Glamour Doll Eyes Blog Review

Disclaimer, I received a discount in exchange for posting a review. If you're interested, you can request the same discount here. I also apologize if this post a bit long. I might have picked a few too many colours, and I want to give this review the time it deserves. I'm also sorry - there are going to be a lot of pictures of my face (and I think I might be starting to get some wrinkles!).

I couldn't resist and added on a few more colours!

One of the colours from my order is from the new Paper Runway collection, and Vee was kind enough to include her paper doll. Every order also included an eye shadow of the month! Yey freebies!

Some of the product inserts. From Left to right, clockwise, GDE sticker, coupon code for the circus collection purchase, informational card on using the glitter, sticker for the circus collection and a GDE business card.

Showing the lids. Note I ordered from the regular collection, circus, super shadows and paper runway. I love that these special collections get noticed, and I think the blush girl is very cute. 

Here is my order: 1 Blush, 10 shadows. Regular price is $9 for the blush, $6 for full size shadows (sample jars for $2.50 or baggies for $1.25 are also available). I can't decided if the full jars or samples are better. I like having a lot of shadow, but from a safety/health standpoint the price savings over a sample jar aren't much. Plus I'm clumbsy :) I've almost lost a few down the sink. I don't like the baggies, but I read a review from someone who travels alot, and loved them to just throw in her bag. I get that, and if you had a plane related goey accident, I'd rather toss a bag than a full jar of my favorite shade. 

I ordered:  

I ordered two tubes of glitter, one in each hex size. These run for $5 each. 

More on the glitter. Unsuspecting victim is the lighter color with smaller Hex sizes. Beautiful mess is the purple shadow with the larger hex size. The main difference I noticed in wearing these two is the larger glitter sticks to my eyelashes, and gives my vision a bit of a "disco ball" haze.

Wow! The blush is PURPLE! Yes, this will be my first time using a purple blush. 

First thing in the morning, over face moisturizer. I blended the heck out of this colour, and after added a bit of bronzer to help my face appear thinner. 

For my eyes over Body Shop Nanoblur, I have Mushroom (so beautiful) on the lid, and insomia in the corners (an OTM colour I would love to see permanent). Mascara is Benefit, They're Real from my TopBox sample. The blush looks nice - I think.

Here we have the very purple blush in natural light. It adds a nice heathly glow. I've been using Day Job - another GDE blush - most mornings, and a co-worker usually comments on how I must have slept really well the night before. I'll take that compliment! But I do explain it's my make-up, not my sleep that day. 

Some more looks: 

Mighty Maiden: From the super shadows collection. Website description: A light sky blue with gold and silver sparkle.

I tried this one on my eyes with no primer as I was in a hurry. Beautiful shade of blue.

Faded considerably during the day (but my eye shadows always do, probably because of my deep set, not model gorgeous eyes.

Next look: Unsuspecting victim (glitter, not pictured here), pipe dream, coquette over Control Freak (I was lucky enough to get one of the last sample clam shells).

Pipe Dream: From the Spring 2014 line, discontinued. A grey with beautiful sparkles

Coquette: From the Matte Feminine Collection, Matte baby pink with blueish purple sheen and sparkle.

I didn't notice any sparkles from pipe dream sticking (and there was a lot of fall out while applying this colour) but the glitter looked lovely and stayed all day. The purple, coquette, was matte but stayed almost the same depth of color until I took the shadows off. Lots of love for the unsuspecting victim/coquette combination.

Conceited, avant-garde, and flawless over Benefit Stay, Don't Stray.

Conceited: From  Matte Feminine, Matte light grey with a soft blue shift and a purple/pink sparkle.

Avant-Grade: From Paper Runway, a matte magenta base with an orange sheen and a bright blue sparkle. 

Flawles, From the Halo Collection (not the video game?) Light beige/pink with subtle turquoise and gold shimmers.

I like these colours. A lot. They didn't stay all day, mostly until the end of my work day. 

Here's a squinty up-close picture of my rough blending. Flawless is a great match for my current summer skin tone, and adds just the right amount of brightness. 

I used Julep's eye primer for my last look, and the last of my small Foil Me sample from GDE for my last look today. I've tried Julep's primer several times with loose eye shadow, and I don't think it's a good match even though it's better than Benefit's Stay don't stray. I'm very excited for the Foil Me re-release on October 15th, right around my birthday. 

The shadows, left to right: Pipe dream, Mermaid's plumage, In memory and Ancestry.

As you can see the primer stands out more than I like even with blending. It does become less prominant with time, but it also doesn't hold the shadows as long as I like.

Very pretty blues. 

