[Purchases] 2012 Boxing Day Shopping

I noticed that the stores now have boxing WEEK sales instead of a boxing day sale.  I guess that is because the economic recession and the store try to hold the sales longer in hope to have more customers.  I also noticed that the sale items did not go as fast as they used to be few years ago, unless it is an insanely unbeatable deals.  I don't know what will happen in the future and of course I am concerned.  I am due to get a job after I graduate in May this year, this economic recession really bothers me.

I planned long ago that my first stop in the boxing day is going to LUSH first.  I fell in love with Lush this year and I always adore their lemony flutter cuticle cream! I know that they only have ONE sale in entire year. The buy one get one event after Christmas!

An overview of my boxing day hauls. Not very much, I only made purchases from Lush and Sephora.  I actually want some clothing too, but the lineup is pretty long, it is not worth to wait for the fitting room and elbow with other crazy women in one day.  I am exhausted to make into Sephora already. BTW I am TOOO FAT now and I plan to lose some weight before buying new clothes! I am a fatty :(

I got 4 gifts sets and 4 facial cleansers from Lush.  They are all buy one get one free and I paid about $150 after the taxes. "Hello Gorgeous" gift is not a Christmas gift set and it supposed not be on sale as B1G1.  But Metrotown store messed up and they gave me B1G1 price! I am so happy and actually want to get more.  I returned the second day and the staff said that they made mistakes, the regular gift sets are already back to normal pricing :( Oooops, I should grab another at that time. !!!!!  White Christmas gift set was super popular, I guess that was because of the scent. The set contains mostly Vanilla and honey scent products, which absolutely is my cup of tea.  I also bought four of Christmas limited  facial cleansers: Let The Good Time Roll and Buche De Noel!! Some girls said that they wish Lush can make it as regular products but I don't.  If they are regular products then they won't be sale on the boxing day!  But I cannot buy too much too, because they expire in end of March.  I am sad that they never sale their regular products.  Big shampoo and Lemony Flutter are my daily staples. I would really love to stock them too!

Lush Hello Gorgeous Set, Price $40!

I am excited to try Vanilla Dee-Lite and Comforter Bubble Bar!

Unboxing!! WooHoo!

I love what Lush has sticker showing who made the gift set!

I wonder if the person really looks like the sticker or not LOL

Digging for the products!

 Those are the products in the set. Total 6 items!

Lush White Christmas Set, price $73

All the products contained, I love the star-shape soaps!

Unboxing!

The same person makes my Hello Gorgeous set and this one!

I prefer the packaging of Hello Gorgeous set than this one for sure

Dig out the goodies! I am not sure what I am going to do with those plastic bubbles!

All of the products in the set, total 8 items!

Eh...after the unboxing, I am wondering why I paid so much for those items.  They are very expensive tho! the sizes are not big in the gift sets :( so sad.  The box looks big and promising but after taking all the items out, I feel disappointed.  It is not much and it is not worth $150.  I know that Lush is even more expensive without G1B1 event. But I cannot help myself to feel disappointed.

That's all about my Lush boxing day purchase.

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I went to Sephora to haul some deals, I really want philosophy purity cleanser for $12. I didn't see any because they were long gone before I made to the store.  So I picked some other items.

Before this, I haven't never tried the cake beauty before. I am just obsessed with hand creams and I found that this set is 50% off.  $18 dollars for 3 X100 ml is an okay price for me. So I picked them up.

This is the boxing day item for $12.  I think that the regular price is about $30. Never tried Boscia  before, but I heard a lot of good reviews about this brand. It is risky to just 'buy for the brand' tho.  I hope that is pretty good to justify $12.

Let's all for my boxing day shopping. Not super massive haul but I am satisfied. I am pretty sure that I won't be disappointed for some after Christmas sales! So let's save some money for that!

[Purchase] US Seattle Christmas Shopping

Few days ago, I went to Seattle with my brother to have a sightseeing+ shopping day.  Seattle was pretty cold compared to Vancouver.  I have no idea why it is the case, because Vancouver located in higher latitude, it supposedly be colder.  Sadly, Seattle did not have a lot of amazing sales.  I guess that it is because Christmas is near.  The stores don't need to have sales to attract people to buy.  Maybe I will go again after Christmas to haul some deals.  I am not sure if that is worth going again considering my transportation costs as well.

