November Beauty Haul 2014

If you're a frequent shopper at Sephora, a Beauty Insider, VIB or VIB Rouge member, then you'll know of Sephora's yearly discount sale. Which, is pretty much the only time you'll ever be able to get a discount at Sephora. So as a make up fanatic that I am, I went pretty crazy. And, thus leads to this blog post where I list out everything that I've purchased from that sale, as well as, drugstore and Lush pick ups. Get ready!

Part One

1. Urban Decay: Urban Obsessions, Beauty Insider Reward, 2. Balenciaga: B. Rollerball, 3. Nars: 2014 Holiday Collection Blush in Almería, 4. Too Faced: 5-Piece Bronzer Wardrobe Collection, 5. Nars: 2014 Holiday Collection Hardwired Lipstick in Deadly Catch.

1. Urban Decay: Urban Obsessions, Beauty Insider 500-Point Reward

This is the Urban Obsessions 500-Point Beauty Insider Reward, I have no idea which month it was supposed to be for because it was snatched up right away online. Luckily, I was in store making the above purchases and saw this when asked if I wanted to redeem my points for anything.

This little palette comes with 4 eyeshadow shades from neutral to smoky. From lightest to darkest, skimp, bust, guilt and oil slick; a travel-size 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero (black), and a sample of their eyeshadow Primer Potion. 

I'm usually not big on spending my points for perks because I never find anything worth spending my points on, but after seeing this, I knew that I had to get it. First of all, I love Urban Decay products, there has not been a product yet that has let me down and the quality of their products are amazing. Secondly, they're very well-known for not testing on animals and are vegan products, something that I'm very happy about.

When trying out the eyeshadows, they never disappoint! Their pigmentation is amazing and a little goes a long way. Their eyeliner is very well-known as fantastic, this is also the first time I've ever laid my hands on it so I'm really stoked to try it out and see if it lives up to the hype. Something that's already fantastic about it is that it's waterproof which, is something that I really look for in a product. (I'd rather have the product stay on than racoon eyes)

2. Balenciaga: B. Rollerball

When looking for new arrivals at Sephora, the larger version of this perfume caught my eye. It's very different packaging from other perfumes that I've ever seen. As usual, it's a bottle, but the bottle itself is rectangular shape (big whoop) but the way it looks like some type of quartz crystal (I've got a geology minor). The packaging of the bottle got me curious to try this out, so I decided to go with a rollerball version since I've got two more perfumes that I should most probably finish before I decided to get another bottle to add to my collection. Anyways, this smells amazing, it's got notes of: Cashmeran Wood, Lily of the Valley Bell, Violet Green Leaves Accord, Green Edamame Accord, Iris Root, Cedarwood Heart, and Ambrette Seeds (whatever these mean...). But together, it smells close to the Daisy by Marc Jacobs perfumes (one of my favourites) but a bit more woody.

3. Nars: 2014 Holiday Collection Blush in Almería

At first, I didn't really think of getting anything from the Nars Holiday Collection. The only thing I really thought of getting was the cheek palette, but I got the cheek palette last year from their Guy Bourdin Holiday Collection so I decided to skip out on it, since a lot of the shades were similar. It wasn't until I got in store and saw this blush and decided to test it out. Nars blushes have become one of my favourite blushes, with their awesome pigmentation and pay off. I first thought this blush would probably be too dark for me, but as the winter months are coming around, it wouldn't kill for a stronger blush. For my type of skin tone, you barely need a lot on your make up brush just to show colour in your cheeks. This would definitely be something I would use on a special occasion, not on a daily basis.

4. Too Faced: 5-Piece Bronzer Wardrobe Collection

Milk Chocolate Soleil, Sun Bunny, Chocolate Soleil, Endless Summer.

