February Lovin' Product Haul

Hey everyone! So, I went to the mall last weekend and basically had $50 to blow on the things that I'd had my eyes on for quite a while. :) I left the mall extremely happy. Let's begin!
 The first product is from The Body Shop and is called Chocomania Bag of Heart Soaps. This costs $6, whereas the larger, individual bars cost $4.

As you may be able to tell, I did use the one on the top right twice then put it back in the bag for this picture, ha ha. First off, I love love loveee them!! This soap smells fantastic and the heart shape is sooo cuteee!! It smells so different from the rest of their Chocomania collection and is a lot more subtle. The scent smells mainly of cocoa butter with a dash of chocolate, rather than their reoccuring Chocomania scent that is in their body butter. They also include little bits of coconut shell as an exfoliator, and it is surprisingly delicate on my super sensitive skin! :) The scent hardly lingers after a shower, and my skin is sooo smooth afterwards. Just one of these mini-bars has lasted me 6 showers, and it looks like I have at least 5 more left in it! I will definitely be going back for a ton more, especially at $6 for 4!! :)

 Continuing with the Chocomania collection is their Chocomania Body Butter which is sold in the large size at $18, it is also sold in the mini size at $6. Let me begin with this, I opened a jar of this body butter and seriously gagged. I had expected it to smell divine like most of their stuff (excluding their grapefruit scent, ha ha) but it didn't. I did not buy the full size or the mini, but they gave me a sample with my purchase and the lady told me that once it's applied, the scent dies down. I assumed she was hoping I'd turn around a buy a full size container, but I put in my mind that after my shower, I would try it...

I did and I actually do like it. I couldn't stop smelling myself! I had put it on my arms so I could really get my whiffer exposed to it. ha ha. And I really do like it. I shower at night, so this stays on me while I sleep and all the next day. When I woke up (7 hours after my shower and application) I could still slightly smell it. The body butter smelled somewhat of men's cologne, but just slightly. An hour later, after I did my hair and makeup, I went to apply perfume and I couldn't smell the body butter any longer except on my arms, but very faintly, which was great because it didn't change the smell of my perfume or anything. However, I will not be buying any size container of this scent because I'm just not too into it like I am with their almond scent!

 And the last item from The Body Shop, is the Almond Bath & Shower Gel. This is about $8. As I said, I am in love with their almond scent. I wish they had an almond home fragrance oil or something so I could smell this stuff 24/7!! I own their body butter in this scent too (see my older haul post for that review), I just can't get enough of it, every time I go in this store, I just have to pop open a body butter to smell it more. Ha ha. I'm an addict. :)

I loveee thisss smellll!! It does leave a hint of the almond smell on my skin, but as all of their other products that I own, it isn't enough to interfere with perfumes. <3

 Now for the one product I purchased from Sephora. It's from Escada (I love their perfumes) and is called Rockin' Rio. This is the scent that got me hooked on their brand. I'm soooo happy that it's returned for a limited time because I'm almost completely out of my full size.

The packaging on this isn't that cute or whatever, but I don't even care, I know the scent and LOVE it. The full sized bottles were $55. The one I purchased was $20, on the sign it was advertised as a rollerball, but I was so pleasantly surprised when I arrived home and found it to be a spray instead. :) I can't explain the scent, I just know it, you must go smell it though! Definitely my go-to perfume! :)

 Then I stopped in Bath & Body Works for their Valentine's party! :) And to make some purchases.
Up first is the Coconut Leaves mini candle (1.3 oz). This was $3.50.

 I really like the smell of coconut and this just puts that at the next level. The container is made of glass this time. I loveee this candle so much!! It's sweet and fresh and tropical. <3 So summery. :)

 Another mini candle I purchased is Flower Shop. I have yet to burn it at all, but I purchased it because it reminds me of the gardens in Giverny in Paris, which I miss more and more each day. This was also $3.50.

The packaging is pretty cute and springy, but brings back summer memories. :) I can't wait to begin burning it!!

 Then I purchased a Vanilla Berry Sorbet PocketBac for $1.50.

I really enjoy this scent. It's so addicting and summery!! I don't know how long this scent is back for, since it was released last summer, so I had to buy it. Ha ha. Fantastic!!

 I also bought a PocketBac in Exotic Rainforest. This was also $1.50.

