VPonsale Dress Review

In this post, I will be reviewing the quality of a dress I received from Dress.vponsale.co.uk which is a website that sells custom made dresses for all occasions. I decided to let my older sister pick a dress out for herself since her wedding is coming up. The dress she picked is going to be her dancing dress for the wedding.
When purchasing from online websites, it's best to avoid anything that's made of chiffon because chances are, it will look very cheap in person. This particular dress is made of Taffeta and the quality of the fabric is very nice. The dress she picked is called a mermaid dress because it's very form fitting through the top and middle, with a skirt that flares out near at the bottom to resemble the shape of a mermaid’s tail.

Price: £144.88 (about $228 USD)
Color: Ivory
Fitting: The dress fits my sister perfectly but the bust area is a bit loose because my sister intentionally made it bigger so that she could wear a padded bra. lol
Impressions: Fabric quality is good, true to color on the website. The intricate details includes a mesh design that is hand sewn onto the dress. This insures that the beads won't come off. Unfortunately, there were a few hanging threads and a fabric marker was missed on a lace at the back (picture below). I had to hand wash that spot myself and cut away the threads that were sticking out. Other than that, I have to say that the dress fits the price.
Time of delivery: It took about a month to receive the dress after the measurements were given. This is expected since the dress is custom made.

Back view. I just love the corset!

 Little red marking on the lace. I washed it off a bit.

Details

Pictures of my sister wearing the dress.

Bebexo

Review: HANA air Professional Hair Dryer

Most people could care less about the hair dryer they use. As long as it blows out hot air then that's good enough right? Wrong! I used to think that all hair dryers were the same until I tried the Velecta Paramount Hair Dryer, a professional grade hair dryer. What would normally take me 30 minutes to blow dry my long hair now takes me only 5-10 minutes depending on how damp my hair is.

Blow drying your hair with a professional hair dryer is faster because the air flow is always greater unlike the drugstore hair dryers which would only blow out hot air. When using a pro hair dryer, your hair gets less damaged and frizzy. Most pro hair dryers also have adjustable heat and air settings so you can change the settings to your preference. There is also a cool-shot button to release cool air which is great when you're using your dryer for styling. Professional hair dryers are truly awesome, the only thing stopping most people from getting one is the price tag-- most retail around $200. =O Do I think it's worth it? Yes! I believe it's a great investment.

In this post, I will be reviewing the HANA air Professional Hair Dryer from Misikko.com. I will also compare this with my HG hair dryer, my Velecta Paramount dryer.

This hair dryer has a black glossy finish which gives it a very sleek look. Like the Velecta, it's lightweight and has three button features: one button controls heat, another controls the air flow, and the last is a cold shot button.



Here are some features taken from the website:

• Ion Technology- condition hair & reduces static electricity
• Tourmaline & Titanium Oxide Technology- natural ions promote healthier hair
• Silver Nanotechnology- for antibacterial Protection
• Scratch Resistant Shell with black metallico finish adds durability and is easy to clean
• Long life motor with low noise
• Gyroscopically balanced for easy handling
• Fiberglass concentrator
• Italian Design

Both hair dryers have the latest tourmaline technology thats releases ions to add shine to your hair. I also find that both dry my hair in under 10 minutes.

One drawback about this hair dryer is that the control buttons are place right inside the  handle. When blow drying my hair, my fingers would slip and accidentally turn it off or change the heat settings. On the Velecta, the buttons are placed on top at the back which my fingers can't access.

Control buttons on my the Velecta Hair Dryer

The plug for the Hana air.

These hair dryers retail for $200 (well $194 to be exact). They both do an outstanding job and perform 10x better than your average hair dryer. I would recommend either one but if I had to choose, I'll most likely keep my Velecta because of the control button issues. Other than that, I think both are great. The ion technology makes my hair shinier and my hair is never frizzy anymore. What more can a girl ask for?

