TOPBOX: October 2013 [regular]

LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS
...
 to defeat the Huns!

actually, i determined the problem behind my inability to post anything in October.

it's because i'm lazy/busy and since i was already so behind in posting about my boxes, i was not motivated to put them up since no one was going to read them... but i will still put them up. just at a later date when i am caught up.
for now, i will post about boxes i just got - which means i will start digging through the pile of unopened boxes in the corner of my room.

yippee - blogging and not wasting products! i had almost forgotten the feeling of excitement of opening boxes and trying out new products...

here i go!

Topbox! yes, almost a month old but i am making my way through October. i can do this!

October's Topbox (regular) was the Murale (Shopppers Drug Mart) box. speaking of SDM, i misplaced my Optimum card for like 3 months and i was completely at lost without it. i felt like i was missing out on a gazillion points but i would not give up on it. i'd have terrible thoughts about some stranger finding it and using up all my points! agh!! the horror!

but the story has a happy ending! apparently i threw it in a box of receipts i was supposed to go through months ago but of course, i did not get to that.

so.... Murale! products in this box include:

1) Darphin Predermine Densifying Anti-Wrinkle (Anti-Wrinkly) Cream for Normal Skin - this is quite the fancy packaging. everything about this makes me think of something my grandma used to have on her vanity table - the lid, the other lid, the color, the scent... the texture feels light to the touch but once you smooth it on your face, it feels slightly heavier. this product comes in two forms - for normal or for dry skin.

size: 15 mL
retail value: $200 (50 mL) - ay, caramba! i will treasure this $60 sample... 

2) Erno Laszlo Transphuse Eye Refiner - this tiny sample is another anti-aging product but targeted for your eyes. this white cream smells a little funny to me... sort of like beer or something. see below 3) for a swatch of the product.

size: 2 mL
retail value: $120 (15 mL)  - looks like this box is filled with luxury items. this sample alone is worth $16

3) Rivoli Le Visage Luminous Serum - the serum is more like a very liquid-y form of a cream to me than a serum. most serums i have are clear and feels sort of thick. this one is white and runny. it has a light scent. i can't quite comment on much else since i've used it twice and the second time, i already had to squeeze the tube with my entire hand.

size: 3 mL
retail value: $220 (50 mL) - this $13 sample barely lasted me 2 uses...

4) Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Baby Doll Mascara - there are different versions of this mascara to achieve different lash looks. this Baby Doll one is particularly great for a wide-eye look with long and separate lashes. the mascara comes in 4 different colors including a black, brown, blue and purple.

size: 2 mL
retail value: $36 (5 mL) ... $14.40 sample!

so looks like the trend with this Murale box is higher-end items... probably geared towards middle-aged women with all the anti-aging items as well as the fact that they are more likely to be able to afford such price tags.
in my opinion, this box was just alright. with my current financial position, i am not looking to spend $200 on a cream just yet... but i will gladly use up my sample.

i am a tad jealous of those that got the Elizabeth Arden lipstick sample... i really need to replace my missing lip brush... and a mini one? that would come in so handy!

other Topboxes that i was debating about for the month of October included the Dermalogica box or the Cosmetics Magazine Topbox (for an additional $5) - i was tempted mainly because of the Bio Oil but really, i could actually go out and buy it... i guess.

thanks for reading!!

TOPBOX: February 2012

hello everyone!
so i have been waiting eagerly for my first subscription box of the month to arrive - my Topbox was sent on the 13th but there were no updates whatsoever until it arrived on the 20th. i left for Fernie on February17th and at that time, i had not heard anything about my boxes, but lo and behold, all three of them were waiting for me the moment i came home today.

BUT even stranger is that i had TWO Topboxes. whaaaaaaaaat?
i was very confused - i remember entering the contest to win the Valentine's Mystery Box on Facebook but i did not win that... i checked my credit card and it does not seem i was charged twice. i was only sent one tracking information email but received two from Canada Post when it was delivered.
so strange indeed! has this happened to anyone else before? i feel bad that i somehow got two while other people are still waiting to sign up for Topbox!

anyway, i opened one and let my sister open the other to see if she would share my enthusiasm (she did not).
it's the same cylinder box as previously used by Topbox except i think the package got wet sometime during the delivery because the purple design was smudged (on one of the boxes).

this month's product card had a slight change to the cover:

February's samples:

1) Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils in "1 High Intensity Black" - i've already heard fantastic things about how this mascara gives you a false-lashes effect. however, i am reluctant to open it just yet because i don't want to dry it out. (sorry my camera is terrible at focusing!)
size: 3 mL
retail value: $36 (7.5 mL)

2) Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat in "No 2" - another YSL product? no complaints there! i've seen ads for this in magazines and read how it is widely used by professional makeup artists. this is expensive stuff! there is definitely NOT enough sample to really try this product out though. it is similar to those tiny samples you would find it your mailbox or magazine.
size: super tiny
retail value: $50 (2.5 mL)

3) Pari Beauty in "ES 72" - this is a very pigmented blue eye shadow that looks slightly green in different lighting. the card says it was personalized for me and i do not mind the color. it is definitely a bright one so i will have to find ways to mute it out just a bit since blue doesn't really complement my skin tone. i've encountered this brand only recently when i was looking for a makeup case. i found them at a makeup counter at Sears. i didn't really browse their products but did see that they had one of those 88 eye shadow palettes that are quite common now. it seems that companies are just slapping their names on the same palettes and claiming them as their own.
size: 2 g (full size!)
retail value: $11

