My First Best Buy World Haul

I first heard of Best Buy World from fellow beauty bloggers and was really keen in checking them out. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was so house-bound that I randomly decided to do a haul from the site even though I keep telling myself to lay off buying make-up and skincare stuff. I rarely used make-up at the end of my pregnancy coz I was working from home. Imagine piling on the stuff and just facing my laptop... alone in my room! I'm kooky, but not that nuts yet. :)

Best Buy World sells all kinds of make-up and skincare stuff from reputable high-end / luxury brands (think : Estee Lauder, Chanel, SKII) at discounted prices. They also sell deluxe / travel / sample sizes which is totally right up my alley coz I rather try out the expensive lotions and potions before springing hundreds for full size products. They even sell the bags that are gift with purchase which I also think is kinda nice. The bags are usually good quality and many a time, I'm in love with the gift with purchase but do not want to spring out another few hundred for it.

Delivery from the site is mad efficient. I placed the order at night and the delivery man came the very next morning! Crazy!!

I don’t know if you would be as excited as me to purchase from Best Buy World though… for me, I love trying new products, so I’m willing to pay like RM5 – RM10 for the sample size stuff that they sell. Some people complain that what BBW sells is actually “free gift” given by the various companies. Yeah, they are “Free gifts” IF YOU BUY LIKE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS RINGGIT worth of their products! I rarely buy that much, so I guess it’s ok for me to pay for these sample thingies la. Without further ado, let me show you what I bought :

1. Large tote bag from Estee Lauder. EXCELLENT quality, cute and quirky. I used it immediately after getting it to cart MORE stuff to the hospital for delivery. Initially bought it just as a random bag to carry Baby B’s stuff (e.g: diapers, change of clothes, milk / water bottles, etc), but my awesome galpals bought me a bag from Mothercare that is way more suitable.
2. Pink floral pouch from Clinique – this is really random but I wanted to pack some small things + spectacles to bring to my MIL’s house for confinement, and I just realised that all my pouches are humongous. So small things like tweezer, nail clipper, etc, looks sooooo tiny and “lost” in my bigger pouches. So I bought a lippie set which came with this free pouch even though I have soooo many lipsticks. ~_~" This pouch came with the Clinique Vitamin C Lip Smoothie in Pink Me Up and Clinque High Impact Lip Colour in Rosette. The color is sooooooo nice. Three items for RM45… quite worth it mah….
3. 6 x 7ml of Estee Lauder make-up remover samples… coz I’m using Bifesta now and though so many people rave about it, I personally find it not all that great? So I thought to sample EL and see if THAT’S any better…
4. Cherry blossom shower gel from L’occitane. Kinda regret buying this because the bottle is super small – travel sized. I would rather buy a big bottle of Body Shop stuff during their sales.
5. Estee Lauder lipstick in Nectarine Shimmer… omg, such a lovely RED color…. can’t wait to try it out!
6. L’occitane lip balm because I’m attracted to anything “peachy”. Feel so conned though coz it is a super small tube and it doesn’t smell peachy at all! Angry!
7. L’occitane hand cream in cherry blossom – I think I must’ve been drunk because again I can’t fathom why I bought this? It’s a super small tube and I have hand cream up to my ears. Maybe I will give this to a friend…
8. RMK oil make-up remover…. same reason as above – wanna try more make-up removers before settling on a big bottle. 

Will probably blog about each item in detail later. At the moment, I’m really happy with the service on Best Buy World and am happy with most of my purchases. I think the only parts that I’m pissed about are the L’occitane ones, and even then it’s my own fault for getting all carried away with the packaging.

After this haul, I did buy again from BBW - bought a birthday gift from BBW as I still can't go anywhere after confinement. It's a good thing that I'm introverted and homey... I think other women would've gone stir-crazy, the way I'm under house arrest!

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Dettol : For Your Trusted Protection

At one point in time, there were 3 bottles of different Dettol shower gels in my bathroom. -__- We have one giant bottle of the green shower gel ("original"), which we generally use for "sterilising", one pink 250ml shower gel ("skincare") and one orange Dettol shower gel ("re-energize"). Why so many?! Well, my husband and I are both fans of Dettol - the shower gels are generally cheap and really make you feel squeaky clean. Ever since Dettol started introducing a wider range of variants, it became my personal goal to try out each one, hahaha.

Each variant (that I have tried so far), still has the lingering smell of the familiar original Dettol antiseptic scent, and in terms of texture of the shower gel, all 3 are creamy, but of differing colors. Original is a creamy white/yellow, Skincare is clear, but with a streak of white towards the bottom of the bottle (perhaps I should've shaken the bottle?), while Re-energize is a creamy orange. My husband bought the Original scent, but before using it finish, he cracked open my "Skincare" Dettol in my stash. The feminine pink color made me tease him for using a girl's product, but really, it's all unisex. Why can't guys be interested in "skincare"? Meanwhile, I took the Re-energize range with me when I did my confinement... I reckoned that antiseptic = good for bathing any stitches I got after giving birth.

