January's Luxe Box

Can I just say WOW?

Friday evening at like 8 pm, my doorbell rang.  It was Canada Post delivering my Luxe Box, without me even receiving a tracking number o__O.  The box was also different than usual and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why it was so big....

...until I opened my box.  And can I say OMG.

First, there was two boxes.  The regular black box and a bonus white box.  TWO BOXES, SCORE!

The white box had two items.  A Schick 5 blade razor, which itself retails for 13.99$ and a Fekkai Advanced Glossing Shampoo and Conditioner.  This couldn't have been better, honestly.  I was just contemplating changing my razor blade because of its ineffectiveness and bang a new razor to use, yay!  I also love glossing products for hair and can't wait to try that shampoo and conditioner to alternate with my regular hair products.

Now onto the regular black Luxe box.  

Let me tell you, it. was. PACKED.

The first product I noticed is the one I had picked when they sent out the ''reserve a product in your next Luxe Box email''.  BENEFIT POWDA WOWZA.  WOWZA, SERIOUSLY.  This product is awesome.  It contains three best sellers from BeneFit : Coralista (a coral blush), Bella Bamba (a pink watermelon shimmery blush) and Hoola (a matte bronzer that a lot of paler ladies have been using as a contour powder - again, SCORE!).

I'll put up a separate review for that one, it totally deserves it!

The second product I noticed was the lipstick.  I love lipsticks way more than I do glosses so I was very excited about that one as well.  I didn't know the brand at all and found out that it's from Yves Rocher and retails for only 5$.  That's really inexpensive, as even most drugstore lipsticks sell for 6-7$.  

The packaging is also super cute and girly and I really like it.  The color I received is La Gacilly no 66, which is a pale raspberry pink with shimmer in it.  

The texture is really creamy and it sorts of reminds me of the creaminess of lip butters.  I doesn't have amazing staying power though, but that doesn't irk me at all.  For the price, it's great value and I will definitely look at other shades at their stores.

The third item in the box was a Biosilk silk therapy hair treatment.  It is meant to be used before styling your hair with heat.  I'll definitely use that one up but at the 55$ price point, I probably won't be repurchasing.

The extra item this month was coffee.  I won't talk about that one because I don't know a thing about coffee and I don't drink it.  That will be gifted to someone who can appreciate it more than I do! 

I also received a note from Loose Button telling me that I had been selected to review several fragrances for their MyScent program.  I received 6 samples total, with one being the Lady Million Paco Rabanne I had received the month before.  I really loved L'Elixir by Nina Ricci and L'Infusion Iris by Prada.  I will alternate these two with my favorite perfume, which currently is the one I received in December's Glymm box, YSL La Parisienne.  My boyfriend liked the Paco Rabanne Black XS one best, although we wasn't wowed by any of them.

All in all, great box!  It sure made up for last month's box which was average and in my mind it even makes up for next month's box if it ends up being average as well.  This was definitely something unexpected, Loose Button did an AWESOME job.

December Luxe Box

So I received my Luxe box this morning.  

Funny thing, I was in my bed you know, in my pajamas (ok no, in my underwear) and the bell rung.  I got out of my bed immediately and rushed to the door to let the mailman know I was there.  Because if he thinks I'm not there the package'll just go to the post office and I'll only be able to pick it up tomorrow.  So I rushed to the door to push the button to let him in (apartment, y'know) and told him from the top of the stairs ''well hum leave it there I'm kind of in my underwear...'' lol -__-.

Anyways, so yeah, I received my Luxe Box this morning.  

Same sleek black packaging as last month, it's so pretty. Inside there was a letter from the founders to thank us for making the box such a success. Probably must be related to the several complaints they've been getting on Facebook about their shipping.  Anyways, it's still nice of them regardless.  They even put a complimentary Loose Button chocolate for Christmas, which is cute.  Of course, Glymm had a 10$ off on their store AND Jelly Beans (as they do each month) but we're not comparing... are we?  

The first item I noticed was this Yves Rocher body wash.  Smell is mandarin (mandarine d'Italie in French). I don't know what's the difference between a mandarin and a mandarin from Italy but oh well. I love those citrus smells so I was really happy about that. It's a nice sample and it's a decent size.  I know some people said that they were really happy to get this since they don't have Yves Rocher stores close to their home, but here it's the complete opposite, Yves Rocher stores are pretty much in every shopping center. Still nice though.

Nail polish is China Glaze First Mate by the way. :)

The second item I noticed was the DDF Advanced Firming Cream.  This wasn't much of a surprise because Loose Button had sent us an email in the beginning of the month giving us the opportunity to choose between this eye cream and a hair product. I chose this firming cream because I'm already committed to a hair brand that I love, so I wanted this item instead.  

The texture is very creamy without being watery but still feels light enough to penetrate the skin.  Because of the out-of-this-world price point, I hope this isn't a miracle product.  At 140$ for 48g, this is something I just can't afford.  The sample size is 14g which is very generous.  I'm excited to incorporate this into my skin care routine, even though I'm still young and my skin doesn't have huge firming needs just yet.

