Loose Button Luxe box!

     I just received my Loose Button Luxe Box in the mail today!! :)
     If you've never heard of Luxe Box before, it is a monthly subscription service that delivers 4-5 deluxe-sized beauty samples to your doorstep in a chic box. The samples range from skincare and makeup to fragrance, body, and haircare.

    

   

     I was already so excited to open this box as it is and then, when I took out the black box, I was surprised to find another white box underneath!

   
   
     Here are both of the boxes! :) The white one is a little smaller but I'm not complaining!

   
     How cute is this? I am definitely going to keep this cute box!
     It's the January Edition by the way as it says on that little note.

     At the top, it comes with a bunch of different little papers, such as: a description of what Luxe Box is, a summary of the products included, as well as some coupons to buy the full-size products that are sampled in this box, in case you realize you love and want them after having tried the samples.

     Here is a note explaining that the white box was a little bonus Bath and Body Box to celebrate the new year: 2012!

     Here is a little summary of all the products I received and their prices!

     Here is an example of a coupon I received for $1.00 off Seattle's Best Coffee. I did receive other coupons along with this one, this is just an example.

     Awwww, it says "Made for: Stephanie"!! I melted when I saw this! <3

   


     This is the inside.

     And this is what I got!! :)

Full size NYX Jumbo Pencil in Pink Nude, Pur Minerals Neutral Foundation Primer, Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex, Seattle's Best Coffe Level 3: Balanced, smooth, full-flavoured, and a little pouch filled with perfume samples! 

     This is a note that was in the little pouch,  explaining a new initiative Luxe Box is starting called "MyScent" which provides a larger selection of fragrances to better allow one to choose their favourite by comparing other fragrances.

   
   
     Here are all the perfume samples I recieved:

1. "Candy" by Prada
2. "Infusion d'Iris" by Prada
3. "L'Air du Temps" by Nina Ricci
4. "Nina" by Nina Ricci
5. "Black XS for Her" by Paco Rabanne
6. "Lady Million" by Paco Rabanne

     I already have a feeling that I will like these best as I am already familiar with them. But I could be wrong.




     Now onto the Bath and Body Box which came filled with these little grey paper trimmings to protect the products inside:

And inside came the new 5 Blade Schick Hydro Silk razor and with samples for the Fekkai Advanced Brillant Glossing shampoo and conditioner.

     To be honest, I was expecting more make up or beauty related products and I thought the coffee was very random; but I am still happy with this Box, especially since it came with the Bonus Bath and Body Box and this great razor! We all know that razor can get pricey! I am also very excited to try the Pur Minerals Foundation Primer, the NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil, and all 6 fragrances! I'm not that excited about the shampoo and conditioner only because I have to use a medicated shampoo as I have psoriasis. As for the wrinkle cream, my mother is excited to try that one out! And lastly, though the coffee is random, I am still excited to try it - especially since I  actually just finished up all of the coffee I had before.

All in all, I am happy! :)

If you would like to find out more about the Loose Button Luxe Box, here is a link to their site: http://www.loosebutton.com/

Guess + Sally Beauty Supply Store

     So, I was out with my boyfriend running a few errands today and I came across a few great surprises!
     First of all, my boyfriend had previously spend $150 each on two pairs of Guess jeans. Yeah, I know, he's crazy! However, he has been working out a lot and now those jeans are getting a little tight for him. Quite conveniently, he received a Guess Gift Certificate for Christmas and so he wanted to buy himself some new jeans with that. Now, I offered to go with him as I just seem to have good luck when it comes to finding great deals and prices. People are always asking me to go shopping with them as I just seem to "attract great prices" as they say - ha!
     Now, I didn't quite know how good of a deal we'd end up getting if these jeans were orginally $150+ but I had the idea of going to a Guess outlet store instead as they always have great prices and he didn't need the trendiest jeans but just basic ones. So, we ended driving quite a bit to find one, but it was definitely worth it!

     I was expecting the jeans to be around $100 - but hopefully under! They had a lot of selection at the outlet so we had fun sorting through them and picking which ones he should try on and they were all around $70-100 - I wasn't impressed but it was still better than $150!

     The first few pairs looked awful and I could tell my boyfriend was getting discouraged and didn't even want to try anymore. So, I grabbed his previously bought Guess jeans and read the size and fit and it was no wonder they were all looking awful - he was not only trying on the wrong size but the wrong fit! I went out and tried to look for his fit - which is the relaxed fit and not the slim fit as he was trying on - he is much too built to be trying on the slim fit! I couldn't find any so I asked the employee to help and she brought me the only 2 pairs they had in his size & fit. He tried them on and they both fit him really well - not only did they look good on but he was comfortable in them! I could tell that he was feeling much better knowing it wasn't him who didn't fit well in jeans, but that he just had to find his right fit and these two certainly fit him well! 

