Murad skincare haul from Strawberrynet

I'm in one of my direct moods - no need for being cryptic with post titles today :D

From the beginning of the year, I had started trying out Murad's skincare line. Before this I had only used their concealer and primer, mainly makeup related stuff, and taken the supplements. As my skin's condition never seemed to improve, with the mix & match skincare routine I had going on, I did my research and decided to use the Murad line.

I started out with the Blemish Control Starter Kit and the Post-Acne Lightening Gel. Overall, I think this kit was fine. It did help lessen my hormonal acne along my jawline but I was still frustrated that my skin did not clear up. Every product in the kit was generally so-so. I was pretty unimpressed by the Skin Perfecting Lotion which got rave reviews but for me left my face a greasy mess. I ditched that moisturizer in favor of my Neutrogena Anti Acne Anti Wrinkle cream. I also felt I had better results with the cleanser from the same Neutrogena line as the cream so I did stop using the cleanser from the kit too although my cleanser sample was used up pretty good before I switched. Essentially, what I liked from the line was the Acne Spot Treatment and the Exfoliating Blemish Gel. The Post-Acne Lightening Gel worked in lessening the hyper pigmentation caused by the acne scars so for me this product is a win. I did think that if I kept to the regime, perhaps it would, over time, clear my condition. As I started looking into getting the full size products from the Blemish Starter Kit, I noticed the Murad Anti-Aging Acne Starter Kit. I looked over the list of products and decided to give this set a try instead after considering that my skin responded better to products with anti-aging properties in them.

I've been using the kit for a little over a month now and I have to say that the kit is a success for me. Out of all the products, I love all of them. It comes with the Time Release Acne Cleanser, Acne & Wrinkle Reducer, Anti-Aging Moisturizer SPF 20 (PA++) (for blemish prone skin) and the Acne Spot Treatment. The Acne & Wrinkle Reducer as well as Anti-Aging Moisturizer both leave my skin matte - which I find totally miraculous! I use the former as my nighttime lotion and the latter as my daytime moisturizer since it contains SPF. I also find that the Time Release Acne Cleanser has truly helped to clear my skin and any acne/blemishes that pop up aren't so much angry and red. It doesn't foam which I initially found a bit odd but I loved the thought that even after I washed it off, the cleanser was still treating my skin (that's the time release part :D). Having said all that, my samples will be gone soon, especially the Acne & Wrinkle Reducer since the tube sprung a hole during my trip back from Homeland and left most of the lotion on my makeup case - I only have less than a 1/3 left :(, so I decided to get the full size of the products. I also added the Clarifying Toner cos my Lush Tea Tree Oil toner is finishing up and swapped out the Acne Spot Treatment for the Blemish Spot Treatment cos the former was out of stock on Strawberrynet.

In total I spent USD171.27 on this order. I'm on my 16th order with Strawberrynet. I need to place 2 more orders before I can reach my 20th order which will give me my 10% member discount. Right now it's 7.5% plus an additional 4% for ordering 5 items.

E.L.F - so far so good

My ELF stuff from the drugstore.com and first 2 eyeslipsface.com orders have arrived so I've had time to test the stuff I bought. And I have to say, I am extremely happy with the products I got so far. In particular, I absolutely love the Mineral Infused Primer, the SPF powder and the HD Powder. With these products, I've finally found a way to combat my 'shine' issues. I am totally amazed at how matte I can still look even after a whole day and without touching up. Perhaps I'll blot once in the afternoon - it's been particularly humid in my neck of the woods - but other than that, the makeup has not slid off, I feel my face sweat but it NEVER shows! Colour me impressed!

And my brushes - I LOVE THEM! They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G quality for the price I paid! I cannot believe the workmanship that goes into making them and the price of an individual piece is around about 3 bucks only?!?!?! This is crazy stuff right here! The bristles are sooooo soft - they put my Too Faced Teddy Bear Hair brushes to shame! They also beat my EcoTools brushes. The brushes I've been using so far are the Complexion brush which I pair with the HD Powder and I use the Powder brush for my Jane Iredale Amazing Base foundation. I have started combining the Jane Iredale foundation with the ELF SPF powder. I feel that the SPF powder has really made the coverage of my powder foundation on par with the full coverage I get with my fave liquid foundation, Revlon PhotoReady.

