Sephora Favorites: Skinstant Radiance

Behold skincare lovers!  Sephora inside JCPenney has come out with a new skincare set that is one of the best things I've seen yet this year!  I always love these Sephora Favorites sets, especially the ones from JCPenney.  

I managed to get my little fingers on this set before they were all sold out.  The only regret I have is that I didn't get it during Sephora's VIB sale.  Unfortunately (or rather fortunately...?) I am not a VIB member so I only got 4 days to do my shopping, and out of those 4 days I was away for 3.  Sadly when I went to my local Sephora inside JCPenney, the set was already sold out on the last day of the sale.  So I did what any sane person would do and asked them when they were receiving their next shipment, and I went back on that day and snatched this little sucker up.

The set came with 11 high end skincare products in travel size.  Some of them are super small, (ie: bareMinerals Mineralixir) while others were very generous (ie: Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Bio-Repair Cleansing Gel and St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Lotion)!

The set also came with this really cute make up bag that's a pale pink shade with some sparkly thread.  The bag is a decent size (way bigger than the ipsy bags!) and I can imagine myself using this when I travel.

The products that were included in the set are:

• Ole Henriksen Ultimate Lift Eye Gel
• Josie Maran Argan Infinity Intensive Creamy Oil
• Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter Body Lotion
• Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser
• Glamglow Powermud Dualcleanse Treatment
• Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Bio-Repair Cleansing Gel
• Boscia Tsubaki Oil-Infused Exfoliating Powder
• St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Lotion
• bareMinerals Mineralixirs 5-Oil Blend
• Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF45
• First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser

Right when I heard about this set, most likely from Nouveau Cheap, I knew I had to get my hands on it.  There were so many things I really wanted to try but could not justify splurging so much for the full size, like the Glamglow mask, First Aid Beauty cleanser, Boscia exfoliator, Dr. Jart+ bb cream,  and St. Tropez bronzing lotion.  On top of that, I knew I wanted to try products from Ole Henderiksen, Peter Thomas Roth, Murad, and Josie Maran.  I will say, I was surprised to find a Soap & Glory product in this set because I heard Soap & Glory products are being pulled from Sephora.

What is the one product that you are most excited about in this set?

Unboxing | Target Spring 2015 Beauty Box

Another season, another Target Beauty Box!  For Spring 2015, I have to say Target's Beauty Box beat Walmart's Beauty Box by a long shot!  I was really excited to see that Target was doing another Beauty Box and was even more excited when I found it at my door steps on Monday!  (Yes!  This box has been in my possession for less than a week!  I'm definitely getting better with this timely unboxings!)

On to the actual box itself!  This time around Target sent a nice, sleek box, unlike all the other Target Beauty Boxes, which were white boxes with Target logo decorated all over the box.  I actually prefer these sleek black boxes over the older ones!

Like usual, the products were wrapped inside the box with the red tissue paper.  The box also came with an info card, with details of the products inside the box, along with a $3 off $15 purchase coupon (not pictured).  

The products inside the box:

• Maybelline Color Elixir in Rose Redefined
• L'oreal Paris Infallible Pro-Spray & Set
• Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream
• SheaMoisture Superfruit Complex 10-in-1 Renewal System Shampoo
• Tresemme Tres Two Extra Hold Hairspray

For $5, I have to say the box is definitely a steal!  The Maybelline Color Elixir lipgloss is already over $5 itself!  On top of that, the L'oreal setting spray is full size and is worth over $10 in Target stores!  The value of those two products are already triple what I paid for the box!  

I'm definitely excited to see what Target and Walmart will include in their beauty boxes for Summer.  I do wish they will start including products that are good for the season, (ie: brighter color cosmetics for spring/summer, moisturizing skincare products for winter), but for $5 who can complain when the products in the box values for more than $15! 

Which beauty box did you like better for Spring 2015?  

Wishlist | April 2015

Another month, another wish list!  This time I thought I would do it on a list of things I've been eyeing at Sephora, since their VIB sale thing is just around the corner.  Unfortunately, (or maybe thankfully...) I'm still not a VIB so I won't have access to the sales until Friday.  But I can always drool over things online right...?

Origins GinZing Extra-Zing Energizing Kit - $22 | I've heard many wonderful things about the GinZing line from Origins and I thought this would be an awesome introduction to not only the line, but also the brand for me.  It comes with a moisturizer, cleanser and an eye cream, which is kind of pricey since Tarte's travel size maracuja oil and the eye cream is only $12.

YSL Volupte Tint-In-Oil - $32 | Holy cow, so many people on youtube has raved about this product so I am quite excited to see how it is for myself!  I have gone inside sephora and have swatched it a few times and I have to say, there really isn't much pigmentation to these.  But I would still love to get my hands on these and try one, especially since it'll be my very first YSL product!  The shade I'm eyeing, which unfortunately is sold out online, is Cherry Me Cherie.  That seems to be the most pigmented out of the bunch.

Bite Beauty Butter Cream Lipstick - $28 | I've been itching to get my little hands on a Bite lipstick for a while now and I don't really know why I chose this particular one out of all of their different lipstick lines.... maybe it's because it's the newest?  I don't quite understand the whole hand cut concept and the fact that it's a flat top bullet, unlike all the traditional slant top bullets.  I don't have any particular shades in mind, but I'm sure I'll find some after I swatch around a bit!

Sephora Favorites The Great Cleanse - $48 | I don't remember where I first saw this but ever since I saw it, I've been lusting over it!  It's been a long maybe 3-4 months of me stalking Sephora's website hoping this will go on sale, but that hasn't happened...yet?  This set contains so many products from different brands that I would love to try, but $48 is a little out of my comfort zone to splurge on something that's over $35 without any sales or gift card or something.  

