Sparkled Beauty

Happy May! By the look of the temperature, we are heading to Spring, finally. But Summer is my favorite season, and I'm ready for it. Well, at least with beauty products lol.

Here are the two products from EOS, sent to me for review:
- 24-hour moisturizing shave cream in Pomegranate Raspberry, and
- Hand lotion in Cucumber.

Beautiful packaging, and very functional too. Note that these products are scented. For those who are scent sensitive, there is an option for you with one of the products. Keep reading.

The 24-hour moisturizing shave cream took my by surprise. So accustomed to foaming shave products, I took a double take at the pump, and again at the creamy texture of the product coming out the tube.

The cream feels smooth and thick, does the job better than any foamy stuff I had used, and it smells like a tropical paradise. I'd take anything Pomegranate Raspberry, please! What seals the deal is the non existence of irritations or razor bumps on my underarm and legs. They feel as smooth as the product itself.

The bright, soft touch, non slip and rust free packaging, with indentation to help with grip, is definitely another selling point. Formula wise, the product has natural conditioning oils, shea butter, and vitamins C and E to sooth and soften the skin. I can't confirm the 24 hour lasting power, but it's moisturizing for hours after I use it.

Ingredients: Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Stearyl Alcohol, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Petrolatum, Laureth?23, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Gluconolactone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopheryl Acetate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Fragrance/Parfum, Dimethicone, etc.

The shave cream is also available in Vanilla Bliss and fragrance free version, paraben free and no animal by-products. Retails $3.99 (7oz).

You can see how creamy the shave cream is on the left, compared to the hand lotion on the right. Needless to say, I'm more into the shave cream texture, maybe one day EOS can make the lotion with this texture? :)

More points for cool and colourful packaging here, flat and small to fit in your purse or pocket or lay flat on your desk/ night stand.

Infused with moisturizing shea butter, oat extract, antioxidants and vitamins C and E, with 97% natural formula, this lotion does a good job in keeping my hand moisturized and soft, no greasy feeling.

I'm not normally a fan of cucumber scent, but this Cucumber smells fresh and light, I don't mind getting a whiff of it once in a while.

Ingredients: Water, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Cocoglycerides, Glyceryl Stearate, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Avena Sativa (Oat) Meal Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, etc.

Also available in Berry Blossom and Petals (no scent free version), paraben and gluten free, dye free, good for all skin types. The product also retails for $3.99 but only contain 1.5oz. Smaller than my regular hand cream tubes, but for the convenience and the good moisturization, it is still handy to have :)

Whoa, a dip in temperature to -19 (-2F) windchill today, wth is Spring? Anyway, to boost up Monday's energy, here is a collective haul of what I got in the last 2 weeks for you guys :)

Shoppers had a one-day sale for 25% off regular priced items with $50 purchase two weeks ago.

I took the opportunity to get 2 of Marcelle's best sellers in bonus sizes at great prices, with the $10 off $25 coupon Marcelle offered for International Women's Day. Can't you tell this was the deal I have been waiting for? :)

I paid only $20 for both:
- Marcelle BB cream 70ml, $22.95 before discounts (same price as the regular 45ml) - only in the regular formula (not the SPF or Golden Glow)
- Marcelle Essentials Smoothing cleansing water 400ml, $17.50 (vs. the 200ml $14.50).

Even without any discount, the bonus size is already a great deal, and they are only available for limited time, so stock up! If you can't find these in their special display, check the wall shelf, they might be put back in there when the store clears the floor.

I went to a Shoppers that was a bit out of my way, and found Essence's Spring 2013 products in their regular display. I bought all the 3D eyeshadows, CAD3.49 each :)

First row, from L-R: Irresistible First Love, Irresistible Purr-ple, Irresistible Mermaid Kiss.

Second row: Irresistible Caramel Cream, Irresistible Chocolates and Irresistible Smokey Eye.

Discontinued products (selected shades of single eyeshadows, lipsticks, eyeliners, etc.) are reduced to $1 each, have fun shopping :)

Found lots of China Glaze from the extra 50% off clearance items at Sally. They were previously red tagged for $4.29.

I got China Glaze Sea Spray (dupe of Essie Sag Harbor), Starboard and White Cap - all from the Anchor's Away collection (Spring 2011).

Considering this collection is like 2 years old, I thought it was gone forever. Glad to haul some shades I missed.

And on the very right, randomly, Tree Hugger, a shade from the core line being discontinued.

More :)

China Glaze Escaping Reality, Igniting Love, Bend over Backwards, Hanging In The Balance and Water You Waiting For from the Cirque du Soleil collection (Winter 2012).

No It’s A Trap-Eze!, obviously, but I am happy to own these nonetheless.

A reminder, China Glaze are 2/ $10 all month of March, except the Glitz Bitz 'n Pieces collection. And the core line has been added with a few colours from selected previous LE collections.

Some examples, off the top of my head:

- Luxe And Lush (on the left) and Electrify (Capitol Colours - Hunger Games collection)

- Rare & Radiant, No Plain Jane and Deviantly Daring (on the right) (Bohemian Luster Chrome collection)

- Full Spectrum, Liquid Crystal and Prism (Prismatic collection).

