Saving the Buck: Facial Brush

I've been curious about the Clarisonic Mia for a long time now, but I'm very hesitant to jump on this bandwagon mainly because of the price. I'm not convinced about spending more than $150 for something that might not work for me. Furthermore, it's not an electronic that has a sure outcome, unlike the epilator. And so I looked for alternatives.

The Clarisonic Mia claims to:
- Removes makeup six times better than traditional methods
- Clears pores and reduces the appearance of pore size
- Cleanses so thoroughly that skincare products absorb better
- Creates noticeably healthier looking skin



I found the Sephora Face Complexion Brush ($5 USD, $7 CAD)
Its purpose is for cleansing the face and neck by gently exfoliating dead skin cells, leaving face fresh, clean, and soft. It gently massages and invigorates skin.

Sounds like a much better deal to me. I also found a very similar brush by Quo (the cosmetic line by Shopper Drug Mart) selling for $7 CAD also. I figured I'll be able to save $143+ just by moving my arm instead of using an electronic device for exfoliating. I was sold by the fact that I can achieve similar, if not the same result just with a fraction of the price. Before I actually went to Sephora to purchase the brush, I hit up The Body Shop to browse around and I found the following.



The Body Shop Round Handle Facial Brush ($3 CAD)
It serves to get a more radiant complexion with a soft-bristle face brush that gently loosens dead skin cells and impurities while stimulating circulation.

I tried it tonight with my Philosophy Purity Cleanser and they work perfectly together. I think the brush works well with cleansers that have similar texture as the Purity cleanser such as the Cetaphil cleanser. My skin definitely feels softer and cleaner after usage. I recommend checking this out at $3 a piece at The Body Shop! For a few more dollars, you can get the Sephora one with a handle. For me, not having a handle doesn't bug me that much. I just couldn't persuade myself to spend another $4 just for a handle lol. (Yes I'm frugal like that -_-)


By the way, remember to check out my giveaway for a set of Hello Kitty eyeliners if you haven't already :)

My First Giveaway: Hello Kitty Eyeliner Kit :)

Great news! I did my exam yesterday and the preliminary result said that I passed! 3 months of nonstop studying paid off! I finally have my freedom again, and it smells soooo good lol. So yesterday, after I found out the news, I did a little shopping at the mall and guess what I picked up at Sephora?

The Hello Kitty Charmmy Kohl Eyeliner Kit for my first giveaway!!

It contains 7 pencil eyeliners in
- Goodnight Dreams: Black
- Grape Juice: Purple
- Chocolate Milk: Brown
- Happy Cloud: White
- Blueberry: Navy
- Bicycle: Teal Green
- Blue Sky: Bright Light Blue


Guidelines
1. Open Internationally!
2. Giveaway ends on March 15th, 2011 at Midnight.

How To Enter
Follow me publicly on Google Friend Connect... and leave me
1. Your Name
2. Email Address

Bonus Entries
(+1) Follow me on twitter @lalaofsurprises
(+1) Tweet about my giveaway
(+1) Link my giveaway on your sidebar (Must include one of the 2 pictures above and direct link to this post)
(+1) Follow me on Bloglovin'


Good Luck everyone :)

Do you epilate?

I first heard about epilating a few years ago and it scared me away badly so I never gave it a thought until I watched MakeupByLeinaBaaaby's "Hair Removal That's Better Than Shaving!" video An epilator is basically an electric tweezer that tweezes a bunch of hairs out at a time. Shaving / waxing has always been a struggle for me since I have extremely sensitive skin. I'm pretty sure it's because I wasn't doing it right since I get tons of ingrown hair from shaving. And plus, I'm extremely lazy so I can't get myself to shave every other day or so. Waxing works better than shaving for me but the area of the waxing stripes don't work to the advantage of where the hair are on my legs (lol sorry girls for being so graphical). And any other form of waxing seem so troublesome and messy. I tweezed my legs for quite some time, but that is literally way too time consuming and I end up not doing a thorough job cause of how lazy I am haha. After I watched Leina's video, I decided to give the epilator a try. The cost of an epilator ranges from $30 to $150+ depending on the brand and function. I knew I didn't want to buy a few inexpensive ones to tryout since I didn't want to mess up the condition of my sensitive skin. I wanted to get a better quality one that will last me a long time so I spent quite some time researching and quite a few trips to the mall trying to find the best deal.

