BeautyHeaven Sample Pack

Today I awoke to a parcel being deliver, always a good start to the morning even if I didn’t have any idea what it was. Opening it reviled some beautiful turquoise tissue paper and the BeautyHeaven logo, so I’m assuming that this is my gift for being one of the first 400(?) to fill out their survey. Yay!

First up if you are an Aussie into beauty and never have checked out BeautyHeaven, I suggest  you pop over for a look. It’s a website that covers everything to do with beauty. There is beauty news, products reviews, articles, competitions, a forum with a great community and opportunity’s to try and review products.

I’ll quickly go over what I got in this bundle.

August Lust Have It Women's 2014

Hiya All!

Here is my August Lust Have It bag. While this bag did come late this month (seems like its late more often than not) it actually arrived early last week and I’ve simply been too busy to get to this write up. On the plus side, this does mean that I’ve been able to give everything a fair trail

In case you don’t know, the Lust Have It (LHI) is a monthly Australian beauty subscription service. The Women's bag is the flagship of this brand; each month you get 5+ beauty products to try, mainly samples and some full size. I pay $19.95 per month, but there are other payment options. Find out more at Lust Have It.

August is apparently Lust Have Its birthday month. Some subscribers may feel a little let down by the lack of makeup in this bag, but I’m very happy with what it contained. I also love that everyone got pretty much the same bag; a couple of the Women's bags have been like this now and I sure do prefer it as it stops the inequality problems that can otherwise happen (anyone been looking at the value range of Bellabox?)

August Lust Have It FAB Box 2014

A week in to September and my August FAB has arrived. I should probably explain that a actually got the woman’s box a week ago and have been too busy to do a write up. Logically I should see to that first, but excitement has gotten the better of me. I predict that feelings for this box are going to go two ways; nail polish lovers will be thrilled, while people who are not in to nail polish will hate it.

In this box you get 5 beauty products and accessories each month, from what I’ve seen the beauty products tend to be full size. For this box there are several subscriptions choices such as: introduction bundle, monthly, quarterly box, annual subscription. I have the monthly subscription at $35 per a month. It seems that there is only one variation of the FAB box each month, though sometimes product colours differ. Find out more here. From what I understand the rationale behind the FAB box is to get a range of ‘on tread’ products that have been coordinated to go together. It also seems that the cosmetics are chose to complement those in the Women’s box.

August Violet Box 2014

Hiya All!

This little guy actually turned up about a week ago, the August Violet Box; unfortunately as mid semester approaches if been super busy and just have had time to wright up this post. On the plus side this means that I’ve been able to give everything a good trial. This is the first moment I’ve been able to get to this so I’ll try to power through this post

Violet Boxes is an Australian beauty subscription which costs $22.95 ($16.50 + $6.45p&h); for this price each month they mail you a box with 5 to 6 beauty products to sample. From what I’ve seen this box tends to include more high end and luxury products than Lust Have It or Bellabox. You can subscribe to violet box from their website.

NP SET Sale

A couple of weeks ago NP Set had a fantastic sale on their web store. There were some great savings and I may haves splurged just a little (lot). But I did manage to pick up some basics that I’d been looking at. I will say that delivery did take about two weeks, but I assume that this had a lot to do with the sale.

Brand Basics

In case you don’t know NP set is the drugstore sub-brand of Napoleon Perdis. The range of cosmetics is mainly made up with basic and essential makeup items as well as a few skincare thrown in. From what I’ve seen prices and quality tend to be on par with other drugstore brands. The packaging of NP set makeup is very simple black writing on white minimalist design. This is nice as it gives a very clean look and everything matches. However, the packaging isn’t of the highest quality. NP Set products are available at Big W, Target, Myers, David Jones, a collection of stockist and from their online store.

Ok now I’m done with that I can get down to the fun stuff.

August Bellabox 2014

Hiya All!

It’s that time of the month when subscription boxes star popping up at the front door. As seems to be the norm, BellaBox is first this month and a lot earlier than last month.

For those who don’t know; Bellabox is an Australian monthly beauty subscription, available from Bellabox.com. It costs $15 a month and you receive 5+ beauty products mailed to your house.

For August BellBox has decided on the theme “Sport Your Style”. From the moment this theme was announced I have been confused about what is actually means and had low expectations for the August box.  This hasn’t exactly changed.

It also seems that BellaBox has decided to drop the categories from the products. If you check out the product cards in from the last two months July and June you can see that after each product name there is a category. I feel that these categories were fun to look at and I’m sad to see these go.

Happy Skincare Product Review

About a month back I was sent a voucher code from Happy Skincare to receive a free

‘Sweet Dreams’ Softening Foot Treatment with any purchase. I had trialled one of their products in Bellabox before and had been eyeing up the Super-Sized Discovery Pack, so I jumped at this offer. 

