Apothica $25 Gift Card Giveaway

Lately I've been getting back into the Stila products I own. I have a few single eyeshadow pans here and there. What I love is the soft texture, the generous size, and the pigmentation. It was one of the first brands beyond the drugstore that I experimented with. I just ordered an empty palette to hold my shadows in. If you're looking to get a good feel of Stila, checkout this Smokey eye bold beauty set. I've seen other bloggers rock a look using this palette and the result is easily gorgeous!

Starting today thanks to the kind folks at Apothica.com you have the chance to win a $25 gift card towards brand name cosmetics, skincare, and more! The gift card is valid toward three sites: (Apothica.com, skincarerx.com, and skinbotanica.com) which carry more thatn 80,000 products! Apothica.com is so great because they have many high end brands, have free shipping at $49, a great return policy, price matching, and no tax! (for most)

This giveaway will run from August 8-23 and is open internationally, but Apothica does not ship to every country.

You'll have three ways to enter the giveaway:

Option 1: Facebook

1.       Visit Apothica.com

2.       Write on Apothica’s Facebook wall about what you think of Apothica

Option 2: Twitter

1.       Visit Apothica.com

2.       Tweet about @Apothica on your own Twitter Account

Bonus: Retweet Apothica’s tweet about this giveaway @apothica

Option 3: Blog

1.       Visit Apothica.com

2.       Write something on your blog about what you think of Apothica

Extra +1:

1.       Comment below what product you would like to try from their site!

Please fill out in the form below and I will contact the winner!
Giveaway OVER: The Winner has been picked!

I hate you Bath & Body Works

So if you know me you know I hate Bath & Body Works. BUT not enough to go and collect the free stuff when my sister drags me! So uh, what do I do with it? I give it away of course! Lots of people go crazy for this stuff.

They will be releasing a new scent in stores on May 9 called Into the Wild. It's a seductive blend of exotic mandarin, lush petals, and white woods inspired by a sensuous escape into the jungle.

Win the 2oz travel size by commenting below!
1. Tell me if you like Bath & Body Works or not.
2. What is your favorite lotion? (from any brand)
3. Make sure to comment through Intense Debate leaving your email in the field (where it asks) so I can contact you if you win. Do not comment through the mobile blogger layout. Thanks!

I will pick the winner on Saturday, April 23! Good luck!

Disclaimer:
wow, does no one get the humor? don't take the giveaway the wrong way!

China Glaze 3 for $8, deal steals, mini giveaway

Why yes, I did managed to get 3 China Glaze polishes for $8 plus tax! How?
ULTA has these on sale for Buy 2 get 1 Free. So that's $6.50 each x 2 + 1 Free = $13.
PLUS I had a coupon for $5 off $10 so that brought my total down to $8! Woo hoo!

I think the sale is still going on? You can find the coupon in Elle or Allure magazine. Probably even other mags have the coupon. I have another one and I may go back and get Seche Vite + bastiste. They are 4.99 and 5.99 this week! So after coupon I would pay $6 for both!

I must say that now I know there is a difference between drugstore and non-drugstore polish. I don't fuss over my nails at all so I can't justify buying any polish at full price. But getting them at 65% off and cheaper than maybellienes or loreals is awesome! Plus Light As Air is so creamy and nice and the other two metallics make for great stamping polishes.

These were Buy one Get one Free at CVS a couple weeks ago for these NYC lip shines.

I used a $5 off $10 coupon from All you magazine.. so I paid next to nothing...  I can't even remember but it was a STEAL!

How about I give these balms away?! I will be having my one year blog anniversary in a couple of weeks so why not start early! I hope you don't think it's weird for me to give you stuff I got for nearly free...

*giveaway cancelled* these will be in my future giveaway

Gifts from Japan plus cute pup

My long time high-school friend finally came back to visit and she brought back these goodies for me! She teaches English in Japan so we really haven't talked in a very long time, but I was so glad when she called me up! We went out to the Cheesecake Factory for some fatty American food and it was so much fun. Don't you like how even though you might have changed or not spoken to your friend for sometime you can still just kick back and hang out like the good old times?

Picture above are socks for flip flops, a Stitch Pen, a packet of tea (?), and a Kit Kat! The Stitch pen is really cute. He's on a famous bridge wearing a bear costume. aww!

Citrus Blend Kit Kat - This flavor is really good! It reminds me of a creamsicle. or dreamsicle? It's been such a long time since I actually had one so I can't say for sure. It smelled really nice when you opened the package- all citrus. There's a little bit of sour from the wafer cream but not as much as the Sour Orange Kit Kats. This is a limited edition from Shikoku so it's not likely I can find more. :(

Melted. :( It's tragic I left it in the car while we were eating. I popped it in the freezer before I ate it and it was fine though! Writing this review is really making me want some orange sherbet right now!

Etude House from Mack

The awesome Mischievous Mack was having a giveaway on her blog and I won! I can't believe my luck! I wanted to try Etude House so I feel REALLY lucky! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Here it is!