If you missed out when they were first released, now it's your chance :)

From Lawtons, Avene gift sets are 50% off this week. I got the Hydrance Optimale Light, reg. $36.50, with three free bonus gifts.

The box was photographed from the top down to show you the 2 compartments. Nice as a gift.

The main product is Hydrance Optimale Light Hydrating cream (for normal to combination sensitive skin, 40ml). There is another version of this set for dry to very dry sensitive skin.

The bonuses are Soothing Moisture mask (20ml), Moisturizing body lotion (50ml) and Thermal Spring water (50ml). Free gifts and 50%? I`m in!

In the left corner is the EoS lip balm duo, Spring LE edition, with Strawberry Sorbet (pink) and Passion Fruit (purple), $5.99. Not on sale, but the price was right and I didn't want to miss the chance to grab them.

From the clearance section at Lawtons, China Glaze Tranzitions collection was $4.99, I only got Modify Me, one with more noticeable colour change.

OPI Mariah Carey collection was slightly discounted to $7.99 each, I got the 2 Liquid Sands - Can't Let Go and Get Your Number.

Also a heads up, Fruits & Passion's selected scents are being cleared out for 75% off. I saw Passion Fruit - Guava (my favorite), Field Berries, Orange - Cantaloupe and Pear - Peony.

At Winners, I found Color Club Fiesta collection in a set. There are a few exciting things about this find.

(1) The price is only $9.99 (past finds in the past of Color Club sets were $13 - $15).

(2) All individual bottles now have name stickers at the bottom. No more guessing, oh yeah!

The colours are, from L-R: Mamba, Flamingo, Wild Cactus, Sunrise Canyon, Endless Summer, On The Rocks, and a clear top coat. They also come in duos, $4.99 each, if you don't want the whole set.

And another exciting find at Winners: Color Club Halo Hues 2013 collection!!! $7.99 a piece. No sign of Halo Hues 2012, but the 2013 bunch is better anyway. This is $2 cheaper than Color Club's retail price, and no shipping cost :) The display was almost full when I found it.

From L-R: Eternal Beauty, Cosmic Fate, Beyond, Miss Bliss, Over the Moon and Kismet.

I didn't get any shades, since I'm counting on a friend in Toronto who can find them cheaper, but I am glad Winners have these. I know we all kinda secretly hope Color Club will have these in a set, like for the Fiesta collection above, but this will do, for now :)

A very long post, isn't it? Hope you all start out the week on a positive note. And if any of you spots Essence Vintage District display at Shoppers, give me a shout, please! :)

Geez, has Canada ever been more crazy with Black Friday sales? I think not. Two big malls here both had sale events, lots of stores and sites have their own "little" promotions and I could not escape lol.

First thing I did Thursday night was getting on Sedona Lace site for their 50% off sale.

I have wanted the Midnight Lace 4-pc Synthetic Brush set for a long time but $50 was not really in my price range. This sale was the perfect time to get it, and I got free gift (a palette with a brush which I heard was ran out later in the day).

Shipping for Canada was $7.45 (for 2 sets), I used the $4 off coupon code so it wasn't too bad. All in all, it was a great score.

I'm going on vacation soon, won't be here when the brushes arrive, so stock pic will have to do. You probably all know what they look like by now :)

The Body Shop 3/ $30 sale was not held very often, and for items that cost more than $20 regularly, $10 a piece was certainly better than a 50% off sale. And to top it off, they offered the 2 gift sets for $25 with a $30 purchase, so it was irresistible.

A representation of mostly what I got:
- Nutriganics Drops of Youth (left), reg. $36
- Natrulift Firming serum (right), reg. $36
- Extra Virgin Minerals cream compact foundation in 208 Golden Vanilla, reg. $25.

In the background is one of the two gift sets that were offered for $25 (valued $62). Inside this one were body butters and shower gels (2 full sized and 2 mini sized). The smaller set (not pictured) has a shower gel and a puree body lotion (both full sized). Great value, good as holiday gifts.

The coupon printed at the bottom of the receipt this month is $15 off $40, but cannot be combined with the Black Friday deals.

And talking about The Body Shop, I found some random body butters and gift sets at Home Sense, not sure it was just a one time thing.

- Spa Wisdom Polynesia Monoi Body balm, $6 (reg. $24). This is one of my favorite (discontinued) scents from The Body Shop

- Midnight Bakula gift set, $20 - with a body wash, a body butter, a body mist (all full sized) and a 50ml EDT, also a discontinued scent. I can't tell the regular price of this set but assume it would be at least in the $40 range

- Batiste Brunette dry shampoo duo pack (200ml x2), $10. I don't know if we get this particular scent/ colour in drugstores here but Batiste normally retails about $7-$8. I only see the Brunette and the Blonde versions at this particular Home Sense.

The Bay offered extra 15% off your purchase on Saturday morning, on top of all the sales going on, and I had a $25 saving card to use.

