September 2012 Glossybox: A must-share!

Let me start off with a few updates about my current beauty box subscriptions.

1. I had discontinued my Glymm subscription since June 2012.

For new members, the price has been increased from $10/mo to $12/mo before taxse. As an existing member, I retained my rate of $10/mo, but I didn’t think it was worth $12/mo for 4 items. They replaced the cardboard Glymm Boxes with makeup pouches in the name of reducing waste. In all honesty, I think it’s better to recycle a cardboard box than to accumulate a mountain of makeup pouches. They’re nice, but they’re probably contributing to the raised price, too. Most importantly, the items were consistently mediocre. The “deluxe-sized” samples were small, and I got way too many packets (I hate packets – you get them for free at the mall) and perfume samples. I would always find at least one item intriguing, two at best. It wasn’t worth paying for miniscule samples and one good item.

2. I am still consistently pleased with my Glossybox.

Which is why I will be sharing the latest one with you – I’m way too excited about it not to. HOWEVER, it seems that they no longer use referral links, which means I actually have to send out an email to friends who are interested. I have emailed them to ask them for a new referral link, but in the meantime, I’d appreciate if you’d use me as a referral by leaving me a comment or a message

3. I am getting my first Topbox this month!

I have high hopes. We will see.

And now, without further ado… here’s the September 2012 Glossybox!

L’Oreal Infallible Le Rouge lipstick: Swatches and review

On my recent Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) haul, I redeemed my Optimum points for $85 CAD worth of merchandise. Amongst my freebies, I picked up some L’Oreal Infallible Le Rouge lipsticks. If you didn’t know, I’ve only very recently ventured into the world of lipstick, thanks to the influence of angelandthings.

The L’Oreal Infallible lipsticks were on sale for $7.99 CAD each – I spent quite some time swatching promising colours on the back of my hand. Here are the results of my efforts!

I know it looks very funny, mostly because my image editing skills are close to nonexistent. But all I really did was take pictures to remember exactly what I had swatched in order – so I just cut and paste the labels (saves me having to type out every name). This was done in-store, obviously, under bright fluorescent light.

Banishing post-Titanic puffy eyes

Firstly, I have been sorely missing out on blogging and reading blogs. Despite how ridiculously overloaded I am, I end each day lamenting about my lack of blogging I just had to squeeze in this quick post, as I don’t know when I’ll have time to make another for the next few days as well.

Now. I know I’m a little late to the party. Okay, a lot late – 15 years late. But as 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the tragedy of Titanic with a re-introduction into the theatres of the movie in 3D, I was reminded of the fact that I still hadn’t yet watched Titanic at all. I was never privy to the quotes and quips my classmates made from the movie – a decade ago.

Well, at long last, I finally watched the movie a few days ago for the first time. And I bawled hysterically. I need me a Jack Dawson.

Jack as he watches Rose descend in a life boat, assuring her that he will be fine whilst she is borne to relative safety.

March 2012 Glymm Box Review

Perhaps a little overdue, as the April 2012 Glymm Box has already been scheduled for delivery, but I’d like to talk about the items in the March 2012 Glymm Box nonetheless. Glymm is a Canadian beauty box that sends 4-5 samples to your door for a monthly fee of $10 CAD plus tax. You can collect Glymm Points which you can redeem for discounts should you want to purchase any of the full-sized products they have on their website. It is one of the 4 beauty boxes currently available in Canada – learn more about them in my post here.

If you remember from my initial post about it, I was not impressed by the contents of the March 2012 Glymm Box. After trying out the products for myself, I do believe that the Box has somewhat redeemed itself.

Blush: theBalm and PANDORA’S Makeup Box swatch and comparison

I’ve always thought that having one blush was good enough – when you find the perfect colour for your complexion, you shouldn’t need another, right? It would just look weird… right? Here are the two blushes I own and have tried: theBalm’s Hot Mama! and PANDORA’S Makeup Box blush in St. Tropez.

Natural lip colours: Clinique, NARS, and Smashbox swatch and comparison

There have been requests for swatches of the NARS and Smashbox lipsticks that I’d bought on my Sephora VIB hauls on Thursday and also last week, so I figured I may as well compare them both. I had been looking for a “my lips but better” lipstick shade (inspired by Sunny), as I had never purchased lipsticks before and I figured I should probably start with baby steps. And of course, it’s never out of style to look yourself (but better)!

I also wanted to compare the new purchases with my usual go-to natural-looking Clinique lipstick, which my mother had given me.

Left to right:

FOTD and NOTD: trying out a look for my presentation

Short post today: the makeup I tried out for dinner over the weekend in order to see if it’ll work for my presentation. I’ve never done these types of posts, but I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

March 2012 Glossybox: Worth the wait?

I have so much to share: my Sephora VIB haul yesterday,  and my first Canadian Glossybox and my first Sasa.com haul just arrived today. Better take this one step at a time!

First things first: check out my research on Canadian beauty boxes if you’d like details and comparisons of the 4 current Boxes available!

Here’s the March 2012 Glossybox – they had a bit of a hiccup processing this month’s Box, which normally should have turned me off, but I had a little more faith in them. But it’s finally here!

I must admit I was full of anticipation for this box, especially since their reason for the delay had been trying to get some of the samples through customs.  So I was expecting some good goodies

Mishmash of tidbits

So many little things I want to talk about – here’s a mishmash of some of my favourite blogging topics all in one post.

1. Art on MS Paint

I’ve been working on my poster presentation, and I prefer having diagrams and images on all of my powerpoint presentations rather than blocks of text. I’ve always hated siting in lecture where the prof reads off slides filled with rows and rows of text. Why bother lecturing? I could just read it on my own – don’t waste my time and put me to sleep.

Here’s one of the diagrams I drew on Microsoft Paint – pixel by pixel. No tablet, no PhotoShop. Time consuming, but oh-so-satisfying, because it is completely personalized for me, by me.

Wow, the resolution is terrible as a jpeg. It looks so much nicer as an original Paint bmp, but WordPress won’t let me upload bmp files

COSME-DE.COM mini haul and review

Firstly, blogging is lagging behind as I struggle to keep up with the influx of thesis demands and lack of sleep I am thoroughly sick of working, though, and I can’t stop obsessing over (my lack of) blogging. Without further ado, let’s get down to business so I can finish this and concentrate on my work

Thanks to a recommendation by Lil Miss Shanghai, I made my first order from COSME-DE.COM on the 19th. The order was dispatched the very next day on the 20th. Although the estimated delivery date was stated as March 29th – April 9th, I got my package yesterday on the 26th. Considering that COSME-DE is based in Hong Kong and my package was an international delivery, I am duly impressed by the delivery speed!

Here’s my mini haul:

Skin 79 Lovely Girl BB Cream and Imju Dejavu Fiberwig Paint-On False Lashes Extra Long Mascara

I wonder if you’re wondering why I made such a small international purchase. Most of my international hauls are quite a bit more substantial than a measly total of 2 items. (That reminds me, I haven’t posted any of my YesStyle hauls >__< despite my review)