Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Clinique Moisture Surge Overnight Mask



I impulse bought this a month or two ago because I needed something under $10 to push the total in my shopping cart to $50 to quality for free shipping. The packaging was a lot cuter than I expected. I love how Clinique has the silver caps on all of its packaging.

I don't use the moisture surge overnight mask often. I usually only apply it after I use an exfoliator at night like any GlamGlow products. I've said this before but I still don't understand the difference between an overnight mask and a heavy night cream. To be honest, this seems to be more of a night cream than a mask to me. Regardless, it is a great travel size and good addition to my beauty shelf.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Beauty Empties: Tube Edition


1. Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream
Already on my second full sized tube on this cream! It's a miracle worker on eczema. Full review here.

2. Bliss Blood Orange and White Pepper Hand Cream
Received this deluxe sample as a present while waiting in line for a Mindy Kaling meet and greet at the Bliss Spa in New York.

3. Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer
This tube has lasted me FOREVER. A little really goes a long way. Even though its title says creaseless, it actually creases a lot for me. I mainly only use this to cover the bags under my eyes and some acne scars.

4. Burt's Bees Natural Acne Solutions
I've gone through I think around three tubes of this! Full post here.

5. L'occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream
So glad to be finished with this hand cream, to be honest. I hated the smell. So happy I discovered the rose heart and vanilla bouquet scents which have the same texture and consistency but better scent.

6. bareMinerals Prime Time Foundation Primer
This was the first primer I've ever tried. It gives my face a super smooth base for the rest of my makeup. The only downside is that it's a little greasy and I have oily skin. Overall, it's still one of my favorite primers that I've used so far.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Repurchased: Dr. Jart+ Premium BB Cream



When I saw that Sephora was offering this as a deluxe sample, I placed an order ASAP. I loved this BB cream after using the sample in this post here.

BB creams are one of my favorite beauty products. I previously wrote about the Tarte BB Cream. While I love both, I feel like the Tarte one is better for winter because it has a weaker SPF of 30 and is slightly lighter than the Dr. Jart one, which has a SFP of 45 and is more of my natural skin color.

I have seen the full sized product in person and I'm not a huge fan of the packaging. It's pretty heavy so it's not travel friendly and also hard to see how much of the product you have left. I like this tube version better so I will probably purchase the Dr. Jart+ Dynamic Duo in the future, which has a 0.5 oz Premium BB and 1.7 oz Dermaclear Micro Water.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Fresh Blue Box Adventures


Last month, my friend Arlina and I went to the Fresh Blue Box event in Flatiron. It was so much fun! We got to sample some sugar lip treatments and take silly pictures in the photo booth. When we left the event, we received a deluxe sample of their best selling soy face cleanser, which I've done a post on in the past. We also received a card that we could exchange for a special gift in the store.

This led us on our beauty store adventure. We first stopped by an Origins because it was on our way to the Fresh store. I received two cute sample containers of the Night-a-Mins renewal cream and the Plantscription serum. Then, we quickly visited the L'occitane that was next door and got a range of samples from their various lines. Then, we went to the Sephora where I picked up a Glam Glow YouthMud sample and Jurlique skin balancing face oil. Finally, we went to the Fresh store near Union Square to pick up our gift. We got to choose from a variety of deluxe samples and I chose the sugar lip treatment as a back-up for when I run out of the one I use now. We also got a sample for their new rose mask. All in all, super successful day. Beauty samples are my favorite things ever!

Saturday, June 20, 2015

My Travel Makeup Bag


For spring break, my friends and I went to New Orleans. Since we traveled there by flight, I had to pack all of my travel sizes. Deluxe sample sizes and minis are my favorite things ever. I wish cosmetic companies would let us buy products in these sizes.

1. Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist
This mist is the perfect skin refresher after a long day of travel in the airport. I also use it after applying my powder foundation to set my makeup and give my skin a more dewy complexion.

2. BareMinerals PrimeTime Foundation Primer
This is one of my favorite primers that I've tried. It evens my skin complexion and makes applying my bb cream and concealer super easy.

