January Bellabox 2014

Its Bellabox time! Or what I like to call 'Useless stuff I don't need'. As usual it is nicely wrapped and packaged, and as usual, I probably won't end up using half the stuff given.

Let's begin!

So because I actually received this a week ago and its just sitting in my room, past me got annoyed with the information card and chucked it somewhere and now present me can't find it, when means now I have to type everything out (the horror).

So, here goes:
Model Co Fat Lash Volumising Mascara
Wotnot Facial Wipes
Palmolive Ayurituel Shower Gel
Coconut Revolution Body Cream
Avène Hydrance Optimale Rich Hydrating Cream
Avène Soothing Moisture Mask
Yes to Carrots C Me Shine Lip Gloss in Playful Nude

I always get a bit excited about shampoo and body wash samples cause they're perfect for travelling, so I'm pretty happy about the shower gel sample.
The Yes to Carrots C Me Shine Lip Gloss in Playful Nude is a bit disappointing, its slightly minty and has that sort of old lip gloss taste that I find off putting. I guess it does nude my lips out a bit, but it really just looks like I put Vaseline on my lips.

I haven't really tried out the rest, except for the mascara (next post), so I don't really have anything to say about them.

Lazy days

Easy way to dress up a simple outfit - bold lipstick and boots.

Lips - Lord and Berry Lipstick Crayon in Fire, Shirt - Free People, Skirt - Ally Fashion, Boots - Dr. Martens

December Bellabox 2013

December Bellabox is here! I feel like after receiving my third Bellabox, it's kind of growing on me. I guess it's cause I keep receiving and discovering new products that I would never buy for myself, but would be useful to have. Kind of like those cool things you see on infomercials and want, but would never get as you don't really need them in your life, but they'd be handy nonetheless.

I do want a shamwow though. It will be mine someday.
 

So here's what I got this month:

 

A small canvas tote bag (its quite thin).

And a description of the items sent out this month.

I'm quite excited to try this sample of the daily calming lotion since I do have a lot of redness in my face, though I have tried a Palmer's Cocoa Butter facial lotion before, an SPF one, and it was a bit greasy, despite them claiming otherwise. Hopefully this one won't be.

The moment I saw this dusty greyish purple nail polish, I fell in love. I have the shade French Lavender. It looks more purple here, its a lot more grey in real life. But it is such a gorgeous colour, its very muted shade that could go with any style, classy or grungy. The brush applies the polish also applies so smoothly, and the polish comes out very opaque, so opaque that you could get away with just one coat of polish.

God I love this nail polish. It will definitely be staying on my nails for the next month. Do check out this brand, it's a tad bit more expensive, but it's definitely worth it. Check them out here.

Chirp Chirp

I'm pretty sure I caught my birds gossiping about me today as I sat beside them reading a book.

Look at those pitying, judgmental faces.

Daiso Base Coat Mascara

After watching Jenn from Clothes Encounters in her October favourites last month and seeing her rave about her new mascara primer, I remembered that I saw one in Daiso the one time I had been there. For those who don't know what Daiso is, its a store that stocks japanese products which are all priced at $2.80. Its a worldwide franchise, but from what I know, it's only been around in my city for about a year or so. I went there for the first time a few months ago, but didn't end up getting anything, partially because the friend that led me there didn't actually want to be there and only came with me because I insisted on seeing what the fuss was all about.

This time however, I went with a friend that wanted to pick up one of their eyebrow pencils (apparently they're not bad), so I decided to go with and pick up a mascara primer. The day I went, there were two mascara primers available, and in the end I admittedly chose the one with the nicer packaging. Since the descriptions were both in japanese, I couldn't decide which one was better and obviously the product with the nicer packaging means that it is a better product (don't fail me now irrational logic).

So here's the one I got.

