Canadian Deals on Nail Polish (November 30, 2015) Cyber Monday Edition

2015-11-302015-11-30 fivezero5 Comments

This week’s post lists nail-related sales at the following stores: beautyBOUTIQUE, Birchbox Canada, Clinique Canada, Forever 21 Canada, Hudson’s Bay, Inglot Canada, Jean Coutu, Lancôme Canada, Lise Watier, MAC Canada, Murale, Nail Polish Canada, Rexall, Sephora Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart, Well.ca, and Yves Rocher Canada.

You can also check out last week’s Black Friday sales post; some of the deals overlap into Cyber Monday.

beautyBOUTIQUE by Shoppers Drug Mart has the following sales:

Lots of deals for Cyber Monday. See them all here.
Cyber Monday: Get 38,000 Optimum Points when you spend $200, online only
Cyber Monday: Get a free 3-pc They’re Real! best-selling sampler set with any $60 BeneFit purchase
Cyber Monday: Get a free hand and nail treatment cream with the purchase of 2 Clarins products.
Cyber Monday: Get 20,000 Optimum Points when you buy any Clarisonic device
Cyber Monday: 15x the Optimum Points when you purchase Clinique
Cyber Monday: Get a free Bi-Facil Makeup Remover (125 mL) plus 8,000 Optimum Points when you spend $85 on Lancôme
Cyber Monday: Rodial (selected) @ 30% off
Cyber Monday: Silk’n Flash & Go Permanent Hair Removal Device @ $159.99

Birchbox Canada (referral link) has the following sales:

Cyber Monday: 25% off any $45 purchase with the code PARTYON.

Clinique Canada has the following sales:

Free shipping on all purchases through Dec. 31, 2015.
Holiday online GWP. 7-pc plus a limited edition Long Last Soft Matte Lipstick in your choice of three shades. Plus, at the moment you also receive a GWP size Raspberry lipgloss. If you spend $50+, it looks like you also get a Clinique Happy edt mini.
Clinique GWP. Image: clinique.ca

Forever 21 Canada has the following sales:

Cyber Monday: 21% off any $21 purchase with the code CYBER21. Free shipping on all purchases.

Hudson’s Bay has the following sales:

Cyber Monday: 10% off cosmetics & fragrances (excluding Hermès)
Cyber Monday: selected beauty deals, including great deals from Carven, Hanae Mori, 25% off MAC Kits, and StriVectin)
Clinique PWP: Best of Clinique 8-Piece Set ($190 value) is $75 with any $31 Clinique purchase
Clinique PWP. Image: thebay.com
Burberry GWP: Free Mini Kisses Satin Lipstick (in your choice of several shades) with any $125 Burberry makeup purchase
Estée Lauder PWP: Blockbuster Colour Edit ($330 value) is $69.50 with any Estée Lauder fragrance purchase (Cyber Monday: $62.55)
Estée Lauder PWP. Image: thebay.com
Estée Lauder PWP: Travel Ready Skincare Collection is $45 with any Estée Lauder purchase (Cyber Monday: $40.50)
Illamasqua Nail Varnish @ $8.50 (reg. $17.00; this has been going on for months as Illamasqua is clearing out; available shades: Peruzzi).
Lancôme PWP: Holiday Blockbuster Set in Warm or Cool ($308 value) is $67 with any Lancôme purchase

Ipsy — July 2015 Glam Bag “Summer Lovin'”

2015-07-172015-09-03 fivezero11 Comments

This is the last Ipsy bag I’ll be receiving for the forseeable future, because I canceled my subscription. I actually canceled it before the Glam Bag arrived, as I checked my account and saw what they sent me this month.

Now, the only subscription box I have is the Canadian Topbox, which I subscribed to last month. I have also canceled Birchbox Canada after just two boxes, which were mostly filled with hotel toiletries.

LAQA & Co. — Menotaur (Lip Lube Pencil) Swatch & Review

2015-05-162017-10-05 fivezero4 Comments

LAQA & Co. Lip Lube Pencil in Menotaur

I’ve already canceled my Birchbox (Canada) after only two boxes, but here is my favorite item—so far—of everything they sent (erm, mostly hotel bottles of body wash and haircare).

I’d heard of LAQA & Co. before, but never tried anything as they seemed to be overpriced. I was reasonably excited to see their Lip Lube Pencil in my May Birchbox, especially in a color that I like but wouldn’t normally purchase for myself.

From the company:

Lip Lube is a light and glossy hydrating lip balm – perfect for everyday wear. The peppermint-shea butter formula delivers an oh-so addictive hit of mint and moisture, with each application. All in a handy twist up pencil. BOOM!

Birchbox (Canada) — May 2015

2015-05-142015-08-19 fivezero13 Comments

My second Birchbox (Canada) arrived today, and this month it was curated by Emily Schuman of Cupcakes & Cashmere. The box isn’t as pretty as last month’s from Rifle Paper Co., but really, it’s just a cardboard box.

I’m just going to come out and say right now that I’m canceling my Birchbox subscription after just two boxes. I feel like if the cost was CA$10–12, and not CA$15, I might hang onto it for another month or two. But for $15, I’d rather buy myself one item (perhaps a MAC eyeshadow pan, or an Essie nail polish plus change) that I actually want rather than get five random items, one of which I might like, and the rest of which will get shoved into that hotel toiletries box in the linen closet.

Here is what I got this month:

geometric print paper box
BeeKind Body Lotion (Mini)
Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Wash (Mini)
LAQA & Co. Lip Lube Pencil in Menotaur (Mini)
Number 4 Non-Aerosol Hairspray (Mini)
Raw Spirit Desert Blush Eau de Parfum (Sample)

Read on for photos of everything, plus a brief comment on the LAQA lippie, which I’m wearing right now!

Not the Most Auspicious Start with Birchbox (Canada) — April 2015

2015-04-252016-02-26 fivezero8 Comments

Birchbox April 2015, box by Rifle Paper Co.

When subscription box Birchbox finally came to Canada late last year, I thought about subscribing, but I had only been with Ipsy for a couple of months, so I thought I’d lay off signing up with anything new for a while.

Of course, curiosity got the better of me and I recently signed up with Birchbox (referral link), anyway. It costs the same as Ipsy (CA$14.95/mo, shipping and taxes included), and I have, for the most part, enjoyed getting my Ipsy Glam Bags (referral link). At the very least, even if I don’t care for the products in the end, I usually enjoy trying them!

My main reservation with Birchbox was that they seem to focus more on skincare than makeup, and I much prefer trying out new makeup and nail polish over skincare and haircare.

Well, it’s sad to say, but my reservations were not totally unfounded. Birchbox shipped my first box very quickly, and I received it just this week. I had filled out my Birchbox profile to say I preferred to receive Makeup and Nail products (and ticked the box for YAY FRAGRANCE SAMPLES PLEASE), and here is what I got: