Unboxing: Glamourbox's Perfectly Pixi

Hello again, makeup junkies! 

It has been a while since I've posted an unboxing blog. Finally, the makeup gods have heard our prayers! I got really excited when I saw Glamourbox post a teaser of their exclusive beauty box with Pixi last May and I was one of the first ones to order it when it became available 3 weeks ago. And because they haven't launched any new boxes since their BYS Matte Maven box in December, I have been on the lookout for a new one (in other words, stalking their website and IG accounts. Lol!) since the start of the year. I had to control myself when BDJ and Saladbox started offering new boxes as I was thinking Glamourbox would release new ones as well and I wanted to get the best box. And I sure am glad I waited. 😀

For more information on Glamourbox, visit www.glamourbox.ph

  Perfectly Pixi Glamourbox P 1,290.00

Description from Glamourbox's website: The quintessential Pixi beauty kit is just a few weeks away from reaching your doorstep!!

Pixi is about fuss-free, multi-tasking products that bring out the natural beauty in women.  After playing with Pixi's various exciting collections, we have curated the Perfectly Pixi box that would suit women of different lifestyles. Whether you are a woman-on-the-go, a beauty junkie, or just curious to discover more of Pixi, our Pixi-pretty surprise will definitely be the highlight of your month!

Total SRP Value: P 3,440.00

Let's take a look at what's inside the box.

1. Makeup Melting Cleansing Cloths

Makeup Melting Cleansing Cloths P 499.00

Take off makeup quickly & conveniently with these on-the-go cleansing cloths that gently remove even waterproof formulas in one easy step. Each soft cloth is infused with chamomile and grapeseed oil to calm skin, leaving it feeling perfectly clean & balanced. 40 cloths.

2. Glow Tonic

Glow Tonic 15ml P 390.00

Say hello to glowing and gorgeous skin! Find out why everyone is raving about this best-selling, cult-fave Pixi product!
Now open for pre-order!
Glow tonic with ginseng and fructose. For normal to dry, dull and aging skin. Oxygenating, exfoliating facial glow tonic. Helps tone, firm and tighten the skin. Removes dead skin cells for healthier looking skin. Alcohol free. Use after cleanser on cotton pad. Key ingredients: aloe vera and ginseng.

3. Lash Booster Mascara

Lash Booster Mascara Blackest Black P 840.00

What it is formulated to do:

This unique mascara truly boosts your lashes, giving them a "push-up" effect that lasts all day. The dense, rich formula ensures that lashes are coated with maximum pigment, for long-lasting full colour. The cone-shaped brush coats each lash evenly for the ultimate smudge-free, waterproof lash & eye definition. Available in intense eye-opening shades, including the revolutionary "blackest blue" that awakens the eyes and makes the whites of the eyes appear whiter.

Beneficial ingredients and what they do:
Vitamin E nourishes skin Carnauba wax is naturally emollient
Microcrystalline wax nourishes and ensures easy application
Dimethicone provides a smooth glide.

4. Shea Butter Lip Balm

Shea Butter Lip Balm in Sweet Peach P 420.00

Awaken lips with this super-nourishing balm. The unique formula is rich but lightweight and gives a gorgeous wash of colour to lips- it's the perfect pick-me-up anytime! Packed full of beneficial ingredients, this balm soothes lips immediately and nourishes them long term.

5. Book of Beauty

Book of Beauty - Minimal Makeup P 1,290.00

Images from www.pixibeauty.com

This curated collection creates a stunning and sophisticated look for complexion and eyes. Whether you are a makeup minimalist or just in the mood for some subtle enhancing, you'll love the satin luminosity that these favorites create. Palette includes 2 highlighters, 2 cheek shades, and 4 eye shades.


I haven't really tried any Pixi products before this (except for drugstore swatches here and there). And I have heard so many great reviews (especially about the Glow Tonic), so this box was the perfect way for me try their products out. I was glad they included their Glow Tonic, but was a little disappointed about the size. The rest of the products were full-sized and even when I was wishing they replaced the cleansing cloths with maybe something else, like, an eye liner or foundation, I am still pleased with this box as I know I will be able to use all the items in it (unlike most of the boxes I receive). And there you have it, folks! 😉 I will test these first and keep you updated to see if it's really as good as what the others claim it to be. 'Til my next post, enjoy your weekend!


