Catching Up Part 237

So, if you've been reading my blog for a bit, you know I've been trying to catch up from all my shopping purchases.  It's not always easy to blog when you work full time and have children, so yes..sometimes I'm guilty of delayed posting.  But, I blog because it's relaxing, I enjoy the process and I enjoy the relationships I build with my readers who have similar interests! 

So, sometime in the summer, the day AFTER I had spent a small fortune at Sephora my sister wanted to go. I don't think she had been to Sephora at that point yet.  The store is possibly a year old in our city.  In any case, I didn't want to spend a lot of money and would get nothing, except...I'm a sucker for bins of cute little things by registers and lip gloss. :/  Anyways, so I just picked up this Roulette Gloss Trio by tokidoki.  From what I understand, tokidoki is being discontinued?  Anyways, this was $10.  Annnnd..basically, it was cute!

The names are equally cute!

This is Mozzarella...and HOLY geeze..he's holding a gun...never noticed that before.  Not a fan of firearms! Boo!

The colour is really pretty...

This is Hercolino. I really love shades such as this.

Isn't it pretty?

The final one is Coco Bella.

It's a really nice coppery colour.

Sephora is always cheap to me with their samples. This is the bumble and bumble shampoo/conditioner packets. My sister gave me hers because she's loyal to her Garnier Fructis, I believe.  I'm always willing to try new stuff. :) I'm not brand loyal for MOST things. Although, I am loving my Free Your Mane shampoo/conditioner!

So, while there I also asked for a Michael Kors sample.  I got it when I shopped last time and I loved it so much, I was greedy and wanted another. I have since bought this...and it's probably my favourite perfume...EVER!

It wasn't that empty..I just used it that much before actually taking a picture. ;) I love when the samples have the sprayer.  This one doesn't even leak! ;)

Before my sister and I went on our little excursion..she gave me a whole goody bag of stuff.  She often clears out and gives me what she doesn't want to keep.  Look at all this stuff! :D

I know this is kind of a weird thing...like who gives away shaving cream? Well... my sister, no word of a lie..prefers the old soap and razor!  Well, since I basically use Gilette shaving gel, I was totally happy not to have to buy another bottle! :D

I think my sister, her name is Basia (Barbara in English, which isn't her preference!) by the way, really like Clinique.  So, when she gets too many gift with purchases, she doesn't turn into a hoarder like I do. :P  Anyways, she gave me 3 of these rinse-off foaming cleansers.  I love washing my face with products specific to the face!

In the pile was also the liquid facial soap.  Seriously, cannot have enough of this type of product!

This is the moisture surge extended thirst relief.  This is perfect for dry Winnipeg winters.

She also bought these nail polishes.  I think the colours weren't what she expected.  Also, she said she's not the best at applying polish.  I think it's just one of those things where you've painted your right hand when you're right handed enough times, it gets easier. :)  My sister is also a postal worker, so it's possible her polish would chip quick anyways.

This...totally makes me LOL.  Even my sister who doesn't subscribe to beauty boxes didn't want these!  I bet between all the ones I've received I ended up with a full size bottle. :P  I actually really liked this cream!

Finally, she gave me one of these to try.  It's a Ted Gibson Hair Sheet.  It's a single use styling sheet/hair polishing towelette.  I've never heard of these before and I think she said they're pretty pricey. I'm totally scared to use it up.  On the back it says it helps to calm frizzies, refresh and add incredible weightless shine.  Sounds cool right?  Now you're all going to want to know about it and I'll be pressured to review it! ;)

Well, there you have it! Expect more posts of me catching up to come!  I really want to get through my summer/fall stuff!  I'm almost through with summer. ;)

I hope you're all having a great week!

XO
~A

BH Cosmetics Neutral and Smoky Palettes

As I move along, trying to get caught up on posts I'm going to take you WAY back to an order I placed on July 29 of last year!  This was a Weekend Steal from BH Cosmetics.  Back in the summer they were having tons of deals.  I imagine that sales may be a bit slower during the summer months while people are out vacationing.  In any case, the steal was for two 28 colour palettes. The Smoky Eyes Edition and the Neutral Eye Shadow. I only had the larger 120 shadow palettes and the narrow palettes, so I was really looking forward to picking up these ones as each pot is a little bigger than the 120 palettes.  

The first palette is the 28 Color Palette. It normally retails for $18.95.  I payed $10. Watch the site for sales...there is *always* sales.

This is the palette in its entirety.  It's a beautiful mix of nudes in both shimmers and mattes.  Each one is about the size of a loonie, so a fair size! The sparkley ones are a mix of shimmers and glitters.

These colours represent the first 4 across and 3 rows down. I love the first 3 along the left...they're sparkly of course! ;)

These are the top 3 furthest to the right.

These are the bottom row and 3 furthest to the left.

These are the bottom 3 rows and they are the 4 furthest to the right. Some absolutely gorgeous colours here as well. I love the two in the middle row on the left and the sparkly black one on the bottom right.

