Random collective drugstore haul

 A few days ago, I was running some errands and naturally the hoarder in me just was walking in the beauty section.  These are a few things I picked up at Target (Canada), Wal mart and shoppers drug mart.

First Canadian Voxbox

I have been a bzzagent for the longest time, about three years and I have only gotten one box from them to review which is quite ridiculous considering your rate will only go up if you get into a campaign.  This is a pain because I'm an eager consumer who love to review things but I have given up on that site.

Last week when I wanted to my mail box and opened my little slot, I was surprised there was this box! I never expected to get anything from this site and it was because they didn't cater to Canadians until now.  I didn't know and I haven't been on the site for a really long time so I was super flattered that they sent me one of the VoxBoxes.  

So what is voxbox by influenster?  Voxbox was made so consumers can review products for big companies and influenster is the middle man that organizes the freebies.  YES! It is completely free! I an not a famous blogger like the ones on youtube, so any average joe can get this box.

Voxbox is an invite only site, so if you want to be invited into this program, don't be shy and leave me a comment with your email and I will communicate and send you an invitation. 

Sephora holiday discounts!

For those of you that missed the 20% off because you weren't a VIB, don't worry! From December 4- 16, you can use the gift cards that they sent out for those that have their memberships before Nov. 2013.  

So technically, this isn't really a gift card with money value, more like a big discount.  But I mean, its $20 off $50! That never happens in places like Sephora! Only once a year :).  This is a better deal then the 20% off sale since it is 40% off one item.  Sadly it is a one time use only in stores.  I wanted to confirm it in person and i did get denied since the girl says it shows on the computer.  

BUT! I did find a loophole :P.  For those of you that got the $20 off $50 (only VIB), you get a promotion code that you can use online and I have used the code twice already and it still works.  So if you are naughty enough ;), it is more worth it to buy online. 

If you want to save more money, make sure you check out ebates! It is absolutely free to join and you get money back. Who doesn't love free money~ Well technically it isn't free, but getting back money you are already spending isn't half bad.  

How this website works is, you firstly, sign up obviously.  Then login, search to see if they have the website or store that you are shopping at and it will show up on their website like the picture above. Click on "shop now" and it will link you back to the store you are shopping at.  You have to click their link to get money back because the store you are shopping at will recognize that you were referred on ebates and then ebates can then give you the money.

On special holidays such as black Friday, cyber Monday and maybe boxing day, they have an event called double cash back.  Just a few hours ago, they had Cyber Monday 2 and their cash back percentage was 10%! I had to jump on that and stack coupons :D. I jumped ship and bought YSL products on top of the Naked 3 palette I bought a few days ago.  I'm so naughty this Christmas :/.

Happy shopping, hope the tip of helps ;).

The body shop black Friday amazing deal!

I don't usually shop at the body shop but when I do, I only shop there when they have their 3 for $30 or even once it was 4 for $30 for just body butters and shower gels.  This time around for Black Friday, Body shop is having this offer where you can get a bundle of 9 full size (except for the moisturizer) products for $25 after you buy $30 worth of products.  And yes, you can use this deal with the 3 for $30!

 I have been eyeing their vineyard peach collection ever since it came out and I didn't know it was limited edition, so by the time I was ready to buy it....of course it was gone.  I'm happy that it is in the permanent collection now! I guess it is finally time to get it.  I also now and eyeing the honeymania collection, the body butter of course.  I smelled it in the store and I like it, it was a quite refreshing light honey scent which in the long run will not make me gag.

The $25 tote bag comes with:

-Chamomile make up eye remover 250 mL $16.00 CAD

-Cranberry shower gel 250 mL $8.00 CAD

-satsuma body polish 200 mL $20.00 CAD

-satsuma body butter 200 mL $20.00 CAD

-Vitamin E moisture cream 15 mL (sample size) $18.50 CAD 50 mL; full size $5.55 sample

-absinthe hand butter 100 mL $20.00 CAD

-coconut body oil 100 mL $14.00 CAD

-coconut soap $4.00 CAD

-bath lily  ??

-I love body shop tote ??
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total retail price: $107.55
       You pay: $25
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
           You save: $82.55

You really can't beat the tote.  I mean it is all full size products :).  I don't mind having bath products sitting in my drawers since it will be used up.  You can also give the tote bag products away as gifts.  Its the best of both worlds!  I believe this deal will end December 2.

