Glossybox November- My very own special edition!

Hi everyone! I know I haven't blogged as often as I used to do. I have been so busy with university work; literally had assignments due every single week and on top of that we have lots of independent reading and  lots of group work during the week.

Anyways, back to the main topic. Yes, I've received this month's Glossybox and not only did I get good products I got TWO Glossyboxes for the price of ONE. Yes, I said two for the price of one. You must be wondering why. Glossybox wasn't doing a 'buy one get one free' month, their warehouse just made an error by sending someone else's Glossybox to my address. Now, don't start thinking that I just kept quiet and kept it to myself, lol. I actually e-mailed Glossybox about it and asked if they wanted to arrange someone to pick it up. But guess what they said? 'Please keep both of the boxes.' Yay!!! As soon as I saw that e-mail, I ripped it open. Lol.

Let me first show the products I got in MY Glossybox. Oh so sorry about the brightness of the picture, I know some are a bit dark.

Monu Firming Moisturiser Face Cream.

Last month I received another product of theirs-Monu Friming eye gel- its pretty good, so I'm looking forward to use it. It says it has sunscreen but doesn't indicate the Sun Protection Factor so I may need to apply an extra layer of sun screen of SPF 15/30. The size of the sample above is 20ml. 

The full size and price is, £18 for 50ml.

Crabtree &Evelyn, Himalayan Blue Hand Therapy.

This is a good size to put in my bag. It smells good but leaves the hands feeling a little greasy. If this is a sample size, it's pretty big. A couple of years ago, my Godmother bought  me a L'Occitane gift set as a souvenir from Hong Kong, inside was a hand cream also in an aluminium tube ( I think it's aluminium)but the size was half the size of this one. Didn't last me very long, probably like two weeks. 

The price and original size of Crabtree & Evelyn Hand cream, £14 for 100g.

Alison Claire Natural Beauty, Mango Body Butter

This is a new brand. Smells really nice of mango and I love how it comes with pump. It reminds me of The Body Shop's mango body moisturiser. I got a quarter of that product.

Price and original size, £15 for 200ml

Nails Inc, Kensington Caviar. 

This has won a Sunday Times Style Beauty Award. I'm not really a nail polish person, I tend to get my nails done at the nail shop. So it will be sitting in my room.  

£11-£12 for 10ml

Dermalogica, Daily Microfoliant

Its a rice based powder and apparently models love it. Last month, I received a Dermalogica gift set of 3 step day and night kit. And it was pretty good, so I'm looking forward in using this one.

Price and original size, £38.50 for 75g

The second box also had Dermologica microfoliant, Mango body butter and nail polish. But instead of the hand cream and Monu face cream, it had;

Dr. Jart+ BB Cream

My favourite! I've been wanting to try it since the day it launched in the UK. I didn't buy it because it was quite pricey and I already have too many BB creams. Out of all the BB creams I have, I only use Skin 79 Caviar-bought that from Hong Kong-and I only use it when I go out for certain occasions.  Yes, I sort of like collecting them. Lol.


Price and original size of Dr Jart, £18 for 50 ml.

This is a sample I got from Missha in Hong Kong, some BB Cream in a small sachet. So cheap! Dr. Jart came in a 15ml plastic tube and nice packing.

Wei Beauty, White Lotus Hydrating Face Treatment Pad

They just gave me 1 pad, should really give me a couple more to sample it properly. =p

Price and original size, £55 1 pack of 6 pads.

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BB Cream for MEN!!

Lab Series BB Tinted Moisturiser

BB Cream for men?! Can you imagine your partner, brother, dad or uncle putting it on? 

I think Lab Series is a brand that specialises skincare for men only. They have launched their very one BB Cream for men but they call it BB Tinted Moisturiser. It has a broad spectrum SPF 35 which is the highest I've seen so far in BB Creams in the UK- better than the ones designed for women. It is meant to be corrective, reparative, shade adjusting, pore refining, tone evening, lines/wrinkles and sagging skin diminishing.

Available at Boots for £32.00.
I'm not sure if they are the first brand to develop a BB Cream for men but that is definitely a gap in the market.

CC Cream is the new generation of BB Cream?

Just when BB Cream starts to trend in the UK, a "new generation" of the BB Cream is out in the market of Asia- why is UK always behind in so many things?

The new generation BB Cream I'm talking about is CC Cream which stands for Colour Control Cream.  It is an improved and refined version of the BB Cream and this time it is developed by a Japanese Brand called Doctor Kits. It has pretty much the same functions as BB cream but has a longer lasting formula apparently. I read an article from a Hong Kong newspaper and it said that CC cream can eliminate dark spots, scars and wrinkles and gives the skin a more natural radiance. But I thought BB Cream does that anyway? Have you guys seen or heard of it yet?

B.B. Cream wave is going to be big in the UK so 'Take Care'

What is BB Cream?
In one of my old posts, I've talked a little bit about BB Cream already but I'm going to talk more about it this time. BB Cream stands for Blemish Balm Cream. It has been very popular with Oriental Women.
Why? Because it's a cream that does everything. First like it says, it blemishes your skin. Most importantly, it has a sun block effect and whitening which is what all Oriental women are obsessed with.(Oriental women are obsessed with having clear and white skin. Freckles and dark spot are their enemies!) It can act also as as a primer/ base, foundation, concealer, keeps your skin moist for a very long time, evens your skin tone out. Basically, gives you a flawless looking skin! It even feels flawless, makes your skin really soft & silky.

