January 2013 ipsy glambag

This month's glambag theme is "a true star will always shine". I expected a cute makeup bag to switch out my current one, but was quite disappointed when I saw the plain black bag.

This month includes the following items:

•soho eyeliner brush
•josie maran 100% pure argan oil
•sexyhair big sexy hair spray
•nailtini nail polish in bloody Mary
•pacifica tusan blood orange body butter

My favorite product this month has to be the nailtini polish. I have been so busy recently, my nails have been bare for a few good months already. I'm so excited to use this new polish and knowing the quality of my previous nailtini polish, I just know I'm going to love this one as well.

Can't believe its almost 3 weeks in the new year already! Definitely need to step up and work on the plans that I have for 2013!

Ciao!

January Ipsy Glambag

pacifica tusan blood orange body butter: smells amazing

josie maran 100% pure argan oil

soho eyeliner brush: I like the quality of these soho brushes but I always think they are too big for me. This eyeliner brush does not create a line that is as good as my other eyeliner brush, but this is good for an angled shadow look.

sexyhair big sexy hair spray: it holds my hair up... for like 30 minutes, before my hair gets weight down by the grease from excessively washing, haha. Not the spray's fault tho!

nailtini nail polish in bloody Mary: Love love love this! Such a beautiful red color! Just perfect for Chinese New Year. I will post up a picture of this polish on my nails.

October ipsy (former MyGlam)- glambag review- hello, bombshell

I thought I wasn't going to receive my bag until next Tuesday but seems like life does want to give me a break so when I came home from hanging out with my bestie (1st time in 4, 5 months), I saw this beautiful hot pink envelope sitting in my living room, and I instantly cheer up.

This month's bag continues with the MyGlam awesomeness.

This month's awesome bag include 5 different products.

•the Balm- what's your type? "the body builder" mascara
I have used the Balm's products before and I'm excited to try this one out. I have heard reviews saying that this mascara does not hold curls (which is very bad for Asian lashes because that weights down our lashes).

•minernesse.com- lip bomb glossy lacquer stain in red
Another lip product from MyGlam. Not exactly the color I want but it's a nice color. I wanted the dark red color (knowing it's this season's trend) but this lovely one is quite awesome. Good for a long day out.

•couture colour pequi oil treatment
Hair product makes my mom happy! Another product for my mom to try out!

•coastal scrents- eye shadow
Not so sure how to use the yellow shadow without looking like a clown... The other 3 colors are greenish color in different tones, not my color either. I have dark brown eyes and I don't think green (and yellow) compliment my eyes...

•be a bombshell- eye liner
This eyeliner is amazing! Love it, love it, love it! It lasts for the whole day without any smudges (usually my eye corners would smudge the eyeliner there). Though, the eyeliner tip is a little big, so gotta be extra careful with narrow corners (I have deep double eyelids, so I have to be extra careful with my inner corners.

Oh, and how can I forget about the cute makeup bag that I received as well? Very cute bag and also very nice materials!

Keep it up, MyGlam. Though not all of this month's products are the perfect fit or right color for me, for 10 dollars, this is still quite awesome!

October Sample Society- beauty box review

October's sample society beauty box arrived very early this month. I believe I got it on the 1st or the 2nd but since I was busy preparing for an exam, I waited until now to post a review.

Please excuse my pictures. I'm writing this post on my phone and I can't flip the pictures, haha.

This month's box is quite disappointing.

This month's box included the following products.

•Jane Iredale- fantasia self tanner
Not only that I will never use a self tanner product, I don't think it's quite seasonally correct to be using a self tanner in October. My first reaction was "what the heck, sample society". Can't say I'm not disappointed.

•Kate Somerville- exfolikate intensive exfoliating treatment

•aromachology- clean & fresh eau de parfum
A very nice perfume. Full size costs $100. Will never buy this in full size, but it's good to have a try.

•Oscar blandi- pronto wet hair care
Don't quite use hair product, so I'm pretty sure this one is going to my mom as well.

•erno laszlo- phormula 3-9 repair balm
Perfect product for this autumn. Full size costs $245, isn't this too expensive..?

This box also came with an extra sample bonus of a lavender towelette from Herban Essentials.

I'm in consideration to cancel samplesociety and possibly switching to glossybox.

Eclos plant stem cells anti-aging starter kit- review

I was first exposed to eclos' products in August's glambag. I was able to try out the serum and the cream and I almost fell in love with the products right away so I decided to buy the full starter kit to test out the whole line of products.