Xoxo,

Missus C 💋

This Just In: In theBalm of Your Hand Palette

I know during my last haul I mentioned I will put a temporary hold on buying makeup; apparently, that (quick) hold has ended and it looks like that self-imposed rule has been lifted (oh well, I tried). I didn't want to regret not buying this palette, as this is a holiday (2015) limited edition and is not really part of theBalm's permanent line. So, when I saw Sephora's website showing this as out of stock (yes, I have been stalking it since May), I had palpitations and immediately reached out to an online seller (makeuphaul_ph from Instagram) to get this palette.

If you are looking for the perfect palette to travel with or you simply want to try theBalm's 'greatest hits' without commiting to a full-sized product you might end up not enjoying, then, this palette is for you!

It (almost) has everything you need for a full face makeup, as it contains eyeshadows, blushes, a highlighter, a bronzer, and lip products. And since this is made by theBalm, for sure, this will be a quality palette. After all, this won't be named the Best Holiday Palette of 2015 without good reason.

This all-in-one face palette contains favourites from some of our best sellers, including 4 perfectly coordinated eyeshadows, 3 universal blushes, a matte bronzer, a champagne-hued highlighter, a classic red lip color and a nude lip and cheek cream. Who says you can't have it all? Here at theBalm, we believe you can - and it all fits In theBalm of Your Hand. This palette includes travel-size versions of:

• Hot Mama - blush
• Argyle - Instain blush
• CabanaBoy - blush
• Bahama Mama - bronzer
• Insane Jane - ShadyLady eyeshadow
• Mischievous Marissa - ShadyLady eyeshadow
• Sexy - Nude 'tude eyeshadow
• Lead Zeppelin - Balm Jovi eyeshadow
• Mary-Lou Manizer AKA the luminizer -highlighter
• Caramel - How 'Bout Them Apples cheek & lip cream
• Mia Moore - theBalm Girls lip rouge

It is a very well-thought of palette as everything goes together really well. One can create multiple looks whether day or night just by mixing and matching.

By the way, this retails for Php 1,876 on Sephora PH's website (although it is currently sold out) but I was able to get it for Php 1,850 + Php 100 shipping (which I received after 2 days). The online seller was also nice enough to throw in  a free Menow Lip Liner and a sample size of Origin's Anti-aging Serum, which was unexpected and at the same time really thoughtful.

Ingredients list from www.birchbox.com

I haven't really swatched or played with it as I literally just got home last night when I took pictures of it, but, I will definitely be posting a review in a couple of weeks' time after I've had the chance to use it. So, if you'd like to see more of this gorgeous palette, I guess I'll be seeing you again soon. 😄

Xoxo,

💋 Missus C

Product Review: Makeup Revolution's Naked Chocolate Palette

As promised, I am back with a review of Makeup Revolution's I ♡ Makeup Naked Chocolate Palette. I have been testing and playing with this palette ever since I received it several weeks ago. It comes in a 3D half melted white chocolate bar (yum!) form that looks good enough to eat (bdw, it smells like chocolate too) and includes a double-sided sponge tip applicator.

This is their third "installment" (the first two being dupes of Too Faced's Chocolate Bar Palettes) under their chocolate bar line and is a popular favorite of makeup gurus on YouTube and beauty bloggers. In fact, I consider this as one of my "YouTube Made Me Buy It" purchases. It didn't really catch my eye, that's why I didn't include it in my first Makeup Revolution haul, instead, I went with the original I♡Chocolate palette.

The Love Affair with Chocolate continues with the stripped back eyeshadow collection in our collectable chocolate bar palettes.
Naked Chocolate is here. Containing 16 stunning eyeshadows for perfect bare to smokey eyes, mixture of shimmer and matte shades. 3D chocolate palette with full size mirror and applicator.

