Paul & Joe - Jolly Good Grabs

To all Paul and Joe fans out there... Isetan at Wisma Atria is having a fantastic Paul & Joe promotion with nothing costing over $30 (including full sized foundations)!! Eyeshadows are about $14 and so are lip pencils with 2 colours (these alpacas grabbed 3)! The variety is quite limited, and supplies have dwindled since the alpacas went shopping last month, but what's not to love about half-price makeup with gorgeous packaging?

So anyway, Bubbles went and spent $10 on a fabric box. The nice chap selling them says Paul & Joe is coming to Singapore in January 2014! Excite!!!!

But it's not just any old fabric box, the print is gorgeous and its a sturdy little thing. Plus it's filled with skincare and makeup samples - 3 bottles of cleansing milk, 3 bottles of brightening lotion, 6 packets of brightening lotion, and 6 sachets of primer (2 of each shade). However, Bubbles is attracted to P&J's packaging, more so than the actual product (but she would like to say that their eye primer is very good indeed). 

In any event, all is not lost if you alpacas do not plan to use the samples, because you can give them to friends, or use their containers to store soap and shampoo when traveling (the containers have pretty pastel caps with a floral pattern - what's not to like?). Bubbles will use the cleansing milk, and maybe the shades of primer that suit her mien, but she's not too sure about the brightening lotion due to the lack of reviews out there. Perhaps the brightening lotion could be used on her limbs...

The Paul & Joe box has found some new tenants! A third of Bubbles' Sulwhasoo sample stash has moved in. Bubbles only wishes she had a vanity table to display the box (and all her other loot). Alas, it is stowed away in the third shelf of her wardrobe. 

Till then, alpacas! Head over to Wisma Isetan to pick up some cheap Paul and Joe goodies today! There are still lots of eyeshadow colours and sample bag sets. 

Cuddles wants to check out the Anna Sui x Disney nail polishes, and the Body Shop Ginger Sparkle set. This young alpaca is currently having exams, but is already planning her post-exam activities. Bubbles is delighted, and in line with her role as Bossy Elder Sibling, has delegated to Cuddles the task of doing the post on October/November empties. 

Bubbles' mid-week haul

What a happy alpaca Bubbles is. 13 November's Etude House haul! 7 items and a whole lot of freebies! Bubbles has died and gone to sample heaven. Toodles!

Foundation Follow-Up & Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Bright Fit Review

Winnie the Pooh should not have to walk through the Hundred-Acre-Wood. Bubbles has made some minor adjustments to his scenic route.

In other words, Bubbles has accumulated FarTooMany foundation/BB cream samples and she MUST use them up before buying her next full-sized product. Bubbles' chief grouse is that each individual packet takes SO LONG to finish (and more keep popping up with her many purchases - at this point, Bubbles would like to add that Cuddles has done her proud, because Cuddles has contributed two CC creams to the collection without buying anything... or even walking into the shop. Cuddles had extended her paw and grabbed an Etude House brochure with a CC Silky and a CC Glow taped onto it. In typical Bubbles fashion, Bubbles demanded to know why Cuddles did not take 10 more. Cuddles says that some alpacas have no sense of shame).

The Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream (Bright Fit) sample can last for 3 days, even if you pile on the BB cream each time. Two pea-sized amounts will cover this alpaca's entire mien.

Initial impressions
(1) Pore power: This BB cream doesn't settle into pores like badgers settling into a den for winter. It blurs large pores a little, but you can still see them if you look closely.
(2) Oiliness overview: It doesn't do much on the oil control front, so loose powder is necessary.
(3) Colour cautions: It has yellow-ish undertones, so it's perfect for this Asian alpaca.
(4) Staying strength: It may have the potential to last the day, but after 5 hours, Bubbles has to blot the oil on her face, and the paper towel takes off some of the cream as well, so Bubbles will never  know.
(5) Price petrification: Not petrifying at all. This alpaca will check and see if its $25.90 or $32.90 tomorrow. The CC cream was $25.90, but contained less product.
(6) Mirror Madness: It could have been the lighting of the Tangs beauty hall, but Bubbles caught a glimpse of herself at the Benefit counter mirror and would have bought a tube of this BB cream there and then. This BB cream worn under the Ettusais BB Mineral Powder gives the effect of soft, radiant and flawless skin.

 (1) is a glob of the Precious Mineral BB cream. (2) is just spreading it out (3) is properly blended. Bubbles has such a shy human. 

One pack of BB cream down, only 2 more Bright Fit samples to go! Bubbles is going to try the Sulwhasoo foundation sample tomorrow. Bubbles has high hopes for this one, given how she cakes her face in Sulwhasoo product day and night!

Frolics with Foundation

Bubbles has a thick skin. Someday she will make a great fur coat. She never fails to ask for samples at every beauty counter she visits. As a result she has amassed a rather large collection of foundation samples. Pity she has only one face, however fat it is.

There are 9 foundation/BB/CC/bases here. Bubbles is delighted. Nine is not too many for this alpaca. 

