Long post alert! If you are tired and sleepy, don’t read lol! If you can’t sleep, then you’re very welcome… XD
Have I ever mentioned I never have any luck in contest and lucky draw? I seldom win anything. Wait. No. I hardly won anything. I remember when I was a kid, one Christmas we were told each of us to bring in a present so we could have present exchange in class. We drew a number from a hat to get the present. I had the luck to draw back my own present. The one I brought in. Oh man I laughed so hard. The whole class laughed. My teacher laughed too. Good grief.
But! I feel the wind is changing! I won the Marcelle 1st Wrinkles Eye Contour Cream, thanks to Stephanie! 
15ml of goodness in a pump bottle. So you don’t have to dip your finger in the pot every time you use it.
Prevent the first signs of aging with this ultra-light and non-sticky cream that penetrates skin instantly; allowing you to apply your make-up immediately.
Enriched with high performance ingredients, this unique care will increase micro-circulation, reducing puffiness and dark circles. It deeply moisturizes and protects the delicate eye contour area.
Hypo-allergenic and perfume free
Ophthalmologist tested.”
I’ve been using it for the last few days. I find it quite light and being absorbed very quickly like they promised. It’s a plus to me because rich greasy eye cream feels sticky and heavy around your eyes and that doesn’t feel nice. Recently I’ve been babysitting my sister’s dogs and they woke me up every morning at 5am. You can imagine my dark eye circles. Hopefully it will help me to reduce dark circles as it promised as well? I will report back perhaps after a week or two.
Thank you again Stephanie!
—————————————————————————–
And did I tell you I love Winners? I’ve always love that place. None of my friends like to shop there because they think the store is always messy. Well I agree. People who shop there like to misplace things everywhere, and the store associates are having a hard time catching up, putting things back in the right place. But I still love to shop there. It gives me the feeling of treasure hunting.
Recently, Winners went through some changes and makeover. The stores are now brighter and more organized; and what makes me really happy is that they introduced popular brand and cosmetics to the stores. I am a big fan of Philosophy’s shower gel, so I am very happy to see they are selling them there. Not a lot of selection, but they sell my two favorite scent: Belgium Waffle and Fresh Cream. Yum! And then I thought, please please please, please sell Hope in a Jar one day, please!
And? My wish is granted!!! Plus more!
Inner Grace set with body lotion and hand cream: $16.99 CDN
Lemonade set with lip gloss and hand cream: $19.99 CDN
Hope in a Jar $24.99 CDN
Lemonade is a bit too sour for me. I hope it’s sweeter to balance out the sourness. But their hand cream is really good. It can last almost the whole day. My hands feel silky after washing, even in this cold dry weather. Thumbs up! I find the gloss a bit sticky, as I prefer non-sticky type; but that makes the gloss lasts longer. Inner Grace smells pretty nice. It’s light and not overpowering. At first I didn’t buy the set because I mistook it as Amazing Grace. I tried Amazing Grace and, wow, it brought back so much memory. Not in a pleasant way, because it reminds me of Elmer’s glue D:
Fresh Cream ($14.99 CDN then discounted to $11), Lemonade ($14.99), and my favorite, Belgian Waffles ($14.99 discounted to $12).
I use their shower gel as shampoo regularly and it makes my hair smooth and soft without the need of conditioner.
Philosophy Man For All Seasons Set ($29.99 CDN): Spring (Peony), Summer (Papaya), Fall (Pear), Winter (Snow). I more foody than fruity, and kinda surprised to see Summer is not mint icecream scent and Fall is not some pumpkin scent. But still… I couldn’t resist so I picked it up 
Borba Age Defying Advanced Recovery Creme (suggested price $60, now for $14.99 CDN). Borba was on sale at Haute Look (or Beyond The Rack?) but I didn’t pick up anything because of the heavy shipping cost. I’m even more glad I didn’t buy it because now I can get Borba at Winners, no shipping cost! I tried it for 2 nights and so far it makes my skin feel very smooth and soft in the morning. If it keeps up the good work without breaking me out, I might try the concentrate and day creme.
Korres Fig Set ($16.99 CDN), with shower gel, body butter, and scrub. I’ve always wanted to try Korres product and again either Haute Look or Beyong The Rack had a Korres sale not too long ago. But again because of the shipping cost I didn’t buy anything. It’s a great starter set for me. Winners also sell individual showergel at $5.99 each. I saw Citrus, Cedar, and Fig.
Be Fine 3-piece starter kit: Brown Sugar, almond, and Oat exfoliating cleanser, Ginger and willowbark firming toner, and Cocoa, millet, and rice bran night cream ($3.99CDN). I haven’t heard nor tried this brand before, but at $3.99 I just couldn’t resist. And how can I not buy it with a picture of chocolate on it?! But it doesn’t really smell like chocolate XD How disappointed! I will try it tonight and see it goes.
Urban Decay Get Baked ($7.99 Cdn). It comes with a small bottle of Sin primer. Both eyeshadow colors and the liner pencil are very nice and pigmented, and they last the whole day without creasing (I didn’t use any primer). Unlike my Avon Waterproof Glimmerstick, the 24/7 Glide-On doesn’t melt and move under my eyes.
That concludes my recent Winners haul!
——————————————————————————————–
Shoppers Drug Mart is perhaps my second favorite store. I lovelovelove their Optimum point system! Yes, SDM is normally more expensive than other stores, but they frequently have 20x points event, so you just need to do it right: Wait for things to go on sale and wait for bonus points event, then redeem your points during the special redemption days.
Last week, they had a redemption promotion again. I have enough points to redeem $200 worth of free stuff. I was hoping to get a netbook for my parents but all the stores I called were out of stock 
So I got these instead…
Lancome Bi-Facil eye makeup remover (with that I got the free Lancome gift as well!)
Almay Smart Shade foundation (with bonus concealer) in Light and Light/Medium (I mixed the two to get my shade)
Almay Pure Blend tinted moisturizer
Clinque Take The Day Off Cleansing Milk (so far, quite disappointed with the performance!)
Rimmel eye makeup remover (cheap but very effective)
Benefit Celebutante (I’ve been waiting for the redemption promotion to get this set!)
Plus what’s not in the photo:
3 x Tylenol Cold day, night, and cough (my parents got this lingering cold and cough D:)
2 cases of Ensure drink (meal replacement/supplement. In case I don’t have time to eat properly)
All that, I just paid $30 for taxes. Because I’m an Optimum Plus member, after they took of 75,000 points, they immediately put 10,000 back to my account. With my remaining balance, I could have redeem another $100 worth of stuff. But I held off, and continue to build my points and wait for the next event.
——————————————————————————
And today, a mini haul lol
My father saw an ad on the community paper. A tiny place selling all kinds of “one of a kind” things. In this case, “OOAK” doesn’t mean it’s hand made. It’s more like “sample” or “defective” lol. I didn’t think I’d find anything there, but my dad was curious so we went. At the end we spent an hour in there looking through things because, although it is a small place, it still has many things to look at. At the tiny corner, I spotted a pair of Emu slippers, for $15! There’s only one pair so I grabbed them quickly 
And picked up a couple of hair accessories for $1 each. My mom bought 2 pair of sunglasses (very fake D&G lol) and some kids clothes for my sister’s babies. I found some pretty nice Lord & Taylor cashmere vests at $15 but didn’t get any.
