Review: My First GlossyBox (November 2012)

After numerous posts and reviews from the beauty blogosphere, I was very excited with high expectations of my very first Glossybox. Glossybox is one of the many monthly beauty subscriptions that ship to you a selective number of beauty deluxe samples. A monthly subscription to Glossybox is $21 plus tax. In the past, they had included samples from Burberry Beauty and even a full size Missha Perfect Cover BB creams! (You can see why I was so tempted. )

I ordered my first Glossybox which is their November box. They had a promotion code that brought the price of the box down to $18. The box arrived on Black Friday actually. I was so excited to open it! And also got so disappointed! =( 

Here is what is included. Like every other reviewer, I fell in love with the representation of the box. A hard sturdy gift box that you can most definitely reuse! Inside was the nearly wrapped samples with a small pamphlet magazine.

First thing, the Glossybox didn't include any impressive brands that I've heard of except for the Illmasaqua lip pencil. I would have much prefer to try out their nail polish though. It did also include a full size Incoco nail polish strip in a pretty holiday red. I'm guessing Glossybox is planning to come out with their own makeup line because I've seen something from their own brand in all of the past boxes, which is ok if this is how they want to branch out to the public. But it is NOT ok if they send you broken/defective products. 

The Glossybox lipstick was rattling before I even open it. The color actually doesn't look bad at all, but this is ridiculous. And on top of that the Skin & Co Truffle Serum was completely dried out when I unscrew the cap.  When I squeeze the tube, it spit out the very last drop of moisture and that was it. I understand that these are just deluxe sizes that you would probably get free from Sephora, but if I have to pay for them than they should at least make it worthwhile!

I did contact customer service and their Twitter, both responded within a day or so assuring me that they would send me replacements. But now 3 weeks later, I still have not receive anything. Even worst calling and emailing their customer service line is like talking to a black hole. Nothing comes back. I am seriously disappointed at their service now and don't want to bother with them again. Even Skin & Co contacted me regarding the bad sample and offered a replacement. We'll see if that really happens. Their Twitter rep told me to let their main customer service know, but I haven't heard back then either.

I don't like the fact how they are so ambiguous with their subscription descriptions. Last week I realize that they charged me for another box, for full price. That's when I realized that even though I only paid for one month, they claim they are selling subscriptions hence they will automatically charge you full price monthly. No where on their website could you find the exact time period they would begin charging for future boxes! And even more annoying, in order to cancel the box, they purposely put in multiple pages and buttons that have double negative meanings to trick you into NOT canceling your box! This probably ticks me off the most because I'm in the IT field and we emphasize on website user-friendliness.

All in all, as soon as the last Glossybox shows up, I'm done with them!

Influenster Sponsored - Beauty Blogger VoxBox

Here's a quick overview of the goodies (not to mention, they're freebies) from the Beauty Blogger VoxBox from Influenster. Influenster is a advertising/public relation company that offers free samples (and sometimes full size products) to specific target audience. It's free to sign up and you'll get your own VoxBox if you qualify! In the end, you're only obligated to fill out a short survey on your thoughts of each of the products they mail to you.

This time around, I was qualified for the Beauty Blogger VoxBox. And these were the goodies I received in the mail.

Influenster - Beauty Blogger VoxBox

Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin (full size - retails $7.29)
First thing I was excited to try were these Goody spin pins. I have the very stereotypical long and straight Asian hair and watching all those Taiwanese beauty shows have gotten me very into the whole wavy bohemian style updos. I've tried using bobby pins with hair ties and U shaped pins, but I couldn't achieve the effortless updos those models would sport! I was hoping this would be the answer to my prayers, but it fails to keep a bun to stay. =(  I think this would only work with textured hair.

Goody Spin Pins peeking under the bun

How the bun looks from the back, notice my hair loosing up on the bottom already.

Here's how it looked on me. These pretty much disappear into your hair, though I received brown ones instead of black, you can sort of see the metallic part of it sticking under my bun.  But it only took a few turns of my head before the spin pins start losing it's grip of my hair. Maybe if I have like another pair of them, it'll keep my bun a little more secure.

