Pink and Undecided: masami shouko

Unboxing : October Beauty Treats

Hello, dears!

I'm writing this on a Saturday night after a night out at GM with hunny and Baby Boy as usual. We (hunny and i, Baby Boy was busy playing at TimeZone) watched Escape Plan and for the first time in my life i got really really MAD and started yelling at people IN THE MIDDLE of the movie. LOL.

I'm having my period, Surabaya has been unbelievably hot (so hot that whenever i leave my fully AC-ed room the crazy temperature feels like a hot slap on my entire self WTF) and PDAM (Indonesian national water company) around my area (reached quite a wide area alright!) had been down for two days i was forced to shower at our office this afternoon (because we seriously had no more water and had to actually buy a whole container (?) of it latter after being rejected by so many water-selling companies that were overwhelmed with orders already) so i was not in exactly a wonderful mood, i think i would've exploded at some point anyway, but even if i'm not in such a foul mood, i doubt i would've reacted differently!

One of my biggest pet peeve (errrr, it's got nothing to do with pet okay. Sometimes Indonesian tend to confuse this term as something to do with pet hahaha, serious! I read someone answered their favorite kind of pet when asked their biggest pet peeve!) is rude/mannerless people (everywhere lah but one of the most i've ever encountered were) at the cinema. So much that i actually wrote a whole blog entry dedicated to the most basic rules/courtesies people should follow when they are watching a movie in the cinema. Rude people talking loudly during the movie, kicking my seat endlessly, those were some of the common ones we've had to deal with. I usually move to another seat after giving them the dirtiest look and sometimes hauled a few sailor words towards them. But tonight must've topped every bad encounters ever.

Sometime during the first quarter of the movie, a kid started slapping my head (lightly, but tell me how do you like your head to be tapped continuously during a movie?) with a plastic bag. I swiveled and gave people behind us a dirty look. It ceased for a few minutes but then everything got WORSE afterward. The kid (not much younger than Baby Boy, mind you!) kept on poking my head with straw she flailed around, then kicked my seat every five seconds, making "MOOOO MOOOO MOOOOOO" sounds on my ear and then she started running up and down, up and down and shaking and kicking my seat all the while.

I swiveled back about 15x, sushing and giving people behind us (who are young teenagers, relatives of the little kid that kept on bothering me) the dirtiest look, i even started complaining loudly and told them to restrain the kid. To no avail. After more than 15 minutes enduring this sh**, i couldn't take it anymore. I turned around and yelled "WHOSE KID IS THIS????? RESTRAIN YOUR KID, STUPID EFFING PARENTS!!!!! DO IT ONE MORE TIME DON'T BLAME ME IF I SLAP YOUR STUPID KID!!!!!!". And guess what, the parents sat 2 row away behind our seat, apparently the wild kid kept on running around and the parents-wanting to enjoy the movie, let the kid do whatever she wanted. Without any consideration towards the other movie goers. My blood is boiling whenever i remember this whole thing! GRRRRRR.

Seriously, what's wrong with parents these days, huh???? First of all, it's an adult, brutal kind of action movie. It's not suitable for teenagers, let alone a kid under 6 years old. WTF. LEAVE YOUR KID SOMEWHERE ELSE if you want to watch such a brutal movie! No wonder that kid turned out the way she is, if you keep on exposing her to that kind of movies!!!! Nobody can look after her? THEN DO NOT WATCH MOVIES IN THE CINEMA! Buy the DVD, @$@^&#^R#@%&%%@$&&@%&!!!!!!!!!

Hosh hosh hosh!!!!!! Sorry ah, i got carried away hahahaha. Planned to complained a few lines turned a few paragraphs :p. I seriously cannot take it lah zzzzzz. Thankfully after i got really mad (and made a spectacle out of myself by yelling like a crazy B in the middle of the movie, but that's okay. I just want to be left alone, is that too much to ask???) the parents restrained the kid and i could finally enjoyed the latter half of the movie in peace. Sometimes i tensed and expect the kid to return and i would really drag her to her parents and yell at their faces *imagination runs wild*. Pfffftttt. Those people seriously choose the wrong day to mess with this B. Oh btw in case you're wondering, i couldn't move to any other seat even if i wanted to because the studio was full from top to bottom.

