Sample Room: Try Before You Buy Is Genius!

¡Hola! The weather is so nice ~ never a sunny person, I love that it's cold but not raining, perfect for a cup of coffee and a good book! Yay! and my other blog is all set! double yay! ..and guess who got a promotion?! Yes, me!! just last week!! so yeah, life is good and this mom is indeed one happy girl nowadays :)

Anyway, enough about me. Let me just share my experience with Sample Room. Last week, I got to try Sample Room and I'm happy to report that it went really well and I won't hesitate doing it again and again :) The best part is, I paid using PayPal and they didn't give me any trouble ~ that's plus, plus, plus for me because I hate going out to pay and PayPal is the most convenient payment method for me.

I've been following their Facebook page even before the website launch; bookmarked their website; subscribed to their email newsletter BUT I missed their first wave of samples (*blimey* I was away) Judging from the number of their Facebook followers vs my slowness to catch up, I figured it's impossible for me to actually get samples of my choice. However, one morning while checking my emails, there it was, Sample Room's newsletter with a new batch of samples! I went ahead and saw that there were indeed new samples to grab and I was so excited because the brands were impressive (I saw Shiseido, Davines etc) I was torn between Laneige and Davines but Laneige won because it's a sleeping pack ~ y'all know I love them ;) and to maximize my shipping fee, I threw in that Ralph Lauren sample you'll see below. Because I don't live in Metro Manila, the shipping fee is 130Php. I paid via PayPal. That was Tuesday morning. By Tuesday night, my account already reflected the tracking number. Impressive!

Hello Thursday noon, hello Sample Room package! Fast! really impressed!

RL and Laneige from Sample Room Ph

I've been asked many times how it works so here's my answer: You sign up with them, give some information about yourself (skin type, preferences, etc) and you get 100 points. Points are used for getting samples. In my case, RL was 25 pts and Laneige was 60 pts so I only have 15 pts now but when I give my review on these products, I get the points back. I think you'll earn points too if you refer a friend although I am not sure how many. 3 samples max per check out. You don't pay for the samples, but of course, you need to pay for shipping ~obviously.

and this is why I think Sample Room is a brilliant idea: It's because it allows me to choose the products I want to test. This is also the reason why I hesitate signing up for subscription boxes, I know I won't feel good if I end up with things I really don't need or will not use or not even interested in.

so there :)

#wannacuddlebutitstooearly

Perfect Lippie Project: N.Y.C. New York Color Ultra Last Lip Wear 405B Blue Rose

I think I found my perfect pink. This. Is. The. One. :)

N.Y.C. New York Color Ultra Last Lip Wear 405B Blue Rose is a really nice fuchsia lipstick with blue undertones. The perfect blue-pink lipstick for me! It has the right amount of pink and blue in it that successfully brightened up my face without coming across as obscene - and even without sleep on my part. lol. What sealed the deal for me was the creaminess of the lippie and yet it settles into an almost matte finish once applied. I was amazed how easy it is to apply considering that it is cheap. One could wear it without a lipliner since it doesn't move around like other creamy lippies do. lol.  It glides, it doesn't tug  or drag and it doesn't emphasize the lines on my lips. Coverage is good too. Didn't chap my lips even without balm over or underneath. It fades evenly, not disappear lip area by lip area, which is good :)

Packaging is sturdy enough for me to confidently let it stay inside my bag along with my valuables. Cap stays put as there are locks on its sides.

There are tiny blue shimmers on tube but it barely shows on lips. as I told earlier, it looks almost matte on lips. I honestly think Barbie would approve!

N.Y.C. New York Color Ultra Last Lip Wear 405B Blue Rose

Okay the cons. 

Doesn't retract all the way down so the top is always peeking. If you're not careful when putting back the cap, you'll surely ruin the stick. Also, while it belongs to the ultra last line, I'm not sure about the "long wear" part. I chew my lips absentmindedly so I'm not really expecting lippies to survive but it sure would be nice if they do.

Another thing to consider would be its availability. I ordered mine online and waited 2 long months - gahhh, just imagine the wait!! I paid 260Php for it and yeah, it's worth the wait. :)

Something's telling me this one will stay inside my bag for a long, loooong time :)

#pinkislove.

An Online Order Gone Bonkers.

..so last Monday I ordered and paid for something online. Instead of going through traditional route of doing business with the seller directly, I opted to transact via site and paid using my PayPal as I thought it's safer that way. A huge mistake.

Now my order is put onhold because I need to verify my PayPal account (payment method of choice) first by:
1. scanning and forwarding 2 government issued IDs
2. scanning and forwarding the credit card attached to my PayPal account.

I'm not even sure if that's a safe thing to do, scan and forward through freakin' email your personal documents.

