Are you ready to unveil the mystery? I received my second VoxBox last week as a participant of the Influenster's L'Oreal Canada Mystery VoxBox Program. In my first VoxBox, I received a mystery line by L'oreal's new hair care line to test and try out.

Ready for the surprise?

The mystery line is  the GARNIER FRUCTIS DAMAGE ERASER hair care line. I have tried Garnier hair products before, but they were just decent. However, I was quite surprised by Fructis Damage Eraser as I found the quality of the products to be better than the average drugstore branded products.

The product came in a HUGE box. The box had Garnier's brand on the front. I was confused at first as I never ordered anything and never associated L'oreal with Garnier.

Inside contained 4 full-sized products of the entire hair care line.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Hair Serum and Hair Butter

I am happy to say that this hair care line works perfectly for my hair. It helps smooth and repair my split ends, yet allows my hair to retain some volume as it is not overly moisturizing. As well, I love the citrusy scent of the product. It is definitely a pick-me up from the cold Canadian winter. 

  - Cindy

I am super excited take part in the Influenster's L'Oreal Canada Mystery VoxBox Program. Basically, Influenster is 'a free-to-join community of trendsetters, social media masterminds, and educated consumers who live to give opinions of products and experiences. VoxBoxes are boxes filled with complimentary products from your favorite (or soon-to-be-favorite) brands'. This is my first VoxBox from Influenster (three VoxBoxes have been available for Canadians so far).

                                                 

The VoxBox I got contains three "mystery" hair products (shampoo, conditioner, and serum) from L'Oreal's new hair line. I have one week to try and guess the product and then I will be receiving a second box which will unveil the "mystery products".

I've used the product for a week so far. The shampoo and conditioner are incredibly moisturizing, yet not heavy. This is perfect if you want to moisturize your hair, but would like volume at the same time. As for the serum, it is quite watery. I personally prefer serums that are thicker in consistency.

My second VoxBox is on it's way! I will be sharing the unveiling of the products on this blog. Hopefully you are as excited as I am!


- Cindy

I don't know about you, but I am not a big fan of mainstream music...especially the American Pop scene. For me, I like music with sweet melodies. I listen for the sound and don't mind if I can't understand it. I guess that is what got me into Korean Indie music.

I have been listening to  Nostalgia - Yozoh & Eric(Shinhwa)& Brown Classic on repeat for the past week. It makes me want to sit outside with a cup of coffee on a warm spring day. This song definitely lifted me from the winter blues. (Especially since the winter here in Toronto was extra long this year!)

What do you think of this post? More like this? Also, what song reminds you of spring?

Neutrogena is holding a promotion that allows you to get 5 free trial size samples and coupons. I personally love Neutrogena and psyched about this offer.

Trial Size: 

• HEALTHY DEFENSE^® Daily Moisturizer SPF 45
• All-in-One Make-Up Removing Cleansing Wipes
• Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser Foaming Formula
• BEACH DEFENSE Sunscreen Lotion SPF 60 (perfect for summer!)
• Triple Protect Face Lotion (for men)
• Invigorating Face Wash (for men)
• 
  

Coupons:

• Oil-Free Pink Grapefruit Cleansing Wipes ($5 off)
• NATURALS Acne Cream Cleanser ($5 off)
• NORWEGIAN Formula  Fragrance-free Hand Cream ($5 off) (my mom swears by this stuff)
• Rapid Tone Repair Moisturizer SPF 30 ($15 off)

Get it here!

I love getting freebies in the mail. It's like getting presents on Christmas :)

What freebies have you gotten in the mail before?

This product is in 10. Peppermint.

I got this product on a whim. I simply couldn't resist the cute packaging. I mean purple and green. Who can resist?

Packaging: 5/5

This product does moisturize to a certain degree. It is pretty thick and for me, I feel that this product stays on top of my lips instead of truly moisturizing. There is a slight cooling sensation due to the mint, but I don't feel that the mint is strong enough. I like my chapsticks super minty ;)

Moisture: 3/5

This product doesn't last long at all. I find myself reapplying around every 15 minutes.

Staying Power: 2/5

One thing I liked about this product is that it contains SPF 20. I have really dark lips so having sun protection is important. However, I am skeptical about how long the SPF lasts considering that the staying power is low.

I haven't tried out the ones that are tinted. Maybe as a tinted chapstick the product is awesome, but simply average as a chapstick.

Overall: 3/5    (The packaging!)

There is 4.4 g of this product and it lasted me about 4 months of regular use. I bought this at Rexell for about $6.