This one is a really fresh and clean scent, very slightly fruity. It's alright, smells pretty good, but it's not a scent that I'm going to repurchase.

I also got their Deep Cleansing Hand Soap in Fresh Picked Tangerines for $5.50.

I like this smell a lot. Smells exactly like tangerines, and sooo summery!! :)

 And last but not least, a travel size shower gel in Paris Amour for $5. But I had been mailed two coupons for them, one was for any free travel size signature collection item. I like this scent, so, of course, I bought it.

I like this scent, it's light and romantic. For me, there's no lingering scent. It's pretty decent.

 For Valentine's Day, my parents bought me a Shakira S Eau Florale Eau de Toilette Natural Spray in the 1 fl. oz. size, which was on sale at Walgreens at the time for about $13.

 It doesn't strike me as too floraly, mainly fruity, I do like it though.

May you find many great new scents this month, Annie

Valentine's Day

Hey everyone! I just wanted to wish all of you a "Happy Valentine's Day!!" And to let you know that I will be doing a shopping haul this weekend of what I purchased last weekend. A few are valentine's related. :) I'm hoping to do the post Friday evening.
Thanks for reading my blog posts, and for that, you're my valentines. :)
           Happy v-day, Annie <3

BB Creams!

Hey everyone!! So this evening I'm doing a review on BB Creams. I'm also going to let you know the history of BB Creams and what their purpose is. So let's get started. :)
 History- BB Cream was created in the 1950's in Germany by a dermatologist named Christine Schrammek, M.D. She had created the product for her patients after they had completed treatments like skin peels and facials. This BB Cream was made to soothe the skin, but also hide redness, it was of course tinted. Then, 30 years after this, it was introduced to the Korean market, and took off in Asia.
 What they do- BB Cream stands for Blemish Balm Cream. The Asian markets tend to refer to BB Creams as Beblish Balm, rather than Blemish Balm, but I'm not sure why. BB Creams truely are a multi-tasker! I love them so much for this. ha ha. So BB Creams offer sun protection, prevent blemishes, cover imperfections, include anti-aging/wrinkle coverage, prime skin, and prevent shine. Most are only offered in one shade. A lot of the asian ones contain whitening agents, making their skin appear more naturally pale, this is good for me because I'm quite pale so it applies fairly tan, but as it oxidizes, it whitens a bit so it matches my skin. But please don't think that just because you may be tan that you can't wear this product without being way more pale than the rest of your body. Most tend to kind of "know" what your skin tone is. I have a couple of friends who are more tan than me and who have used mine and it blends into their skin just fine. I love them because they really improve my skin and hide any blemishes I may have at the tie, they help get rid of blemish a lot more quickly too. :)
 Because of the fact that the Asian BB Creams only came in one color, the United States felt it had to fit all of the different skin tones, so they decided to make many different shades, but maintain the benefits of a BB Cream. Personally, I am not a fan of the BB Creams created here in the U.S., they're just not right. I'm not sure what it is about them, but they're just not the same. I have yet to find a BB Cream from Germany, but I would like to do so soon. :)

Reviews:

I'm going to start this with my favorite BB Cream at the top and go to my least favorite one at the bottom. I like the smell of all three of them, to me they smell the exact same. These three smell like sunscreen and kinda clean, I just really like the way they each smell. The scent lasts for a while, maybe an hour, I never really timed how long it lasts. Ha ha.

 

First off is BB Bright Cream. The brand of it is called Etude House, their English website is "under construction" and has been for a few months, I don't know if it will reopen or not, but that was never where I purchased mine from anyway. I purchased mine off of this website http://www.asianfashioncity.com/bb-cream-gallery.html and on there it is $29. The packaging is really nice, definitely sanitary becuase the product just pumps out and can't go back into the tube, which can be a bit of a downside if you get too much product at once, but at least you know that your product won't be contaminated with little germies. :) I don't recall how much shipping costs on this website or long it took for my BB Cream to arrive, but I do know that it took quite a while. This is my favoriteee BB Cream for sooo many reasons! It covers up any redness and completely masks any blemishes on my face, so that it looks flawless. I love it so much! It is the quickest of these three to eliminate my blemishes too. I have been using this one for about a year now and still have quite a bit left! It's great because it's so buildable, so you can add more to get a darker color if you're tan, and for me, I just apply it sparingly on my face and it's perfect. Along with this I still use a concealer to cover up my dark undereye circles, just becuase mine tend to be really dark, so I need to. But, I just can't say enough great things about this product! :)

