Birchbox: November 2012

I got my box days ago, but just haven't had the time to post. This will be a brief review. Overall, I'm happy with it ^^

As a non-bath bomb user, I didn't know what to do with it. Put it in my tub and turned on the water- it melted like cotton candy on water. Then the water solution started burning my feet where the cracks were. 

OMG!! Hated the Larabars but these are so good! It's like a biscuit cookie with craisins. Not too sweet, not too sour. A little too much butter, but eh. Now where can I find it??

Haven't tried the hair spray yet.

Full sized mascara! And it's nice ^^. The fibers really do lengthen my lashes. No flaking or smudging, and the formula keeps lashes soft. Plus there's a mirror on the side. 

Haven't tried the hand soaps yet.

You're supposed to pack some goodies in this envelope and send it to someone else.

Not a fan of this perfume.

Sephora Favorites Sampler Set

Recently, fragrances have really caught my attention. It all started with Givenchy's Dahlia Noir Eau de Toilette. Then Harvey Prince's Flirt completely had me hooked. To help me expand my fragrance collection, I decided to purchase Sephora's sampler set. They give you an assortment of popular scents so you can try them on a couple times and decided if you really like them. The set is $50, but they give you a $50 voucher to redeem a larger size of the fragrance. Sometimes, the value of the fragrance is even more than $50 (ex. Hanae Mori's Butterfly).

The set comes in something resembling a book. When you open it, fragrances are on one side, the voucher and a booklet on the other. The booklet has a small description of each fragrance. As others have noted, it is difficult to remove the fragrances from the slots without spraying them. What I did was to take the whole tray out, and pop them out from the back. The plastic tray is so thick it doesn't even crease or damage.

1. Betsey Johnson- Too Too Pretty

I'm a fan of Betsey Johnson. She's so quirky and her designs are really fun. This scent reminds me of candy and fruit. It's not that sweet, but there's just something about it. Also has that "hollow" scent.

2. COACH- Poppy

I thought this was Poppy Flower instead of Poppy. Oops. This one is nice, but the florals are extremely strong. The creme brulee and whipped marshmallow part add a "warm vanilla" type of scent effect which I am not too fond of. You may be.

3. DKNY- Be Delicious

This scent has been on my wishlist for the longest time. We're talking years. I once smelled it and fell in love with the addictive apple scent. Maybe I smelled one of the other ones in the line? This one started out with a hint of apple, then progressed heavily into the florals. Tuberose and rose scents especially. What's also disappointing is that after a while there is an "empty scent" effect, as if smelling water.

4. Givenchy- Very Irresistible Givenchy

Unfortunately I misplaced this, and forgot what it smells like @_@

5. GUCCI Guilty Intense

Has that initial "fresh" scent, that fades into a gentler more feminine scent. Then it ends off on a much sharper scent. Yes. That's the best I can do on this one.

6. Guerlain- La petite Robe noire

It completely tickled me to smell the Sparkling Aldehyde (remember my Save on Scents order?). This also definitely has a licorice presence. The fruity floral part was nice, but the licorice and smoky black tea make it into a strange scent.

7. Hanae Mori- Butterfly

Turns out the Eau de Parfum has a much stronger initial fruity lychee-type scent than the Eau de Toilette. The Eau de Toilette (this one) quickly fades from a brief fruity scent to a heavy "warm vanilla" type of scent (from the sandalwood and cedar maybe?). Not a fan.

8. Viva La Juicy- La Fleur

The original Viva La Juicy is wildly popular, but I find it too sweet. Viva La Juicy La Fleur is a little bit less sweeter (still sweet!), but the sweetness is cut down with a bit of florals. Not bad =)

9. Marc Jacobs- Dot

This is a very light, uplifting scent. Out of the whole lot, this one is the one I like best. After a while, it also gets that "hollow"/ water type of scent.

10. Narcisco Rodrigues- for her

An interesting honeysuckle scent.

11. Prada- Candy

Smells a bit like window cleaner and something else.

12. Versace- Bright Crystal

The most prominent scent is the peony. I happen to like peonies, and this fragrance does indeed emit a playful scent.

Overall, I'm not too excited about any of these. They just mainly seem "ok". Hopefully this is returnable?...

Laneige Haul! Sleeping Masks and Intensive Cream

With this order, I finally satisfied my curiosity regarding whether GMarket only has one box size or not. It seems like no matter how much I ordered, the box size stayed this same. Today, I can finally tell you that they do have other box sizes!! This box is maybe 1/5 the size of the normal box. My seller just decided to stack the three, bubble wrap around, and tape over the exposed boxes. Maybe they were running a little low on supply.

Packaging is very nice looking.

Laneige Firming Mask- This product also returns to normal form after you take a chunk out of it. Some people were using that as an advertising method saying, it would conform to your face and make it firm that way... something like that. Comes with a spatula. Unfortunately there is nowhere to store it, except in the plastic. This product has a distinctly floral scent. Kind of common in asian toiletries, but this has a lighter, less perfumey scent. It contains their trademark Sleepscent. You might think that it's supposed to help knock you out, but it doesn't. The box has a snowflake on the outside, lol. When I opened it, it sounded like I was breaking a seal, so that's good.

It is slightly sticky after application, but so much better than the one by Holika Holika. This is the more grown up version, and I can see myself using it more often. This must be washed off the next morning.

Laneige Water Sleeping Pack EX- A gel type of product which is very cooling. Also contains Sleepscent, but this is a different scent from the Firming Pack. Hard to describe, but it's not really that floral. If you smell long and hard enough, you can maybe detect something woody and fruity. The directions tell you to sniff it for a few seconds to help relax. The suggested massage is so funny. This seems like something good for hot summer nights.