From left to right, on Bubbles: (1) Ettusais BB Mineral White SPF 45, (2) Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Bright Fit, (3) Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Cotton Fit, (4) Shu Uemura Face Architect foundation, (5) Shu Uemura BB Perfector, (6) Shiseido Sheer and Perfect Foundation, (7) Shiseido Maquillage Perfect Multi Base BB, (8) Etude House CC Cream Silky, and (9) Etude House CC Cream Glow. 

Bubbles has tried 2 of the 9 face products thus far - #7 Shiseido Maquillage Perfect Multi Base BB, and #8 Etude House CC Cream Silky. She has resolved NOT to buy any more foundations/BB creams, etc. until she finishes the lot, no matter what the next product at the beauty counter promises ("zero pores and a free gingerbread house!!!"). However, Bubbles can never resist a good discount, so we'll see if she is seduced by the "20% Off" or the "Gift With Purchase Of Minimum Sum $x". But that means MORE samples, huzzah!!

#8 Etude House CC Cream Silky.... what can Bubbles say other than she LOVES this and would totally buy a tube now if she wasn't (1) lumbered with sooooo many other samples to try, (2) waiting for another crazy sale at Etude House (40% off last month!!!) and (3) waiting for more Things-To-Purchase at Etude House so she can get the nice gifts when you spend $90 (Bubbles only likes the $90 gift-with-purchase) if there is no sale. The Silky CC cream applies like a dream and has long staying power. Bubbles puts it on at 6 am, and it is still there at at 6 pm. While it does get a bit splodgy by 2 pm because Bubbles has sweat glands and walks out for lunch in the sun, splodgy is nothing which some powder can't fix. 

When squeezed from the tube, the cream is white with little coloured spheres in it. The spheres are color capsules in the cream which break when you smooth out the cream on your face, thus adding a beige color to your face. It gives a your-skin-but-better look, and Bubbles acquires a pinky glow (as in pinky Radiant (a well-rested alpaca), not pinky Sunburnt (a well-roasted alpaca)), with no grey or white cast. It is okay for tanner complexions (Bubbles is too tan for the Etude House Any Cushion, alas) because the cream is not very pigmented, so the color won't show up strongly on your face, but just brightens. Bubbles finishes it off with the Shiseido Sheer Mattifying Compact powder. More on this tomorrow, Bubbles is suddenly very sleepy...

Sampling Sulwhasoo

Oh la la... Bubbles has Been-At-It-Again. Cuddles was interested in the Sulwhasoo Charity Kit ($60 with 6 items) and was worried it would sell out over the weekend, but Bubbles could not understand why Cuddles had her tail in a twist. So anyway, Cuddles woke Bubbles up at 9 a.m. on A SATURDAY just so that we would reach Tangs when it opened at 11 a.m.. While Cuddles bought the Charity Kit, Bubbles played with the Sulwhasoo samples on display. Bubbles then succumbed to the NICE SCENT of the sunblock (second from left) and.... purchased it. Bubbles also got samples of the Hydro-Aid Lifting Serum and Hydro-Aid Lifting Cream, making Bubbles one Happy Alpaca.

Bubbles tried the Hydro-Aid Lifting Serum and Hydro-Aid Lifting Cream sample on Saturday night and did not break out. Bubbles woke up to glowy skin. Bubbles repeated routine on Sunday morning, incorporating the sunblock just because. Bubbles tried the First Care Activating Serum (in Charity Kit) + Hydro-Aid Lifting Serum and Hydro-Aid Lifting Cream on Sunday night, and woke up on Monday feeling like she should have bought a Charity Kit too. Cuddles laughs and cradles her Charity Kit.

On Monday, Bubbles put on the serum + cream + sunblock, and discovered it was an excellent makeup base too. No flaky bits after moisturizing, and the sunblock did not make Bubbles' face shiny. No white cast also. Bubbles was so blissful. Bubbles wore Etude House CC cream (silky) + Shiseido Sheer Mattifying Compact powder over it, and went to work. 

Bubbles could not stop thinking about those samples of awesomeness. They moisturize well amd have a nice citrusy-herby scent. Bubbles found herself on the train to Orchard Tangs after work....

The above picture, sans sunblock, is self-explanatory. Bubbles bought the (1) First Care Activating Serum, (2) Hydro-Aid Lifting Serum and (3) Hydro-Aid Lifting Cream. At this stage, Cuddles would like to say that Bubbles is craaaazy. Bubbles admits that she is a sucker for samples. Everything else in the picture was FREEEE!!! Which alpaca does not like freebies. (Note: the 4 light blue satchets on the right were given to me on Saturday... but they balance out the picture, yes?)

In the next post, Bubbles will share her thoughts on the 3 items, as well as the Herblinic Restorative Ampoules (yay for samples... we know where that will lead us). Cuddles has been tasked to review the Charity Kit, but being the princess she is ("I only want to review the cleanser!!!"), it looks like Bubbles has to work overtime. Young alpacas these days....

Adios, alpacas!