The 3 for $30 will end December 1, 2013 so if you have been eyeing a lot of things like me, you better get it now!

And if you thought the deals ended there, you are wrong.  If you use ebates.com, which is a website online which you sign up for free and they give you a percentage back to you if you use their links and buy things.  This is not a scam, and yes I know it sounds too good to be true but trust me, free money speaks loud to me LOL. During black Friday, they always offer double cash back so for those of you that live in USA, you get 10% back into your account and for those of you in Canada like me, you get 6% cash back.

So if you stack up all the deals:

Body shop love your body membership $10 fee 10% off anything
Ebates cash back 6% for Canadians
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16% (for Canadians) or 20% (for Americans) off on top of the deals 

Who wants to pay full price eh? ;)

Newest product from ELF

As you all know, I love elf cosmetics over anything.  Not all their products are pigmented but I'd say 80% of there stuff is fantastic for the price you pay which is dirt cheap!  I'm always on the website and recently, they have been added more and more new products :D.

I always just go on their website and click on the "new" section. Always get super excited when there is something brand spanking new!  As you can see, there are a lot of geometric palettes and new baked products~~.  I NEED IT (No I don't but i just want it haha.)

New additions to Skin79 BB cream family

I literally just saw this and I'm freaking out!  I don't believe I have admitted my love for Skin79's hot pink bb cream.  That bb cream is my fail safe, holy grail "foundation".  I don't really have many skin problems, just mild redness around the nose and cheeks and I absolutely hate wearing foundation because whenever I try, the liquid foundation shows my dry patches which you can't see normally.  It's a pain to find a foundation.

The two new additions is the Skin79 Green bb cream and Skin79 Purple bb cream.  Straight forward enough haha.  What are the differences you ask?  I can't read Korean but this is what I read.

SUPER PLUS BEBLESH BALM TRIPLE FUNCTIONS - SKIN79 GREEN

-SPF 30 PA+++

-comparable to the Orange one

-Suitable for oily skin

SUPER PLUS BEBLESH BALM TRIPLE FUNCTIONS - SKIN79 PURPLE

 -SPF 40 PA+++

-more moisturizing compared to hot pink and vip gold (seriously? I'm going to have to get my hands on this!)

-suitable for dry skin (THAT'S ME :D)

If you are considering on which one is better suited for your skin type, here's a little brief overview for their BB creams from this line.

Hot pink

-super moisturizing, even for my dry patchy skin

-can use fingers to blend in; blends in like butter

-coverage is light-medium; buildable

-dewy finish

VIP Gold

Pretty much the same thing as hot pink

Orange

-higher coverage then Hot pink

-suitable for oily skin, not dry skin

-higher SPF

They have also added CC cream into their family of cosmetics and skincare.  I really want to try this but I am looking at all the other korean CC cream and see which one I should buy. CC cream is different from BB cream for a quick fix for present problems while as BB cream is more for preventing.

SKIN79 PORE DESIGNING COLLECTION 

Thee step process to reduce your pore size and to remove blackheads.  I found that the only way for me to get rid of blackheads is to use that little metal stick tool and squeeze them out.  My skin is so stubborn T_______T.

Anyways are you excited for the BB creams?  I know I am!  Ebay still doesn't have the purple one.  HURRY UP KOREANS!  I NEED IT.  I have no Korean friends and am not going to South Korea anytime soon so ebay is my only option.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup

One thing that really stinks is watching your favorite Youtubers talking about all these fantastic make up but they don't have it anywhere else other then USA.  WHAT THE FART!  Canada isn't that bad since we have about 80% of the products they have in USA but it is always that 20% that kicks you in the bum and makes me want to live in the states.  I really want to since they have all the good shops, awesome drugstore deals like bogos and half off.  We never have awesome deals like that.  Not only that, our tax is higher and the price is higher.  But at least we get to say this to them, "FREE (not really) health care :D".

The one foundation in the drugstore that I really want to try and I've heard way too many good things about is the "Neutrogena healthy skin liquid make up foundation".  Why do we not have this here!  We have Neutrogena skincare but not their make up.  Sigh but I think I will get my mom to get this when she crosses the border hopefully this weekend.  

Has anyone tried this?  Anyone reading that is NC15-20?  Will the classic ivory work?

