Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review December 2016 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k16)

The year 2016 is officially over! I calculated I spent $662 on makeup, skincare, and hair care. This is compared to $550 I spent on makeup (including circle lens), skincare, and hair care in 2015. In 2017, I'd like to save money and spend less on 'fun' purchases in makeup and skincare.

Although the majority of my money is spent on transport and food (~$2000), my main goals this year is to just repurchase skincare necessities and spend less frivolously on makeup. I have enough in my back up box for all of 2017 and probably 2018.

Unfortunately, as I was taking photos of my empties today, I realised my Olympus 14-42mm lens is broken and it wouldn't zoom past 25mm. In my worry, I forgot to take a group photo of everything for the month even though I set it up that way ;( As something extra, I have posted a picture of some items that are not yet finished, but will be thrown away.

Vivi January 2017 (feat. EXO) and birthday present from Joy

Vivi is a magazine I've been reading on and off since 2008. I haven't purchased an issue since 2011. The January 2017 issue features all of EXO (well, except for Lay) so I decided to purchase it. I was good and resisted getting every single issue this year even when they featured Baekhyun and D.O. Of course, I also have a soft spot for Chen and Suho... it was hard resisting.

I got it at Kinokuniya for $18.50 (this is why I can't commit to buying an issue every month). It came with an EXO clear file, and a 2017 calendar. To be very honest, I think that the magazine is overpriced for what I paid for it, but I'm glad I purchased it in person:D Due to its weight, I would imagine shipping would be expensive.

Etude House My Little Nut Dear My Enamel Lips-Talk (Christmas 2016) PK004 Review

I'm so excited for Christmas! I received this lipstick from my Black Friday Testerkorea 'mini' haul the day before my birthday. Perfect timing tbh. I'm so glad nothing melted because it was 36 degrees that day.

Lip products are my weakness. I have to admit I was drawn by the packaging of this lipstick. The shade I purchased (PK004 Puzzling Pink) is not a new shade. In fact, it came out in 2015 when the Dear My Enamel Lips range first came out and Joy from Red Velvet was promoting it. This year, the lipstick got repackaged and then repackaged again for Christmas. There are of course, other shades in the Christmas collection that are My Little Nut exclusive but I thought I'd be practical and get a shade I can wear everyday.

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review November 2016 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k16)

Can't believe this month is nearly over! I had an exciting and eventful November... I went out a lot. This month, I met Wengie in person. She was a lot skinnier in person than I thought she would be. Although I'm not a religious viewer of her Youtube channel and I don't read her blog, I thought she was very cool in person. She was very nice and offered me hugs:)

I also watched Chihayafuru part 1 and 2 of the live action. In the Christmas holidays, I plan to watch the anime to catch me up to speed now that I am interested in the storyline. I want to see if Chihaya eventually gets the Queen title.

Benton Prize Packs

Benton Cosmetics, famous for their Snail Bee line, Aloe BHA line, and having no filler ingredients, officially launched their website in July 2016.

You can visit the website here.

As part of the celebration in launching their official website, Benton ran a few competitions. They have had four competitions so far, and I have entered and won a prize in all four of them -_-b Benton is so generous with their prize promotions, though I was shocked to see that there were price hikes to accompany the launch for all Benton products throughout ebay, Jolse, BeautynetKorea, Testerkorea, eopenmarket, RoseRoseShop etc.

Their first event was to leave a congratulatory message to win a sample prize pack.

The second event was to leave a review on their website to win a full size of the newly launched Fermentation Essence or the Fermentation Eye Cream.

The second event took around a month to gather 50 comments to receive the products... when the prize shipped, I was very surprised and pleased that Benton commented us all back individually with a tracking number. Get this... the package was sent via EMS!

The third event happened a bit more unexpectedly, as I heard about it on reddit. You had to name a product contains dimethicone, and you will receive a sample pack as a prize.

The fourth event was to guess the name of Benton's new hand cream from the description.

Event 1 & 2:

New Clothes, Shoes, and a Bag from August to October (Liz Lisa, Marcs, Lolita/Himekaji)

Yes, so now that I discovered I have a disposable income, I've decided to put some of that money towards Liz Lisa items. I have loved their designs and clothes since I first opened the December 2007 edition of Popteen.

Here is my shopping adventure for non-makeup/non-skincare related items from August - October 2016.

I went to the celebration of a new service line at an accounting firm that I was previously with and that Cathy now works at. I don't know what we were talking about, but she said that she had some Liz Lisa clothes she was going to try and sell. I told her I really liked Liz Lisa stuff but didn't have any, but I think I like the style as I frequently wear the knock off pieces Holly gave me in 2014. Being a generous person, Cathy said she will give them all to me ;u;

So on the day Rayray, Cathy, and I went handbag shopping I went over to Cathy's house to pick the clothes I wanted. Many, many years ago, Cathy said she also had a pair of white rocking horse shoes she didn't want. Score! I gave her a pair of my Amo lashes that she really liked seeing me wear.

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review October 2016 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k16)

This month has flown by! I'm not sure how but I think part of it was just constantly being so busy at work, and trying to keep on top of everything and not dropping the ball. I don't think I'm burning out, but I'm starting to lose that bright spark of organisational commitment I felt when I first started. Maybe I'm browning out?

I had a lot of fun with watching the Melbourne Cup with my colleagues. We went out for lunch, and after that, we all got an early mark to go home. Yay.

I'm glad that the festive season is approaching! I love Christmas decorations and the Christmas spirit. I'm not excited about the weather heating up again... I don't miss the 45 degree days. I have to be a bit more protective about changing up the storage for my lipsticks on hot days as I don't want them to melt or go bad in the heat. My MAC Lady Danger lipstick had a rough day yesterday and experienced a little bit of wax bloom.

I think I used up plenty of full products this month:D