Vanity Trove April: Elizabeth Arden and Dr Ci:Labo

My monthly Vanity Trove has arrived, and although I'm a little late to the party, better late than never, right? Let's jump right into it - this month's trove is rather uncomplicated, and really only has two brands - Elizabeth Arden, and Dr Ci Labo. Of course, this can either be a good or bad thing depending on your preferences, so let's take a look, shall we?

Vanity Trove March: Focus on the Body

March's Vanity Trove has landed, and it's definitely a little different from your typical beauty box. Not to say that it isn't great, but rather, the emphasis this time is more on healthcare than on beauty - perfect after all the Chinese New Year gluttony. Let's take a quick run-through!



Let's look at the makeup items first. Not too much colour here, more of base products. You get a Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Creme Compact sample in Nude (with sponge, which is a nice touch), and also a Zao Essence of Nature Powder Compact in 302 Beige Orange. I think both are great shades that match with my skin, so that's a plus! Although I know a lot of bloggers were raving about the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Creme Compact sample, for me it was the Zao Essence of Nature Powder Compact that really wowed me. You get a full-sized product (you just need to find your own case). The ingredients list looked pretty good for a compact powder - the main ingredients are mica, zea mays (corn) starch, zinc stearate, squalane, silica, which are not clogging an are usually good ingredients in a powder. For those that like their products natural, there are some plant-derived ingredients too, the main ones being europaea (olive) leaf extract, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed extract, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, and macadamia ternifolia seed oil.


Next, the skincare and perfume stuff. The perfume is a carded sample of Paul Smith's Optimism. The skincare is all from Asian brands - there's a My Beauty Diary Southern France Apricot Mask, and a Skin Food Goldkiwi Gift Set, comprising of sample sizes of the Goldkiwi Toner and Goldkiwi Emulsion.


Now, the edible body care. I guess the Vanity Trove team somehow knew I'd spend Chinese New Year stuffing my face with all the seasonal goodies (my favourites are the bakkwa and pineapple tarts, but I'm also really partial to the round crumbly peanut and almond powder cookies), because they put in not one, but two types of slimming tea. LOL! We have an three sachets of FruityLite weighted from an Asian brand, Huiji, and a couple of tea bags from a Western brand, Kilo Off. I guess this comes in useful after all my seasonal binging, although I've never been a believer in such slimming foods - my personal belief is that nothing beats exercise and healthy eating. (The hard part, of course, is practicing what I preach. Hah.)


Of course, Vanity Troves now come with a Vanity Mag - there's an article with inputs and quotes from a few bloggers, so do take a look! I always love reading the views of other bloggers.


So that's March's Vanity Trove for you! If you want to try out a variety of healthcare products, this is a good time to get your Vanity Trove.

Vanity Trove February (And How You Can Get a Free Gift for March!)

So I'm a little slow on this due to Chinese New Year's celebrations, but Feburary's Vanity Trove is here! Let's get to the reveal - and then on to how to get a little free something with your March Trove!

Like most beauty boxes, Vanity Trove has sample-sized and mini products. The theme for this month is Valentine's, of course! Hence the appearance of a carded sample of Pure DKNY Rose. A rose perfume for February - so romantic, right? I also got samples of Skin 79 BB Cream, Origins Plantscription Anti Aging Serum, and Kiehl’s Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution. All established brands that don't come cheap (except the Skin79, which isn't as pricey).


One of the other things I like about Vanity Trove is their inclusion of niche brands that you don't always hear of. In February's Trove, I got samples of Yuan Soap, Iderm Placenta Serum, and Phytomer Souffle Marin. I've never heard of any of these brands before, and a placenta serum? OMG. To be honest, I'm a little freaked out by this, but it looks/smells just like any other serum, so I guess actually using it won't be so bad, haha. And, this is only marginally weirder than the snail secretion-infused skincare I previously came across.