I have to say, out of the 3 variants, I felt most disappointed with the Re-energize one. I didn't feel re-energized at all using it, and the "Fresh citrus fragrance" that Dettol touts is truly disappointing. It's like expecting freshly squeezed orange juice and being served cordial. The scent really doesn't sit right with me. However, after washing off, you do still feel that Dettol squeaky clean-ness.

The "Skincare" (pink) variant is a pleasant twist from the original, with moisturising lotion included in your shower gel for extra skin-pampering. I have to say that the antiseptic scent from the original is more muted, and your skin does feel softer than when using the original. This one is a repurchase for me, in fact this is the 2nd or 3rd time that I bought the "pink Dettol". :)

There is a total of 8 products in the Dettol shower gel range, and the other 5 are "Active" (dark blue bottle), "Herbal" (another shade of green), "Nature" (white), "Cool" (ice blue) and "Sensitive" (lavender). It's all pretty affordable, less than RM10 for a 250ml bottle. In fact, you can get a 950ml bottle for about RM15 online, so this is really worth your money. :)

Just don't get re-energize. ;)

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The Lilac Box : Cult Box #1

Got myself the Lilac Box's Cult Box #1 during my confinement... quickly logged in and made my purchase during a rare moment of quietude. Why the Lilac Box? Well, I was curious about the fact that they marketed themselves as a luxury brand beauty box, and I like the "cult labels" theme they had going. Since beauty boxes are all about discovering new brands / products, it is even more exciting if those brands are so-called "cult brands" which not everyone has heard about. I have to say, in the end I have only heard of one of the brands in the Cult Box #1 delivered!

Lilac Box costs RM49.90 per box, and is "known" for selling out very fast. They actually send out mailers to inform on the exact date and time that a box will be open for sale. Most of their boxes sell out within 24 hours, some of them within a couple of hours, actually! Delivery is pretty prompt, though I cannot really say how fast since I was at my in-laws and the box was delivered to my own home address. :) Once I finished confinement and came back, I was so hyped up to open the box! Even more hyped up than checking out my ASOS delivery - after all, I know what I ordered from ASOS, but I don't know what exactly is in my cult box!

Without further ado... the unveiling!

I have to say, I really like the packaging - an unassuming, sturdy black box with a polka-dotted white ribbon. I don't see how "lilac" this is, but since they didn't stamp the company name / brand anywhere, it is very reusable for packaging gifts for friends. :)

I like the sparkly gold and purple paper they use for packaging... looks so mystical. There is no product card, we are encouraged to go to their website to read more abou each item. Save the trees! I suppose it also helps remind us to post our Lilac Box reviews and earn points. They are also able to write more about the history of each brand, which is way more lengthy than the usual one-paragraph spiel printed on product cards in other beauty boxes.

I didn't take photos when I first opened the box, so the haphazard arrangement you see above is totally my own doing. :P Regardless, you can see that the box is filled to the brim! Now lets see what we have inside... :)

Eugene Perma Essential Nourishing/Ultra-Nourishing Hair Bath (50ml) and Nourishing/Ultra-Nourishing Mask (30ml). This brand is from France and claims their active ingredients are derived from natural plant, marine and mineral sources. The haircare experts are ranked 2nd after L'oreal, though its not mentioned who did the ranking as I have not heard about them before. Nevertheless, very interested to try this out since it's so raved about. I don't think I filled in a beauty profile on Lilac Box, so I'm really glad I got the normal shampoo samples and not the ones for colored hair. :)

Vagheggi Equilibrium Cleansing Milk (50ml), Rebalancing Face Lotion (50ml) and Oligominerals (10ml). This brand is from Italy and specialises in phytocosmetics. I'm generally not into milk cleansers, so not excited about this, though the generous sizes are ideal for me to bring around for travelling. However, I *am* excited to try out the Oligominerals, which from what I understand is something like a face serum / oil. :)

Mistral Verbena shower gel (60ml) smells really nice and refreshing! Kinda herbal in a way... this also reminds me that I haven't collected my Crabtree & Evelyn Verbena Provence gift... sigh. I won an FB contest but couldn't collect coz I was busy giving birth wtf. I hope there's no time limit in collecting the prize...

Malu Wilz eyeshadow 92 - very surprised to get make-up items as well. Heck, this box is super complete with things for hair, face, body! I guess the only thing missing would be fragrance. :) This brand has won many awards and color payoff and brilliance from the eyeshadows are raved about. The duochrome color means that the color on your lids changes depending on lighting and angles.

