TOPBOX MARCH 2013 UNBOXING - Regular

Hello!
Finally got around blogging about the March 2013 Topbox. I ended up opting for the regular box as I wasn't a fan of the prive boxes that Topbox offered this month. This month they offered Aveda, Lippy girl and Pure + Simple.

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This bag is so cute!I love the packaging and the way Marc Jacobs put out their samples in the cute coin bag!  It is adorable and this deluxe perfume sample came up first in the topbox! I was very excited to find out that it is by Marc Jacobs. There are three scents: Daisy, Daisy Eau so Fresh and Lola. I particularly like the Daisy scent. I have sampled these perfumes before when they first came out and I loved it, however, I already have a go-to perfume already and that is the Chloe perfume. 

This the the Mythic Oil by L'oreal. You use this as a treatment for your hair. There doesn't seem to be that much information about the oil so I would have to search more about it online. The scent is AMAZING. Very settle and fresh. I am not too excited about the sample size and package, however, I look foreword to trying this product as I have very frizzy curly hair!

Yay! I am so excited to try a MaskerAide Mask. I have been dying to try their products after seeing it being sampled from previous Topboxes and from Beauty Box 5! I received the MasketAide Mask in Pre Part Prep! It is supposed to brighten, prime and energize my skin. I guess it is to be used before I apply makeup. I actually went ahead and purchased the Detox Diva from the Topbox Shop. Topbox had a promotion for taking 20% off on the products in their shop because they reached 20k likes on Facebook. I want more! I will provide updates on how well this mask goes.

This is the Aveda Caribbean Therapy Body Creme.  Prior to receiving my Topbox, I read the reviews for the regular Topbox and found that many people disliked the smell of the lotion. I don't find it entirely bad. It does have a herbal scent to it and reminds me of the hotel scents in Cuba. I do understand why people don't like this smell as it is very different from the sweet scents from body lotions. In fact, it is far from that. However, I don't mind the scent too much but I do prefer scents that are more settle and sweet smelling for my lotions.

March 2013 Topbox - Regular!

 I like this month's Topbox! I know many people weren't very excited as there were a lot of variations for the regular topbox. I like mine and was happy with this month's contents! My favourite products to try out are the Marc Jacobs bag + perfume, and the Maskeraide mask. I saw that another topbox regular version included Chloe See perfume and a Lippy Girl product instead of the Marc Jacobs bag and Mythic oil. I would have liked that bag as well. 

-Peggy<3

REVIEW: BURT'S BEES TINTED LIP BALM

After suffering the whole winter with chapped lips and trying just about every lip balm in the market, I came across the Burt's Bees section at Shoppers while I was there to buy shampoo. The original lip balm used to be one of my favourite until I couldn't stand the smell of it anymore. If anyone else uses it too, they might know or agree with what I'm talking about. The smell is this overpowering smell of mint mixed with this medicine smelling scent. I can't even describe it properly, it just smelled unpleasant and I didn't want people to smell it so I started to only use it at home. Honestly, I don't even know why I got the tinted lip balm cause the thought of it smelling like the original one definitely crossed my mind. I guess I was just itching to buy something so I thought why the hell not!

I was quite surprised when I got home and opened it up, a good and bad surprise. The good thing is that it smelled nothing like the original Burt's Bees lip balm, in fact it has no smell whatsoever. I haven't decided if that's a good or bad thing yet. The bad surprise was the actual container of the lip balm was so ugly! I'm not talking about the packaging because honestly, I was deceived! I thought the packaging was kind of cute and the colour shown on the packaging was a really nice shade of nude, which I love. But the actual container itself is this ugly brown tube! I would like to think that I'm not too picky when it comes to the packaging but I don't think it hurts to make it look cuter and slightly more attractive to the naked eye!

Aside from the packaging and the container, the tinted lip balm worked wonderfully just as I expected of Burt's Bees lip products. Can't say about their other products since I have yet to try them but I have heard nothing but good things about them. The lip balm kept my lips moisturized throughout the day and night, and the colour was a nice sheer nude colour. I bought the colour Honeysuckle but other colours are available ranging from a purplish colour (sweet violet) to a sheer baby pink colour (blush orchid) , all named after flowers, how cute! To top it off, the lip tint is 100% natural with nourishing ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil and olive oil. Overall, I give this product a 8/10, two points away from a perfect score only because of the packaging, I wish it didn't bother me that much but for some reason it does.

P.s. Flare magazine recently came out with an article on the humble co-founder of Burt's Bees in their April issue. Truly inspiring and eye-opening!