IMATS Vancouver 2013 Haul

 Ohh yea, it is haul time :D.  This is an overlook on what I bought.  Not much since most of my money went to Hakuhodo anyways.  I kind of blow my budget of $300 and went a little overboard at Hakuhodo but it is okay because those brushes are worth it.  I work hard for my money, I can treat myself right? LOL Okay okay, i know it is a lot of money but I held off buying anything make up related for half a year! Why do I still feel bad :(.

 Overview of the vendors that were there.  I felt like there was only around 12 vendors that were actually there to sell make up and others were just taking up space LOL. 

IMATS Vancouver 2013

For the longest time, i was debating whether or not to go to the IMATS.  I didn't want to go because during the two weeks, I would be spending a butt load of money.  I even tried to sell my ticket but then found out that you can only transfer the ticket before April 4.  So I was kind of stuck with the thought, should i waste $30 and save me hundreds or just go?  In the end I went because I wanted a Make up forever face and body liquid foundation and a few Hakuhodo brushes.  NYX wasn't there sadly or else my experience with IMATS this year would have been better.  I didn't take a whole lot of pictures because, well IMATS really didn't impress me all that much.  As a matter of fact, it was quite disappointing.

 I got there bright and early, right before they opened. I maybe should have went there half an hour early so I could get to the Make up forever booth faster but I choose to sleep a little bit more keke.  Woke up at 7:00 am, put on some make up, and got my bum out the door and onto the skytrain.  When I got there, i had to take my online ticket and get my neon orange band.  The neon orange band was for a certain day and a blue band is for two days.  

The body shop haul

I must admit that I do like the body shop as much as I don't want to.  I don't know why but in the back of my mind, I don't like the body shop LOL.  I think it is because I feel that there are too much artifical smells.  But I couldn't pass up on their sale (which they have one almost everyday but the best one for sure is 3 for $30 which you can pick whatever you want) 4 for $30 mix and match of their selected body butters and body showers.  I saw the size of the shower gels and was impressed!  Everytime I pass by the store, i go and check if they have their peach scent back and also smell the other scents (which i do like some of them) but a few of their "try me" smells disguisting.  It smells just like stinky plastic in body butter.  Ewwww.....



Pokemon obession

I never thought I would say this but Hi,  my name is Christina and I have a Pokemon TCG (trading card game) addiction. If you were a late 80's to 90's kid, you would know what is pokemon for sure.  Even me as a child, not really paying much attention to them and not being a gaming person, I knew what they were.  I would always tune in for the cartoons when it was on tv.  I even remember me being all mischievous and was suppose to be doing my homework but turning on the tv instead and watching Pokemon. There was a small TV in the upstairs game room that also had a desk.

The obession started about a week and a half ago when me and my boyfriend had a day to ourselves, nothing else to do but just chill around.  He said "hey why don't we go to the dollar store (specifically Dollarmana).  There are pokemon cards there for a really good deal."  I was like "sure...." LOL but in my mind I was like "why do you want pokemon cards.  No one plays them anymore and you're just going to waste money on them."  So when we finally got there, they were in a pack of five random cards for $1. Not bad.  I didn't want him to feel left out so I bought 10 packs.  Why not right? He bought 30 right off the bat! I was like WAHHH?  He kept saying "its worth it, its worth it :D. "  I'm like...sure.....

After we paid for them, we rushed to the bench right outside the store and started to open them.  It was so much fun!  The thrill of not knowing what cards you would get, would you get a rare holographic?  The ratio for getting a shiny in the dollar store is approximately 1:25 so it is quite a gamble since most of the cards that they give you in the packs are commons, uncommons, rare if your lucky.

Michael Todd Skincare Haul

 I couldn't resist! The power of social media has got me once again.  Its not necessarily a bad thing but it is kind of when I'm trying to save money LOL. Meh.  Only live once.  Don't want to be pulling out the YOLO but sadly I just did.  Hearing so much about Michael tood, I finally broke down to buy some for myself to try.  Mainly because gossmakeuparitst said the eye-o-sonic was amazing.  I pretty much take his word for 100% :).

I might have bought the wrong skincare regimen but thats okay.  Actually its not okay because I'm breaking out now T_T.  I have normal to dry combination skin and I was stupid enough not being able to see the normal combination skin discovery kit which is a five piece 1 oz. sample size skincare kit for $36 as of right now.  I don't know the original price but thats the "sale" price.  I have heard others have been able to get it for only $19 :(.  Maybe I will wait for the sale to happen before I try it again.

