Wednesday, February 8, 2012

February Mini Haul

Hey everyone! Here's a mini haul that I did for this month on a few items I purchased myself or received as a gift! I'm off to Walmart tomorrow so I should have a few other goodies to show you guys.

I'm also going to try and do more videos, they seem to make life simpler for me haha, aside from always figuring out what to say! Let me know what you guys think!


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Latest Haul

Hey everyone, I so did a little shopping this past weekend and picked up a few goodies from Pharmaprix and Sephora. Here's what I got!

Duo Lash Glue in White - $10 at Sephora
Tweezerman Mini Nail Files - $5 at Sephora
Fresh Sugar Kisses - Free at Sephora since it was my birthday gift!
EOS Lip Balm in Summer Fruit - $4.29 at Pharmaprix
Quo Demi Lashes - $5.99 at Pharmaprix


January Glymm Box

Hey everyone, so I received my Glymm box in the mail for the month of January. While at first I wasn't all that impressed with what was inside, I believe it's safe to say that my opinion quickly swayed after using the products found inside the ever adorable pink box!



For those who haven't heard about Glymm, they're a site that offers you different sample sized products every month. Each box (one for each month) comes with an assortment of products that can range from makeup to nail polishes to even hand creams and lots lots more! Curious and want to find out more, check out Glymm's site here. Like I mentioned in a previous post, what I really like about Glymm and what makes them so different is the fact that you can not only buy the full sized products your testing on their website, but you can earn points which can be redeemed in their store too. An example being, every 100 points you accumulate is $10 you can spend in their online store. Amazing yeah? And it's not like it's really card to get the points either. One dollar per point, you get bonus points for subscribing and getting friends to join, and with each box you get surveys to take which give you even more points. The surveys are really neat too because they're about what you though of the product and more.

Now on to the goodies! In this month's January box there were five items:
Kaia Naturals - Juicy Bamboo Facial Cleansing Cloths - 30 cloths/ $17.99
Vasanti Cosmetics - Brightenup! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator - 120ml / $34.00
Anastasia Beverly Hills - Clear Brow Gel - 0.28 oz / $21.00
Burt's Bees - Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion - 170g / $12.99
Cargo Cosmetics - Eye Pencil - 2g / $16.00

At first I was a little put off by these cleansing cloths because of the smell. I get that they have all of these juicy vitamins and what have you..but the smell? It wasn't all that pleasant... But these cleansing cloths did redeem themselves! They took off all of my makeup, mascara and raccoon eyes included and left my face feeling refreshed and hydrated before applying my moisturizer. One little cloth packed quite a punch. Now as interested as I was in wanted to buy them once I'm done using my current Ponds makeup remove wipes, I noticed the price for 30 of them and that quickly turned me off from them. $17.99 is a little excessive for wipes that will last me a month. I can't justify spending about $20 a month of face wipes...nope can't do it.


Weird name and a little bottle and I wasn't sure at first sight what exactly this product was supposed to do for me. Fancy name aside, it's a scrub like the St. Ives Apricot Scrub or even the Queen Helene Mint Scrub. The particles are a lot smaller when compared to the Queen Helene bottle I tend to favor, but it did leave my cheeks feeling nice and buffed after using it. This product wasn't a big wow item for me, but it did give me good results and I did end up liking it in the end. The major downside to this product is the price. $34.00 for a tube is more than what I'm willing to spend on a face scrub. I think I get my Queen Helene for something around $4.00....sames results and it costs me $30.00 less. Though if you wanted to spoil yourself and had the money to splurge a bit, I would recommend this if you wanted to try something new in your skin regime.

Ugh okay..first off the smell is really terrible. Bees wax, milk and honey is not a pleasant scent and especially when the products smell lingers on your skin for an extended period of time, it gets to be overwhelming. The moisturizer itself is amazing for a body lotion and my arms and legs greatly appreciated it's effects...but the smell is just so off putting that I gave the second sample of this product away. My nose just wouldn't take it!

I've tried one of these clear brow gels from Anastasia before and I have to say that I enjoyed it. I didn't use it much and thus I'm not going to be using this sample much either. But hey, when I do decide to do something with my brows I'll be sure to reach for this little tube! I've tried the eyebrow pencils from Anastasia before and I really like her line. Again, it's a bit on the pricey side, but if you want a really good high end product for your brows I definitely recommend checking out Anastasia products!

This little pencil is a full sized product that came in the color Wood which is #18. It's a really cute brown which seems to have some grey undertones mixed in. It's a bit on the light side but I find it great for accenting my green eyes. The shade is perfect for mixing with an every day look when I'm looking for something on the softer side and nothing super edgy. The pencil glides on nicely and though it's not as creamy when compared to the texture of my Stila liner, it still applies nicely without having to do multiple passes before seeing any results. For the size of the pencil it's pretty expensive, though mind you I do like to splurge on my Stila pencils....but that aside, the shade itself is different from other brown pencil liners I've seen before and that might factor into purchasing it. If someone knows of a cheaper dupe let me know! I wouldn't pay for another one of these liners but if I get it in my Glymm box or as a sample I won't say no!


January Favorites

Hey everyone! For the month of January I've been testing out a few products that range from beauty to hair care and these are the ones I really liked. I also have my latest Glymm Box which I'll write another post about. I'm not as excited about this months variety of products as opposed to last months but I guess it's hit or miss with those since they're a surprise in every box haha! Anyways, here are the products I liked!

