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