It has 16 eyeshadows, 2 of which are bigger than the others, as they are highlight/brow bone shades. 5 of its shades have a matte finish while 11 have shimmer/satin.

Pretty, right?

So, let's talk about the shades, shall we?

First row: Smoothly, Divine, Mocha Lover, Dipped, and Choc-fest

• Smoothly - a light pink matte shade that's great as a base color to make colors on top pop and easier to blend.

• Divine - a shimmery rose gold that is gorgeous as a lid color.

• Mocha Lover - a shimmer shade similar to Divine as it also belongs to the rose gold family except it has a hint of copper and is a bit darker.

• Dipped - a light brown satin shade. Perfect for neutral looks.

• Choc-fest - a satin deep reddish brown almost burgundy shade that's great on the outer corners to create dimension. One of the darkest shade in the palette. This would have been perfect if it wasn't patchy/hard to blend and does not kick off a lot of powder.

Second row: Adorable, Buttons, Frosted Choc, Delight, Sweet Shop, and Sugar

• Adorable - an icy pink shimmery shade that works great as a highlight. I mostly use this on the inner corners of my eyes or on the middle of the lid with dark looks for dimension.

• Buttons - a cool-toned brown with shimmer that is dark it almost looks grey on the pan but swatches brown.

• Frosted Choc - a warm shimmery pretty bronze color.

• Delight - a dark brown-grey, that resembles Buttons (when in the pan), except it is a bit darker and the shimmer particles are finer.

• Sweet Shop - a matte warm mid-brown that's great as a crease shade.

• Sugar - one of the other darker shades, similar to Choc-fest except it is more brown than red and has tiny shimmers.

Third row: Double Dip, Tob-le-rone, Wonka, Milky, and Way

• Double Dip - a very shimmery golden orange color. Looks spectacular on the lids.

• Tob-le-rone - a matte taupe color that works really well as a crease color. Not as pigmented but is really easy to blend.

• Wonka - (White on some palettes) a dark matte warm brown. Also works great on the outer corners for neutral/smoky looks.

• Milky - another matte shade that's identical to Tob-le-rone except it's more pink almost old rose color.

• Way - a great highlight color. Looks white on the pan, but when applied looks almost transparent with really yellow gold shimmers.

Left side

Right side

By the way if you're wondering, MUR's shipping has improved immensely, in fact all the items I ordered during the last two hauls arrived in mint condition! 😄

Going back to the palette, similar to my review of the first chocolate bar edition here are its pros and cons.

Pros:

- Majority of the shades are creamy, buttery and easy to blend with good color pay-off and minimal fall out
- a lot of neutral colors
- Most shadows have good staying power
- Smells like cocoa

Cons:

- Not available in the Philippines
- Some of the shades do not have great pigmentation and have fallout
- Not travel friendly because of the size
- Colors do not have enough variety

The Final Verdict: This is a very pretty palette and it is indeed a neutral lover's dream. But like what I initially thought when I first saw this, and is partly the reason why I didn't add it to my cart the first time, the shades are too similar and didn't have enough variety. Don't get me wrong, this is a very lovely palette, but for me, it works more as "support/addition" to what I already have since I still find myself, reaching for other palettes to get, say, a really dark brown or a warmer crease shade. I find I cannot create a lot of "looks" from this palette alone. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because of my skin tone (as none of the others who purchased this seem to have the same issue), I would still give this palette a go, as who knows, maybe it will grow on me like how the first one did.

Till next time 💋,

Missus C

Makeup Revolution Haul Part 4

Hello again, lovelies... Yes, I have yet again, another Makeup Revolution haul, but, I promise, this will be the last one for a long time. This is because I have finally gotten the palette I have been dreaming about for the last couple of months... the elusive, Naked Chocolate, and I am super excited to show it to you. I also need to put a temporary stop to the hauls as the habit is getting harder to kick out of my system and I find myself looking at their website adding items to my cart right after placing an order. The urge to buy more is getting more and more challenging to resist. Yes, the struggle is real. Anyway, back to the haul...