I've heard so much about the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer and seeing that I would be able to try four of them got me wanting to test out all of them before settling on my favourite one. But yes, my favourite one so far is Chocolate Soleil. These do sort of smell like chocolate which, is a bit off putting because my face ends up with a faint smell of chocolate. But hey, chocolate smells pretty good! Something I like about these are that they're so small, you can carry them with you everywhere and there is variety between matte and shimmer bronzers. This set also came with a Too Faced Teddy Bear hair Flatbuki brush, I've heard a lot about their brushes so I'm excited to try their Flatbuki brush as a starter.

5. Nars: 2014 Holiday Collection Hardwired Lipstick in Deadly Catch

Nars has amazing lipsticks. Hands down. One of my favourite brands for lipsticks, they're super creamy and very pigmented. I thought this would be too bright for me at first, but then I realized that every girl should own a good bright red lipstick. This is a crimson red, so although it is a bright red, it is still on the darker side. I've got not much to say about this besides the fact that its creamy, super pigmented and one of my favourites.

Part Two

1. Ole Henriksen: Glow-On-The-Go Trio, 2. bareMinerals: Mineralixirs Cleansing Oil, 3. Hourglass: Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

1. Ole Henriksen: Glow-On-The-Go Trio

I've always wondered what these wipes were like. Even though its cheaper to get them individually full-sized, I decided I would rather get this trio pack where I can try small packs of each type. All three are different, the orange one is for brightening, it's called 'The Clean Truth,' which, contains 'vitamin C, CoQ10 and black currant oil to rejuvenate and hydrate for radiant, youthful-looking skin.' The purple one is makeup removing, stating that it removes waterproof make up as well. It's known as 'Nurture Me,' containing moringa seed oil, borage seed oil and essential fatty acids to nourish and unveil glowing, bare skin.' And, the last one, the blue one is for oil-free pore refining, known as 'Grease Relief,' it is formulated with glycolic, lactic, and citrus acids to thoroughly dissolve dead skin cells and purifying eucalyptus to absorb pore-clogging dirt and oil for clarified, fresh-looking skin.'

I have yet to try 'The Clean Truth' and 'Grease Relief.' I tried the purple one, 'Nurture Me' and it burned my eyes. Now, I wasn't wiping my eyeballs with the wipe but my eye make up. It started giving some stinging around the eyes and within the eyes. This never happens with my other make up wipes so I don't know if I'll be big on using the purple one, nor the rest of them if this is what happens.

2. bareMinerals: Mineralixis Cleansing Oil

If you've seen my YouTube videos, you'll know that I'm a big fan of the Shu Uemura cleansing oils. Since it began to make an appearance at Sephora, much more cleansing oils have hit the shelves. I started running out of my Anti/Oxi cleansing oil by Shu Uemura and decided it was time to try something else. This is where bareMinerals comes in, they've been releasing a lot of new products and I'm impressed. So, I decided I would give this a go, it's a little bigger than the Shu Uemura bottles (the smaller ones, that is) and a bit cheaper if not the same price. The reviews on this are fairly good so I can't wait to give it a go!

If you've been wondering if I've tried any drugstore ones, I've tried the L'Oreal one and it broke me out and was really sticky so I stopped using it.

3. Hourglass: Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

Luminous Flush, Incandescent Electra, Mood Exposure

I love Hourglass products, their packaging, their quality, everything. I was lusting over this when it was only available to VIB Rouge members (I wasn't VIB Rouge back then), but when it finally hit stores and was available to everyone, I couldn't justify the money to get it. But after reading reviews, and of course, the sale, I decided that I would get it. And boy, have I fallen in love! Besides me getting paranoid with getting fingerprints on the pristine packaging, the blush itself is soft, pigmented AND they feel like pillows if you ever so slightly swipe your finger across them. This is definitely a must have for anyone who's looking for a good blush with variety. 