I feel as if I am repeating myself every post, but I have super oily and acne- prone skin. I have suffered from moderate acne for the past 7 years (almost half my life!) and it has definitely made me conscious of my skin and the products that I use. At first, I have been scared to use moisturizers as I didn't see the point of moisturizing my already oily face. However, my mom kept on insisting for me to use a moisturizer and it has been in my routine every since. I feel that moisturizing is an important step. With the right moisturizer, it can actually control the amount of oil produced. Since cleansers strip the oil off of  your skin your skin actually produces more oil to replace the oil lost. However, moisturizers replace the oil lost and help balance the amount of oil on your skin. An example of equilibrium outside of chem class :p

I've tried my fair share of moisturizers and I feel that the Clean and Clear Dual Moisturizer is definitely the best drugstore for oily and acne prone skin. I alternate this moisturizer with my Vichy Normaderm Anti- Acne Hydrating Lotion (Review coming up!) to prevent my skin from getting use to the products. 

This moisturizer is Oil-Free and surprisingly mattifying effect. Because of this, I don't recommend this to those with dry or combination skin. (I heard that the Clean and Clear Dual Action is more moisturizing) The moisturizer is light and I can immediately feel it being absorbed into my skin instead of sitting on top of my skin like other moisturizers I've tried. I've always been scared to apply too much moisturizer as it would often be too moisturizing (I would literally use a pea-size amount). However, with this moisturizer, I apply about a dime size.

This moisturizer also contains 0.5% Salicylic Acid with also actively treats acne.

Rate: 5/5

I bought this at Shoppers Drug Mart on sale for about $7 CAD. I will definitely be a repurchase and I even dare to say my HG product. 

This is the Skin 79 Super+Triple Functions Beblesh Balm with whitening, SPF 25 PA++ and wrinkle improvement. Gosh. That was a mouthful. After the disaster with my Maybelline foundation here. I decided to jump on the BB Cream bandwagon. After days (seriously) of research, I decided to buy the Skin 79 Hot Pink BB Cream (as it is commonly referred to as). This is one of the most popular BB Creams on the market. All I can say is that this was the most satisfying purchase ever! I have been using this product for the past 3 months.

Overview: 

Coverage: Light- Medium  It does an amazing job of evening out skin tone. However, it does not cover blemishes or severe acne scarring. The consistency feels thick when first applied, but dries fairly matte. It does not feel heavy at all. I do wish there was more coverage.

Oil- Control: Don't be intimidated by the thickness of the product when first applied. It feels somewhere between a natural and matte finish. Surprisingly, the oil- control is around 5 hours with powder. (My T-Zone starts to feel oily). That's pretty good considering I have insanely oily skin. After 6 hours, my face cheeks feel oily. The oily sensation doesn't feel like it is clogging my pores and disgusting like with foundation, but it feels like a thin layer of oil is sitting on top of my skin. The better of the worse.

Colour: I am NC 20-25 and it suits me perfectly. Many people notice a "grey cast" on their face when first applied. I look paler when first applied, but it oxidizes somewhat to adjust to my skintone. I actually enjoy the effect since my face is darker than the rest of my body. This is actually one of the darker BB Creams in the asian market. It was too dark for my friend who is a NC 15

Skincare Benefits: I do feel that it has made my skin smoother (not sure if it is because it is somewhat hydrating). In terms of Whitening, I did not notice anything. However, it does prevent you from getting darker with the SPF. Score! Just to keep in mind, BB Creams are meant for Cosmetic purposes so I wouldn't take the Skincare benefits too seriously.

Rate: 4.5/5

In addition to this being my first BB Cream, it was also my Asian beauty product and first Ebay purchase. My Ebay experience was most certainly positive. (I was somewhat expecting a picture of the product :p)

I bought it from the seller cosmeticmarket2012 for $11.88 with free shipping. This was an amazing price especially for an overseas product. People have no idea what a pain online shopping in Canada is! What I was worried the most was the authenticity of the product. It is real!

There is an authenticity sticker and the seller sold over 7,000 units of this BB Cream! I was also informed by the seller that All Skin 79 BB Creams manufactured after January 2013 will no longer have an authenticity sticker. This was confirmed in an email I sent to Skin 79 Customer Service.

I also received three free samples the seller included with my purchase. Two Tony Moly Sleeping Packs (I used one hehe) and Tomatox whitening massage pack (Heard good reviews for it and on my wish list).

All I can say is that I have officially joined the Asian Skincare Product craze. Went there, and never turning back.