Loose Button Luxe Box Haul - March

Hi everyone,

So I have been waiting for my Luxe Box from Loose Button to come since I first ordered it at the beginning of the month. For those of you who don't know what Luxe Boxes are, it is something you sign up for (around $10 for one month and free shipping) and you receive a box filled with three to five high-end deluxe samples of beauty products. 

The reason I wanted to try this out was mainly from all the hype with Birchbox. Unfortunately, you can't get Birchbox in Canada. It's so annoying that Canada misses out on tons of stuff -- from Birchbox to free shipping, etc). So I went on a hunt for something similar for Canadians and came across the company Loose Button.

I was really excited to try it out and for $10, you can't really go wrong.

I am a sucker for nice packaging and Loose Button didn't disappoint. My luxe box came in a little brown box with their name on it and a cute ribbon.

When I opened it up, there was a personalized card with my name on it and also it had all the product details of the items inside the box.

My luxe box came with four samples from Stila, Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Grant. Overall, I was very pleased with the samples. They were all a fair size, considerably more than you would get from any beauty counter I would say. Plus, it also came with a chocolate Hershey kiss. It reminded me of those little mints/chocolates you get on your pillow at hotels.

The PROS of Luxe Box:

- It gives you a chance to try out products before you buy them

- You're able to try products you normally wouldn't purchase

- You get an assortment of handpicked products delivered right to your door

- You can pick and choose which months you want to participate in it since you pay one month at a time (or 3 months at a time, if you choose that option)

The CONS of Luxe Box:

- You can't pick and choose the types of samples you get, so some months you might love everything you get, others you might not

- If you already have a lot of makeup, you might get samples of products you already own or have already tried

Bottom line: I think this is a great way to try new and different products. It's especially great if you're a beauty & make-up lover.

xoxo

Aleeza

P.S., you can watch the video of my March Luxe Box below :).

My Updated Pandora Charm Bracelet

Ever since I posted a video on how to build a Pandora charm bracelet, I have gotten so many requests to do a video on my updated bracelet. This will be my second updated Pandora charm bracelet (you can view the first one here).

For those of you who are interested in Pandora but want more information on it, you can watch my How-to video below. 

On to my updated Pandora bracelet. I have had my bracelet for over a year now and throughout that time, I have slowly been updating my it by buying new charms every now and then. Also, I've received a few charms as gifts.

Charms (from left to right): S-Clip, suitcase, gift box, and Murano glass bead - white teal polk dots

Charms (from left to right): Onyx drop dangle, moon&stars, ribbed clip, Murano glass bead - red love pink hearts, elephant, bloom dangle with grey pearl,  Chamelia - Snowflake, and Number 21 dangle

Charms (from left to right): S-clip, big smooth heart, Girl, Murano glass bead - red with white flowers, boy, Chamellia - Hug, and ribbed clip

You can view my most recent updated Pandora bracelet below.

xoxo

Aleeza

Scented Nail Polish??

When I was younger (and maybe even til now), I was obsessed with the Mr. Sketch scented markers. I thought it was a genius idea! Who wouldn't want their drawing of a red ladybug to smell like cherries and cinnamon (I always colored my ladybug's spots with the brown marker instead of the black because I wasn't too fond of the licorice scent).

So naturally when I spotted that Revlon was coming out with scented nail polish, my curiosity peaked.

The colors are beautiful and I really wanted to try them out... but I am putting myself on a nail polish buying hiatus. At least until the end of the month.

But I will definitely be trying them out.. especially the gorgeous pink color called Sublime Stawberry and the turquoise color called Ocean Breeze. I wonder how they bottled the scent of the ocean?

Has anyone tried this yet? If so, which color/scent combo is your favorite?

xoxo
Aleeza

Love it or Hate it?: Sally Hansen Salon Effects

So I was at Wal-mart the other day to see if they had Orchids (which they didn't...oddly enough, I ended up finding one at Zehrs). Anyway, I passed by the cosmetic section and decided to take a little peek to see what's new and I saw that they had the new Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about (you can check out Sally Hansen's website here)... they are "real" nail polish strips with different colors, designs and patterns. Nail polish that comes in strips so you can just stick them onto your nails. No fuss or mess.

