Bag of Love November Edition - "Go, Girl, Go!"

I signed up for a 3-month subscription of Bag Of Love after reading Fiona's sterling reviews of this beauty bag. She hinted that the November bag was something special, so I immediately checked of BOL's Facebook page to get some hints. I immediately signed up when I saw that even the bag for the month of November was going to be from Levi's and not a self-designed bag like the previous months. Not to say that the previous months were ugly, but I have to admit that I'm a brandwhore. Lol! The November edition for this bag gained so much hype that I had friends (who I didn't know was into the whole beauty bag thing) clamoring for it as well. Thanks to Fiona for the heads up, I wouldn't have signed up if not for her! =)

In case you don't know, Bag Of Love differentiates themselves from the other beauty boxes by sending you your surprise samples in a bag (different design each month) instead of in a box. I *thought* they also had more emphasis on make-up products, since they frequently give out make-up brushes, but after receiving the November bag, I think it's kinda more or less the same as other beauty boxes. But I have to admit this November edition is really, really different. Received SOMETHING that I don't think any other beauty box will ever send out. O_O

The November bag is called "Go, Girl, Go!" and is dedicated to the women of today. All products are supposed to help the busy bees, the women who are always on the move as they go through life. When I read the personal message from the founder Mimi, I thought it was really dedicated to me! Lol! So perasan... just because I gave birth recently!

Without further ado... the unveiling!

This is everything that came in the bag. We have a wide range of products to try out, from oral hygiene, hair care, beauty products, perfume and body care! 

Let's start with the bag itself - made from denim and in the style of a small tote, this Levi's denim bag is pretty nifty, but I cannot think what I would really use it for. Nobody carries small bags like this out anymore. At first, I thought it would be PERFECT to carry my make-up to the office (now that I have a baby, I don't think I can do my make-up before leaving the house. I might have to do it in the office after dropping her off at the daycare center). However, the bag doesn't have a zip to close, so thing will easily drop out. I'm wondering if I should sew one on myself! Which would be sacrilege... messing with a Levi's original! 

 This is something that was hyped up on Bag of Love's Facebook page... they hinted that the November bag would have something from Panasonic. Interesting, eh? It turns out to be a vibrating toothbrush - the Panasonic Pocket Doltz Toothbrush, which is battery powered. I don't really like the battery powered part, so I don't think I will end up using this. Original price for this is RM99! Nearly triple the cost of the bag! 

 There are 7 sample sachets (weight not specified) of Clarins Double serum, an anti-aging formula for cell repair and collagen regeneration. The seven sachets are specifically for one week use, and at the end of one week, you can bring back a card to Clarins to receive skin consultation and a 2 piece gift set worth RM60. Wow! I better remember to test this out ASAP. The price for a 30ml bottle of this serum would be RM280.

Not so keen on this, but it is the perfect size to bring along on travels - the Dove Hair Therapy Hair Fall Rescue shampoo (90ml) and conditioner (80ml). The smell of this shampoo and conditioner is really really strong! I'm glad that they really wrapped this up with bubble wrap and plastic to prevent spillage.

 There's a mini spray sample of the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Aura EDT (100ml goes for RM275), along with a voucher (or advert?) for the Red Door Aura set. I love perfume samples, so I really love the fact that my first Bag of Love bag has one. :)

At first I thought the hand therapy sachet from Crabtree & Evelyn is part of the November bag, but since it's not printed on the card, I think this is my free gift for purchasing a 3 month subscription. I don't have the Crabtree & Evelyn avocado & basil hand cream (though I have a lot of their other hand creams!), so it would be nice to try this.

 This would be the second part of my free gift for signing up for a 3 month subscription - a face primer from Murad. I have never used a face primer  before, so I'm not sure if I want to use this or if I will give this away. 

I can see why a lot of people will be ecstatic over the November bag - it really is worth your money because the contents are well over the cost of the bag itself. However, though I'm impressed with the products curated, I don't find that it really suits me. I don't really like using electric toothbrushes, and I am not really into anti-aging serums (but I'm still gonna be kiasu and use it up to get my 2 pc gift set!). The shampoo is kinda meh for me, coz ---- who hasn't used Dove before? I like the bag, perfume and free gifts though. =)

The December bag for Bag of Love is already fully displayed on their Facebook page, and I have to say that I signed up for a subscription at the perfect time! All the exciting bags are coming my way!

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Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Lavender

I won a 100ml bottle of this perfume from a Cleo magazine contest about 2 years ago, and I still haven't been able to finish it!

