and the E.L.F. binge continues

This time on drugstore.com. I was actually waiting to get the stuff in July when I could use my 8-plus bucks of drugstore dollars to offset my total. But as I was looking through the cart and editing some of the stuff, I decided to go google some drugstore.com coupon codes. I found one for $5 off $40 and tried it out to see if it worked on my $40.49 cart total. Then I wanted to see if I could pay using my new Mastercard Platinum card - I could! That means more options for me, lol! Yup, yup, Mastercard seems to have deemed me fit to have a Platinum too, hehehe - is that a sign I'm coming up in the world, LOL?

So my curiosity begot me 13 pieces of e.l.f products for a total of $35.49. Drugstore.com was also still having the 'Buy 4, Save $2' promo (ends June 30 2012) on select e.l.f products so except for one Essential line product that did not qualify, the other items were from the Studio range covered by the promo. I basically got all the stuff I wanted to try but didn't get before as I thought I couldn't justify it. I was still trying to see if I should hold off till July but just went for it cos the $2 bucks off for every 4 e.l.f products promo wasn't going to be valid in July. It's a case of do I get the stuff now with the $6 bucks saving and the $5 off or do I wait to use my $8.62 and potentially $5 off $40 in July. I obviously decided to get them now. I guess I'll have $10.32 come July - that's always another excuse to buy more stuff :P

This time around I decided to get myself these things:

Yup, there's that Mineral Infused Primer again! I think I'm trying to make sure that I have enough if ever I have to ration the stuff :P I got duplicates of both the sunscreen powder and brush shampoo. These were items I thought are absolutely worth it to be getting multiples of. SPF45 powder sunscreen at 6 bucks per container is a steal. I've been using the one I got in my first e.l.f. website order consistently and I strongly believe it has improved my overall skin appearance. The brush shampoo - it's $2.50. Considering I have an obsession with buying up makeup brushes right now, I could do with brush shampoo, no?

There are 2 conditioning lip balms in this order but each a different shade - I got the Peaceful Pink (I believe this is the shade that is most popular) and Mellow Melon (shade that I've been lusting after since I first heard about this product). Honestly, the reviews re: Mellow Melon haven't been that great. The reason I got it anyways was cos I saw this shade swatched on a Youtube vid and it looked gorgeous to me. Hence getting it anyways :D I also have been coveting the Matte Lip Color for quite a while now. I originally wanted to get this in the shade Rose but since I have a mineral lip tint in that hue already, I decided to go for Coral instead. Continuing on with lip products is my purchase of the Lip Primer & Plumper. The name basically describes what this product does. The dual-ended pencil has a lip primer on one end and a plumper on the other. Reviews have been mediocre on this item. While people do rave about the primer, the plumper is something hardly worth writing about apparently. I got it anyway cos the plumper has a cinnamon scent and I am obsessed with cinnamon stuff.

Next, I decided to get the Concealer Pencil & Brush in Fair. I have this already in Medium. Seems like the color is too dark for my skin tone so when I cover up blemishes or discolored areas, it just looks splotchy - waaaaay darker than my skin tone. Which surprised me. So this time I just decided to go for Fair. Another item is the Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in the shade Beige. I'll reserve comments till I get my hands on this. I've been so-so on guessing my shades with ELF which is something a lot of people have issues with. In my ELF site order I got the $1 tinted moisturizer in Honey. I wanted to be able to test out the difference between the Studio line version and the Essential line hence why I got one from each. Then we have the Clarifying Pressed Powder in Honey. I got this one to round out my total to 40 bucks honestly. And as much as that is the reason, I also figured that this would be great with the Essential line tinted moisturizer I got in Honey as well as the All-Over Cover Stick in the same shade.

Now, moving on to the single eye product I got. e.l.f's Essential Waterproof eyeliner pen is looking like a bust to me. Great reviews but not something that goes on well for me personally since I am prone to get teary whilst applying the damn liner that the color amazingly gets watered down. A waterproof eyeliner gets watered down - that's irony, right there. I read rave reviews about the Studio line Cream Eyeliner and thought, why not? I decided to get it in the shade Coffee which should mean it's a rich dark brown. I'm usually a black liner gal but I've been watching plenty of tutorials and love how brown eyeliner enhances the eyes in a subtler way than black liner. Hence why I made the last minute decision to get this in place of the lip liner pencil and blending brush.

And that ends this edition of "Zlena's Mission to Own Every Single e.l.f. Product" :D Yup, I do realize the ridiculousness of it all but I find myself getting sucked in time and time again. What can I do except throw out a desperate plea. Please, God, help me to be strong against the temptation of e.l.f.'s makeup line. Amen.

bingeing on shopping

So the company retreat to Beijing and Xian was a complete bust in terms of shopping (but rich in culture and history so I did learn something and overall totally enjoyed myself). I came back with 2/3 of the money I had changed. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I had heard tales of shopping escapades galore in regards to visits to China so was expecting to spend myself silly and then some. Did. Not. Happen.