Temptu Consumer Airbrush system update

As you might know, I found the temptu airbrush system at Metrotown in Burnaby last week from two posts ago but I was still uncertain if I wanted to keep it or not since I didn't even have any pods to work with.  So I told myself, when I went to another Winners close to my house, I find pods, then I would keep it.  Well guess what? It turned out even better then what I expected.

My luck was with me that day.  I went with my mom on a Thursday I believe? I brought the other one I bought in Metro with the mind site of "if I don't find any pods, then I'm just going to return the whole system." I rushed into the beauty section straight away, looking all around the make up section but I couldn't find any! I was quite sad because I really wanted to use airbrushing and see what the difference is and what all the rave is about.

I don't know why, but is always when I finally give up that I find what I wanted in the first place.  I gave up after looking three times in the same section, but then the clearance section was a completely different story.  I don't know why I didn't think of looking there, but a white box caught my eyes.  it was in the back of everything with the security spider locking up the box.  It was....THE TEMPTU AIRBRUSH SYSTEM! This one is the regular one, black compresser and I wanted this on instead because I was scared that the other one had something missing in it and I like it all black anyways.  So I returned the other one, picked this one up and kept looking in the clearance section. Both were stil the same price. 

Vero Moda top from winners

My closet is lacking in dressy tops.  I've been kind of on a hunt for more dressy clothes since I have a billion and one t shirts.  I need help! There are so many t shirts that my drawers doesn't even want to close!  So when i was just strolling around Winners like any other day that i'm there, a super cute floral top caught my eye.

The cool thing about winners is that they limited edition things, things from past seasons but they also carry current products.  I just checked Vero Moda website and this is from their current summer line.  I absoultely love the print.  The cool colors mixed with the warm pink is perfect.  This print also comes in a maxi dress, blouse, romper and many others. 

Random Haul at Daiso

Many many times I would go into stores like Winners and Daiso not expecting to buy anything and just going there for a stroll, and then end up buying a bag full of stuff.  Don't pretend you don't do that haha.  I like many people step into target for groceries and end up buying tons of stuff they don't need.

I believe that we have the biggest daiso outside of Asia which is located in Richmond, British Columbia in Canada.  Vancouver if  you will.  Two stores high, ridiculously big too.  Tons and tons of stuff, even stuff you don't need but wilil still put into your basket because, heck.... its only $2 anyways!

Temptu airbrush system for only $74.99? Whaaat

Back when sephora still carried Temptu products, that was one of the many things people lusted over.  I never really thought of buying it since it was a super expensive gadget.  So I was in quite a shock when I saw that Winners were selling Temptu pods.  I was quite confused at first because I saw a set for their self tanning and little individual pods for $9.99.

In the back of my head I was wondering why would they sell the pods but not the actual system itself. So to my surprise today when I was in winners, just when I was about to leave the store something caught my eye.  It was this.

I was quite shocked at first.  When I looked closer, it had Temptu's logo on it.  I was certain of what was inside but there was a security belt all around it.  Another thing that shocked me was that there was a red tag!

ELF studio HD concealer release

Back on the first of Feburary, Elf cosmetics released a sneak peak on a few upcoming products they would be carrying.  If you haven't already, you might want to check out their instagram because that is the place where they post sneak peeks.

I swear that this picture was released wayy earlier but thats what it says haha.  Maybe it was just me that felt like it was released back during the Christmas time.  In the picture is their upcoming HD Mattifying Cream Foundation (oil-free) and the already released HD Lifting Concealer.

This photo was released back in December 17,2012 and is said to be in the studio line called "mineral perals."  This product reminisces the Guerlain Météorites Powder For The Face which comes with a hefty price of $67 while the elf one is around $6 :D.  But sadly they are still taking their sweet time to release this product.

Clearly contacts first free pair

I have been itching to get a new pair of glasses since its been three years since I last purchased my dior ones that I have been wearing everyday.  To be honesty I never really liked the style, but my mom insisted on buying them for me so i couldn't exactly refuse. 

Clearly contacts giving a "free" pair of glasses has been going on for a while, so I gave in and gave it a shot.  First off, "free" really never is a thing in this greedy world so it was natural for anyone to second guess that there would be some hidden fees.  I was right.

First free pair...hidden fees?

So the first thing you might be wondering, how can they even afford to give out free? The answer is, these glasses aren't good quality. They are basically like forever 21 glasses but slightly better material but still made in China so it is massed produced.  The promo first free only works if you are a new customer.  If you have already bought things from this company, they will not let you get anything for free which kinda sucks.  So this promo is just to suck new customers in and get them to buy things from their site.

