Pink and Undecided: astalift

Unboxing : December Lola Box (Best Year Ever)

Hellow!

Happy Monday, my dears! Anyone suffering from Monday blues? Apparently i can still suffer from Monday blues even though i am no longer at school or even work! Probably been having too much fun on the weekend, i am feeling very very tired (yeah, stupid cough still lingering stubbornly pfffttt) and sluggish. A little gloomy as well, even though i also dunno why (oh, i do know. What else but stupid PMS. PFFFFTTTT. Need to go to hot yoga class tomorrow and get some dose of endorphin bursts!) zzzz. But i feel better whenever i see pretty things *hahahaha, sounds like a proper beauty junkie already zzz* and get nice things on the mail! And Lola Box December Box certainly is one of those happiness-inducing things!

What's inside my December Lola Box. Did you spot one particular product that sent my heart aflutter?

It arrived sometime late on Saturday (and i only got my hands on them the next day), and i took the pictures last night while i'm already very tired, not a very good idea-ended up with quite a few blur pictures without me even realizing it zzzz...

Good thinking Lola, for wrapping the box with extra plastic to make sure it'd arrive safe and dry in this super rainy season! I received quite a few parcels soaking wet and sad-looking!

Their theme of the month : Best Year Ever (well, considering they only started this year, it gotta be! Haha)

This month's box' a plain white (snoozeville...) box with the cheerful writing. If i can be completely honest, the cute writings seems out of place on top of such a plain background. a far cry from their festive looking November box, but what's inside more than made up for the plain Jane outer hehe

The list of products featured this month, i took a glimpse before actually unwrapping the contents and of course the last product caught my eyes immediately!

Some invitation for a workshop (snooze snooze it's in Jakarta, will companies do more events in Surabaya already? We have kick-ass bloggers here too you know! It's so annoying seeing Jakarta always have all of the events *green eyed monster peeking through* hahaha) and IDR 100.000 off (min spending of IDR 400.000) in Luxola, which is like worthless in Luxola World (yes, i am now irreparably spoilt ever since their 70% off sale!!!), both going straight to the bin

First up : Kenzo Flower in the Air (vial)

By risking to be an ungrateful B, i must stress once again that i have mixed feelings about perfume samples. It annoys me almost as much as sachet samples TBH. LOL. I mean... it's enough for one time usage only, and (at least overseas) you can get it for free at the counters. At the same time i do enjoy being able to try out various perfumes (at least with perfume you don't need to try it multiple times to know if it works or if you like it or not). And i am quite fond of Kenzo, their original Flower perfume's one of my first perfume ever and remain my all-time-favorite perfume until today.

Tansan Sparkling Gelee by One Piece Hair Studio (no indication on how much product this contains, but it's quite tiny, slightly taller than my chubby middle finger)

Actually you can call your products anything with gelee on it, i'd start raving. LOL. I dunno, the word gellee totally works for me :p. This is actually a jelly (even spelt like this also makes me happy! I guess i'm a jelly-maniac?) hair vitamin that uniquely claims to work as moisturizer for scalp, hair and skin! So weird yet intriguing!

Astalift Moisturizing Mask (worth IDR 145.000/pack. No indication if this product's one pack or not though)

My second favorite item in this box. Am a huge fan of sheet masks, and knowing that this comes from a high end (read : very expensive) brand only makes it better (i mean, you feel like you're getting more than your money's worth this way :p).

Sigma Eyeliner Brush (worth IDR 132.000/piece)

This could me my other favorite product, except that i don't really use eyeliner brushes *___*. That's my problem and not Lola Box' of course (it comes to personal taste and not any fault of the box). I'd be happier if they gave out lip/concealer brush instead (in terms of size, it should be pretty similar, right?). It's my first Sigma brush and i heard nothing but great things from this brand, too bad it's in a form of something i don't really use (i have no interests in gel liner, i am happy with my liquid and pencil ones). So unless one of the beauty boxes i'm subscribed to feature a gel eyeliner in their box in the future, i might try to get a new home for this brush.