Priceline 40% off haircare haul

Priceline often has irresistible sales; Like today and tomorrows 40% of hair care sale. One of the things I love about these sales is that they gives you an opportunity to trial and experiment with dearer products and felling so guilty.

I know that some people aren't that thrilled with haircare products, but I’m constantly experimenting with vintage hairstyles and I'm yet to find the perfect products to assist me. Since I also had a loyalty points voucher for this month and needed to pick up a couple of everyday hair products I decided to pop in for a little splurge.

First up are dry shampoos. I know that these have been popular for a while now, but it's a fairly new product for me. I've not just been using this for in between cleans, I find that it's also great for creating the texture and volume needed for victory rolls and such. Polished London is the brand I've tried before but I've decided to pick up a couple others to try out too.

Polished London – Dry Shampoo in Blighty Brunette

Full priced: 150ml for $4.95, Paid: $2.74 ($1.98 saving)

Bastiste – Dry Shampoo in medium & brunette

Full priced: 200ml for $12.95, Paid: $77.7 ($5.18 saving)

Cedel – Dry Shampoo in dark hair

Full priced: 110ml for $7.99, Paid: $4.79 ($3.20 saving)

July Lust Have It FAB Box

This little parcel actually turned up on Thursday (I just haven’t gotten around to reviewing it), so technically that’s was July, but I imagine people will still be getting theirs this week. I do keep telling myself that I intend to suspend my FAB subscription, but I keep putting it off, this may also have to do with the cancellation date for the next month being before the current box arrives.

In this box you get 5 beauty products and accessories each month, from what I’ve seen the beauty products tend to be full size. For this box there are several subscriptions choices such as: introduction bundle, monthly, quarterly box, annual subscription. I have the monthly subscription at $35 per a month. It seems that there is only one variation of the FAB box each month, though sometimes product colours differ. Find out more here. From what I understand the rationale behind the FAB box is to get a range of ‘on tread’ products that have been coordinated to go together. It also seems that the cosmetics are chose to complement those in the Women’s box. find out more at Lust Have It

July Lust Have It Womens 2014

Hiya All!

What a day, not just one but 3 subscription beauty boxes turned up Friday. I think the postie has been hoarding them :P . I also had a busy day so I wasn’t even able to look at them till the afternoon, let alone write up my blog posts. Last up is Lust Have It bag (let’s call it what it is).

I’m happy to see that LHI’s Womens box came on time this month, however it looks like the FAB box is going to be late. To me it seems that the brand is having problems coping with having both boxes. To be truthful, I don’t mind getting the boxes a bit late, I just wish that LHI would be a bit clearer as to what’s going on.

In case you were wondering, the Lust Have It (LHI) is a monthly Australian beauty subscription service. The Womens bag is the flagship of this brand; each month you get 5+ beauty products to try, mainly samples and some full size. I pay $19.95 per month, but there are other payment options. Find out more at Lust Have It.

The front of this month’s info card says that next month will be LHI’s Birthday “box”, which sounds exciting. (Or is that actually the back, I can’t decide)

July Violet Box 2014

Hiya All!

What a day, not just one but 3 subscription beauty boxes turned up yesterday. I think the postie has been hoarding them :P . I also had a busy day so I wasn’t even able to look at them till the afternoon, let alone write up my blog post. The second box in this list is my Violet Box.

This is my first Violet Box (YAY!), so I’m not that sure how it rates against past boxes. I have heard that the actual box is a new design and I LOVE it. This box is like a mini draw including a tab-handle. This is great is you use you sub boxes for storage since you can stack them and not have to lift up boxed to get into the bottom one. (The box also has shredded tissue packaging; this gives me the urge to make some thing crafty)

July Bellabox 2014

Hiya All!

What a day, not just one but 3 subscription beauty boxes turned up yesterday. I think the postie has been hoarding them :P . I had a busy day so I wasn’t even able to look at them till this afternoon, let alone write about them . Any way I technically got the Bellabox first so let’s star there.

For those who don’t know; Bellabox is an Australian monthly beauty subscription, available from Bellabox. It costs $15 a month and you receive 5+ beauty products mailed to your house. 

Brand Love: MOR Modern Apothecary

First off I’ll make a comment on my inactivity over the last few weeks. I have been on holiday and despite my best intentions I just couldn’t find the time to post on my blog. Now I’m back and I’ve learnt to write ahead for such occasions. I’ve got lists of new and old beauty products, subscriptions boxes are on the way and I’ve bought tickets to this year’s IMATS; so there should be plenty to come.

Now on to my main post. While I was a way I commented on my collection of MOR products on a blog I follow. This got me thinking about the brands that I’m loyal to. I now want to share a bit of love for these brands and I’ll start off with MOR Modern Apothecary.

Basic Brand Info

MOR is and Australian beauty brand selling bath, body and lifestyle products. You can find the brand’s online store at the MOR Boutique . This brand offers a wide collections of good quality products, but what really draws me are the wonderful scents they use. I also Love the intensity and staying power of the scents in these cosmetics. All products are packaged beautifully, a definite plus for me. MOR products are available at Myers, David Jones, many chemists and a variety of boutique and gift stores.

