The ipsy March 2013 Glam Bag was themed The Great Escape and featured several travel-based samples and products as well as a nautical themed cosmetic bag. All perfect for those of us with Spring Break/Holiday plans. (Even if the weather outside is more frightful than ever this holiday weekend, especially here on the East Coast. Brr.) This month’s ipsy bag contained products by Glam RX, yaby, Juice Beauty, and LA Fresh. Keep reading for more!
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If you’ve been to a spa in the past decade (or two), you’ve probably encountered an Aveda treatment and/or product. Worldwide you’ll find Aveda shops and Experience Centres as well as independent spas and salons that offer Aveda services and cosmetics. One of this month’s Topboxes (and apparently next month’s, too) was an Aveda themed box specific to hair type. Me, I received the ”Be Curly” Aveda Box. In addition to several hair treatment samples, this box also included a facial routine and hand and foot care products.
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For those unaware, I canceled my Glymm subscription in January. But due to their cancelation policy, I got stuck with another month of box service. So why am I writing my Glymm February 2013 review on March 14th? Because my February box showed up yesterday. The box being delivered was actually a surprise, too – I didn’t even get a shipping notification. What I was able to gather from online subscriber rage was that most boxes were shipped around February 28th, which is completely ridiculous. For those waiting on March’s box, expect it in April. Or July.
This box had several nice products and it was nice to actually receive makeup again. But for all the good, there was a lot of bad. On the bright side, this box further vindicates my subscription cancelation. Keep reading to see why.
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I won’t mince words here: I find unattended cuticles revolting. And by “unattended” I mean excess cuticles, overgrown cuticles, flaking cuticles, dry cuticles, split cuticles, and dirty cuticles. But let’s face it – that’s aesthetics, beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, and no one’s forcing anyone to look at your hands. You know the schpeel. Or do you?
What people fail to consider is that nail health is directly influenced by cuticle health and maintenance. Of the 3 fingernail care tips provided by the Mayo Clinic, the third is to moisturize not only your nails but your cuticles too. Another major concern is bacteria entering your nailbed, and this is more likely to happen if you are prone to hangnails or dry, cracked cuticles. These “cuts”, although seemingly minor, allow various microorganisms to enter your nailbed, causing bacterial and fungal infections, some of which are exceedingly difficult to treat (see nail fungus).
Today I’ll be reviewing some cuticle care tips and two great products that help keep cuticles healthy and happy: Essie Disappearing Trick conditioning cuticle remover and Essie Smooth Trick deep-conditioning cuticle oil. Keep reading to see how you can attain or maintain glowing, gorgeous nails!
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I really liked last month’s Topbox, which I made no effort to dumb down in my review. Noting how pleased I was, I figured it would be hard for Topbox to top itself in February (pardon the pun). I was very wrong. February’s Privé Box featured five samples from Benefit Cosmetics and paid tribute to the Lunar New Year celebration, which I loved. The samples had great variety, were good sizes, and came in a lovely Valentines-meets-Year-of-the-Snake themed box.
Keep reading to see what goodies were included and how well these Benefit products held up!
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Hello everyone, did you miss me? My new apartment is finally happily furnished! It “only” took me about 3 weeks to do, and I haven’t even gotten to the decorating. Or unpacking fully. Or, er, figuring how to organise all my makeup. But That’s for another post, I suppose.
Since Rykea did a recent post about a brush set she received, I figured it I would also cover some brushes I picked up recently as well.

The Glymm January 2013 boxes were very late shipping last month, which subscribers were told a day before the boxes should have shipped. We were not told when the boxes would arrive, however, so it became a very miserable waiting game. My box finally did ship January 25th and arrived January 30th. Seems Canada Post finally got its shit together. Glymm really didn’t though. Boxes were late due to product availability, and that was about as specific as the PR got. Don’t overload us with information or anything, god forbid. (Sarcasm, naturally.)
Glymm once again dropped the ball. Not only was January’s box extremely late, it arrived after subscriptions automatically renewed. But the real kicker was that Glymm recently announced that subscriptions would henceforth be $15/month, a $3 price increase. I find this move shocking as Glymm’s boxes have gradually been getting worse – not better – over time. If anything, they should be lowering the cost.
I said in November that if I received another half-ass box I’d cancel my subscription, and that’s the plan once February’s box arrives and I spend the remainder of my loyalty points. I, personally, don’t like throwing my money away every month, and this is what this box subscription now feels like to me: wasted money. Nevertheless, please enjoy my second last Glymm review!
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I was fairly desperate for a new brush set once December set in. My brushes were either dead, dying, or MIA. Best put, it made applying holiday makeup a creative challenge. (Really, I don’t care what you say; the Q-tip was one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.) Luckily, friends took note of my dilemma and I was gifted this beautiful Sephora Double-Ended Brush Set for the holidays. As always, keep reading for product review and photos.
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Topbox announced in December that in 2013 they would be starting a new line of Privé boxes. Boxes that – instead of featuring a smorgasbord of products and brands – would feature products from a single “luxe” brand. To give subscribers a taste, January’s Topbox was a Clinique privé box. A scrumptious taste indeed.
This, by and large, was a gorgeous box with some very useful products that work. Most every year Clinique wins a gross number of awards for skincare, and this isn’t because they’re sleeping with the judges. Their products are well-tailored to various skin types, cleanse well, moisturize great, and keep people coming back. As for Topbox, the product selection was quite nice, but I do query their attestation that they “tailor each box” per subscriber. Keep reading to see why!
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