As for "hidden fees". if you need prescription for these, you would have to pay about $30 or more and other adjustments you need and then also pay for shipping.  I didn't want to risk anything so I just did everything at zero and if I really liked the frames, I would just go to my regular go-to glasses shop that I have been going to for years.  I trust them more then i trust myself when it comes prescription for my glasses. 

 Shipping

The shipping from this company was ridiculously fast.  But then again the company is based in the same town that I live it, Vancouver.  It took only two days after I had placed my order for it to arrive in my mail box.  I also really like the fact that they gave out tracking numbers so you would know exactly where the package is.  I am not the only one that has said their shipping speed was super fast, many others from commoners has said the same thing.  My shipping rate was $17 and same change.  I'm not sure if the shipping is a flat rate for everyone but I believe so?

 Mail Packaging

The package was actually quite small, about 19 cm X 11 cm X 8 cm.  I was expecting the box to be biggger but meh.  Haha its just a box.  A lot of things you see online looks a lot bigger then it really is.  I've been tricked! HAHA  Anyways....sorry i get sidetracked.  So the mailing box is a primary blue with their logo slapped right on there and their website.

Sephora 15% off haul

It has been far too long since I have posted my last blog post.  I have been just working non stop and fighting with my boss over law essentially.  Its ridiculous when I don't even get enough sleep and even the law states it.  But no more of my problems, back to the haul.

Most of the items here are actually for my mother, only the urban decay setting spray is for me.  I didn't buy much since I'm saving my money to go to the Vancouver Imats this year.  I swore the first time I went when imats was in town the first ever time to never go back to the vancouver once since it wasn't that great, not compared to the LA one for sure.  If I'm lucky, this year there would hopefully be actually 40 vendors.  I just wish it was as big as any other imats ni the world :( but that is the sad truth.

My mom isn't much of a make up women but she wanted an eyeliner that would actually wor since her make up forever aqua liner doesn't statisfy her needs. I showed her the bobbi brown once since I have many good things about it but they didn't have a nice brown and I noticed all their gel liners had simmer in it so it was a no good.  This one was have the price of the bobbi brown one $16 CAD and it is super creamy too.  I couldn't exactly review this since it is my mothers but i could give it a try and do a good impression :D.

The only few things my mom does on a daily basis is her lips and eyebrow.  So I thought she could take advantage of my discount and use it on something really good, a brand that is focused only on brows.  This kit was quite expensive actually, well everything in sephora is I think haha.  I'm used to E.L.F prices which is dirt cheap.  I don't know if it just me but everytime I go into sephora and want to look around, i never end up buying anything since there is so many products in there. Hopefully its not just me Hehe.

Holika holika aqua petit jelly BB cream first impression

I have been waiting for this bb cream to come in the mail for the longest time! Since my skin79 hot pink bb cream is on its last leg, I decided to venture out to see what other company's bb cream had to offer.  Now I have seen this on Michelle phan's how to be a Korean pop star video and have seen it in other guru's on youtube talk about it so I thought I would just check it out on eBay to see how much it is.   I don't know why but I was convinced that this bb cream would have been at least $30 but it was only $12-$16! I was crazy surprised.  This is one of the reasons why I love bb creams from asian.  They are utterly awesome, does the job while not being heavy and it is inexpensive!

 I was super excited to open the package when i got it in the mail seven hours ago.  There was so much mail in our little mail slot.  Two magazines, five letters and sitting in the back of the slot was a little box. I was thinking how on earth is it going to come out because the dimension was the same as the slot.  I got so scared because it wouldn't come out! Freaked out for a moment but it finally came out.  I couldn't get home fast enough.  This is one thing I like about online shopping, when it comes and you can open a package.  Christmas all year long :D!

I got my bottle on ebay from a seller under the username "cosmeticmarket2012".  If you are interested, link is here.  I bought mine for $12.33 USD which is an amazing price.  If i buy anything from asia, espically bb creams, I would usually try to find a seller who actually lives in that country to aviod counterfit as much as possible. Consider the country of origin and also find a reputable seller.  This one is a top seller so most likely I didn't buy a fake ^_^.

