In case you haven’t been reading this blog from the very beginning, you should know the end of December marks my one year blogging anniversary. You have roughly 180 posts to catch up on. Get busy. You should probably call into work tomorrow. Pretty sure this is a legitimate reason. And nothing to do with a New Year’s Eve hangover.

Here’s my Blush Mystery Beauty Box:

Is it just me or did Blush send this exact same Klorane shampoo with Desert Date in their October box? What the hell, Blush? You couldn’t space out your repeats? I mean, I literally got this two months ago. That’s not near enough time for me to forget about it. On a positive note, I like this shampoo so I’m completely fine with getting another bottle. It’s just weird, that’s all.

I’m currently making my way through the one I got back in October. The smell is luscious. I don’t know what Desert Date is, but it’s glorious. Now there is no conditioner that goes with this shampoo, but it’s so moisturizing that it gets a pass. I’d use this for the rest of my life if I didn’t like to try new stuff all the time. It’s a nice simple shampoo with great smell and softness. Approved! Put it in your basket.

Got this Paula’s Choice Shine Stopper and I got excited immediately. I have been looking for that holy grail product that would keep my t-zone oil under control. This one, however, is a little different from your typical foundation primer. You apply it after your foundation but before your powder. Kind of strange, sort of feels wrong, but the result is oh so right. It sucks the oil off your face like this magical oil sucking machine. Your skin is left powdery soft and gently matte for much longer than normal. But It doesn’t keep the oil from coming back completely although it’s the closest thing I’ve ever tried.

In case you’re wondering, I still hate perfume. I haven’t grown a bit this year as you can clearly see. This Clean Shower Fresh smells good though. Notes are lemon, mandarin, jasmine, orange blossom and musk. It definitely has a fresh, clean scent. I would not be opposed to smelling like this. If I wore perfume. Which I don’t. This paragraph (and this point) is MOOT. Nexxxxxt.

Got a cute little Cargo eyeshadow single in the shade Oz which is – you guessed it – a yellowy gold. It’s a pretty decent eyeshadow. Nice color; nothing too unique, though. Best thing about this, however, is the adorable little tin it’s housed in. I’d buy just about anything if you put it in a tin. A tin makes everything a better and cuter. Well, except for sardines. I draw the line at sardines. Nothing’s helping sardines unless you replace them with chocolate and then sardines are pretty darn cute. With or without the tin.

What is my point? I dunno. The eyeshadow is alright and I’ll go ahead and keep it. Moving on.

But then I got this Lip Fusion Plump and Shine lipstick in the shade Babydoll. Gotta love that code word “plumping” because if you know anything at all about makeup, you’d know that plumping lipsticks are fantasies. They are not real things. They are leprechauns and unicorns. They are Bigfoot and and the Loch Ness Monster. They are cellulite creams and diet pills. You get my drift. But if you are interested in a basic lipstick with a bit of gloss and peppermint tingle, then by all means, have at it. I didn’t find it particularly interesting so I’ve passed it along to my daughter who loves just about anything that’s free (even sardines).

Not that receiving a body lotion is too exciting or anything but I do like this Ahava one. It has a very nice, clean scent. Consistency is slightly better than thin but definitely not thick or rich. Sinks in pretty quick though, so that’s nice. I don’t hate getting samples like this because I know I’ll use them. Sort of the equivalent of getting a box of tampons as a Christmas gift – maybe slightly better. Both useful things, but nothing to trip over your own feet to get to. Trust me, I’ve done that before. It hurt, but it was Chanel so entirely worth it.

Now what in Sam Hell am I supposed to do with this Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse golden shimmer dry oil? I am 40 dadgum years old. Am I off to the school dance? Am I bar hopping with my 22-year-old friends? Am I headed to a New Year’s Eve party with all the other cool people? Sadly, no. None of those things. I am sitting home blogging about how I’m never going to use this golden shimmer dry oil because golden shimmer and pajamas look weird together. Like, I’m pretty sure that’s how crazy starts, and I’m trying to push that moment off for several more years.

Now for one product I do love is this Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen eyeliner in Teal. Ugh. It’s so creamy and vibrant. Really really lovely. Wouldn’t mind having a few more of these. You know, to go with the 17 Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners I already own. Well! If you’re going to hoard makeup, do it properly. I’ve only used this on my upper eyelid, so the real test will be if it’ll stay on my waterline as good as my Sumita eyeliner that I cherish and adore. I probably should have tested that out before I wrote this post. Well, I am nothing if not professional.

Perhaps the weirdest thing I got in the box is the Keranique Scalp Stimulating Shampoo. At first I’m like, oh yeah another shampoo. Not exciting, but still useful. Then while copying the link to the product to post in the blog, I see it is one of those infomercial products, and that it helps regrow hair. Mmmmmmm, k. I’m just gonna go ahead and toss this one in the bin. If you wanna know if it works, just read the ad.

Last thing in the bag is this Avene Cleanance soapless cleanser. I’ve used this a couple of times and have officially decided it is the liquidy gel version of Dial bar soap. Has a bar soap smell, isn’t really moisturizing. But it gets you pretty clean. Foams up really really good too. It’s a good soap for oily skin as it helps control sebum production (science!) and refines pore size. So technically, this should be my holy grail cleanser. They sent me a full size bottle so perhaps by the end of it, I will be able to deem it just that.

All in all, I feel like Blush was raiding their samples bins for leftover products that they needed to get rid of. We didn’t even get product cards like we usually do – I had to research on my own how to use some of these things (tragic). I am seriously on the verge of canceling, I think. I’m giving it one more month to straighten up.

That’s it, friends. This is my last post of 2014. Hope it’s ended on a high note for you. And that you’ll come back next year for more fun stuff. And by next year, I mean TOMORROW, just to be clear. Happy new year, y’all!