The other two products were a little disappointing.  There was a NYX black pencil eyeliner that retails for 4$.  It is a full size product.  I don't know any women who doesn't own a black pencil eyeliner so this is a little disappointing.  A colored one would have been nicer.  Especially since nowadays makeup lovers mostly use gel, cream or liquid liners and the basic black pencil eyeliner just doesn't compare quality-wise.

It was still nicely pigmented though and really black, none of that almost smokey charcoal grey I pretend to be black black.  You can see a comparision swatch with my other black eyeliners here.

The two golden pockets contained two perfume sample vials.  These aren't deluxe perfume sample size like the La Parisienne sample Glymm box gave me this month.  Those two are regular handed out in department stores perfume samples.  Wanna know the worst part of it? They're half filled. So much for ''deluxe size'' samples.

The left one with the black top is 1 million by Paco Rabanne and it's a male fragrance.  It's really musky and powerful and I kinda like it.  I hope the boyfriend will like it enough to wear it.  Edited after: Well he won't wear it, says his grandfather has the same fragrance and that only *old* people wear it. 

The right one with the white top is Lady Million, still by Paco Rabanne.  It's, like the title says, a perfume for the ladies.  And... I... hate... it.  It's really powerful and its muskiness is overwhelming and headache inducing.  

So all in all it was an okay month, it's fine with me, I don't expect to have great months each month.  I just hope the next one is going to be a little better! Then again, last month's box was great so it's evened out now. So, what did you get in your Luxe Box and are you satisfied by it?

December Glymm Box

So Glymm box was first to arrive this month too!  Because of all the great products I had in last month's Glymm box I was super excited and my expectations were high.  Also it provided a much needed distraction from my finals!  

Doesn't this scream Holidays?  It does.  And I'm so late on my Christmas shopping, but that's another subject.  

So this is what the box looks like when you open it.  It looks like presents thrown away in the snow.... such a romantic aren't I?

First item, a Caudalie enzymatic peel mask.  Ergh.  I'm sure it's very nice and all, Caudalie is a nice brand and everything... but another skin care item?  And not even a moisturizer or something I can easily drop into my routine to try... No.  A mask.  You know the thing I never use because I can never seem to find the time to take a luxurious bath in my not so luxurious small apartment bathroom.  So if I do end up trying it I'll review it, but don't keep your hopes up for a review from me for this one. 

Plus, for some reason, putting anything with the word peel on my skin scares the hell out of me.  

In case you're wondering - and I'm sure you aren't because my nails are chipped a little and my cuticles are as red as the reindeer's nose - the nail polish is China Glaze Holly-Day from their Let It Snow 2011 collection.

For the second item I thought ''yay a hand cream, that sure will be useful for this winter''. Wrong.  The texture is lovely, it sinks right into the skin and leaves it moisturized.  The online reviews I've read are raving about this hand cream.  So everything should be great no?

No.  It. smells. awful.  Very floral, very what you'd call old lady perfume.  I'm sure some people will love it and feel it's very feminine and whatnot but I hate it.  I'll try and ship it off to a friend or something.

There was also a lip gloss.  I thought how nice a pinkish MLBB shade that is very easy to dupe.  The packaging is super cute though and it looks like a full sized item.  I had never heard about Sula, so the brand was new to me.

Here is a swatch on my NW10-NW15 skin.  A brown based MLBB shade that is very pigmented for a lip gloss.  It seems nice quality enough and at 8$ it's really cheap!  So I put it on my lips to see how it looked and applied.  And then, I fell in love!  The smell, the taste!  So wonderful!  It's like liquid strawberries on your lips.  Just because of that, I'm pretty sure this will become an item that I'll use very often.  

Except... where the hell do you purchase those?  I've never seen them in any drugstore or at Wal Mart.  Hum, anyways, onto the next item!

YSL!!!!!! YSL!!!!!!

OK IT'S A FRAGRANCE BUT STILL!!!! YSL!!!!!

Call me shallow but yeah, high end brands make me all happy inside.  I was so excited to try this, I really didn't want to be disappointed.  The full size retails for 85$, but this sample size leaves enough to try it a lot.  

As you can see in this comparison shot, it's a pretty big bottle.  Way bigger than those sample vials you usually get.  

So I opened the cap (beware there's actually a hole the size of Texas under the cap - not really Texas you know, but more like q-tip size so still really easy to spill) and smelled. I was so disappointed, it was again all flowery with a hint of berries.  

But you know when you want to love something so much you just keep on trying to love it, just like when you have shoes that are a tad too small but ya squeeze your feet in 'em anyway?  Well it was like that with this perfume, so I tried it on my wrist just to see how it would react to my chemistry (hopefully well).  

And it did.  It smells much less flowery and a little more powdery on my skin, which seems to even it out and reduce the harshness of the initial smell.  I don't know how others will react to this, but I hope well.  Now I can feel like Kate Moss in Paris too (I wish).

So all in all it was an okay month.  I loved two items out of four so it ain't that bad, but the box didn't have a nail polish or an eye product which are usually my fave.  But no biggie!

This month also had a 10$ off promo code from Glymm to use on their website.  I used it to buy a Butter London nail polish which I can't wait to swatch! :) This definitely is a nice Christmas surprise for this month's box.

And the proverbial Jelly Beans, which sadly/thankfully were the same flavors that I got in my November box.  But they tasted real good anyways :).  Did you like your December Glymm box?