I originally wanted to try the Emjoi one as Leina talked about in the video but I couldn't find it anywhere in the mall and I didn't want to buy this online. So I tried to compare Braun and Philips. The SA in Personal Edge was really helpful and told me that the Philips one works better for sensitive skin because its technology is more tender on the skin. I ended up buying the Philips Satin Perfect epilator HP6576 at the Bay because there was a promotion for 10% off at that time at about $90 including tax (I can't remember exactly how much I paid since it was about half a year ago -_- )


It comes with an epilator head, shaver head, optimal performance cap, tweezer, a brush and a bag to hold everything. I love how everything fits in the bag comfortably so if you need to bring it with you to travel, you can easily do so.


Everything that it comes with (plus the bag)


Epilator head


The box that it came with / The bag that fits everything :)


The tiny brush that works very well when cleaning after use.


Lighted tweezer with a mirror on the cap

The golden question is: Is it painful?
The answer is a definite yes, especially the first few times. I consider myself having quite a high level of pain tolerance. I remember the first time I used it, I couldn't even finish my whole leg because of the pain lol. But it does get better over time once you're used to it.

Pros:
- More efficient and much faster than plucking your hair one by one with a tweezer
- Lasts longer than shaving
- Works similar to waxing, but you don't have to keep buying waxing stripes or any other things needed from time to time

Cons:
- On the painful side
- Slightly pricey depending on which one you buy, but I think it's worth it

Other info:
- This Philips one is cordless, but I just use it with the cord plug in. The SA at Personal Edge said that it's more powerful that way.
- I haven't used the shaver head yet so I can't comment on how it works, but I would assume it just works like a normal electric shaver
- Cleaning procedure: I just use the brush to brush off any hair on the epilator after each time I use it.
- Do I regret buying this? Nope, not at all. I think it's works very efficiently and has reduced the time I spent on waxing / shaving my legs. It does a more thorough job in my opinion.


I can't compare this to any other epilators in the market since I've only used one. Hope this post helps anyone who's interested in epilating. If you have any questions, please comment :)

Patiently Waiting for a price markdown...

Online window shopping heals everything - a broken heart, a tired soul, whatever. In my case, I'm stressed out from an upcoming exam. I stumbled upon these precious finds at Anthropologie. Now, I just need a major sale for them to be mine. By major, I mean MAJOR.

Crochet Caricature Blouse
Interesting see-through pattern.


Capirona Blouse
Feminine earthy tones are my favourites.


Crossed Pinstripes Top
Cute collar detailing and A-line cut.


Sudden Downpour Top
Loose fit yet classy.


Buttondown Cowlneck
Unique colour and flowy fit.

Influential Anorak
Military inspired jacket, if only it comes in a different colour.

Happy weekend everyone! Much love.

Heart You

Hi girlies! I just did some shopping at Hautelook for the first time. I browsed around and found these cute necklaces for a decent price. I picked up one for myself and one for my friend's bday. I like simple jeweleries and I think they suit me really well.

Sterling Silver and Green Quartz Heart Necklace / Sterling Silver and Lemon Quartz Heart Necklace

My only concern is that the chain is 16'' with a 2''extender. I thought it would be long enough, but I just compared the length to some necklaces that I already own, I'm worries that it'll be too short. If it really falls short, any ideas on how to extend it? Does adding another chain works? Let me know if you have experience in this! :)

Estimated delivery dates are March 4th to March 10th, which is quite some time from now... Hopefully it'll arrive sooner!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone :)

Chanel Galore

I mentioned a few posts ago that I got my belated bday present from my bestie from Hong Kong! It's a Chanel travel makeup palette, and it's my first ever Chanel thing, I was overly excited when I saw it that I somewhat screamed in the restaurant lol. She said she got it on the plane so I'm not sure if this is available anywhere else.

It comes in a black velvet pouch, 3 brushes, a travel size mascara, and the actual palette itself. The palette contains 4 e/s, 1 blush, and 4 lip colours. Aren't they gorgeous! I recently brought this palette with me to NYC. I haven't used the blush and lippies too much, but the e/s are just too pretty! The blend amazingly well!! Not to mention that the colours are natural and fit into everyday life easily.

If you ever read this girlie, I love this present, and I love you! :D

Randomness of the Week

Hey girlies! Life's been busy lately. If you follow my twitter, you might've known that I went to NYC for a short trip during the weekend. I will probably make a post about it, and of course the stuff that I got there (which isn't that much)! And I have an exam coming up on Feb 23rd so I'm at the library a lot lately. Gotta catch up on all the studying that I didn't do while I was at New York.

I don't feel like typing a lot... so I'll leave you guys with a few random pictures lol.



1. Makeup drawer - some nail polishes, falsies, backups, etc.
2. Mail that arrived this week - Anthro catalogue, People magazine, Aerie coupon, ColorBlend Foam coupon!
3. Some random displays in my room
4. Lotions, creams, perfumes, candles that aren't in the washroom for some reasons

Much Love. Have a great week everyone.