In total I spent $9 (blush), $54 - $12. 60 (shadows) and $10 (glitter) for a total of $60.40 plus shipping to Canada. I'm very happy with these, but I'll trying to stay away... until closer to my birthday. And I might make an exception if the GWP (gift with purchases freebie updated each month) is adorable! ;) 

When I splurge as a mom

I'm constantly running numbers in my head of how much my debt is, and when can I make my next payment. I've re-written how I am going to allocate my next paycheck every day this week to try to accommodate more savings, another debt payment, or that my phone bill was $20 over what I expected (and yes, I just don't have the disposable income to just pay it). But, there are some ways that I find I just can't don't want to cut.

1. Mid-range to expensive diapers. Cheap diapers, especially no-name, give my daughter rashes. Two years later, she still gets rashes from the cheaper diapers. It's not worth it to me to irritate her skin. I'm not buying specialty, but I am buying the middle price range brand name diapers.

2. Healthy food. This one usually messes with my head as my grocery budget seems to be one of the last areas I can cut. I have reduced this by simply going to the store less often (and I feel so guilty!) When I do go, I buy fresh produce, usually on sale. If there is something healthy my daughter wants, I'll usually get it for her. It doesn't seem right to fight with her over a good decision when I should be supporting her, and keeping my debt problems mine.

3. Child care. Again, I don't go overboard, and I have declined a very fancy daycare in the $1500+ range, but I am willing to pay for quality. My $1000/month daycare works out to be ~$225 a week. Very cost-effective for looking after the most precious thing in my life.

4. Clothes. About twice a year (and it soon will be less as her growth slows down) I stock up one clothes at sale prices online. I've been very lucky to get lots of hand-me-downs which has kept this number low, and I have a few good friends who buy my daughter wonderful, quality clothes. I like feeling like I can provide for her during those $100-$200 splurge purchases. And, baby socks disappear as fast as adult socks!

5. Park/activity passes. These have paid for themselves over and over. I love having a place to take her in the winter that isn't a mall. When she was a few months old, and it was too cold to be outside we would wander the malls. Even if I splurged once a week, a $4 cinnamon bun will add up. The park has been spendy lately with the ice cream trucks, but it's so much better for my budget (and controlling my wants) then wandering in a mall. Another bonus, I don't have to ignore shopping demons and instead focus on my daughter and making her laugh!

It's true all these decisions could add to money to pay down my debt faster, but an extra $5 on diapers, $10 on my grocery bill, $100 on safe, certified childcare, $40 on clothes and $45 on entertainment are well worth the small annual cost for the daily benefit in our lives.

Canada Student Loans Lost My Payment

Remember how I was debating about setting a goal to eliminate my smaller student loan? As such, I made a few payments (say 5) in about two weeks time, and was planning on making two more and having this little guy gone (but a fair amount of the balance actually transferred to my line of credit which has a nearly identical interest rate). Why? Because I -was- am wanting a win. Paying off my credit feels amazing, and has kept me from ranking up the total, but it's still credit available to me. A spiral of bad decisions (or something bad happening) and it could be back up there! As soon as this once massive now wee loan is gone, it's gone!* *unless I decide to return to school, but I would really like to be debt-free before I considered additional education.

Everyday, I've been logging in and waiting to see what these extra payments will do to my balance (drop it!) and how they change my daily interest rate - something weird that has kept me really focused on dropping the balance. I notice a payment I made never was calculated! Immediately, I pick up the phone and call. After a twently minute call, they think I made the payment to the wrong account number. To prove I haven't, I have had to fax 10+ pages of my banking documents and they will "look into it". I should hear back after 20 business days.

But... I wanted to pay this guy off this month... Which I know my goal three weeks ago was by the end of December, two weeks ago by my birthday in October, and somehow it moved up to next pay check. Which is how much time I'll give them to find my payment. It will take away from my vacation, but I really want one of those loans gone! It also makes me wonder if they have "lost" any of my other payments...

Have you ever had a payment you made lost? What did you do? Did they find it?

Luxe Box Summer Vows Review

Yeah... I hope the first thing you notice is that I didn't get my summer vows box. I received the shipping notice for both my regular box, and my summer vows which I had bought from the boutique for $35 because I was quite excited for Luxe Box and I wanted to try them both a regular box and a special limited edition. Retrospectively it probably would have been better to buy another subscription ($26, $25 or $24/box on quarterly, semi-annual and annual plans) and pay the upgrade ($6).

Here's what is included in the Summer Vows Limited Edition Luxe Box:

Summer Vows

SUMMER 2014 EDITION

Explore the soft world of pastels this summer with our very sweet edition, Summer Vows.

