Fortune Cookie Soap Box, Spring 2015

This month was inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. The spring collection launches on February 27th, 6:30 PM CST.

Sorry to cut this short due to continuing renovations. 

A super cute sticker on the outside. It makes more sense once you see the inside.

Cute green crinkle paper, a detailed card and plently of small samples. All of these scents were quite strong with the exception of "Almost Alice". 

My favorite scent, which is not welcomed by all in the house, was "It's only a dream". The formula is nice, the scent is strong. A bath tea as include and likely not be used by us here. The incense was alright, but completely fits with an Alice in Wonderland feel. The bath bomb appears to have real roses and will be used as a treat for the toddler. The body wash is very strongly grapefruit scented, and again not really for me. The perfume oil smells intially like cake, then pineapple takes over. Also not my thing, but lovely. The OCD "We're all Mad Here" is nice, but when it's time to get more hand santizer I'll be picking a different scent.

Even though this box wasn't a big hit for me, I'd still recommend them. A box 4 times a year doesn't seem excessive, and I'm able to use most of the products so I do feel I get a reasonable return on my investment. It's a well curated box, and if you use products like these (or most of a box) and you can afford $120ish US a year, I'd sign up. If you can control your inner spenderella, you can even use the $10 coupon code sent with each box. I used mine to pick up a Game of Thrones Lotion. And that was it. A well behaved splurge. 

Glamour Doll Eyes OTM February

Glamour Doll Eyes has a subscription which is totally awesome. I mean, $15/month for Canadians (varies for US and international) for one monthly eyeshadow colour, extras and shipping. The popularity has grown so much it literally is a lottery each month. 

An adorable brown lace bag for February. <3

I'm sorry I thought this cute lil' charm was in focus. I'm also looking forward to a few months were I can update my computer to something a little faster and actually be able to edit my photos*. *without wanting to pick up a heavy object to heave at the screen.

Another bonus this month: Coastal Scents Liquid Eyeliner in stone. I've received this in Ipsy in black, and I really liked it. I'd open it but renovations.

This month is a lovely reddish brown called "Not to be Truffled with". Again, I would open it, but with massive renovations this week, it will be safer left sealed.

The treat this month was Hersey's Kisses in Truffles. So so tasty!

TMI was for Savour, an indie soap company you can find on Etsy. Their products look really good, and reviews indicate they smell good too. 

Another bonus was a Gothic Gala Lacquers polish in a beautiful reddish-brown with red and blue sparkles. Similar to Julep, this polish required several thin coats, but did dry quickly. It's held up okay with minor chipping on most nails but the thumbs. It's very pretty and I have a code to check them out. 

 February was another awesome month for me. I gladly hand Glamour Doll Eyes $15 US every month - which is about what this month was worth dollar-wise according to the OTM website. What I would want to change is I'd like to pay upfront so my OTM could be mailed sooner (like it was before the lottery system) so that I might get the package as the same time as US residents and not see previews of the monthly surprise. I am so eager for the drywall dust is vaccumed up. 

I've made $300,000

A few weeks ago I read a bunch of posts on calculating your life time earnings. I was reviewing my rrsp room, and decided to go a quick back calculation.

In Canada (as far as I know) you earn rrsp room at a rate of 18% until a maximum currently around $24,000. I know I've never hit this maxium so I used the rrsp room I have available and what I currently have to estimate what I roughly have earned. I then estimated what affect my pension would have my using the same rrsp room removal from last year's taxes times the number of years I had a pension. I'm aware this method has a TON of errors. But I'm looking to ballpark, not bullseye.

It's about $300,000.

Then I think what do I have to show?

Lots of debt. Acquired mosthly via student loans, court costs and a short sale on my home.

Can I make this up?

Hell ya. It's going to take blood, sweat and tears. I'm getting back on course with the knowledge that boats are tippy. I am going to get back to a positive net worth, and I am going to build a future.

Current debt total: $34,000
Estimated debt total in March 2014 $65,000.

Topbox February Review

Topbox is a Canadian beauty subscription box that sends 4 samples monthly for $12.00 plus taxes. Shipping this month was incredibly fast again! I also suspect the shipping date has changed from the 15th. I received the box and confirmation of delivery on the same day, with another email updating my card information, and the next day received my Topbox shipping notice. I love it. I paid $12.60 for this box, and added on a surprise for $10.50.

This polish, I love the nightlife, was my surprise. Valued at ~$20, I'm not thrilled with it. I have better glitters in my collection. 

An angled Teeez brush! I can't wait to try this out. This is about ~$20 from what I can tell, and it is beautiful. Some bristles look loose, but I'll see how it handles wet for foiling.

Eyeko Hydrogel Eye Patch. $12g for $18, sample size 3g, ~$4.50. I don't mind trying these out. I've lot lots of under eye circles from the baby.

DERMAdoctor KP duty lotion. 30 ml. This was the product that was mislabeled. I was suposed to be sent a pore minimizer from DERMAdoctor instead. I'm happy with the hand lotion.

