50 Followers Giveaway!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my first ever giveaway!  I hit a milestone (at least in my eyes ;P) of 50 followers!  I just wanted to say thank you to my followers - new and old.  I hope that I have picked some great items that you'll all like!  


Here are the rules:
1.  Must be 18 or older.  If you are younger, please make sure you obtain your parents permission to give out your address - PLEASE!  
2. Open Internationally.  
3. Must follow via GFC - I will check!
4. I have 2 mandatory questions, if you do not wish to leave your email address, please let me know by commenting below and email me @ jjquan@hotmail.com.


PS. This is my first time playing around with Rafflecopter, so I hope that everything works out okay!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I will be picking a winner on May 30 and announcing it on my May 31.  The winner will have 48 hours to get back to me before I pick another winner.


Good luck everyone!!!

Blog Hop #10

C'mon!  Everyone is doing it!


Rules are simple: 

1. Please follow BlogLoveTherapy (blog or twitter) and leave a comment/feedback on our blog- Let us know what type of feature you would like us to add and/or how we can improve our site.
2. Post about this hop on your blog, twitter, and facebook. This will help drive traffic to the hop. The more people know about it, the more likely you will be discovered.

*Don't forget to mention the hop throughout the week.*
3. Hop around and be inspired. Please follow at least 5 other bloggers and don't forget to let them know that you found them through our blog hop.

Happy BlogHopping!

Clinique Superbalanced Makeup

I haven't owned a Clinique item in a long, long time.  Not even any of their skincare.  But given worries about my dark under eye circles, I thought that I would give their highly reviewed Line Smoothing Concealer.  Of course, once you're there, it wouldn't be fair if you just picked up what you were looking for and ignore the rest of the products!  I was using Make Up Forever HD Foundation - which I completely love, but was running out.  Since I didn't want to make a trip to my local Sephora, I thought that I would see what I could get there.  

This product is made for Normal to Oily Skin.  I get very oily around the T-Zone.  And I mean bad oily.  I put on my makeup around 6am in the morning and by 10:30am, the T-Zone is shiny, oily and uncomfortable.  I probably blot about 4-5 times a day, using anywhere between two to three sheets a time.  The colour that I tried on was in Vanilla.  It was bang on!  I couldn't believe it.  It can be anywhere because light-medium to medium coverage.  It is VERY build-able.  With this foundation, I found that I was still oily, so that was a little disappointing.  I was kind of hoping that it would help control some of that oil.


This is a fairly runny liquid foundation, when compared to my staple the MUF HD Foundation, which is a more creamy and solid type of foundation.  You do have to shake it (like all foundations), but it comes in a glass bottle, which is fairly heavy, so you have to be careful and make sure that you have a good grip on the bottle.  It looks like a smaller bottle, but when I compared the fluid oz to my MUF, they were the same.  I guess it's all in the packaging!


I applied it with a sponge applicator and it smooths on very well and quickly.  You will know instantly if you need another layer.  For someone who needs medium coverage, like me, I was quite surprised (and pleased!) that I only needed one to two layers.  More often one than two.  And it was so light.  It didn't feel like I had anything on - it was fabulous! It also stayed put quite well, once set.  Honestly, I almost didn't even need cover-up to help with the problem areas around the chin area.  I would just take the sponge applicator and daub around those areas and it would take away the red and it would cover those blemishes.


Overall, I really like this product.  It applies easily and well.  Smooths the appearance of your skin and really, really light.  Best of all, it didn't make me break out!  Since it's so light, I think that it would be really good in the summertime.  Would I repurchase this product?  YES!  Definitely.  I would probably alternate between this and my MUF HD foundation.  Would I recommend this product?  YES!

Glymm Version 2.0

Just a quick note about some new information the Glymm changes.  Apparently, their price is going up!  It was $10/month, and now it's $12/month.  Along with the many other "changes" that have yet to be announced, this is the first change that they decide to bust out?  Though, they did say that for current active members, the subscription fee will remain at $10/month, as long as you remain active.

How do you all feel about this?

May's Julep Maven Box

This is my first official monthly Julep Maven box!  My regular style is "Classic with a Twist", but for this month, I switched it up and picked Bombshell.  For those that aren't familiar with Julep Maven, around the 20th of each month, they send you an email letting you have a sneak peek at what's in your style's box.  If you don't like it, you can choose another style.  You can also pick your add ons at the same time.  I actually got my box within 10 days of shipping, so really, the shipping wasn't too bad.  I just don't really like the fact that the tracking numbers are dumb.  Even as I enter it into my USPS app (or my Canada Post app), they aren't picked up.  GRR!!!  Anyways, for this month, I did add on two other polishes, but they ship separately (I really don't understand why) and they shipped for free.  Those have yet to arrive.  