It came in a big box! Samples and cotton pads and a very pretty hand mirror!

Full sized skin care and lots of samples!

Masks, masks, masks!

I haven't had a chance to try out all this stuff since I've been really busy, but expect reviews in the future. If you'll notice I have a long list of stuff I should post under "Upcoming Posts" on the sidebar. I feel cheap just posting hauls and no reviews, lol. I know I don't have any reviews lined up for this week, just mindless photos of stuff I got in the mail! Do you guys like looking at photos of stuff people get in the mail?

Like seeing what I got in the mail?

PLUS!! From the super, super, sweet Linda! I won second place in her little Christmas giveaway. The prize is no little thing. It's a stuffed box of goodies that are my secret. :) Thank you thank you! I'm really glad I came across your blog <3

I like entering giveaways that require filling out surveys, it gives more of a point to them besides getting followers or stuff. You learn a little more about each other and have the chance to connect more! And I try to limit it to a few a month. I've been laying off entering lately, so if you are having one and I don't enter it's so others have a good chance to win!

I will be having more small giveaways on this blog in the secret manner that I did last time. The purpose of it is not to gain followers, but to reward those who actually read what I post!

Laura Mercier Lip Plumper

This is one of my favorite lip glosses. I don't see much of any Laura Mercier reviewed on blogger, so here it is!

From the website:
* A refreshing, cooling effect builds up over 20 minutes to plump lips, lasting up to two hours
* Infusion of unique ingredients penetrate skin, stimulate collagen production and beneficially smooth the lip surface
* Offer a slight tint to the lips for natural looking lips that are perfectly pouty and kissable
* 0.18 oz./5.1g

Review:

I don't really care that it is a plumper. As far as plumping goes, it gives you a tingly feeling, and it does plump your lips a tiny bit. It's silky and never sticky, which I love. I can't stand the sticky glosses (like mac). It goes on sheer with a little sparkle. Not too sparkly for work! Plus it has a nice scent, not weird or vanilla, very subtle.

The bad:

The price! This sucker is $30! Their Lip Glace is only $22. If you don't need a plump, try those instead. I don't care for a plumping effect either, I just like the color!

This is one in wildberry. Obviously I use it all of the time! It's almost gone. I need to do that water trick to get more use out of it. I first got the little sample from a gwp, and I immediately had to get more! Cheap 'ole me bought one from ebay, haha. The brown one is called bronzed berry. This generous girl on makeup alley sent it to me for nothing in return because she got it free from a gwp. She didn't want anything in return since she was trying to clear out her stuff. So nice of her!

Ectini of e motion in motion!! You are the new winner of the Secret VS Giveaway!! Touch base with me by tomorrow night, so I can send you your prize! julujewelry@gmail.com . More secret giveaways soon!

Click in for more pics (hairy!!)

victoria's secret secret party

Somehow I managed to catch an email from VS about a little holiday event at my local store. I usually end up deleting all 100 emails in my "spam" account, but luckily their email just stood out. So anyhow, the event was tonight! There was a DJ, free gifts, good sales, and lots of people! See the photos below!

This is the gift they were handing out at the entrance. A large sized pouch with a beauty rush lip gloss inside. There was also a raffle going on for $100 prizes!

Get a look at this hilarious price tag. One thing that bugs me about VS is their marked up tote bags. This at a $40 value? Come on! $10 at most! I noticed they always have this tote they try to get you to buy. It's like a giant tote bag that they call a $60 value. What? $60? no way, not for a tote bag! [end rant]

Last week I got a $10 off any purchase coupon in the mail, so what better time to use it? I planned on getting the new $10 lip gloss the MUA told me "just came out tonight" from their Holiday Collection. Got the sis to take a pic while I waited to "pay."

I forgot the name of the line of makeup, but this shade is Intimate. It's a light pink with a little sparkle. There was another lip gloss in a nude color. I also spotted 4 pigments in neutral and black and white like holiday colors plus 2 all-over powders. All of the products are $10. Very pretty collection! Wish I got a pic so I could show you.

But, when I got to the checkout, the lady told me I couldn't use my coupon on a purchase that is exactly $10. Then I found this!

Pretty right? It reminds me of the lauren luke palettes.
I just looked on the website, and it's $10.99. It rung up as $15 for me. boo!!! But it's a really cute palette! A great gift, even though now you know I didn't pay that much for it! ;) It's tight this Christmas, so I've been using gift cards, coupons, extra-bucks, and kohl's cash to buy gifts for people.

Anyhow, since I've won a few giveaways recently, I'd like to give back a little starting tonight! A secret little giveaway! Comment on this post to win the pink pouch and lip gloss from Victoria's Secret. Answer the question, what is your favorite perfume? If you don't have one, just say you like to be stinky. You do not need to leave your email. You do not need to be a follower. I will reveal the winner in a future blog post. You will need to contact me if you win. This giveaway ends Monday, Decemeber 14, 11:59PM CST. Open worldwide.