These products are not the cheapest on the market but I feel that the prices are reasonable, I have a habit of buying up this brand whenever I find specials (at the moment I have a decent size collection). Also, MOR have several collections available which vary in price. The smaller products in the photo bellow are from the Little Luxuries collections I always keep some of these around as they make great gifts and are handy for travel. Due to the price this is the first collection I brought from.

 

Marshmallow Collection

I first became aware of this brand in my early teens. It was probably the most luxurious brand my local chemist stocked. I feel in love with the marshmallow scent and dreamed of owning some of these products (I couldn’t afford them back then). Although I’m hopeless at describing scents I would say that it is a sweet musky floral scent. I love the quality of these products just as much as I love the scent.

June 2014 Lust Have It Womens Box

Last day of the month and my box has finally arrived. After that wait and last month’s fabulous box I’m a little underwhelmed.

This is the June Lust Have It (LHI) Womens subscription box. The Womens box is the flagship of this brand each month; you get 5+ beauty products to try, mainly samples and some full size. I pay $19.95 per month, but there are other payment options. Find out more at Lust Have It.

Once again LHI is a bit late. I’ve only seen people beginning to get them today so a lot of people won’t get it until next month. I theorize that this may have to do with an overload of FAB box orders and the quarterly ECO box. LHI has returned to the plastic makeup case mailed in a postage pouch this month. Since this has no added protection I predict damaged products for some people, but so far I’ve not had any problems. This makeup case isn’t the best quality but not the worst either. We also got a voucher for Hello Fresh box,I'm sure this voucher was in a previous box and wasn't really worth much.

The front of this month’s info card has a discount code to get $20 of a $120 brush set. This is the same set that you could have gotten with an annual subscription this month. I’m not likely to buy these but I would love to hear about the quality from anyone who has gets them. On to the products!

  

June FAB Box by Lust Have It

Second subscription box to arrive this month is my Fashion and Beauty (FAB) box from Lust have it (LHI). In this box you get 5+ beauty products and accessories each month, from what I’ve seen the beauty products tend to be full size. For this box there are several subscriptions choices: introduction bundle, monthly, quarterly box, annual subscription. I have the monthly subscription at $35 per a month. It seems that there is only one variation of the FAB box each month, though sometimes product colours differ. Find out more at Lust Have It.

From what I understand the rational behind the FAB box is to get a range of on tread products that have been coordinated to go together

Over the next month there is apparently an Instagram photo contest where subscribes can enter by uploading a photo wearing Fab products. Doesn’t say whether is has to be from this box or not. Either way I’m not likely to enter.

Here is this months product card.

June Bellabox

Hiya All!

Yesterday my June Bella box arrived. I just love receiving my subscription boxes.

Fore those who don’t know; Bellabox is an Australian monthly beauty subscription, available from Bellabox. It costs $15 a month and you receive 5+ beauty products mailed to your house. 

This boxes theme is “Iconic Beauty.” Thought, to be truthful I fell that these themes only ever have a tentative link to the products in the boxes. Onto what was in the box.

Priceline Skincare GWP Baggie

Went in to pick up a few products at Priceline today and saw that they had a GWP when you spend over $65 on selected skincare (promotion from June 19 till June 22). Well since some of my purchases fell in to this category I got a few more things (pictured above) to bring up the total and this is what I got (pictured below); A huge selection of skincare and beauty products in a large Silver tote.

As you can see there is a nice variety of skincare products from a variety of brands, as well as a few makeup items, accessories and vouchers. Most of these products are full sized, though there are a few samples too. Though not all of these products are suitable for me I will have no problem re-homing them.

Stay tuned for reviews on select products from this goodie bag.

~Annie.

An Introduction

Hiya all and Welcome!

I’m not quite sure where to begin, there is so much that I want to say or feel like I shouldn’t say. I suppose all of that can come latter and for now I’ll just give a mini bio. 

I’m Annie and for some time now I’ve wanted to start a blog to share my thoughts, but I’ve always been a little too self-conscious about what people would think and about my ability to wright. However over the last year I’ve found a lot more confidence in myself and also found a topic I really do what to share about (though I’ll still admit that my literacy skills are still not the best, sorry).

About a year ago I went through a change of style (AKA degothasized) which has lead me to become a lot more aware of my appearance and very interested in hair, makeup and skincare. This process has obviously involved a lot of discovery and learning about the world of beautify; bringing me back to the reason for this blog.

Coming from an education background, I believe that learning is a social activity. With this blog I should be able to incorporate that sociality into this learning experience, as well as having a place to share my new found passion for beauty and other random stuff.

(P.S. Please note that I have not entirely given away my membership card for the alternative fashion fan club, just gone a bit retro.)