Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review July, August, and September 2017 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k17)

... Okay, this is a bit insane but I kept three months worth of empties. I was lazy okay (￣□￣) I couldn't fit everything into one photo so I don't have a photo of everything.

I got a helix piercing at the beginning of September because I had wanted one for the longest time. Since I have long hair and the jewellery is tiny, very few people have noticed it.

In this time period, I also went to Kcon and saw EXO perform live! I'm still a bit in denial, it was a dream come trueeeee. I was a bit bummed that my current bias D.O (Do Kyungsoo) didn't end up coming but I saw all the other members! Lay wasn't going to come anyway so I wasn't too disappointed at not seeing him.

I also won a Peripera Airy Ink Velvet lip tint in #4 Beautiful Coral Velvet from the beauty panel at Kcon (*adds more lip products to my collection*). 

BTS keeps on rising. I was slightly disappointed with DNA but it grew on me quickly. I love every song on the album and I have a deep appreciation of the hidden track 'Sea'. 'Mic Drop' and 'Dimple (Illegal)' are my favourite tracks. Of course, being Jimin biased, I love 'Serendipity' as well. Will stop fangirling now and move onto my unbelieveable three months worth of empties.

My friends and I also booked a holiday for next year. I'll be gone for most of February 2018! Super excited.

Samples

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review May and June 2017 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k17)

I'm so behind on blogging my empties. Whoops^^;; I've just been plodding along with life, wanting a bit more from work and my relationship(s). 

There's a lot here because I combined two months worth of empties. Let's go!

Benton Papaya D-Sun Cream Review

****This product was provided by Benton for review purposes and does not affect my honest opinion in any shape or form.

It has been cold and raining a lot for the past few days, but that's not an excuse to not wear sunscreen! Even through cloud cover, you will still be exposed to UV light. Of course, you should make it a habit to wear sunscreen everyday if you want to protect your skin from harmful rays and early signs of aging.

An avid user of sunscreen, I was pleased to hear Benton announce their newest addition to their skincare family-- a sunscreen! This is Benton's first sunscreen and is made up of a mixture of physical and chemical agents.

 I've previously reviewed other Benton products on my blog. What I like about Benton is the use of interesting and effective ingredients.  Many of the products are intended to be used 'fresh' and so end up having a shorter shelf life. 

The standout ingredient in this sunscreen is papaya! I do like papaya milkshake... but other than being delicious, papaya contains vitamins to help skin retain moisture and vibrancy. 

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review April 2017 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k17)

Lots of full empties this month! I think I'm getting better at using up my stash at the moment-- I think it's mostly just finding the beauty subreddits I like to hang out in 'boring'. I'm mostly on a discussion sub now, and scrolling through the front page.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been putting more money into clothes... to the extent where I've spent the same amount on clothes this year as what I've spent on all makeup/skincare/hair care all of last year. Whoops. I am so bad and actually need to invest my money properly as a grown up.

The last thing I spent 'big' on in April was tickets to see BTS in Sydney! I knew exactly what I wanted and finished checking out and got my email confirmation at 2.02pm when the Ticketek website started crashing lol. Tickets were released at 2pm so *shrug*

Using my phone to take photos again. It's convenient but the quality isn't as good as my camera. I'm just so put off with using my camera after all those lens issues T^T

First complete drawing of 2017- Freyja

 Yay, I finally finished off this drawing!

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review February and March 2017 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k17)

It's been awhile since my last empties post. I didn't think that I had accumulated quite enough empties (...rubbish) for the month of February which is why I decided to combine February and March together. Throughout the two months, I've mainly been enjoying my regular staple items rather than working through samples.

The thing that is worrying me this month is that I am using all the money I could have saved by not purchasing any makeup and skincare (I've been sooooo good about this) into buying clothes. So many clothes. Which I don't really have much of a chance to wear. WHY??? T^T

 

Drawing update

Towards the end of 2016, one of my friends asked me what I've been drawing lately. The answer was 'nothing'. Because I just haven't been feeling it at all. I tried to get back into drawing but it's so difficult and I don't know why I'm having a block.

Might be lack of inspiration, lack of concentration, and lack of motivation. Every night when I come home I just want to wind down by listening to music, watching a few videos on Youtube, and scroll through Reddit. I then have dinner, go for a run, have a shower, and go to bed. I get home at 7pm and go to sleep at around 11pm. There's not that much time in between for me to do other things anymore (like read, watch TV, watch anime, draw, sew etc.) because I'm so tired when I get home. My weekends are unexpectedly filled with cleaning and trying to destress from the past week.