Part Three

1. Dashing Santa Bath Bomb, 2. So White Bath Bomb, 3. Christmas Eve Bubble Bar

I'm not a big fan of glitter, so pardon the lack thereof. When the Christmas collection from Lush came out, I couldn't wait to try everything that didn't contain glitter. I tried with their Sparkler bath bomb, I really did, but after leaving the bath sparkling like Edward Cullen, I concluded that I was not a fan of the glitter products from Lush, well anywhere actually. So I decided to stick with a limited few that I thought smelled heavenly and would actually enjoy using.

1. Dashing Santa Bath Bomb

Dashing Santa, smells citrusy, like oranges. And, I, am a fan of citrus products. This is pretty much all I have to say about this bath bomb, besides the fact that I'm excited to break it apart and use bit by bit, also the fact that it's not actually a 'bomb' looking bath bomb, makes me more excited.

2. So White Bath Bomb

Apples. That is all this bath bomb smells like. SprinkleofGlitter (Louise) from YouTube goes crazy over this bath bomb! This is a favourite for many Lush customers so it comes back every Christmas. Theres a surprise pink centre and I'm just SO EXCITED to take a bath with this apple smelling fantastic thing-a-ma-jig. Something else that's fantastic? LUSH PRODUCED A SHOWER GEL VERSION OF THIS LITTLE THING OF HEAVEN!

3. Christmas Eve Bubble Bar

Christmas Eve Bubble Bar, has calming properties, like jasmine and ylang ylang. It's definitely something that I'll be using after I finish my exams this term! It'll be nice to be able to kick back and destress with this bubble bar! Who doesn't love a good bubble bath anyway?

Part Four - Finale

1. Lush: Tea Tree Toner Water, 2. Got2B: Beach Trippin' Waving Spray, 3. Korres: Body Butter in Guava, 4. Tarte: CC Park Ave Princess Coloured Clay Bronzer Blush, 5. Tarte: Lights, Camera, Splashes Waterproof Mascara, 6. Too Faced: Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush in Peach Beach, 7. Laura Mercier: Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide Foundation in Dusk, 8. Hourglass: Ambient Lighting Palette, 9. Maybelline: Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara in Dark Brown

1. Lush: Tea Tree Toner Water

I finished up using my Breath of Fresh Air toner and was really liking it but I have always wanted to try the Tea Tree Water so when it was finally back in stock, I decided to get a small bottle of it so I could decide on which one I liked the best before giving in and buying a full bottle. I recently got into taking better care of my skin, and with that came in toner. I never really found a point in using toner throughout my time growing up but now, I realize that it helps with keeping your skin clean throughout the day.

2. Got2B: Beach Trippin' Waving Spray

I remember wanting to try this when it first came out but was skeptical since a lot of the drugstore sea salt sprays haven't impressed me. But after watching a lot of videos and reading a lot of articles, I've given into trying this out. A lot of people have used this product and seem to enjoy using it. So I decided to give it a go since it was on sale.

3. Korres: Body Butter in Guava

To be honest, I wasn't planning on getting this but I was so close to free shipping (always with the free shipping catch), so I decided to give it a go. Back when Korres actually had their little spot within Sephora stores in Canada, I never thought of trying them out, but now that they're so hard to find (occasional Shoppers Drug Mart locations), I've given in to trying them out. Their body butter is something that has been spoken of highly. And well, you can never have too much body butter, am I right?

4. Tarte: CC Park Ave Princess Coloured Clay Bronzer Blush

A bronzer AND a blush in one?! Is it really that good to be true? In fact, it is, because I'm in love with this. I used a Tarte blush way back in my high school days for prom and always liked that they used clay and that it always gave good pigmentation. Tarte has really impressed me over the past few years and I'm a big fan of a lot of their products. This bronzer blush just adds to the list of something that I'm really impressed with, it gives nice pigmentation and I know this is definitely something I'll be using a lot during summer. It's got a few sections that have shimmer which is nice because it gives a little highlighting effect besides the bronzer and blush.