I'm totally into cute packaging, and the full-size (50ml)  Yes! Nurse handcream fits the bill. :) This is the only brand I've heard about, but have not tried before. Now I've got loads of handcream, not sure when I'll be able to use this. Lord knows my hands are super neglected... maybe this is a sign!

All in all, I'm super pleased with my first introduction to The Lilac Box. Would I purchase again? Maybe.... I still have a lot of samples to try out, which I'm going through really, really slowly! Once I get into the groove of reviewing again, I will probably start depending more on beauty boxes to get more ideas on things to try out and share with all of you. :)

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Beauty Mama

Hello! I haven't been updating much but with really good reason! I gave birth on the 20th of September, proceeded to do my confinement for a month at my in-laws and only came back to my own place 2 weeks ago. Things were more hectic than I expected, I have to admit I was just way too naive... a lot of things just didn't go as I planned, from my labor to my confinement... things have been hard and I just got into a working rhythm.

Pregnancy was a breeze for me, but bringing up a baby is totally a different ballgame. I barely had time to wash my face during confinement, what more to put masks, moisturisers, etc. In fact, I can even count the number of times I showered on one hand! Itwas really hard for a clean freak like me to take...

Now that I've completed the mandatory 28 days, I shower twice a day but gone are the days of long, luxurious hot showers. I think I bathe in 5 minutes flat! I don't moisturise my body or even my face -- at first its because I didn't want to confuse the baby. Now, I worry about her ingesting something coz she sucks on random spots of my arm. Once, she even sucked on my chin! Don't ask! I also don't want to rub off some cream on her delicate baby skin. Same goes for make up, I guess. Not that it matters coz I've not gone "out" for sooooo long. The pediatrician's and gynae office doesn't count.

Does this mean I'm abandoning this site? Hellz no! I love beauty products and I'm still a consumer! In fact, online shopping for beauty products is what keeps me sane and brings me some small joys when I've had a rough day with the little one. I still take photos of products I use, but it'll only be later days where I'll be reviewing more stuff. At the moment I've gone back to basics... :) Will try updating more, but bear with me coz my still-bloated face ain't ready for camwhoring....

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Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color

So I got a bunch of free samples from Mary Kay a while back, and only now have I gotten around to using them. I really, really like the products, but I haven't gone back to repurchase... mainly coz I'm waiting for them to "hardsell" to me. But they are the opposite of hard-selling! They have not contacted me again after the first round of letting me try the stuff and giving me all these freebies. Isn't that so weird? Anyway, I like the products enough to consider actually walking in to the office and just asking whether they want my business or not. :S

I remember getting the mineral eye color samples because I told the Mary Kay consultant that I love mineral make-up. I like that it's supposedly kinder on the skin, and all mineral foundation that I have used so far *is* kinder on the skin. It's light wear, light coverage and never caused my pores to get clogged even with my full face make-up on. The only problem with mineral eye COLOR though is that they are usually less pigmented and there's way more fall out. However, because of the fact it's less pigmented, the fallout doesn't look as obvious, and if you prefer more color payoff, you can always apply primer! Personally, I like a more muted kinda look on my eyes (unless I'm on the stage and I want something dramatic...), so mineral eye color is really  suited for me.

I took the products with me when I went for my anniversary celebration with my husband back in the hotel where we held the wedding. The mineral eye color samples that were given to me were Crystalline, Lemongrass and Midnight Star, which was pretty good for both a night look for our anniversary dinner and for a morning look (church the next day).

For the night look, I used Midnight Star, and you might have seen this face before when I did the lip color (also awesome!) review :

Though it looks very BRIGHT and unwearable on the sample sheet, after layering it on, it still doesn't look as bright as it does. Yup, this is without primer, and I don't think I would like it to be an exact match to the sheet as it might be a bit too "disco".  Instead, I got a pretty decent, sparkly, look. I think it looks quite nice!

Here's a close up... you can see that there's so much GLITTER... I love! I really layered on the eyeshadow, so it looks darker. I suppose a light sweep would look suitable for daytime as well. :)

And even more close up: 

Can see the fallout, but generally I'm loving the shade and how sparkly it is! :) I would definitely consider this for a repurchase!

Meanwhile, Citronella and Crystalline were blended together the next day for a more "spring" look in church the next day. However, despite using all of my eyeshadow samples, I still look quite washed out. It's almost like I'm not having any eye shadow on at all. I know, even in the picture below, it looks like both are just white in color. =p

Ok, a better picture would be this one (the first two in top row) :

This is how it looks like without any primer. This was taken in natural sunlight :

Close-up ... hopeless without any primer! :( Maybe the Crystalline overpowered the Citronella a bit too much, cos I remember when the Mary Kay consultant applied it for me (only one color, with primer), it was a pretty intense green! :( Because it's so light, you can't really see the glitters either - it just doesn't stand out. Pity, coz they are both really glittery on the sample sheet!