L'Occitane almond shower oil. I've heard really good things about almond oil and headaches - as in reducing them. 250 mL for $24, value of 35 mL sample ~$3.36



I'd say this was a pretty good month for Topbx. I come up with a total of over $27,68 for the regular box, and $20 for my add-on surprise meaning I am getting about double what I paid plus I'm excited to try all the items.

What did you get in your Topbox? Did you opt-in for the surprise?

Notoriously Morbid January Vanishing Cabinet Review

Notoriously Morbid offers a subscription for $17 per month (my costs, domestic or other locations may be different) called the vanishing cabinet. A few limited edition shadows are included, maybe extras and maybe a sneak peak of the next month's cabinet. From what I've read these are all themed, and usually quite clever.

This month is based on 80's cartoon Jem and the Holograms (which I've actually never seen). 

This is was my first month.

The baby loves it!

In total: 5 shadows, one sample, and one gloss.

Gloss: Starlight. Bubblegum pink with gold sparkles. Love. 

From Top to bottom. No primer.

Enticing Elba (sample). This blue was pretty in the bag, but didn't swatch on my skin very well. 

Pureheart - purple, beautiful.

Showtime - a very light pink, you can't see it on my arm well. I think it might look great on me. 

Show's Over - I love this one too. A very pretty sparking blue.

Rebel - a burnt red/orange. This one has the least sparkle.

Headstrong - a lovely teal with pink sparkles. Also love!

I'll try to upload a video of the sparkles again;

And, the true challenge. I'll try these in a look and see how they stay.

Look one:

I decied to let the sparkles shine front and center. And to try out this miracle primer from my last Birchbox. They colors were gone by six hours. Not overly surprising as I had lots of stuffed toys shoved in my face that day.

Look two:

This look was using control freak and glitter fix (both from Glamour Doll Eyes). I noticed some creasing but headstrong stayed in place as long as I needed it to.

update: I love headstrong (teal) and show's over (blue). I want to love pureheart (purple) and showtime (pink) but even with glitter fix, they won't stay on my lids. It could be I need to find a better primer/glue solution for these kinds of glitters and my eyes. They are very ... hooded?   

Oh, I also thought it was extremely generous of Notoriously Morbid to include a coupon code for this month. A great way to thank customers who love your product.

Beauty Box 5 January Review

Beauty box 5 is a monthly subscription box for $12 a month plus $3 shipping to Canada. I prepaid $99 US for a year worth's of boxes.

This box has been heavily critiqued, and it makes sense why.

The theme is "Hello!", to welcome the new year?

I was lucky to get a costal scents pallet in colors I like. Both nude and amber bronze are lovely and work for my skin tones. Value (based on a larger pallet) $.67

Sample of Soft Soap Body wash and Fructis sampoo. Both of these were impossiable to get out of the packages. Estimated $1 each, but I don't think I have the patience to use them. 

I received a nicer pattern than most for my salon effect nails. Rumour has it that these were the $9.99 claimed but now can be bought for $1 most locations.

Ultraflesh mascara in Blackout. As suggested in a review I read, this is a swipe of the mascara. Straight into the trash. Apparently this mascara hasn't be available for 2 years. Assigned no value.

Things are ALL bad:

My beauty box 5 boxes (and Luxe Box boxes/Julep boxes) make great storage organizers. Perfect for holding my heart rate monitor.

Is this worth $15 US per month?... I used to argue that all the items in my bb5 were used unlike other boxes. But when the value doesn't even come close to the regular price before shipping, this argument fails. This box is worth about $4, maybe less. I'd rather buy this shampoo and body wash myself in full sizes while still saving from the cost of the box. I hope the occasional deep discounts offered for this box haven't prevented the box from being better.

Glamour Doll Eyes OTM January

This is my favorite!

I was able to get a subscription for the highly competitive Glamour Doll Eyes OTM (of the month). Each month, one shadow plus extras is sent to subscribers. Check out the beautiful new website just for the OTM here. I paid $15 US for my international subscription. I've been a fan for about a year now, and I can not believe how much the fan following has grown.

Lots of goodies this month. Two shadows, a charm, new stickers, and an aquabomb gloss. There was a bonus indie shadow which was beautiful, but it was lost to the toddler. TMI company Baroque Cosmetics. Use code DESTATI to save 20% on your order for the rest of February. Oh, there was candy but I ate it. Not sorry.

Two shadows this month! Two!

Sailing away - a cream shadow

and the beauty: Be my anchor "A flash of sparkling blue like water with a dusty golden base."

Here are the swatches are bare skin. Note, you will want to use a primer. These wore off completely within 5 minutes. 

The true beauty in this color is the shimmer. You have to see it to believe it. Hopefully my video link works.

First look: (Shadows all Glamour Doll Eyes)

Baking Season

Be my anchor

Sail Away

Pop the bubbly

using glitter glue from Darling Girl

I've become used to working with loose powders so I'm actually finding the texture of Sail Away hard. I didn't notice this problem with the pressed shadow for November. 

Second look:

Sail away

Island Chic

Those cotton headed niggins

Silent Samauri (Notoriously morbid)

Ride shotgun (glitter)

Blush - day job

Contouring using an ipsy bronzer and skeletina

I absolutely adore Glamour Doll Eyes, and I see this subscription as worth my $15-22 per month depending on the exchange rate.