Okay, rants done! Now what are we doing again? Oh right, unboxing of October Beauty Treats :

Doesn't look much better than Lola Box, right? LOL. But this month BTI actually came with a "theme", well.. sort of. They claimed that the weather hasn't been too kind (and the biggest sufferer's our skin) so they were planning out the box in consideration to that. I dunno if i bought that, i guess that's a valid reason on why they gave us skin care stuffs with some little extras and no make up item at all. I guess that's better than some of their last boxes, which seems to be consisted of very random stuffs just chucked into a box without much thoughts put behind them, but i think this is a very dull box all the same. Okay, shouldn't go ahead of myself, let's start from the beginning.

At least the box was pleasing on the eyes, with a neatly tied bow and prettily designed leaflet accompanying it

I just realized that their black box' actually smaller than their old box (before they changed the concept into little black box)

It looked very color-coded though, which i like hahaha. Seems that most of the stuffs inside are in blue/purple (and white of course) shade, just like the ribbon, paper shreds and wrapping paper. Very harmonious, aestethically at least

First item : Teeny tiny vial of Crabtree & Evelyn Lavender Eau de Toilette

I've actually received the exact same vial with different variant from last month's BTI!

I'm still not sure if i like this brand/item repetition trend! I mean... brand repetition is acceptable, but if they keep on giving us the same item just with different variants... That's exciting...NOT!!!! Crabtree & Evelyn's a great brand, and i love getting perfume samples but first, the vial's too small (like half of the normal vial samples) they should've given us at least two of them and second... Well, second's personal. I don't like lavender. PFFFTTTT.

Crabtree & Evelyn Himalayan Blue Body Lotion

Sachet samples. PFFFFFTTTTT PFFFFFTTTTTT PFFFFFFFTTTTT. That explains it yes? Giving us the exact same two items two months in a row. Very creative...NOT. LOL.

Utama Spice Lavender Body Butter (full size item, worth IDR 44.000)

Never heard of Utama Spice before, so at least it's nice to be able to try out new things. Plus it's a local brand and you know i always try to support local brands whenever i can. Face & Body Butter sounds interesting (but i wouldn't dare put it on my face anyway) because i've never heard of a body butter that can be used on your face as well.

There are several issues with this item but they are all personal so i cannot fault BTI for it. First of all, i don't do body butter since they are too greasy for my liking, i usually use them for my hunny-problem is this brand is Balinese made and the few Balinese products we used, their body butters usually (except Herborist squeeze tube one that is very nice. The ones that came with this kind of tub-we didn't exactly love) are not moisturizing enough for his skin, like... at all. Hope this one would perform better the others we've tried before. Second of all, i hate Lavender. LOL.

Masami Shuoko Small Blending Brush (worth IDR 28.900)

My favorite item out of this box. LOL. At least they finally gave us a useful brush (is it delusional if i hope they'd give us kabuki/foundation brushes in the future? And concealer brush too :p) and not more puffs that i already piled so high after months of subscribing to beauty boxes. This will definitely be used, i welcome any useful brushes to add to my sad collection of beauty brushes!

Lioele Vita Shake Pack

This is ones are quite nice (although a hell to photograph because of their awkward shape. They should've came in a plastic glass afterall), i have no complains for this one. And at least they gave us two of them, one would've been really really sad. LOL.

Laneige Be Waterful samples that freaked me out when i first saw it because i thought they contained the exact same stuffs with the one in Lola Box

Laneige Water Bank Essence, Moisture Cream and Snow BB Cream

Yeah, another sachet samples. This one contained of three sachets so it's slightly better than Lola's two sachets *LOL*. That's the little card that i already mentioned on Lola Box' entry, the one that can be exchanged with a trial set on the counter. Useless for me because it can only be exchanged in Jakarta PFFFFFTTTT. At least there's a face of one of the not too many Korean actress that i find to be pretty, Song Hye Kyo (sorry ah die hard K-Pop lovers, i'm just not keen with those girlbands... I think they all all look the same, sorry sorry. Not my cup of tea lah) so it didn't hurt my eyes too badly. LOL!

