Josie Maran Whimsical Wonder Argan Oil Skincare Essentials Set

             It is about time to review my JM whimsical wonder skincare set :)  As you already know, I love JM's products ever since the first time I tried it four years ago, so this set made me very excited.  I even had my reactions filmed (personal entertainment), which I re-watch occasionally.  Yes, I could not stop smiling.  I have been using this set for two weeks and I am in love with it!!
             This skincare set comes with five travel friendly argan oil products: 100% argan oil, argan milk, argan daily moisturizer SPF 47, argan infinity cream intensive creamy oil, and be joyful whipped argan oil.  I already love argan oil and argan daily moisturizer, so I was excited to try the other three.  I read a lot of good reviews on the creamy oil and argan milk, but not the whipped argan oil.  What's better than to test these products out myself?
             The creamy oil is basically argan oil in a non-greasy, creamy oil form.  It can be use to hydrate the skin and used with makeup.  It is winter, so my skin (especially my chin and neck) has been feeling very dry.  I do use lotion, but it just does not seem to work very well so I was hoping that this creamy oil could help.  This creamy oil has a transparent light milk color and is scent free.  The texture feels like a light vaseline.  I squeezed a little bit and put on my chin and neck every morning and night after using argan oil.  To my surprise, my neck and chin did not feel as dry as before.  I think I'm in love with it too :)
             Argan milk is a hydrating treatment serum made with purified water and argan oil.  It is also used for skin hydration and suppose to provide radiant glow.  The direction recommends that you use it before applying argan oil.  After I cleansed my face, I squeezed 2 drops on my hand and it looked clear and barely any milk color.  At first I was confused, but then I realized I forgot to shake it...-_-The color is milky when you actually shake it before use (-_-'||).  It also does not have a strong scent.  I applied the 2 drops on my face and used argan oil right after.  I noticed that my face did indeed look brighter and I had less break outs in these past two weeks.  In the past I just used argan oil and my skin felt hydrated, but combining the milk with my oil made my skin hydrated and brighter at the same time.  So, I use it morning and night.  The downside of using it in the morning was my eye makeup gets easily smeared.  I decided to change it up and only use 1 drop in the morning so my makeup does not smear as bad and that worked well.  Also, the milk is very bubbly.  I don't think my face has looked this bright ever.  Argan milk's price is slightly on the high side, but it truly works so I definitely recommend it.              
            Be joyful whipped argan oil is a vanilla apricot scented cream made from cold-pressed argan oil.  I was very surprised that the cream had a scent because I thought it was scent free at first (that shows how great I pay attention).  The cream is filled up all the way, which surprised me again.  The smell of apricot was very soothing.  I dabbed some on my hand at night and it felt somewhat oily, but moisturizing.  I wouldn't recommend using it during the day because it doesn't dry fast.  I have been using it for a while now and I like it.  Although it was filled all the way up, there was a mid-size air bubble near the bottom.  I mainly use this as a hand cream, but I am sure you can use it for your body too.  
           I am definitely in love with this set <3 and I use these 5 little gems everyday.  I can't wait for new holiday sets!



  

P.S. I bought 2 more sets two weeks later.....From an argan oil lover ^_^

Sephora Rose Mask

         It's has been a long time since I used a mask (maybe year and a half ago?).  I remember the times when I would put on a mask right after my shower and relax for 15-30mins (sometimes falling asleep ^^).  This past year and a half was filled with unexpected events, some good and some bad. I couldn't really relax and rarely gave myself some me time.
        Last year I bought some beauty things and sephora's rose mask was one of them.  The thought of putting on a mask already made me feel excited.  This mask is suppose to be ultra moisturizing and brightening.  It is a cloth mask so there is no need to rinse it off.  The directions suggest to leave it on for 15 mins and massage your face to let the excess serum penetrate.  This mask really smells like fresh roses and it is a very familiar smell to me.  The mask is like any other cloth mask.  It has openings for the eye, mouth, and nose.  However, the nose part was a bit short because it could not cover my nose completely.  Usually masks are longer vertically, but this one is longer horizontally.  I would suggest cutting the sides if you want to feel more comfy :)  I left it on my face for about 14mins and I did fell asleep...  It was relaxing to not have to think about anything.
        I took it off and massage my face according to the direction.  It dries off relatively fast and I do think my face looked brighter (maybe the sun helped?).  Overall, the mask was not bad, but the price is relatively high compared to the masks I've bought in the past.  The masks that I used to buy are cheaper because they are from asia (it's very common there).  I do hope to have more posts like this because that means I got some me time :) 

Preview: Josie Maran Holiday Sets

          I normally don't do this, but I would like to share a preview of what's coming up :) I used up my last bit of argan oil a few weeks ago and I'm in need of getting more. This time I decided to wait to buy my oil because of the possible deals or limited edition sets. As a result, I picked up two holiday sets and I'm already in love with them. These two sets count as a bonus to myself for working hard and got a part time :)  I know I haven't been updating, but I promise to update as I start using my sets.