The other palette I got was the 28 Colour Palette Smoky Eyes Edition. It normally retails for $21.95.  I payed $10 for it..but it is 40% off right now for $13.17! Great price!

Wow...look at all these pretty colours!! I know that the red may look a bit out of place, but I've been noticing that a lot of smoky palettes are including the red!  You can see there is again a nice variety of mattes and shimmer!  Lots of colours that are easy to use! :)

These are the first four of the first two rows on the left.  That green is just begging to be used! :D I also adore that pink that is second in on the bottom row!

These are the 3 on the right of the first two top rows! More gorgeous colours!

These are the first four on the left of the 2 bottom rows.  I'll admit the red terrifies me but all the purples I can't resist!  They are so pretty!  Especially, the bottom row, 3rd one in! OOOH!

These are the 3 on the bottom two rows of the left side of the palette.  That first top blue is stunning! The bottom middle colour looks really gold here, but it's a black with gorgeous gold shimmer! Can't wait to try it out!

So, there you have another two palettes from BH Cosmetics.  I love the company they have really good products for the price.  Definitely, way better than ELF!  Have you tried these palettes and/or have you shopped at BH yet?  I'm a huge fan and have a LOT of their products!  I probably don't need to buy anything from them for a long while! ;)

I hope you're enjoying your weekend!

XO
~A

Nailed It! Friday - Revlon Moon Candy

Today, I am sharing with you the unique Nail Art Moon Candy from Revlon. It's a 2 sided nail polish. One side is a creme colour polish and the other side is a glittering 3D effect polish.  This particular one is called Orbit.

The particular shade of purple is gorgeous.  I LOVE deep regal purples.  It's darker than an eggplant, and it can't be mistaken for black.  I know that it's hard to tell from the pictures, but it's definitely a purple! The purple (side 1) goes on like a dream and is opaque in one coat. It dries relatively fast and it's so easy to work with.  I'm so super impressed!

The glitter isn't really a flakie like it may first appear.  I would say it's more like shaved ice...a thick iridescent plastic.  I will say that it is insanely gorgeous to look at both in the bottle and on the nail.  Unfortunately, it's not the easiest to work with at all! My accent nail has 3 coats of patient applying. It's very hard to get the flakes on the brush and when you do the liquid is perhaps a little too liquid and they slip off or you only get the liquid on your nail and not the flakes.  What I ended up doing is taking out the brush, dipping it right down the middle and pulling it straight up.  Then I ran one side of the brush along the edge of the bottle to press out as much liquid as I could.  I then swept my nail with a light hand.  It would really work best by dividing your nail into 3 sweeps while doing this, instead of trying to put on one full coat each time. As disappointing as this was to work with I am happy with the final result, however.

Here is a closeup of the gorgeous flakes.

Here I took the picture against mu comforter so you can see that it's a really deep regal purple.  The colour really is too beautiful for words.  And, again... I can't say enough how beautifully the purple colour went on and amazing that it was this opaque in ONE coat! You can see how pretty the glitter is here!

Here is the look, again!  As frustrated as I was with the glitter...I will definitely be using it again and I will consider purchasing another colour.  I'm particularly interested in trying the gray with the pink flakes.  With patience, this look can be achieved.  If you have little patience you may want to pass on Revlon's Moon Candy!

Well, that's it! I'm super tired so I'm going to bed early tonight! I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

XO
~A

Topbox - January Edition

So, if you are a Topbox member you know that there have been some exciting changes.  How convenient that these changes occurred right after we received a bit of a sad December box. lol.  Anyways, for 2013 they told us they are switching things up.  They are offering a new service called Privé. What that means is that it will contain one exclusive brands product in that box.  

So, for January, all subscribers were introduced to this.  They let us know it would be an iconic brand and one that has not been in the Topbox in the past. For future boxes some months will be a standard Topbox and other months we will have a choice. Now, we all received emails for February's box.  We had a choice of creating a Wishlist of 3 brands.  It included Benefit, Lippy Girl and Ten10 I believe? I could be wrong on the last one.  Or, you could not select anything and stay with the regular Topbox.  Now, I find this wishlist survey was kind of pointless because you won't be guaranteed ANY kind of box and you can select as many boxes as you want.  I can see the calamity in all of this happening especially after how smoothly Luxe Box's First In Line program works. :P

Anyways, the iconic brand featured in Topbox for January was Clinique.  I wasn't overly thrilled, but it is a good brand and we did get good samples.  The items came in a special Clinque box.  I'm not sure if there was an option for a environmentally friendly box.

WEBSITE: Clinique

Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle & UV Damage Corrector. Full size $86 for 50mL. Sample size 7mL valued at $12.04.

The description says, "A second chance for skin against sun damage and wrinkles. At 12 weeks, the visible wrinkle-reducing power is remarkably close to a dermatological laser procedure. 63%, to be exact."

I really like the idea of the product.  I've only some fine lines on my forehead and under my eyes, so perhaps I can spot use it. Although, there is a separate cream for the eye area, so not sure I'll be able to use it for that yet.  I wish they included that instead because I think most of us, the first signs of aging occur around the eye area.  The unfortunate part is that the product doesn't come with directions, so I will have to check on their website for how to properly use it.