These are on my to-buy list for the current Sephora VIB sale.  I know for a fact I'll most likely pick up one of the lip products but I'm unsure about the others.  Just can't bring myself to spend more than $50 in one go at Sephora buying just a handful of things... What are some of the things on your wish list for the current VIB sale?

Beautynetkorea Haul #1

Yet another Korean skincare/makeup haul.  I can't guarantee this will be the last one, since I already have another one lined up in my queue, but this one featured products I couldn't find on roseroseshop when I purchased from them earlier this year.  This is another website, beautynetkorea, which I like a little bit more than roseroseshop only because it offers free shipping.  But I will most likely do a review and comparison on the two websites in the future!

The shipment for this order was a bit faster than that of roseroseshop.  I believe I ordered it at the end of January and received it in mid-February.

The products that I purchased:

• It's Skin Power 10 Formula VC Effector
• Aritaum Honey Melting Tint in Bitter Rose
• Aritaum Honey Melting Tint in Raspberry Cake

One thing I really like about beautynetkorea is that they give you a lot of samples!  From this order, I received:

• TonyMoly Panda's Dream Eye Patch
• TonyMoly Moisture Cream
• TonyMoly Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack
• TonyMoly I'm Real Seaweed Aqua Moisture Lotion
• TonyMoly I'm Real Lemon Brightening Lotion 
• TonyMoly I'm Real Aloe Soothing Lotion

I'm really excited and have already started using the It's Skin Power 10 VC Effector!  I really enjoyed ordering from beautynetkorea and have already placed and received another order so that haul will be coming up soon!

What are some of your favorite Korean products you would recommend?

Unboxing | Walmart Spring 2015 Beauty Box

Well, well, well... will you look at this!  An unboxing post that isn't months late!  I promise it's just a few weeks late.  I just received this box two-ish weeks ago and I've been quite busy with my personal life until the last week of March so I haven't touched anything in a while.

Walmart boxes are $5 and they ship out seasonally.  The first box was back in fall of 2014 and I have to say, that might be my favorite one so far; it came with two full size products that I would actually use!  The second box was a bit more disappointing than the first box, but at least it contained more sample sized products.  The Spring 2015 box is so far my least favorite box because it contained more foiled samples than usual.  But I really shouldn't be complaining much since I received these for only $5!

The products I received this season are:

• Garnier Ultra Lift Miracle Sleeping Cream sample pack
• L'oreal Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation sample pack
• Lady Gaga Fame Black Fluid Perfume sample
• Dove Mandarin & Tiare Flower Scent Body Wash sample
• Neutrogena Healthy Skin Booster Facial Cleanser sample
• Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion sample pack
• Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara full size 
• Schwarzkopf's Essence Ultime Omega Repair and Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner sample

Now that I've listed everything in this season's box, I've come to realize that even though there are more foil samples, there are still relatively the same amount of sample sized products.  Personally it's still not my favorite box, but I will be using everything in this box sooner or later, unlike the second box where I didn't care much for the lipstick shade.  So for $5, it is worth it.  But I just had higher expectation of what I would be getting... which was a mistake on my part.

I hope the summer box has more colorful products that we will all love.

Collective Haul | March 2015

Ooops, I did it again... For some odd reason, I thought I was doing really well by not buying too many things this past month because I was busy for at least half the month with no time to shop...  But that all changed once I put everything I've purchased throughout the month all together for the collective picture to realize that I purchased a lot more than I had intended to.  I blame my hoarding this past month on stress!

Sooo as we can all see, a good chunk of the products are actually lip products.  I am a lip product addict and I just love to try new products.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

The lip products I picked up are:

• Softlips Cube in Fresh Mint
• Softlips Cube in Pomegranate Blueberry
• Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm
• Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush in All You Need Is Pink
• Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush in Give Me a Cuddle
• Rimmel Show Off Lip Velvet in Meteoric Matte
• ELF Lip Balm Tint in Peach
• Milani Power Lip Lasting & Moisturizing Gloss Stain in Cabaret Blend
• Almay Smart Shade Butter Kiss in Nude-Light/Medium
• Jordana Modern Matte Lipstick in Matte Classy
• Jordana Modern Matte Lipstick in Matte Dare
• Jordana Twist & Shine Moisturizing Balm Stain in Fresh Fig
• Hard Candy All Glossed Up Hydrating Lip Stain in Pout
• Hard Candy All Glossed Up Hydrating Lip Stain in Mauvelous
• Hard Candy Plumping Serum Lipstick in Victorious
• Hard Candy Plumping Serum Lipstick in Infamous
• Hard Candy Plumping Serum Lipstick in Wanted
• NYC Smooch Proof Liquid Lip Stain in On Everyone's Lips

I also managed to snag up some nail products.

• Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in Laced Up
• Essie's Fiji
• NYC's Strip Me Off
• Nail Aid 1st Acetone Power Gel No-Rub for Glitter & Nail Art

Some impulse hair products:

• TRESemme Perfectly (un)Done Wave Creation Sea Foam
• Batiste Dry Shampoo in Clean&Classic Original

Also some face products:

• Freeman Dead Sea Minerals Anti-Stress Mask
• Rimmel BB Cream Radiance in Light

And lastly, the miscellaneous products:

• L'oreal Voluminous Butterfly Intenza Waterproof Mascara in Blackest Black (x2)
• Covergirl Full Lash Bloom waterproof in Very Black
• Jergens BB Hand

I will admit, I did overdo it by a lot in March.  I'm really hoping that I will purchase exponentially less products in April, especially since there's the Sephora sale and I'm already eyeing two things I want that are quite expensive.  Let's hope for a more controlled spending in April!