Lots of love,
Kasey

DIRT SCRUB ( Glymm Haul )

So I did receive a $35 giftcard for purchasing the Glymm's valentine bag and I chose the dirt scrubs! They were part of a flash sale that Glymm had for Spring Cleaning. I chose two scrubs as they were priced at $25, as per the regular prices at $45. With shipping and my gift card, it came to $27. What a great deal!

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*Sample I received from Glymm on the left. I LOVE THE SCRUB! 

1. DIRT PURIFY + GLOW / salt scrub & cucumber fig

2. DIRT SWEET + SPICY / sugar scrub & vanilla sandalwood

Reviews will be coming soon!

-Peggy<3

IPSY MARCH 2013 - UNBOXING (CANADA)

Hi beautiful. I received my MARCH IPSY bag. I have to say that IPSY has such great shipping and never fails to disappoint me. I feel like the canadian beauty boxes always have some kind of mishap when it comes to shipment. Now for the unboxing review!

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This is initially what I saw when I opened the cute bag

Such an adorable bag. I love the print and the light weight of the bag! It is adorable.  Although it doesn't seem so white in person (the stripes). 

Theme this month is: The Great Escape. Spring break/march break is here but sadly I don't get a break. School still presumes for me :/. I would love to be vacationing right now.

This is the GLAM RX Mini Freestyle Palette. It is travelling size so it doesn't fit too much inside. It is great as it is magnetized so the little eyeshadows won't fall! I love the color of this product as I'm very attracted to dark pink. I don't know if I will actually use this product? I mean my phone has a mirror screen protector already and I already have a makeup bag. Perhaps this serves as a purpose to eliminate my phone + makeup bag and to be used as purely a travel product? So maybe I can essentially put my primary day to day eyeshadows inside? I'm still quite unsure but I will provide an update if I find a good use for this product.

*with the eyeshadows

**UPDATE:  I use this palette to fit my Urban Decay eyeshadows that were in my Naked Palette. It fits perfectly.

*how it was packaged 

YABY Eyeshadows! The size is pretty much the same as the single costal scent quads from last month. I received the colour in Vein (left) and Sand Dune (right). I do like the colour of Vein, but not on my eyes. In fact I don't really wear such bright colours. Sand Dune is pretty yellow but doesn't show up very well on me. I'm pretty dark and the yellow just doesn't work for me. Also, I guess I can use the colour Vein as a pop colour for my eyeshadows. I don't know if I'll actually do it but it's an option for me. Wasn't that excited for these eyeshadow colours. 

This is the Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist. This is an awesome sample size to try the product!  It is a spray that is supposed to tone and refreshen me up. Directions: to "spray on your freshly cleansed skin throughout the day to stay refresh". When I opened the bag, I instantly sprayed it on my face (haha). The scent smells too much like baby oil. Well, it smells like a fresher scent of baby oil. Not a fan of the scent personally, however, it did feel refreshing spritzing it. I don't know how often I will use it. It might come handy when I'm on the beach and I can spray it after I shower from a long day? Juice Beauty is an organic company and I really like that. I will update what I end up doing with the product.

This was actually the product I was most excited about. This is the LA FRESH Makeup remover wipes. I received a sample from my glymm bag last month but they only gave out two wipes. The sample size for the wipes that Ipsy provided was very generous. It has 8 wipes and is travel size as well. I am very happy with these wipes and am excited to use them. I use extra virgin olive oil to remove my makeup but I find these convnient because they are the remover and the wipes combined--much easier to take out. I still love my olive oil though.

March 2013 Ipsy!

I thought this bag was pretty average. I wasn't excited for most of products because I have not found my personal use for them yet. I do like the bag because I love the print, and the makeup removers. I also do like the samples sizes of the products. Not the best Ipsy bag but I will stay subscribed because Ipsy has proven its potential as a beauty sample "box". 

-Peggy<3

e.l.f. LIP EXFOLIATOR REVIEW

Time for a product review! I recently went to winners and found elf products. I have heard of this brand before and know that it is quite famous for their low prices. Also from youtube videos I found that elf products are high in quality. I remember going online to visit the elf website and came across the extra 50% off promo! I wanted to try and buy the products but held it off due to the high shipping price point. At winners, I actually found one of the items I had on my elf online shopping cart! I figured I should buy and try it! Online it was priced at $3 and with the 50% off it was at $1.50. At winners, I bought it for $4.99.

Now the review!

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I have very dry and chapped lips due to the winter weather. On top of that, I have a habit of picking my lip when it becomes very dry. Bad habit, I know! Trying to fix that...

