Friday, January 28, 2011

Lets Play Catchup with EOTDs and a haul-lette

Hey ladies!

It's been such an intense week for me due to an onslaught of homeworks and such. I have a little bit of time now before my next class (hopefully) to post this. No products will be listed but if you are interested, just let me know kay?

 Two separate days guyss! Not on the same day! I also got an Amazon gift card (which i used) to buy these shoes! I only got one thing so its a haul-lette =)


 
 Poopy, i forgot to turn the picture. 3.5 in heels, comfycomfy. Brand: Not Rated. Size: 8

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Review: Assorted SPAresources items *Pic heavy*

So just a few days ago, I was sent some products from SPAresources for consideration. They are a Canadian brand and they can be found here.
They do not test on animals.

Lets begin the review!
Website: The website is really simple to navigate. You can purchase products both online and at Canadian Wal-Marts. Also, for a limited time, you can get a free sample! Canadian residents only =( 

I was sent powder brush, On-The-Go Eye essentials set, Vanilla Grapefruit body butter, Melon hand cream and various assorted samples. Let's start with my favorite, Vanilla Grapefruit body butter. 

So as you can see, I've used quite a bit of the body butter. I was sent the travel sized one. It is 50 mL. They have a larger one at 200 mL. 

What they say:
Made with shea butter, cocoa butter, mango butter, macadamia oil and jojoba oil.

Ultra-rich, intensive all-over body (super yummy smelling) moisturizer.  Enriched with mega-moisturizing shea butter and soothing cocoa butter extracts to deliver a powerful, deep conditioning treatment.

Smell: I love the smell because its grapefruit and vanilla. To me, it smells natural and not too overpowering. 
Consistency: It's a little bit more liquidy than The Body Shop body butters. However, it is still moistuizing. I would like it a little bit more if it were a little thicker. However, it is thicker than a regular body lotion, which is really nice. My skin feels much softer after using this product. 

Packaging/Price: It's a screw cap, which can obviously turn some people off if they are worried about hygiene. It is super cheap too! Which is really really nice. It is only 2 dollars for the small version and 6 for the larger one! Such a good price too! And it is free shipping to US and Canada for orders over 30 dollars. Regularly, its 7 CAD for canadian citizens (flat shipping rate) and it is quoted if you are an international buyer. They accept paypal. 

Recommended: Yes! I love this body butter. At 2 dollars, you can buy and try all the scents for a very cheap price =) I'm going to have to stock up on these babies. 
Next up is the Melon Hand Cream! It weighs in at 1.7 oz, or 50 mL. 

What they say:
Full of great ingredients and penetrates quickly to moisturize, protect and nourish the skin.  Apply often & daily to hands and massage into cuticles, especially after cleansing. 

This hand cream is truly a awesome product!  DOES NOT LEAVE HANDS GREASY!  Super important to note when buying a hand cream

Smell: I don't like their melon scent. It's too much like melon for me. I'd rather have a more subtle melon smell combined with other smells. 

Consistency: This lotion is freaking thick. It's actually thicker than the body butter. I actually prefer a more thinner hand cream. Also, they are right when they say that it doesn't leave greasy hands. However, it feels a little sticky after you rub it in. Granted, the stickiness goes away after 5 minutes, but it's a little bit strange. No, you aren't going to stick to papers or walls, but the sensation is a little bit strange. My hands are no longer dry and I don't have raggedly cuticles.. so at least it works!


Price/Packaging: Nothing really interesting about the packaging. Price is fantastic. Clocking in at a mere 2 dollars and 6 dollars for the larger 200 mL size. Try them all, even the melon if melons are your thing. 


Recommended: Uhmm I'm on the fence on this one. It's a good cheaper alternative for like Tocca hand cream. I would have to try it out in a different smell first. 
 



I also got a bunch of brushes. I will be reviewing them as a set. 

Powder Brush-13 dollars: SO SOFT. OMFG all of these brushes. I like this as a powder brush. It can also sub in as a blush brush. It is very full, but gives you a more light coverage because it is so soft.  It is about the size of 2.5 E.L.F mineral lipsticks. 