This month's Classic with a Twist was nothing but creams and the like.  No polishes at all!  So, of course I was going to pick another box!  Bombshell came with two polishes ($14 each), a foot file ($6) and the "Best Pedi Prep Ever!" (and boy do I need it! $20).  Also, because this was my first box, they included a pretty nice make up bag.  The inside of the bag has these great pockets to hold some of your julep colours for when you're on vacation.  :)

The girls in this Bombshell box are Sarah and Fina.  

Sarah is a pretty sneaky name for this colour.  It's this hot raspberry sheer base with very fine iridescence and glitter.  And it's not this sissy sheer raspberry base, either.  It's packs quite the colour punch.  I can see Sarah and I becoming fast friends.

Fina.  She's as exotic as she sounds!  She's a sky metallic blue with a mod chrome finish.  Very edgy and very cool!  There was something wrong with the brush though - it was a little splayed...  It made for a very messy, streaky and uneven application.  Not impressed.  The colour is truly stunning and it's the perfect metallic blue to be wearing in the summer because it's a warmer shade of metallic blue.

Bad brush!

Normal Brush

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the box that I picked.  I am disappointed with the brush, but I did read something on Facebook about Julep shipping out replacement brushes, so we'll wait and see.  I'm still anxiously waiting for my mystery box to arrive though!


Total Value of Box : $54.00.  Not bad for $19.99!
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.


NEWSFLASH!!!!  Okay, maybe not a REAL newsflash...but...I do have some news for those that currently subscribe and those that are thinking of subscribing to Glymm, if you haven't heard already...Glymm version 2.0 is coming out soon.  I don't have a lot of information on it, but it sounds like they've revamped their boxes.  Whether it be new suppliers or new look, or both.  I do not know for sure.  I do know that if you are current subscriber, you don't have to do a thing.  I like that - only because I'm kind of lazy!  ;P
Second thing, for those that currently subscribe to Glymm, you probably received a cryptic email announcing Glymm Nylon S/S 2012, limited edition ($12/month.  Currently Glymm costs $10/month).  Once again, I'm not sure what it is exactly, but if anyone knows or has some good theories, throw them my way!  I've never been a very patient person and this is no exception!  Here's my theory though...I think that they are testing a new box. Perhaps it'll be one that they will roll out permanently to eventually replace their current box and increase the price point.  Think MyGlamBag in the US.  I hope that this is a positive move for them because I'm on the verge of cancelling them....so it looks like I might have to give it a few more months!

Mini Nailpolish Haul - literanlly!

Well, I did purchase other things, so it's not purely a nail polish haul, but I'm sure that you'll forgive me.

I've been obsessed with nailpolishcanada.com.  I'm on there nearly every second day to see what new goodies they have!  Plus, I've had my eye on a Deborah Lippman set for the longest time but just couldn't justify the price tag (even if it's on sale!).

Actually, now that I look at my purchases, it looks like I splurged on a few things....  I picked up Deborah Lippman's Get the Party Started three pack, OPI's New York City Ballet minis, Deborah Lippman's Stripper to Go-Go remover mitts and OPI's Spiderman minis.

Deborah Lippman's Get This Party Started - wow!!!!  I love it.  I know how hard glitter is to get off (if anyone has some tips, please let me know!!!) but I LOVE these!  They are so fun and sheer enough that you can layer it on top of another colour and create a whole new look!  

Happy Birthday is a clear base glitter.  It has both fine and large chunky glitter.

Candy Shop is a pink base glitter.  It's sheer, but not sheer enough that you can't see the base colour.  I layered this onto of Essie's Brooch the Subject (from my April LuxeBox) and it turned it into a fun pink party!  Forget You is a black base glitter.  Wearing it on it's own makes it look a little odd.  I was swatching it on my ring finger (at work...hahahaha!) and all day, whenever I would type and the glitter would catch my eye, I would look down and think that my nail was dirty or something.  It would perhaps look better with a few more coats?  I love them all the same.  Okay, maybe I love Candy Shop a little more than the rest.  :P

I don't know what possessed me to pick up the OPI Spiderman Mini collection.  They aren't really shades that I would normally like/wear.  Maybe it had something to do with the words OPI and MINIs being in the same sentence?  

Into The Night is medium sheer midnight blue.  The swatch you see took three coats.  It's a fairly nice blue and I definitely see myself wearing it.

Number One Nemesis is a gun metal grey shade.  I loved wearing gun metal grey when I was in high school, perhaps it's time for a blast from the past?  