The hair dryer also comes with a sample bottle of Hana Shine Shield which is a serum that protects your hair and adds shine. This reminds me of my Chi Silk Infusion so I quite like it.

This pretty purple brush was also gifted to me. It's huge! Plus the barrel of the brush is made of wood so it's a bit too heavy for my liking. I prefer my hollow tourmaline round brushes.

So what is your favourite hair dryer of all time?


*This post contains a product that was sent by a PR from the company. However, all opinions expressed are solely mine and were not influenced in any way.  

Review & Swatches: Physician's Formula Happy Booster Powder & Blush

Physician's Formula Happy Booster Line

Claims: 

- Ultra-smooth, perfecting powder in a complementary palette of color blends together to even out skin tone with a flawless radiance.
- Multi-reflective pearls provide a soft iridescence to highlight contour and add radiance to cheeks.
- Infused with our Happy Boost Blend, featuring Happy Skin and Euphoryl, natural plant extracts which have been shown to promote a feeling of happiness by mimicking the effect of Endorphins and helping protect the skin from environmental stress.
- The sweet scent of Violet provides a feeling of joy each time you apply.

Pros: 

- Smooth and finely milled.

- Easy to blend.

- Color is buildable for light to medium coverage.
- Looks shimmery in the pan but leaves a nice satin finish on my skin.

- Paraben-free and noncomedogenic (hasn't broken me out)
- Smells nice but I know that not everyone will agree with me. Personally, I like the smell of flowers ;)

- Cute embossed different colored hearts. Something really unique and eye-catching!

Cons: 

- This is quite expensive being that it is a drugstore product.

- Unnecessary sales gimmick. If I'm having a crappy day, I highly doubt that applying this bronzer/blush will "promote feelings happiness" and cheer me up. Unless I get a lot of compliments on how radiant I look, I might change my mind. LOL

- The package is cute, no doubt, but it's way too bulky. I can do without the flimsy brush and the mirror.
- This also claims to be hypoallergenic yet it possesses a strong floral scent? Last time I checked, scent/fragrance is a no-no for hypoallergenic products.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Bronzer 

Overall: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 3 out of 5 (a little bulky)
Price: $13.95 in the states and $18.97 in Canada! (Wait for the 40% OFF in-store sales)
Size/Weight: 0.4 Oz / 11g
Would you buy this again? Yes

Although this bronzer is shimmery, it's very subtle and not overwhelming. I love to apply this in the hollows of my cheeks and on my temples for a nice bronze glow. This bronzer looks dark in the pan but fear not, it's actually light and buildable. I use the little pink heart in the pan as a highlight because it looks like a pearly cream color on my tanned skin.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush in Natural

Overall: 4 out of 5

Packaging: 3 out of 5 (a little bulky)

Price: $11.95 in the states and $16.97 in Canada! (Wait for the 40% OFF in-store sales)

Size/Weight: 0.24 Oz / 7g

Would you buy this again? Yes

The Happy Booster line consists of two blushes: Rose which is a rosy red color and Natural (pictured above) which has red, pink, and coral hearts. I love this blush because it gives my cheeks a pretty rosy glow. I've seen swatches of Rose and Natural online and they look nearly identical. The only difference is that Natural is a tad lighter which I prefer. I can see this color looking great on light and dark skin tones.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Translucent 

Overall: 2 out of 5

Packaging: 3 out of 5 (a little bulky)

Price: $13.95 in the states and $18.97 in Canada! (Wait for the 40% OFF in-store sales)

Size/Weight: 0.4 Oz / 11g

Would you buy this again? No

This is marketed as an all-over translucent face powder but it's way too shimmery to serve that purpose. It's a light pale pink that looks white against my skin tone so this product will be better suited for lighter skin tones. The shimmer particles are bigger than that of the bronzer so it looks more like chunky sparkles. This might be a nice highlighter but against my tanned skin, the silver sparkles make me look frosty. Needless to say, this was my least favourite from the Happy Booster line. Pass!