5. Tarte: Lights, Camera, Splashes Waterproof Mascara

This is hands down, my favourite mascara ever. It was such a disappointment when I got some bacteria in it and started getting eye infections (I know, so gross). But not to fret, of course I'd get myself a new one. This is literally the best waterproof mascara I've ever used, a lot of the times, the only thing I look for in waterproof mascaras is that they hold my eyelashes up (Asian eyelashes hold nothing up). But this has given volume, separated my lashes and is insanely waterproof. The other waterproof mascaras that I've used are barely waterproof, they're waterproof enough to hold my eyelashes up but other than that, with one make up remover wipe, they're gone. With this mascara, I actually have to rub a little bit more to get the product off. I will most likely be purchasing this product in the future again and again.

6. Too Faced: Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush in Peach Beach

A lot of people have given high reviews on this blush and I wanted to know why. (If you haven't realized, I purchased a lot of cheek products this past month). Well, Too Faced is known for their doll like, feminine products and I really wanted to know what all the hype over this blush was about. It's super shimmery so I wouldn't recommend swiping your brush through the product unless you want your whole cheek to be shimmering. (That's up to you, but not for me) This gives a really nice warm glow and is really good for the winter glow. I really wanted to try their other one, Candy Glow, but thinking about it now, it might be a bit too pink for me.

7. Laura Mercier: Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide Foundation in Dusk

I was browsing through Sephora, keeping in mind that my Urban Decay Naked foundation only had a life span of 6 months, if you may. This is me talking about those little symbols on the back of high-end beauty products letting you know how long the product should last or should be kept before getting thrown out. Drugstore products don't have this which, bothers me to no end. (Thank you Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual for educating me). I did the Colour IQ thing a while ago and seeing as I haven't really gotten that tan nor lightened up that much, I figured I'd be around the same shade (4Y08), I decided to test out the new Laura Mercier foundation because while, I did enjoy the Silk Creme Foundation, it just wasn't something I would be willing to spend my money on. Testing this in store, I really liked how it felt on my skin, it didn't feel heavy and didn't make me look like I packed on a bunch of make up on my skin. Its very light-medium coverage which, is possibly the only type of foundation I can handle, if not no foundation is fine by me. 

Unfortunately, the downside to this foundation is its packaging. Upon receiving it, I opened the box at the top, and to my surprise, the foundation bottle was upside down, which, only made me think that it had been opened and used prior to me receiving this. Nevertheless, excitement got the best of me and I decided to test it out on my face, after I opened the product, it was evident that it was not the best packaging since the product had spilled out (you're told to shake the product well, which is what I did). It spilled into the cap and around the nozzle (left picture). My first thought was that I would exchange the product for another one but I read the reviews on Sephora and many other customers had the same problem so I realized I wasn't the only one and could only store this product upside down, just like the way I received it.

8. Hourglass: Ambient Lighting Palette

Dim Light, Incandescent Light, Radiant Light

I always liked this palette since it was released but never really knew why I would need three shades of the Ambient Lighting Powder. But thanks to Ashley, I realized that they were each for different types of lighting. And, now I'm learning which one is best for my occasion and it only makes me more excited to try this out more and find a reason to use it.

As said earlier, Hourglass is one of my favourite brands. They're on the pricier side but from what I own from them, I'm obsessed. Their pigmentation is amazing, packaging is lovely and never lets me down. Once again, this is something that you should own if you're looking for some sort of lighting powder/highlighter.

9. Maybelline: Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara in Dark Brown

I was possibly the most excited person to see this in stores when it was first released. A tinted brow gel by a drugstore brand?! No way! I have been using the Tarte Coloured Clay Brow Gel for the past few months and while I do like it, I'm not obsessed and don't see much of a difference when I use it on my brows versus when I only use pencil on my brows. So, obviously upon my arrival at home, I had to open this and test it out. It definitely puts a lot more product on your brows which, is much more evident in comparison to the Tarte one. The brush is just plain weird, I'm not going to hide it. It's also a larger brush than the Tarte one. This creates some sort of struggle when applying the product, because if I want more product, I would try to use the longer and thinner end of the brush and to brush it out, I would use the ball looking end. This concludes with me getting product around my brows, and its just a weird formatting of the brush, but I figure I could deal with it or figure out some way to handle it.