That's all! Not very happy at all with this month's box (but not like, bitterly disappointed either. Just very very meh for me)... Super uninspiring zzzz... And no make up item at all, always a minus on my book! And just like Lola Box this month, i find the items inside to not worth the price one should pay for the box (IDR 125.000. I know i paid IDR 95.000 because i subscribed to their Gold box from the beginning, but you know what i mean!). With only two full sized products with total prize less than IDR 80.000 plus sachets and vials? Yeah.. It's not exactly value for money either. Like i said, both boxes very underwhelming this month (Lola Box wins for featuring that Elianto eye shadow though).

I hope BTI would perform better too next month. If anyone's interested in subscribing, don't forget to use my referral!

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

Hope everybody had a great weekend! And sorry for the back-to-back Unboxing entries, i want to finish them up ASAP! Toodles!

My latest obsession : Vampy Lips! Will be blogging about this look next!

12:05:00 AM
8 Comments

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)!

#Pink

5:09:00 PM
2 Comments

Vanity Trove May 2013

bath and body cares

Hi everybody!

Those of you who have been following this blog closely might notice that i didn't write as regularly as usual, that's because my brother (and his family) came from Banjarmasin, we went to that Batu getaway together (which turned out to be the longest ride to and fro Batu ever WTF, i will write about that in another report, a special Batu trip post that i hopefully can write sometime soon haha. Haish, so much to write, still halfway through my Europe trip too, haish) and now that they're in Surabaya hunny and i went out with them everyday, from morning til evening *tired* *old bones*, i really don't have time (and energy) left by the time we got home.

Anyway, i would normally write and post unboxing of beauty boxes entries at the same day as the box' arrival, but because of all the reasons i wrote above, this unboxing post's delayed for three days. But that's not too bad, right? So, without further ado, let's start my May 2013 Vanity Trove unboxing! Here's a little peek on what's inside my box :

I feel like i just got my first VT and now the second box' here *LOL*, that's of course due to the fact that the first box arrived while i was in Europe and it took me about 2 weeks to finally literally touched it! You know i wasn't too thrilled about my 1st VT, and i thought they were completely pale in comparison to Beauty Treats or Lola Box, especially when one consider the price (VT being significantly more expensive than the other two), but i already ordered the next box (before i even received the first one, coz i'm weird like that, i saw the next box' subscription was open and i kinda freaked...) anyway... I haven't read any entries of unboxing May's VT from any other bloggers, but i had a peek here and there, and was a bit hopeful that it's going to be better than the first one.

How the box arrived :

I guess i was spoilt because the first and second BT came in different colored boxes, i know i should expect beauty boxes mostly to stick to the same kind of box every month, but... well... Seeing VT came in exactly the same box as the first one (minus the first skin with the number 1 sleeve) kinda underwhelmed me... (but it's actually a good thing, i would be less tempted to hoard all of the boxes this way, i would recycle the same boxes for presents, but i'm soo going to keep at least one box for every design/color!)

VT trademark box : pulled drawer type

As usual, a booklet, brochures and vouches were the first things you'd find once you open your box.

The pretty colored booklet did cheered me up once i saw it :)

The brochures and vouchers :

The vouchers... I found it to be as uninteresting as the first VT's vouchers. There's one from Make Up For Ever (that's exactly the same as the one i got from my first BT) worth IDR 100.000 which is not bad at all, but considering you'd have to spend IDR 1.000.000 to be able to use it... well, i don't spend so much on make up on one go and i don't really buy high end brands like MUFE so... this one's going to the bin.

The other voucher's for Brow Studio, which can only be used in Jakarta since their brow salon's only in Jakarta. I would use it actually (because it's only expires in August 31st, still months away and i will be in Jakarta for a while on June-July anyway) if it's for brow services, but the voucher's only applicable for "Natural Dreamlash", that's definitely not a brow service! I think it's for eyelash extention or something, not something i'd be interested to try, so... again, this also goes to the bin.

The booklet was beautifully designed. It says "Summer Days", which is a little bit ironic if you consider the weather in Surabaya (i dunno about the rest of Indonesia but i heard it's not too different from Surabaya) that's being out-of-characterically COLD and rainy. It's been raining super hard the last week or so, after a bout of hot weather that didn't even last for weeks. Not that i'm complaining, i obviously much prefer cooler Surabaya than scorching hot one, i just find the constant flooding a bit inconvenient (and very dangerous, it's so harmful for my pretty and dainty sandals/shoes *LOL*). Yeah, totally a human nature, can never be satisfied one way or another *LOL*.

