L'OcciBox Beauty Sample Box from L'Occitane

Here's a nice way to sample more than a few L'Occitane products valued at almost $60 for just $15 - the L'OcciBox.  It's beautifully packaged and you get a variety of deluxe travel sized products along with a few foil packets thrown in for good measure.

Also included in this offer is an Elle designed/themed bag with 4 different hand lotions and an emory board.  This is the perfect purse sized set, and I threw the whole bag in my purse so that I have a variety of scents to chose from as the mood strikes me.  You also get a free year's subscription to Elle should you chose to indulge.

L'Occitane is a brand that I've not delved into much, so this is a great way for me to try several of their different lines and fragrances. 

I was already a fan of their Almond shower oil, so I was excited to receive the Almond Supple Skin Oil and layer the two.  Such a soothing scent and it left my skin moisturized and soft, no doubt due to the combo of almond oil, rich in omega 6, and camelina oil (wild flax), rich in omega 3.

Shea Butter Body Lotion

Containing 15 percent shea butter, this lotion helps nourish and protect dry skin without feeling too heavy.  It's billed as being unisex with it's light, clean scent featuring Jasmine and ylang-ylang.

Immortelle Precious Cleansing Foam

A gently foaming cleanser that contains Immortelle floral water to delicately cleanse the skin. 

Arlésienne Velvet Hand Cream

This is the newest addition to L’Occitane’s lineup of hand creams, featuring a combination of rose, sweet violet and saffron.

Divine Cream

Organic Immortelle essential oil rich in active molecules is combined with a complex of seven plant-derived active ingredients to give skin a youthful, radiant glow.

This offer is available until December 30th at http://usa.loccitane.com/locciboxset, and using the code 'DISCOVER' gets it for $15 with free online shipping.  Really, a great way to try out these products!

BY TERRY Baume de Rose Color Collection: Rare Edition

This delightful splurge ($89) was prompted by a "we miss you " 25% discount code from Beauty.com.  I mean, if you're going to indulge in lip balm that normally retails for $56 a pot, you might as well get a gift set with 5 travel sized tinted balms at discount, right?

For those not familiar with BY TERRY Baume de Rose, the original colorless version was released in 2003 and quickly became a cult classic.  Composed of a plumping and soothing blend of rose flower essential wax , pastel oil, shea butter, ceramides and vitamin E  (amongst others), 5 tinted versions have now joined the Baume de Rose family.  This set includes 4 tinted balms along with the original.

I admit I was a bit skeptical before I got these, but now I get it.  They feel soooo good on and they wear really well for a lip balm.   They provide sheer color, which works fine for me, but you can also wear them over lip stains or lipstick for more impact.  The original can also be used as a cuticle balm, although I'd be loathe to do that given how expensive they are.  Heck, it pained me somewhat to do the arm swatches!

Rosy Babe

Cherry Bomb

Fig Fiction

Toffee Cream

The only color I'm missing is Mandarin Pulp, which I'm sure I would LOVE.  Something to aspire to:-)

NOTD: It's a Hard Knock Life with Justa' Pinch of Glitter

Well, dang if that couldn't have been a great song title.  Because sometimes it is a hard knock life and you need just a pinch of glitter.  Which I have this week.  My hard knock life is represented by my hangnails, which seem to sprout back as soon as I clip them.  Obviously, my life's not Hunger Games hard knocks or anything like that :-)

I received Deborah Lippman's Hard Knock Life in a Barney's gift bag, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed at my luck of the draw in color.  It's a very nice polish, but the color is not that original.  However, I really like it with a matte topcoat (I used Julep's), as it gives an industrial/modern vibe.

The now discontinued Justa' Pinch of Glitter by Sephora by Opi is a great compliment glitter with it's clear base and black, grey, silver microglitter/medium round silver glitter.  I'm glad I picked it up when all the Sephora by OPI polishes were on clearance.

Linking up with The Nail Files hosted by Jennie Shaw:

Portofino Baked Highlighter by Laura Geller

I've embraced highlighters in their many forms, from powder to cream to liquid.  So, when I received Laura Geller's Portofino ($24) recently as a GWP, I promptly gave it a go.

Smallish in size, I originally thought it must be a deluxe travel version, but nope it's full sized.  Which is not a problem, as a little goes a long way.  Portofino's champagne shimmer works equally well as an eyeshadow as it does a face highlighter.  The powder is soft and easy to pick up, and blends out nicely.

I really like Portofino, as it does not go metallic on me but does provide obvious glow, especially as a cheek highlighter. In fact, I like it better than my more expensive Becca Opal Shimmering Skin Perfector powder highlighter, which is a highlighter on steroids (love the cream Opal, however, and you can see a review of both here). 

I've gotten all of my Christmas shopping done already, thank you Black Friday and Cyber Monday online shopping.  Now I need to hide my credit cards from myself.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Halloween: Visions of Autumn III and Pumpkin I

Yes, I know that Halloween is way in the back mirror, but I just received my Halloween Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL)  order, and wanted to share it with you.  If you are not familiar with BPAL, they specialize in

"formulating intriguing, compelling body and household blends with a dark, romantic, and sexual tone. Our scents run the aesthetic gamut of romance era, Renaissance, Medieval and Victorian formulas, pagan and mythological blends, and horror / Gothic-themed scents."

BPAL's catalog of scents is vast, and I've mainly restricted myself to the limited edition holiday scents released for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's Day.  This year, I chose Pumpkin I from the Pumpkin Patch collection, and Visions of Autumn III.  One I like, and one I love!

Pumpkin I is pumpkin cream with cardamom, black tea, allspice, and ginger milk.  First, let's start with what it's not:  a sweet pumpkin spice potpourri type of scent.  It starts off with a bit of a "red hots" type of cinnamon blast, although cinnamon is not in list of notes.  After 10 minutes or so it settles into a dry spice/black tea scent that is very reminiscent of the International Foodpak store near where I work.  I go there occasionally to order a gyro for lunch, and on the shelves around the store are dry spices, tea, dried fruits, nuts, candy, wine, and various other offerings from around the world.  I like this one a lot, and it's different from other BPAL scents I've acquired.

Now for the one I love, Visions of Autumn III.  Featuring notes of Bourbon vanilla, aged patchouli, honey, and Ceylon cinnamon, this one is smooth, smooth, smooth from the get go.  The honey gives it a touch of sweetness without being cloying, and the cinnamon is firmly in the background.  This leaves the Bourbon vanilla and patchouli, which provide a rich, warm, comforting scent that I will wear all year round.  Seriously, one of my favorites from BPAL thus far, and there have been a few.

I lucked out with the frimps (free imps, or samples) that I received as well, with my favorite thus far being the bright green Hemlock.  My only frustration was waiting almost a month to receive my order, but that's about par for the course with BPAL during the holidays.  Patience is a virtue, and the scents are usually well worth it.  I'll leave you with a close up of a many legged visitor during a picture session, which seems appropo of Halloween and BPAL's dark sensibilities:

November Birchbox: Giving

November was such a busy month for me that I opened my Birchbox, put it aside, and promptly forgot about it until it was time to submit points for review.  It's a solid box, however, so let's take a look!

I get excited about new to me products, and this exfoliating and firming mask made with with tea, clay, and superfruits is calling my name.  I'm going to save it for the Christmas holidays when I have 10 days off to do nothing but relax, destress, and pamper myself.   Plus clean my house.

The Amika Nourishing Mask features sea buckthorn berry to condition hair.  I'll add it to my stash of haircare items, which I'm slowly making my way through.

The Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy body lotion was probably the item I was least excited about.  However, it's formulated with Japanese sea nettle, an anti-inflammatory marine extract to sooth stressed skin, as well as grape seed oil.  So, I'll keep an open mind :-)

The Cynthia Rowley lip stain in Heartthrob is a nice coral red, which should work well for the holiday season.  Not sure about it's staining abilities yet, as it didn't leave behind color on my arm swatch.  I like the color though!

Last up is the classic the balm product, Cindy-Lou Manizer.  I did not have this in my collection and the color should work well for me as both an eye shadow and highlighter.  Quite happy with my box this month, and looking forward to what December will bring!

Empties! Products I Finished in November

I'm happy to have powered through quite a bit of items in November, including some tried and true items like the Nordic Care Foot Care Cream.   It's my go to for moisturizing my feet (full review here), and this is probably the 3rd tube I've gone through. 

My before bed hand moisturizer of choice until it got use up was SteamCream, a light feeling lotion that still does a good job of moisturizing.  I got mine on sale from Beauty Habit.  No doubt it was on sale due to the "Sale By" date, but mine was still fresh.

One of my projects over the Thanksgiving break was to organize my perfume samples, as they had gotten out of control.  I continue to use the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab fragrances I don't care for as perfume in my oil burner to keep my house smelling good.  I used the Alice & Peter samples on some drapes, as there staying power on my skin was next to nothing.  I need to find some other creative uses for the perfume samples I don't care for enough to wear.

I'm still relying on my stash of shampoo/conditioner samples, although I always run out of shampoo before conditioner, it seems.  My favorites from this crop are the Exquisite Oil by Matrix and the Bamboo Volume by Alterna.

Makeup items seem to take the longest to use up, but I did finish a deluxe travel size of Estee Lauder mascara and Jouer Matte Moisture Tint in Nude  (review here).  The Skin Food Peach Sake Pore BB Cream was a favorite of mine for almost a year (review here), but I've now switched my allegiance to a Skin79 BB cream due to it's smoother, less obvious finish on my skin.  Also used up were some Becca Ultimate Coverage Creme foundation samples, which I reviewed here.