Bath & Body Works Mini Candles (retails $3.50)
I receive the scent in Pumpkin which I did NOT like. I just really dislike the heavy vanilla/cream baking scent. But I did utilize the coupon that was included to get myself THREE 3-Wick Bath & Body Works candles. I bought the popular Mahogany & Teakwood, Snowed In, and Sparkling Icicles. Mahogany & Teakwood was mostly a splurge because of so many people raving about it's scent being very close to Abercrombie's Fierce cologne. I loved Snowed In and Sparkling Icicles for it's very light and fresh scent.

EBOOST (1 packet sample)
I usually take Airborne when I feel the need to boost my immune system (especially when sick coworkers spread germs around the office). So I expected the Eboost to work the same way, but it also claims to be an energy booster. So it's probably a bad idea that I drank it at 12 midnight and now writing this post still at 2AM. Sigh.. It tastes like a very bitter Hi-C, I think I still prefer my Airborne.

NYC New York Color Individual Eyes Custom Compact (full size - retails $4.99)

I received the color in "Dark Shadows" (a limited edition), all of which were different shades of gray/silver. I don't own many shades of gray so this was interesting to play with. It comes with 4 shadows, a primer and an illuminator, with a double ended applicator so this is all you need to complete a full eye look. Three of the shadows are shimmery with a sheen while the last one has bigger glitter particles in it.

NYC New York Color IndividualEyes in Dark Shadows

Swatched on the under side of my arm. The four colors are a shimmer white, silver, charcoal gray and a black with glitter in it. The white and silver are not very pigmented and if you look closely they are quite a bit of fallout. I'm not sure why there would be a shimmer white in this palette when the illuminator looks exactly the same. The charcoal gray was my favorite. It's super buttery with great payout when it comes to color, the only thing I'll complain about is that the color looks so different in the pan. The black with silver glitter looked promising and looks exactly like Urban Decay's Oil Slick but you can see that the color payout is very poor, not even close to the charcoal gray.

NYC IndividualEyes on me

Here's how the shadows look on me! Please excuse the stray brow hairs. =)  A bit of a neutral look. The charcoal gray blended out very nicely. And you can sort of see the chunky glitter particles from the black shadow.

Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit (full size - retails $5.99)

Now this little lash kit was a nice surprise. Just when Youtube gurus like Frmheadtotoe and Raeview started putting up their "How to apply false lashes", I wanted to try too! I've only had them on once during a studio photo shoot in Taiwan but that was with the help of a makeup artist. But I was sad that the lashes that came with this kit was so UNNATURAL looking especially for a "starter" kit.

Here's a close up of the lashes. They are a set of super dense full lashes. I can't imagine anyone naturally having a set of lashes like this. (thumbs up to you if you do, because I envy you!). The lashes were really soft and says they're made 100% of human hair (though that does sound a little gross). I was happy that even with me pulling and tugging at the lashes, none of the lashes fell out and the lashes kept its shape. It was good that as a kit it came with a mini tweezers and glue.

The glue in the kit smell, well like glue, and I was a little apprehensive of putting it so close to my eye, but I do like that the glue tip was a little slanted to prevent you from putting too much glue on the lashes.

I look so much more alert with the lashes now.

Can you see how long the lashes are?!

Here's how the lashes look paired w/ the same NYC IndividualEyes compact. Can you see how much more alert I look with the lashes! My eyes instantly look 2x bigger! The lashes were a little too long so I had to snip away at the end. I had a lot of trouble applying the lashes correctly on the inner corners of my eye. The band was a little too thick for me. It was a little difficult to bat my eyes. Overall I really like these lashes, but I'll probably try another style.

Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream  (sample size)

I'm too lazy to style my hair, I usually just leave it in a ponytail or just let it down. But with winter coming, my hair gets very frizzy from the cold and my scarves (especially if I tried to wash my hair in the morning). The Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream is made especially for straight hair. I put a nickel size amount on my palm and just apply directly to my still damp hair. It worked really well with controlling the frizziness of my hair after it dried completely. I can't say I'm a fan of the scent though. Because it contains coconut extracts, the coconut scent was REALLY strong. I'm so glad the scent dissipated once my hair dry. I'm not sure if I'll actually purchase the full size, my hair doesn't dry completely for a few hours and the moisture must be locking in the scent. I'll see how it goes with the rest of the winter.

That's it for my Influenster VoxBox! I'm very glad that they offered items like these for people to try. I think it's a good way to branch out to different products and brands that are out of your comfort zone without actually costing you anything but time to complete a survey. =)

Sephora VIB 20% Coupon Giveaway!

Since I have 1 20% VIB coupon code to share, I'll like to share it with my followers! If you are interested, leave in the comment box below with any one of the titles of my blog entries plus must be a follower of my blog at melliescloset.blogspot.com

I'll choose one winner before tomorrow morning and either message you within Luuux or via email if you want to leave your email in a comment on my blog entry instead (private to me only).  Good luck!

Review: SKIN79 VIP Gold Collection Super+ Beblesh Balm (BB Cream)

(A Hurricane Sandy sweeping through East Coast post.)

The Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream has been the only BB cream that I've tried. There's so many BB creams out there now, but from what I've heard, the non-Korean ones are still not up to par. So I decided to branch out to the SKIN79 VIP Gold Collection Beblesh Balm from Jen (FrmHeadtoToe)'s recommendation.

Let's see if it's up to par as my beloved Missha Perfect Cover:

The Packaging

Ingredients

SKIN79 VIP Gold Collection Super+ Beblesh Balm Facts

My New Project Pan 5

Well the title says it all, it's just 5 instead of the popular Project Pan 10. I'm currently in the process of preparing my room for renovations. Clearing out things that I don't want and need anymore. In the 3 years I've started using makeup, I've accumulated A LOT of beauty products. And of course with all the different sales, limited editions, gifts with purchases, 90% of them are barely touched. So to make sure products do get used up and their containers are out of my room, I'm starting this Project Pan. I thought it'll be a good idea to use this chance for short reviews for items that would probably never make its way into a detailed review.

Physician's Formula Powder Palette Multicolored Blush - Blushing Peach
I've owned this blush for years. It is a peachy summery color (like you can't tell from the name =P ) with a mix of matte and shimmers. It is somewhat pigmented but definitely as much as the Nars or Benefit blushes. Not very long lasting either, maybe for a few hours max. I generally don't see the color anymore after I get out of work. But I like to carry this in my purse because of the mirror & brush included in the palette, makes touch ups very convenient. I've hit pan on this, but it's still a long way to go.

(picture from Amazon)

philosophy on a clear day oil-free foaming acne cleanser
I bought this part of the philosophy on a clear day set but this line has been discontinued (it's still available on Amazon though). It has salicylic acid as an active ingredient, so I like to use this during my girly days when I'm more prone to breakouts. Well, if it indeed helps, I never saw the results. There's been no noticeable effects at all, so I wouldn't recommend it if that's what you're hoping for. As a regular.cleanser, I think it does the job. I like that its very lightweight and easy to wash off, no worries of residue leftover on your hair lines. Because its so lightweight, it makes a good cleanser to use in the morning just to wash off any oil buildup from overnight. But because it IS a foam cleanser, it doesn't work well with the Clarisonic brush, which is ok since I, only use it in the daytime. I only need 1 pump to get enough product to wash my face.

(picture qiora.com)

qiora Face Cleanser DH Cleanser
So to complement the philosophy cleanser, I use this qiora one. Also got it as part of a gift set. And is still $36 on Amazon and in Shiseido retail stores. Despite the name, this is a cream cleanser. It works up a beautiful lather and works perfectly with the Clarisonic. If you ever tried any of the Shiseido cleansers this is almost an identical twin. Light fragrance but not very makeup friendly. I don't love it enough to repurchase, especially when I have so many other cleansers.