 Up next is the Hot Pink Super Plus Beblish Balm from Skin79. On the Skin79 website for North America, the price is listed as $28. I actually got this product sent to me in two sample sizes as a free gift because I purchased the VIP Gold Super Plus Beblish Balm, which was done so on ebay. I ended up cutting the little packets open and putting them in a little jar with a lid so it's a bit easier to access and I don't have to struggle to squeeze it out every morning, haha. But the actual container looks like the one on the sample package that is pictured above. I felt like this one was a bit odd at first, it felt somewhat thick and cakey on my face, but it looked fine, then after about five minutes it was as light as could be, I felt as if I didn't have any makeup on my face, which I completely love. The coverage of this one is just alright, it is pretty sheer and somewhat buildable, I still had to conceal my dark undereye circles and then my blemishes with a concealer. I do like this product though. I will have to use what remains of the sample packages to determine whether I really want to invest in a full bottle of it though.

 The last product is the VIP Gold Super Plus Beblish Balm from Skin79. On their website for North America it is being sold for $28. I was not a big fan of this one, it seemed really sheer to me and I am not a big fan of sheer products mainly because I feel that their purpose is to cover imperfections. I still had to go in with my concealer and conceal every little blemish and my dark circles. I really feel like this product is for more mature skin with acne scars and wrinkles and when you don't need much coverage. My mother loves this and she is in her 50's so she does have some wrinkles, she does have rosacea around the apples of her cheeks and it covered it really well. Her skin looked a lot more youthful and not pinky/red. So I'm surprised by the different experiences that we had. So I do recommend this for women who have existing wrinkles and minimal skin conditions. I don't recommend it to girls/women who get blemishes or have more severe skin conditions.

 

 I swatched each product on my hand. The left picture has flash and the right one is without flash. They're thicker at the base of my fingers, and by my wrist I blended them into my skin, of course I blend them each more on my face so it doesn't look like a fake tan, ha ha.At the top is the Hot Pink Super Plus Beblish Balm, the one right below it is the VIP Gold Super Plus Beblish Balm, and at the bottom is the BB Bright Cream.

So this concludes my review on BB Creams and I do hope to try some new ones soon and I'll let you guys know when I do. :)
Please let me know what you think and also please subscribe. :)

For the love of BB Cream, Annie

Sneakish Peekish!

Here is a tiny sneak peek at the items in the post I will be doing for you guys this weekend.

I know that pretty much nothing is shown in this picture, but that just makes it more of a surprise! Ha ha.
And yes, the pink thing at the bottom is a little sample package. But there is enough product in two combined packs (what I have and decided to do with them) for at least 5 more applications.
Please be patient with me being so untimely with my posts. Thank you!! Please let me know what products/ brands you would like to see reviewed, etc. Thanks again!
              Untimely postings, Annie

MAC larger eyeshadows

Hey guys! I apologize for a belated post. I know I forgot to post last weekend and I feel bad about that, it's just been really hard to find time to do a blog. But I made some time tonight to take pictures and swatches for you guys!!
 So this review is for a couple of MAC's mineralize eye shadows and then just a regular eyeshadow that happens to be in the same size package. The review is over Cinderfella, Noble Touch, and Follow Your Fantasy. So let's get started!! :)

Just so you know, each eye shadow is from a different collection that was sold at a different time from one another.

 Let's start with Cinderfella. :) Which was about $19 and is a mineralize eye shadow. The collection this was in is Style Black, which came out around August of 2009. Another thing I bought from this collection is a nail laquer called Baby Goth Girl and it's a frost, so when I apply it, I use two coats so it's not so see through. I do wish that I had purchased Seriously Hip instead though. The reason is because Baby Goth Girl has some pink flecks in it, which I really like, but it's not very noticable with the black base. However, Seriously Hip had gold flecks in it so they were much more visable in the black polish. I guess the one that I tried in the store had a lot more pink in it. Oh well, I still do like it though, I just don't wear it very often. Ha ha.