..and I was notified of this "verification" process AFTER the payment was posted. It was properly received by them the same day and was even acknowledged by them right after and was once again mentioned in their "verification" message. The order even reflects "shipping" on site, but it was now put "onhold". The amount was deducted against my PayPal account, as expected. I paid last Monday.

and today is Wednesday already.

and my order is worth 660Php only.

Sheesh.

I'm not going to name names now but if this won't clear up real soon, I will definitely blog about it just so people would know what to expect when they hit that big, friendly-looking "BUY NOW" button.

#pissed.bigtime.

TonyMoly Tomatox Magic White Massage Pack Review

FINALLY! I was able to get my hands on this pack - which I was soooo dying to do eversince my "love-at-first-try" with its sister, the Appletox. I could have bought this online but I needed the gel liner too and I figured since there's not much of a difference between its online price and instore, I might as well pick my stuff personally from the store and be able to check out other TonyMoly products too. 

So, last week, being my birthweek, we decided to self-declare a 3day-leave from work and hit the road. I begged the hubby to please make one stop at SM Makati since TonyMoly has a mini-stall inside and it is not really "out-of-the-way". While he was not really keen on this idea *for some reason, he dislikes going to Glorietta*, he relented (Yay for birthday BLACKMAIL! lol) 

Unlike Appletox, Tomatox comes in a cutesy, hard plastic box as seen below.. 

*ogle, ogle* I can't resist not taking a filtered photo of it and posting it up on Instagram. lol ^^

Good thing too, it comes with its own mini-spatula. The Appletox didn't, so I just use my handy-dandy spatula whenever I use the Appletox :)

I like the one with red beads better *because it looks cuter. lol* (I think that was the original Tomatox pack but for some reason it was discontinued, that one was labeled "brightening-something-something" that got me curious in the first place. hohwell..) 

According to TonyMoly's website:

*Tomato extract/solution antioxidant, detox properties to the clear skin *Lemon extract accelerating collagen synthesis, whitening, antioxidant, astringent *Baicha extract Less irritation to skin, whitening property *Houstonia extract It is known as a mysterious herb with 10 kinds of properties of anti inflammatory, antioxidant, anti allergenic, whitening, activating term over to provide clear skin tone. Tomato solution delivers instant brightening, massaging and skin clearing mask effect. Multi functional massage pack.

..so this is my "before-application" photo..

Forgive the eyebags ^^

To use: After cleansing, apply on towel-dried face and gently massage for about 1~2min. After massaging, leave it on your face for 5~10min. Rinse out with lukewarm water and pat with towel. 2~3times use per week or use everyday as needed.

geisha for 15minutes. lol :D

There's a bearable sting while wearing the pack which didn't surprise me considering that it is a whitening/brightening product. The creamy texture works like a mudpack and the smell *ooohhhh* is just lovely. The hubby loved the smell too as it lingered after rinsing (well, you have to use your imagination why he came THAT close after I rinsed the pack off. lol)

..ANNDDD.. this, my dear readers, is the "after" photo..

see? see? evidently, my skin has become whiter/brighter. The computer monitor in front of me may have a hand in it (lighting etc) or the angling of the face, but I was also in front of the computer when I took my "before" photo and just moved a little bit so I'm convinced it's the pack that did it to the skin :)  

However, unlike Appletox, Tomatox didn't leave a thin film of moisturising residue after rinsing so I suggest you use a moisturizer right after the pack. I think this is suitable for oily, combination skin as it can be a bit drying on me.

btw, it's 548Php instore and 550-650Php online (plus shipping)

#milkteahereicome!kisses! :)

My Early Birthday Present From House Of Flair! Yay! Thankieee! ^^

I'm bone tired and braindead by now for having to work 10 hours straight but I won't delay my appreciation post any longer! *grammar nazi, please stay away today, i'm not up for any proof reading right now* -.-

This came in the post yesterday and it surely lit up my day. Yay!

Boy, it was HEAVY!!

It was not sent to me as a birthday gift per se, actually I won House of Flair's pre-summer giveaway. Yey! and since it's my birth month and I'm still on a shopping ban, I consider this the best birthday gift ever!

I just love personalized notes! Thank you Miss Suyen! :)

It was packed nicely - all items fitting inside snugly - and no doubt, with lotsa care. I just love how they thought of carefully packing all these things up. I should know, I'm no noob when it comes to online shopping and I get really disappointed when I see that my purchases were not packed properly especially if it's something really delicate or breakable.

Are you excited to see what's inside? ^_^

Tada!!!

Too Faced, Kiehl's, Benefit, Slatkin&co, Organix,  NYC, F21

I could just die right now! lol ^_^

Eye thingies!!!

With my eyebaggiewoes, these things from Kiehl's are something I really look forward to using! 