Whether you are attending a summer wedding or planning a romantic date, these eight discoveries will have you covered from head to toe.  

Products Included:

Nails

• Nicole by OPI | Sweet Surrender (3.75 mL)

Eyes

• Eyeko | Skinny Mini Liquid Eyeliner in “Black” (1.18 mL)
• Teeez | Spectrum of Stars Eyeshadow in “Vanilla Sunbeam” (Full Size)

Hands

• Crabtree & Evelyn | Ultra-Moistuising Hand Therapy (25 mL)

Scent

• Hanae Mori | Butterfly (4 mL)

Hair

• Nexxus | Youth Renewal Elixir (4 mL)

Body

• DERMAdoctor | KP Duty Moisturizing Therapy (30 mL)

* Bonus Product for Him:

• English Laundry | Notting Hill Eau de Parfum for Him (5 mL)

Shipping Date: Mid-June

*The first 100 members to upgrade to the Summer Vows Edition will receive Engish Laundry, Notting Hill (5 mL) as a bonus product. Members receiving the bonus product will receive a confirmation email by June 15. 

 I ordered in time to get the English Laundry, Notting Hill bonus product. Which, due to a love of Hugh Grant films, I was excited to gift to my boyfriend. 

I received both shipping numbers (for my subscription box and my limited edition box) on the same day. The second shipping number never moved from waiting to be received. I was good, patience and waited the 2.5 weeks as requested online before contacting Loose Button about a missing box. After a month of emails back and forth, I was told a replacement box would ship. I later received a tracking number that, just like the first box, never moved. I contacted Loose Button again after 8 business days of waiting. Somehow, my box made it into the mail that night. A few days later, it was at my door. 

Here's what I got:

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I will admit I do like these boxes. They are very nice and sturdy. 

A look inside and at the pouch the products arrived in. 

2 x 25 g tubes of Crabtree and Evelyn hand lotion. Both of these are on sale right now for $8, and both of these tubes look slightly ... damaged. $16

A very nice pair of tweezers, a 4 mL Nicole OPI nail polish in a cute bottle, and a full size teeez eye shadow.  I believe this is the same shade of polish as the limited edition box. Tweezers $13, polish sample $3.99, teeez shadow estimated value after conversion $23.

The back of the shadow indicating the colour, paradise bird. Sounds pretty. I'm not sure how I feel about this being the only full size, non-damaged product. This is close to what was offered.

Vera Wang Lovestruck perfume sample. I don't like this scent, and I'm find the tube very awkward to use without spilling. Size 4 mL, currently selling at  sale price of $32/3.4 oz (down from $78).  Estimated sample value $1.28, regular price $3.12

                                   

Close up on the perfume.

Eslor sample package (actually this made me realize I probably didn't everything from my beauty box 5. That package only had two samples not four). Estimated value $15. But these are foil sample packages. It feels a bit like a let down to be the second highest value in the box, the third being tweezers.

Nexxus Youth Renewal, 4 mL sample. This does smell pretty, I'll use this. $14.99 for 28 mL, value of sample $2.14 

The whole lot, total estimated value $ 74.42. Really?.. Doesn't feel like it.

I forgot to include the bonus package of crest white strips valued at $5 for all luxe box customers.

Customer service, although very polite, doesn't answer questions leaving me wondering what is actually happening. Unfinished thoughts like "we would love to send you a replacement box." with out indicating if one will actually be sent drive me a tad insane. I like it when professional companies are very clear, and I expect them to have experience with these kind of issues. I understand the limited edition sold out, so I think I was hoping for something fantastic. Worth the $35 plus tax from the boutique, the $71 plus bonus promised price tag. Something like the eyeko liner I lusted for. Something to say "we're sorry, we lost your order". Something nice.

Instead I got what looks like random stuff they had lying around. As my boyfriend put it "The tweezers are nice". Yeah.. That's about all I can say. Although the "value" is close to what I ordered $74 compared to $71, I feel really let down and I am not happy about this box. I have one more left on my subscription and I plan on calling to cancel in October. *sigh* I hate having to call in, I really thought I would love this subscription box.

If you love a gamble, and want to see if you'll get your own luxe box in the mail, please use my link. It apparently comes with a special discount, meaning your might save $1 or $2.  There's a tempting Be a Bombshell upgrade (for $13).

Products Included:

• Be a Bombshell | Lip Gloss in "Caliente"
• Be a Bombshell | Eyeshadow in "Tempted'
• Be a Bombshell | Blush in "Glowing Goddess"
• Be a Bombshell | One Stick in "You Glow Girl"
• Be a Bombshell | Lip Crayon in "Some Beach"
• Loose Button | Blush Brush

Shipping Date: Mid-September

August Goals

I'm not ready to release a budget yet because I'm still playing with numbers. I do, however, have a ton of goals I'd like to see accomplished.

