Just a super short post here because this weekend I'm quite busy with my schedule so I didn't have a lot of time to post but I still want to try to post at least 6 days a week. So here's an outfit post for you, it's a look that I put on yesterday. It was a casual day running errands and I was also feeling quite laidback that day so I didn't put much effort ;p

First of all, I'm sorry for the short hiatus. It was a long weekend here in my country and I went out of town with my family for a mini getaway, so that's why I didn't blogged for the last several days. But now I'm back and I have new posts lined ahead for you ;)

Okay, if you noticed I have a new shortcut links on the right sidebar of this blog, and one of the shortcut is linked to my favorite Fragrance section. As you might probably know by now, I love fragrance or basically anything scented. So that's why I have quite a lot of body mists, body lotions, shower gels and soaps, perfumes, scented candles, etc.. Basically I collect anything with a scent. 

I love buying products in different scents and aroma, because I just love sniffing them and I also use them alternatively. I also like to use them in rotation, depending on the weather or my mood that day. I believe scents/fragrance can have different effects for your mind and body. The popular term for that is: aromatherapy ;p

So that's why I decided to add a new "label/tag" to this blog which is "Fragrance" - in which I posted about scented products. It could be shower gels, soaps, lotions, candles, perfumes, etc. I have reviewed some of these type of products before, so please feel free to browse around by clicking the tag or the shortcut link on the right sidebar. Meanwhile, here is one review of those scented products which is: my current favorite body cleanser.

Etude House is a very popular Korean brand which always comes out with good products and cute packaging. This body wash is simply one of them. I got this Etude House Sweet Appleade Body Wash as a gift and been saving it in my stash. I just recently use this body wash when I ran out of my previous shower gel.

The body wash comes in a rather unique bottle shape. The green color of the bottle and the apple picture at the front makes it really clear that this body wash has green apples scent. On the bottle it says that it is a "cool and delicious" body wash. The active ingredients are orange, lemon, bilberry, sugar cane, and sugar maple extracts, and (according to the bottle) those various fruit extracts are supposed to supply elasticity to the skin.

I believe this is actually from an old collection of Etude House called the "Sweet Appleade" collection. Etude House always release new collections every year, sometimes they even release 2 to 3 new collections in a year (if I'm not mistaken). Each of the collection always have unique theme such as this Sweet Appleade ones.

When I first received this body wash, I took a sniff from the cap and I remember that I didn't really fancy the scent because it smells a bit awkward for me. But when I finally opened this bottle and used it in the shower I found that the scent is actually very refreshing and uplifting. It's the kind of body wash that you want to use in the morning to perk you up ;)

The scent is very refreshing and it does smells like sweet green apples, somehow it kinda reminds me of "summer and pools". The texture of this body wash is a bit different than regular body wash because this one has a colorless hard-gel texture that you have to squeeze out of the bottle. So it's not runny at all, more like a hair-gel type. But once in contact with water, the clear gel becomes sudsy and foamy just like regular body wash. 

As I told you above, I like using it in the morning or whenever I need a pick-me-up because the combination of the fresh apple scent and the cool gel texture of this body wash is a great boost to start the day or to lift up a somber mood.

Overall, I really like this body wash because of the unique cooling hard-gel texture which is rather different than other body washes (I love anything non-mainstream ;p), and also because of the uplifting scent and the refreshing feel that I got after showering with this body wash. Definitely recommended ;)

I didn't know how much this body wash costs because it was given to me, and I also didn't think that you can find this range in Etude House anymore because it's an old collection, but I'm pretty sure that you can still get it from eBay for a fraction of the price ;)

Since my first post about scented candles, a few of you have commented here on the blog and also emailed me asking about candles and want me to feature more scented candles. I don't have a lot of candle collection yet but I do have a few candles at home right now. One of the newest candle in my collection is this Simple Indulgence candle in Amberwood & Cedar which I just recently purchased from Ace Hardware with a discount price. Simple Indulgence is actually from the Candle-Lite brand. I don't know what's the difference is from their regular candles, maybe it's just one of their special lines?

Anyway, Ace Hardware is where I mostly got my candles, because they have a few stocks of candles from the brand: "Yankee candles" as well as "Candle-Lite" among other random brands on their rack. Candle-Lite is cheaper than Yankee but I think the quality is not that far off. Candle-Lite is like the cheaper version of Yankee, although they are not really cheap themselves anyway, just slightly cheaper from Yankee.

So I found out that this big candle was on sale at that time. The sale wasn't that much, it was only 10% discount. So it was originally IDR 129,000 (around $12) and after the discount it was IDR 116,000 (around $10). So it wasn't that much, but if I can get it a little bit cheaper then why not? ^o^

This is a big jar (8.5 oz / 240 g) that has two wicks, and it was the cheapest among the other candles with the same size there at Ace Hardware. I have wanted to have big jar candles with multiple wicks, because more wicks would bring out more scents when it's lit. The big jar from Yankee  Candle was too expensive, so I turned to Candle-Lite instead. I've bought and tried Candle-Lite before (in Juicy Black Cherries) and I loved it, so I thought why not buy another Candle-Lite ^_^

After sniffing some of the candles available, me and hubby decided to get this Amberwood & Cedar one because this smells heavenly. The scent was woodsy as you can tell from the name of this candle, so it was masculine enough for hubby, and I happened to love woodsy notes too, so this scent is definitely a must-have.