Forgotting haul from zara, winners, forever 21

This is what happens when I take pictures and mean to post them but then I completely forget and then get absorbed into working and studying.  I just found this on my memory stick so i thought it is finally time to post this.  This haul was back around the beginning of February when Zara was having their season end sale where a lot of things were 50% off or if you waited even longer, everything would be reduced to even 70%.

 For the longest time I wanted this really elegant Victoria Beckham-estique dress but it was priced at $120 which I was not willing to pay for.  Yes Zara has some nice designs but the quality isn't the best for sure.  I was thinking about paying that price for it but I kind of forgot about it and I'm actually glad I did because I got it for only $50 :).  I was super happy but I also kind of asked myself if I wanted to wait anymore and see if it would get any cheaper.  I was quite happy with the price and the quality and cut of it was worth $50 for sure.

Imats Vancouver 2013! Here I come~

Okay, I really can not contain my excitement because i decided I'm going to go to the IMATS show this year again.  I went the first year they were here back in 2010.  It was a really big dissapointment back then because I would be watching youtube gurus going to the one in LA and it is amazing! I was expecting they would at least have Mac there but nope.  I didn't read the exhibitor list.  There was only about 28 vendors which really stinked. The convention was super small too, in the Marriot downtown ballroom.  Nonetheless, I bought a lot of crown brushes back then, more then $100 worth for 22 brushes but the guy gave me a discount for $80 for all.  What a nice guy :').

I believe just last year, they changed the event to the Vancouver convention center so there would be a lot more space.  This year there is more interesting vendors such as Ben Nye, crown brushes (for sure, getting me some more super cheap brushes), eve pearl, Hakuhodo brushes (omg I am going to attack that booth, Kryolan make up, Make up forever (40% off everything), NYX make up, saucebox (a newbie to me), and Velour lashes. 

The few vendors that sold me to go would be NYX for sure, Hakuhodo japanese handcrafted luxury brushes, make up forever and velour lashes.  I've already been doing all my research and here is my wishlish so far.  This is very helpful for those of you that are going to an IMATS event since you would have an idea of how much money your going to have to bring/ spend and you wouldn't have to waste your time looking when everyone is going to be shoving you out of the way to get some stuff for themselves.

From make up forever, I'm eyeing only a few things.

MUFE Aqua brow in blonde or ash $20.  I don't know which shade I should get, but i think i would settle for blonde since I'm buying it for my mom and she doesn't have dark brows like me.  Or I might just get the two. 

MUFE Aqua lip waterproof lip liner in 1c- nude beige and 15c- vibrant pink.  Each for $20.  I myself don't have any lip liners so I think these two would be a good ones for my 
collection.

Another collective beauty haul...yet again

Somebody help me.  This is seriously getting out of control.  My name is Christina and I have a shopping addiction.  I think I like it too much and the satisfaction of getting a deal is going through my head.  I mean my TJX membership card can prove it since my membership is valid until frinkin 2016!! HAHA omg Yes I do have a problem.

Mac and I'occitane en provence haul

Back in the end of January, I saw a post on smartcanucks.com (a website where they post really good deals and freebies for Canadians) had a freebie for a free l'occitance hand cream and if they reached 60,000 likes on their facebook page, they would upgrade the 10 mL to a full size 30 mL tube.  Thats an awesome deal and this is the second time that I know of that they had this freebie.  You didn't have to buy anything but there was a 15% off coupon.

When I went, I didn't really want anything since I knew everything was quite expensive, although I did buy their night shea butter face cream last year with the 15% off coupon.  I did really like the face cream but spring and summer was just around the corner so I really didn't need something so hydrating and oily.

Everyone had a choice of three scents: Peony hand cream, shea butter hand cream or lavender hand cream.  I choose Peony since it is one of my favorite flowers since the first bouquet of flowers that I ever got was from my boyfriend and they were the stand out in the bouquet hehe. I find that this peony version compared to the original shea butter one is a lot more thin and not as hydrating but still does the job.  I have to wash my hands more then 20 times in the eight hours I am at work so I have stupidly dried up

 hands.

Forgotten Coastal scents haul

Okay okay.  I forgot about this haul.  Sue me. Actually don't please, LOL I'm a poor working class women :'(.  But yes I will admit that I forgot about this haul completely! I actually bought myself some stuff from coastal scents back in black Friday (yes I did make two hauls) but this one came in January since the Christmas mail time is really backed up.  That is completely understandable and the fact that I had to go back to work full time, so there is my reasoning. :). 

