Remembering your first....fragrance

I was catching up on my reading (of other blogs) and this question came up.  Not only did I remember my first fragrance but I was brought back to the whole experience.  I was travelling home from my first (and so far only) trip to Europe. I had gone to London to visit a friend who was doing the semester abroad thing. I stopped in a duty-free shop and knew that Ralph was popular at the time, I tried it on and liked it and that was it...my first fragrance.

What was your first fragrance? Does it bring back any memories?

pretty crazy beauty haul

EEK! So, I've been trying to cut back on my spending some...but then there was this super awesome employee discount at work...and um, I tried to stay strong. I failed. Something just happened, I don't know what but here is what I bought (with a great discount):

1. Clarisonic replacement brushes 2 pack. I counted this as a necessity, and therefore easily justified it.
2. eye liner brush from Clinique. My current brush needed to be replaced, and these get used daily and cleaned daily at their counter...so I know they last (justified!!)
3. Chanel waterproof eyeliner pencil in ebony...I've tried this before at their counter and really liked how long it lasts. Expensive yes, but larger discount than normal, so, justified splurge?
4. Bobbi Brown cream shadow in galaxy...admired the color for a while and used up my whole sample forever ago...still this one was pure splurge...which leads me to:
5. Bobbi Brown fragrance in Beach. Impulse buy, near the register. Seriously, I sprayed it on while we were finishing the transaction and I bought it. It's light and beachy and makes me feel like good. whatev.

And now I will cut back on my splurges...until the next time. ; )

What's your favorite thing to splurge on?

boxes of pretty (delivered monthly!)

Several of the beauty blogs I read have been talking about their monthly beauty boxes. These sounded like some fun programs, so I checked them out.  Basically, you sign up (or more likely, you put your name on a waiting list) and when there is room for you, you subscribe.  Most programs run about $10 a month, with options to cancel.  For the money, you receive a package of assorted samples (and sometimes full size products, depending on the program).  Sadly, a lot of these programs are not yet available in the US (but the websites promise their working on it).

I put my name on a bunch of the lists, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.  Within about a month I got notifications from two programs; My Glam Bag and The Look Bag.  I signed up for both (and quietly vowed to cut back on my willy-nilly beauty spending)...shortly thereafter a few more of the sites let me know that I could join their programs too...maybe later.

I came home from my lovely weekend and had both packages waiting for me.

I was super happy with the Glam Bag. There is a LipQuench from the Dermstore that has become a daily use product for me.  I appreciated the brushes too (I've been needing a new slanted eyeliner brush anyway). The bag is small and cute, a lovely little purse size. There was also a liner from Urban Decay in a teal color (which I may not have picked up on my own, but is worth a try).  I went out and bought some eyelash glue, so I'm looking forward to trying out the lashes too. So far I'm totally jazzed about my beauty subscription.

The Look Bag was a little less jazzy for me.  The Jovie lotion is a great size, but a little too much fragrance for my taste. I'm looking forward to trying the Pur~lisse essential daily moisturizer with SPF 30. There is a Laura Mercier perfecting water, that I'll have to check out online, because I'm not 100% sure what it's for. There is a fragrance sample (in Water Garden, could be nice..we'll see) and lastly I received a hair oil from Orofludo (?, never heard of them, but with summer coming my hair is sure to get dry at the ends).

The Look Bag, after the Glam Bag was a little bit of a let down...but hey if it doesn't work out I'll cancel and try a different program. No worries.