(picture from clinique.com)

Clinique Take the Day Off Makeup Remover
Now along with all those cleansers is this little makeup remover that I neglect. This is a two tone oil-based remover though you can't tell from the purple container. It removes makeup very well on a saturated cotton pad, but I don't wear waterproof makeup so I can't attest for that. I don't like using this remover by itself because it leaves a greasy residue on your face that forces you to use some other cleanser along with it. Definitely wouldn't repurchase, if you want to try an oil-based makeup remover, I'll suggest the DHC oil cleanser.

(picture from nivea.com)

Nivea Age Defying Q10plus Hand Cream
I bought this in one of my sasa.com hauls for 90 cents and I believe it is not available in the US. It has q10 as one of its main ingredients so it aims to be an anti-aging skincare product. The hand cream is very moisturizing and feels heavy on the hands but not greasy. It has a light fragrance. I don't really see the anti aging effects on my hands but I like to keep this handy in my purse for fall/winter seasons. I can't really find it anymore but I think there's other hand creams out there that are just as promising.

And that's it for my project pan so far. I still have a lot of products I want to see hit pan but one step at a time! Let's see how well this goes, I already have a mental list of products I want to finish right after these are gone.

Blog Redesigned!

After 2 years of participating in the blogosphere, I've finally got up from my seat and give my home some serious redesigning! This little piggy is determined! Not sure what or how I'm going to do it. So please excuse the random glitches and layout changes that you may experience as I make those changes.

First thing you might notice is the new banner up top. No more boring font as the title of the blog. =)  You like?

Review: First Aid Beauty (FAB) Ultra Repair Cream

Originally I had planned to review the Skin79 BB cream that I bought earlier in the year, but with the Sephora Friends & Family lurking around in October, I figured I'll review the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream first instead.

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream (picture from Sephora)

When I bought the FAB set 2 year ago, frankly I was not impress. Originally I had hoped that the "intense therapy" of the cream will help me through the harsh dry winter, but it failed to do any more hydrating than my Aveeno Body Lotion. Needless to say it was sitting around my vanity nearly untouched.

A few weeks ago, I took it out and gave it a try again. My dad was hospitalized for a couple of days a few weeks ago. Either it was from the stress of worrying or I must have contaminated something on my face, my skin went bonkers! I wasn't exactly breaking out, but there were many clogged pores. My skin was irritated, itchy and patchy to the point where my face was just peeling and flaky. T_T I was so devastated! I was afraid to use any serums or my usual brightening moisturizers for fear it would only make the situation worse. But I can't just "let it be"!! So remembering the "relieve minor irritation" part of this cream, I whipped this out from the bottom of my vanity drawer and decided to give it a try.

And guess what? My prayers were answered! The first night, I applied it right before I went to bed. And the next day, I woke up to super hydrated skin! The flaky and itchiness was all gone. The dried patches were still there, but you can clearly see that my skin was healing. After a few days, my skin was back to it's old self. Enlarged pores were gone! Can't even see any of those clogged pores that was visible the prior week. Skin just looks and feels saturated (literally!).

Let's go through my usual review bullets:

First Aid Beauty (FAB) Ultra Repair Cream Facts

Skincare Haul - Spring 2012

Also somewhat of a back log of haul pictures, I want to share some of the skincare products I bought last season. Reviews should be going up very soon as I've tested these products for months now! Stay tuned!

Splurge a little at imomoko.com after learning about their 20% off SK-II sale. I've been reading so much about the brand. Many Asian celebrities refer to their Facial Treatment Essence as "Heavenly Water". So I tried a value pack!

imomoko Haul

SK-II Pitera Essence Set

SK-II Pitera Essence Set which includes the famous Facial Treatment Essence 75ml, the Facial Treatment Clear Lotion 40 ml and a Facial Treatment Mask. This set alone has over $100 worth of products but with the 20% off coupon, I paid $68! I'm not sure how much I like it so far. I'll let you know soon!

