Haul and Sightings at The BodyShop sale

I have not been to a Bodyshop sale for quite a while, mainly because i am more than often well stocked with my daily essentials (yes, i do get panic attack if i am down to my very last bottle of favourite bodywash.... haha. ) and partly due to my curiosity nature, i tend to stray sometimes to try out potential HG stuffs. And so, this can be considered as a once-in-a-blue-moon sort of hauling from the Bodyshop's warehouse sale.

Got to know about this sale through SMS, since the location of the sale is near my workplace.... i gather it deserved to be checkout by me. : ).

I did not get any makeup item this time, its all bodywash and the bath lily (which is a staple for me). Will come up with a review of the stuffs soon i hope.

Summary of items hauled:

1.Earth Lovers series bodywash in Fig & Rosemary X 2

2.Deep Sleep Comforting Milk Bath Float

3.Divine Calm Heavenly Shower Gel

4.Spa Wisdom Morocco series Argan & Orange Blossom Bath  and Shower Oil

5.4 mini Bath Lily

Total Damaged: S$57.60 

                                                                        Humble hauling.

                                                      Earth Lovers series in Fig & Rosemary.

                Deep Sleep Comforting Milk Bath Float and Divine Calm Heavenly Shower Gel.

Spa Wisdom Morocco series Argan & Orange Blossom Bath and Shower Oil.

Sightings of stuffs:

1.Accessories such as makeup pouches, clutches, nail buffers, nail separators, bath lilies and brushes for babies.

2.Skincare: Seaweed series, Vitamin C series, Tea Tree series, Vitamin E series, Moisture White Shiso series, Nutriganic series and a few items from the Natrulift series (mainly mini sized ones).

3.Home Fragrance: some home fragrance oil, 1 reed diffuser and 2 or 3 room sprays.

4.Hair care: selected Rainforest haircare series, Ice Blue shampoo, Banana conditioner and Grapeseed glossing serum.

5.Body care: tons of bodybutter, jumbo sized bodywash in 750ml, earth lovers series, Christmas series (the ginger, cranberry and vanilla range), scrubs and body lotions.

6.Makeup: 2 shimmer cubes (eyecolours), 1 shimmer wave (more bronzy kind of colour tone), Honey Bronze Bronzing powder, Brow definer, mascara, liquid eyeliner, single eye colours, lightening touch concealer, some liquid foundation (only 1 or 2 shades), flawless skin protecting foundation, moisture white shiso perfecting foundation (and case too separately) as well as the Moisture White Shiso BB cream, lip and cheek stain, some hi-shine lip treatment gloss (mini ones) and some lipbalms in selected colours.

7. Fragrances: 3 for men and a selected few for ladies.

8.Some gift sets and boxes.

9.Lots of travel sized toiletries available (from bodyscrub to bodybutter, showergels, bodyscrubs and facial wash plus creams).

Personally, i think its quite well stocked for trial sized products and if you do count bodybutters and scrubs as your essentials, it will be a fruitful trip for you. You will be disappointed if you are going there to stocked up on your makeup and fragrance essentials, as i do find their range of makeup for the sale is considerably little compared to the ones i have been to.

All in all, its quite worth the trip if you have time to spare, but do be careful about the expiry or manufacturing date of the products, some are maufactured in 2010 while there are quite a few manufactured just this year.

The sale is currently still on till 3rd of August 2012.

Address: Concorde Hotel Singapore, Concorde Ballroom Level 3 (Enter from the entrance where there is a bus stop in front, turn to the right, take the escalator up one floor then turn right down the end turn left, you should be able to see people gathering around). From 10.30am to 8.30pm.



Review: OPI New York Ballet Series.... Part I

Yes, this is what i have been wearing these days....

This series needs to further introduction from me, there are already tons of reviews on it in the beauty world.

Let's admire, shall we? ; )

                                         Star of the NYC Ballet series- Pirouette my Whistle.

                                                          Pirouette My Whistle NL T55.

                                                   The matte flakes immersed in shimmers.

I have been told that deep inside me i am a bling bling lover through and through though very much in denial. When this bottle first caught my eyes, it is surrounded by a sea of bling bling polishes and its subdued subtle matte flakes draw me to it immediately. The next minute i know, i am happily handing over money to the seller for this baby. Application is a breeze and usually one would expect the surface of such polishes to dry down to a rough surface, but not this baby. It is smooth and a little glass-like. The matte flakes stood out in the sea of fine shimmer. Very elegant, refined and sweet. I think it will work to compliment any polishes.

                                       The only lilac in the NYC Ballet series- Care to Danse?

                                                 Care to Danse?- a light cool toned lilac.

                                                       The jelly-like translucent colour.