I love sniffing it straight from the jar because it smells sooo goood to me. I really love warm woodsy scents, and this is definitely one of the best woodsy scents I've ever sniffed.  

I haven't lit this candle yet because I want to preserve it, LOL. And I can just smell the scent whenever I open the lid. Yes, the scent has a strong throw even when it's not lit, so all I have to do is just open the lid and put it next to me, and the scent will come out ;)

Overall, although I haven't lit this yet but I already decided that I really love this big Simple Indulgence candle, because this definitely has a stronger scent than their mini-size sister. I would recommend this candle especially if you love warm woodsy notes (this smells like a lush green forest to me ;p).

A little tips in choosing candles: If you're looking for a great scent throw (when lit), pick a candle with two or three wicks because the more wicks they have, the more it will let out the scent. Also, don't forget to trim the wick whenever you want to lit the candle to avoid black smoke that could darkened the inside of the jar ;p

I ordered my second box of Vanity Trove just before Christmas and they were having holiday so I just received the box on January 2nd. If you haven't read my first Vanity Trove post, this beauty subscription box is basically offer a different service than other beauty boxes out there because Vanity Trove allows you to actually pick the items that you want to receive. You can choose from a selection of products that have been catered and customized to suit your personal skin tone, preference, etc (based on the beauty profile that you filled in on the website).

I did my second order of this VT box during christmas time so they include a "Happy Holiday" note card inside the box. I think it's a very sweet gesture, although I don't celebrate christmas but it still makes me feel appreciated as a customer. The card was signed by Veronica a.k.a Vanity Trove mascot ^o^

So last month I picked out a couple of items from my curated product selections and most of them were samples, but they're the ones that I'm actually been curious with, so I don't really mind choosing the small samples because I know that I'm gonna use it and won't throw it away.

I think of this box as my new year gift so it's a little bit something extra for me to start the new year. There were also not too many options on my personal product selection at that time, but I think I managed to picked the ones that I do really want to try and would definitely enjoy using. So here are the items that I chose for my 2nd Vanity Trove box:

 In no particular order:

Crabtree & Evelyn Wisteria Body Lotion

Crabtree & Evelyn Himalayan Blue Body Lotion

Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater eau de toilette

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (samples)

Clarins Extra Firming Day Cream

iShine Moisturizing Lipstick in Rose Belle

Most of them are in sachets especially the Crabtree & Evelyn ones which seems to always comes in small samples. But I've been curious with the variants of their scents so I wanted to know what the scents would smells like. Crabtree & Evelyn are also expensive here so I wanted to try enough of their products first before I went to their store and decided to buy something. I can't wait to try the body lotion samples above because I'm wondering if I would like the formula as much as I like the scents.

The real size product in this box is the iShine Moisturizing Lipstick which is a newly launched cosmetic brand. There used to be an eyeshadow trio in my product selection tab at the VT website, but apparently they ran out of them so I didn't get a hold of them. Note: samples options in VT ran out very fast, so if you see something you like in your product selection tab then get your hands on it and ordered the box right away ;)

Out of the items that I picked in this box I am most excited with the Crabtree & Evelyn samples. I also have actually tried the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair a long time ago but didn't see any results, but I was lazy back then and didn't use it properly or frequent enough. So when I saw the samples showed up in my product selections tab I picked it right away and decided to try this cult product again to see if it really works this time.

The iShine Lipstick is the only thing that I used straightly from the box! I got the shade Rose Belle which is a pretty pink lipstick that I can wear every day. I totally love the iShine lipstick and will make a proper review of it soon. Meanwhile, they also thrown in lots of discount vouchers in the box. I got a discount voucher for Crabtree & Evelyn, and also a lot of vouchers for iShine products which you can get at C&F Perfumery. I saw it in the Kemang Village Mall the other day so I might go back to that mall to see the iShine products offered. If the other iShine products are as good as this lipstick then I would like to have a look at them ;p

Okay, that's my second Vanity Trove box. If you want to also subscribe to Vanity Trove Indonesia and customize your own box, you can click the link below to go to their website and sign up. Each VT box is IDR 180,000 nett - which means it already include shipping.

VANITY TROVE

You can follow my account too once you're there ;)


Don't forget to also join Vanity Trove on Facebook and twitter at @vanitytroveID.