The starter kit came with 6 different products in sample sizes. Although they are sample sizes, but they are definitely large enough to allow one to really try out a product and to determine whether a product is a fit or not.

The 6 products are...
•facial cleanser skin prep
•cellular activator facial serum
•moisture therapy regenerative cream
•restorative eye cream
•instant radiance facial scrub
•skin renewal clay mask

According to the description, each product has its own function and the ultimate goal is to renew skin and prevent aging.

For only 20 dollars, this starter kit is a great buy! I love everything that came with it. The package even came with a headband that you can use to prevent getting your hair in the way when washing face or applying lotion.

Out of all products, the serum, cream, eye cream, and the clay mask are my favorite. The serum, especially, works so well and I can see the differences on my skin already. My skin seems a lot more healthier and moisturized!

I'm considering to buy my favorite products in full size when I finish using this starter kit samples.

September MyGlam- glambag review

MyGlam continues with their awesomeness this month. This month's bag has 5 amazing products!

This month's bag includes:
•London Soho New York smudge brush- this brush is soft but a little too big to be a smudge brush! Funny thing is I was actually looking to buy a smudge brush, I guess I won't need to now.

•Jane sparkle gloss- another lipgloss from MyGlam. I'm starting to get bored of lip products. This lipgloss comes in a bright pink color with glitter. Although this color is something that I would use, but I already own more than 15 lip products so I'm looking forward to seeing some other products from MyGlam.

•circus by Andrea's choice nail polish- a very bright neon purple! I absolutely love this nail polish set from circus by Andrea's choice. I'm looking to buy the other 2 that I didn't received.

•carol's daughter monoi repairing split end sealer- I'm not a big fan of hair products so I gave this to my mom. She loves this product and is asking me to get her this product in full size! Seems like MyGlam knows how to cheer my mommy up!

•Mirabella eye shadow in brown- a brown eyeshadow without a closable container. I'm glad that I finally received an eyeshadow from MyGlam and I'm glad that this is a color that I can use. But the only thing is that there's no container for this eyeshadow so I'm having a little headache as to how to store this.

Oh, another note, absolutely love this month's bag (the actual bag). It's a black wristlet with gold zipper! Very classy and re-usable. I'm looking to do a little DIY project on this cutie! I have so many pending DIY projects waiting for me in October, can't wait!

Looking forward to October!

September- sample society box review

My third box from sample society and definitely the best box so far!

This month's box included the following products:
•stila smudge crayon in black- perfect product and color for me. Stila's products rarely disappoint me!

•diptyque fragrance in tam dao- not a product that I will even consider buying. I'm not very impressed by the smell. It smells like a fragrance that my dad would use (in fact, this brand's fragrances are unisex).

•Borghese B gloss- a deep brownish color lipgloss. I was unsure about this product at first, but knowing that deeper lip colors will be the trend in fall, I have learned to love this product!

•ahava purifying mud mask- a very nice mask from the dead sea! It leaves my skin very smooth afterward. Definitely considering to buy this product in its full size.

•cellceutics extremely gentle skin cleanser- the name tells it all. This product is extremely gentle, it almost feels like I'm cleaning my face with baby oil. It also leaves my skin very soft and moisturized afterward. Definitely buying this product in full size.

Everything came in sample sizes but big enough to test out the quality of each product. I was considering to cancel my subscription earlier because I didn't seem to like many of the products from the past 2 months but this month's box has changed my mind!

Keep it up, beautybar!

August MyGlam- endless summer

I absolutely love this month's glambag. It came with 6 products and I love each of them. Along with the samples, discount codes were also included in order for glammies to buy the samples in full size in a discounted price.

This month's bag (August) includes the following products...

• eclos- moisture therapy regenerative cream
• This regenerative cream has a very refreshing lemon smell and I love how fast my skin absorb this goodie; I am using my discount code to buy this in full size
• eclos- cellular activator facial serum
• I don't quite like the smell of this serum... It has a very weird fishy smell and it's not very pleasant; but on a good note, this serum works very well on me and I love how my skin feels after application
• Demeter- Roll on Perfume Oil (in Clean Skin)
• Not the type of perfume that I would use on a daily basis but I keep it in my purse for any emergency or any occasions that I forget to apply perfume (usually when I run out of my house in a rush)
• S.A.L.T.Y. cosmetics- Glama-ZOID! eye shadow
• Very nice pigmented eye shadow in a light pink glittery color. I may consider making a color of my own because I'm still in debate what kind of tone I would want to create.
• Circus by Andrea's Choice (in Spectacle Nailcolor)
• Love, love, love, love this color! It's a very bright neon orange and I joke about how I need to wear my sunglasses to look at my nails! I also love how these nail polishes are vegan polishes!
• Glam Gloss- Baby Pink?
• I was wishing for the red color but I still love how wearable the baby pink is! This is a special thanks from MyGlam for all the appreciations from the glammies! 