I really like Cinderfella. It's great for smokey eyes and adds the right amount of pigment and sparkle. Once it is blended it gets a lot lighter and less sparkly, but once I have blended it, I just tap my brush on the eye shadow and tap it on to reapply the sparkle. :)

 Here it is swatched. I didn't blend either of these with a brush, but just applied the bottom swatch a little lighter than the top swatch. See how nice and sparkly this is! I love it! :)

Now for Noble Touch, unfortunately, I can't find how much this was when it was released, I'm sure it was probably $19, but I'm not sure, sorry! This is also a mineralize eye shadow. I think this was part of the Tartan Tale collection that was released for the holiday season of 2010, most being released on October 28th, while others were released on November 4th. There really is not much information about this eye shadow out there and it kind of angers me because it truely is a great shadow. It's almost like it just appeared and there's not trail of it anywhere on the internet. Ha.

It's really great because there are two colors in one giant eye shadow case! :) I love it, it's so metallic and shimmery!  The pink is just very girly and the lower color is a very bronzy-gold color. I think it's superrr pretty and definitely a spring/summer duo. :)

 On the top of my hand is the pink color, and on the bottom is the bronzy color. 



And last, but definitely not least: Follow Your Fantasy. This was absolutely from the Tartan Tale collection released in October/November of 2010. This eye shadow was $19.50. I wish I had also purchased A Wish Come True just because it's also very pretty. But Follow Your Fantasy is great cuz I don't have any other shadow with this peachy color or anything close and I didn't have enough money with me for both eye shadows.

Let me just start by saying that I really love the packaging. I have never seen an eyeshadow with a plaid pattern to it. I find it really cool looking. Ha ha. Anywhoo, this eye shadow gives off a really pretty warm peachy color and I loveee ittt. So wonderful. I wear it pretty much every season, but not very often and I think I'm going to start wearing it more because the more I write about it, the more I like it. Ha ha.

 In the swatch, the top is just from a square of the peachy color, and the bottom is with a stripe of brown through the middle of it.

So there you guys have it! These are my larger MAC eye shadows and the rest are the regular size shadows. I like them all, but don't wear them very often, for whatever reason. Ha. I will be changing that soon. :) Well, it  is 3:30am so I think it is time for me to call it a night. Goodnight guys and again, I'm sorry for the delay in posting. I hope you enjoyed this review. Please subscribe and leave some comments. :)

 Pretty MAC shadow dreams, Annie <3

MAC Royal Assets 2007

MAC Royal Assets: 6 Warm Eyes

So I realize that this palette is from the holiday season of 2007, but I figured I'd share it with you guys anyways. I'm pretty sure the collection that this is from was called Antiquease, but I'm honestly not sure. Ha ha, I'm sorry, I just know that the name of the palettes were Royal Assets. At the time this palette's cost was $36. And of course, if you go and buy it from somewhere online, the cost will be a lot more because it has been so long since it's been released. In the past 4ish years, the price of their 6 shadow palettes have gone up $2, unfortunately. But it's not much compared to other companies inflating prices in a matter of just one year. What first drew me to this collection, was, of course, the packaging, it's just so pretty! :)
So let's begin. :)
I really like the colors in this palette, i feel that it is sooo wearable and you can mix the colors to get a totally different effect. I was definitely surprised how smoothly these colors apply, it's like they literally glide across your eyelids. :) With this palette, you could do looks for work, school, parties, clubbing, etc. :)

 The names of the colors included are (from left-right, top-bottom) :
-Sunday Best (Frost) a, well, frosty light pink, very pretty
-Nobility (Shimmer) a slightly shimmery, very light brown color, sort of the color of my coffee after I add a ton of creamer, ha ha
-Retrospeck (Lustre) this is a very sheer golden color and is very sparkly, can layer over a look for some extra flare :)
-Star Violet (Veluxe Pearl) a lot like Retrospeck in the texture and look, but definitely more pigmented, really pretty plum color
-Club (Shimmer) a deep brown with a blue tint to it, really pretty, and well, shimmery
-Showstopper (Matte) a dark brown, kind of like a wooden color, but still pretty.

There are three permanant colors of the six in the palette, the permanant ones are: Retrospeck, Star Violet, and Club, so you can run into any MAC Cosmetics store and still purchase these. The brush that is included in a mini size is the 213 Fluff Brush, the full size costs $22.50, but I don't own the full size because, well, I have the mini. But also because I have an equivalent brush from Estee Lauder, which came in a kit, and unfortunately, there's no number or anything to identify which brush it is.