I've been trying out the ELF Essential All Over Cover Stick as my concealer du jour with the Angled Foundation brush. My opinion on the All Over Cover stick is still a little divided. I'm not completely over the moon with the product cos I'm still unsure if the coverage and shade is what I need but I can build upon it till I reach the coverage I like. I feel the shade Rosy Beige comes off too light on my face and it isn't easy to blend. It does stay on really well though. And if it's confusing to see a paint palette in the pic, that's because it is a paint palette but I'm using it as my mineral makeup tray :D. I got wind (translation: Youtube beauty vids) of a product called Minerals Mate. It's basically a tray for dispensing your mineral powders into so you don't end up using the lids for catching the product since this can breed bacteria and get into the product. As much as I wanted this tray, the Minerals Mate is $11.50 + shipping to Portland then plus shipping to Homeland so it would add up. Since the palette didn't look too different from a paint palette, I went to a local bookshop when I was in Homeland last week and got myself the flat-bottom palette above and it definitely serves its purpose! And for the lowly price of 90 cents. Woohoo!

I also have two lip products in this shipment which are the Smoothing Lip Balm in Strawberry Creme and the Hypershine Lip Gloss in Vixen. The lip balm I tried first. It has me a bit confused. Overall, I think it's very moisturizing and it does smoothen the lips. However, I don't know if the formulation just doesn't suit me or what but it tends to get waaay too greasy on me. Even when I do a small swipe and it appears to be okay then perhaps 15 minutes later, take a swig of my coffee, it'll immediately turn into a grease-fest. Which is the part that has me confused. Why in the world does it turn so slick when water touches it? Confusing, Confucius. On the other hand, I LOVE the Hypershine Lip Gloss in Vixen. It is a gorgeous color and despite appearing as a bright red, when on my lips, it turns to a very natural red flush. Sort of as if I've been munching on strawberries and the juice stained my lips. Tres' pretty.

In terms of the acne related products, I've tried both the Zit Zapper and the Blemish Kit. It so happened that I got a bump on my forehead yesterday and I decided to test out the two products. First, by rolling on the Zit Zapper on the offending area and then I topped it with the blemish powder. At the end of the day, it's still there but I can feel that it's definitely not as 'angry' as it would have been if I simply used some other topical treatment. I can't give a definite verdict on these till I can use them for a more prolonged period of time. But so far, I'm okay with them. The Zit Zapper roller ball is a tad frustrating though. I had read reviews that the roller ball was a bit of a work and I can understand that. Half of the time, I'm kinda unsure if the product is coming out or not :)

Other stuff I got was the Shine Eraser blotting sheets which, based on first impressions, is a miss - I prefer the Clean & Clear Oil-Control films - and the Makeup Remover wipes which I have not used since I just got a pack of Topshop Makeup Wipes. The Shine Eraser paper is just too thin I think to be used in truly humid weather - you barely get to dab your face with it and it's torn. I was looking at the back of the Makeup wipes ingredients list and saw that the Topshop wipes and ELF wipes are basically the same except the ELF was made in China and the Topshop was made in EU. Topshop's wipes I found are surprisingly good (and can be seen in the haul pic above as well) so perhaps since ELF is so similar, I'll like it just as much. Next up is the Nourishing Cuticle Pen. I've used it every day since and I'll admit to seeing an improvement to my nail beds - my hangnail conditions aren't as dire as they usually are. Whether it really helps makes nails less brittle - that's more a wait and see kinda thing ain't it. But I would get it again.

The All Over Color sticks - meh. I am not truly a fan. Mainly cos it's shimmery and I guess the Lilac Petal in particular is just not suited for my skin tone. Thus it appears as just shimmer - no color. The Pink Lemonade does show up significantly better when I wear it as a blush. But it does require building up the color with multiple swipes on each cheek. This would perhaps cause you to overuse the product so a light hand is really needed when applying this. The Eyelid Primer, I tried it out on my lids sans eyeshadow - just to see the consistency and feel as well as how it reacts to the oils on my eyelids and for right now, I'm pretty positive about this product. It goes on rather creamy but once blended, dries down really nicely. I will try it out with eyeshadow sometime later and see if the claims of longevity will prevail :)

Lastly, I just want to praise the Mineral Infused Primer. I don't know if it's because it's mineral infused (or even what that really means when a product is infused with minerals) but it has made the application and staying power of my mineral powders superlatively amazing. I can understand where some reviewers have mentioned it feels oily but to me, I don't see it as oily, I feel it is just extremely silky. It goes on very smoothly. The texture is similar to the Monistat Chafing gel that I was using for a while but silkier, smoother, so much more better in terms of results even. And this is just 6 bucks! Now, I realize it's only been 3 days but I am truly impressed with my experience with it so far. I do have a bit of fear that it will break me out as that appears to be the case with a few people though for now, it looks alright. I'll use it diligently for the next week and hopefully I'll be able to render this a success because I truly LOVE what it can do. And yes, I do agree with other reviewers that mention the pump on the bottle is horrible - it is.