Anyways, I've fully made up for it now. Firstly, went to Uniqlo during our 2-day stopover in Homeland prior to returning to Workland and got these:

I already own a pair of the Easy leggings pants in black and denim but there was a special going on at the time cos of a new Uniqlo store opening and it was going for 10 dollars cheaper than the RRP that I decided to get myself another pair in black. The unexpected get from this purchase was the khaki-hued short trench. It was going for 30 dollars less than the usual retail price of $79.90. Sis No 2 had gotten this prior to our China sojourn and had worn it to great effect throughout the trip. I have always fancied a khaki trench and the fact that I got this waaaay cheaper than my sis did coupled with the very real situation where there was only one left in my size, I just went for it. As I tried the trench on in my white Newport News tunic blouse, red skinny pants and my Marco Santi wedges, I totally saw myself traipsing around NYC in that ensemble - fingers crossed another NYC visit is due then :D This excursion came to an easy 75 bucks.

Then I went to The Body Shop cos they were having a completely M-A-D sale. I have no clue what it was in celebration of but things were going for up to 80% off. Also, for TBS members, you get an additional 10% off of the overall total. NUTS! Since my former colleague (who used to be my roomie here in Workland and who was in town for a visit) was a member, that was an additional 10% on top of the already heavily reduced prices!

I got the 2 fruity shower gels as a set(Peach & Papaya) for 5-something bucks, a coconut scented shower creme for $3.10, the Cranberry Joy travel-size body scrub for 2-plus dollars and the most expensive item in this impulsive haul is their infamous Vitamin E eye cream which was $14.40 after 20% off.

Then I went to eyeslipsface.com (LOL, where else eh?) and got myself some more makeup stuff. As usual, some insidious promo code got me. This time it was code BRUSHSET which was a deal to get the 11 piece Studio brush set (that I already own) for the low, low, oh-so-low price of $3 (RRP: $30). Catch: Spend $20 to qualify. It was pretty easy to do considering I could simply get stuff from the Essential line since it's generally a buck a piece AND I wouldn't feel bad about buying full price cos this line is usually never discounted. I did get products from that range because of this but the first thing I actually put in my cart was the $10 e.l.f. Mineral 4 Piece Bamboo Brush Set. :D. Ok, perhaps I'm bonkers for buying a brush set to get another brush set for 3 bucks but in my defense this is travel size! I have no clue why I need to justify myself :P. My Essential line products consists of the e.l.f. Essential All Over Cover Stick in the warmer shade Honey (Rosy Beige not working out for me), e.l.f. Essential 3-Piece Hypershine Gloss Set (I wanted this 3 orders ago - finally decided to get it), e.l.f. Essential Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 in the shade Honey (curious to see if this will work for me), e.l.f. Essential Brow Comb + Brush (to replace my ecoTools that has a huge gap in the comb already), e.l.f. Studio Mineral Powder Brush (for my mineral powders - I know I'm just brush-crazy now) and e.l.f. Studio Lip Lock Pencil (I'm hoping this will help keep my lip products in line). Everything (with the 11-pc brush set for 3 bucks) came up to $31.95 with S&H. I actually also ordered the e.l.f Essential Lip Stain in the hue Crimson Crush but discovered the shade went out of stock before they shipped so that portion of my order got axed.

At the same time the ELF binge was going on, I also went on another Strawberrynet run. There was a 10% off all skincare deal going on. Including my 7.5% member discount and an additional 3% off for getting 4 items, I was saving quite a great deal on my Murad stuff. I decided to stock up on my Murad essentials - the Acne & Wrinkle Reducer, Anti Aging Moisturizer SPF 20 PA++ (For Blemish-Prone Skin) and Post-Acne Lightening Gel. I also decided it was a good time to give Kiehl's Abyssine Eye Cream a go.

My total here came up to roughly $182.98 with all the discounts. Considering that just the Post Acne Lightening Gel sells at $60 and Acne & Wrinkle Reducer retails for 58 bucks, to have gotten the moisturizer and eye cream for about $64.98 is a deal. The Anti Aging Moisturizer SPF 20 PA++ (For Blemish-Prone Skin) is $46 and the Kiehl's Abyssine Eye Cream's RRP is $37. That's a savings of $18.02. Score! And yes, I just got the TBS Vit E eye cream but there's no harm in having choices. TBH, I actually forgot about the TBS tube I just got till after I had bought the Kiehl's, hehehe. But both have gotten great reviews so win-win (I think?).

Last but not least are my 2 Forever 21 hauls. Yup, two. One pre Memorial Day promo and the other during Memorial Day promo. As they say, pictures speak a thousand words :D The first haul came up to $104.88 for 12 pieces. I decided to shop the sales section not anticipating the 15% off promo that would come back to bite me later that day a couple of hours after I checked out this first order. No regrets though - I love the stuff I got and there are no guarantees I would have all of the items had I waited. I really wanted more casual stuff to wear hence there's loads of long sleeve tees and the like. What would a clothes buy be for Zlena if it did not include a stripes or polka dotted piece. We have both of those in this order :D

The second order was for $65.83 for 5 items. I put the 15% discount to good use buying that textured cardigan. That is why I actually decided to get more stuff from F21 - cos that cardi would be going for an additional 15%. Aside from the one-shoulder embellished top, the rest of the stuff in this order are normal priced items. I really wanted those red harem pants and the taupe jogger pants. If it isn't obvious, I am having a bit of an obsession with tapered leg pants. I also just figured out I'm having a colored pants phase right now. This will make my second red pants in the span of a month. I actually have 2 pairs of purple pants too. The last item is the lace overlay top. Both the tops I got in this order I chose specifically to wear with the Chanel-esque cardi. Actually, all the other stuff I got along with the cardigan was specifically chosen because I used the cardigan as my frame of reference so basically everything in this haul was chosen for it's compatibility with the cardi.