Dr. Jart V7 BB (again, no indication of how much product's inside the tube, but it looks like a pretty decent size-like normal travel size BB cream) + Turnover Booster Renewal Serum & Vita Laser)

My other fave product in this box! Been intrigued by Dr. Jart brand and been wanting to try out their BB cream (which BB cream that doesn't interest me anyway? None so far...) so i am happy to receive this. And even happier that they threw in three sachets and call it Must Try-Extras and count them all as one sample. Lola Box never fails to impress me, they really listened to their members criticism and suggestion! You know i whined over and over again about sachet samples-they should never be counted as one sample unless you give out like a mountain of them all (like, you, 5 or 10 could be counted as one, i still wouldn't be happy of course!) and Lola Box' treating them like how they are supposed to be now, as extras. Kudos Lola Box!

Anna Sui Nail Polish in 902 (full size, worth IDR 150.000)

LOVE!

The last and favorite product out of the entire box! I remember seeing Lola Box sending hints about possibilities of getting Anna Sui polishes for some lucky members, i assumed it was on the ballot, so i am very very happy to see one being featured on the box! I love Anna Sui a LOT so if you put anything from then inside a box, it'd be sure to make my day! Never mind that the shade i got reminds me so much of my Nature Republic Manicure Color Waltz GR 605 Lime Green (at least it's got shimmer on them so it's not that similar), i am just super happy to get a new Anna Sui nail polishhh (i only have one other Anna Sui polish in very bold red color and i used it so so much, one of my most over used polish ever, i got so bored of them)!

In short, i love love love December Lola Box! Especially the nail polish! How can i not, the polish alone more than covers their box' price (which is IDR 135.000 because i subscribed to their three months plan, montly box' IDR 145.000), so it's super value for money! I think Lola Box only improved with time, and i sure am happy that i decided to renew my subscription! If you like what you've seen here and want to try them out for yourself, please use my referral below :

http://www.lolabox.com/?refid=DVCjo4quJn

Thank you very much!

#Pink

8:50:00 PM
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Beauty Treats June 2013, Gold VS Platinum Box

astalift

Hi, my dearies!

I wanted to blog about this yesterday, i was already planning to, but then hunny tempted me with the new Dinasty Warrior game in X-Box, and we ended playing for hours until my thumbs hurts (i tend to push the buttons super hard with my thumbs, as if it's gonna make any difference with the outcome *LOL* i dunno why i do that, i can't stop though zzz), actually we are now continuing the battle from last night, it's just that recently home Baby Boy (just arrived from two days long road trip from Jakarta with his grandparents, they stayed the night at Semarang) called hunny to ask him to assemble his new Lego set (remember, he's not even 6 yet, but he loves complicated Lego sets that would make even his dad got frustrated trying to assemble them hahaha) so we paused the game i sneaked in sometime to blog before hunny's back and start tempting me again.

Oh yeah, are you surprised that i play games on X-Box? Don't be haha. Used to be quite addicted to video games when i was young, nowadays i only play a very selected games (more on the lappie and tablet than consoles), but am a huge fan of Legend of Three Kingdoms, and i can never resist their games.

Actually i am faced with so many distractions lately, i made a resolution to blog daily again *like i used to*, but those distractions are proven too strong! I have a pile of "homeworks" (accounting papers for our hotel), hunny keeps on distracting me with games and Running Man videos (we missed quite a few of the newest videos when we were abroad and in Jakarta because we're simply too tired at the end of the days to do anything but fall asleep!), and my girls kept on asking me out on a girly date (with G last Saturday, resulting in quite some accessories and clothing hauls that i absolutely do not need, and again today with L, resulting in a La Senza undies LOLOLOL just because it's on a huge sale and quite dirt cheap and a stunning dress from Gaudi that in my defense, is formal enough to do corporate thingy in, i have some events and even meeting this month-which i cannot tell you about yet-so i think i kinda need it *excuses excuses*), see... so many distractions right?

Okay, enough yapping, now let's get in with the essence of this entry. Like i already mentioned before, this month i subscribed to both of their boxes, Gold and Platinum boxes. They both arrived very very late in June, i kept on checking with my employee as usual, but since i also always stalk their twitter, i knew that all of their member's boxes were late, not only mine, so i wasn't (too) freaked out. Not only they arrived together, they also looked exactly the same from the outside *LOL*, i dunno why i expected them to come in different boxes or whatever. No, only the ribbons are different.

Let's start with the Gold box, shall we!

Yes, i know it looked really sparse *LOL*

I wasn't too surprised (although definitely not too pleased either!) to see how sparse the box was because i already read some other bloggers' entries on their own June BTIs and all of them were as err... arid as this one hahaha, one blogger (i can't remember who though, it was probably Shaha if not Rini) even call it "sad". Hahahaha. I can definitely see why she'd say that.

