Cupidrop, Tatcha-cha-cha, and Etsy extravaganza

I had three mini-hauls lately, one utilitarian, one frivolous indulgence, and one completely random. This is a quick overview of them all:

Cupidrop

 I placed this order with Cupidrop for three reasons:

1. I was running desperately low on oil cleanser and wanted to try something new
2. Fan-b's review of the Cosrx low pH cleanser wooed me 
3. Samples. Because every time I start browsing Cupidrop's website I start thinking about all the sweet sweet samples that came in my last order and crave moarrrrr!

So I actually didn't want the Cosrx cleanser as a face wash- I wanted it for a body wash! I have my Minon foaming cleanser for my face, but it is too hard to come by to justify using it on my acne-prone body areas. the Cosrx is a pretty large tube and a little goes a long way. I have to be careful to cleanse my back properly or else I get some nasty backne from wearing a sports bra, sweat, and general barn crud. Since some areas of my skin are especially acne prone, I decided to go with a gentle low-pH cleanser instead of a traditional body wash to help protect that skin barrier as well.

BeautyDNA November Product (and the promotion is still on GiltCity!)

I got my November BeautyDNA product today, but instead of waiting until December and posting them both together, I'm making an early post because BeautyDNA is back on GiltCity until December 4th! That is the promotional that I used to purchase my initial account...and I kinda sorta dropped the money for another 4 months (yes, they will add it onto your existing account if you email them politely).

Here is my one little shill moment: if you use my referral to join GiltCity, you get $25 and I get $25 to spend on Gilt/GiltCity. Here is my Referral Link if you want to use that to join, if not (or if you already have an account) you can just go here and buy the BeautyDNA promo. 

BeautyDNA November Product: Olie Biologique Huile Moderne 004 Hydrating Oil

Retail Price: $78.00

Cosdna Link

The package arrived late this afternoon and, thanks to the lovely winter snap we've been having, the heavy glass bottle was wonderfully cool to the touch. I can't stop petting it. Its so prettttyyyy. 

I love to use oils as moisturizers! This one is primarily Argan oil and Rosehip oil, both of which I've heard wonderful things about for skin. This one is supposed to be good for acne and breakouts, so hopefully my skin will like it. The good thing about BeautyDNA, though, is that if you don't like a product, they are of a high-quality that would make for wonderful re-gifting to friends and family (BeautyDNA is strictly against re-selling products received from them!).

Note: An oil-loving friend informed me that Bergamot oil is photo-sensitizing due to a compound called Bergapten. Some bergamot oils have this compound removed and should be labelled as "Bergamot FCF". This oil is not labelled as being bergapten-free, so please exercise caution and use it only at night.

I paid for this awesomely [discounted via GiltCity] subscription with my own cash because I'm too uncool modest to get free shit. Questions, Comments, and Casual Insults always welcome. Especially the latter, it gives me a sort of a bitter nostalgia for my high school years.

Golden Tote: Because I can't go naked

At the end of January of this year I returned home from England weighing 150lbs. My narcolepsy had gotten bad and I spent a good 2/3rds of the day sleeping. My normal weight was around 130lbs.

Enter: New medication, awake-ness, eating healthy, moving more

I am now (and have been for several months) 120lbs. And all my clothes are too big now. So I pounced on the chance to try Golden Tote. If you are unfamiliar with it, at Golden Tote you get to pick out 1 or 2 of the clothing items in your tote, and the stylists there pick out the rest of them according to your style survey. There are new releases each month and it is an absolute madhouse of people trying to get certain in-demand styles before the sell out. I selected the $149 tote, so I got to pick out 2 items and the stylists picked out 4 more for me.

Oh yeah, and it comes in an actual tote, too

A thought on #effyourbeautystandards

A facebook friend of mine shared this illustration entitled Wrong Century by Tomas Kucerovsky recently:

And a reply on it from a person that I don't even know struck a chord with me. It absolutely summed up how I feel about the whole #effyourbeautystandards movement and Tess Munster.

Priorities

I made this whilst whining about my Golden Tote not being here yet.

BeautyDNA: September and October 2015

BeautyDNA is a subscription that I had been itching to try for a good while. For $25 a month, they send you one full-sized skin/hair/body product that is selected for you based on a detailed survey you fill out when you sign up. The value of the product is supposed to be greater than the cost of the subscription and you can change up the answers to your survey at any time if you want to. For someone like me who has a pretty good sized backlog of samples, deluxe samples, and even full-sized products that I have yet to try (but still a hankering for new crap), narrowing it down to one item a month that is supposed to be a good selection for you seemed like a plan for me. Yeah, there still could be duds, but at least there won't be a box of several duds to go through at once.

So when Gilt.com did a discounted special on 2- and 4-month subscriptions to BeautyDNA, I promptly purchased a 4-month subscription and signed up near the end of September. You subscription starts as soon as you fill out your beauty survey, and my product shipped only two days after I did that. Since I joined at the very end of September, my September month product arrived a few days into October (but hey, having it at the very end/beginning of the month is a good way to remember when my subscription is coming).

I waited until I had two months of products to do a review of BeautyDNA, and will do the final two months at the same time, too. Please note: Your products will probably be different than mine, as these were selected for me, based on my survey responses.

September Product: Epicuren Alpha Lipoic Omega Facial Serum
Retail Price:  $90
CosDNA Link

So there is actually a story about my first product, because there was an oopsie at BeautyDNA. I have selected on my profile strictly no SPF products, as I am picky about my sunscreen and I don't like moisturizers with sunscreen that could possibly have filters that interfere with what I'm using. I'm obnoxious like that. Well my first product I received was a moisturizer...with SPF 15. I emailed customer service, assuming that maybe the "no" I checked on facial SPF was only referring to actual sunscreen, and asked how to edit my profile so that I would not get any more products that happen to contain sunscreen ingredients. She profusely apologized and said that my survey was perfect how I had it, and that the moisturizer had accidentally not been tagged as a sunscreen product in their system. They promptly shipped out my replacement product that day and it arrived via FedEx only two days later. Yay for customer service! A+!

Each BeautyDNA product comes with a "Skin Report" that has information on how this product matches your survey. The key terms are bolded (although some things that are bolded, such as fragrance-free, paraben-free, and sulfate-free, are things that I selected "don't care" for rather than "do not want").

I have never heard of the brand Epicuren before, but the ingredients (see the CosDNA link) look nice. It has propolis extract!

October Product: Dermaquest SkinBrite Cream

Retail Price: $73

CosDNA Link

I might have misplaced my Skin Profile for this product (beautyDNA does provide you with a pdf copy to download via your account if need be) but it is a lightweight cream that absorbs very well, contains multiple proven antioxidants and skin whiteners (as in, lightening dark spots, not bleaching). It is supposed to be good for skin that is sensitive as well, but I am putting this aside for now and will start using it after I finish my Tretinoin purge that I began last week!

So far I am really liking beautyDNA. I just find it to be an interesting and fun concept! We will see what November and December bring.

This subscription was purchased with my own money. Please feel free to leave Questions, Comments, and Casual Insults below.