Not sure how much this will cost cos I can't find any information about pricing on the Mary Kay website. Will update this page when I actually do purchase the Midnight Star. ;)

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It's Raining Men!

Aka "Honey, I Washed The Kids" in concentrated, shower gel form!

A little something that I picked up from Lush Singapore in one of my visits down South, and when I smelled how similar it was to Honey, I Washed The Kids, I just had to get it! I love the Lush soaps, and since they are too natural to last in solid form for very long, this was the perfect solution. It's also a step better, since you can use this for hair AND body, though I admit that I've only used it as a shower gel thus far.

The shower gel is VERY thick, like melted caramel or toffee. The sweet honey scent is also very concentrated, I find that I don't have to use as much for my daily showers, and the scent still lingers on for quite a few hours. A comforting, moisturising shower is what I'm in for, and that's what I get with this shower gel. Really worth the money, and really considering this for a repurchase. Plus, the cute packaging always have me singing The Weather Girls during shower time! I just love how creative the folks behind Lush are!

So when the humidity's rising, and the barometer's getting low, the shower is the place to go with It's Raining Men! Filled with real honey, this shower gel is kind to sensitive skin and also contains medicinal and healing qualities that can soothe your skin troubles away. For me, I just love how moisturised and soft my skin is after the shower. Plus, it smells so good, I think it's suitable for use for the whole family! 

As usual, the shower gel comes in 3 sizes - 500ml, 250ml and 100ml. My current one is 250ml, and the prices are approximately RM77, RM45 and RM20 respectively. Oh, and one thing that I noticed about this shower gel is that this is the first time that I didn't use my shower gel fast enough and it is approaching dangerously close to the "best by" date. What I noticed is that there is some wax-like build-up at the bottom of the shower gel. Shaking it hard doesn't do anything about it (maybe because the shower gel is so thick, it's really hard to shake it!), nor does standing the bottle upside-down. =( Oh well, aside from this small matter, it's a REALLY good shower gel. Can't wait to re-stock!

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Monday Masks : Timeless Truth Orchid Extract Replenishing Face Mask

I finally got the chance to use the Timeless Truth Orchid Extract Replenishing Face Mask from my March Edition of Vanity Trove. I tell you, I can even make small samples last forever... it was only last night that I managed to use finish my Premier Dead Sea moisturiser. I'm starting to think that even deluxe samples from beauty boxes are going to last me a good long while - worth the $$!

 

Anyway, you might've seen reviews of this mask on countless other beauty blogs, but here I am just to add in my 2 sen as well. ;) The orchid extract replenishing mask is a 3D mask (with hooks for your ears as well as around your chin) for full absorbtion. "The remarkable energy is in the root of the orchid, giving anti-ageing benefits, and leaving the skin beautifully soft and radiant", says Timeless Truth. The mask is suitable to be used for all skin types and is mainly beneficial for dry, lifeless and dull looking skin. The original price of one mask is RM10, which is really pricey, but I suppose it is a 3D mask, and those are often more expensive. I also have a voucher from Vanity Trove that gives me a 20% discount if I choose to buy more masks from them, so this will make the masks a tinge more affordable. =)

When I first took the mask out of the packet --- was not very happy because there is no additional plastic backing, so have to be quite careful when unfolding it, less I tear it. There is a generous amount of essence on the mask, so that was quite nice. Even better - it smelled really, really nice! It's a floral scent, but not cloying and overwhelming. In fact, it was soothing aromatherapy and very relaxing. I definitely enjoyed my session with the mask.

The fit however, was literally, quite a stretch! I find that the mask is a bit too small for the face - maybe my face has grown fatter as well. It was quite hard for me to get the hooks behind me ears, and when I did, this is what I look like : 

It looks so incredibly stretched out, right? Oh well, I supposed that's one way to ensure the mask adheres closely to the skin!! This meant that it was a teensy bit uncomfortable (especially the feeling that the hooks would snap off my ears at any moment -- but it didn't!), but thankfully nothing that I couldn't get over after a while.

After the 20 minutes session, I did find my skin was more moisturised and softened. In fact, the next morning when I was washing my face, I was wondering what night moisturiser I had on, coz my skin was so incredibly baby-soft smooth to the touch! Then I remembered that the only thing I did differently the night before was to use this mask. Such a great testimony for it, so I might consider this for repurchase later! It's a much better mask than all the other crap cheap masks I've been reviewing (Sasatinnie comes to mind!).

Orchid extracts are now the latest in beauty and skincare products due to anthocyanins in the flower that has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities. Orchid extracts can help reduce fine lines and wrinkles and respond to environmental stresses such as UV radiation, pollution and extreme temperatures.  It also has skin–fortifying minerals like calcium, magnesium, and zinc. I'm guessing we will see more products containing orchid extracts in the future! 

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