Eye set- 15 dollars: With 5 brushes. All of these are the really really soft! The smudge brush is a dupe for the NARS pony smudge brush. It is a little bit longer (bristle wise). I use it like a eyeshadow brush. The angled eyeshadow brush and the black one are really really large for my small asian eyes. UGH poopy. They would be great for blending but no way can I use them as a regular eyeshadow brush. The cream eyeshadow brush is a dupe for the Essence of beauty concealer brush. Brow/lash groomer, nothing to say really. 

All of the brushes are super soft. However, they aren't the best for asian eyes. They are a little bit too large really. If the brushes were smaller, it would be better.  

Recommended: Yes. These are good for beginners. 


Overall, I like this company. I like the products, the prices and well, the quality is good. Did you guys see that I haven't touched the samples? Well, it's because I want to gift them to you readers! One lucky lady will be able to get all of these samples! All you have to do is to be a subscriber and comment below! I will choose a winner next saturday! Here is the prize:



Just comment below! yay! Be sure to enter my 5th giveaway (link in the sidebar) !

Friday, January 21, 2011

Which should I choose?

I was recently gifted an Amazon gift card from a friend and so obviously I went on amazon.com to look for some shoes. I love shoooeees heeheee. I've narrowed my choices down to two pairs. Which ones do you like better?






Not going to lie, I'm pretty torn right now. I like the cream color, but its going to get dirty easily. But I feel like I would feel more secure in the shoe. I love the taupe color and I love the detailing of the other one. I feel like I could get more wear out of it simply because its a pump shape and so I can wear it with longer pants. What do you think?

Monday, January 17, 2011

Contest Entry for Lauren Loves...: Smoke on the Horizon

Hey ladies! So I've been quite busy at school, but today is MLK day so I only had one class =). Current song: Juicy- Biggie Smalls
Current Addiction- Diablo II video game <-- best shit ever. 

Besides that, I decided to enter a contest here.

It says for some reason that it ends on the first of january but she has another post saying that it ends at the end of the month, and it is very recent! So everyone! Go join! You just have to email her your best smokey eye look. 

-------------------Contest entry start-----------------------------------------------------------

What is a smokey eye? Really, what is it. It's always being flung around without abandon. All it means is that you make your eyes dark, as if you stuck your head in a campfire. I mean maybe the first smokey eye created by the neanderthals was some lady rubbing charcoal or burnt wood around her eyes. Traditionally, the smokey eye is created by using shadows in the grey-black range. However, I have decided to take the loosest meaning of a "smokey eye" and take inspiration from a sunset. Lets start!

1. First, I primed my eye with Too Faced Shadow Insurance (commonly abbrev. as TFSI), NYX jumbo pencil (melted down into a pot) in Yogurt

2. Using a small eyeshadow brush, I applied a yellow shimmer color (I used Yellow Shimmer by Mineral Basics) to the inner corner and inner 1/3 of the eyelid. 

 3. Now, apply a bronze color (I used bronze shimmer by Mineral Basics) to the middle 1/3 of the eyelid

 4. Now using E.L.F angled eyeshadow brush, I applied a tomato color (Bleeding Heart- Back to the Earth cosmetics) to the outer 1/3 and the "crease". Wing out the eyeshadow and for my "crease" its basically above the other 2 eyeshadows as shown. 

 5. Now, using a purple eyeliner (Purple from the Green Eyes Trio by Physicians Formula), create a winged eyeliner on the top lash line and a line the lower lash line. 

 6. Now taking an eyeliner brush (Coastal Scents taklon angled eyeliner brush), load it up with a matte/dark purple shadow (Revlon Matte Shadow in Aubergine) and carefully trace on the eyeliner and smudge it out. Use light, short strokes to blend it upwards and into the eyeshadow. On the wing part, bring it in a little bit. Don't have it touch the bronze. You want it to fade into the red. 

 7. Now using a smudge brush (Small smudge brush by Coastal Scents), take a black eyeshadow (True Black- Back to the Earth Cosmetics), and smudge it until the lash line and over the purple eyeliner. I was going to use a purple (hence the purple eyeliner) but I changed my mind. I took it pretty far down, but you don't have to =)

 8. Add mascara (Rimmel Lash Accelerator), and half false lashes. I normally would stick to half ones without sparkle stuff, but this is all I have. 