Ok, so far the ELF experience has definitely been a tres pleasant affair. I can't stress how pleased I am with the products I got. And I'm even more excited for the other stuff that I recently purchased to arrive - I have my recent Studio and Mineral line haul headed for Homeland this week and the Mother's Day haul is headed for the Portland addy and should arrive by the end of the month. Till then :)

eyeslipsface.com is BANNED!

Nothing as dramatic as I'm banned from the site but essentially, that's what it is - I am banning myself from the site because I just cannot control myself. Yup, yes, oui. If it has not been guessed already, I made one more order from E.L.F. At least this time, I can actually say I have already tested the product. Granted it's really only been a day and a half but that was enough time to convince me that I needed to get a backup.

What am I talking about? The E.L.F High Definition Powder of course. I got my hands on it yesterday and today I used it whilst I was out and about. Soft focus, smoothness and whatever else claims aside, the one true thing I can attest to is that it definitely manages oil extremely well and that was enough to convince me that this product was a winner. Also, it did not help me in the least that E.L.F was having a Mother's Day BOGO Free promo on selected products (FORMOM). I had been eyeing some stuff but at that time I was sane enough not to get anything. I came home and randomly mentioned the promo to my sis and after editing the cart multiple times as well as sleeping on it, we ended up getting stuff. This time we stayed true to the promo products. In total our order contained 12 items totaling $56.45 but I'm just going to show the stuff that I got.

So there it is. As can be seen, I also decided I must get another bottle of the Mineral Infused Primer despite not having tested it yet. Although the many good reviews I have combed through did nudge me towards the decision to get another one, mainly it was cos it's part of my BOGO free deal when I got the High Definition Powder which is 6 bucks as well.

Aside from those two products, I had also been lusting after the 3-Piece Eye Set. It's a box set containing 2 eyelid primers (nude & champagne) and a lengthening & defining mascara (black) from the Essential line. I actually got the eyelid primer in nude in my first order from eyeslipsface.com. So again, haven't used it but the reviews are overwhelmingly positive. practically all the final verdict will be rendered Monday/Tuesday - the shipment is already in Hong Kong as we speak, should be headed for Homeland by tomorrow morning. The set retails for $3, I got it for half off.

I've also been so obsessed about getting a bronzer but had been too afraid in previous orders to get any cos I didn't want to get the wrong hue. When I saw the Blush & Bronzer compact set that came with a mini kabuki brush, I took the plunge. The blush is a very pretty peachy tone not unlike my fave blush of all time, Benefit's Dandelion. The bronzer side is also not too dark, it's a mocha hue which looks like it would blend well with my skin tone. I'm mainly using it for contouring purposes - this is something I've been rather obsessed about mastering.

Continuing on with my mineral makeup obsession, I decided to get the Mineral Starter Kit which retails for $20 but I got for $10. I of course chose the Warm shades which consists of a foundation with SPF 15 in Warm, concealer in Warm and a blush in Bliss. It also comes with a Total Face Brush, Blush Brush and a canvas case. I believe the brushes come from the Essential line.

Another mineral line buy was the Nice & Natural set. This kit contained a blush in Coral, eye shadow in Elegant & Sassy, mineral booster (small) in sheer, mineral lipstick in Natural Nymph, mineral glow in Shimmer and an bronze colored makeup organizer. This set is as is so there are no choices but should there be any out of stock products, a substitution would happen. The kit retails at $35 but at half off it went for $17.50. I love the fact that both Mineral sets I got contain different things (or shades) from the Mineral line which I get to try out. Plus, they are all in perfect travel sizes.

Last but not least, the 2-Piece Blemish Set that goes for $5 but I shared the discount with my sis who also got this so I paid $2.50. It comes with a 0.7oz pot and a concealer brush. I did get the full size Blemish Kit that retails for 8 bucks in the shipment that's due to arrive Monday/Tuesday. The only reason I got this was so I could complete my little ELF Mineral makeup travel kit thing I decided to get going on.

I realize in the month of April I have completely lost my marbles when it comes to ELF Cosmetics. Hence why I have decided to ban myself from the site. Like I mentioned in the last ELF haul post, I've got makeup to last me eons now for sure!

following F1 LIVE reporting

This feels pretty lame. I'm 'following' the race via Lotus F1's twitter account, BBC UK F1 LIVE reporting and Star Sports Petronas F1 Race Centre. I nearly shed a couple tears when the race started and I was reduced to looking at the feed updates. I just felt so pathetic, lol.

So Kimi held on to his fourth position during the start but Jenson Button has leap frogged him and Kamui Kobayashi into third but right now, Kimi is within 0.6s of Jenson and will soon be within DRS activation distance. A battle going on there for sure :)

still pissed, disappointed & sad

Woke up this morning praying that everything would go back to normal and I'd have my Star Sports back. NOT!

i'm set on makeup for eons now :D

Serious question: what is it about ELF Cosmetics that is making me have this completely compulsive need to own everything in their product lineup?