4) C. Booth Derma Skincare Collagen Elastin Restorative Hand & Nail Treatment - my cuticles are not in the best shape and i was looking to fixing that. along came this cream! and in full size too!! hooray. i'm getting just a little tired of all the lotions - maybe Topbox knew that and so they decided to throw in a "treatment". haha anyway, it is white in color and the smell is decent. not great but not bad either. it does have a greasy feeling right after you apply it but that disappears. as for all the other benefits it claims to provide, i will have to update you in the long run.
size: 120 mL (full size!)
retail value: $16

5) LillyPilly Kakadu Plum Hand & Body Creme - hmm. i received another LillyPilly lotion last month from Topbox. was not a huge fan of the rosewood smell so i am a little hesitant to try this one out. but plum does sound more delicious. there are two of these little packets and they come from Australia.
size: 3 mL each x 2 = 6 mL
retail value: $22 (150 mL)

SO you are wondering about the second box right? everything was the same except for the eye shadow. funny isn't it? since it was apparently personalized and somehow i end up with two different shades. lucky for me, it was in a more wearable shade: ES 35. it's a sparkly peach color that comes off quite pigmented when i swipe it directly on my finger, but once i swatch it on my wrist, i can hardly see it. hopefully it shows up more when i use a brush.

another slight difference was that one box has a large amount of the purple crinkly paper, and the other had less but also came with some scrunched up purple tissue.

so all in all, i am glad to be able to try all these samples twice! especially for the YSL products (or i guess i can share the love and give them to someone?). i am very happy with the eye shadow as well. quite lucky that it didn't break since i saw that happen to many people on Facebook. honestly, i am getting a little tired of the lotion samples. i have not received any nail polish to date so here's to the next two boxes i open today *crosses fingers*! it would really help my nail polish obsession phase (i bought like 10 in the last month!)

----- update 02/24/12: Topbox has a new contest where you can win a 3-month subscription! check it out here. contest ends 03/05/12. good luck! ----- 

oh and i thought i would just end this post with a photo i took while in Fernie, BC:

GLYMM: December 2011

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

and so the year of the dragon begins. i am very glad that i am here making another post so soon - i am glad i did not get tired of blogging and just give up after two posts :)

today, i will be discussing my first Glymm box which arrived December 19, 2011. 

it came in a pretty pink box, and i am glad it was marked fragile. i find that when i order online, some of the items appear to be tossed around quite a bit. i found out this was definitely necessary since it includes *spoiler* a jar of jelly beans!! 

after opening the pink cardboard box, you find another pink box - this one with the Glymm logo on top. upon opening this box, i like how everything is wrapped up neatly with white tissue paper and a bow. there is the Glymm card that tells you all the items that were in this month's box, an advertisement card about some products that can be purchased online, as well as a $10 off coupon with any purchase - oh! and some of the crinkled white paper... i am not really sure what to call them.

products received:

1) Caudalie mask - don't let the picture fool you - this was a super tiny sample. on the back of it, it says to use twice a week and i have yet to use this enough to see results. i currently use a face scrub that works in a similar way in that they both remove dead skin cells. 

size: 3 mL

retail value: $40 (40 mL)

2) Ahava hand cream - you definitely do not need to use a large amount because just a tiny bit of this hand cream will make your hands really smooth. the formula appears to be very mousse-like and non-greasy. it looks similar to whipped cream. it also smells very nice - sort of reminds of flowers and clean babies.

size: 20 mL 

retail value: $20 (~101 mL) 

3) Yves Saint Laurent "La Parisienne" perfume - i have not own anything YSL before and when i looked at the packaging, it sort of looks like it was geared towards more mature women. i'm not very good at describing perfumes but i do enjoy the smell. it doesn't smell musky to me - maybe flowers? again, i don't know how to describe perfume scents - it's usually just nice or not nice. the sample is not one where you can spray on but just dab on.

size: 7.5 mL

retail value: $85 (~ 88 mL)

4) Sula Beauty lip gloss in "In Disguise" - i have encountered the Sula brand only once before - i purchased a paint & peel nail polish that didn't turn out too good. the color was nice but didn't work as expected. this lip gloss color was a light baby pink and the packaging is really pretty. really girly. with my lips, the gloss only looks like gloss; it does not give my lips any color at all. (if you want to see my bare lips, please check out the previous post on Topbox!). one good thing was that it was not sticky so my hair didn't get caught in it.

size: 2.69 g (full size!)

retail value: $8

lastly, Glymm is known for including a jar of different flavored jelly beans each month! for december, they went festive with white and red jelly beans. they look super tasty but also so cute in their jar i'm not sure if i want to eat them. 

all in all, i am pretty pleased with the variety of products in my very first Glymm box. again, i received a full size lip gloss which i am not complaining about since i use lip products all the time. i also go through a lot of hand cream. living in calgary means that we have some cold winters and hand cream is a must! i enjoy receiving samples of perfume since you can never really tell what it smells like on you until you wear it for a few hours. and jelly beans - candy is never a bad thing! i am also super duper excited to say that as i type this, there is another Glymm box right behind me that i just received today, just waiting to be opened! i will let you know very very soon on the contents - hopefully this subscription to Glymm will continue to impress me :)

thanks for your time again! to find out more about Glymm, please click here.