3.  Ole Henrikson Truth Serum
Obsessed with this serum, especially in this deluxe sample size that I got as a Sephora 100 Point Perk. I wrote a full post about this product here.

4. Make Up For Ever Lipstick
I love this lipstick so much that I actually plan on doing a full post on it soon. Received it in Sephora's birthday present last year. This mini version is the perfect size for my lips.

5. Marc Jacobs Daisy
Got this adorable rollerball at the Marc Jacobs Daisy pop up event in SoHo last year. It's great for travel because it's tiny enough to fit easily in my makeup bag and not spill all over the place.

6. L'occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream
My hands get really dry whenever I use the hand soap from public bathrooms so I like to keep this on hand to keep my skin moisturized. Full post here.

7. Benefit Watt's Up
Just recently made a full post about this product here. I've gotten really into highlights lately. It's such a great and subtle way to make your skin glow.

8. Tarte BB Cream
Full post here. Even on days when I don't wear makeup, I still like to wear BB cream for the SPF protection. It's super quick to apply and evens the skin tone.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

L'occitane Roses et Reines Hand Cream



I love travel sized products and deluxe samples so I went into the L'occitane store in West Village to see if they had any mini hand creams for sale. The manager was so helpful and found this mini roses et reines hand cream in a drawer. 

The formula of this hand cream is lighter and less thick than the shea butter hand creams L'occitane has. It's a different formula but still non greasy and super moisturizing, which I love.

According to the website, L'occitane uses extracts of roses from Grasse, Bulgaria, Morocco and Turkey for the rose scent. However, I found this hand cream scent to be a little too strong. Personally, I prefer the rose heart shea butter hand cream that I reviewed right before this.

Monday, June 15, 2015

L'occitane Vanilla Bouquet and Rose Heart Shea Butter Hand Cream Set


L'occitane Vanilla Bouquet Shea Butter Hand Cream | L'occitane Rose Heart Shea Butter Hand Cream

I recently picked up this cute mini hand cream set from L'occitane for free at the store in Meatpacking with a deal they were having at the time. I'm so glad I did because these are my two new favorite hand creams!! Perfect size to just throw in my purse.

I previously reviewed the Shea Butter Hand Cream before on this blog and complained about how I loved the texture but absolutely hated the smell. These two hand creams have the same texture that I love but they smell AMAZING. I usually hate the scent of vanilla but this scent is called vanilla bouquet and has some delicate floral notes. I also like this rose heart scent better than the roses et reines scent that L'occitane also has, which I will be reviewing soon as well. 

I loved these two hand creams so much that I actually went to the store in West Village and bought five more tins to stock up for the future. They might be sold out of these tins but L'occitane is still selling full sized hand creams on its website. I highly recommend.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Benefit Watt's Up


Benefit Watt's Up

I received this sample in a Sephora order a while back and never really used it until recently. Not going to lie, I was inspired by Kim Kardashian's cheekbone highlight and amazing makeup by Ania Milczarczyk to finally try out highlights.

Benefit Watt's Up has a delicate champagne shimmer. It's super easy to blend and I just use my fingers to lightly smudge it into the rest of my makeup for a light glow. I love this deluxe sample size. It's the perfect size to apply as an eyebrow, inner eye, nose and cheekbone highlight. 

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Beauty Empties: Mask Sample Edition


1. Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment
When I first applied this, my skin was BURNING but after I washed it off, my skin was bright and refreshed. It made my skin smoother and glow from within. The good thing is that there is a small travel size that's only 0.5 ounces which I love and will definitely be purchasing in the future.

2. Fresh Black Tea Firming Overnight Mask
I've previously made a review on this already in this post here. All in all, I wouldn't purchase this in a full size.

3. Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Mask
I've previously made a review on this already in this post here. All in all, I like the GlamGlow mud masks better.

4. GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment
This was my first time trying a GlamGlow product after hearing so many good things about the brand. The sales associate at Sephora warned that it's very strong and she was right. I only applied a very thin layer and it still stung my skin like crazy. This is definitely not something I would use more than once a week but it was pretty effective.