 

Tarte Gifted Mascara

          My Josie Maran mascara was getting dry so I was in need of getting a new mascara.  It is time for me to venture out and look for a new one. There are so many mascaras out there, but I tend to go after my favorite brands.  This time it was Tarte.  They don't have a lot of mascara options and I chose Tarte's gifted mascara.

          The mascara is packaged in a fairly large tube (larger than mascaras that I had before). The color is black and the brush head is like the ones on brow pencils.  The first time when I used it, it went on very smoothly and no clumping at all.  So, I was very satisfied.  As I used it more often though, it does leaves some clumps.  However, I don't see it as a major problem because the mascara was still able to last the whole day and made my lashes look longer.  Overall, the mascara isn't bad, but I prefer the Josie Maran one.

Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Nail Polish

          I can say that nail polish has been in my life for a pretty long time.  It was probably near the end of elementary to the beginning of middle school when I used my first nail polish.  I mean I've seen my mom's little collection, but of course I never tried to use it.  I started off using the kiddy nail polishes just like everybody.  Then, I slowly moved to the regular nail polish.  At one point in time, my nails always had nailpolish on. The next stage was me slowly getting out of the nail polish craze.  I think it was just me realizing that nailpolish was weakening my nails, so I used it less frequently.  My thoughts have changed again because now I feel like my nails look kind of dull.  So, it is time to give it more color.

         In this small trip, I only needed a base/top coat and I've used Sally Hansen's products before, so I went for their product.  I chose their hard as wrap nailpolish.  This nailpolish is for strength treatment (totally fit my need) and apparently will dry in 60secs.  It is an acrylic gel formula that hardens and seals in one step. The nailpolish is clear and smells like your regular nailpolish. When I pulled the applicator out, the polish reminded me of a glue gun/ spider web because of the long thin polish that I need to dabb off.  The polish felt more liquid and does dry pretty fast(didn't time it).  It gives a shine to my dull nails and I used it as a top coat too. Overall, I think it did its job. 

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil

          I have used eyeliner pencils before, but I didn't like the fact that I have sharpen it.  So, I specifically looked for twistable brow pencils when I finally decided to draw my brows.  My Korean and Anastasia brow pencils are both twistable.  Twistable pencils are easy to use and I don't have to worry about getting the sharpener.  

          A few days ago I realized that Im about to use up my Anastasia eye brow wiz :o. So, I ventured out to get myself a new brow pencil.  My first choice was a trip to target (need to save).  After looking through the beauty section, I only found four brands that carried twistable brow pencils....I was kind of disappointed.  Of the four, only one brand had the dark brown that I needed.  So, I was even sadder.  The other brands had regular brow pencils (no sharpener included) and brow gel.  I hesitated to try the brow gel because I was unsure on how it'll work (maybe next time). Similar to my Anastasia brow wiz, the only available twistable brow pencil was very thin, which was not what I was looking for.  Since I've only tried eyeliner pencils, I decided to give regular brow pencils a try too.  I chose a familiar brand, rimmel's eyebrow pencil in dark brown (separately bought a sharpener).

           I liked rimmel's eyeliner so I thought maybe their brow pencil wouldn't be too bad (hopefully).  My Anastasia brow wiz was a brunette (now dark brown) and I bought rimmel's dark brown brow pencil based off of that.  This pencil has a built-in brush to help shape brows.  The pencil smells like a crayon and the color looks different than my Anastasia one.  I touched the brush and it felt a bit rough so I wasn't sure if it would be too harsh for my brows.  So, I lightly brushed it against my brows.  It turns out that the brush didn't feel as harsh as I initially thought.  Then, I looked into the mirror to draw my brows.  The pencil draws very smoothly and indeed is a lighter color than my Anastasia one.  It did felt kind of different since it's thicker than the Anastasia one.  Overall, this pencil isn't bad, but I wished the dark brown was darker.  

The top line is Anastasia brow wiz and the bottom is rimmel's eyebrow pencil.

Ps. The loner sharpener doesn't work very well.

Acure Energizing Body Lotion

         Maybe it's summer or maybe it's me, but I got another citrus product.  My lush body lotion was running low, so I ventured out with my sister and bought a new body lotion.  This time I got acure's energizing body lotion in mandarin orange + argan stem cell.  Acure is a familiar brand to me and I enjoyed using their products so it wasn't a hard choice to make.  

         The energizing body lotion is 8 fl. oz., which is a decent size so it should last me for a while.  I squeezed a bit on my hands and it smells so citrusy.  I felt like I just peeled a orange, but without getting my hands sticky.  Although I'm not sure if I'm getting energized, but the lotion does smell pleasant and made my hands feel smooth. You can't go wrong with a lotion packed with organic ingredients and made with the planet in mind.  I'd love to try another acure lotion when I used this one up.