This is the overview of what I bought. Looks a lot, but it really isn't! Most of stuffs part of my online Bundle Monster parcel. Some purchases from Sally Beauty, Sephora and Ross. I am not too overly excited.  I regret buying the two sets of Color club nail polishes from Ross. The color are not as pretty as I thought  they will be.  It is a waste of money.  I will definitely make some colour inventions by using those for sure.  A set for like $8 bucks, what can I complain then.

This is the only item I am so excited about. The limited edition Christmas Plate from Bundle Monster!!! I LOVE IT. It is free with any purchase from their website. I admitted that's what they got me in the first place.

 

And I am excited about this Bundle Monster plate organizer. It is pricy but a useful tool. I also purchased their 2012 plate set this time and I unwrapped all the plastic covers on the plates and put into the organizer. It's prefect fit. The only problem is that I think they should make two side opening for plates, because it will be easier to use.  Also, I am not a fan of this leather cover too.

Here are some quick photos for the 2012 plates, I cannot wait to use them!

I missed the Halloween, otherwise the plate will be great!

The images are very crispy-cut, I LOVE IT.

They are really adorable!

I don't really like the french nail design on the plate, but it is ok.

My Christmas Limited plate goes in too.  I already use it :D

My Konad plates can fit in the organizer too, They are the same size as the BM's.

 $20 dollars for 21 plates is a unbeatable price! My Konad is much more expensive than Bundlemonster's plates. I would say that is a great buy!  I am sure that some of images I am not a big fan, but other things I like already make the purchase WORTH IT.  Besides, there are a lot of room left in the organizer and I cannot wait to purchase more to "fill in the spaces" :D

Although I am lemming on DRK plates now.  I have big nail beds and DRK seems a better option to make it up.  DRK cannot be fitted into this organizer and I image it will be hard to storage too.  Not sure I will purchase soon.  I am waiting for the Ninja polish to go on sale !!

Yeah, that's all for my Seattle trip!

[Nail Arts] Purple Snow Flakes

Christmas past already, but I am just started to be in the mood.  I have been cooking too much recently without time and energy to do nails.  Augh, my school is going to start in few days and I don't feel I am ready for it yet.  Who's vacation is ever long enough tho? Haha

Anyway, I try to do a more unusual colour design for Christmas manicures, because I am so tried of red/green/silver combos.  I am also eager to try the new Essie I just recently received :D !!

Here is what I used:

Essie-Where's My Chauffeur?

Ciate Mini-Ladylike Luxe

 3 coats of Where's My Chauffeur?. I know my cuticle looks very bad, it was caused by intensive cooking and housework. I know that they look bad :(

I would say that this colour itself is not very Christmasy, probably more suit for the summer.

I used Ladylike Luxe doing some random touches!

 I actually prefers that gold sparkles to be little bit sheer, but it is ok.

Here is the final product. I used purple acrylic paint to do some snowflakes.  Originally I was going to use white, but I noticed that I haven't opened the purple tube in the set and would like to see the colour :) Sigh, this is not the best snowflakes tho.

I recently ordered a much better nail art brushes and paints, I hope that they will arrive soon!

If the purple can be lighter, it will stands out more for sure!

Well, I haven't used Essie for a while and I did make some mistakes when applying the nail polish.  I ashamed to say that this simple manicure took me about 2.5 hours to do just because I mess up.  Other than that, I enjoyed it.

What do you think about it?

[Purchase] Nasty Nails Kit

A late Merry Christmas greeting !!!! I was extremely busy with a lot of things recently :D
Finally feel the holiday spirit after couple shopping trips!

I placed an order on a recently discovered site Nasty Nails a week ago, and received on Christmas eve, it feels like a early Christmas present!! (From myself to myself  LOL).

I highly recommend this website, they don't have a lot of selections, but they do have very very very good price and the brands I like (eg: Essie, OPI etc.).   They also provide free shipping and handling for all of orders, how awesome is that for Canadians?  :D  Plus, I really love their customer service.  The online chat function is great, and the staff are really helpful and polite.  Their website also is very clear on the product instruction  and what will you receive etc. They also provide some videos to show you how to create simple nail art looks.   I just love them so much.  I will definitely purchase more from them in the future.

I ordered a "Leopard Print by Chelsea" which consists two Essie nail polishes, a Seche topcoat (my favorite  and a two way black nail art pen for a discounted price: $12.74+free shipping.