This concludes my November beauty haul, which, is possibly the biggest haul I'll have all year, seeing as it's almost December. And due to all these new products, I doubt I'll need any more new ones for another year. But alas, here is a blog post (finally!) Sorry I've been away for so long. I'm also in the middle of trying to figure out if I should make a video for this, it'd be about 20 minutes long (ridiculous, I know.)

Anyways, until next time!

- h.

Hiatus.

Who knows how long I've been without a blog post? According to blogger, it's been since June 20th, 2014. Which is about 4 months and 11 days from today. During this time, I have made a lot of purchases and a few haul and favourite videos, as well as my very unsuccessful attempts at vlogging. During these past few months, I have also finished my summer jobs, my summer course and have moved back to school and have started a new job there. A lot has changed in 4 months, and during the whole course of things, I've somehow managed to not lose my head. 

Now, I'm not going to say that moving back to school and starting a new school year was all that fun and exciting, of course it's always exciting and fun for the first few weeks of school but then your courses start cracking down on you and you're constantly trying to stay afloat with the piles and piles of assignments that need to be complete with all the notes you need to study for midterms and quizzes. 

Yet, in all this mess that has come my way, I've still managed to find myself and keep myself sane. Starting with a new skincare routine that I (thank God) have somehow managed to maintain for the past month. If you've ever hung out with me or have ever met me, you'll know that my skin isn't perfect nor is it flawless (pretty much the same thing). Somehow, I managed to break out on my cheek, which, is something that rarely ever happens throughout my teenage years, my acne was always on my forehead and at this rate, I'd rather it stay there. But stay, it didn't. My acne decided that it was time for my cheek to suffer and to this day, it bothers me to no end. 

I guess, this leads me to discussing my skincare routine, I've made slight changes over the month and I think I've finally found the one that works best on my skin and is actually starting to help my acne. 

In the beginning, I would do my usual routine when removing make up, I always use waterproof make up because my eyelashes aren't capable of holding up mascara unless its waterproof and I never liked non-waterproof liquid eye liner because it always smudged. Now that, that's out of the way, I would use a cleansing oil, I've been trying out the Shu Uemura cleansing oils because they've been spoken about so much, I have used the 'High Performance Balancing' and the 'Anti/Oxi Skin Refining Anti-Dullness.' I haven't noticed a difference on my skin between the two, so I guess you could say that all they really do is just clean the waterproof make up off your face. That used to be my only routine. But recently, I realized that my skin needed something else to help combat the acne problem. I finally decided to try out my Murad 'Skin Smoothing Polish,' this product has microbeads that help exfoliate the skin and claims that it 'helps relieve congested pores.' Along with this scrub, I began using 'Breath of Fresh Air' a toner water, by Lush. I would clean the make up off my face with the cleansing oil, followed by the scrub and ending with the toner water. In addition to this, I would use the Neostrata 'Oil-Free Smoothing Lotion Level 3,' this product is an AHA exfoliant that is said to even the skin, it stings a little bit but the stinging goes away. 

Anyways, that was my night routine for a good few weeks, and then I realized my cheeks were possibly getting worse, so I decided to switch out the Murad scrub for 'Ocean Salt' by Lush. The scrub consists of some citric ingredients which, I know help with combatting my acne, so I began using that and since it's a fairly harsh exfoliant, I also stopped using the Neostrata Smoothing Lotion. This leads me to my current routine. In the morning, I use my Korres 'White Tea Gel Cleanser' and my 'Breath of Fresh Air' toner by Lush, and then follow up with my make up routine. And, at night, I wash off my make up with my Shu Uemura cleansing oil, followed by my 'Ocean Salt' scrub by Lush and finish off with my 'Breath of Fresh Air' toner. 