We Are PASSION
We Are SHADE. For everyone skin tone, and all of the shades!
We Are INCLUSIVE. Anyone and Everyone can join the REVOLUTION.
We Are FAST & INNOVATIVE
We Are NEW PRODUCTS... NEW... NEW... NEW!
We Are PROFESSIONAL
We Are CRUELTY FREE
We Are AFFORDABLE
We Are REVOLUTION
A revolution in offering a comprehensove range of foundation and face products for all skin tones - from fair to dark, from yellow to pink tone - every shade has been covered, there is a shade and formulation for everyone at a price everyone can afford. 
A revolution in offering the VERY latest trends and NEW fast.

From www.makeuprevolutionstore.com

Alright, let's start! I only got 7 products this time. 2 eyeshadow palettes, 2 blushes, 2 lipsticks and a mascara.

First off, the lipsticks:

I got 2 (more) of their Amazing Lipsticks in Treat and Dusky.

Your MUST HAVE lipstick!
From nudes to brights, and mattes to creamy there is something to suit everyone.

You will be amazed at the quality of the lipstick - this is your MUST HAVE lipstick, and better still, amazing value at £1 each so you can collect them all! Over 20 shades of this creamy, long lasting lipstick with high colour payoff. From nudes to brights, and mattes to creamy there is something to suit everyone.

With 2 lipstick Collections too - The Scandalous Collection full of neon and bright colours and The Vamp Collection with your on trend purple and dark shades.

Then, I got 2 of their The Matte Blushes in Nude.

NEW! MATTE BLUSHER
Blends Beautifully for a natural, long lasting matte finish 6 shades to choose from.

Meet your new boyfriend: his name is Matte, and he's here to make you blush.

The ideal Nude shade with a touch of pink and a lot of luxury.


I also got their Amazing Volume Mascara (Black).
Add amazing volume root to tip in just one stroke 

This Amazing Volume mascara magnifies your lashes to give amazing volume effect without any clumping! The revolutionary volume brush allows for full coats separating the lashes root to tip for maximum volume all day!

And the stars of this haul, the I ♡ Makeup Naked Chocolate (which comes with a double sponge applicator).

The Love Affair with Chocolate continues with the stripped back eyeshadow collection in our collectable chocolate bar palettes.
Naked Chocolate is here. Containing 16 stunning eyeshadows for perfect bare to smokey eyes, mixture of shimmer and matte shades. 3D chocolate palette with full size mirror and applicator.

and New-trals vs Neutrals Palette (comes with a dual ended brush)!

New-Trals are the new NEUTRALS
Upgrade your new eye looks with the new generation of natural shades.

This palette, they say, is a dupe for Lime Crime's Venus Palette plus shades identical to Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette (bottom row) and similar shades to Too Faced's Sweet Peach Palette. I found them so pretty I didn't have the heart to swatch them. 😅 I will, however, post a review after testing these babies.

By the way, if you are interested in ordering from their website they have a special: 1/2 the price on selected items until the 25th of May and if you download their app, you can get as much as 20% off of your order if you use their code (until May 31st).

As promised, this may be my last Makeup Revolution haul for a long time as it is getting more and more difficult to "rotate" the makeup I use to make sure I get the chance to play with them at least once a week. I am, however, a very happy camper and I am definitely not complaining!

See yah guys on my next post. 💋

Drugstore Finds: Pink Sugar Creamy Matte Lippies and Essence Lipliners

Don't leave a girl alone to wander down the beauty aisle... You'll never know what she might pick up!

So today, I found myself walking towards the mall to look at makeup with no intentions of buying anything. I remember seeing Essence releasing a new lip product (I think they're called the Velvet Sticks) on Instagram and I was wondering whether they were already available (they're not) in the Philippines and how they'd look swatched in person, when the inevitable happened. I passed by Pink Sugar's counter/booth and saw their new lippies displayed. 👀

Lipstick in Xoxo, lipliners in In the Nude and Satin Mauve

I ended up buying a new lipstick and 2 lipliners I don't really need, lol!

Pink Sugar released 5 new shades for their Creamy Matte (Php 349 each) line.