Yes, it's an insanely good deal!!  Essie is my favorite nail polish brand, but they are so expensive in Canada.  I cannot believe that Nasty Nails can offer that damn good price for it.  I wonder that they will go out of business soon for offering such a low price. ( I know, I am so bad! ).

 I personally do not like the demo of kit.  Actually, I don't need this kit to create leopard look at all.  I bought it just for the Essie nail polishes and I am running low on my Seche topcoat.

Anyway, this is what I got:

Essie- Chinchilly (taupe)

Essie- Where's My Chauffeur? (teal blue)

A quick swatch for the colours!

I am sorry for the hands, I have been cooking too much those days!

I really love everything I received except one thing.  Yes, the two way black nail pen is not very good.

This is what I meant.  It shapes like that and I cannot make it "straight"!!!

Actually, there is a little bit spread on the back, and the smell is terrible!  Fortunately all other items are fine and it did not spread onto other products.  I don't want to mention that the nail art pen brush itself is not very good too.

Overall, I am still highly recommend this website and their kits.  I know that I wasn't too happy with the two way black nail art pen, but it is still an amazing deal.  I don't think any Canadian shops can beat this.

I will definitely order with them in the future!

What do you think? Do you place an order too?

[Nail Arts] Purple Gradient X Gold Crackle

Yeah, Christmas is coming and I should be doing some holiday-theme manicures.  I don't why but I wasn't feel too energetic for doing so.  I purchased the Bundle Monster Christmas limited edition plate and I should put it into use somehow.  Maybe I will try that next.

Here is a Purple duo from Nicole by OPI.  They were originally packed as a set when I picked them up from Shoppers about a year ago.  It was on clearance rack for $6.  Yes, $6 for two Nicole by OPI nail polishes is a great deal!  Even though  I wasn't really a fan by this line, I still picked them up just for sake of the good price.   The gold crackle nail polish by China Glaze was the prize from the recent Seattle trip.  I got from Sally beauty for a buck.  Crackle is no longer the trend in nail polish world, but I don't care.  Actually, I never follow the trend in nail world and the fashion magazine what-so-ever.  As long as the price is good I will pick up few just for fun.

What I used:

Nicole by OPI- The Grape Debate (Middle)

Nicole by OPI -Glitz and Glisten (Right)

China Glaze- Cracked Medallion

3 Coats of The Grape Debate, a dark plum colour

Another picture, without a topcoat

I use Glitz and Glisten to do the gradient part and the sponge from dollar store. To make money worth, I cut the sponge into small piece like this.  In this way, a sponge can produce about at least 20 manicures :)

The finished gradient without a topcoat

And I applied the Crackle on the ring finger and finished with a top coat

The front of tip is not smooth, it's a pitfall for gradients.

The angle shows the sparkly reflection :)

Yes, I like this gradient nail art.  The crackle was something unexpected.  I only own one bottle of crackle effect nail polish from OPI.  The OPI one has larger spaces on the crackle surface than this China Glaze one.  I was expecting the gradient can be seen through the crackle effect a little bit more tho.  Anyway, now I know that every brand has a slightly different crackle formula.

Sadly, as I predicted, my nail chips the very next day as all the Nicole by OPI polish I own. 

Anyway, I really enjoy this purple mani, what do you think?

[Nail Arts] Simple Red with Stars

After I returned from my shopping trip, I immediately took out all the nail goodies I got to make a manicure.  I got home about 11 pm and I only had a hour to get a manicure done, so  I decided to try something simple and Christmas-y (hopefully).

I used one of Color Club nail polish I got from Ross.  It is super weird that the packaging says that is "Wild at Heart" Collection, but this red doesn't seem like should be in the collection.  In fact, a lot of colors in the set seem like from something else.  I don't know, maybe someone change the nail polish in Ross.   I don't like to complain- because you got 7 nail polishes for $8 bucks.  Well, I cannot have high expectation tho.

Basically, I just pick up some stars from my new Bundle Monster rhinestone wheels, and Ta-Da!

This is what turns out! I am not sure why this red nail polish has small bubbles when I applied it.  I guess that is because I took the nail polishes to travel with me. I somehow shake them too much to cause that problem.

I have to say the silver stars are not very outstanding. A bad Choice!

It is a very simple manicure, but there is one thing I want to complain.  The stars catch any kind of fibers.  I have to take this off in the very next day, because it picks on my clothing like crazy. 

What do you think about this simple mani?