Just Spotted the Lizard is a yellow green.  It's actually a pretty gorgeous colour.  I'm not a huge green fan, but it's got this gold iridescence to it that makes it a completely different colour.

Your Web Or Mine?  I LOVE this colour.  'Nuff said.

OPI's New York City Ballet is the real reason that I was on the website ordering stuff.  Hey, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  The whole collection looks so delicate and dainty. Full of light creme shades. And fun names to boot!

 My Pointe Exactly is a gorgeous sheer grey.  It goes on looking like a white colour, but as it dries, it almost seems to deepen in colour.  The swatch took anywhere between three to four coats.
Don't Touch My Tutu! This is a wispy sheer white.  It's perfect when you want to wear white, but don't want to stark, in your face white colour.  Once again, you'll need three to four coats.
Care to Danse? is a light, airy lilac.  It's very pretty and probably my favourite out of this set.  
Pirouette My Whistle is fine silver sparkles in a clear base coat.  It also contains big chunky flecks of clear iridescent glitter. You can't really see them until they catch the light.  It's like a surprise!

 Last but not least, I picked up a Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque.  I've heard nothing but great things about this masque on youtube, but it's been very hard to get my hands on where I live.  Sally's Beauty Supply seemed to carry everything else that Queen Helene had to offer except this....So, the other day, when I was in there looking for nail tip wheels, I thought that I'd take another look and lo and behold, there it was!  There weren't many left, so I grabbed two!  I'll be sure to do a review on this, as soon as I'm done my current mask!

See?  Compared to my last haul, this is like a baby haul!

Stay tuned, I'll be posting my 50 follower giveaway contest soon! 

April GlossyBox

Wow!  Did anyone else notice how HEAVY this box was????  It made me very excited!


One thing that I have to say about Glossybox is that, despite their rough start, they are making up some really good ground.  I've always loved their packaging - their boxes are such great quality and the ribbon is a nice rusty rose grosgrain.  It may not be customized like Luxebox, but I can overlook that.

AVEENO - POSITIVELY RADIANT DAILY MOISTURIZER
Full size : $22.99 for 120 ml
Box size :  full size
I've never tried Aveeno face products, other than the under eye roller ball, so this will be interesting.  Everyone I've talked to say that they use this and love it.  It does have SPF 15 in it, which makes me very weary.  I find that products with SPF in it make me very greasy, has an unappetizing smell and I just don't like the feel of it on my skin.  This one seems no differently in the smell department, but my skin seems to absorb it right away, so it looks promising.  I can't believe I received a full size of this product!!!!


ELIZABETH GRANT SKIN CARE SHOWER GEL IN EXOTIC APRICOT
full size: $20 for 240ml
box size: full size
Of course the first thing I did was smell it.  UGH!  It was very strong and not natural smelling.  Coupled by the fact that I don't like shower gels...this was not a win for me.  Apricot just seems like just a strange scent to be sending out to people.  You would have thought they'd pick a more common scent like Vanilla or even Strawberries.


WELLA BRILLIANCE CONDITIONER FOR FINE TO NORMAL HAIR
full size : $13.99 for 250ml
box size : $1.67 for 30ml
This product is meant for colour treated hair, but I don't have colour treated hair.  It's okay though, I'll use it - because it smells FAN-TAS-TIC!  Plus, I really like Wella products.


WELLA BRILLIANCE TREATMENT FINE TO NORMAL HAIR
full size : $13.99 for 150ml
box size: $2.33 for 25ml
I think that this is supposed to be a hair mask?  It doesn't really say on the product, in the description card or the Wella pamphlet that was included.  I don't have the patience for hair masks, but since this one smells so awesome, I'll just *have* to use it!  


MARCELLE XTENSION PLUS MASCARA
full size: $12.50 for 9 ml
box size: full size!!!
This mascara is supposed to define, separate your lashes while minimizing clumps and creating maximum lengthening potential for a lash-extension look without the extensions.  I've never really used Marcelle products before, but since I'm so picky about mascaras, i might just give this one away and not waste it.


Also included was a small packet of Marcelle BB Cream. I'm not even going to include this in value of the box because it's so small.  I'll probably try this out, but I'm not sure if I'm going to like it - BB creams and I have a very love-hate relationship.  And besides, this small packet will most likely be a one time use anyways.


Total Value of box: $59.49.
Box Rating : 4 out of 5.


YAY for so many full sized items!  Despite the fact that I'm going to be giving away the mascara and probably the shower gel, I'm really excited to try out the face moisturizer and the hair products...and if I did use shower gel, I would have been happy to receive the Elizabeth Grant shower gel.



What did you think of April's GlossyBox?