I just finished making two more orders :D I had a 50 Off for Studio line coupon (ECD2) and a 50 Off for Mineral line (ECD11) coupon available to me but you can only use one code for every order hence making the two separate purchases. I guess the determining factor to why these orders happened is due to HopShopGo giving me $10 off of my Homeland shipping total. It's not like I hadn't already perused the eyeslipsface.com site to death as it is, constantly editing my cart and trying to stop myself from checking out. But that $10 off promo code finally made the decision for me. So here goes another collage from the two orders I made.

First up is the Mineral line order. Ok, I also have some Essential line stuff in this which I paid full price for since the 50 off coupon did not cover anything beyond the Mineral line. But it's okay, after all is said and done, I actually managed to save 50 cents from splitting my orders up instead of going with another coupon code I had which was for a BOGO 50% off deal. My cumulative total for this ELF haul is $39.40 as opposed to if I had made a single order with the other coupon code would have been $39.95. And I think I managed to squeeze in an extra product :) So, back to the Mineral line stuff I decided I just must, must, must have:

I have been wanting the Personal Blend Foundation since I first laid eyes on it 2 weeks ago :) I kept thinking it over and trying to figure out how to justify buying another foundation when I'm still barely through my expensive Jane Iredale Amazing Base Foundation (which I absolutely love btw - more so than the PurePressed foundation I was so into previously). I also have one more pricey PurePressed compact in Riviera to finish up. Not to mention my Revlon PhotoReady liquid foundation, BB Creams (Skin79, Garnier & Clinique), stick foundations (Stila & Benefit) and tinted moisturizers (CoverGirl). But if you really want something, you'll find a way to justify getting it, obviously I did. I told myself that I could use the E.L.F mineral foundation for daily use and save the Jane Iredale for special occasions. All that was left to do after that was choose a shade. I decided on the medium.

The other item I really wanted from this Mineral line was the gimmicky Powder Face Cleanser. It's a powder face cleanser! How could I not want something as kitschy as that?!?!? So I got it. Well, the good reviews did help in making this part of the purchase. It apparently acts as a really good makeup remover. I'm currently using the Biore Makeup Remover Cleansing Oil which I do love however I prefer a good water-based remover so if this works - GREAT!

I had also heard some nice things about the Mineral line lip products in particular the mineral lipsticks. However, I'm not really a lipstick kinda gal so I decided to get myself the Moisturizing Lip Tint SPF 8 instead in the beautiful shade Rose. This is also a popular lip product from the Mineral line and apparently the shade I picked is a pretty popular hue so I'm pleased with the choice I made. The SPF was one of the things I considered more appealing when making the choice.

Last item in the Mineral line haul, is the Mineral Blush in Rose. I was in the market for a matte blush. I've noticed my collection mainly consists of blushers that have shimmer in it and I really wasn't fancying the thought of shimmery blushes for daytime anymore. Overall, I hear the formulation of this E.L.F mineral blush is matte so fingers crossed that that's true. The swatch online appears as a really pretty soft pink with a peachy undertone but the description given says it's a bright rosy pink. I hear E.L.F swatches can't be trusted. Nonetheless, kinda excited to be trying loose blushes out. This'll be my first.

Also in this order were 3 items from the E.L.F. Essential line. I have seen many reviews that extol the virtues of both the Waterproof Eyeliner Pen as well as the Mechanical Eyelash Curler. For a buck each, I figured these barely made a dent in my overall total. The Waterproof Eyeliner Pen is something I'm really looking forward to trying out. I only have had experience with a CoverGirl liquid eyeliner pen and to put it simply, I don't use it. I'm hoping that this one will give me the control I need to make successful winged/cat eyes. For a 1 dollar eyelash curler, this product really has gotten a ton of great feedback. I own a Shu Uemura eyelash curler, supposedly the HG of all eyelash curlers and I am happy with it. But if I can get another great one for a steal, I'm gonna get it. Another eye product I got was the Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara. Mainly cos its a 2-in-1. My eyebrows are in need of a setting gel and I'm also a big fan of clear mascaras. I recently found out that I'm sorta in a minority on the clear mascara front :) Total - 3 bucks.

And on to my second order entirely consisting of stuff from the Studio line.

The number one product I was really wanting from this line this time around was the Tone Correcting Powder. I have seen sooooo many Youtube vids praising this compact that it had me completely intrigued. I'm curious about the even-ing out part as I'm rather in need of that what with so many teeny dark hyper pigmentation spots which still show through under concealer. I see that it's mostly used as a setting powder after foundation but I've also heard people use it right after primer and I'm hoping to incorporate that in my routine there as well. I already got soooo many 'setting' powders from E.L.F that this I want to use more like a base for me.