     I offered to pay for one of the pairs since I really liked one of them myself but when we went to go pay for them, it turned out that they were both on sale for $30 each!!! Neither of us believed it when the cashier said $65 for both the jeans after taxes! And since my boyfriend had a $60 gift certificate, he just needed to pay the $5 tax and I didn't need to buy him a pair at all!

Isn't he a cutie?! <3 These are both of the Guess Jeans that we got for $30 each. The 2nd pair to the right is my favourite!

      
                                                                    *  *  *
     Instead I bought lunch for the both of us at Hero Burger - he got the original 100% Angus Beef Hero Burger and I got a Cranberry Onion Turkey Fiesta which was delicious!!
                                                                   *  *  *
    Now, just as we were about to head back home, I saw a Sally Beauty Supply Store and froze! We had to go in! I thought they only had those stores in the US. They had so much great stuff and if I could I would have gotten it all, but I held back and only ended up getting this:

     The first one with the yellow top is called "Yellow Stopper" which prevents your nails from yellowing with UV Protection and can be used as a base coat. The second one with the black top is called "Beauty Secrets Top Coat" which is self-explanatory. I just love how they are both 2.5 Fl.Oz.!! Most of my nail polishes are 0.5 Fl.Oz. and cost the same as each one of these! These will both last me a long time as they are so big but it is so worth it because I always use a base and top coat whenever I paint my nails and I was just running low on my Relvon one which is so much smaller and cost the same as these two huge ones! Then there is also the hair comb in the middle with the metal stick which I just needed and it was also a great price!     
     I did also get a points card for $5 which gave me discounts on each product and it ended up paying for itself as it came with a $5 coupon off anything on my next visit! At first I didn't know if it was worth it but then the cashier told me that there was another location that was much closer to me that this one, so I got it! I'll post another blog of what I get when I go to the other location!

     All in all, today was a great day! I still can't get over that we managed to get two pairs of Guess jeans for $30 each! Damn, I am good! :)

Mayan Spiced Hot Chocolate - Monday, January 16, 2011.

     Not much interesting happened today but I did notice that I had this post saved in my drafts but never published it. So here it is instead!
     On Monday, I had a different dermatologist appointment to go to and I was a little nervous about it so I wanted my mother to be there with me as she has been the one supporting me the most throughout this entire process. The dermatologist went well but since we had driven all the way there and it was a nice area, we took a few pictures!

      This is my mother and I <3
It was freezing outside so we were huddled real close!
I've already got a few comments on this picture about how cute and close we look and well it's true, my mother and I are really close; she's my best friend :)<3

    
     We also stopped by this cute little organic shop specializing in chocolate and got there famous Mayan Spice Hot Chocolate! It certainly was an interesting and different twist to regular sweet hot chocolate, but I don't plan on purchasing any more anytime soon. I did like it, especially how different it was and it felt good to drink something warm when it was so cold outside, but I just didn't love it.

Having some Mayan Spiced Hot Chocolate :)

 

     And then there is my other love: my boyfriend <3

     He has also been very supportive of me when it comes to anything really - I am very thankful to have him in my life <3

Who are you thankful for?

My Brushes are Clean and Ready for their New Home :)

Cleaning   
      Going with yesterday's theme of using up almost empty products, I also cleaned my makeup brushes last night and used up all of my MAC brush cleanser - luckily though, I did have a new one to replace it with ('twas a Christmas gift from a good friend<3).

Yay for backups! :)<3

     I also wanted to share how I clean them as I just recently learned this. Previously, I would either do a simple & so-called "fast" method which consisted of me dabbing a little of the brush cleanser onto a paper towel and swirling the brush around the wet area. OR I would do a deep cleansing where I would wet the brush and lather them one by one in my hand and rinse it out and leave it out to dry. Both these methods involve cleansing and rinsing the brushes individually, so they take a long time and use up a lot of product.
     My new method is to just pour a decent amount of brush cleanser and a little bit of water (less than half the amount of brush cleanser) into a wide cup. You don't need that much product, just enough to cover the tips of the brushes. Then just drop all the brushes in the cup and swirl them all. Then I take them out one by one and just rinse and let dry. It uses half the product I use to use, takes half the time & cleans much better!

They are almost dry! :)

                                                                * * * *
Time for a new home!
     My inspiration came from this gorgeous candle which was just too cute not to keep even after all the wax burned out. Not to mention it wasn't exactly cheap - I paid $16 +tax for it on sale!