Although you can easily see what items were featured in June BTI Gold box in one glance, what's the fun in that? I'm gonna break down the items one by one, and peel layers leading to those things inside hahaha.

The usual brown card box housing the actual box :

They only have one booklet for both kinds of boxes, so i two of that booklet. I totally tots the gold booklet was for the Gold box only *LOL*

This month's BTI came in a white box (both types, like i said, the only difference was their ribbons. The Gold box came with, naturally, a gold ribbon). I must be honest and say that the white boxes are sadly my least favorite box! I liked the first box' black box and LOVED the second's baby pink's box, but this June white box looked almost... Cheap... Not only it looked cheap, the material was probably not as good as the previous months' boxes since both of the boxes came in a less than perfect conditions.

Notice the tearing on both of the boxes' edge :

It's pretty bad, isn't it? I hope BTI would pay attention to this and bring us a better quality boxes on the next month's edition. I know most people would probably say that what's inside are what matters, but i am quite a detailed person when it comes to this kind of things (a total opposite to when i buy stuffs at stores, i don't really check them out, i went home and discovered holes and tears on my newly purchased clothes and broken/missing parts on my accessories, all the time FML).

You'd notice right away how little stuffs are inside this box hahaha

So, i do agree that the box looked a bit... sad? Poor Rosemary even went and BBM-ed me (yeah, i managed to make her join BTI *LOL*, i do wish she got the previous box first, i am a bit embarrassed because her first box' so... unimpressive. I also feel a bit bad because i recommended BTI so much in my blog entries that at least two persons joined and let me know, the other one's some random girl on my BBM contact, i bought Etude House's stuffs from her two or three times and she complained endlessly about this box. Not that there's anything i could do about it, they don't even sponsor me formally you know *LOL*, and the girl didn't even use my referral after asking me endless questions about all beauty boxes!!! The nerve!!! LOLOLOL) and asked "Is that is???" LOL.

I read in yet another (quite famous beauty blog) that if you expect a full sized items in your every beauty box, that you probably signed up to the wrong service, and i agree. That being said, i still think this June BTI's Gold box is still considered quite... bad in general. Let's see the items one by one to understand why i said that.

Kay Beauty Dual Sided Eye Brush

I dunno why but every beauty boxes seems to be including beauty tools from either Kay Collection or Masami Shouko (or in this case, both). I didn't mind at first, but as the months goes by, i became less and less excited to see beauty tools, that almost always the same (sponges, puffs, gahhhh!!!). This is the first brush i ever got from a beauty box, so i guess i wasn't too frustrated getting it. The price underwhelms me though, it's only IDR 11.900 *LOLOLOL*. So, feeling very bland about this item.

Paula's Choice Moisture Boots Daily Restoring Complex (1.77ml)

One teeny tiny sachet sample. I know beauty boxes are supposed to contains 5-7 deluxe sized samples, but sachet samples? I mean... I was always unhappy getting a few sachet samples, and this time i got ONE sachet *laugh hysterically*, seriously BTI, can this be counted as ONE deluxe sample? I don't think so. I think to be taken seriously they should featured at least FIVE sachet. LOL.

Never heard of the brand Paula's Choice before, so if they were to gave us a real deluxe sized samples (what's a deluxe size anyway? I just pretend that i know LOLOLOL, i think it's the tiny sized ones, even smaller than travel size?) i'd be quite happy with it. But no, i am severely unhappy with this sachet :p. Oh yeah they also gave me the normal to dry skin variant, when i specifically filled my beauty information as having an oily skin. Tsk.

Masami Shouko Compact Foundation Sponge

OMG. Another sponges? Really? PFFFFFTTTT! My cupboard will be full of them, if this continues! Anyway, ONE beauty tool per box is already more than i enough i think (i believe in most of foreign beauty boxes they don't feature beauty tools that heavily!), but two in one box? It's getting out of hand!