Care to Danse? is one that pleasantly surprised me too.....if you are the kind that looks for total opacity in a nail polish, the NYC Ballet collection is obviously not for you. This collection is for jelly lovers.....and i am turning into one as i am tying now. So much so that i went back and hauled another few bottles in the collection, which i will feature if i can.

Care to Danse? is a very light cool tone lilac that seems to make my nails look whiter and neater... Haha, it did not clash with my skintone as i initially thought it would. Application is smooth, but it is a little streakily though it evens out itself eventually. Opacity would be an issue for some people (like i mentioned earlier), it took me 3 coats (with a base coat) for the colour to show up more obviously (the nail line is still visible). I like anything purple, so this is one that i am definitely going to wear more often. It has a romantic feel to it, yet not too in your face.

                                  3 coats of Care to Danse? and 1 coat of Pirouette My Whistle.

A closer look.

For this manicure, i have used a base coat, 3 coats of Care to Danse?, 1 coat of Pirouette My Whistle and 1 coat of Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat. It lasted me a good 1 week before it starts to peel and during this 1 week i have been doing all the packing, househouse chores, all the manual work you can think of.

Something interesting that i found in my stash.......

Twins? Dupes?

Did i finally lose it and bought doubles without realising?

Nah.

                                            Notice the difference in opacity in the bottle?

               Left: Steady as she rose (Pirates of the Carribean), Right: Care to Danse? (NYC Ballet).

                                        Steady as she rose (Pirates of the Carribean Collection).

                                                        Steady as she rose- NL P14.

The creamy light cool tone lilac.

Interestingly, the 2 shades shares the same shade of lilac, the difference is of course the formula. Steady as she rose is a nice dusty cream lilac while Care to Danse ? is a cool tone jelly.

Promotion and Review: Elle Singapore August Issue and Nuxe Beauty Kit

So much things to do and yet so little time.

I am still in the midst of sorting out my living space and given the amount of room i have to work with, each and every item has to be carefully planned for.

Of course, the only exception would be personal grooming products (yes, skincare, cosmetics and such) : ).

Ok, i am drifting away from the point of this post......

Elle Singapore August issue is having a promotion with French Skincare brand NUXE, with purchase of every copy of the magazine (and this issue comes with the Elle Beauty Book 2012), one gets a beauty kit consisting of the famous Huile Prodigieuse 10ml (multi-usage dry oil for face, body and hair), Reve De Miel 15ml  (face and body ultra-rich cleansing gel for dry and sensitive skin) and Nuxe Body 15ml (24hr moisturizing body lotion for dry skin). Apart from those beauty freebies, one gets a waterproof toiletries pouch (which comes in blue or orange) and a S$5.00 voucher from Beauty by Nature (expiry date of voucher is 30th September 2012).

I have used Nuxe's Aroma-perfection Purifying Cleansing Gel and the Gentle Toning Lotion with Rose Petals and is quite fond of them, thus curiosity sets in the moment i knew of the promotion and i gotten a set with me home.

Elle Singapore August issue with Elle Beauty Book 2012 and Nuxe Beauty Kit.

Nuxe- My Beauty Kit.

                                                     Short description of the products.


                         

List of ingredients.

The famous Huile Prodigieuse (versatile enough for face, body and hair).

The watery light texture of the oil.

The oil gets absorbed rather fast and dries with a sheen.

Even though i have oily combination skin, i am not against the idea of using oil on my skin type, well depending on the properties of the oil and its usage. So far i have yet to encounter breakouts due to usage of facial treatment oil (i have used Paul & Joe's as well as Clarins), naturally i am interested to find out how the Nuxe's famous oil would fare on me. The texture is lighter than those of Paul & Joe and Clarins, i find that it seems to be able to seep into the skin easier than the two, and it has a drier finish. I have to blot the excess oil off my face for Paul & Joe and Clarins, i don't have to for Nuxe's. I skipped my moisturiser and woke up with my face feeling a tad softer, not greasier. However, having said that it is not supposed to be used everyday, think of it as a treatment oil, 2 to 3 times a week is sufficient.

While Paul & Joe's treatment oil has a nice orange blossom fragrance (if it is bottled as a fragrance, it might be a bestseller for Paul & Joe.... pity they no longer have a counter in Singapore), Clarins smelt largely of plants extracts (a little botanical?), Nuxe's resembles a fragrance (floral ?).

I would prefer to use it on my body more than my face for now, perhaps due to the scent.

Nuxe 24 hr Moisturizing Body Lotion for dry skin.

                                                                 Slightly thick texture.

 

The lotion spreads thin on the skin, felt very much water based.

                                                       After application of the lotion.