Instructions on the box: Apply to clean damp lips and massage in a circular motion to exfoliate. Use a moistened cotton pad with water and gently wipe away scrub. Follow with a lip balm or gloss to condition.

Originally, before reading the directions, I opened the stick and just left it on my lips. I applied it the very same way I would apply lip balm but this is incorrect! It is used just as an exfoliator and nothing more/less. I tried the way that was directed on the box. It did work, however not as effective as I thought. 

                                              

 It has a very sweet taste--I don't like it. Although yummy, I prefer non scented or very minimal taste/smell for anything on my lip.

***I did find a personal method for myself!  I find that this exfoliator works best after my shower, The hot air from my shower does make my lips non chapped, but the dead skin is still there. When I scrub the lip exfoliator after I take a shower, I find that it exfoliates the dead skin very well! I love the product!


Pros
It actually exfoliates!
Does not exfoliate harshly and leaves my lips smooth
Price, $4.99--isn't too bad


Cons
 I wish the taste was minimal.


Overall, I would rate the e.l.f. lip exfoliator at 9/10. It works very well and does what it is supposed to. I really feel like it helps my dry lips. The price is great and the packaging looks very sleek and professional for a drug store product. Even though this is a scrub, I wish there wasn't such an evident taste to it. The taste isn't a big of a deal (this is just personal preference) because it directs you to take off the scrub afterwards and apply lip balm anyways .

Will repurchase!

Perhaps I will buy it when the next 50% elf promotion comes!

-Peggy<3

SEE BY CHLOE

When I smelled this perfume in the March issue of Elle, I knew I had to have it. I justified this splurge by promising myself that I won't buy another beauty product until next month (Ha! We'll see about that). Plus Sephora was tripling the points on any fragrance purchases so I just couldn't say no.

See by Chloe is the newest addition in their line of perfumes and in my opinion one of the best smelling one!
I've always been attracted to apple smelling  top note which explains my previous addiction to the DKNY be delicious perfume. The smell is extremely feminine  fresh and sweet but not overly sweet. I'm a fan of the their clothing as well, especially their see by Chloe line since it's geared towards the younger generation, but I have yet to own any piece of their clothing. :(

I usually spray it on my wrists and on my neck in the morning and the scent lasts all day! I can still smell it when I get home at night! The bottle is adorable and luxurious. The shape and ring on the cap for some reason reminds me of a bird cage or a lantern, but all in all still adorable.

I am absolutely in love with this scent and I think I will be for a very long time!

P.s. Did I mention that Bette Franke looks gorgeous in the ad

Lots of love,
Kasey

IPSY FEBRUARY 2013 - UNBOXING (CANADA)

Hi beauties!

This post is pretty overdue since I received my Ipsy bag pretty early. This is my very FIRST bag and the theme this month is RED CARPET READY! I sneak peaked the items on Facebook before I received my bag and knew that the items were pretty much all for the eyes. Ipsy is a company based in the USA that is started by Michelle Phan. They are a beauty box subscription company that samples out mostly makeup products. They shipped the canadian bags pretty early as well. Let's get started!

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The inside of the bag is carefully stitched. The month of February is usually geared towards the theme of love and valentines day. The peak of red inside the bag was a nice touch to the black bag. 

When I opened up the bag, this was initially what I saw. I was pretty excited even though I knew what was in the bag already.

The first item in the bag is the  Costal Scents eyeshadow sample quad. I got the colours in Gunmetal. Some other people received it in gold. I don't mind the colours I got but I would have been happier with the gold as it suits my skin colour more (I am on the tan side). The eyeshadows are quite pigmented, I'm impressed! I usually use Urban Decay eyeshadows but the Costal Scents eyeshadows aren't bad. This is a actually a smaller sample than what I thought (it looked bigger in pictures than in person)

I received lash cards previously in a Glymm bag before. Ipsy, however,  did provide more cards than Glymm. At the top of the lash card, it stated that this is an exclusive Ipsy product as it does contain 4 cards. Usually, this company only samples out 2 cards. The cards did not really work for me on my top lashes, but,  it was easier to apply to my bottom lashes. I wouldn't purchase these cards because I feel like they will forever be resuable! 

I LOVE MASCARAS! This was a fun sample for me to try! I already have a mascara-to-go for me and that is the Fairydrops mascara! What I look for when trying out other mascaras is how long it would hold on my lashes after curling. This particular mascara is by POP beauty. It was okay, pretty average. Darkened my lashes but didn't hold the curl well. I am currently using this mascara for my bottom lashes only.

