Topbox May 2014 Review

Wow I'm amazed that Topbox is always able to ship so quickly! I only received my tracking email yesterday and received my box today. This month I opted to add a Privé box to my wishlist and I ended up getting the GlamGlow one :) To celebrate eco-month, Topbox decided to use a re-usable organza bag as the 'box'. I already have plenty of these but they're always great to keep around to pack gifts!

The GlamGlow Privé box was a 1 Topbox so I just got the 15 g/0.5 oz. travel size of the GlamGlow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment ($21 value). This is the 2nd time I added this one to my wishlist so I'm glad I finally got it. My box also came with a replacement for the Alien fragrance in my April Topbox and the $10 mystery add-on.

The replacement was the Ceramic Glaze Long Lasting Shine Nail Lacquer in the shade 'Pure' which seems like a nice opaque white. I actually don't have a white among my excessive nail polish collection I'm satisfied with this replacement :) It seems like it'd be great with the new OPI Sheer Tints that I got.

The $10 Mystery Add-on was the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in 'Intense Black'. Woohoo! I've been meaning try this but was always hesitant because of the price and hearing that it dries out quickly. It regularly costs $26 at Sephora/Shoppers so I'm able to try this for less than half the price.

I paid $24.86 for this box and the value (excluding nail polish) was $53.11 so this was another hit for me. Topbox was a great value this time and it makes me excited for the next box.

Julep Maven May 2014 Bombshell Box review

Yay my May 2014 Julep Maven box finally arrived! For those who don't know what Julep Maven is, it is a monthly nail polish/beauty subscription from Julep. You start off by taking a style profile quiz to see which welcome box suits you best. If you don't like it, you can always change your box :) The first box is even free with the code FREEBOX so you are just paying the cost of shipping (It was $4.99 for me in Ontario). Here's my referral link for anyone that wants to give it a try!

I chose to stick with the Bombshell box this month because I loved the colours! This one came with the colours Laree and Saaya as well as the Plié wand. I actually was a bit unsure about Saaya so I got someone that would buy it off me :) I also got 3 add-ons: Paulette, 2 pack of precision brushes, and the Plié wand creativity kit.

Left to right: Saaya, Paulette, Laree

Saaya - golden apricot shimmer
Paulette - golden lilac tulle shimmer
Laree - golden pink tafetta shimmer

These colours are awesome! I love the shimmer since it seems so subtle and the shades also seem perfect for summer. I haven't had a chance to swatch them on my nails since I just did them, but I swatched Paulette and Laree on their caps. I couldn't get the shimmer to show up in my pictures, but it's definitely there!

I also haven't had a chance to try the Plié wand yet but I am really excited to. I'm not sure if this was an accident, but I got an extra precision brush with overcap as well as an overcap on it's own. It was a nice surprise but I'm not sure I need that many extra brushes so I may try to sell them or give to someone.

And as always, the Maven box came with a discount coupon, which is $10 off a $20+ purchase. It is only for Mavens and expires May 31, 2014. The code is PERK10!

What box did you decide to get? :) And for those non-Mavens, give it a try and take the style profile quiz!

MAC Cosmetics Powder Blush Harmony Blush review + swatch

Helloooo! Today's review is for the MAC Harmony Blush which is part of their powder blushes. It is described as a "muted rose-beige brown" and it is a matte blush. I bought this because YouTube beauty guru Tanya Burr described this as a great contour colour so I decided to try it.

I have light-medium skin tone (around NC25) so I find that this blush has too much pink tone in it to be good for contouring. In my opinion, this does not have enough brown in it to be a good contour powder. Instead of for contouring, I often use it as regular blush on the apples of my cheeks and I think that this way provides a slimming effect for me.

It is $25 for 6g so on the pricey side but as with other MAC products, it is a good product. It has great pigmentation and lasts for a few hours. Since it is so pigmented though, it is easy to overdo it with this blush. I also think it is more of a winter colour since it is so dark. This product didn't really work out the way I wanted but I've been reading reviews saying that Blunt is a good contour shade, so I might try that next!

Swatch without flash

Wish flash

Happy Tuesday!

Julep Maven Bombshell Welcome Box Review

I finally gave in and decided to join the Julep Maven subscription bandwagon! They have a code for your first box free (code: FREEBOX) so that also tempted me. For those of you interested, you first take the quiz to find out what your style profile is and if you don't like it, you can choose to change it. I got Classic with a Twist but I preferred Bombshell so that was the box I got :) You can take the quiz using my referral link.

This welcome box comes with 2 nail polishes (Kendra and Zelda) and the Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum. For some reason, my box came with the colour Jane instead of Zelda so I emailed Julep about it. My box also came with a 50% off welcome code and some free buffer blocks.