I've been seeing them in magazines for a while now so I decided to pick one up (or two actually). They were around $10 each.

I finally had the chance to actually try it out today and I'm actually really happy with how it turned out.

The box contains 16 nail polish strips (in varying sizes & extras in case you make a mistake), a cuticle stick, and a mini file & buffer. Plus a little instruction sheet.

So preparing to use it, I first cleaned my nails up -- removing my current nail polish and pushing back my cuticles with the wooden stick and then smoothing my nail with the grey side of the file.

Then you have to select the best-fitting strip for each nail. I found that a lot of the strips fit perfectly on my nails and I didn't have to fight too much with getting the right fit.

However, I did have to fight with the packaging to actually get to the nail strips.

I don't know if it was just me, but it took a lot of effort to actually get into the package. It was childproof or something.


It was really easy to apply the strips to the nail. I ran the flat side of the cuticle stick along the end of the strip to make sure it adhered firmly to my nail.


The excess part of the strip was really easy to get rid of as well. I just had to gently twist it and it ripped off nicely.

Once I finished all my nails, I took the light pink side of the file and smoothed the excess of the strip over the edge of my nails. And then I gently filed away the excess.

It was a really easy application.

It didn't take any longer than 10 minutes so it's a real time-saver.

Plus there is zero wait time for the polish to dry.

I don't know how long they last yet (the box says up to ten days) but they look pretty good so far. I'm still finding that some of the edges are bubbling up so I am constantly pressing them down. I don't know if that's the nail strip's fault or if it's mine because I didn't apply it properly.

Other than that, I really like them. They're really easy to apply and they make your nails look amazing (with virtually no effort)!

I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for something fun to do with your nails.

I don't think this is going to replace traditional nail polish obviously. These Salon Effects are much more costly than a bottle nail polish since each box is only for a one time use. But they're great for every once and a while.

If you've tried it or are wanting to try it, which pattern do you like the best?

I wanted to try Laced Up but they didn't have it in stock. Maybe next time.

xoxo
Aleeza

Balmshell - What's in your Purse? Contest

Hey guys, so Balmshell is having this really awesome contest that I think everyone should go check out. For those of you who don't know, Balmshell is a Canadian cosmetic company that offers fun and high-quality products. They have a great collection of lip glosses that come in lots of different tints and conditions your lips. And I promise they're not paying me to say that! :). Their products are sort of hard to get, it's only available in certain stores (like select Shoppers Drugmart beauty boutiques). So this contest is a really easy (and free) way to get your hands on Balmshell's products!  And it's simple... all you have to do is show what's in your purse!  Check out the image below & click it for more information (btw, the image was taken directly from Balmshell's blog).

See? Really easy, right?

And who doesn't love knowing what's in other people's purses? I know, I do.

Want to see what's in mine? Well, here it is...

- wallet

- make-up bag

- travel sized brush

- blush

- pressed powder

- lipstick

- concealer

- rose salve from bath&body works

- tissues

- hand cream

- hair elastic

- handkerchief

- cupcake compact mirror

- USB drive

- house key

- car key with Sharpie key chain

- pens & a Sharpie

- glasses

- sunglasses

- flashlight

- iPod with ear phones

- phone

- camera

- Hello Kitty key chain

- Planner (from Starbucks)

What's in yours? :)

xoxo

Aleeza

Hello, it's me..

Hi everyone!!

I haven't update this blog in a while... I may have forgotten about it... BUT I have big plans to revivify it!! :)

In the meantime, I wanted to share some pictures I took while I was on vacation over the holidays. If you have seen my last couple videos, I mentioned that I went to the Philippines over the holidays. It was great! I had lots of fun and had an amazing time.

Christmas Tree at the Trinoma (a huge mall in Manila).

Me & my cousin at the University of Santo Tomas Christmas concert celebration.

A 'bangka' in the South China sea.

Tagaytay: in front of Lake Taal where the Taal Volcano is.

Lake Taal and the Taal Volcano. It's submerged in the water.

A ferris wheel at Enchanted Kingdom (a small amusement park).

View of Enchanted Kingdom from the top of the ferris wheel.

 Prada's gorgeous window display at the Seoul Airport in South Korea.

xoxo

Aleeza