I was pretty happy at the first glance, the box was packed (almost as packed as my May BT. Almost but not quite, i couldn't even re-packed my May BT properly after opening it, it was so full! Didn't have problem of re-packing this one) and there seemed to be more stuffs inside this month's box compared to last month's.

How about the items inside?

The brand with the most items i got from this box : Lancome. That's good, because i love Lancome, although somehow i associate it with older ladies (coz my Aunt religiously uses Lancome and my mum also use some stuffs from Lancome, so for me it's a bit of an aunty kind of brand. I do own and love Juicy tubes!). Got Vissionnaire Advance Skin Corrector and Vissionaire Correcting Polishing Cream, 5 ml both. Not bad, and on target with how i filled up their beauty profile (coz i'm so old, i'm at the end of my 20s already as you may already know FML, i know i should start using anti aging stuffs, why not start with the samples from beauty boxes and see which one works the best? Although it might be hard to do so since i do not have any wrinkle at all actually *LOL*).

I know that's standard sample size (as in tiny) and it's much better than sachet samples, but like i said on my May BT post, BT's completely (single handedly) ruined the market for sample sized products because the sample sizes they featured on that box was so much bigger than these!

This is the product that i accidentally saw when a beauty blogger posted a link of her unboxing entry on IBB's group and i was really excited when i saw it!!! I had my fingers crossed and wished i'd get it too on my box, so of course i'm very happy with this one! It's Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara (2ml). It's definitely my fave item in this box, hands down! I heard beauty bloggers raves about this mascara, i personally won't purchase such an expensive mascara because i am already very happy with my drug store ones, but being my curious self, of course i always wanted to try it (without actually purchasing it haha). SO! This one got a four thumbs up from me!

Unlike usual, my least favorite item's not a hair product, this time it's this Essentials Jasmine Cananga Salt Bath (2x20gr). I only typed what i read from the booklet, but isn't it supposed to be written as bath salt??? I dunno. Well, i'm not a bath kind of person, i always prefer taking a shower than a bath. I don't do bath tubs, and i don't understand the joy in having a long, luxurious baths. That explains why i don't appreciate this item much, right? Haha... I dunno what i'm gonna do with this thing, i might do the odds and bring it down stair to try out having a soak in my parents' bath tub (that i used as a mini pool back when i was little *LOL*) or i might give it to someone else as a gift. I haven't decided yet.

Skin Junkie BonBon Babe Bar Soap (full size). It's a bit small as a soap bar, but i'm quite happy to get this. Never heard of Skin Junkie before (i love trying out new brands! Or new-to-me brands, but i think Skin Junkie's new in general. And i just googled, it's a local brand! I love trying out local brands!), and they seemed to be having all this "Lush" type of vibes going on (also never tried Lush because i hate the super strong smell permeated from the store, that totally drove me away whenever i passed by their store).

I love the name, BonBon... hmmm sounds so yummy. I don't use soap bars but i am warming up to them since hunny bought one for us to use while we were in Paris so yeah, i am happy to get this and will definitely try it out soon (although i doubt i would want to be paying IDR 40.000 for such a tiny soap bar that we'd definitely finish in no time..).

You have to tear up the plastic to get the product out, i don't like destroying packaging before i intend to use the products inside so i just took a picture within the plastic bag okay hahaha

The Face Shop Aloe Fresh Toner & Emulsion Sample Set. This one's actually not listed in the booklet, i am a little confused. Maybe they ran out of other products and decided to chuck this one in? I get so much skin cares in my beauty boxes, so i am much more picky now *LOL*, i am happy whenever i get nice brands (like Laneige at last month's VT, or Murad in another box) but The Face Shop... Well, i love TFS but it's so... i dunno... mainstream? LOL. I prefer higher end brands for my skin care samples (doesn't apply to make up and nail polish, okay *LOL*) or from new brands. So i find this one to be so-so. I don't hate it or whatever, but it's just so very tiny...

Kerastase Oleo-Relax Masque (30ml). A hair care product, but like i said... i am warming up to receiving hair products in my boxes, at least i know i'd be using them. Unlike the bath salts *fussy*. Now i might not need to purchase hair care products anymore and still be able to care for my hair, that's good! And the size of this one's pretty good too!