I also wanted the Makeup Mist & Set quite desperately. I'm running out of my Urban Decay All Nighter and had been contemplating purchasing the Skindinavia setting sprays which is the company that also formulates Urban Decay's sprays. Then I found E.L.F, saw the makeup setting spray in their lineup, read the good reviews and decided to give those a go instead. For $3 for a 2.02 oz bottle compared to $19 which is the price of the smallest comparable bottle of a Skindinavia spray, I could afford to get 3 and still be under - I got 2 bottles for the price of one :D. Also a plus for E.L.F, it's a perfect travel size.

Next up is the Concealer Pencil & Brush in medium. I went for this instead of other concealers in E.L.F's product line primarily because this concealer has Salycylic Acid and Tea Tree Oil. It's a zit zapping concealer! E.L.F. also had an actual zit zapper concealer pen from their Essential line but I figured this pencil concealer was the way to go cos I wanted something easy with a creamy consistency rather than liquid and the pencil form feels like it would be more sanitary than the doe foot applicator on the Essential line concealer. And the shade seemed pretty similar to the Murad concealer I've been using so I figured why not try this out. I also felt that this would be great for traveling since I don't plan on dragging around the Blemish Kit + Zit Zapper treatment combo I got and talked about in my first E.L.F haul post. I'm using the Blemish Kit from the mineral line as mainly a treatment rather than a makeup tool.

Another product which had me curious was the Wrinkle Refiner. I'm at that point where I have fine lines on my under eye area and when i'm using concealer or foundation over that area, the product will ultimately settle in those lines throughout the day making them far more noticeable than what they really are. This product is supposed to act as a primer of sorts specifically for the eyes. or that's what the Youtube vids I've been watching claim. For $1.50 with the coupon code, I'll give this a go. I am hoping this will not cause me milia as my under eye area is rather sensitive. Even my Murad Resurgence eye cream caused some milia the first few weeks I was using it and that's supposed to be a skincare specialist brand :)

The last two items were more spurious decisions, not well thought out and mulled over like the other stuff I got. I decided to get a new Studio line product, the lipstick-style Lip Exfoliator, and the Retractable Lip Brush. The exfoliator I got I plan to use as the travel alternative to my Lush lip scrub. I just wanted another one which was easier to cart around - the Lush lip scrub comes in a heavy glass jar so I rarely bring it when I'm traveling. It's mainly my before bedtime scrub. With E.L.F's Lip Exfoliator I shouldn't have any excuses not to have smooth lips. And the lip brush, simply got it cos I've been meaning to get one - I'm trying to lessen dipping my fingers into products. I used to be quite religious about using lip brushes but somewhere along the way I fell of the wagon. This purchase is me trying to get back on the wagon :)

Individually, the Mineral + Essential line haul was $21.95 while the Studio line haul was $17.45. Of course, what really jacked up the amount was the $6.95 I had to pay for shipping both orders. This basically meant that my actual product cost were $15 and $10.50 respectively - SCORE! But like I mentioned above, the cost of shipping factored in twice still came up to 50 cents cheaper with the individual coupon codes rather than the single order coupon code I was originally intending to use. Anyways, I hope my stuff ships soon cos I need them to arrive to my HopShopGo addy before 30th April if I wanna be using my $10 off shipping promo code :)

P.S:
Hmmm, I just went over the number of E.L.F products I've gotten in the past 2 weeks alone and counting multiple purchases, I got 37 products totaling around $104.13. In the span of 2 weeks! That's a bit bananas even for me! However, taking into account the total amount spent versus number of products, it's all really a bargain. I mean, c'mon, I spent 40 bucks on the Naked2 palette by Urban Decay last January and for about that amount, I got this entire posts' haul! Not that I don't love my Naked2 palette, I absolutely j'adore it! Just trying to make a point :) And the main point to be taken from all of this is I am not in need of any further makeup for roughly the rest of the year - I need to start a PAN Project stat :D

P.P.S:
I'm starting to think this is stress shopping - on top of the usual work-related stuff I'm currently dealing with, this whole no F1 channel thing really tipped me over the edge I guess :D

i'm effing pissed and disappointed and sad

The local cable company that this place I'm renting is subscribed to for some stupid reason or another banished Star Sports from its roster and now I don't have any place to watch F1 LIVE anymore!

I had to resort to BBC's LIVE reporting for the Chinese GP qualies today! How completely sad is that??? What was even sadder was the fact that I still got nervous butterflies for Kimi every time his name came up in the live feed! THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN REDUCED TO! What in the world am I supposed to do about the actual race? And subsequent race weekends???