I took full advantage of Material Girl 30% off clothing sale to get some skinny jeans - floral, snake skin and baroque prints, reg. $39 a piece.

Expression and Material Girl jewelry lines were 40% off, and I couldn't be happier to get this textured gold chain necklace (reg. $12), something I have wanted to get forever. Also comes in silver, if anybody wants one.

After all discounts and saving card, I save about 50 - 60% off these items, then received another $25 saving card to use on the next purchase. See the cycle, lol?

At my beloved Shoppers, I walked right into the Essence Twilight Breaking Dawn (Part II) display.

I did not hold my breath before that Canada will actually get this collection, considering we have not get a special display from Essence for a long time.

The nail polish I got, from L-R: 01 Jacob's Protection, 02 Alice had a Vision - Again and 04 Edward's Love, $1.99 each. I passed on 03 A Piece of Forever, a foil gold.

Also grabbed both the lip glosses: 01 Alice had a Vision - Again and 02 Renesmee Red, $2.49 each.

This is a LE collection, and our price point is the same as in the States, so don't pass it up. Each shade only has about 3 pieces on the display, once they are gone, they are gone!

Lastly, this was not a sale but is a good deal nonetheless, thought I should let you all know.

When Jill over at Batting a Lash tweeted about Costco (Canada) having the EOS 4-pack lip balms for $10 a few days ago, I asked a friend with the membership to grab me a pack or two. These little spheres retail around $4 - $5 a piece normally.

One flavour combo, I think - Summer Fruit (red), Honeysuckle Honeydew (green), Sweet Mint (baby blue) and Strawberry Sorbet (pink).

I'm happy that I didn't go too crazy with Black Friday sales, but the offers out there were just insane. And now they start all over again for Cyber Monday. I don't think I would bring out my wallet again, but if you find any good deals, feel free to leave me a comment, please and thank you!

I have no idea where time went lately. Every morning I woke up, I kept asking myself what day it was and whether I had to go to work. Crazy stage of my life, I think.

This is an over-due post, as I got these items way back at Christmas. They were CP'ed for me by the bf at US drugstores. Every time they had a good sale, I asked him to get a few things. And he ended up putting them in a gift box for me at Christmas, didn't want me to pay him back :)

First batch, from Ulta sale:
- NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Rocky Mountain Green, Electric Blue and Gold. I was looking for the 4 new ones that came out last summer, but the store didn't have Purple Velvet and Pure Gold.
- Physician's Formula Custom Eye Enhancing Gel CreamLiner for Green Eyes. There is quite a mark-up for this item in Canada, I didn't want to buy it here.
- LA Splash nail polish, from L-R: Sparkling Rose, Sparkling Jellyfish, Golden Seahorse, Pretty Jellyfish and Terra Beach.

LA Splash has recently arrived at Lawtons, but the nail polish are CAD4.99 here (I think), so US sale still beats it.

Can't remember which store exactly this is from, but it gotta be a BOGO or BOGO 1/2 sale.
- Milani Liquif' Eye Metallic Eyeliner pencil in Silver. One of the best sellers from Milani, so I gotta get one.
- Milani Lip Flash gloss pencils in Hot Flash and Photo Flash. Lots of raves for these as well, review is coming.
- Milani Gems nail polish. This shade was certainly the most wanted, but I kinda regret I didn't ask for other shades from this collection too, as they are all fabulous. I wore Gems for New Years Eve, feeling all bling-y :)

More nail polish:
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Purple Fiesta and Concrete
- Sally Hansen Complete Salon in Problem Child and Sequin Scandal.

These aren't new or anything, but they were 50% off :) My Melmer drawer for Sally Hansen is overflowing, just because it has so many lines, and keeps coming out with new shades. Xtreme Wear and Complete Salon are the most popular among all Sally Hansen in my stash.

- Revlon Super Lustrous lip gloss in Coral Reef. I finally got a hold of this shade (for cheap), as it was a LE colour in Canada up until recently when it was released with a new collection.
- Wet n Wild Mega Last lipstick in Red Velvet and Wine Room. Heard quite a lot about these lipsticks, and they were BOGO. What not to love?
- L'Oreal HIP shadow pigment in Intrepid. Can't remember exactly now but I think this was the only item I got at CVS 75% off sale. It is the most beautiful duochrome shade among the HIP pigments, IMO.

As I tried to put the stuff away after Christmas, I went into quite a withdrawal, seeing how much makeup I have. Have been "enforcing" a low buy on myself since. My defense is I got them on sale, but still I need to downsize, right?

These EOS lip balms, however, are must-haves. As I was frustrated not being able to find them around here, there was a promo where you technically could get them for free in the US. The bf found Lemon Drop (SPF15) and Summer Fruit for me.

Very recently, I saw the Honeysuckle (green) ones at my Shoppers, sold for CAD5.99 though. Only if you are still looking for them.

Hope everyone is doing well. Today is the second day with freezing temperature we have here. We are talking -30 degrees (for those in the US, it's -22 Fahrenheit). And we are right next to the ocean, so the wind is just killing my face, on top of that. Now that is Canadian winter for you :)