 9. Finished Look:



 Fantastic! What do you guys think? I will be updating the prizes on my giveaway (located in the sidebar) and adding more FABULOUS prizes. You will be quite surprised ;) 

This week: Review on Spa Resources and a haul thingie and UHMMM AMAZING PRIZES ADDED. okay super cool. Back to my Diff Eq hw. 

Thursday, January 13, 2011

EOTD: Sometimes I pretend that I have a crease

Sometimes when I do eye look, I pretend that I have a crease so I use a "crease color". This is not to say that I hate my monolids. In fact, I LOVE my monolids. I've grown to appreciate them. Granted you can't really look at youtube gurus and copy their looks because of 1. No eye crease, and 2. less eyespace for makeup. But anyway, here is my look of the day. 


 Products Used:


  • Inner Corner- French Riviera from Sephora Colorful Artists Palette
  • Inner Half- Coastal Scents Sample
  • Outer Half- MAC Golden Olive Pigment
  • "Crease"- L'Oreal HIP Visionary Pigment
  • Lashes- Rimmel Lash Accelerator and Etude House Dr. Mascara Fixer in Natural Lash
  • Lower lash line- Mix of L'Oreal pigments (gifted by Lizzard.)
  • Eyeliner- Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner in Daring Green 03 

Have a great day ladies! I'm off to do hw and play Diablo II, only the best video game ever. 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Review: Korres Guava Lip Butter and quick giveaway update!

So, recently I went on a small shopping trip to Sephora, where I picked up Korres Lip butter in Guava and Tocca blood orange hand cream. I just wanted to do a review on the Korres lip butter because I love this shit. Seriously. Best. Shit. Ever. B.S.E for short. No picture nor swatches because.. well its a freaking lipbalm. No point in swatching right?.

Taken from Sephora.com

Lip Butter
What it is:
A buttery balm that melts onto the lips and cheeks for a pretty touch of color.

What it is formulated to do:
Korres Lip Butter gives lips a lovely, shiny finish and offers a natural flush when applied to the apples of the cheeks. Its shea-butter infusion conditions and heals lips and provides a softening touch to the skin.

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
- Parabens (all)
- Sulfates (all)
- Synthetic Fragrances (Guava, Wild Rose, Quince, Pomegranate)
- Synthetic Dyes (Wild Rose, Quince, Pomegranate)
- Petro-Chemicals (all)
- GMO (all)

 There are a bunch of different colors. I have Guava, which is the clear one. 

Packaging: I don't like the double layer of "boxes" that it comes in. One is enough. Also you don't know what color you're getting really. If I did know that they were colored, I would have chosen Pomagrante instead of Guava. I though that they were just smells! Besides that, it is a pot lip butter, which may turn some people off because of the potential "unsanitary" situation. As long as you're the only person dipping your fingers in, and as long as you don't like scratch your butt or use the bathroom beforehand, you should be fine. 

Smell: No offensive smells there. I like the buttery smell. But it's not really overpowering.  

Wear and Tear: This is really moisturizing. I use it day and night after showering/washing my face and my lips are so smooth. Before they were really gross and peeling because of the wind, but now they're so great. My lipstick also looks pretty good. You do need to wait a while for it to really sink in because it stays on your lips for a while. I have to wipe off the excess before I put on lipstick in the morning. 

Price: Ten. fucking. dollars. It's expensive. You can get the trio for 19.50 (usually retails at 30$ if bought seperately) but still, 10 dollars for a lip balm? It's very expensive considering burts bees is 3.49 or chapstick is like 1 dollar. I suggest that you buy it only when its on sale, when you need a few dollars to get free shipping, Sephora F&F sale etc. 

Recommended: Hell yeah. Besides the expensive price, its an amazing product. Personally, I might forgo some other things like eyeshadow so I can pick one up without killing my budget.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update on my giveaway: I will be adding the Victoria's Secret Secret Charm Shimmer Lotion to the prize giveaway because I hit 110 followers! I know that I said that I would add a new prize every 10 followers, but this is super exciting for me. Yes I get excited easily! Link is in the sidebar =) 

 

Friday, January 7, 2011

XX Chronicles' 5th (?) Giveaway!

Hey ladies! I have decided to host a giveaway in celebration for the... because.... BECAUSE I LOVE YOU GUYS AND I WANT TO OKAYOKAY HERE ARE THE PRIZES. 