 

MyGlam has improved a lot since it first launches! Their bags rarely disappoint me. Keep it going, MyGlam!

August sample society review

 

August's Sample Society box includes the following products...

• Phyto- Phytonectar Treatment Oil
• Deborah Lippmann- Private Dancer
• Jane Iredale- longest last mascara
• Elemental Herbology- Skin care (facial peel)
• Arcona- Cranberry Toner

I am quite satisfy with August's box especially with a full size sample of a Deborah Lippmann nail polish. Just the polish itself worth about 18 dollars in retail. I also love Jane Iredale's mascara and the Cranberry Toner from Arcona. I only wish that they came in bigger sample sizes. I am considering to buy Arcona's cranberry toner in full size because it's working very well on me and if I haven't said this before, I am obsessed with cranberry.

Not so much of a review with products that I received this month because I haven't used all of them or I don't plan on using some of them. I gave the hair treatment oil to my mom and I have heard good things about it. I am also not planning to use the facial peel due to the my extremely sensitive skin. 

Anyway, looking forward to September's box.

MyGlam- July Glam Bag

This month's bag arrived a little later than usual because the warehouse has recently moved closer to the east coast. And in result, west coast bags were shipped out first in order to have all glambags arrive to their owners around the same time.

This month's bag has a beach theme and I absolutely love everything that came with the bag.

This month includes a few 'or' items and these are what I received.

•Green Apple SPF 15 Moisturizer: Absolutely love this moisturizer. It smells very good and leaves me with smooth protected skin. I use this beneath my makeup.

•Nume hydropunch Hydrating conditioner: I used this product a few times and I don't think it's the best hair product for me. My hair is dry because I wash it too often and because of the frequent wash, my hair builds up grease/oil by middle of day, which makes me wash my hair even more often. And this product seems to have made the oily dry problem even worse. I have stopped using this already.

•yes to cucumbers on-the-go facial towelettes: love this! I bring this with me for a sleep-over and although it burns my skin a little on my first use, it cleans all my makeup off with one sheet! No other cleanser is necessary!

•buxom big&healthy lip polish: I was wishing for the lip stain instead but after using this, I can't be more glad with this product. I got this product in color Leslie, which is a natural nude color. I was looking for a nude color lipgloss/ lipstick before, so this color is perfect for me. This is a plumper so it leaves your lips a little tingly but it doesn't burn. I love this product and I'm looking to buy more in other colors.

•circus by Andrea's choice in white: I'm not so sure about this nail polish. I got it in white. It looks like I painted my nails with white out. This polish dries very fast but also chips very soon. Mine chips after one day. Meh about this nail polish.

The bag that came with this month is very cute. I love it so much I'm using it as a makeup bag in my purse to work. I put a eyeliner, a mini brush, bronzed, blush, and a small continer with foundation powder!

Great job, MyGlam! Improved so much and as always, I looking forward to August's bag.

Speaking of August... I'm having a very bad heartache and I know it will only get worse when September comes.

Sample Society- July box- 1st box!!

I received my first sample society box today in the mail! I believe I received my tracking number yesterday and I was thinking to myself, "oh man, my box isn't going to arrive until after the holiday.." Surprisingly when I was checking the tracking number today, it said it was out for delivery and the whole day I just couldn't wait to get home to check out my first box!

So sample society is a little different from MyGlam. MyGlam sends all products in a little makeup bag and sample society sends everything in a black cardboard box. I personally love MyGlam's idea of sending makeup bag because I never get enough of those cuties. The reusable value is low with cardboard boxes but I will try to be creative with them.

Now let's go to the products for this month's box. This month, which is also my first month, includes

•Borghese- Tono Body Creme 1oz sample
This body cream smells extremely good and is very moisturizing. The box comes with a decent size for me to try for a while and it is very likely that I will buy this in full size.

