It’s no secret that companies use the power of social media to get people to buy their stuff. They send out products to Influencers all the time in order to promote them via Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Facebook. So, if you ever do the rounds on any platform, you have probably seen at least one or two posts with  #gotitfree #complimentary #contest, etc.

I go on Instagram every day and I always intrigued by how all these people, who for all intents and purpose were just like me, just a lover of makeup, but by no means an Influencer. Yet, they got to try out these fabulous beauty products for free. I’m not talking about crap stuff either. I mean the really good, high-end products that cost a lot of money, like YSL, Lancôme, Becca, Bite Beauty, Hourglass just to name a few. So I did what any red-blooded beauty addict on a budget would do and downloaded the Influenster app.

Influenster, in a nutshell, is an app that relies on their users to provide products reviews on their site, while also using your influence in various social media platforms to promote certain products. Depending on how much power you carry across ALL platforms, they rate you on a scale of low to high, which when combined with how active you are on the app answering Snaps (products reviews across many categories) and your participation on their online campaigns, can get you the opportunity to receive a box to test out a product first hand.

These products are not exclusive to beauty either. You can be asked to test food, baby, pet, household or practically anything as long as you qualify. There is one catch though, once you do qualify to test a product, you are basically agreeing to give an honest and unbiased review of it on their app as well as on your social media platforms. So if you are one of those people who like your Instagram to have particular theme (i.e. only beauty related pics), if you are chosen to participate in a campaign that goes against your theme, then you have to suck it up and do it or quite possibly forfeit the ability to participate in any other future campaign.

Whatever, I like free stuff, so I am not picky.

Also, I don’t know how long it takes most people to qualify for a campaign, but I was on Influester roughly for about 4 months before I got my first VoxBox. I don’t have a very high social media presence. As it stands today, I rank at a medium, but I am very active on the app and do all my snaps and participate in any contest I qualify for. I’m fairly certain that increased my chances. Most of the time, I get an email with a survey letting me know I am on the short list for a box, but never actually qualify. I was beginning to feel slightly rejected and was having flashback to high school. So when I received notification that I was going to one of the lucky recipients of the Oasis VoxBox, I was stoked.

It took a little less than a week to receive my box and was surprised to find a variety of food and beauty products. Some of them where new to me, others I knew about. I did do my due diligence and tested each product out, sometimes with the help of my kids, and I completed each one of the “contests” (I don’t particular feel that it’s a contest, if you have to do it in order to finish your campaign, but potato/po-ta-toe) so that I could earn my badges and hopefully stay in the running to join another campaign.

In my Oasis Vox Box, I got the following:

Covergirl Vitalist Healthy Elixir Foundation – HUGE fan of this foundation. It’s actually been my go to foundation this summer and I was totally excited to add a full-size back up to my collection. It leaves the skin glowy and looking like actual skin. I don’t believe its full coverage, more like medium, but that works for me.

Eva NYC 10 in 1 Mane Magic Primer  – This was a “MEH” for me. I like that it’s an oil and that you can use it on wet or dry hair and even though it’s supposed to detangle, soften, nourish, control frizz, add shine, strengthen, protect your hair from heat, file your taxes and clean your toilet, I determined that it was really best as a heat protector more than anything else. It did in no way control the frizz. Huge props to EVA NYC though, they actually left a comment on Instagram post with suggestions on using it dry vs wet in an effort to control frizz. Love it when companies interact with their consumers

Vera Wang Embrace Perfume in Rose Buds and Vanilla and Periwinkle and Iris – I don’t know if you can tell the difference from drugstore perfume and department store perfume, but I can and this totally smelled like drugstore perfume. It totally lacked any undertones and the scent lasted a total of 2.5 seconds on me before it dissipated into thin air. Not to say that it didn’t initially smell pleasant, but it was short-lived. I would rather ask for free samples at Macy’s than pay $24 for this at CVS. Sorry, Vera Wang.

Aloha Peanut Butter and Jelly Protein Bar – Another full size treat in the Oasis box. I happen to have already tried Aloha bars and like them, but hadn’t tried the peanut butter and jelly version. It was ok. More peanut butter than jelly flavor, which was slightly disappointing, but nothing to complain about. I still prefer my Think Thin Bars, though.

Welch’s Fruit Rolls in Strawberry, Berry and Tropical Bunch – OMG, these were a hit with the kids! They love fruit roll ups, so were so excited to have these as a snack. I find that they are less chewier than regular fruit roll ups and actually tasted like flattened down Welch’s Fruit Snacks, which is A-OK with me. Tropical Punch was hands down my favorite flavor and I had to wrestle that one from the kids. Definitely a re-purchase for me… I mean the kids.

Evolution Fresh Cold Pressed Juice – No bottle was actually sent, but you did get a coupon which afforded you one free full-sized juice bottle. I was already familiar with this brand as they sell them at Starbucks, but I got mine at Target. I chose the Organic Sweet Greens and Ginger, which is tasty because it has apple juice in it, otherwise, I don’t think it would be quite as bearable to me. I’m not really a juice kinda gal. I hate drinking my calories.

Since I am pretty active in Instagram, I didn’t really feel like it was a chore to post my reviews and pictures, but my husband did comment that maybe it wasn’t worth the trouble to do all this work for a fruit roll up. I guess I can see his perspective, so this where you have to decide if it’s worth it for you. You do get about 2 months to complete all the tasks and document all your posts. Oh yes, my friends, Influenster doesn’t just take your word that you actually did you reviews. They verify all your posts and at anytime can disqualify you from the current campaign and any future ones, so let’s say you actually have a life, unlike me, then this might be a bit time-consuming and tedious.

Once again, no biggie for me. The most exciting thing I did today was take some excercise equipment to storage, so writing a review was actually refreshing.

Oh geez…LOSER!

So anyone else get a VoxBox. Did they get something really exciting or high-end. I hope that one day I can qualify for a Dior foundation or YSL lipstick because that’s shit’s expensive!!!!

Till next time, my friends!

Maritza