CLAIM TO FAME: A semi-matte lipstick that delivers long-lasting color

FAST FACTS: Covers lips in gorgeous color with a soft matte finish; highly pigmented formula glides on smoothly; formulated with vitamin E and shea butter to moisturize, nourish, and soften lips during use; comes in 10 bold shades

PERFECT FOR: All day lip lusciousness
From www.beautymnl.com

Their new shades are:

XOXO - a soft brown pink
Hot Mess - a mauve pink
Girl Next Door - a deep toned beige
Hotline Bling - a bright fuschia

Image from Pink Sugar Ph's Instagram account

And while the lipstick I got (XOXO) from Pink Sugar is a new release, the lipliners (Php 99 each) I bought from Essence have been around forever! They just changed the packaging! And from what I remember, the colors are still the same. Hopefully, they didn't make any changes to the formula, as I found it comfortable and not drying on the lips the last time I got a lipliner from them.

I picked up In the Nude and Satin Mauve. I already have their Red Blush, which I liked because it was very pigmented, soft and didn't tug on my lips.

Essence Lip Liner glides on smoothly and precisely to ensure perfect lip contours and endless hours of lipstick fun. The wooden lip liner is ideal for smudge-proof and long-lasting lip makeup.

Image from www.essence.eu

So, eventhough I don't really need these new lip products, I'd have to admit, the colors I got are so pretty, I don't regret buying them. Plus, I can always tell myself it was Mother's Day last week and these can be considered as gifts to myself *wink wink.

Until next time.

Xoxo 💋

Sample Room PH: Try Before You Buy

Sample Room

is Philippines first ever beauty and lifestyle sampling website.
It is an interactive community that offers FREE samples,
localized product reviews, and where all beauty lovers are valued.

I first learned of Sample Room through Filipina beauty vloggers. I've heard of subscription boxes in the past and I thought they offer the same service, but, after going to their website and reading about them, I realized they had a totally different concept, one I've never heard or seen before and could only be described as "ingenious". What better way to reach potential customers than giving out samples? I mean, who doesn't like free samples (all you need to pay for is the shipping/delivery fee)? Plus points as your "samples" are delivered to the comfort of your home without the prying and judging eyes of strangers. And did I mention most of the products they carry are full-sized?

Here are some of the products I got from them.

Sample Room is a sampling site that banks on the power of free product sampling. It is an online community that changes your beauty-shopping pattern; and an interactive community where your opinions matter and where all beauty lovers are valued.

You don’t need to:

– Take a risk at a full-sized product that may not work for you or may give you an allergic reaction

– Rely on reviews alone that might not jive with your skin type (as you get to try the product yourself)

– Waste money on a product that might not work for you.

You will be able to:

– Patch-test, and road-test the product you are interested in purchasing- if the product suits you and works well with your skin

– Experience the product, and decide after finishing a sample size if the product is right for you

– Read reviews from consumers who have the same skin type as yours

– Enjoy your purchase, as it is a well-researched and well-informed purchase. Definitely value for your money!

My most recent sample, a full-sized bauty mask from Shiseido (actual price: Php1,800).

My first vip purchase! Olay Regenerist Miracle Boost Serum and night cream.

To be part of the Sample Room PH community, follow the steps below:

Images from Sample Room PH

You get 100 points upon registration, which you can immediately use to try out products. You can add up to 3 items in one cart to save on  the shipping fee, if you have enough points. Choose the most convenient payment method (credit card/Paypal/over the counter bank payments). I normally get my order a couple of days after placing it, so it's pretty quick. Use the samples for a minimum of 5 days and post your review/s. Make sure to read the guidelines so as to not have any problems having it approved. Approval may take up to a week, but whatever points you used for the sample/s will be returned plus an additonal point for your review. These points do not expire (the only ones that expire are the VIP points) and you can then use them to order more samples (they stock up on the samples every week)! As of this writing I've received more or less 30 bags (with maybe 2-3 products per bag) from them since I registered a year ago. 

So, stop second guessing and head on to www.sampleroom.ph and register! You can thank me later.  