BB Cream from other cosmetic brands

About 3 months ago, when my mum came back from Hong Kong she brought back some Hong Kong fashion and beauty magazines for me. Inside I saw cosmetic brands like MAC, Dior, Clinique, Estée Lauder, Biotherm, Bobbi Brown, Neutrogena, Lancome and many more have introduced BB Cream for their Asian customers. (Above and below) The magazine explained that some these brands have added new functions like; oil control, whitening and anti-ageing effect.

BB Cream from other cosmetic brands

I don't think you can buy all these in the UK, only some countries do them. Most probably countries in the east; China, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, etc as they are popular with Oriental women. I went to Debenham's the other day to see if I could find any of these. I just went to the Dior section and they didn't have it. But I', sure they will be available in the UK very soon. Because Garnier has just launched its first B.B. Cream - Miracle Skin Perfector (now you know why I said 'Take Care' in the title because that's Garnier's slogan). Some of you may have already seen it in the stores, magazines, TV or posters.

Like other B.B. Cream it can be used as a foundation, concealer and primer and has UV protection SPF 15 (I personally think that's not enough, at least SPF 25). It keeps the skin hydrated up to 24 hours and illuminates the skin. Garnier describes it as a daily all-in-one B.B. Cream.

I haven't tried it yet, because I still got 2 BB Creams from Missha. If anyone is using it please let me know if its good or not. lol. The B.B. Cream is definitely going to be the next big thing.

Missha- check out this Korean cosmetic brand!

I went on holiday to Hong Kong for 2 weeks and of course I did lots of shopping. This time I made sure, I did  something useful when I was out there. I applied for a basic level make-up course with Missha ( a popular Korean comestic brand). I had to take a test in order to get a certificate! I can't show you the certificate yet because they spelt my name wrong so I have to wait for a new one. I hope my mum won't forget to pick it up or crease it!

After this make-up course, I decided I wanted to buy my very first full make-up collection with those make-up brushes! Yes, I'm a newbie! :) I've always wanted a set of brushes and a big collection of make-up in those cosmetic box because it feels so professional and cool. lol

I bought almost everything we used in class from Missha; Primer, BB Cream (a type of liquid foundation), loose powder, pencil eyeliner, liquid eyeliner, eye shadow base pen, foundation brush, eye shadow brush and loose powder brush. (It's not a full make-up set but I wanted to buy other stuff from other brands)

Image Above: This is a BB Boomer which is a Primer (acts as a foundation base). It's very light, feels like lotion when you're applying it on. It says it boost the adherence and duration of BB cream ( a type of liquid foundation) and makes your skin look brighter when applied before the BB Cream. When you put this on, you can see it makes your skin glow instantly.

I bought two different tones of BB Cream; one is a natural yellow beige (left) and the other is a golden beige(right). Both has the effect of UV blocking, one with SPF 25 and the other SPF 42.

I tried the golden beige to see if it would give me a tanned look. It did, it didn't make me look orange or fake, it looked very natural. As for the natural yellow beige, it just made my skin look flawless.

When you first apply BB Cream to your skin, it will look a shade darker but it will gradually blend into your natural skin colour and evens out your skin tone. You don't need to apply lots, a thin layer is enough. It also has a concealer effect, so there's no need to put concealer on after unless you really need to.

Some of you may not know what BB Cream is. It is a type of liquid foundation from Korea. It is very popular around Asia. It has a multi-function of high UV blocking effect, whitening and wrinkle care.

For those who like to be tanned may avoid high SPF however you need to know  there's a hole in the ozone layer and so UV rays are lot stronger giving us skin cancer,dark spots, skin ageing quicker. High SPF means you will be protected from getting those or at least reducing them.

This loose powder also has UV blocking effect with SPF 15. It is very light and makes your skin look flawless and smooth. This is a natural beige colour. I tried to use it on top of the Golden beige BB Cream to see if it would lighten the tan look. No, it didn't! It made my look even better, flawless and smooth. Just like those airbrush effect.

Shining stick eye, this extends the duration of the eye shadow and gives your eye make up a more 3D effect.

Black and brown water-proof eye liner. They are really good and lasts very long and very easy to apply on.

This liquid eyeliner is like a felt tip pen so makes it easier to apply on to your eye, very easy to control and it dries quick! If you're a beginner with liquid eyeliner like myself, this is the one for you. However, practice is still needed.

Safe Block- this is to be applied after you've applied lotion/moisturizer.

Like it says on the package, its a sun block cream for the face with SPF 50. Obviously, this is more suitable for when you're in hot countries (ideally you should be wearing sun block with SPF 30 in the UK).*Edit* Some may think its wierd that I said SPF 30 in UK because we don't get sun a lot. But UV rays are not visible remember lol. They are getting stronger now. Some celebrities are wearing moisturiser with SPF 30 you see!

The sun block cream is waterproof so it is ideal for when your doing sports. Get yourself protected! Not just ladies, but guys too. So tell your dad, partner, brother, friend, etc.

This eye gel mask, is quite good. I would rate it 4 out 5. Apparently, it is supposed to get rid of your dark circles IF you do it everyday. I haven't done it everyday because I've only got one pack and you can't get this product here. So, I'm not sure if it does but I can say it does make your bags less visible and gets rid of puffiness underneath the eye. Its affordable, $230 for 15 eye masks which is approx. £21.

I didn't buy alot from Missha because I was trying to save money for the rest of my holiday lol. Anyways, stayed tuned for more goodies stuff about my holiday in Hong Kong.