•VBeaute- Eye Never Nourishing Repair Eye Creme .033 fl oz.
It says it should help with puffiness and lines around eyes. I do suffer from puffiness in the morning and I would love to see if this product works because so far I haven't been able to find one that solves my puffy eyes problem. Too bad this sample is extremely small, it will be difficult to see an effect with such a small amount of sampling.

•Sisley-Paris- Hydra Global Intense Anti-Aging Hydration .14 oz sample
I am extremely surprised when I found out that this product is sold for $250 in full size. This product should work like a serum and because of the price, I am unlikely to buy this product in full size.

•Vincent Longo- Duo Eye Pencil in sangria and white glimmer
A great made-in-Italy product. The sangria side is a deep red that can be used to define one's lip shape before applying lipstick. The other side of white glimmer is good as a base or to blend in with other colors for a glittery or softer look.

•Jouer Cosmetic- Luminizing Moisture Tint SPF 20 .17 fl oz sample
Got this one in 'bronzed', which is the second to the darkest color. I have very very light skin-tone. For most time when I buy tinted moisturizer, foundation, or concealer, I often go with light or fairly light. I have tried a little on my hand and this product seems way too dark for me. I will probably have to gift this to someone who is tanner than me or it will just be sat aside in my crowded makeup drawer. Too bad, it would be nice if I can try this product.

This is my first box and I was not aware of sample society until a friend of mine show me her first box from June. The box was amazing and it was filled with all products that I would love to have and try. This month's box is also filled with good products but some samples are too small and one of the samples is not suitable for me. For only $15 bucks a month, I do not expect all full size products but when samples do not come in a decent size that can last a several use, it's difficult to make a purchase decision, especially when some products are so expensive.

I hope next month will include larger samples and certainly I hope all samples will be suitable for my use.

On an additional note, I compared MyGlam to sample society at the beginning of my post and has said that I like the makeup bags from MyGlam more than the boxes from sample society. Now towards the end of this post, I wanted to say that I love the idea of sample society including a booklet filled with makeup and skincare tips. It's small and easy to store and certainly very helpful. Good job and great idea, sample society!

Cheap Discovery- e.l.f (eyelipsface) Duo Eye Shadow Cream- Review

I recently decided to try out a makeup brand called elf (short for: eye lips face). I came across their website from a friend's recommendation for the brand's good quality brushes. When I was browsing around the site, I was instantly shocked by the amount of good review they receive from customers for all kind of products.

I just couldn't resist when it comes to makeup and because of the cheap prices, I didn't even try resisting my desire to shop. I brought a few different products from e.l.f. and the picture above is the Duo Eye Shadow Cream, in color (on top) Black Licorice, (bottom left) Butter Pecan, (bottom right) Sugar Cookie. All color sets come in two different colors which complement each other.

I have so far only tried Butter Pecan and Sugar Cookie. Both color sets are gorgeous with one color being shimmery with some glitter mixed in and another color being the darker color to contrast the highlighting color.

When I first used it, I used a brush, just like how you would normally do it with eyeshadow. The cream seems to be piled on instead of spreading. It gives me a very oily and sticky feel on my eyelids and it was very uncomfortable. I then tried to blend it out with eyeshadow to create a more demensions look, but the powder eyeshadow just sticked on instead of blend in and the outcome wasn't so great.

I then decided to used my finger instead of a brush for my second attempt. Much better but the colors are very soft. I can't do much blending as well because I'm trying to avoid the same oily and sticky feeling. I ended up having only one single color on my eye and I used powder eyeshadow to intensify the edges. Applying eyeliner was also very difficult. It was like skating on an oily floor.

At the end, I gave up applying eyeliner on my upper eyelid and just focused on my lower waterline where I have no eyeshadow cream on.

I wouldn't recommend this product because it's just too oily and difficult to use with other products. This product only costs a dollar but I guess it's true someone's that price is somewhat interdependent with quality.

Review- e.l.f. Studio Makeup Clutch Palette

I brought this clutch makeup palette from e.l.f. recently and I finally have the chance to use it. It comes in a very cute clutch style case in black.

The makeup palette contain...

• 32 Eyeshadows
• 6 Lip Colors
• 2 Blushes
• 1 Bronzer
• 1 Eyebrow Powder
• 1 Eyebrow Cream
• 1 Face Shimmer
• 3 Dual Ended Eyeshadow Applicators

LOL, notice my UB shirt in the mirror reflection! Go Bulls! I love to wear this shirt on a Sunday afternoon!

This palette was purchased for only $15 on e.l.f.'s website. I am a sucker to palettes and makeup kits that contains varieties of makeup products. This palette contains almost everything that a person need to have on-the-go.