Honestly, I can't go an entire F1 season like this, I need my F1 fix, this is totally unacceptable to me. I can't believe they decided to have AN EFFING GOLF CHANNEL & 5 FRICKIN FOOTBALL CHANNELS REPLACE STAR SPORTS! I'm just going for it, stop being so polite, express how I really feel about this - FUCK!

On a side note, Kimi qualified 5th, promoted to 4th because of Lewis Hamilton's gearbox chage demoting him 5 grid slots. This means Kimi is on the 2nd row of the grid with a great chance at a podium. He's got the 2 Mercedes in front of him, Kamui Kobayashi alongside him and Jenson Button behind him. If he gets a good start, he can effectively leap frog a couple of positions, maybe even be in first at the end of the first corner. Barring any racing incidences. BUT I WON'T GET TO SEE THIS COS THERE'S NOWHERE TO WATCH THE EFFING RACE LIVE IS THERE, STUPID CABLE COMPANY!!!!

March gets has arrived!

Woohoo! My Talia wedges from Sole Society, my 2 boxes of Clarisonic deep pore brush heads, my grey blazer and black palazzo pants from F21 and my drugstore.com ELF haul has arrived to Homeland. Next Friday I'll be headed to Homeland for a seminar so I'll be able to pick my stuff up. Tres excited.

Of course it would be even better if I could ship the rest of my stuff back now and get 'em by next week but my second ELF shipment from eyeslipsface.com is only due to arrive to Portland on Tuesday, the 17th. Which means even if I immediately try to get my stuff shipped out, it'll most likely only arrive after I return back to Workland on the 24th. Sucks.

keurig krazy

I don't recall ever mentioning it here but I have been trying to convince the office to splurge on a Keurig single brew coffee system since December 2011 after watching Ingrid aka MissGlamorazzi aka TheGridMonster's vlogmas vids. She got herself a Keurig Platinum Edition and everyday in December till Christmas, I got to watch her making yummy drinks using the Keurig, buying K-cups for the Keurig and other Keurig related activities and it made me really want to have one too. But instead of forking out my own money for it, which I'll admit, I could easily afford to get on my own, I thought it would be better to ask the bosses if we can get one for the office :D

Finally after a lot of subliminal messages and straight talking, The Company now owns a pair of the Keurig B60 single brew systems. Well, we got one first, tested it at the Homeland office and after the boss aka my sis was satisfied, she said I could proceed with the purchase for the Workland office. It's shipping from Portland as we speak. In the meantime, while I await the arrival of the second machine to take it back to Workland, I got for myself a few Keurig things to prepare myself such as this:

Yup, I decided to get myself the Crazy Cups Flavored Coffee Sampler which contains 35 count K-Cups from various K-Cup coffee manufacturers. It cost me $28.49. When I was in Homeland last weekend, I got to taste one of my K-Cups - the Green Mountain limited edition Spicy Eggnog. Unfortunately, not a fan of this, has an ashtray aftertaste, lol. I was a tad disappointed cos I had never had eggnog before and I always imagined it was delicious. Perhaps not in coffee form :) But I am not deterred. The tea versions of the K-Cups are delicious. Particularly the Gloria Jeans Mango Tea and the Green Mountain Lime Berry.

I also decided to get myself, personally, the ekoBrew refillable cup to use with ground coffee beans or loose tea leaves so that I can just go to the supermarket and not depend on the internet to get k-cups to use with the Keurig.

And to test said ekoBrew cup, that's why I got the 11 oz bag of Starbucks Coffee Natural Fusions Flavored Ground Coffee in Caramel.

It just arrived in Portland and I'll ship it back along with all the ELF stuff once they arrive. I hope it taste yummy. I sorta can't wait for Christmas time to roll around cos I really, really, really wanted to get the Starbucks Christmas blend last year but since I had no coffeemaker, I had to give it a miss. That's all changed now that we'll have the Keurig :D

DISCLAIMER:
ekoBrew image derived from Amazon.com and Starbucks Coffee Natural Fusions Flavored Ground Coffee image from drugstore.com. Crazy Cup Flavored Coffee Sampler image belongs to me - just too lazy to watermark it.

gift giving

No, not to myself. The stuff I got are actual presents to give to two of my friends. It's the same thing - a makeup product by Stila but I can get away with it cos these two buddies of mine run in different circles. Plus, it's an eyeshadow palette, one couldn't possibly get embarrassed over the other if they ever did meet with the shadows on eh?