Xoxo,

Missus C 💋

Makeup Revolution Haul Part 3

This Philippine weather makes me want to stop moving and just hibernate (or in this case, go through aestivation) until December. 😥 It's a good thing I have a new makeup haul to share with you, hopefully this lets us forget the hot weather 😊.

Last Easter, Makeup Revolution had an offer that allows you to get a mystery bag (full of makeup) worth £25 if you spend £30 (around Php 2000) on their website. And since I had a 20% discount/off for downloading their app to use until the 31st of March, I knew I couldn't pass this up. So I placed an order and waited for almost 3 weeks for my order to arrive. This time, the local post office charged me taxes for my international mail (which was weird as they have never charged me this before), which was around Php110. One of the first things to go inside my cart was the I♡Makeup Naked Chocolate, but unfortunately, on the receipt it says it's out of stock (eventhough up to now on their website it still says it's available)! I was so bummed, I didn't even want to take pictures of the things I purchased. Not only did I not get the palette, which was the reason I ordered in the first place, but since they issued a refund, my total purchase came short of £30 and I ended up not getting the mystery gift! @/#₩^@#*&! 😠😧😭  Oh well, I guess I would have to lift my self-imposed "No makeup buy"/ban. Okay, enough of my rambling and let's start looking at the goods.

I ♡ Makeup I ♡ My Brows

This sleek compact carries 2 brow shadows, 1 brow tint, 1 highlighter, 4 eyeshadows, 1 tweezer and an angled eyebrow brush.


Pro Fix Oil Control Makeup Fixing Spray

STOP the SHINE & MATTE FINISH ALL DAY! NEW OIL CONTROL FIXING SPRAY!
New sister product for our PRO FIX, fixing spray ... Our Oil Control Fixing Spray is a lightweight setting spray that helps deflect surface shine for a natural matte finish. High Tech ingredients keep foundation and eye makeup in place, with NO smudging and NO fading. That 'Just Applied' look for up to 12 hours. 

Rose Gold Lipstick in Chauffeur

Comfortable to wear, high coverage formula with buildable colour.
Chauffeur is our perfect nude, for everyday. Creamy high gloss glide on formula, packaged in a luxurious rose gold tube. Colour can be built up to full intensity or less for a sheen of colour. A great choice for natural every day make up.
A lipstick with beauty.

The Matte Blush - Nude

 Image from www.makeuprevolutionstore.com

New! MATTE BLUSHER
Blends beautifully for a natural, long lasting matte finish 6 shades to choose from.
The ideal Nude shade with a touch of pink and a lot of luxury.

I ♡ Makeup I ♡ Obsession Palette - Pure Cult

 Image from www.makeuprevolutionstore.com

I ♡ Makeup I ♡ Obsession Palette - Born to Die

 Image from www.makeuprevolutionstore.com

I ♡ Makeup NOW has its own palette edition from the MAKEUP OBSESSIVES!
Our OBSESSIVE development of a NEW updated Formulation and continuous OBSESSION with development of NEW products. Launching the first limited edition palettes with dramatic and stunning collections of Brand NEW debuting shades to our eyeshadow ranges. Our Obsession all contains 10 shades, a mixture of shimmer and matte. Introducing as follows:
Our nude and smoked colections of 'PURE CULT' and 'BORN TO DIE'. 
The stunning glamour of 'WEST END GIRLS'.
The romance of of 'PARIS', and the heartbreaking shades of 'WILD IS THE WIND'. 

This was offered at 3 for 2 but being the brilliant me, I failed to check and make sure the third palette was added to my cart before checking out. I tried asking them if I could add it minutes after submitting my order but they said I have to cancel my entire order and reorder everything to which I said no of course!

So, the only consolation I have from this order is: none of the items came broken. I guess Makeup Revolution, listened to their customers' complaints about damaged items (including me), as their items are now individually bubble-wrapped except for the large palettes (which I ended up selling since I have so many similar palettes, hence the lack of pictures) I got. So since I wasn't able to get the Naked Chocolate palette, I can justify placing another order to get it and buy another palette or more makeup to make the shipping fee and taxes worth it, don't you agree? 😉

See yah on my next post!

Missus C 💋