Skin79 Super Plus BB Cream Gold

To qualify for the free shipping, I also picked Jen's (FrmHeadToToe) favorite Skin79 BB Cream Gold 40g. This was $16.80 after discount, I see them selling for less on Amazon right now. I gotta admit though, this is working wonders! I think I like this even more than my Missha Perfect Cover.

Beauty.com's Friends & Family sale runs several times a year so I decided not to wait for the Urban Decay F&F and snatched up their new eyeshadow.

Urban Decay Build Your Own Palette

With Suspect & YDK

The Build Your Own palette itself is $18 and comes with a brush and shadow in Walk of Shame. I never tried the original Urban Decay single eyeshadows, but these go on super smooth. I do notice that they crease after a long day, so you definitely need to use primer with it. So this palette cost me $18+$18+$18= $54 - 20% off = $43.20. Not too bad.

Last but not least (when do I ever stop), Lord & Taylor is probably the only department store that runs a Friends & Family Sale off on cosmetics as well. 10% off all cosmetics during their F&F sale in July. I took advantage to get some new skincare after hearing Holly at HollyAnnaeree's channel regarding Dior's DiorSnow line.

Lord & Taylor's DiorSnow Haul

I bought the Dior DiorSnow D-NA White Reveal Essence at $117 (originally $130)!!!! Targeted at Asian women, this serum is supposed to have brightening and scar lightening properties. We'll see how that goes. I also got coaxed into purchasing the line's UV Shield BB Creme at $45 (originally $50). This is definitely a big step up of my regular BB creams. But there was some payoff, with these purchases I got a really nice gift set.

The gift comes in a pretty white leather zipped pouch with deluxe sizes of the White Reveal Fresh Creme & Essence, as well as the Capture Totale Super Serum. These are great keeping in mind that this whole purchase qualifies for the Dior Diva rewards ( I reviewed the 2 that I've received here and here).

Enough of my hauling, I should be posting some reviews soon. Until next time!

Winter 2011 Beauty Haul

Yep! You read it right, this was part of the winter goodies that I got. This is totally a back log beauty haul post, but I figured it'll be nice to show off some pictures that I had taken of the products I bought.

tarte Haul

Since Tarte is running their 30% off Friends & Family Sale right now (with code FFAUG), here's what I got from their last Friends & Family sale.

tarte Haul

I picked up their Rising Star Limited Edition Palette, along with the Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface and Little Blot Book. This palette was $20.30 after the 30% discount and was such a great value.

tarte Rising Star Limited Edition Palette

The Cheeks

Color Names

The Rising Star palette had the most beautiful cheek blush from their Amazonian Clay Blush line, but these 2 colors are limited only to this palette. When I first saw the 2 blushes, I was in love! Searched high and low trying to find out what the colors were. Here it is! It Ethereal and Pouty (both of which are not available individually). Look at the shimmer!

The Eyeshadows

The eyeshadow shades were also full of warm neutrals that have shimmers and glitter. Very pretty and wearable.

The Little Blot Book

The only reason I bought the Little Blot Book was to get free shipping. =P  This is practical enough and small enough for the tiniest clutches/purses.

Shu Uemura Haul

Though I love the Kai Curler that I talked about here, I was tempted with the known cult favorite Shu Uemura curler (especially with a 20% Friends & Family discount!).

Shu Uemura Haul

And guess what!? I DON'T like the curler. >.<  I was so disappointed how it doesn't seem to open wide enough for me to put my eyelashes in. I have very long pin straight lashes and I always have trouble getting them through the curler. =(  But I haven't chucked it yet, I'm hoping that I'll love it miraculously one day..

Shu Uemura Blush Refills

Picked up these 2 pretty blush refills in M soft coral 345 and P light peach 510. Both are matte blushes and not too pigmented. The light peach is a great highlight color though.

NARS Haul

With a Gilt voucher for NARS, I was on a mission to shop! =D  Though I didn't want the cult favorite Orgasm blush, I picked up other goodies.

NARS Haul

The Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base is so perfect! I have proven that it doesn't cause eyeshadows to crease on me even with over a 12 hour wear. <3

NARS blushes

Instead of Orgasm, I picked up Deep Throat and Luster. Deep Throat actually looks very similar to Orgasm, but in a more mauve-y peach color.