Lioele Red Ginseng mask

I normally don't mind a sheet mask since they are very useful and i try to use them frequently (not that i do a very good job lately-my skin's kinda broke out-maybe there are two zits but that considered very bad for my skin already-since the JB-SG trip, i'm trying to restore my zitty skin to normal first, i don't dare to use too much creams or lotions of masks on my face whenever my skin kinda breaks out like this, don't want to aggravate the condition, you see), but the mask listed in the booklet was Lioele's Perfect Essence Mask. I hate herb scents (ginseng's definitely included!) and the other blogger said she hated the smell, and yes... i am easily influenced and prone to suggestion, so i am already leaning towards hating it just from her reaction alone *LOL*, won't judge it too harshly before actually trying it though, would much prefer the Perfect Essence ones though, they looked cuter *LOL* and i bet they'd smell better!

The last and definitely best item in this box :

Wardah Eye Shadow

I tried to find the eye shadow palette's name (or at least number), but there's none (that i saw) in the packaging hahaha. It contains a navy blue, dark metallic grey and light silvery grey eye shadows.

Now, you know how much i LOVE getting make up items in my beauty box (yes, i know, i am starting to sound like a broken record, i say this every time i get and didn't get any in any box, with different reactions obviously) so, yeah i was happy with the eye shadow, definitely. I was also always tempted to buy a Wardah eye shadow palette whenever i saw them in Guardian, but try not to buy too much decorative make ups (okay, that's a lie. I can't resist the ones with cute packaging and i do tend to buy them in bulk, so i try my best not to buy any that didn't come with a cute packaging so that i wouldn't have too insane numbers of them, of course that's not too successful either...) but getting them from beauty boxes doesn't count, does it?

I am happy with the eye shadow palette, but i'd be lying if i say i'm 100% happy with the colors hahaha. I mean... they're kinda dark and maybe great for smokey eyes, problem is... I don't do smokey eyes much! I wonder what other colors of the palette is available for June BTI, i saw the brown colored palette in the other blogger's entry. But if the only other color available was the brown one, then i am happy with this one lah! LOL. I'm not into brown, boring colors. However i did see pastel colored eye shadow palettes (the trio like this one) in Guardian, and would be ecstatic getting them (since i am obviously more of a pastel eye shadow kind of girl), but i don't know if those pastel colored ones are available for BTI anyway.

But seriously, this lone eye shadow trio saved the box for me *LOL*, i know right, i'm so easy. I have to be brutally honest and say that this box is almost on the verge of being a total disaster, even for me who i must say, quite an easy person to please haha. Like, seriously, two mediocre beauty tools, one tiny sachet and one sheet mask? OMG. I really hope BTI would step up their games, and try to redeem themselves on the next box, because their previous two boxes were quite amazing, i'd hate to see them go spiraling downwards.

I saw all of the products listed for June Gold box and the selection's so small, the variation from my box wouldn't be too much, just varieties of different type of skin type or variants for every product, there wasn't much options for other items so all of the boxes would be pretty similar. Oh, Rosemary got Wardah's blush on rather than an eye shadow, it wouldn't matter if i got the blush on, i'd be equally happy with it as with the eye shadow. Nothing in the list i would change with the ones i got because there isn't anything to trade with! LOL.

I also notice from the other blog *coz i would not spot it myself* that BTI doesn't have a theme this month, and yes, again i agree with the blogger, that's kinda weird because that's like the niche for beauty boxes, having a theme to build the collection inside with.

I think they might be focusing on their new baby, that is the more expensive (and therefore, must be bringing in more profit so it's only natural that they'd put on more thoughts into it) Platinum Box, but i really hope they won't neglect the Gold box subscribers either. After all, those Gold box lovers are the most potential Platinum box subscribers, if we're unhappy with the Gold boxes, it'd be more unlikely for us to subscribe with the more expensive plan, right?

Now let's continue with the Platinum box, don't worry, i think it's much better than the Gold one haha, it's not so sparse :p.

Like i said, exactly looks the same from the outside.

So much that i actually freaked out a bit when i opened the brown box and found the exact same booklet, i tots thought they sent the same Gold box twice mistakenly! LOL. Then i noticed the silver ribbon and relaxed haha.

Already look so much better and fuller than the Gold one, yes?

And they featured much more interesting, premium brands (naturally) in this Platinum box such as MUFE, Dr. Jart+ and Menard!

First item :

Yes, it's somewhat a beauty tool, or container to be exact. Masami Shouko Travel Mirror Powder Case. Yes, still from Masami Shouko, but first, it's a powder container that's a first in a beauty box (so i am not sick of it yet). Second, it's very handy, i can use it to bring my loose powder for my travels, always wanted to buy one but always too lazy to actually do it, another reason leads to number three, it's worth IDR 98.900. The Platinum box's IDR 135.000, so this item alone is already worth one third of the box's price! I like!

