With last month’s epic Trash Stash, this month yielded a much smaller amount of empties.
I’m most proud of finishing up that little pot of Laura Mercier powder!
Trash Stash: November 2015
Month: November 2015
Optimum Points Redemption Extravaganza!
Since everyone is posting their Black Friday loot, I thought I’d post my Optimum Points Spend Your Points loot! I did go into Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) armed with a shopping list, let’s see how well I did sticking to the plan:
Firstly, I ended up redeeming for $300 worth of products instead of $200. I had accumulated more points since hitting the top tier a little while back. And since I’ve been positively deprived of new beauty products all year long (too dramatic?) that I went all out and depleted my Optimum Points balance. It was worth it! 😀
Fall into Autumn Tag
I was tagged by Joy of StyledWithJoy to do this one and since Fall is quickly slipping away from us, I figured I’d hurry up and answer this, pronto! Thanks Joy for tagging me on this one, I can always count on you! 🙂
Rules:
1. Include the blog links of the tag creators (Lilian and Denise).
2. Thank the last person who tagged you and link their blogs in your post.
3. Be thoughtful and creative when you answer these questions.
4. After answering the questions, pass the tag onto at least five more bloggers to spread the autumn joy!
The Questions:
1. What is your go-to fall color?
Grey. I just LOVE all shades of grey. I will wear head to toe grey – charcoal pants with a dove coloured top! I don’t have grey shoes – what’s up with that.
Prize: Rinse Beauty Bar Manicure
I visited RINSE Beauty Bar this past Wednesday for a Paradise Manicure, which was the prize I won from Cat of MyLipstickAddition! 😀 I took the day off to meet up with a friend for lunch and decided to get some pampering too.
It was quiet and relaxing since it was just Julie (the lovely and friendly nail technician) and myself at the salon during my visit. As Cat mentioned on her post about her experience at RINSE, this salon features natural beauty products – even all of their nail polishes are 5-free, cruelty free and vegan. I really appreciate the fact that everything they used not only looked good, it was good for me as well. 🙂
Tokyo Milk Wisdom No 26 perfume
Happy Black Friday! I may or may not be out trying to nab a deal on winter boots. I haven’t decided if I’ll brave the crowds. I might just order online. 😛
Today I’m reviewing Tokyo Milk Wisdom No 26 perfume. I’ve heard a lot about Tokyo Milk fragrances – how niche and unique they are; the official name of the company is Tokyo Milk Parfumarie Curiosite, for heaven’s sake. But, I feel like it’s a very carefully manufactured brand image, not as indie or novel as they’d like us to think.
I bought the eau de parfum of Wisdom No 26 purely by chance: last year at around this time in November I was killing time in a little gifty shop – you know the kind, lots of trinkets adorned with whatever is the latest trend – be it owls, foxes, pandas; necklaces with lightning bolt / mushroom / wishbone pendants, and a section of cutely packaged hand creams and perfumes at greatly marked-up prices. They were having a 50% off sale on select fragrances, and Wisdom No 26 was among the offering. I snagged this for only $13.50. I initially bought it as a back-up present – just in case someone gave me a Christmas present who I wasn’t expecting to receive a gift from, I’d have something to give them back (do you do this – keep spares?) But in the end, it wasn’t needed and the perfume sat in my stash unopened. So I decided to open it and keep it for myself! 😉
Black Friday 2015: No-Buy edition
Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! I hope you get stuffed full of turkey and pumpkin pie! 😀 Then rest up for Black Friday tomorrow! 😉
So it seems like everyone but me will be going out Black Friday shopping this year. *pout* Alas, Black Friday in Canada is less of an event compared to the US anyway. Our Thanksgiving was 6 weeks ago, but we participate in this American Thanksgiving tradition, whereby we have a random day of special sales on a Friday at the end of November. It’s a regular work day for us; our stores don’t open as early, and our sales aren’t as insane as in the US.
But, I have seen a bigger push from retailers to promote Black Friday here in the past few years. The last 3 years I made an effort and went looking for deals on Black Friday. In 2013, I actually took the day off and went shopping! Since I’m not participating in Black Friday (cosmetics-wise) this year, it got me thinking, did I even like the stuff I bought on Black Fridays past? It’s not a good deal if I don’t even use the stuff. Let’s have a look.
One month till Christmas!
Tick tock, it’s officially only one month till Christmas. 30 more days to finish (or start?) shopping. I’m pleased to say that I’ve actually started my Christmas shopping! I went to William-Sonoma when they had a 20% off Friends & Family event and bought a few things, one of which was this:
The rest I can’t say because some people read this blog. 😉
I also mailed out my first Christmas card earlier this week – I don’t have many to mail out, thank goodness. I have an idea about what I’m getting for pretty much everyone on my list – so it’ll just be a matter of buying the items.
And a bit off topic, but look what I just saw:
Image courtesy of smartcanucks.ca
The long awaited Spend Your Points Event at Shoppers Drug Mart! Granted, it’s not the Super Spend Your Points Event but it’s better than nothing. On Saturday only, 95,000 Optimum Points will be worth $200 instead of $170, and 50,000 points is worth $100 instead of $85. I’ll be redeeming for $200 worth of beauty products on Saturday. 😛
What about you, have you started to shop? I guess with Black Friday coming up, it’ll be the official start of Christmas shopping frenzy. 😀
Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream
I finally cracked open my tube of Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream. I’ve been itching to try this since purchasing it late last year, but wanted to wait until I finished my other serums first. Last month’s skincare empties paved the way for me to finally give this unusual product a go:
I purchased this on eBay from a Korean seller and it cost me $8 for the 45g tube.
MAC foundation samples
I got 3 MAC foundations samples when I went in the last time to redeem my “free” lipstick for the Back to MAC program. I’ve now had the chance to try all 3 foundations at least twice each, so I can provide a first impressions type of review on them.
The foundations I got were: Prep + Prime BB Beauty Balm SPF35, Matchmaster SPF15 Foundation, and Mineralize Moisture. Firstly, what I typically like in my everyday foundations:
• lightweight – skin-like finish
• easy application – I typcially use my fingers
• long wearing – at least 8 hrs to last me through a work day
• good colour match
I have combo skin with an oilier t-zone, sensitive skin that can get dehydrated. Foundation is a product that I like to try a sample first before taking the plunge with a full size – I like to check the colour match in a variety of lighting, and also make sure they don’t cause break outs.
I’ve been curious to try the Mineral Moisture foundation since its launch and the other 2 samples were chosen for me by the MA who recommended them based on my preferences and skin type. Here are my thoughts on each after trialing them.
20 Beauty Questions Tag
Here’s a Tag that I saw on Katie of Plus Beauty‘s blog ages ago! (I miss Katie, anyone else? I saw on IG that her move went well – I’m so happy for her!)
20 Beauty Questions Tag:
1. Do you remember your first makeup item?
It was a frosty pink sticky lip gloss from Avon. It was terrible but so awesome at the same time! I wasn’t allowed to wear a stitch of makeup until I was in high school (around 14) and even then, it was only lip gloss.
Sunny side up lipgloss from Avon (Source) This isn’t what I had but isn’t this awesome? I’d totally buy that.
stash matters 