Luxe Box January 2012

Alrighty, last month's luxe box came very very late (I'm talking last week of January late) but they stuffed the box full of goodies (TWO boxes! You'll see :p) so I can't really complain. Unfortunately I don't have any use for most of the product they've given me this month. However, I am excited to try the shampoo/conditioner samples and the little stash of sample perfumes.

As usual, beautiful and simplistic packaging. The logo is really my favorite part in addition to the box itself. I actually use the boxes to categorize my make-up collection (I just need to print out labels for them now!).

Love the customized sticker!

Curl keeper by Frizzoff

Ah, this product is a little unfortunate for me since my hair is ruler straight. I could try it out and see if it works for straight hair? Perhaps it'll make it blindingly shiny?

Lise Watier Teint Parfait

Hmmm. A foundation. I'm not in the market for one (I've used Almay since high school) and I've just ordered the Skin79 BB cream so I'm going to put this aside for now. I was also given them in Natural, which is far too yellowy and dark for me. It does have a nice texture though but the downside is that it's perfumed quite heavily and I do not like putting scented products on my face. The texture is a little on the thick side and there's a veeery light shimmer to it (very light).

NYX Eyeshadow in Dust Sparkle

This looks like shimmery pink eye shadow (which I facepalmed) but I swatched it and it was more like a layer of white sparkles. I prefer matte neutral shades but I will keep it in case I'm in need of some major sparkling.

Large bag of Assorted Perfumes

Love this! I'm especially excited to get the Nina Riccis' (L'air du temps is a classic) and the Prada Candy/Milano. I really do love the Prada Candy fragrance, it's very sweet smelling but at the same time, you don't feel like it smells immature or cheap.

My mom says she'll get it for me in China. Yeah, duty free!

Level three Coffee

I don't drink coffee so I'm going to have to pass on this. I know in the past they've given Teopia teas before, which would have been more welcomed. I think I'll give it to my Dad since he loves his caffeine.

Luxe Box Bath and Body

I think this is their new addition where they give you (surprise surprise) bath and body products. Highly welcomed, since what they included in there was very useful!

Frederic Fekkai Glossing Shampoo and Conditioner

Shick Hydro Silk razer

Yeah! I actually needed a razor so when I saw this, I was like "FIST PUMP OF GLORY" I'm also excited to try the glossing shampoo and condition, since I'm running out of my Fructis.

Overall

I must admit, I'm a bit disappointed with this month's Luxe Box. Usually, I'm happy with what I'm given. However, I feel like some of the products they've distributed this month was too specific (foundation shade, conditioner for curly hair, coffee) and not quite as friendly to the general audience. The eyeshadow isn't very wearable since the sparkle is incredibly abundant. Ah well, still excited for next month!

Chinese New Year Dinner: January 22nd, 2011

These are about two weeks late since Chinese New Year was on January 23rd but we celebrated it on January 22nd since it was a Sunday. I left the camera at home and forgot to stuff it hastily in my bag without my dad noticing bring it with me. The camera is basically divided between my Dad and I, usually dependent on our flip-flop interest in photography. Since I need it more for blogging fun / product reviews, I get it for the next few months.

Yay!

So this is the middle section, it all looks very sterile actually. We had more meats on opposing sides but this part was basically all veggies. There are some beef balls (excellent) and fish balls (blaugh) on the left hand side. The lotus slices (1o points if you can spot it!) were really yummy and had a nice sticky / crispy consistency. We also had a few plates of mussels (not my fav but popular amongst adults), some seaweed and squid. I was seated to the right side of the table so many of these veggies were lost to me. I ended up with more meat-y things.

Om nom nom.

Sauces!

Usually, my mom buys 2-3 flavors. The blue one is the plain seasoning and the red one is for spicy seasoning. We also had some peanut butter dipping (which you can mix with the sauces, it tastes amazing) but I couldn't find it at the time. I can't deal with spice so my side was the plain seasoning. I ended up getting a little -_- at the end because everyone deviated to the hot side and I was salvaging goods for the plain side. T_T

#foreveralone

Ah scooping.

We ran into the slight issue of accidentally using the same scoop for both side (why -_- WHY) and my side (on the right of the silver divider) ended up being spicy anyway.

Searching searching.

The most "tedious" part of hot pot would be finding the object you want and trying not to ruin it (the meat slices are thin and sometimes stick together) on the way to your plate.

Aha! Target acquired!

I really enjoyed a lot of the veggies on the "hot" side, actually. It doesn't soak in (so to speak), it just coats it lightly so you get a bit of flavoring but it doesn't cause me to hack up a lung.

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All in all, I had a really nice Chinese New Year weekend. The only downside was that I had so many things due that Monday that I was flailing everywhere. I also left my glasses on campus so I had to complete everything before my eyes started shutting down on me.

I'm very happy that I have ~ my ~ camera back. I haven't shot anything in months. Shall start practice again!

Review: Avène Cicalfate Skin Restorative Cream

Hey guys! I know I haven't posted in a while. I'm still awaiting the good camera (getting it tomorrow from my dad!) but I'm relaxing after my audio project so I figure I would do a little review.

A quick backstory to this product: About a week and a half ago, I woke up with a large bump on my left cheek. Completely my fault, since I grabbed my mom's anti-aging moisturizer and thought it would be fun to try it. My skin doesn't break out unless I change my products and every couple of months I like using myself as an unpaid guinea pig. While I don't have troublesome skin, when I do get a blemish, that bitch of a pink mark will stay there for months on end.

When I got back to school, I remembered that I had a tube of this Avene Cicalfate Skin Restorative Cream in my skincare hoard. I had read some good reviews online and decided to slather it on and hope for the best.

Basically, this cream is amazing for damaged (bolded for a good reason) skin. The next day, the bump was almost gone and by the second and third day, it was just a small pink patch. I've been slathering it on that area for more than week now and it has prevented any post-breakout damage. The skin in that area is completely smooth, albeit a little pink. However, I'm not going to pick on that considering that it literally started off as a cystic bump.

So last Saturday, I decided to use this cream as an all over moisturizer. I was pretty happy on Sunday and Monday, I was glowing and my skin was even and poreless. However, on the third and fourth day, I noticed two little bumps appearing on my skin overnight. Nothing too bad, a night or two in DDF Sulfur clay smoothed both of them away. However, I do think the this cream clogs your pores if you use it as a daily moisturizer.

I pulled up some reviews and articles online and the cream was made for damaged areas after burns, irritation or post surgery. So it's great for targeting areas with pigmentation marks, acne or dry skin but do not use use it all over your face. What I've been doing now is just using it on that pink area and any other places that are a bit dry or irritated from the shifting weather.

Overall, this is a fantastic product to keep in your stash. Not necessary for everyone, of course since it's more of an emergency product. I am going to bring it with me during reading week in China because the winds there can cut like a knife. If you are interested, there are more reviews here and I found a full list of benefits on Avene.com.

Indication

• Cuts, scrapes, scratches
• Burns
• Cracked skin
• Stitches
• Hair removal
• Diaper rash
• Post-treatment

Benefits

• Helps speed the skin recovery process
• Provides a healthy skin environment to minimize a potential infection
• Prevents signs of scarring
• Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal
• Fragrance-free, preservative-free, colorant-free
• Avène Thermal spring water to soothe and soften the skin
• Hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic

If you live in Canada, you can pick this up from Shoppers for around $23. You don't need a lot so it'll last you for ages! :)