Glymm April Box - April Flowers

I received my Glymm box last week.  I tried to stay off Facebook as much as I could, because I love to be surprised with these boxes.  I did see a lot (most) of the girls were really disappointed.  When I came home and picked up my box, I noticed it was extremely light.  I thought perhaps it was empty.

This is what the card looks like.  Of course on the back is the description of each of the products received.  I really appreciate these cards.

This is what my lot looked like.  I wasn't blown away, really.  But, I wasn't really angry either.  I figured I signed up for the service of receiving samples and that's what I'm getting.  There was a full size product in there, so it's not like the box didn't pay for itself.

First, I noticed this card that was in the box.  It was included as a bonus.  It's a $100 gift card towards styling tools and hair extensions.  I probably wouldn't get hair extensions and I already have a great flat iron and a great curling wand.  I've heard that even if you use the gift card, the minimum you'll spend is $50.  Now, that's not bad if you're getting a quality item.  I'll get around to checking it out and who know?!

The first product is Free Your Mane sulfate free hydrating shampoo and conditioner.  I know a lot of people don't like getting the shampoo samples.  It's true that these small samples don't give you a good idea of how the shampoos work, but I really like trying them because I have terribly frizzy and unmanageable hair!  I just wish they were bigger.  I could probably get 2-3 uses out of these packets.  My hair is about shoulder length but it's really fine.  I don't need a lot of product.  If I do, I start to get product flaking.

This product contains baobab oil from Africa, argan oil from morocco, pomegranate seed oil and sweet almond oil.  It's a plus it's all natural. Samples are 7.4ml each, full size is 300ml and retails for $16.00. Really seems like something I would enjoy, I just wish there was more!

Next is the Lucia soap.  You either received No.1 or No.6.  Obviously, I received No.1 which is goat milk and linseed.  I may have been more excited if I got the other one that was wild ginger and fresh fig.  The smell isn't something I really love.  I don't hate it.  I just can't decide if it bothers me or not.  Does that make sense?  I won't use it as a body soap because I prefer body wash, but I will use it as a hand soap in the washroom. 

These contain pure botanical extracts and are enriched with 100% certified organic shea butter.  Sample size is 1 bar @ 25g, full size is 8 bars and retails for $17.50.

Next was this little card in a glassine bag.

 When you flip it over you can see (can you see!?) a teeny tiny perfume sample.

This is Atelier cologne in orange sanguine.  A lot of people really love it, but I wasn't too big on it.  It smells just like a freshly peeled orange.  I gotta say I love that smell..but not so much in a perfume.  I don't really know what else to say about it.

The information states that each scent is intended to embody a singular moment of memory and experience.  I'm not sure about that...  The sample size is hmm a baby's tear...? The full size: 30ml reatails for $60 and the 200ml retails for $165!!! Did you hear that??? My jaw just dropped on the floor.  That's redic!!  I would never even pay that for my favourite perfume.  If I really loved this... I'd probably be asking for a 15ml for $30??? Even that would mean I really had to love it.  We'll see what happens with this sample.

Lastly, is the piece de resistance.  Did I say that right? lol.  It's a Mai Couture lip gloss.  I was super duper excited about this one.  Lipgloss is my favourite product.  I realize I have 100 tubes already but I love to rotate my glosses.  Moods, events..etc etc.  There was 1 of 5 you could receive and my colour was femme fatale.  I think it was one of the more pinkie ones, but it went on fairly nude.  It went on fabulously, I really like the colour but I was disappointed that it noticeably pooled in the creases of my lips. :(  If I had a lip primer I wonder if it would have made a difference.  I'm not giving up on this one yet.

Funny, thing it says this gloss fills in unwanted lines and restores moisture.  It contains a complex mix of plant extracts nautrally enhanceing lip volume.

This is a full size product and retails for $28.00!! Wha...?!

So, it appears they went for a "natural box" this month.  It wasn't super exciting but it wasn't all together the worst thing to land on my doorstep.  Then again, I may just be really easy to please.  (I hear I may sing a different tune when I get my beautybox 5? :()

That's all for now, what did you think of the April Glymm box?

Julep Order

A few weeks back, Julep had a promotion where if you buy a nail therapy you can get a free polish.  I did, I bought the nail therapy because I have peeling nails.  It's terrible.  I have used it about 3 times and my nails have gotten even worse.  Granted, I have stopped drinking milk and I'm not getting much other calcium.  My nutrition hasn't been the greatest since starting this job.  Basically, toast in the morning and then whatever my husband BBQ's in the evening with a green salad. NOT good.  So, I've completely trimmed my nails down and I'm focusing on getting more fruit, vegetables and calcium.  I'll continue using the nail therapy and we'll see where that goes.

As for my free polish, I chose Blake.  I love this colour.  It looks so buttery and summery.  However, it's a bit more sunshine yellow than I expected.  I was a bit bummed about that.  Nonetheless, I still like the colour and my daughter loves it.  I think I'm through a quarter of the bottle already.  It's a little bit thick and difficult to apply.

Since, I was already making an order I figured I would add a maven box to it.  I chose the It Girl Introductory box. It has changed since to different colours.  I chose the It Girl because it has 3 polishes instead of 2 polishes and a product. ;) The cost for the 3 was 19.99. The first colour is this beautiful Helena! It's not as bright as it appears here, it's a little darker.  I can't wait to try this one with a matte topcoat! Unfortunately, it looks like this colour may have been discontinued because I couldn't find it on their website! 