This is a face primer by Pixi. I haven't received any face primers from my beauty boxes yet so I was pretty excited to try this product. Also, I have heard good things about this company. The only primer I use is the Urban Decay eye primer and I never owned a face primer actually. I found that this primer didn't work very well with just applying it to my eyes. It did not hold my eyeshadows as well as the Urban Decay one. I did end up finding a good use for this primer and that is to apply it to my eyebrows! I use powder to fill in my brows and I actually applied this primer on my brows before I filled it in. It worked fairly well for me and helped with smudging! Very impressed.

This is the MICA Beauty gel eyeliner! I don't wear eyeliner as much as I used to but I am still  fairly happy to have received this product. I swatched it on my hand and it applied very well! It was smooth and glided on pretty nicely. This sample did not come with a brush but I did have one already so that was okay. I used the QUO angled eyeliner brush and experimented this eyeliner on my eye. It was the same as when I tried it on my hand--very smooth. I am liking this gel linear and will use it when I feel like changing up my look! Quite a generous sample size as well. 

The full contents of the February Ipsy 2013 Bag!

I love Ipsy! I love that it is makeup based as I love trying new makeup products. I was excited to try out almost all of the samples in this bag. I hope that Ipsy will continue to provide makeup items more instead of lotions and creams as I am more interested in trying those instead. I must also add that Ipsy has pretty good customer service and responds to my e-mails rather quickly. I am very happy with my first bag and am looking foreword to March!

What did you think of this month's bag? Did you like the lash cards?

Peggy<3

***I paid with this bag with my own money

THE NEW BLACK

I can't stop telling people how impressed I am with the nail polishes from The New Black! I picked up the Runway-Color Barometer 8-Piece Nail Polish Set this Tuesday from Marshals near Queen street for $10!! Sephora was retailing this set for $32 but now it's on sale for $16 on their website.

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I've always stuck to OPI, Essie, Nails Inc and Anna Sui for nail polishes but I wanted to try other brands and this was the perfect opportunity! The range of colour is a spectacular addition to my collection since I hardly own any shades of green or red. I was so excited to try the nude shade call Horchata Cream.

The nail polish applied like a dream and the brush worked wonders. I find that some nail polishes like Essie is too thin or watery, but The New Black has the same consistency of OPI nail polishes which is great. I only needed two coats and the colour came out solidly. I can't wait to try the other colours!

Lots of Love,
Kasey

TOPBOX FEBRUARY 2013 UNBOXING - Benefit

My Topbox is the first to arrive this month. It is another monthly beauty subscription box I am subscribed to where they offer 3-4 deluxe samples. This month I chose the Prive Box, a box featuring one brand of products. There is an option each month to choose the Prive Box or the regular Topboxes. I love Benefit so I chose the Prive Box option this month. Benefit was not the only brand option for this month, there was also Lippy Girl and Miracle10 Skin Care. You are not guaranteed a Prive Box as it depends upon the number of boxes available. If I wasn't lucky enough to get my chosen Prive box, I would have gotten a regular top box.

I have been subscribed for 4 months now, this being my 4th box. Topbox is my favourite subscription service and this month they have really outdone themselves!

I was excited to open it and found my Topbox to be my chosen Prive Box-- benefit

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What a beautifully designed box! The design theme is in celebration of Chinese New Year. 
**Topbox shipped earlier this month because benefit wanted to have their boxes delivered before CNY. Topbox normally ship on the 10th every month.

Full Picture of this month's February Prive Box featuring BENEFIT!

*With product out of the packaging 

All the samples in this month includes 4 deluxe size sample and 1 bonus sample!

Yay! A facial cream. I never tried this before. Supposed to "provide concentrated immediate and long term hydration." 
I love the packaging and it is a great sample size. Product smells nice and settle.

I have heard great things about the rose tinted lip & cheek stain. Seems to be one of Benefit's famous products. I have yet to try this product but I am excited to try it!

The lipgloss was a sheer pink colour and would be a nice coat over a lipstick and the other product is a face powder.  They both smell like candy.

I have always wanted to test out this out as this is another famous benefit product. This is a balm that claims to minimize the appearance of pores. I have pretty big pores and I am excited to see what this product can do for me when I try it out!

This is a bonus sample. I am not a fan of paper samples but I did want to try this out since it is a new benefit product.
It was put in a really cute paper pocket similar to those chinese money pockets. I am glad that a new product was put in this box for me to try. I was really curious when I saw it in Sephora. 

 I love this month's topbox! 

*I will provide updates based on my opinion of each product after trying them out in a next post!

- Peggy <3


I paid with my own money for all my topboxes.