   When the candle was finally all burned out, I scraped the remainder out and washed it clean. -->

<-- Then I filled it with these cute purple beads.

   And then, I filled it with all my makeup brushes! -->



     I used it like this for quite some time, but yesterday, I realized it was just too full and cluttered this way.

     Sooooo, I had a better idea! :)


   I used another candle, cleaned it up when it was all burned out and separated the brushes.

The first one is all face brushes and the second, smaller one is mostly eye brushes with a few lip brushes.

     This candle was more simple, so I added a white ribbon and tied a cute little bow at the front.

     Hope this inspired you to take a twist on something ordinary you  have lying around like a candle and turn it into something creative like makeup brush holders :)

     Love,
          Stephanie <3

Finish what you start!

     One of my pet peeves is having multiple opened and already used products. Especially lotions. I swear I have several different lotions all opened and already used, some of which have barely anything in them!

     So, today, I was cleaning up my room and realized just how many opened lotions and such I had - most of which were almost empty. So, I set out to finish all these opened products and just throw them away as they were only taking up room. 
     As mentioned most of them were lotions! 1 face sample. 2 mini ones I used for my hands and the other for my feet. There's a medicated cream for trouble areas. Then a larger lotion for the rest of my body. :) There was also a hair treatment, a perfume sample, and a whiting strip. I also finished a bar of soap in the shower, but there was nothing to take a picture of as I threw out the box long time ago. It's silly though that there were 3 bars of soap in the shower! Why not just use one and then open another one? Well, at least there are only 2 in there now.

     I have to admit, however silly it sounds, if felt good to use those up and just throw them out afterwards! I challenge you to do the same!

Let the spending begin! ;)

     So, I just activated my first credit card! Yay!

Like how I covered my information there with my finger? 

So slick! ahaha

This was taken with my macbook cam so it's not the greatest quality, it's all blurred out even if you do try to zoom in.

          So, I got an SPC Mastercard because there are no fees, I get cashback, and the SPC allows me to get discounts at many retail stores, restaurants, and so on, because I am a student. One could get just the SPC card at $8.99 + tax which expires yearly and I got this one free and it only expires in 2015 - pretty sweet deal, I'd say! ;)
     Now, just because I do have a Mastercard, doesn't mean I am going to go crazy with the spending - I'll only buy what I know I can afford and I am working part-time so I do have a steady income - however low it may be :P
     Anyways, that was the most exciting part of my day - I feel a little more grown-up ahaha
     Plus, I no longer have to keep bothering my parents, my older sister or my boyfriend when I need to buy something online and it'll be easier to surprise them with online gifts and such!

Pancakes?! :)

     Today was kind of funny. It was both very productive and not at all at the same time. I started a lot of things but didn't really finish any of them. Firstly, I needed to fix something about my iPhone and even went to Apple today but I need to wait 'til tomorrow to solve it. Secondly, I went to a library to pick up a book but haven't gotten the chance to read any of it just yet. Then I was supposed to deal with some things at a bank, but by the time I got there, they had just closed. :(

     On the bright side, I made a sweet batch of pancakes this morning!
At first, I was scared that I had put too much flour as the batter looked very thick but they were actually just perfect! Everyone loved them! :) They were so good I was even eating them without any maple syrup.
Half a bunch was with blueberries and the other half was plain.
They may not look that appealing but they were delicious!

2012

     So, somehow I've managed to disappear again. But that is not of importance right now. That is in the past. I don't mean to be corny will all the New Years cliches and such but I really do have a feeling that this year will be better and I have more motivation to keep it that way. :)
     I would have written this post earlier in January but I was actually in Naples, Florida with my family until Sunday, January 8th, 2012 and need some time to rest and unpack from all the traveling after-wards. However, I did have an absolutely amazing time and hope to share some pictures and stories here sometime soon.
     This trip was definitely a great way to start the New Year, as now that I am back, I feel much more energized and productive! & to top it all off, I got an iPhone 4! :)

               Yay!!! I'm so excited to start using this precious little thing! <3

     Thus, I know that I have no excuses to slack on this blog as I can easily use my iPhone to post things up as well :)
     I hope to post something once a day - but that might be a bit too much to start with, so at least once a week until I get the hang of this more :) I feel that my knowing I have to think of something to write everyday will give me more motivation to accomplish more things and even enjoy my days better - sometimes that one little thing that made you laugh a little today will mean a lot more when you re-read on a day that isn't going so well.

                                                                                         Kisses,
                                                                                                  Stephanie + iPhone = <3