Anywho, I was perusing Strawberrynet's April offers when I came across this really fantastic palette. And it was going for a steal! I would have loved to get it for myself but when I reflected on my recent Urban Decay Naked2 palette (which I love, love, love), I still felt that I could not pass up the Stila palette. I would instead, selflessly, gift it. Then I remembered I had two birthdays coming up - two palettes it is then. What I got:

It's called the Stila - Light Up The World Color Trend Eyeshadow Palette (Limited Edition). It's basically a palette of neutral shades perfect for everyday use - they look so pigmented and truly gorgeous. There are 10 colors - #Sugar, #Light, #Peaceful, #Bronze, #Dawn, #Precious, #Demure, #Delicate, #Sangria, #Truffle. The set also comes with a double-ended eye brush. I'm particularly loving the last shade in the palette, #Truffle I believe. It looks like such a gorgeous shade of brown.

Ah, I wish I could keep one but again, the shades are really neutral with a lot of browns and nudes and mauve hues I just could not justify getting a box of my own - what would I do with my Naked2? Plus, E.L.F. has me completely in their clutches, hehehe. I physically have to will myself from going crazy with getting their stuff. I'm trying to wait it out till I have the products in hand before I decide to go complete ELF crazy. A buck, 3 bucks, 5 bucks is still money when you think about it and I still don't wanna be wasteful regardless of how cheap the products are :D

ELF -BOGO......FREE

So two days after my first ELF purchase from the main site and another 5 days from my first ever purchase of ELF products from drugstore.com and whilst I have not even tested any of the stuff I got to see if it'll suit my skin, I decided to get some more stuff from eyeslipsface.com :D

I mentioned a BOGO promo in my post below and the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was such a deal. But I didn't want to be a glutton so to share in my guilt, I introduced the brand to my middle sis to see if I could get her onboard when I was back in Homeland this past weekend. And true to our DNA, she bit and we both got stuff from the site to the tune of $64.95 for 15 items. The majority of the stuff is hers and I think all of the items bar the Zit Zapper were from the ELF Studio line. The total cost of my 5 items I purchased was $22. I got the following:

So I know that some of the stuff I ordered contain redundant items but in the case of those items I say it's always a good idea to have backups. First is the 11 pc Studio brush set. It comes with 3 of the brushes I have already gotten individually like the powder brush, angled foundation brush and the complexion brush. It also comes with the Studio line version of the fantail brush which didn't have particularly good reviews on its own. Hence why I opted to get the Essential line version of this brush instead under the 'buy $20 get 10 Essential products free' coupon. The full line-up of the brushes are:

• Sleek, Water-Resistant Case
• Eyeshadow "C" Brush
• Complexion Brush
• Small Angled Brush
• Small Smudge Brush
• Fan Brush
• Powder Brush
• Angled Foundation Brush
• Concealer Brush
• Small Precision Brush
• Blush Brush
• Contouring Brush

Since I never ordered the contouring brush, I'm pretty stoked to get it in this set. I never owned one before since I believe contour brushes are used with bronzers to define certain areas of your face and considering I don't own bronzers cos I'm already olive-skinned as it is, I thought I wouldn't need it. But apparently there can be other uses for it so I'm happy it's in the set. The other brush I feel quite curious to try is the Eyeshadow 'C' brush. This brush is one of the most popular eye brush ELF offers and I'm wondering what all the hype's about. I usually feel like my fingers do a better job of packing on the color than any brush does. Anyways, the set comes in the black supposedly water-resistant case which on its own retails for $5. Total cost of this set individually would normally be around $40. With the promo code, I only have to pay $15 as this set retails for $30 and my sis and I each got one.

Next I decided to get the ELF Studio Kabuki Face brush. The reviews for this was overwhelmingly positive so I figured why not try it out. At this point I'm going to say I'm building myself a makeup brush arsenal :) I already got the Stipple brush from the previous order so why not add a kabuki face brush in the mix. The best part of my ELF brush binge is that all the Studio line brushes are antibacterial, synthetic haired Taklon brushes. Since I have issues about using real hair on my face, I always try to go for synthetic brushes and the anti-bacterial aspect of these brushes really drew me in. The kabuki brush retails for 6 bucks but I got this for $3 as my sis also purchased this as well.

Next I got 2 more Zit Zappers so in total I now have 3 roll tubes of this headed to Portland. I figure it's 1 buck, it's cheap and it's BOGO free so I can get two and it'll still cost me a buck. My sis decided to get a pair as well so in this order we have 4 Zit Zappers, lol. Then lastly, I have been intrigued by this since I read about it - the ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer. Now, I'm using the Murad Hybrids primer and I do love it but I don't think it goes well with powder mineral makeup. Since this primer by ELF is mineral infused, I thought that perhaps it will be a better base than the other primers I usually use. Cos I tried to go back and finish up my MUFE primer and it did not work out - something in that primer's formulation tend to cause breakouts for me. I dunno if this will suit my skin but it's worth a try. And for $3 as well (my sis got one too), I can give this a shot without much regret.