Make Up Forever HD Powder

Always happy getting a high end cosmetic brand in my beauty box! Saw other bloggers getting this item from June Lola Box and i was so disappointed that it wasn't in my box, but BTI gave it to me, so i am happy now! Yay!

Menard Blotting Paper

Hmmm yeah, not a fan of blotting papers. But it's from Menard! Such a prestigious brand, should be nice, right? LOL yeah, i'm so cheap and easy to please, the brand alone already made my eyes turned green hahahaha. It's safe to say i will be using it! Am actually quite happy with this.

Menard Fairlucent Whiter Essence (5 ml)

Isn't this how a deluxe sample supposed to look? LOL. Yes, a tiny tube that housed 5 ml of product. Again, from Menard, and i do need more serums (coz i don't ever purchase them *LOL*), so again, happy with this one.

Astalift Anti-ageing range

This one is only available for subscribers older than 25 years old, LOL. I know i know, i'm so old. Now, i haven't opened the little lace bag, but it seems to be containing three sachet samples and one little bottle *serum?*. Now, that's what i consider the right size for ONE sample, not one single, lonely sample. You know what i mean? I do need anti ageing stuffs LOL, so quite happy with this one too. Oh, they also featured a voucher for Astalift too.

It can be used in any Sogo, we do have two Sogos in Surabaya, problem is... Is Astalift available in Sogo Surabaya? I am not familiar with this brand at all, never heard of it before, so i am highly doubtful that it's available (yet) in Surabaya. Plus it's worth IDR 100.000, which is generous, but it seems to be quite a premium brand so... IDR 100.000 would probably mean nothing. Wonder of one product actually priced in millions? LOL.

Last item in the box :

Dr. Jart+ Pore Clear Mask

Like i said earlier, likes masks, so i welcome this happily. Plus, it's from Dr.Jart+, another prestigious brand and i do want to try this brand out. I saw they also featured Dr.Jart+'s BB cream, which i am more keen in trying out rather than the mask, but then again the BB cream probably came in a sachet, if so then i prefer the mask any day hahaha.

As you can see, i am happy with practically everything they gave me in the Platinum Box, which is a vast improvement than the Gold one (and IDR 40.000 more expensive, but judging from this month's contents it's more worthy than the Gold one), but there's always a room for improvement, and they did neglect one aspect, no make up item at all in this box.

Obviously, i am a lot more satisfied with the Platinum box (nice brands, nice range of products, nice amount of stuffs too), but as much as i am disappointed with their Gold box, i do think the Wardah eye shadow was a nice consolation (like i said, i'm cheap), but considering the box' price (IDR 95.000), and how Wardah's eyes shadow's priced around IRD 30.000-IDR 40.000, then i sadly have to say that it's not worth it (so sad to say that because i've always been a huge fan of BTI so far).

So, Gold VS Platinum? Platinum won, big time. I know that the Platinum one's more expensive, but trust me, i don't judge in favour of it just because of the brands or the price of the stuffs featured in it, but mostly for the range of items and value for money. If they featured all local and drugstore brands in their Gold box with more normal *deluxe, not single sachet* size and more interesting stuffs than puffs or tiny brush, i might recommend the Gold box more!

In my honest opinion, the Gold box kinda sucks *LOL* and the Platinum one's quite nice. They failed to be my favorite beauty box this month though. I hope next month's Gold (and Platinum) box would be better and at least worth its price, otherwise i'm afraid their subscibers might lose interest and move to other beauty box services (but i just realized i forgot to renew the Platinum box's subscription for July! OH NO!). After all, it's more unlikely for them to upgrade their subscription (to Platinum) if they hate the Gold one, i bet they would prefer scrapping it altogether and move on.

On the happier note, i already got my second free box (good for January 2014!), thanks for my readers who used my referrals! And those of you have used my referrals and already a member, if it's not too inconvenient for you, you can still use my link to go to BTI and renew your subscription from there, apparently it works that way too! And for those of you who haven't join and are interested to, please do click the link below to get you to their site via my referral, i really really appreciate it, thank you thank you *bowing profusely*.

http://beautytreats.co.id/?id=62

And that's all for today folks, have a good... rest of the day (coz it's almost the evening here haha)!