Look HERE for some before and after pictures!

Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3. Full size $27 for 400mL. Sample size 30mL valued at $2.03

This is part 2 of a 3 step program. Probably, wash, tone, moisturize. Again, I'll have to check to see if this works like a toner.  I find it funny that it's called a lotion but it's liquid.  I'm still on the hunt for that perfect toner and I think this one is quite reasonably priced, so if it's really good i will look into buying it!  Again, I'll have to check the website for details!  Topbox, if you're listening please include some directions with products when there is none on the packaging!

Rinse Off Eye Makeup Solvent. Full size $25 for 125mL. Sample size 60mL valued at $12.00.

I'm always excited to try eye makeup removers!  One of my favourites is the Lancome one, so we'll see how this one compares.  This is quite the generous sample so that's pretty exciting!  I notice it doesn't have any oil in it.  Or not really that much where you would have to shake it up.  I generally find that the ones with oil do work a bit better..we shall see, right? :)

Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in 02 like mink. Full size $25 for 2.5g. Sample size 1.6g valued at $16.00.

I made a bad choice of photographing things on my comforter! Especially, this mirrored compact case!  I really like mirrored palettes to look at when they're new but they sure get messed up with oily fingerprints quick! So it goes from looking sleek to sloppy quickly!  Not really an issue..just mentioning since it was hard to photograph! It is handy to have as a mirror, though! ;)

It comes in one of those slide out cases like most of the Clinique gift with purchases.  Inside are two nude colours.  I know it kind of looks pink here but it's more of a taupe and a brown.  Both are a little bit shimmery and I love that.  It's a decent sized sample and I'm really happy with the colours!  I wish makeup companies would save the environment and stop including the spongey applicators that no one uses anyways!

Here are all the products together, a nice little lot!

The total of the box is $42.07 which is a great deal consider I payed $12 plus tax for the box, a little over $13.  I wasn't OVERLY excited about the products but it is a good box and a step in the right direction for Topbox.  What did you think?

Let's all celebrate because the weekend is almost here!!!

XO
~A

Julep - December Edition

Today, I am bringing you my December Julep Maven box.  This one is going to be picture heavy.  If you're a frequent reader of my blog you know I gravitate to anything sparkly!  Well...December was THE BOSS of sparkle!  I had to upgrade to the whole box AND get add ons! The add ons were not any of the box colours.  I about died!  These colours in person are phenomenal!  If you want to upgrade to a full box (all that months products) it's an extra $30.  Well worth it in my opinion!  This is what my December box looked like MINUS the 3 add ons that came separately!

As usual they put in a little quote. I like to keep these and tuck them away for inspiration.

Now..on to the FUN part...the colours!

Hilary - full coverage, copper multi-dimensional glitter.

Patti - full coverage, black multi-dimensional glitter.

Vivien - full coverage, multi-dimensional gold glitter. Dubbed, "Champagne Bubbles."

Scarlett - vibrant red micro-glitter metallic.

Harper - full-coverage opalescent mermaid blue multi-dimensional glitter.

Petra - cranberry magenta with silver shimmer.

Barbara - full-coverage, magenta multi-dimensional glitter.

Ivy - dynamic sapphire micro-glitter metallic.

Cindy - emerald green with gold micro-glitter metallic.

Julia - purple orchid with golden micro-glitter metallic.

Jordan - full-coverage, silver gunmetal multi-dimensional glitter.

These are the 3 colours that I chose as add ons.  There were 5 to choose from.  I went for the sparkliest, of course!

Colbie - full coverage, citrine green muti-dimensional glitter.

Sharon - dark, bold red shimmer.

Carly - full-coverage malibu blue multi-dimensional glitter.

Here are all the 14 colours in their beautiful sparkling glory!  They're almost too pretty to put away, non?!

Included as the product was the Instant Warming Foot Scrub. It's cucumber mint scented and warms up on contact! The bottle is 103ml. Can't wait to try it.

They also included 5 packets of the One Step Polish Remover Pads.  I can't wait to see how well these work compared to some of the others on the market. *coughI'mlookingatyoulafreshcough*

They, also included a little goodie for us for Christmas.  It is a create your own cabochon ring!

Rather than typing out all the instructions, you can see it here on the card they provided:

One size fits all! I haven't done anything with it yet, because I don't know what to do and I don't want to mess it up! lol

I love when they include sweet treats! I've never heard of these mints before...but they were semi hard almost spongey...odd texture but I LOVED it! Now, I probably will never have it again because I wouldn't know where to get it, lol!

This was my whole box!  It was probably my favourite to date!  It's so pretty and colourful!  What do you think?

I've skipped Julep for January nudes and neons.  I'm trying really hard to cut back on how much I'm buying because I can't use it fast enough.  Of course, after I saw girls unboxing them I had the opposite of buyers remorse...except I didn't buy anything. :P

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and we'll see you really soon with my Topbox unboxing!

XO
~A