From top-bottom on my hand the colors are: Sunday Best, Nobility, Retrospeck, Star Violet, Club, and Showstopper. I put a box around Sunday Best so it won't be so hard to find it, ha ha.

At the time in which I purchased this palette, I wasn't too into make-up...yet. And a great big YET at that. Ha ha. But this really has recently become more of a go-to palette for my school make-up. :) I feel like Sunday Best and Nobility remind me of something along the lines of ballet-style colors, very pretty and elegant and sophisticated.  Just about any combination would work with this palette and it's really simple to go from a day look, to a night look.
Hope you guys enjoyed this review, and I hope that if you want it, that you are able to find it somewhere.

Please comment what you think about each blog and what you would like to see reviewed, and subscribe. :)

Royal wishings, Annie

Sales of January are around!! :)

So I only had $13 to spend when I went to the mall yesterday, which is like two things (normally) from Bath & Body Works. Thinking about how much everything costs now is just insane. Everything is overpriced, whether or not they're necessary. However; I found a ton of things on sale in Bath & Body Works, which made me extremely happy. :) And B&BW was the only place that I bought things from, but I love what I got. :)

First off, "select" hand sanitizers (PocketBac) were only 50 cents, while they're normally $1.50! So I like that deal, I did only buy one because I found other stuff that I wanted too.

I purchased one in Winter Cranberry. I find that it smells the same as Frosted Cranberry. I like the smell, it's sweet, but fresh. Very wintery. :)

Bath & Body Works has a new collection called Escape To the Tropics and it is comprised of three lotions.The collection is going to be released January 16th this year. It is composed of three different scents: Aruba Coconut, Bali Mango, and Rio Rumberry. I like all three. When the collection is released, the mini bottles of lotion will be $3.50 each, but currently, since it's not yet fully out, it's $1 each. Which I love. :)

So the one I wound up buying was Aruba Coconut. I reallyyyy like the smell of coconut. It kinda has a "musky" smell, but just enough to give it some depth. I really like it and I think I'll be using it pretty often. :)

Then I bought, from what I was told, is part of a new collection. There were four or five different scents and each were $3! Whereas all Anti-bacterial Deep Cleansing hand soaps are normally $5.50. The one I got is called Wildberry Hibiscus.

I really like the scent, it smells like berries and slightly like flowers. I smell raspberries and strawberries, but also something more foresty. :) It isn't shown online at all, I only see it online in the PocketBac, so if I were you, I would check your store for it, because I really like it, and I'm not sure if they were getting rid of these from extra stock or if they're new.

I also purchased a candle that they must have had in extra stock and wanted to get rid of. It came out around the time they released Paris Amour. They had different scented candles at the time: Lavender Macaroons, French Caramel Cakes, and Spiced Madeleine. I saw all three and I really like French Caramel Cakes and Spiced Madeleine.

As you can see, I ended up choosing Spiced Madeleine. I had to pick one because as I said earlier, I had a limited amount of money. I have yet to burn it, but I will try to tonight, and edit it either while it is burning, or tomorrow afternoon. However; I have absolutely smelled it and can smell it in my room as is. I smell the cinnamon and nutmeg that it is said to have in it. It really has a sweet and somewhat spicy scent to it. People have said that it smells like Creamy Pumpkin to them, but I really don't see it, I absolutely hated Creamy Pumpkin and I found it to be way overly sweet; I don't think that Spiced Madeleine smells similar at all. I love the candle and I think it's wonderful. Normally the small candles (1.6 oz.) are $3.50, in store, but I paid $1.50. The deal was that if you purchased a candle holder with it, you only had to pay $1.50 for the candle, but with the $2.50 from the holder. But the cashier said that I got a free holder, and she only charged me $1.50 for the candle, though the signs with the mini candles said that if you don't buy the holder, you have to pay regular price for the candle, but I went with it, I'm not gonna argue with a free holder. Haha.

The holder fits the candle really well. I was originally planning on either just burning it in what the candle comes in; or taking it out of its plastic holder, pulling the wick out, and sticking it in my wax melter. I was leaning more towards the second option ha ha. But now I'm good. :) As you can see, the holder is just plain and clear glass, nothing fancy, but I'm fine with that cuz you can see the cute design on the original jar.

  Well, that's it guys. Thank you for reading my blogs, scroll down for more!!

May the smells of B&BW be with you!, Annie