And a full-sizes item! I got a Lovemore Facial Mask as well. I've noticed that Vanity Trove seems to be really good at including face masks (particularly sheet masks) in their Troves. It's a good thing if you like face masks!


Lastly, this month's Trove also has a Vanity Mag, which has a small contributed article from yours truly! It's the first non-blog article I've ever written, so if it's not that great, bear with me - the next one will be better :) The idea behind the article was that I would highlight past Trove items that could come in helpful for Valentine's!


Aand, if you haven't heard yet, you can use code "musicalhouses" when you purchase your March Vanity Trove, and get a free My Beauty Diary face mask with Your March Vanity Trove!


Code is valid til 14/3/2013, so don't forget to use it!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. There is a sign-up link in the post, but I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Use Code musicalhouses for a Free Face Mask with Your March VanityTrove!

Heads-up, guys! I know everyone loves free stuff, so I'm sharing this deal with you. Simply use code "musicalhouses" when you purchase your March Vanity Trove, and get a free My Beauty Diary face mask with Your March Vanity Trove!

I am a horrible blogger and have not yet posted my reveal of the Feb Vanity Trove, nor have I tried out the mask yet (you can see a bigger photo of it below), so I thought I'd just give everyone who wants to know the code first!


Code is valid til 14/3/2013, so get cracking while you still can!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Vanity Trove January 2013: Variety is the Spice of Life

Merry Christmas everyone, and hope you had a great and peaceful holiday season! Here's a look at January 2012's Vanity Trove! It's not a big Trove this time round, but there's a mix of all sorts of things - makeup, makeup remover, skincare, and food! Let's take a look.

First up, we have a full-sizes Essence Eye Shadow and a small sample of Albion Skin Conditioner. The Albion Skin Conditioner is quite small, so it's more of a "filler" item to me than anything else, but man, I'm so excited by the Essence eyeshadow! I didn't even know Essence had made it to Singapore! Now I know, and I also know that it's actually quite fairly priced here too! The eyeshadow was smooth and well-pigmented, and worth the price. In fact, I totally plan to make a trip down to buy myself more Essence products. Thanks Vanity Trove for the introduction!


Next, we have another product that gets lots of raves, the Bifesta Make-Up Remover. It's a micellar makeup remover, which has been quite popular lately (other brands I've written about are the Enavose FloraComfort Cleanser and the Bioderma Sensibio H2O). Although this is a sample, it's decently sized, and will give you quite a few uses. It also comes with their Japanese cotton pads, so that's a nice touch too. It is really great for those who want a makeup remover with the cleansing power of oil, but the feel of water.


The next thing - skincare products! This month I got a My Beauty Diary Mask, and a small sample pot of Yuskin Family Medical Cream. The mask is good for one-time application, and is not bad. The Yuskin Family Medical Cream is useful on body, hands and dry spots like elbows, but I find it less useful on the face.


Lastly, munchies! Here we have a TruLife Lingzhi Immunity Drink and a Slim Secrets Bar. The TruLife Lingzhi Immunity Drink is more of a general health product, and is suitable for the guys as well. The Slim Secrets Bar is meant to help as a weight loss aid by helping to provide a tasty outlet for your snack cravings.


There's also a small mini-magazine-cum-catalogue in there (accessible online here) that has writeups of the products as well as other tips and tricks.

Overall, this month's Vanity Trove lets you try out some highly-raved brands, and has a good mix of items. Most samples are also of a decent size, so that's great too. If you didn't like this Trove, there are others you can buy as well: a Superberry Trove, and a Mangoesteen Trove. For men, you can also get a Sasa Men Trove, a LAB SERIES Men Trove. Lastly, Vanity Trove is also having a giveaway: for people who subscribe to 3,6 or 12 months before 31 Dec, they stand a chance to win awesome goodies from Goldheart, Ujene and VanityTrove. So if you want to suscribe, better do soon to increase your chances of winning!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company. A member's link appears )