CONCLUSION: If I had tried them out before, I'd have picked the Firming Pack, and Holika Holika's White Wine (just because it smells so good). Holika Holika's seem like something for a teenage sleepover. Laneige's seems like products that are a little bit more serious.

Laneige Water Bank Intensive Cream- Really like this product. It lends a velvety texture to my extremely dry skin. The cream is very thick, but once you warm it up in your hands it becomes easier to apply. There are strange little dot clumps in there but you can't feel them once you apply the product. Not greasy at all. Also comes with a spatula, but there's nowhere to store it so I'm not sure where it's gone. They should make a groove in the lid where you can store the spatula or something. This one also has this interesting seal on top that you pull out.

I would buy this product again. At least there is some immediate relief for my dry skin. The Etude House Total Age-Repair Emulsion that I've been using for over a year has not done anything for me. I've only kept with it because it was so expensive ~$17 and such a big bottle. Managed to finish off most of it! Funny thing is that Laneige and Etude House are both under the same company. Laneige is supposed to be more higher end than Etude House though, we'll see.

Holika Holika Wine Therapy Sleeping Masks

Today I'm bringing you into the land of sleeping masks! You've all heard how a little wine is good for you, and it has been used previously in facial masks. Holika Holika has taken that and made this sleeping mask.

The interesting purple box is just some more uninteresting cotton pads.

The packaging is made to look like wine barrels.

Red Wine- Contains 10% red wine. Jelly type of texture. If you make a hole in it, the jelly quickly reforms back to a smooth surface. This smells sooo yummy- you just want to eat it. It comes with a clear spatula (not pictured) for those of you who may be germ conscious. It is sticky after applied which makes it less than ideal. When you wash it off the next morning, there is a film like substance that comes off.

White Wine- Contains 10% white wine. Supposed to brighten your skin. Lotion type of texture. Smells even better than the Red Wine. This one doesn't leave as sticky of a residue, and it doesn't feel like anything's coming off when you wash the next morning.

Overall, these are interesting products probably best used as a novelty item. I didn't see any immediate changes from using this product. The main thing is that they smell really delicious.

Check out the Sleeping Packs from Laneige that I've reviewed HERE as well.

Review: Eglips Lolly Flower and Real Color Lipsticks + Tint

Hihi! Hope you've all been well. We've just gone through a hurricane. While the power was out, I was super bored and had nothing else to do but make swatches. Lucky you!(Most people have had a week off from work due to no power/ lack of gas).

Today I bring you Eglips/ eglips lipsticks. These always rank as one of first items when you sort the cosmetics by Bestsellers on GMarket. Even after searching the whole internet, there are a very limited number of reviews/ swatches. I'm happy to say that they are well worth the purchase!

They gave me this sunscreen extra, can't wait to try it out (when the sun comes up...). It says non-chemical sunscreen, so there probably won't be a rash.

The Lolly Flower line of lipsticks are extremely moisturizing and yet are able to deposit visible color.

No.25 Brilliant Mandarine- I appreciate the slight pink added to this orange color. It really makes it more wearable. These lipsticks are a lot more moisturizing than the Etude House Miss Tangerine line, and therefore, the finish is a lot more flattering.

No.17 Ylang Ylang Peach- It almost appears neon pink in the tube. Even though it's "peach", this is a pinker color than No.25 Brilliant Mandarine. Like all other scary colored Korean lipsticks, this applies to a much more wearable color. Still very eye catching though. This is dryer than the other two Lolly Flower lipsticks.

No.56 Deep Mir- This is (no surprise) my favorite of the Lolly Flower bunch. It is another fuchsia colored lipstick. For some reason these never photograph very well. It is much more intense in color in real life. It is more pink than lavender when compared with Etude House's LUCIDarling #5, and less brown than the Etude House's Dear My Blooming lipstick that I recently reviewed. I will have to do a comparison swatch of all three sometime.

Now for Eglips Real Color Lipstick in #09 Christine. LOVE. Christine looks kind of yellow in the tube, so I was worried, but applied it looks like my lip color a hint on the pinker side. This one works well as a nude for work (for me). It also has more of a moisturizing balm quality to it, and less color pigmentation compared to the Lolly Flower. I had also planned on purchasing Vanessa, but that one sold out.

The lipstick packaging is kind of cheap looking, very little girl lipstick (Even more than Etude House's). Still at ~$5 each, you really can't complain! Would definitely order again in a heartbeat.

Onto the tint. In photos it seems like the tint makes your lips into a soft pink. It kind of does that here too in my swatches. In reality, it's quite an intense hot pink color. The good thing is that the tint actually does tint your lips, so you don't have to worry about having naked lips after the color wears off. The tint is a gel applied with a doe-foot applicator. Unfortunately, it seems it must have something that I'm allergic to (like the Revlon Just Bitten lip stains) because my lips become slightly itchy. You have to really be careful to apply evenly or you will get streaks- as demonstrated in the swatches. Not really a fan of this product.

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Unrelated Note: I finally got around to ordering photo prints. 1311 photos *faints*. Luckily Snapfish has a coupon for 50% off and free shipping. It seems frivolous to print out photos in the digital age when things look so much better on a computer screen anyways, but there's something quite nostalgic about flipping through photos. Plus, if anyone decides to steal my laptop again, at least I'll have hardcopies (... unless they decide to steal those too...).