I absoultely love coastal scents but this time around, I really didn't feel like I needed anything.  But because during that time a few weeks back I was stupid enough to drop my 88 neutral palette and there was eyeshadow on the floor everywhere and many just fell out, I decided to just hand pick the few neutral colors I would wear so I just browsed through the hot pots hoping to find the perfect neutrals.

Project shoe dazzling inspired by the Christian Loubutin strassed daffodile

Back in December when i decided to really bite the bullet and make myself a pair of crystal shoes with none other then swarovski top notch crystals, I broke down and bought myself the pair of Steve madden babylonn since they are the exact same style as the christian loubutin daffodile ones. The only problem was that they didn't have the color I needed to match the crystals so I had to do myself a big DIY project. by the way, the color I choose for my shoes is called volcano which is mainly a amethyst purple shade but you can also see yellow, orange, light sea foam green and a light ocean blue.

ELF Studio Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow review and swatch

 Like always, these awesome eyeshadow was on the ELF cosmetics instagram sneak peek so when these came out back in November, I jumped on the horse and bought them on Cyber Monday.  The description of these eyeshadows just intrigued me since its suppose to be a whipped gel eyeshadows which i don't even think there is anything like it on the market right now.

ELF's description on this product: "Soft and fluffy, these vibrant, shimmering Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow colors can be used as eyeshadow or a bold liner. The whipped gel texture is easy to blend and lightweight for lasting comfort and wear. Perfect for highlighting the brow bone and adding extra shimmer for a truly glam look."

Product Packaging: Let me just start off by saying that the cardboard packaging for this was so annoying! The eyeshadow was stuck in there! You have to actually rip the packaging to get it out but I had to try so hard to not rip it for picture purposes LOL.  

Another thing that is super annoying is that the names for the eyeshadow was the names are not on them.  You either have to write it with a sharpie yourself on the bottom or you would manually have to rip the little sliver sticker off the back of the box.  I really hope that they don't do that for all of them because that just makes me question if they were thinking when they made this product.

 These have super simple packaging with a black lid on top with "ELF long lasting lustrous eyeshadow" printed on them and a clear plastic bottom. In pictures before I got it, I thought the bottom would be glass like the Maybelline color tattoos.

I stuck that sticker on myself by the way.

Texture:

Unlike anything I've ever tried before, but these do remind me of their studio cream blushes which has the same "bouncy" texture. These are "bouncy" but they are more wet then the cream blush which turns slightly powder on the skin.  I wouldn't slide my finger around since they are really squishy and I would just create a huge crator so i would actually just dab my finger over it. On the skin, it still has a slight wetness to it but it does set well.  The wetness does also help attract powders to show their true color, exactly what a eyeshadow base is suppose to do.

Color Pigmentation/ Payoff:
Out of the 7 shades, i only bought three of them since most of them are very boring shades to me and the three shades I bought, I thought I could get the most use of. The seven shades they sell are Toast (yellow golden bronze color), Soiree (light pinky purple), Gala (browny raspberry purple shade), Festivity (dark purple amethyst), confetti (white with silver shimmer), celebration (sliver), and party (dark silvery blue color).

As you can tell from my description, gala, soiree and festivity all are different shades of purple and on the skin (from swatch pictures  I've seen, they all look very similar so that saved me some money there knowing that I didn't have to buy all of them.

All of the shades are shimmery which stopped me from getting them right when they first came out but when it came time to the cyber Monday sale, I went crazy and just picked some up. Now I'm not the type to like crazy shimmer on my eyes but these makes the skin look like there are Swarovski crystals on my eyes. They are stunningly gorgeous! It has this metallic element with tons of shimmers that does actually adhere to the skin nicely.

The colors are very buildable and it will be true to color after about three layers.  The good thing about these is that you can actually wear these by themselves and it wouldn't crease or you could use these as a color base which is quite effective as well.

Smell:

Good news for those that don't like frangances in their products.  These do not have any smell :).

Lasting power:

From the name, you could kind of tell but these do last quite a long time. I would put these on in the morning and when I go to take my make up off late at night, it is still there.  It fades a slight  bit but nothing dramatic.

Price:

 These go for $3 each in their studio line but you can easily get these for $1.50 a piece if you use a studio 50% off code which you just have to google for one. 

Overall I really do love these even though I am not a big sparkle girl but wow I'm in love with the shades.  I  wouldn't be going out to get all of the shades since I have too much stuff already  as it is but i just wanted to try something new.