OPEN TO EVERYONE! EVEN INTERNATIONAL PEOPLES. 



Added 1/11/11


Items to be won:
  • L'Oreal Hydrafresh Instant Foaming Gel for Combo to Oily Skin
  • 1 Pair of Sunglasses
  • 4 key toppers
  • Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Bronzer in Medium
  • Sephora Nano Liner
  • 1 Angel Key Chain. 
  • Added 1/11/11--> VS Secret Charm Shimmer Body Lotion
I will be adding more prizes as more people join! For every 10 people that join, I will add one more item! So let's join people! Winner will be chosen randomly through random.com


Rules:
  • You must be a subscriber. Just let me know how you are a subscriber!
  • To join, just comment below with something you want to see from this blog. Be creative! you can even say like "I WANT TO KNOW THE DIMENSIONS OF YOUR TOE". Just be appropriate. If you can't think of anything, just saying your favorite color is fine too  =)
  • PLEASE PUT YOUR EMAIL DOWN THANKS. 
Extra Entries
  • Please post these in the same comment =) 
  • Repost the Giveaway (2 extra entries). Please link me back!  It can be a post or just a blurb in the sidebar. Anything is cool!
  • Add me to your blogroll (1 extra entry)
  • Your biggest Pet Peeve (1 extra entry)
Winners will be drawn on March 7th. This gives you guys 2 months to enter! Winners will be 48 hours to respond to my email, so please check your spam boxes! Thanks everyone!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Review: Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara *pic heavy*

Hey ladies!! Happy new year to all! I hope that everyone was merry on that day. I know I was! I went to a small family thing with my friend's family LOL. Yes, I watched the ball drop. How has everyone been? 

So I've been meaning to post a review on this mascara but I was neglecting it because I THOUGHT that I didn't bring my cord to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer. I found it in my suitcase though! YAY! So lets get started!
What They Claim (as taken from the website):

Lash Accelerator Mascara is our first mascara that actually helps to promote the natural growth of beautifully long, remarkably strong lashes. Instantly, your lashes look up to 80% longer, but then after 30 days of continued use, they’ll appear up to 117% longer! Our exclusive GROW-LASH complex, features Procapil® which works to strengthen lashes' roots and also contains natural lash enhancing ingredients such as, biotin, keratin, and bamboo extract which help to reinforce, restore and moisturize your lashes. Stop the press, we’re in lash heaven!

95% of consumers saw a lengthening effect on their bare lashes in 2 weeks!*

And with its unique length enhancing brush, you can achieve a stronger, longer flutter. R.I.P false eyelashes, we’ve got all we need with Lash Accelerator Mascara.

Brush and Tube pictures and comments: I'm not going to lie, I don't really like the plastic wand thing. It's poky and it hurts when you poke your lid. But okay.


Product Usage: I don't get it. It's supposed to grow your lashes (pictures below). I would imagine a lash growing thing to be like a liquid liner. I mean you really have to wriggle the stuff in your lash line to get some effect right? I mean it doesn't help if the serum is just on the hair. Hair is just protein. It's the root that needs simulation for you to actually grow lashes. Let's look at the before and after pictures of my eyelashes "growing".

Before

After

After

Before  
Uhmm... Kinda I guess. I used it everyday. Personally, I don't see much of a difference. I guess it's a little longer. I'm not really that impressed. 

Wear and Tear as a mascara: It gives incredible length and great definition. This a no volume mascara and it's okay at holding curls. However, it has no concept of wear whatsoever. It's smudgy, flaky and really wet. I don't like that. Lets see some pictures

Two Coats

One Coat
Price Point: Has anyone noticed how CVS really jacks up prices? Like Revlon moon drops lipsticks are like 9 dollars (5 at target) and like the matte lipsticks are 11.50 when they were 8.50 when they first debuted. I had to get this at CVS and I only did so because I had a 2 dollar off manufacturers coupon and a 2 ECB. It brought the price point to 4 dollars. Overall, it's an okay price if you know where to go. 

Recommended: no. I like the length, but you have to use a primer underneath or else it's going to smudge everywhere. It also doesn't provide that much growing power. I don't like it. I'll use it up, but not willingly.