint.
 okay I have to admit I never heard of Michael Todd until I got the Jojoba Charcoal facial scrub. I have never tried an charcoal facial scrub. It says its good for all skin types and that it will remove dead skin cells, impurities and toxins from your skin. I am curious to try this out and to see what it will do for my skin.
 The Jojoba Charcoal Gentle Exfoliating Facial Scrub is formulated using the powers of Jojoba Wax Beads and Activated Charcoal. This mask effectively removes dead skin, impurities and toxins, but is gentle enough for sensitive and acne prone skin types. Jojoba Wax Beads provide gentle exfoliation without leaving microlacerations on delicate skin. Highly absorbent Activated Charcoal penetrates deeply into pores to draw out impurities and toxins. Also refines texture and encourages skin renewal, leaving skin smooth and refreshed.

Directions: After cleansing, apply to fingertips and lightly work in circular motions being careful not to over stimulate the skin. Follow with toner and moisturizer/serum.

This sells for $18.00
 
I have to say that overall I am really impressed with this months bag and I am sure everything will be used this month.
 
I am actually going to attempt to use up this months bag before I open next months bag because if not then I have all these products just sitting around not getting used. I think what I will do next month is at the end of my post share my thoughts on all the items I got from the bag.
 
What do you think? Anything you would want to try out?
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