Again, thank you very much House of Flair for this very generous giveaway. You surely made me smile and I get to be fab on my birthday too!

#don'tyoujustlovegoodluck!kisses!

Shoplastyle.com Spam/Phishing Alert!!

This email drove me into panic this morning

$281 charged to my VISA!

These things I know: 1) I didn't make any purchase with shoplastyle.com 2) I didn't give them my credit card info - or any site for that matter except PayPal which will surely notify me if a charge has been made and 3) why on Earth would I want to purchase a freakin' $167 Jegging in size 30?!!  

So, it's either my PayPal account has been hacked and the hacker loves Jegging so much, he went ahead and bought one for himself using my card or someone entered the wrong email address (which I doubt if it will work that way since most sites need email confirmation to be able to activate an account). Either way, sending  the said site a notice was in order. 

TAKE NOTE: NEVER EVER CLICK ON ANYTHING IN AN EMAIL EXCEPT IF YOU ARE 100% SURE YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN THERE. If you are curious then just open up a new tab/browser and go directly to the site you would like to check. That's exactly what I did when I came upon this notice.

shoplastyle.com Spam/Phishing notice on their contact form

I'm also pasting the notice here:

Spam/Phishing Alert:

Shoplastyle.com Order Status for Order #20399282
We were are not affiliated with the domain shoplastyle-clo****.com (we don't want to list the entire address). We are working on getting it shut down. The link in the email was to this site, which we believe contained a virus. We have heard from multiple people that they have called to cancel their Visa cards and/or have contacted their banks. This is not necessary. Please be assured that the intention of this email was to get people to click on their link to download a virus. There have been no reports of actual credit cards being charged. Everybody got the same email that said their Visa was charged. In addition, we do not have any of your personal information. We believe your email was obtained in a malicious manner and then our company name was used to entice you to click on the link. We really hope this clears up your questions. It has been a rough day for all of us!

If you received an email message with the subject line "Shoplastyle.com Order Status for Order #20399282" please know that this is spam that was NOT sent by us. We believe thousands of people received this same email. There is no order 20399282. We do not have any information about you including any credit card information. No credit card was charged. You will notice that there is no shipping information in the email because the same text was sent to everybody. We suggest that you do not respond to the email, do not click on any of the links. You should delete the email. We have nothing to do with this email. We are asking that you do not contact us in regards to this email because we are currently overwhelmed with voice mails and emails due to this spam. 

Thank goodness, it was just a spam mail, so all I have to do now is to delete it but it almost made me click on that link because the invoice looked so legit, and well, I just got out of bed so I was not entirely conscious at that time. lol :D 

#diescammersdie!

Skinfood Aloe Mask Sheet Review

I'll make this short and sweet as I still have a deadline to meet. Lol :)

My fascination with Korean cosmetics has made me a certified mask sheet junkie! For some reason my skin is responding better on Korean skincare products than with its western - even local - counterparts. I suspect it has something to do with my being a half-Chinese. Anyway, mask sheet addiction proved to be somewhat costly - twice a week for 50Php up each- so I'm forever finding ways to cut cost. I'm doing a separate post for tips on how to get Korean cosmetics the lowest possible price and I might enlist help of some friends who love these kinds of products too, that is if they are not busy. Anyway, if you have a tip or two to share, please don't hesitate to comment below :)

Anyway, I got this mask from EBay, won it for only 35php, regular price is around 50Php (online price, please don't ask me about its mall price because I  seldom visit Skinfood shops in the Philippines - I think they are obscenely overpriced!) Anyway, Skinfood is one of my favorites when it comes to skincare. Super effective on my skin :) This mask sheet, being an aloe, has hydrating properties and at the same time, it soothes tired and stressed skin. I was tired, and I was stressed enough so I thought I deserved this. lol :D

Now for the review, I like the Skinfood Aloe Mask because it feels so nice on the face! Really, I've been dabbling with masks since December so I would know if this one is different from the others. Its cooling effect is amazing, in fact I suggest you stay away from the air conditioning unit when you have this on as it would probably cause your teeth to chatter! lol However, I find the holes, particularly the one for the mouth, a little too small so no talking the whole time. But I super love the smell! It's so good :) The mask itself is thick enough and adequately drenched with essence. As for the moisturizing part, well.. my skin felt moisturized alright (he he ALL masks feel the same after as you are not supposed to wash off the essence?) Soothing, very nice, my face came out refreshed and rejuvenated so I recommend this for an afternoon of relaxation. Very nice :)

repurchase? Probably, if it's up for bidding again. Not because I didn't like it but you see, I'm more of a "brightening" kind of person so I would like my masks to have the words "brightening" or even "firming" on it. I still have 2-3 bottles of moisturizer sitting inside my closet, waiting to be used so..    

#offtowork!kisses!