NARS Deep Throat Blush

Look at those gold shimmers! So beautiful, but you will definitely need to use a light hand! It's way too pigmented.

NARS Luster Blush

The Luster blush is also very beautiful. Similar golden shimmer but more bronzey blush. This would be perfect for fall. But also overly pigmented that you need to be careful when applying. Definitely <3 for both blushes.

Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Hopi

Last but not least, a Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Hopi. I wanted to try a lip pencil and the name caught my attention. It's a creamy lip pencil that leaves a glossy finish. I love the effect. Hopi is a darker brown red, another staple for fall.

That's it for my winter haul and short reviews! My spring shopping spree will be up soon enough!

New Dior Diva 100 Point Reward - May 2012

Haven't written for a while, I think I've put too much effort into this blog to actually neglect it. But I really do have a lot of reviews/hauls/swatches that I've been collecting and it's piling up!

Here's a quick overview to a new Dior Diva 100 Point Reward that I recently "cashed in" with my Dior purchases. (You can see what I've received last year here.)

Dior Diva 100 Point Reward

Included in this year's gift are deluxe samples of the DiorShow mascara, j'adore eau de parfum, and a Rouge  Dior lipstick. All packed in a cute mini Dior shopping bag.

Dior Addict Full Size vs Rouge Dior Deluxe Sample

The Rouge Dior lipstick was a pretty generous size. I tried to compare it with my regular full size Dior Addict lipstick here. The one I received was in color 644 in Rouge Blossom. It's a gorgeous deep berry plum color. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm itching to!


Dior always have generous samples so make sure you save up those receipts!

Sephora VIB Haul Apr 2012

So this is a little late in posting but here's to another haul post. I took advantage of the Sephora VIB 15% off discount back in April, even though I really had nothing I wanted, but it's a sale on ANY and EVERYthing that usually never goes on sale, so I splurged a little and hooked myself up with more "value sets".

Benefit's Legally Bronze Set $35 ($105 value)

Benefit's Legally Bronze Set is now out of stock. I've actually seen this for a while at the Sephora site. This set includes a Hoola bronzer, High Beam, Bad Gal mascara, the Gilded Gold Highlighter pencil and a plastic cosmetic bag.

Hoola Bronzer in old packaging

I ordered this mainly because of the Hoola bronzer, a popular cult favorite. The Hoola bronzer is in the old packaging so there's no mirror in the cap. The set also includes a full size High Beam, another cult favorite, but I've tried this in the store and wasn't fond of it. The included Gilded Gold Highlighter Pencil is pretty surprise, perfect for that eye popping effect at the waterline. I haven't tried the Bad Gal Brown mascara yet, but I'm excited as my friend was recommending the Dior Mitzah mascara. I would have liked it more if the plastic bag wasn't imprinted with the palm tree design.

Benefit's The Pretty Committee Set $38 ($86 value)

Benefit's The Pretty Committee Set is $38 but includes a full size Bella Bamba blush, Stay Don't Stray primer, Eye Bright highligher and a deluxe size High Beam. I've tried Stay Don't Stray and Eye Bright samples before and didn't make much of an impression on me. Eye Bright doesn't even work on my Asian yellow undertones. It looks way too cakey.

Benefit's Bella Bamba blush

Can you see the shimmers?

I ordered this set mainly for the Bella Bamba blush. The blush is described as a watermelon pink but it has really pretty shimmers. I love the new packaging! It includes a mirror and a very soft brush, very convenient but not very for traveling because it's still in the signature blush box shape, too bulky to carry around.

Super By Nicholas Perricone First Blush Brightening Serum $24

The SUPER line is getting discontinued from Sephora so the entire line is on sale now at up to 50% off. I picked up this First Blush Brightening Serum. It's supposed to do exactly as it says, to give you a blush. I haven't tried it yet, hopefully it works up to its name!

That's it for Sephora haul, more posts will be coming up soon!