Sunday, March 30, 2014

Holika Holika Holy Berry Tint No. 1 Strawberry swatch + review

This was a spontaneous purchase as I was in Pacific Mall. I first heard about this brand from Jen frmheadtotoe so of course, that made me tempted to try something from there. I've been looking for possible dupes for Benefit Cosmetic's benetint and posietint for a while now so I was curious about Holika Holika's tints. It was also only $10 so it didn't seem too expensive to me.



Holika Holika is a Korean cosmetics brand and Holy Berry Tint in No. 1 Strawberry is a red-pink lip tint that is very highly pigmented. It is a liquid type tint and looks a lot darker in the bottle than it is on lips. Like most good tints, this does not dry out your lips and can be used for layering under other products. It comes with a doe-foot applicator so it is easy to apply too much product but at the same time, it gives you a lot of control. The applicator gives enough control so that you can easily create effects like gradient lips.



One downside for me is that it has a very artificial berry flavour that is too strong for my liking. It also tastes a bit like the smell. The packaging also makes me hesitant to bring it around in my makeup bag since I heard it could unscrew and leak so I always keep it in the little plastic bag I received with it.

In terms of the wear, it is a bit waterproof but fades quite a bit whenever I drink water. I'd say that it lasts for 2-3 hours if you are eating and drinking, but even longer if you don't. It goes on semi-opaque and can be built up for opaque and bold colour. It is a nice tint but because of the smell and lasting power, I probably will just buy benetint or another type of tint. I'll just finish off with a swatch:


This is available on eBay for as $5.40 and up.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Loose Button Luxe Box Spring 2014 review

So to add to my ever expanding collection of makeup/hair/skin care products, I purchased a 2 season subscription to Loose Button's Luxe Box for $25+tax/box (shipping included). Unlike most beauty subscriptions, Luxe Box comes every 3 months and comes with "7 to 8 trial sized beauty and lifestyle discoveries". There are 3 membership options so that you can pay $24 - 26 for each box, depending on your membership. The one I have for review is the Spring 2014 Luxe Box.


Each Luxe Box is a nice rectangular white box that is super sturdy and the products comes in a silky white dust bag. I wasn't expecting the box to be so sturdy so I was surprised, but glad because I now have something for nail polish storage! Now onto the products:


- essie sleek stick in oh my gold! (full size - $11)
- teeez trendy cosmetics Paradise Perfect Lipgloss in sheer gold (full-size - unknown price)
- Fekkai PrX Reparatives Conditioner with Argan Extract (59 mL - $5)
- Fekkai PrX Reparatives Shampoo with Argan Extract (59 mL - $5)
- Lancome Genefique Youth Activating Concentrate (8 mL - trial)
- Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion (28 mL - trial)
- Knotties (4 hair ties - unknown price)

Close up on the teeez lipgloss:

 

And essie sleek stick:


The total value of this box doesn't seem too high but I'm sure it is greater than what I paid ($28.25).

I'm okay with the Fekkai, Lancome, Essie, and Aveeno products but I'm not too crazy about the others. The Essie sleek stick is a nice design of gold hexagons and I actually like that I didn't get a bottle of nail polish since I have way too many of those. The Fekkai and Lancome are a decent size but since the Aveeno is a body lotion, I feel like it should be a bit larger.

I'm a bit worried about the teeez lip gloss because plumping products usually hurt, and I don't really need bigger lips, or the pain. I wish I had gotten a gloss with colour or one of their nail lacquers instead.The hair ties are the most disappointing product since you can get those anywhere and at a cheap price.

My next Luxe Box is the Summer 2014 box coming in June so hopefully that one will be better!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Topbox March 2014 Review

Even after the disaster that was the December 2013 Ipsy Glam Bag, I decided to give it a go with another subscription box, Topbox. I signed up around November but only got off the wait list in February. Topbox is a Toronto-based beauty subscription so yay for Canadian pride :)

I did receive the February 2014 Topbox but didn't have time to review it so here's my review for the March 2014 box:


- Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (7 mL)
- belvada cosmetics Blackhead Facial Mask (8 ml) x 2
- Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey (unknown weight)
- Benefit Cosmetics the POREfessional (3 mL)


Here's a close up on the Clinique product:


I'm really impressed with this month's Topbox! The brands are great and I actually want to try these things :) (I gave the Estee Lauder to my mom though) The Clinique Almost Better Lipstick is one of my favourites because I was looking into it a few months ago so at least now I have a sample to help me decide. I'm also looking forward to the POREfessional because I am in need of a new primer so this will help in my decision!

I added the Glamglow Privé box to my wish list this month so I'm a bit disappointed I didn't receive it, but the regular Topbox this month was still pretty great.

With taxes, Topbox comes to $13.56 a month with the option of a $10 full-sized mystery beauty item.
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