It's taken a while to figure out what's good for me but I think this is the best routine, I've got this far to help me with my acne.

If you must know, the Neostrata Smoothing Lotion and I go back about 4 months when Holly first recommended it to me and said it was her holy grail. I was then tempted to try it but after a few tries, didn't notice anything different so I stopped, only to start up again and stop, and so on and so forth. So here I am now, not using the product after I used it for a good 2-3 weeks without noticing a difference. 

Anyways, it's been quite a long blog post, I just figured I'd keep whoever even reads this, up to date on my current skin routine. I know I've been gone for a while and I'm sorry about that. I'm going to try to post more here whenever I can and find the inspiration. 

But in the meantime, feel free to check out my Youtube videos, whether you want to see what I've been purchasing or what I've been up to in these past few months.

http://www.youtube.com/TheHwonggg (for hauls and make up related videos)
http://www.youtube.com/hwonggglogs (for vlogs)

Until next time,

- h.

Animal-Testing Companies

It always saddens me when articles about animals being used as tests for cosmetic brands. I didn't really know how many brands actually tested on animals until I saw Peta2 tweet about their article showing which companies tested on animals and which ones didn't. Now, I'm not going to say that I don't have any cosmetics that are by companies that test on animals because that would be a lie. But, it's sad to see how many companies that are so high class, actually test on animals and still have such a high reputation.

A few years ago, Lush ran a campaign to show how torturous it could be for an animal to be used as a test subject by using a volunteer (a human) and displayed what she had to undergo when cosmetic brands were testing products on her. It was shown to the public on Oxford Street in London which is the biggest shopping strip in London (well, the most famous). 

For more information, I've attached a link to the Peta2 page where you can find more information on which brands test on animals and which ones don't, as well as the DailyMailUK article on Lush's Animal Testing protest.

Peta2's Animal Testing/Non-Animal Testing Brands:
http://features.peta2.com/shopcrueltyfree/index.aspx

DailyMailUK's Lush Animal Testing Protest:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134555/Lush-animal-testing-protest-Woman-subjected-experiments-horrified-shoppers.html

A new YouTube, video will be up in a few days for the ending of 'March Madness,' this will include my second haul and birthday celebration presents that I received!

Until then,
- h.

Huge Haul! PLUS, YouTube Video Out Now!!

Hey Guys!!

I know I've been away for quite a while and not a lot of YouTube videos have been made! I have one recorded, I just haven't found the time to edit it! But, don't fret! Hell week at school is over now and all I have to worry about is final exams! So until, that comes around the corner...I'll be posting and updating everything!

A while back, I did a huge haul over a weekend, and well I've finally found the time to share with you guys what I got!

If you guys, don't feel like reading this wordy and lengthy article, here's the 14.5 minute long YouTube video! (It's long, I'm sorry.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i239G0gXN1U

Starting with hair products, I have a tendency to buy a lot of hair products, specifically conditioners and just use whatever shampoo I have at home because I don't feel like they make that big a difference.

Organix Sea Mineral Moisture, Moisture Surge Deep Treatment & Conditioner, $10.49.

I actually got this when the new Organix products came out, it's got quite the seaweed/kelp smell to it and I feel that the conditioner and deep treatment are both moisturizing. They both manage to make my hair really soft whereas, Dove products just clean my hair but don't soften it or anything. This usually retails for about $10.49 Canadian at Shoppers but often goes on sale for $6.99 - $7.99. I believe it's original price at Target and Wal-Mart is about $7.99. This line also consists of the shampoo and the shimmering weightless moisture replenisher hair spray.

         

Garnier Fructis: De-Constructed Beach Chic Sea Salt Spray, $5-6.