The eyeshadows are quite well pigmented. The only problem is, the color may not be true as shown on the palette when you apply it on skin. For example, the very top-left color seems to be a white highlighting eyeshadow right? Well, it's actually a bright pink. e.l.f. tends to have a bit of fall-out problem with their eyeshadow, but I haven't discover this problem with this palette yet.

The lip-glosses are amazing. The colors are absolutely gorgeous! I wish the orange lip-gloss is a bit more orange though.

The bronzer is too dark for my skin tone but I love the orange blush. It's a very cute blush color and it turns out to be quite natural and perfect for a summer look. I haven't used the eyebrow power, eyebrow cream, or the face shimmer yet.

This palette only comes with eyeshadow applicators so you will need your brushes. The bronzer and blushes fall-outs do tend to fall onto the lip-glosses. But overall, this palette rocks with such a cheap price! It's also quite small and easy to carry, especially for traveling!

Sadly, I have no travel plans this year. I guess I won't be bring this to any trips with me this year...

xoxo

June's glam bag- MyGlam

I received my June's glam bag quite early this month and luckily there is no mistakes this time in the bag so there's no more back and forth with e-mail like the past 2 months.

This month's bag is a little different. It isn't the usual zipper makeup bag, but instead it's a clutch purse. I am quite disappointed with the amount of glitter that falls off the clutch purse and it smells disgustingly like dead fish. Re-using this clutch purse is almost impossible, or at least impossible to avoid having glitters all over clothes, floor, hands, and face. Although the bag is gorgeous to look at, but the practical use of it is almost zero. Big no-no on the bag this month.

Let's look at what's inside the bag this month.

• Top-Left: Living Proof- Nourishing styling cream ($26.00US for 4oz., this is a 2oz. sample size)
• This product is a good experimentation for me. I rarely use any products on my hair and I would love to see how this product can improve the dryness of my hair.
• WARNING: the container is extremely sharp on the top. When I opened it for the first time, it gave me a very deep and long cut on my finger. ouch!
• Top-Right: philosophy- take a deep breath oil-free energizing oxygen gel cream moisturizer (Sample size-- price unknown)
• Very long name but this product is amazing. It leaves your skin with a very "light" feeling after application. It doesn't give you the oily or thick feelings like most of the other moisturizer. This product is very good for the humid, sweaty, and oil summer weather.
• I may consider buy this in full size after this.
• Bottom-Left: NYX- Round Lipstick, in color Chloe ($4.00)
• I love the color. It's the bright pink that is just in fashion at the moment. Very smoothing for my lips as well.
• I am looking to buy the other colors as well.
• Bottom-Right: MARBELLA- Permanent Eyeliner Pen ($19.00)
• According to the product introduction card that came along with the bag, it says that this pen is waterproof, smudge free, and long-last semi-permanent. It also says "don't use with lenses" on the product, which scares me because I am constantly wearing contacts.
• I haven't tried this product yet but it seems like the reviews are a mixed of both negative and positive. While the positive reviews claim the eye liner to be long-lasting, the negative reviews say that the long-lasting is.. way too long-lasting.. it's almost impossible to remove it.

This month's products has a worth of approximately ($13+$4+$19)=$36 with a sample size philosophy moisturizer which I'm unable to give it an estimated price.

Great improvement, MyGlam! Can't wait to see July's glam bag!

xoxo

May's Glam Bag- MyGlam

Life has been quite busy recently. My May's Glam Bag arrived a long time ago, the fact that it's already June and I still haven't post a review about May's bag tells you how busy I have been.

Scroll down and look at all the goodies from May's Glam Bag.

A kissy glambag!

Love Sweet Love perfume by philosophy- sample size

An eyeliner brush and a lipliner brush

Nail Art- 20 pieces

Studio Gear Lipstick- in color "Joy"

I am extremely satisfied with this month's bag. I absolutely love the lipstick and the nail art stickers. I already own a eyeliner brush but it wouldn't hurt to have an extra one. In addition, both brushes are very soft. However, the perfume sample- love sweet love by philosophy- is a little too sugary for my taste.

This bag has a worth of over 10 dollars, so I will give it a good in overall rating! The Studio Gear Lipstick is just so amazing, although I may need to get a little tanned to use this color.

P.S. I have also become a subscriber for sample society by beautybar.com for $15 a month. My first box will be shipped early July. Can't wait!