All my items have been shipped to Portland so I'm waiting for them to arrive. My first eyeslipsface.com order actually hasn't arrived in Portland as yet since I think it'll take roughly 10 days to ship to areas on the northern side of west coast US. ELF is based out of the east coast and they actually have a map detailing the estimated timeline of when items ordered would reach the place you deliver to. Luckily for me, I am back to being a Prime member on comGateway so I have my 30 days storage and can wait for the second shipment to arrive.

On a wholly separate yet somewhat related note, another item form my drugstore.com order that and my ELF products has shipped. I also got an 11 oz bag of Starbucks Coffee Natural Fusions Flavored Ground Coffee in Caramel. It's also just heading to Portland and I think it'll reach after the first ELF order but before the second. I only have the Kinerase PhotoFacials Restructure Firming Eye Cream still to ship since its on back order.

I also shopped quite a bit in Homeland and have a bunch of new stuff as well as picking up my F21 order that came in 2 weeks ago so maybe I will do a show and tell later in the week.

ELF-ing around

The company couldn't have gone for a more straight-to-the-point name. Eyes, Lips, Face. The makeup brand that sells high quality makeup for dirt cheap prices. The general price range of the products are between $1 (ELF Essential), $3 (ELF Studio) and $5 (ELF Mineral) - that's how dirt cheap it is.

Honestly, I'm pretty much like every other girl that's on the planet who's into makeup - skeptical about the quality of the products at the price that ELF is selling the stuff. And I really can't pass proper judgment till I get my purchases in hand. However, the millions of reviews I've gone through appear encouraging.

It all started with the HD powder. My history with these powders began in 2010 when my sis put some of her MUFE HD powder on my face when I was getting ready for a wedding. Fast forward to 2 years later and only now am I prompted to get myself some. I mentioned originally wanting the Tarte Smooth Operator HD Powder that retails for $28 but somehow ended up making the call to get the ELF HD Powder instead for a mere $6. I also wanted to stock up on some makeup brushes so decided to get a few face brushes from the ELF Studio line. I got the complexion, angled foundation and powder brush. Total spent on this haul from drugstore.com - $13.00 but with my April drugstore.com dollars amounting to $12.30 in effect, I should be charged, 70 cents for this.

After drugstore shipped my purchase, I then decided to be silly and visit the ELF site proper. Bad, bad, decision. I got sucked in. I registered my email last night to receive a special offer and an email popped up in my inbox a couple hours later with a 'Buy $20 product and get 10 ELF Essential items FREE'. I took 'em up on that. My $20 purchase consists of the following:

I was truly interested in the Blemish Kit as I had thought about trying the BareMinerals version that retails for $19. This one is $8. I also liked the idea of powder sunscreen and at $6 compared to the products by ColorScience, I decided to give this a try as well. Also, I wanted a stippling brush hence the purchase of the stipple brush from the Studio line. Currently I'm just using my Too Faced Teddy Bear Hair powder brush which has completely lost its shape :) Last thing I paid for were a pack of makeup cleansing cloths (20 ct). It had rather good reviews and I was in need of some so why not.

Next is the stuff from the ELF Essential line that I got for free. I chose the following:

I decided to get the Zit Zapper to use in conjunction with the Blemish Kit. Apparently the mineral sulfur powder in the Blemish Kit becomes more potent when paired with a benzoyl/salycilic/tea tree gel/liquid so I figure this would work nicely together. Plus, the Zit Zapper on its own had good reviews. I also always wanted to try their All Over Color. Ok, honestly, I always wanted Tarte's version but for $1 (or in this case FREE), ELF was the way to go. I got 2, one in Pink Lemonade and the other in Lilac Petal. I also got the concealer version of the All Over stick in the shade Rosy Beige. Next I decided to get something from the Hypershine Gloss line. I was perusing through the colors and finally chose Vixen - a bright red. I am currently in love with my Revlon Lip Butter in Cherry Tart so I guess my tastes are still leaning to bright red lip colors :) Also decided to get the fan brush - always wanted one and for free, I thought I could deal with the so-so reviews on this. Then I got the blotting paper Shine Eraser, eye primer Eyelid Primer in sheer and a moisturizing lip balm in Strawberry Creme. Last but not least, I went for something in the nail care section - the nourishing cuticle pen. I tend to get horrid cuticles and hopefully this pen will do some good.

There was actually a BOGO 50% for ELF bestsellers but I get to try out more stuff from the brand with the coupon code I received through email. All in all, I'm pretty excited about receiving my stuff. The drugstore shipment should be arriving later this evening and my ELF order has actually shipped though I read that ELF shipping is slow. Depending on the tracking updates, I might have to ship back the ELF order separately from the rest of the stuff I already have waiting for me in Portland - Clarisonic Deep Pore brush heads, F21 birthday haul, the Sole Society Talia wedges and the incoming ELF drugstore.com shipment :)