EOS Lip Balm - Lemon Drop Flavor
I love this lip balm, especially in the cold season because my lips get very dry and chap. Aside from the adorable round packaging with bright colors, this lip balm is a great moisturizer. The lemon drop flavor has a pleasant scent that reminds me of candy necklaces and it applies nicely without having to put on several coats. Another great thing is that it doesn't have a disgusting flavor even though it has SPF in it which is great for protection, but in other lip balms I've tried, it makes them taste really gross!

Rimmel Glam'Eyes Mascara in Black
I'll admit that I was hesitant in buying a drugstore mascara since the last few I tried bombed hard core! Though after some pushing and prodding from my sister I caved and decided to try another one. We'll ignore the fact that my favorite Stila one was drying up and that it's super crazy expensive ($30 for a small tube of mascara...really?) and put our thumbs up that Pharmaprix was having a sale on Rimmel mascaras! Yay! I think I got it for something around $7-8 instead of $9-10, not to sure what the price was any more, and I chose black though there was a darker shade of black up from that one.

The tube itself is really cute with the metallic pink and the graphic pattern imprinted on it. The wand is pretty good too for one of the silicone applicators with the tiny little feelers (They always look so funny to me!) and I really don't have any complaints for this mascara. It doesn't flake off at the end of the day, it's buildable, applies evenly to my lashes without caking it on and I haven't poked myself in the eye with the applicator yet! Bonus for me! I have a tendency to do that with bigger or longer applicators.

All in all I really like this mascara over the Maybelline ones I've tried before. Namely the Falsies mascara. I had liked it at first and then the mascara just went down the toilet for me, gawd it was awful! But Rimmel has made me less wary of buying drug store mascaras, and for that, my eyes and I thank you haha!

Babyliss Pro Argan Oil
I received this little bottle as a stocking stuffer this Holiday. I'm not sure where my mother found it or how much it costs, but I do know it smells amazing and my hair is really loving it! I apply it to my wet hair when I come out of the shower and let it do it's thing. I don't even need to put in any other hair products to tame my frizziness and curls, it's awesome! And the shine it leaves..gawd my hair is finally starting to looking and feel awesome and healthy and it's great! The argan oil an oil treatment that is supposed to help with the frizzies and smooth out your help, give an amazing healthy shine and condition your hair all without leaving it feeling greasy or weighed down. It's a little miracle bottle if you ask me. My hair was lack lustre, dried at the tips and always super frizzy before I started using argan oils. I've noticed a big difference in my hairs health and how it looks and feels now a days and I have to say it's awesome. I definitely recommend any argan/morrocan oil hair treatments!

Essie Luxeffects Nail Polish - Shine of the Times
Yay another awesome Essie nail polish! I was given this one as a Christmas present so I'm not sure where my friend got it, but what I DO know is that it's an amazing top coat. The glitter in this little bottle is amazing, it's like white glitter with yellow and pink shimmer. It's really cute and unique, I don't own any other glitter polishes like this one. And the glitter when it's applied is great too. I have a few other polishes where I get more clear than glitter but this one coats really nicely with just one application. It's great paired over any color and I had fun using this one when trying to do a cosmic effect on my nails. Needless to my nails turned out bad, but the glitter on top looked nice! I know Essie polishes usually run around $14 at the Pharmaprix by me, but I haven't seen the Luxeffects collection there yet. Hopefully soon because there were some other shades I'd like to get my hands on!

E.V.A. Clip Free Curler - 25-18MM Tourmaline
Here's another awesome Christmas gift that I got from a friend. I was looking into getting a curler that didn't have the clamp since I never could quite get the hang of using them. Plus the one I have gives a bigger curl and I wanted something that would give a tighter curl. First off, I love the pattern, animal print oh yeah! It comes with a glove to help prevent me from burning myself and the base swivels to help make things easier. It's a nice light weight tourmaline curler that heats up relatively fast and is really easy to use. If you're looking for something similar I believe this one was from Winners and it comes in various prints too, from solids to other animal prints. They're really cute and not overly expensive!


Benefit Moisture Prep Toning Lotion
This little guy right here was a sample that my sister received in her luxebox I believe two months ago? It's a toning lotion that you apply to your face before applying your moisturizer. While I'm not too crazy about the scent (It's like a dilute shampoo scent and something really fragrant like a strong perfume) I have noticed really great results with this product. We're in the winter months and with the cold and humidity come dry cheeks. A quick fix for that when just my moisturizer isn't enough? A dab of this toning lotion and my cheeks feel as smooth as a baby's bottom. Well not quite cause that'd be awkward...but you know what I mean! Anyways, the packing is really cute, the product does wonders on my dry skin and it's another great product from Benefit. I've seen the latest collection of Benefit products at my local Pharmaprix and I have to admit that I really love the packaging! The full sized bottles look other wordly, kind of like genie bottles or something old like a glass bottle I'd find my grandmother keeping. All to say that I really like the packaging! While reminding me of little genie bottles, I guess you could say that they also kind of look like potion bottles. Which is a plus for me since it makes me think of Harry Potter...*insert nerdy fangirl here*

Anyways! If you're looking for something to help prep your face before putting on your moisturizer to give your face that extra boost of hydration I would recommend this product, but my one hesitation is the price since it is pretty pricey. I think it's about $30 for the full sized bottle.