I've always been a fan of Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea perfumes - I find it very light and refreshing and it was my "go to" perfume during my early years of working. It also helped that it is not that expensive (in fact, at the airport you can get RM80 for two bottles, or even cheaper! It's insanely cheap!), so I found it very worth the price. Maybe because it's an EDT, and those are generally cheaper.

Through the years, Elizabeth Arden released more versions of Green Tea, such as Green Tea Tropical, Green Tea Lotus and Green Tea Summer. I have not tried those before, but my friend said that they either smell too similar to Green Tea, or that they add in some weird spices that totally spoiled the perfume. I'm glad to report that Green Tea Lavender retains the fresh, crisp Green Tea scent that we all love, but also has a different dimension to the perfume, giving it a somewhat sexier and more sensual aspect.



Although it is an EDT, I find that it is quite long lasting - at least for 5 - 6 hours. Personally, I don't detect much of a lavender scent, but I still quite like this fragrance. Suitable for office use, and also for casual outings on the weekend. My boyfriend also says that this clean fragrance is very suitable for my personality. =)

The top notes are amalfi lemon, mandarin orange, chamomile and mint; middle notes are lavender, tea and Carribbean magnolia; base notes are musk and ambrette (musk mallow).

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Friends With Benefit [2]

In order to show you another two items from my Benefit haul collection, I decided to use the products while I was getting ready for cell group today!

First up, You Rebel (Lite) :
I was really reminded about how big of a mistake I made when I bought this! -___- First of all, it still is greasy like anything, even though I wear it alone on my face, with no base or anything else (after all, this is supposed to be all in one). The coverage is REALLY minimum, but what was the clincher was aside from the greasiness, I really felt like this was trapping heat on my skin. Within minutes of wearing this, I started to feel like my face was heating up! Weird!!

Oh, and then I got some in my eye and was in excruciating pain until I could wash it out. I couldn't bear a minute more and then washed off everything so that I could start my make-up again. Sigh... because of this, I didn't have any dinner before I went to cell. *cross*

Secondly, That Gal! :
If you can't see what it says - it's a brightening face primer. Hmm... how shall I describe it? I wear it over my moisturiser (sans foundation) when I want my dull skin to look more glowy. Unlike the You Rebel, it doesn't give a greasey / oily look in the end, but a rather shiny / glowing appearance. If you wear it under foundation, it looks even better, but I'm lazy and sometimes I just use this alone. Like today. :P

Before That Gal :

Skin is clean, but that's about it. :)

After using That Gal! :

You can see that the skin is more "glowy" right? And the pinkness to the cheeks? No blusher or slapping of self... pure That Gal!

Oh, and aside from the lovely glow I get on my skin, I quite like the cooling sensation I get when wearing That Gal! as opposed to the heating up, clogged feeling of having You Rebel on. :( And That Gal! smells quite nice too. Not an overwhelming sweet smell, but something fresh-fruit-ish.

Other products used for today's make-up...
(BTW! Sorry for the differing quality of photos on this blog. It's more convenient for me to use my webcam, but some "Before" & "after" stuff are so much more visible on my normal digital camera. But it's really annoying for me to use the camera, plus the results shown on the camera isn't 100% accurate anyway. Maybe it's the lighting... blehk.)

Not really make up, but I need it ... hence, the face.

One of my go-to eyeshadows. A light shimmery lilac color called "Spin Cycle" from Everyday Minerals. The effect is quite iridescent and subtle, but it gives a little sparkly, understated shine on your lids, and I love it!

This is what the Spin Cycle color looks like. It's very pretty!

The Ever Liner makes another appearance. Annoying... cos it was so hard to put on top of That Gal! and my eyeshadow. I never take so long to put on eyeliner!

Since the effect of the eyeliner was so dismal, I had to use something else to dramatise... I thought of using my Maybelline Great Lash, but it was all dried up and clumped together. -___- On to the next one...

This is actually my fave mascara... maybe because it's the only mascara I ever bought. The others were prize winnings or something that was given free with something else I got. Cos I don't usually wear mascara. I bought this when I had to wear a costume for annual dinner and I was taken in by the XXL length claims. It's quite good even if you don't use the "white" mascara (and I don't cos I'm lazy).

This is me with one side having mascara and the other side without. I think the difference is quite startling! Maybe I *should* start using mascara more often. *convinced*

My very first lip ice ever.... finally finishing. Its called "Sheer Color", but when you put it on, it's sheer, but it turns into a rather deep pink color. Smells synthetically of strawberries, but overall I like it because it really softens the lips and keeps my lips moist!

Completed look! :)

Don't leave home without smelling good. ;)

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