The 2nd polish is Melissa.  I'm neither here nor there with this colour.  I don't generally do colours that are used as a topcoat, which this would be best for.  I did try 2 coats and it gave me a nice sheen but it's pretty subtle. Stay tuned as I will have a "Melissa Giveaway" very soon.

 

 The last colour was Leah.  I was pretty excited about this colour, however it is quite a bit later and more of a sheer with sparkles.  Kind of the way Brooke is.  I haven't had a good chance to play with it, so we'll see.  It's still a very pretty colour.

Here are fairly true images of the colours I received.  Ahh..how pretty. :)  You can see the sheen and shimmer in some of the colours.

This is what the colours look on my nails.  You can click to zoom.  Sorry about the poor job I did..obviously the first one I bumped my nail.  The 3rd one (Helena) is only one coat and the last one Blake...obviously I was drinking vodka while painting my nail. ;)

I also received a tiny 2ml sample of the SPF 30 hand cream.  It's a one time use and I always forget about those! :)  However, since a lot of their non polish products are good, I imagine this one will be great too!

I'm almost caught up with my Julep posts.  I still have the mystery box ones to do.  I apologize at my slow posting, I'm fairly busy..and blogging is time consuming.  But, I really enjoy doing it! :)

Have a wonderful day!! If you've tried any of these colours let me know what you think!

~A

Olay Definity Intense Hydrating Cream - Review

Oh noooo....Blogger changed it's format!!! I hope I can figure this out?!

I found a sample of Olay Definity: Intense Hydrating Cream in a magazine.  For some reason, I always end up with TONS of samples and full size bottles of moisturizers, creams, lotions.... am I the only one?  Often times I find they're all kind of the same, and it's a bit of a boring product.

Anyhow, I tried this little sample packet and I got 3 or 4 uses out of it.  It smells gorgeous!  Not really like any cream I've smelled before.  It's a bit sweet, maybe faintly reminiscent of candy.  But, I can't get enough of it.  The first smell of it, brought me to a state of happiness.  It's amazing how smell can affect us!

 

The information on the back of the packets says: Olay Definity penetrates the skin's surface up to 10 layers deep and helps reverse the appearance of past damage comfing from beneath for a look that's highly defined - visibly smooth, luminous.

 

The cream is quite liquidy, but you don't need a lot.  I found that it did in fact make my skin appear more luminous, it was non greasy and it was a definite mood booster in the morning.  The cream made my skin feel satiny smooth.

 

I'm *so* pleased with this cream, I am planning on buying a full size container.  I scoped it out on ebay and managed to find it for about $17 CDN.  I will however check out Shopper's (my favourite cosmetics place!) to see if they have it.  They have quite a bit there, so I imagine they would.

 

Have you had a chance to try this cream?

~A

 

 

My first e.l.f. order!

I got my first order from e.l.f. and I went a little bit nuts. It's hard not to when the prices are cheap. Of course, in the back of mind I was thinking there's a reason they're cheap. Nonetheless, I got a variety of things to try. All the $1 items were free. You could add 10 $1 items into your cart and get them free. I was sure I did pick 10, but I think I only counted 8. I don't really have any reviews yet, so I'll try to limit myself to no opinions, because it's very picture heavy. I'll just list the item and price on the site. I'll post reviews as I try the products.

First, I just wanted to share this picture with you. When my husband makes the bed in the morning he puts this stuffed giraffe on it. Everyday the giraffe is in a different funny position. He was standing on his head yesterday..hehe! :)

**CLICK TO ENLARGE PICTURES**

This is all my makeup in the bag they sent it in:
Dramatic lash kit $1.00:
Natural lash kit $1.00:

Mascara primer $3.00:

Essential shine eraser $1.00:

This is what the sheets look like inside:

Tone correcting powder $3.00:

This is what the compact looks like, quite big!

The inside:

Shimmer sheets in pearl $3.00:

The inside, quite pearlescent:

High Definition Powder $6.00:

This is the container:

This is what the powder looks like, I haven't taken the plastic off:

Studio Cream Eyeliner in Punk Purple $3.00:

Mineral Eyeshadows in Innocent and Girly $3.00 each:

Here is what they look like out of the box:

Mineral Eye Brightener $3.00:

This is what it looks like inside:

Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal $1.00:

Brightening Eye Colour in Rocker $1.00:

Beauty School Beauty Book - Everyday Eye Edition $5.00:

Inside: (I don't think they have this one anymore?)

Beauty Book Eye Set - Smoky Eye Set $5.00:

Inside:

Eyelid Primer - Sheer $1.00:

Single Eye Shadow - Butter Cream $3.00:

Inside:

Zit Zapper - $1.00:

Eyebrow Stencils $1.00:

Brush Shampoo $3.00:

Body Shimmer - Cosmic Coral $3.00:

Matte Finisher Clear Nail Polish $2.00:

32 Piece Eyeshadow Palette - Warm $5.00:

This is the case:

Colours inside, not too excited:

Eyeshadow Palette - Smoky $3.00:

Inside:

Silverbox Duo Eyeshadow Collection $5.00:

1st Compact:

2nd Compact:

3rd Compact:

4th Compact:

Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette $10:

Inside:

A close-up:

Another view:

Minty Lip Gloss - Boston $3.00:

Glitter Gloss - Twinkle Pink $3.00:

WAIT?!?! Where's the gloss? My package came empty :(

I did email ELF and they said they would send me a replacement.

Here is what my booty looks like! FUN!!
Well, that's it. I'll come and review as I try stuff out. What do you have and what did you think? It's so easy to spend money here because everything is so cheap.

~A