Here's some progress pictures of a sketch from December. I'd like to be able to finish at least one sketch soon.

Some other things I did in February 2017

Another post with some photos of things I do throughout the week:

We went to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate my brother's birthday. We ordered a lot more sushi and sashimi but I didn't take photos because I was so hungry^^;

Things from Hong Kong (snacks and Sasa purchases)

My brother went over to Hong Kong between November 2016 - end of January 2017. My dad said my brother won a $300 voucher to shop at Wellcome so he spent it all on snacks lol.

My favourites are the Roller Coasters in BBQ and Fish Biscuits. I love all different types of potato chips and gummy candies as well. I'm so happyyyy. I've already polished off the dried squid and a bag of chips (because it burst open in the suitcase). The dried mango is next heh. My brother said most of the snacks were for his friends though, so I don't know what I can or can't eat T^T

Anna and Peter's Wedding!

I'm going to do something a bit more different today and share a bit more of my daily/personal life. This was the intent of my blog when I first started in 'blogging' in uni-- I just wanted this to be an online version of what I did day-to-day and share some pictures. From the change in the content of my posts over the years, you can clearly tell that my interests have shifted.

Anna was my first friend in year 7 in high school. She was very smart and came first in the grade for History and English whereas I only came first in the school for Maths (lol, I suck at maths now and hate it). I moved to a selective school in year 8 and although we still kept in touch, we didn't hang around each other as much. In year 11, she applied to come to my school and also moved over to be a selective kid!

In 2013, she got engaged to Peter whom she met at uni and she said that they were going to get married in 2017. Well 2017 finally came and I was super excited to go to Anna's wedding! As usual, Alvo and I hung out together haha (4ever alone).

I was dumb and didn't bring my camera to the wedding or the reception because I thought my brand new shiny phone would take decent enough photos. Wrong. Many of my photos came out blurry. Urgh. Here's a select few which are not blurry.

Nature Republic x EXO Natural Butter Lip Balm 01 Cherry (Baekhyun) & 02 Strawberry (Chen) Review

I saw Nature Republic released these lip balms on my birthday in December 2015. I lusted after these for the longest time, but then rationalised that buying the hand creams were better value. A single lip balm is 6000 won, but you get two tubes of hand cream and a photocard for 6600 won. So I decided not to get the lip balms.

Every time I went wandering around in the city, I would go into one of the many shops which sell Korean and Japanese makeup and look at their testers. I kept on swatching these lip balms and convincing myself that they weren't worth it (even though they smell really, really good). I love the Nature Republic Wild Cherry hand cream that got discontinued a year or two ago and kept on thinking maybe, just maybe, I should pick up the Cherry version of this lip balm because the scent was so similar. Baekhyun (who happens to be my bias) is also on the packaging.

Makeup and Skincare Empties + Review January 2017 (Project Use Up All the Samples 2k17)

Since my year of using up samples and documenting product usage went well throughout 2016, I have decided to continue this 'project' throughout 2017. I am really going to try and cut down my spending on makeup and skincare... but unfortunately, I think my spending has now migrated over to clothes (which is even more expensive orz). Better get that pay rise haha >_>

I got a new phone so I tried to take photos with it rather than taking out my camera (urghhh it breaks my heart that the lens isn't working properly). Honestly, I have no idea why my photos come out blurry and I didn't notice it until I looked that these pictures on the computer. Oh well. And I didn't colour correct the photos soz.

Not a strong start to the year in terms of empties, but it might because I spent a lot of time at home by myself over Christmas/New Year (that or I'm starting to run out of samples)!

Boxing Day 2016 Mini Haul (Benefit Pinky Galore and Revlon Cream Blush)

I can't recall ever being out to Boxing Day sales before. There are usually too many people fighting over subpar sales. However, this year, I was at home and my mum suggested we go window shopping on Christmas Eve.

I saw the Benefit sets on sale at Myer and had a good think about whether or not I wanted to purchase one over Christmas. I decided I did want to buy something (I love Dandelion) and went shopping on Boxing Day. I'm so glad I didn't go to the shops in the city as I'm sure it would have been a bloodbath. My dad dropped my mum and I off at the shopping centre at 9am. Even though the shops opened at 8am, there still weren't that many people when we arrived.

I ended up picking up Pinky Galore, a Benefit Christmas set and a deeply discounted Revlon Cream Blush. As you can see, there is a sticker that says the set is $79 with a $140 value. I purchased the set at $55 (30% discount). Still cut that I missed out on the Leap Year $29 sale at Benefit, but this set fills that empty hole in my heart as I finally get to try Benetint!

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