As can be seen, I truly binged. I guess this is my reaction to the flop that is China (shopping-wise). I just could not believe China was not the shopping haven I expected, let alone wanted, it to be. Hence, I overcompensated. I just needed to ;P

i think i truly have an elf obsession

Although I have not bought anything, I am practically living on the eyeslipsface.com site! I keep putting things into my cart then editing it then adding more stuff then upping the quantity, it's getting rather manic. And I don't even need anymore makeup products! I don't wear eyeshadow/mascara/eyebrow filler/eyeliner on a daily basis. My daily makeup routine consists of my primer, concealer, mineral foundation and lip balm. And yet, I seem to want to buy ELF's whole inventory if it was up to me.

Right now I have 34 items sitting in my cart. Granted, the number is large mainly cos I have multiples of a number of products but still, I just can't get how I keep wanting to buy stuff from them. I think the fact that the stuff is too dirt cheap is my undoing. Before you know it, you have massive amounts of product in your cart. Half of the time I spend editing is because I start feeling guilty about wanting the unnecessary stuff. Like the makeup palettes - don't need those cos I don't use eyeshadow really! But I have 3 of the palettes sitting in my cart. I'll take them out then put them back in because I just really want them and it's only 3 bucks per palette. If there's a coupon code for 50% off, that means the palette becomes $1.50.

Luckily for my credit card, I used up a number of ELF's 50% discount codes already so I have to wait till another unused code comes up. Basically, it's a lil breather but once a promo code does appear, I really can't guarantee I won't go nuts :D

supplementing for a healthier me

I don't know if I ever mentioned this here but back in November '11 I think, I became a member of my Homeland's GNC franchise. With the membership, I get 20% off of normal priced items, collect points which can be redeemed during payment and during my birthday month, I can get 40% off on everything. These are some of the benefits of paying the dollar equivalent of $7.50 for membership.

One of the other perks that intrigued me greatly was my one year international GNC membership. This means I would be eligible to get 20% off at any GNC worldwide every 1st week of the month. I was particularly interested because drugstore.com has a GNC sub-store (is this even a word) and I knew I could use the card through their site. Long story short - it's the last day of my 20% discount and I decided to replenish some of my GNC stuff.

I've been taking the Sibu Beauty Seabuckthorn supplements for 5 months now alongside the GNC Standardized Saw Palmetto and I have seen a massive improvement in my overall 'beauty'. My nails aren't as brittle as they used to be, I have less hair fallout and my skin issues have calmed down significantly. Can I really attribute all these changes to the capsules? No, not really cos I made quite a lot of changes in the past few months but I'm going to continue taking these just in case. I got 3 of these. The dosage is 2 per day but I've dosed down for the last month or so and so 1 box can last me 2 months now. Hence, I got a 6 months supply for a total of $71.88.

For weight management, I have the GNC Burn 60 which I first started in March. I got these at 40% off during my birthday month and decided to go for a 3 months supply. I'm on my second bottle now of 2 tablets everyday and although I initially thought it wasn't doing anything, in the past week and a half I've seen a significant 'shrinkage' in my overall body shape that I figure I might as well get an additional 3 months supply. I have to say that these are pricey in my Homeland even with the 40% off. I think they cost me about 40 dollars per bottle after discount when I got mine from drugstore.com at $21.59 with my GNC 20%. I spent $64.77 on these.

Lastly, to ramp up my metabolism, I have decided to start taking L-Carnitine. I decided to get the NOW Foods L-Carnitine 500mg 180 capsules bottle. The reason I chose this over the GNC brand is because this is purely vegetable based while I think the GNC brand is derived from animal cartilage. I only go for kosher/halal products and since I could not verify the GNC L-Carnitine as kosher, I went with NOW Foods which is also sold by GNC. This bottle will last 3 months for the price of $35.99.

All in all, I did spend a pretty penny. My total came to $172.64. I had a credit balance of 31 cents from my Kinerase eye cream being canceled in my last order cos it's out of stock so my AMEX was charged $172.33.

Talking about last month's order, I actually ended up paying nothing since I had a $22.30 credit and my ELF products along with the Starbucks Natural Infusion Ground Coffee in caramel totaled $21.99. I was hoping they would deduct the discount according to what got shipped out first and I was right. $10 off April's credit was actually only applicable for Beauty.com orders over $50 but since my Beauty.com portion of the order wasn't fulfilled, i guess they compensated me by allowing that $10 to go towards payment for my drugstore.com stuff. So woohoo for me :)