I gave it 2/5 because it is satin smooth and pigmented.

Swatches above: Translucent, Bronzer, Natural

Compact.

Pressed powder on top, mirror glued underneath, and a fancy brush in the bottom compartment...

This brush looks cute, yeah? But it's scratchy and unforgiving! I tried applying blush with it but the shape of the bristles makes the application streaky and blotchy. Now I use it to clean my keyboards! I'm just so innovative that way you know?

If I could only pick one product out of the three, it would be the Blush in Natural. It's  such a pretty color that looks nice on most skin tones. However, I think that Physician's formula can do without the gimmicky stuff and the faulty brush.

Physician's Formula products are quite expensive in Canada so always wait for the 40% off sales! :)

Review & Swatches: NYX Rouge Cream Blushes

NYX Rouge Cream Blush

The Claim: "NYX Rouge cream blush offers radiant, long-lasting color in the form of velvety smooth cream. Infused with mineral oils, this blush is creamy in texture and provides a dewy glow for natural, fresh color."

Overall: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Price: $4.75 - $6.99 (cheapest I've seen on beautyjoint.com)
Size/Weight: .19 OZ 5.3 g
Would you buy this again? only some shades.

Pros: These cream blushes are buttery smooth, very pigmented, non-sticky, easy to blend, and long lasting. The formula is wet upon application but dries to a matte finish. You could even wear this underneath your desired powder blush to increase the staying power.

Cons: Unfortunately, the main ingredient is mineral oil so this is not something I'd wear everyday. I have normal to dry skin and this hasn't caused me to break out. I'm not sure if this will be good for people with oily skin as it might clog pores.

Hot Pink

Color: Bright Barbie pink. Cool-toned. Matte.

Thoughts: This color is intensely pigmented. You only need to stipple a little on your cheeks to give yourself a bubblegum pink flush. I wore it once and it lasted all day! However, when I tried washing it off, it left a stain on my cheeks (I wore it on top of my moisturizer, sans foundation). This is the only color that left a stain. The others came off with soap and water.

Glow

Color: Rosy pink with a hint of coral. Matte.

Thoughts: Out of all the blushes, glow left the most natural pink flush on my cheeks. This color is also bright so a little bit goes a long way.

Natural

Color: Neutral pale pink. Matte.

Thoughts: Natural, as the name suggests, is quite natural. On my medium olive-toned skin, this color is really subtle and definitely not as bright as the colors above. When I wear this blush, it makes me look kind of pale. I think this is a nice color for fairer skin tones.

Golden

Color: Muted Beige, almost peachy. Golden shimmers.

Thoughts: I was contemplating whether to get this or Boho Chic. I ended up picking Golden because Boho chic had silver shimmers in it which would clash with my warm skin tone. The shimmer in this blush is obvious on my cheeks so if you don't like shimmer, stay away! I love the color when swatched but when blended, all I see are shimmers with a tiny hint of peach. This one would be good if I was going for the beachy bronze makeup look.

Color comparison: Hot Pink and Glow

Color comparison: Natural and Golden

Swatches (once blended, they look more natural)

From left to right: Hot Pink, Glow, Natural, Golden

I recommend applying your cream blushes with a duo fibre brush because they are really pigmented and wet. I used my fingers the first time around and it was a bit messy and blotchy.

Above: Applying NYX cream blush in Natural with my Sigma Duo Fibre Blush Brush F15

 Stipple it on and I blend away!

All in all, I'm quite pleased with these cream blushes and I actually like them better than my NYC Blushable Creme Sticks.  My favourites out of the bunch are Glow and Natural. Have you tried NYX cream blushes? What are your favourite shades? Let me know!

Until later, ciao bellas!

Oooooh Prety - PRODUCT REVIEW - Soap and Glory

Oooooh Prety - PRODUCT REVIEW - Soap and Glory
My skin was in desperate need of some tlc so I thought I will try a new moisturiser and see if that helps. Now I have to say I don't normally buy skin care products from the chemist, but i have noticed a lot of people on Twitter and YouTube mentioning their drugstore bargins so I thought I would see if I could get a decent moisturieser on a budget (which was £10)!