Moving on to the new Garnier Fructis: De-constructed Beach Chic Sea Salt Spray, I was really excited for this as I'm always on the lookout for sea salt sprays because, I love having that wavy hair (mine's a mix of wavy and straight, it is not fun.) Anyways, the smell was decent, nothing I couldn't handle but the spray did absolutely nothing to my hair besides dry it out (got that sea salt effect, going for me). My hair stayed the same minus the texture. It's a good thing that I bought this on sale for $3.49 Canadian at Shoppers because otherwise, I would've been so mad. I believe, it usually retails for about $5-6.

Manic Panic Semi-Permanent: Hair Colour in Voodoo Blue & Hot Hot Pink, $14.99.

If you know me, then you'll know that I have a layer of bleached hair that's grown out so much, it basically just looks like I ombre-d my hair (I didn't.) So, while waiting for it to grow out enough for me to get it all cut off and still have a decent length for hair, I've decided to dye it. My go to for hair dye is always Manic Panic since it's vegan and semi-permanent. The one I always get, when I do decide to dye my hair is the shade 'Hot Hot Pink,' I really like the result that shows up on my hair and the shade it turns to when it's fading, an orangey-pink (sunset, ya know wha I'm sayin'?) Since my hair isn't totally bleached white and striped of colour, it's a natural orangish brown. Recently, I decided to finally test out blue in my hair. I've always wanted to be one of those girls with long dark hair (I have the long part, just not the dark) with the blue streak going down. So I finally got blue dye and MAY have accidentally swallowed some dye because it go on my dinner when I was in the middle of dying my hair...don't worry, its vegan with no chemicals, so no I didn't die. Just a recommendation though, DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Last term, I accidentally got krazy glue on my tongue and chugged so much water. But hey, if I can survive, I'm sure you can too.

My hair turned out teal and I was satisfied with it but I missed out on some parts of hair that still looked puke green to me, so I re-dyed it the next day. Currently it's back to teal, but that's because I haven't had the time to re-dye it. Maybe tomorrow night...I got the Voodoo Blue at Sally's for about $12, and the Hot Hot Pink one at Shoppers for $14.99, they don't go on sale often :(

MOVING ON...

I got the randomest item ever, so I guess this is where I'll post it. 

L'Occitane Shea Butter One Minute Hand Scrub, $24.

Recently L'Occitane did a promotion for a free trio sample of their top selling hand creams, and along with that was a 15-20% off discount for their store. I figured, it'd be worth it since they probably don't do much sales and they're pretty pricy to begin with so I caved and bought the L'Occitane One Minute Hand Scrub (why? my hands were dry at the time, it was also winter and cold). It looks really oily but that's because the scrub is sunken at the bottom and you need to mix it for it to look more like a scrub. I really like it and thought it was very moisturizing, it definitely got rid of the dry flakes on my hands due to the cold, winter weather!

From the random tangent to all the other things I bought, we'll start off with face, then going towards eyes and ending with lips!

Urban Decay: Naked Skin HD Loose Finishing Powder, $40.

My friend, Ashley from Flux & Xoulis had me for Kris Kringle this past Christmas and had never gotten me my gift for the longest time because everytime I said I wanted something, I would usually buy it for myself before anyone had the chance to do so. So the last time I was home, we were out shopping together and finally concluded that there was no way for her to get me a gift unless I was the one that chose it! So I finally settled on the Urban Decay Naked Skin HD Loose Finishing Powder. I chose this because it'd be a super light coverage for my lazy days (which is pretty much everyday) and that it'd be much easier to manage, as with foundation, I have to squeeze it out onto my hand and blah blah blah. Such a long process and I ain't got time for that in the morning. So far, I'm really enjoying it! It's really nice and makes my face look clearer than without anything (which isn't that bad to begin with). It costs $40 at both Sephora and Shoppers, if it were up to me, I'd get it at Sephora for the BI/VIB points but Ashley works at Shoppers so...there's that.

       

Lush: Mint Julips Lip Scrub & Dark Angels Face Scrub, $9.95 & $12.95.