I'm debating about taking money from my line of credit and using it on my smallest student loan. If I do this, I can actually get that guy paid off before maternity leave. I absolutely hate paying debt with more debt but I keep thinking the mental benefit of one less creditor to pay.

I would like to get my savings to $1000 and my EF to $750 before October and had calculated how much per pay to put on each. I'm debating about focusing on the savings this month, and the EF in September. IF I can make the numbers work to hit the goal. Otherwise, I'll stick to my slow and steady plan.

I want a plan to pay back the money I would be taking out from the line of credit, and seeing how much room I can put back in before October/November where I might need to use these funds.

I'm also planning a short vacation, and I'd like to have $500 in spending money/food budget/transportation/etc. I would like to spend less, but it's so nice to have more than you think you'll need when you go somewhere.

Once I decide on which goals are reasonable, and if the stretch goals are in reach, I'll solidify my budget.

To repeat, I think my goals are:

August:
1. Pay off smaller student loan
2. Bring savings to $1000
3. Find $500 for vacation
4. List a few more eBay items to achieve above goals then take a break
5. Go on vacation! De-stress!


September:
1. EF to $750
2. Pay back $1000-$2000 on line of credit
3. Feel prepared for maternity leave
4. Set up baby's room, see if any needs are missing
5. Save up for daycare costs in case the baby arrives early
6. Keep emotional/impulse shopping in check

What are your goals for August? Are you going to enjoy the remaining summer? Do you every change your budget on the fly?

End of July update

July was a little extra spendy - partly because I've been having a ton of pain in my ribs, and I've been spending copious amounts of money on a chiropractor. But it helps! Thank goodness. 

Here are the numbers:

DEBT REPAYMENT	Budgeted	Actual	Leftover
Credit Card	$100.00	$45.00	$55.00
Personal loan	$250.00	$250.00	$0.00
Student loan #1	$125.00	$125.00	$0.00
Student loan #2	$775.00	$875.00	-$100.00
Line of Credit	$230.00	$50.00	$180.00
SAVINGS	Budgeted	Actual	Leftover
Emergency	$170.00	$170.00	$0.00
Savings	$350.00	$395.00	-$45.00
Retirement	$10.00	$81.50	-$71.50
FOOD	Budgeted	Actual	Leftover
Groceries	$90.00	$0.00	$90.00
Dining out	$20.00	$53.01	-$33.01
LIFE, ETC.	Budgeted	Actual	Leftover
Baby Supplies	$460.00	$470.00	-$10.00
Health Care	$15.00	$215.25	-$200.25
Personal Care	$15.00	$18.90	-$3.90
Gas	$175.00	$138.70	$36.30
Entertainment	$25.00	$80.00	-$55.00
Parking	$20.00	$9.00	$11.00
Phone	$80.00	$80.00	$0.00
Misc./Cash	$20.00	$190.61	-$170.61
TOTALS	$2,930.00	$3,246.97	-$316.97

Okay - Debt repayment. I sold some things on ebay, and used the extra on my student loan #2. The goal is to get this guy paid off by the end of the year. Unfortunately, I had higher health care expenses, so my line of credit took one for the team. 

Savings - It's important to me to get my savings to $1000 ASAP as I'll need it for October/November. Again, from the side hustle, I added a bit extra. I also decided to make a "large" payment to get my RRSP to my goal amount, and I'll probably stop adding to this account until I hit a few more goals. 

Life - Nursing bras were on sale online for 60% off! I couldn't resist, and bought one. Well, two actually, but I picked two sizes, and I think I've put on enough weight that only one will fit. Luckily the cost of the two bras plus shipping is less than one full price bra so I'll be okay with my mistake. Mostly, I'm happy in this category. I know I made a few mistakes as I had a bit of an emotional breakdown. There was one day this week I wanted to give up, and insisted on not getting out of bed until my debt was paid off or I stopped gaining weight and my clothes fit. The next day had a bunch of splurges, mostly on the kidlet like ice cream, and new clothes. 

What about the overall numbers?

Total debt June 30th $49,140

                 July 31st $ 48,315

Total debt reduction: $815

(really feels like it should be higher, but not bad considering it's 30% of my income.)

Total ca$h: June 30th: $584

                  July 31st: $1195

Total increase: $611

Meaning my next savings increase/debt decrease was about $1400. Much better, and (almost) fits my goal of reducing my debt $1500/month for June, July, August and September. 

How was your July for you? Do you justify using credit for medical expenses (like I do) or go without (hopefully not in much pain!)?