My second favorite item in this box : Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum Infusion (3ml). Estee Lauder! Such a prestigious brand (that's important in beauty boxes okay hahaha, especially if one box's quite more expensive than the others, you'd naturally expect them to feature more expensive brands as well)! Plus it's an eye care. I prefer getting eye care products than skin care ones (coz i am constantly battling my super dry eye area). So, even though it's super tiny, i am welcoming this one with super wide open arms *LOL*.

Second make up product : MUFE Aqua Cream. It's sample size (0.75gr), the blue one caught my eyes. You know i prefer make up products in my beauty boxes right, but... *OMG, i sound so fussy now. But i'm just trying to give an honest opinion here okay* first of all, i'm not into cream eye shadows since they never seem to work on me, second of all... How to say this... When other (earlier in arrival time) beauty box had featured a brand and you were excited to receive their products (like the MUFE lipstick sample in BT), then another box arrived with the same brand... well... You'd naturally be less excited.

I have no complaints about this item, but i am not jumping up and down in excitement. I guess i am getting more and more clear on what i like and dislike getting from beauty boxes, hence the extra fussiness *LOL*.

The last item : Masami Shouko White Velour Puff with Handle. Again, a twin product with what i got from BT's May box. Now i have two of these puffs *LOL* (at least they came in different colors *self-consoling*). They do come in handy and i do use powder puffs a lot, so this will definitely be used, but one can hardly get excited about getting the stuffs they already get from another (earlier) box, my excitement had been used up already *LOL*. I guess it's impossible for one beauty box to know what their competitor's going to feature on their box, so i cannot complain (too much) about it, but you also can't force me to be happy about it haha.

Now, as usual, i'm going to point out the products i'd rather get based on their booklet list, rather than what i actually received. I spotted Clarins serum, Kiehl facial cleanser, Sampar Poreless Magic Peel, Estee Lauder UV protector on the skin care list, i'd much prefer getting any of those stuffs (especially Kiehl and Sampar because both are brands i'd really love to try out) than The Face Shop ones that i got. Financially speaking, i also don't think TFS is anywhere near those four brands in terms of value so i do feel a bit cheated :(.

I dunno if one should put bath salt in the same category as body skin care? I think can lah hor, since bath and body cares are essentially hand in hand and shouldn't be separated? Then i would much prefer getting Clarins high definition body lift than the bath salt haha. And even though i don't mind getting the Skin Junkie soap bar, i would probably be more excited if i get the Skin Junkie Carrousel Body Lotion instead.

I also spotted Lioele full sized nail color, which being a nail polish junkie that i am-would be super stoked to receive. I dunno what products they alternate this one with, probably the eye shadow? Yeah, if i could trade them then i obviously would.

There's also Benefit They're Real mascara that i hate them to feature at the same time as the Lancome Hypnose mascara since that means one can only get one while i am dying to get my hands on both! I guess getting one of them's much better than the probable alternative, i'd howl if i receive Wink Kiss Premium False Lashes instead of a mascara! Phew! Dodged a bullet there!

All in all, i am much happier with this month's box compared to last month's. It featured not only more items (look at how much more packed this month's box compared to the super sparse box of last month!), but more importantly-more interesting items, more exciting brands (Skin Junkie, Lancome, Estee Lauder are the highlight brands for me this month). I can see what the others said by VT featuring more high end brands compared to other boxes this month (i couldn't see it last month!) with the appaerance of Estee Lauder and Lancome. That being said, i am not sure higher end brands are that important for me (who's a total drug store and high street brands lover).

I think May box' pretty great, but i'd be lying if i was anywhere near as ecstatic as when i received my May BT, or even Lola Box. The brand repetition (with BT and Lola) concerned me, and i am now having a dilemma on whether or not to renew my subscription. In one hand, i feel like i should stick to BT (both gold and platinum boxes) and Lola since they are cheaper and i was loved their boxes so much, on the other hand... i just hate to miss out on any beauty box *obsessed*, and what if the next box turned out to be fantastic?? Haish... I did say i would give VT 3 tries at least before deciding whether or not i want to subscribe to it for a longer period of subscriptions, so i might as well subscribe to July's box. I haven't decided yet...

How about you? Which on of those three beauty services you're subscribed to? And which one's your fave?