I decided to pay a visit to Lush when I was at Eaton Centre one day because I've always been interested in the idea of natural ingredients and what not. I'm a bit skeptical on the whole thing and the price but, I was interested in trying something new and was in dire need of a good face and lip scrub. I had heard a lot of hype about the 'Bubblegum' lip scrub, but sweets is not really my thing, so I did some research and found that 'Mint Julips' was a mint chocolate kind of flavour, so I was definitely down for that, PLUS, YOU CAN LICK OFF THE EXCESS! Second, I needed a face scrub that wasn't drying and one that wouldn't break me out with acne. I spoke to the staff and she recommended me either the 'Ocean Salt' or 'Dark Angels,' I tried both and concluded that 'Dark Angels' was nicer. Its made of Moroccan lava clay, avocado oil, charcoal powder and brown sugar. It definitely has a strong liquorice smell but if you don't mind that, then you're good to go! It clears up my excess oil and doesn't create more during the day. It also doesn't dry out my skin, so that's really nice! The staff member at Lush was also nice enough to provide me with a sample size of 'Ocean Salt,' I still have yet to test that one out. Both of these products are a bit on the pricy side because they're all natural and what not, which is good for a splurge once in a while! You don't need much of the face scrub when using it and I definitely don't use much of the lip scrub on my lips, so it'll last you a while! 

Revlon: Photoready 3D Volume Mascara, ~ $10

As usual, I'm always on the hunt for new mascaras and had come across this one as it was on sale and I like how the brush is separated and is a fibre one. The mascara barely clumps and I'm really happy with it. No surprise that it doesn't hold my curled lashes up though, I always need to use waterproof formula mascaras for that (thanks for my being Asian). But yeah, I'm really happy with this, it'd be great if a waterproof one was created! I purchased it at Shoppers for about $6.99, it usually retails for about $10 or a bit more, I believe.

 Lorac Pro Eyeshadow Palette, $42.

A cult favourite of everyone who's ever owned this, the coveted Lorac Pro palette! I finally got my hands on it after Sephora stopped selling them and the Lorac cosmetics site doesn't ship to Canada. I somehow managed to finally get it (praising my friends that live in the USA and go to school in Canada), if you're wondering how, I finally found a site that took a Canadian billing address and would ship to USA. And, I have a friend at university that lives in the States, so I shipped it to her place and got her to bring it back for me! (Long process, I know) Anyways, is it a surprise that I'm in love with it? It's so well pigmented and you can literally do everything with this palette! There's a whole row of matte shades and a whole bottom row of shimmer shades, I use this as an eyebrow filler and combine shades for smoky eye. 

Revlon: Colourburst Lip Butter (Candy Apple), Super Lustrous Lipstick (Coralberry), 

& Colourburst Lip Butter (Juicy Papaya), $5-10.

I've heard so many good things about the Revlon Colourburst Lip Butters and of course I got the cult favourite 'Peach Parfait,' sadly, I didn't like it because of the shimmer, so there I go again, not liking a lot of cult favourites (haha...) Anyways, I've finally gotten into the phase of liking lip products, and am the biggest fan when it comes to reddish shades! My going out/everyday (common day, at least) lip butter is definitely 'Candy Apple,' not only is it moisturizing but definitely gives your lips a pop of colour! I've only ever swatched the lipstick in 'Coralberry,' I'm trying to get more into corals and nude shades right now. But one of the closest lip butters I have closest to my lip's natural shade is 'Juicy Papaya.' These two lip butters are the least shimmery and definitely moisturizing, I really enjoy them! I put the price range as $5-10 because I really don't remember the retail price and it definitely varies with where it was purchased. I purchased all three of these when they were on sale for $6.

This concludes my 'huge haul,' if you'd rather watch a video of this, it'll be uploaded soon on my YouTube channel, HiLarious. I should be editing the video tomorrow so it'll be online at night!

Until then, 

- h.