As for the body lotion, i kind of like the water based texture. Unlike some body lotion, it doesn't leave a sticky film and greasy touch even after it should have been absorbed by the skin. It smells a little nutty (not too fond of the scent) but i like the aftermath of applying the body lotion- soft and smooth skin.

I am liking this one.

                                  Nuxe Reve de Miel- face and body ultra-rich cleansing gel.

                                                The watery gel texture of the cleansing gel.

                         
                              It foams easily but not much and the foams formed are quite fine.

                       
                                                 After rinsing off the cleansing gel.

The cleansing gel is supposed to be suitable for both the face and body, i wasn't too impressed by its cleasning ability on the face (i don't like the feel of it, feels like a thin flim on the skin after rinsing),but on the body i like the scent of it as a body wash. Given the price point, it would be quite alright for a facial wash but very expensive for a body wash.

Still sitting on the fence for this one.

                                                   The waterproof toiletries pouch.

It is roomy enough to house my body wash, shampoo, facial wash, body lotion (all travel sized) and still has plenty of room to spare.

I like the fact that the toiletries pouch is roomy enough to house all the necessary that one needs to haul for a trip to gym or even a week's supply for a holiday, plus it is waterproof. My concern is, the material of the pouch doesn't look like it is built to last, i guess since i got it for free there won't be any heart pain if it tears and needs to be trashed at the end of the day.

The S$5.00 gift voucher that comes with it (terms and conditions stated at the back of the voucher).

Now that will come useful if i need to haul anything soon. Good thing the expiry date of the voucher is 30th September 2012. Plenty of time to contemplate what to buy.

I like to read about product reviews and comparisons, especially if its low price point vs high price point and function vs value, which is why i am looking forward to magazines like VOCE.

The Beauty Book 2012 is perhaps trying to be one but i do find that most of the product reviews are of brands that we already know, those that we are all too familar with. I am not a beauty guru and what i blogged about is all my personal experience and opinion of things i would like to share. Everyday should be a learning day, sometimes i felt perhaps that is one of the reason why i stopped reading local fashion or beauty magazines for quite some time.

Why not up game by doing the comparison across price points and maybe more write ups on more obscure upcoming brands ?  

                                                     In this issue of Elle Beauty Book 2012.

What i do like about this issue is the spread about upcoming fashion talents and their works, as well as the bit on fashion news. I like to see and read about beautiful things, that gives me inspiration on what to buy next and even what to do next.

                                                                  Styles to look out for.

Spreads dedicated to feature upcoming fashion talents.

Priced at S$8.00 per copy, available at Books Kinokuniya (Ngee Ann City Main Store), while stocks last.

Haul: Art Net Loose Powder Holder from Sasa

I finished the every last bit of my RMK loose powder earlier this month ,and is currently using the Bobbi Brown loose powder that i hauled late last year (yes, it took me that long). It was a big tub of loose powder, at 28.0g vs RMK's 4.0g, i really have no idea how long it will take me to use up the entire tub. 

Bobbi Brown's loose powder seems to be really value for money if one is looking for good old loose powder (i still very much prefer my RMK, even though their price point simply makes people stay away from them- a shame really). While RMK's loose powder is housed in a compact with rubber net to prevent spillage of the precious powder, Bobbi Brown's is housed in a conventional tub, which the klutz in me knocked it over a couple of times on the dresser in the morning frenzy, resulting in unnecessary wastage. The size of the tub also means that it should stay on the dresser table and not to be brought out.

I was in Sasa (a Hongkong based cosmetic retailer that sells skincare and cosmetics from various Asian as well as selected European beauty brands) with my mom and  i came upon this petite and handy loose powder holder. The butterfly resembles that of Anna Sui's which i am rather fond of, it would be better if it comes in black. It comes with a powder puff, which i do not think i am going to make much use of it, maybe except to cover the holes.

Anyway, i bought it without a second thought and the very first moment i reached home, i filled it with my Bobbi Brown's loose powder.  

Art Net Cosmetic Accessory- No labelling of country anywhere.

The Anna Sui-inspired casing.

The lid is rather tight which is good to hold the loose powder in.

My RMK loose powder compact case, which i had to cut the rubber net to reach the product trapped, and that happen to be quite a fair bit of loose powder.

After emptying the RMK loose powder, i filled it with some of Bobbi Brown's loose powder so as not to contaminate the big tub. Apparently, it is not a good idea as without the rubber net, i can't do my makeup without having to close my windows and switching off the fans. 

The petite container adds a nice touch to my dresser.

So far so good, i experience lesser wastage of product due to spillage. However, it seems to me that the container might be rather fragile too, it sounds a little "brittle" when i accidentally dropped the cover on the floor once. Best be careful around it too.

I might get another one if it comes in black, white or even purple. : )

Priced at S$4.90, available from Sasa Stores (Singapore).