Loose Button Luxe Box: January 2012

My Luxebox just arrived today and I am so surprised and happy because

*drum roll* 

There were two boxes! ^_^ Happy 2012 indeed~ Here goes!

combined goodies

they came in 2 boxes with the Bath and Body box in white!

Luxebox January 2012

Luxebox special Bath and Body edition

two cards~ there was too much empty space so I decided to place the little note on the price card...

Bonus: Seattle's Best Coffee... Don't they know that Canadian's only drink Tim Hortons?? JK ^_^

NYX eyeshadow in Toffee Shimmer (a gorgeous silvery white) Full size = $5

Chi Silk Fusion

Yves Rocher Rouge Dragée Lipstick in Frambroise Sorbet. Full size = $5

Mini Chloé collectible (sooo happy for another one! XD)

I got more than my subscriptions worth this month and I actually like the things I got. This is definately an A for me! It would have had a plus if I wasn't so sad (at the time) about the "Reserve your product" thing. I saw the email 1 hour after it was received and the two things I wanted were already all out... I'm also a very tiny bit disappointed about something else, the trend of no candies this year :( On a brighter note, I cannot wait to try these things out! Look forward to my updates (if I am not too lazy!) 

What did you get this month?! Share your link/review with me ;)

Update [30/01/12]:

Due to being a lazy person, I won't be creating a separate post for the newly acquired NYX eye shadow in Toffee Shimmer, so I decided to tag this along this post. 

NYX e/s in Toffee Shimmer

Alright. I did some swatches this weekend of my new e/s and I just thought I'd share with everyone. The first swatch is actually of NYX Jumbo eye pencil in cottage cheese, 2nd swatch is of toffee shimmer on the jumbo pencil and the last is toffee shimmer by itself.

with flash

no flash

The color of this eyeshadow is very pretty and shows up on it's own (without primer or base). The texture of the shadow is too soft (I ruined one of the pyramids on first use) and there is also a lot of fallout (my face was completely covered in shimmer.) I'm not sure if I'd purchase a NYX e/s if they are all like this since the glitter took a lot of effort to get off my face. 

FOTD: January 26, 2012 + mini mascara comparison

It's been a while since I did a FOTD~ It's a lazy day for me since my face is completely naked (hence all the blemishes~) I did however apply a blush to add some colour to my cheeks. What do you think?

I went crazy! My lips are misbehaving again, so I was ecstatic when the picture turned out ok.. haha..

Products used:
Smashbox eye shadow palette in Monarch
Smashbox limitless liquid liner pen in dark brown
Tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Blissful <-- currently my fave blush!
Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Tutti Fruitti
Nars Larger than life volumizing mascara in black(on right lash) and MAC Plush Lash in Brownette (on left lash)... I wanted to do a quick comparison and here are my findings:

• The color of the two mascara looked virtually identical. 
• Lashes with Nars mascara is softer than those with the MAC mascara, although the MAC ones were not that hard. 
• Formula for MAC mascara was more volumizing than that of Nars which actually felt more like a lenghtening mascara. The lashes with MAC mascara looked fuller and more dense, whereas lashes with Nars were longer and more spidery
•  Lastly, not my finding, but ze man-friend told me that the Nars actually held the curls better than MAC did... how can I miss that?

Would like to apologize for no close up pictures, the ones that I took did not turn out well... I blame both camera and my short Asian lashes! 

Hope you enjoy my randomness~ Until next time!

Love it or Leave it

Hello pretties~ Just wanted to share with you some products I've been using lately...

please just ignore that eyelash... just pretend it's not there... I tried to get rid of it, but somehow it stayed on the photo.... I wonder how it got there... hm... (did I get you looking? haha)

EOS Everyday Hand Lotion (44ml) - First off,  I got this at Walmart while I was in the states for $3 USD, but then I recently saw them being sold at Pmall for $8CAD (!?) Overall, I think that the packaging is very cute and unique. I like that it is compact and not scented but as a lotion, I don't really think that it is moisturizing enough. For about the same price in the states I can pick up a 88ml lotion from Bath and Body Works that actually does its job. I'd say, Leave it!

Penguin Socks - This is the best $2.99 ever spent on socks! Keeps my feet warm when it's cold inside (my room is on top of the garage = extra cold) They were on sale at Rexall a while ago... should have picked up an extra pair. These are great for hardwood floor because they have these slip proof bottoms that are perfect for accident-prone people (aka me!) Love it!

Blistex Lip Medex -  I had to abandon my Jack Black since it was a bit too thick at times, so my little brother (who is 25 btw) introduced me to this great product that can be found find at your local drugstore/Walmart and half the price... <3 little brother~ I was surprised that I am enjoying the minty-ness and that I did not mind sticking my fingers in the tube (pet peeve!!) But I did end up getting the stick version as well (Thanks Daisy!!) Now I can use this baby at work without constantly going to wash my hands before application~ :) Love it!

Sugar-Free Peppermints by Little i - The mint were good to keep bad breath away, but my favourite part of this tin is the little mirror on the inside. It is great for on-the-go and is the perfect companion for liptsick (or in my case lipbalm) application~ Plus the little penguin is just too cute. Love it! (btw, did you notice a reoccurring theme??)

While I'm at it... let's bring some chocolate into the mix!