I am a retailers dream, I am completely attracted to pretty packaging so when I saw the Soap and Glory boxes lined up calling my name I had to have a look. I love this product range and you may have read in an earlier blog that I was given a massive S&G tote which had a huge amount of body and bath products in for Christmas!  But now i'm looking for Facial skin care and thats a completely different ball game! Well I picked up Glow Job, Daily Radience Moisture Lotion, I read the box and decided I would give it a go, it sounded good, looked pretty and was with in my budget at £8.17 (which when i got to the check out it was on offer at just over £5! which gave me enough change to buy something else - watch out next week to see what it was!).

 Well, pleased is an understatement, I am completely amazed, This product is pure brilliance in a tube!  My skin is super soft and hydrated and actually looks fresh and glowy!  One of the main features of this moisture lotion is Bronzeburst which are tiny little beads that when rubbed together burst open with bronzing agents which as a result give your skin an extra dose of radiance! This isn't one of those daily build up tan/moisturisers, it is a daily moisturising lotion that gives you a one day glow. You only need a pea sized amount so its going to last ages and it smells great too!

 The tiny bronzeburst beads!

My beauty must have!

Now that i've tried this product and loved it so much I will definitely be working my way through the rest of the range, and will be sharing the results with you! Let me know if you have any favourites from S&G that you think I should try or if there are any of the products you would like me to try out and review.

Review: May 2011 Luxe Box by Loose Button

Finally, something for us Canadians!
Today I will be sharing what product samples came in this month's Luxe Box. For those of you who are unaware, Luxe Box was created by a company called Loose Button. It's basically a monthly subscription service that delivers 3-5 deluxe size samples to your door for only $9.95+tax/month. I'm sure you have all heard of BirchBox which is essentially the same thing except they don't cater to Canadian residents so it's awesome that Loose Button came up with this.

Last month I was sent a personal invite to receive a LuxeBox and gladly accepted! (They are currently still in the invite-only phase so you will have to add your email to the waiting list.) I think it's a great way to try new products without breaking the bank. You'll never know what you're going to get so it's always a nice surprise! And since I like surprises, I was so ecstatic when I opened the box.

Here's the box. Simple but elegant. Me likes!

Comes with a card, wrapping tissue, and chocolate but I ate it ;D

Here's what I got:

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant 13g (Full Size Retail: $50)

China Glaze Mini Nail Polish 9.6mL (Full Size Retail: $7)

Consonant Body Organic Olive Oil Body Soap Full Size 112g (Retail: $12)

Elizabeth Grant Biocollasis Complex Day Serum 10mL (Full Size Retail: $65)

I've been using the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant and I love it! It's in powder form so in order to use it, you have to wet your hands and foam it up. The texture is somewhat gritty, almost like a liquid loofa if that makes any sense, and it exfoliates very well. I also received a China Glaze Nail Polish called Pink Underground which is a barbie pink with magenta shimmers. It reminds me of OPI's Japanese Rose Garden but a shade lighter. I can't wait to wear this! The Consonant Body Soap was the thing that gave off a lavender scent when I opened the box! It comes with a mini loofa scrub and a full size bar. The soap itself is handmade in Toronto and only consists of Organic Olea Europaea Fruit Oil, Aqua, Organic Beeswax, and glycerin so I have no clue why it smells like lavender... lol

The only thing I have yet to try is the Elizabeth Grant Serum but so far, I'm really pleased with the samples. They come in a very decent size but one thing I'd like to see in the future is for the quantity of the products to be consistent. Instead of 3-5 products a month, they should just make it 5. It will make the customers more happy and will keep people subscribing. You can apply here but there is a waiting list. Luxe Box also caters to American and International residents. ;)

Peace out :)