Wow cute packaging

Now I'm the type of person who has to use waterproof mascara. Its not by choice, its because its only waterproof formulas keep my lashes curled. Believe me, if I could get away with non-waterproof mascara I would, I don't know why anyone would voluntarily go through the pain of removing waterproof mascara. When I apply ordinary mascaras to my lashes after I've curled them, I just watched my lashes fall, go straight, and hang downwards again. I had secretly hoped that this mascara be waterproof despite no mention of it on the packaging and the sales assistant telling me it wasn't, who by the way couldn't understand my non-waterproof mascara dilemma no matter how many times I explained it to her (she must've been one of those blessed with naturally curly lashes). I bought it regardless, it was only $2.80, so I hoped maybe, just maybe, it'd do something good to my lashes.

Review
It didn't do shit.
Alright, sorry that might've come out a little harsh, but its true. I guess maybe it gives my lashes a slightly more fanned out, less clumpy look, but its not really worth buying it, or wasting your time applying it. As expected, the mascara made my top lashes drop, so I thought maybe they'd be great to help enhance my lower lashes. Nope.
For some reason, I couldn't really get any product on my lower lashes (it worked fine on my top lashes), and the only way I could really get any product on my lashes was by using the excess mascara goop that sticks to the end of the mascara wand when you pull it out. When I tried to use the mascara wand to brush out the product, the product just disappeared again and I ended up with goopy mess (not unlike craft glue) under my eye. Also, when I applied normal non-waterproof mascara on top, the white base made my lashes less dark and black.
Maybe I'd use this if I had plenty of time to do my makeup and I wanted to add an extra step to my makeup routine out of boredom, or I'd use it for some fancy dress party to make my lashes look white. Overall, its quite a disappointing product, despite the misleading adorable packaging.  I will note that the sale assistant really liked it, so maybe it'll fare better on people with nicer lashes than mine, which is like 80% of the population.

Bellabox Pout Pencil in Ruby Tuesday

Hey y'all. This month's Bellabox package came with their new "Pout Pencils" which is really just another fancy name for a lip crayon. The colour I got, Ruby Tuesday, is a true red colour with a blue undertone.

It has the same amount of product as the Bourjois lip crayons, which is about roughly 4 cm of product (about 2 1/2 inches for imperial weirdos). The crayon twists up, which is great since I hate sharpening lip pencils as I'm lazy, I hate having to clean my sharpener afterwards and I feel like its a waste of product. Mostly because I'm lazy.

What I like about this lip crayon is that it's matte, which I currently don't have in the form of a lip crayon. As I write this, I realise that there isn't much difference between a matte lip crayon and a matte lipstick and I'm wondering why I was ever fooled to want both products, even though they're a pretty much the same thing. As its matte, it is a tad dry on the lips after a while, so I would probably put a lip balm under it. It didn't glide on as smoothly as the Bourjois ones, it barely glides at all; I don't know if its just because its matte, whereas the Bourjois ones have a more balm like glossy finish, or if its just a worse product. It can be long lasting if you don't eat or drink too much, it came off pretty easily when I ate and didn't even leave behind a stain, which I guess can be a good thing.

Voila, here's what it looks like on the lips. Apologies for my foundation-less skin and the red face.

Overall, its not a bad product, but considering it retails for the same price as a Bourjois lip crayon, I'd definitely go for the Bourjois one (its pretty damn good).

November Bellabox 2013

For my birthday last month, my friends decided to get my a years subscription to Bellabox, which is where subscribers are sent a couple of beauty and skincare samples each month, products which I assume are trending or popular at the moment.
I've never really bothered with services like Bellabox before, simply because I'm not really into expensive skincare products and the products just seemed a bit of a hit and miss for me, miss mainly, but hey, it was a present so why not use the most of it?

I did get a Bellabox package last month, but it was rather disappointing so I didn't bother posting about it. This month's package wasn't so bad, so I thought I'd show you what I got this month.

Here's the box it comes in.

And here's what I got this month.

 Since I am super lazy, I will let Bellabox's little info card explain each product for you.

 
I've only had two Bellabox packages so far, so its too soon to tell how it is, but so far its below average, I wouldn't recommend it.