Rondoletti chocolate - I do not normally 'love' chocolate, but this 'luxury cream wafer' is delicious! It's crunchy on the outside, but creamy chocolate inside~ Great to have with tea or when you need a quick chocolate fix~ Love it! 

Biotherm Lait Corporel (125ml)- Let me start off with letting you know that I do not hate this product, it's just because at this price tag... 'I've had better' (anyone notice the quote from True Lies??~~) This product does moisturize your skin and has a fresh citrus smell, which could be a bit overwhelming if you are sensitive to smell. It comes out more watery and does not feel sticky after it applies. It's a decent body lotion, I just prefer my daily moisturizing lotion by Aveeno~ Leave it! 

Asian Makeup~~

I went to Pacific mall on CNY weekend... Crazy right? Surprisingly, there were not too many people actually shopping (although finding a parking spot was nearly impossible...) I was there shopping with Auntie looking at random things, when I bumped into the following items that were hard to resist! (BTW this is my first time trying Asian makeup, so hopefully it works out!)

There was a nice little boutique opened by a Korean lady at Pmall D#38, that sold many Korean products! I fell in love with some Missha blushes and ended up purchasing two of them. I got M shimmer blending ball blusher in No. 2 Peach Glow, and M show powder blusher in Heidi. Both blushes smells like baby powder, which is not all that unpleasant. Peach Glow gives a very natural glow look that is subtle and beautiful, whereas Heidi gives a more youthful/playful look. Both blushes have fine glitter particles, however the ones in Heidi is more obvious. I haven't tried on either one except for at the store so I'm not sure their lasting power, however I found that they were decently pigmented on clear white skin but did not show as well on my hands. Will take pictures of them once I wear them out ^^

At Debbie's I had also picked up these cute peaches (one lipbalm and one body lotion.) They smell so delicious that I just want to take a bite out of my hand... ugh... not very pleasant imagery... haha... but seriously, they smell and look like they are edible! Moisturizing factor? who cares! They will make excellent ornament when I'm done! (ha!)

I also finally cave into these!

Yeps, its a piece of velcro that you are suppose to put it on your hair and keep your hair from falling into your face and interfering with your makeup/skincare routine... Unfortunately, I have very hard, thick hair and this does not seem to work very well on me :( Should have stuck to my self made velcro piece!

Last thing I got (but not from Debbie's) was an eyeliner by Koji. The CSR told me that it's one of the best waterproof/sweatproof eyeliner. I have high hope for this one, let's hope it lives up to expectation! I'll put swatches up as I use these new goodies :)

update ** swatches of eyeliner

As you can see, this eyeliner is capable of both thin and thick lines, however you need to have a steady hand. I find that the product does not budge immediately after it is applied, so if you make a mistake you cannot correct it easily. I will put up a comparison picture of the different eyeliners I'm using.. as soon as I take them ^_^

and btw... Happy Year of the Dragon, may your wishes come true! (^vv^)

Glymm box: January 2012

No candies this month =( does this mean no more treats, ever?! I guess it just made this box even more "meh"~~ I feel that when you get spoiled with something and it's taken away from you then it just ruins the goodness of it as a whole... Anyways, let's move onto the box~

January Glymm box 

Product/Price card~

2 x (7ml) Burt's Bee Milk & Honey Body Lotion (170g @ $12.99) I like to try this, but I really hate the tear away one time use packaging. I will probably transfer this product into a separate container~

 I thought that the Kaia Naturals cleansing cloths has really cute packaging(good marketing!!) It's also really nice to see the cruelty-free bunny on the top~ This is a facial cloths that boast to cleanse, tone and remove makeup~ At full price, 30 sheets goes for $17.99.

Vasanti Brighten Up! This is one of the products I am looking froward to trying~ :) It boasts to improve skin texture to reveal softer, brighter and younger looking skin~ We will see~ ^^

Anastasia Clear Brow Gel, I've used this before and I'm glad to see it in my Glymm box this month (now I will have one for on the go!)

Cargo Cosmetic Eye Pencil in Black (yay! another black eyeliner... except... so far they have all smudged on me... should I even bother trying?)

Final thought on this month's Glymm? B- it's not a bad box, but I'm just not crazy about anything in particular, although I do find the Kaia cleansing cloth intriguing~ I am a bit sad about the absence of jelly beans (cuz I really like the candy and the small bottle it came in...)

-------------

Update:

I tried the Cargo eye pencil and I loved the application, it was smooth and did not pull, unfortunately it smudges too easily on my water line~ will give it another go to see if I can keep it from turning me into a raccoon...

Hautelook haul from 2011 (Stila, UD and the Balm)

Before I knew I was going to put a limit on my makeup shopping (of course...), I made all these purchases on Hautelook~ None were things I really needed, but the price were too good to resist... so here goes!

From UD I got the Cowboy Junkie set ($24) and two 24-7 glide-on eye pencil in Dime and Baked ($2 each).

From the Balm, I got blushes in Down boy and Cabana boy ($10.50 each)~

And finally during the Stila sale, I got the Artist palette ($10), an eyeshadow pan in 14 karat ($7), and two smudgestick eyeliner in Koi and Silver Dollar ($8 each)~

was extremely excited to get this so that I can add to my Unii palette :)

When I saw this palette I knew it had to be depotted... first off, I could not close the cardboard flap thing after I took it out. Second the gaps between the palettes really bothered me... and so... this happened.

I'm so happy that I am getting use out of the Unii palettes ^_^