As promised, here is my last haul in 2013! Meanwhile, I actually haven't bought anything yet so I'm pretty curious myself to see what would be my first haul of 2014 ;p But here's a couple of my last purchases that I made during the Christmas and New Year sale last year :

Luxola :

I did 2 hauls from Luxola because they were having pretty good deals during the Christmas and New Year sale. Luxola always have a sale going on, or they always give discount codes that we can use with minimum purchase. I usually got Luxola discount codes from either Lola Box or the Vanity Trove box, but usually they are always around 20 - 25% with minimum purchase, so I never used it. But then I got a 35% discount code during their christmas sale that only lasted for several days. It's one of the biggest discount code I got for Luxola and If I'm not mistaken there was no minimum purchase too, so I head on over to the website and go straight to the Sigma brushes section:

I almost always use Luxola discount voucher to buy Sigma brushes because these brushes are pretty expensive and its not available locally yet, so any discount would be appreciated for sure. I was also curious with these brushes after trying the Real Techniques ones, I'm just curious to compare them ;p

So with the discount code I decided to splurge on the face brushes, because I've learned that a good face brush is the secret for a flawless face no matter what the foundation/base is. So I finally decided to get the Sigma Beauty Kabuki Brush set which include the F80 Flat Kabuki Brush and the F82 Round Kabuki Brush. 

This comes as a set and I think it's really worth the price. The F80 brush is ideal for applying foundation, while the F82 brush is great for finishing a look with powder. This set originally costs IDR 434,500 (around $40) so with the 35% Off it was reduced to IDR 282,400 (around $25). So it was worth the discounted price.

My second Luxola haul is when they were having up to 70% discount offer during the New Year sale. Not every item had discounts but I found a couple of items that I wanted to buy at their 70% discount section. So I decided to do another haul ;p

I didn't get any extra/bonus from my first Luxola haul but I got quite a few of extra/bonuses on my second haul. So not all the items you see above are my hauls. Some of them are the extra/bonuses that I got from Luxola. And I was so excited with the amount of bonus that they sent me, I didn't really bought quite a lot of products but they did sent me some samples which I have been itching to try! 

Here's what I actually got from the Luxola Sale section:

Smith's Rosebud Salve in a tin

Nip+Fab Dry Leg Fix

The rest are freebies, which include (among others):  Balance Me Pure Skin Face Wash and the Alpha H Liquid Gold which I've been dying to try out since I've read so many good things about these two brands from other beauty blogs.

So thank you so much to Luxola. If you want to see what they offer this time around, go click here: Luxola

Perfect Beauty:

I remember I still got a Perfect Beauty voucher that I haven't used and it was due on December 31st, so I rushed to the website and found these two beauties on my Perfect Beauty's wish list tab. I was into blushes during December so I splurged on these two blushes using my discount voucher that reduced the price a little bit.

Perfect Beauty have a few color options of the Sleek blushes on their webstore, but after a few days of browsing around I finally decided to get these two different shades. The left one with a brick red color is called Flushed which is said to be able to give a flushed cheek look with natural reddish shade on your cheek, just like you've been jogging in the cold. And the right one above is called Flamingo, with its deep pink shade which is said to be able to give a fresh pinkish cheek and suitable for most skin tones. Can't wait to try these out!

The Body Shop Sale:

From the Body Shop Christmas & New Year sale I only got two things which are two sets of body care (one of them is for present):

I got the Chocomania set and the White Musk Classic set. Both of these sets were on sale so I got a pretty good deal with this boxed set. Each set includes a shower gel, a body lotion, and a shower puff. The white musk set is definitely for yours truly a.k.a Me ;) Because TBS white musk is kind of my signature scent (or at least I think it is). And the chocomania set below is a present for my sis in law's birthday that falls near christmas. Now I only have to buy the body mist to complete my TBS white musk collection.

Supermarket haul:

My usual supermarket haul didn't include a lot of products as it usually is. That's because I still have my stocks and didn't need much new products either.

I only get the Garnier Pure Active Multi-Action Toner because I wanted a new toner and this was on a sale rack, Enchanteur Perfumed Talc in Alluring ( I got this out of nostalgic feel because my mom used to have Enchanteur talcum powder when I was a kid) - and I also love the pretty vintage feel of the packaging. I also got a Viva Nail Polish Remover (I'm almost out of polish remover), Eskulin Fresh Cologne Princess Collection in Belle (definitely because of the princess-y packaging ;p), and the Vivelle Spa Systeme Collagen Face Mask.

Metro haul:

Last but not least, the department store beauty haul. There was only one haul from the dept store beauty section which is this YSL Forever Youth Liberator Cleansing Foam. I asked the sales girl which of the YSL Youth Liberator product that I should try beside the serum, and she suggested this cleansing foam. I was also given a couple of the Forever Youth Liberator Serum samples to try out.

Well, I lied. Above is not the last of my haul. I still have one more haul which is the only fashion haul that I made during the christmas & new year sale. After a long time wanting to have a plaid shirt and never actually bought it, I finally found the right one (at least, I think it's the right one ;p) from Burberry. The size is right, the plaid pattern and color is also right (although I was originally wanting a red plaid, but this one will do), and the most important thing is: the price is right too because this was on discount ;p 

That's it for my last hauls of 2013! If you want to follow my shopping diary please subscribe to this blog or just simply follow this blog. You can also add me on instagram where I usually also post my hauls and other daily snaps.

What are your last haul of 2013 or what is your first purchase of 2014? 

Have you bought anything yet?