Before signing up for Julep Maven, I received an email saying that I could get choose from a selection to get 2 free polishes with the code FREEGIFT. I chose Lizanne and Harriet and then got Myriam for the $4.99 add-on. Since I wasn't a Maven yet, I had to pay for shipping and the add-on but this entire order ended up being just $14.99! This ended up being in U.S. dollars so with the exchange rate, I was charged $16.87.

Harriet - Guava coral crème
Lizanne - Sea green shimmer
Kendra - Army green frost
Jane - Full-coverage rose gold multi-dimensional glitter
Myriam - Casino red crème

 

Left to right: Harriet, Lizanne, Kendra, Jane, Myriam

I swatched Harriet, Lizanne, and Kendra but not the other 2 because I think I will be either giving them away or trying to sell them. The formula is really nice and requires 2 coats to be opaque but it is not as 'fast drying' as it claims.

I really like the concept of the 'Swatch Me!' sticker at the top! These polishes have an overcap so that's where the sticker is. My only issue with these Julep polishes are that the packaging seems very excessive. Each polish comes in a cardboard box and then these boxes also come in a sleeve. I understand that this probably helps with shipping, but I think they should just use the sleeves and skip the individual boxes.

Besides the mix-up with the Jane and Zelda polishes, I like the ones I got. Another good thing about this box is that you can see what you can see what's in each box before hand and change which box you will be getting. Mavens also get 20% off at www.julep.com and free shipping :) If you would like to join, feel free to use my referral link to take the style profile quiz!

Topbox April 2014 Review

This is my 3rd Topbox so far and unlike the last one, I have mixed feelings about this box. I put the dermalogica Privé box on my Topbox wishlist but ended up with the regular Topbox again. Also a bit disappointed that I didn't get the Murale box but oh well. For those that aren't subscribed, Topbox is a montly beauty subscription box that lets you "get 4 hand picked deluxe samples delivered to your door for $12 per month."

Products:
- LA Splash Nail Spash in Mystique (full size - $7.50)
- Thierry Muglar Alien Eau Extraordiaire (6 mL - $7)
- Sweet Pea Soap Honey & Oats (half size? - 2.98)
- Miracle 10 Skincare Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 (50 mL - $38)

I'm happy with the Miracle 10 since it is a full size and I don't currently have a face sunscreen for the summer! I'll be trying this within the next few weeks to see how it does :) The SPF could be a bit higher but even a bit of SPF is already good enough, right?

The Alien perfume is decently sized but it is one of those dab type applications. I'm not really sure how those smaller 3 mL samples can have a spray application, but a slightly bigger bottle doesn't :/ Another downside is that I'm sensitive to stronger perfumes so I'm not sure what to do with this.

I also have mixed feelings about the nail polish because I have a similar colour and it seems a bit too shimmery for my liking. This will probably be gifted but it does seem like a wearable colour.

And lastly, I really like the soap! It contains almond fragrance so it smells sweet and nutty but there is also a hint of something else to tone it down (probably the oats). The soaps on their site don't seem as small so this probably isn't a full size but the ingredients seem like it could be a nice, moisturizing soap. Ingredients: coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, castor oil, distilled water, sodium, hydroxide, honey, oatmeal, and almond fragrance oil.

Total Value: $55.48
Paid: $13.56

This box was definitely a great value! Despite 2 of the products not really matching my tastes, I got a full sized product I think I will actually use so this was still a fairly valuable box to me. What did you get in your April Topbox?

Sephora VIB Sale 2014 15% off

For those other Sephora VIBs out there, today is the start of the VIB Early Access Event where all in store and online purchases are 15% off! Today is also the only day to get the limited-edition cosmetic bag (in-store) :)

VIBs should have gotten an email a few days ago so check that one to get your in-store coupon, or use the promo code VIBTICKET for online orders. The offer is good April 3 - 11th. I'm not sure if this is replacing the usual 'Chic Week' but I really hope not and that they will have the sale later on for regular Beauty Insiders. I think VIBs can also bring a friend so make sure to share the love with other beauty lovers out there :D

I've been anticipating this sale for a while so I already have a wishlist compiled ;)

- Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush

- Ole Henriksen Cleansing Clothes: Oil-Free Pore Refining

- Tarte Clean Slate Poreless 12-Hr Perfecting Primer

- Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo or Perfect Brow Pencil

- Benefit Cosmetics Posietint

- Ole Henriksen Walnut Complextion Scrub

- Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup

Has anyone tried any of these products before and if so, how did you like them? What's on your wishlist for this sale? :)