Thursday, May 31, 2012

What's in my Handbag Freebie - Paul & Joe Moisturizing Foundation Primer

As I'm sure we all do, I do love bagging a good bargain or better still, getting free stuff! I've never really won any competitions or received free stuff before, but I guess it's pretty simple as to why. I simply never really tried! This month I started a new resolution : enter as many competitions as I possibly can. I mean, if I don't try then I'll never get will I?

As you're probably aware, Glamour magazine has been offering a great Giveaway for every day of the month of May, so every day I've been religiously going to their website and entering their competition on diferent products. I think I entered everyday except for a few days where the products they were offering weren't really my cup of tea, like Acne targeted cleansers. To my utter surprise, I get a package yesterday on the post that left me wondering what on earth it could be since I hadn't ordered anything recently. As I open it, realize ... Oh my god I just won May 5th competition prize! It's a Bourjois set comprising of a lipgloss and a nail polish, there were about 700 sets to give away at random people who entered the competition on that day.
I was thrilled to bits! The lipgloss is lovely and I simply ADORE the colour of my new nail polish. I have already done a NOTD with it but I'll blog about it on the next post.


Now I recently got to know about this great website and I thought I'd share with you guys. It's called "What's in my Handbag", or WIMH between friends. 


It's a really nice idea, it's basically an online magazine where they show you the beauty must-haves of a whole host of fascinating style-insiders. 
I do love a bit of nosing aroud, especially when it comes to beauty products. So with this site you can flick through various handbag contents and read the descriptions of their favourite products. 
After you've looked into a few handbags you'll realize a few products keep making an appearance, so you end up thinking - wow this must be really good if do many fashionistas are raving about it! I guess this might become dangerous to a person like myself who sadly is quite easy influenced to buy the latest beauty must-have, but oh well!

Here's an example of the contents of someone's handbag. You can then click on the products and find out more about them.
Now the best thing about this is that every week they provide a free try for anyone who's signed up to HIMH. I registered for a free try a while ago, when I first signed up, but didn't really give it much thought.
Then one day, out of the blue, I receive this very smart looking black box in the post. 


Oh stop it, you! You're making me blush!


A FULL SIZE!!??

Loving the SPF 15

Isn't she adorable?

Here you have a sneek peek of my Bourjois nail polish

I was blown away, I never in a million years thought I'd actually get this, let alone a full size! I went online to search more about this brand, I'd never heard of Paul & Joe. 
Apparently this little baby retails at 22£ on Beauty Bay, so to say this is a bloody good treat from HIMH is an understatement.
I love the idea behind this, you get to try luxury products that you might of never heard of before and it makes you go out and find more about them. 
Paul & Joe was launched in 1995  and its quirky, kooky and fantastic make-up range has been a cult favourite since.

I have used this primer a couple of times, I always like to test products for a while longer before I blog about them, but I'm pretty pleased with this little guy already. I mean even just to look at - it's fantastic! Its gorgeous packaging reminds a bit of old-fashioned 1920's make-up and beauty products and looks positively luxurious on my dressing table.
Obviously we're not going to splash out this kind of dough just so it looks pretty to look at, so does it work?
I am happy to say YES!

It has quite a fluid consistency, not like other primers where it's basically silicone and makes your face really really soft. This is nothing like that, it feels more like a runny foundation and actually has colour to it, reminding me a bit of a BB cream.
It goes on nicely on my skin and provides a nice base for my foundation/BB cream. I don't know yet if this actually prolongs the longevity of my foundation throughout the day, but for me that isn't a major concern anyway. I just like to have a nice coating for my foundation and allow a nice application. The rest isn't that important to me as I prefer a more natural look anyway and light coverage.
It has a light floraly scent and I am really pleased it has a SPF. The more protection the better, I always say! (although that doesn't always apply - I immediately got the picture in my head of people who think 2 condoms is safer than 1 - it certainly is NOT, on the contrary -  it will cause friction and can rupture the condoms).

I digress. What a lovely little note on contraceptives and safe sex in the middle of a product review, but hey!

All in all I am loving this primer. I have normal to dry skin so it's perfect for me. I always look for SPF on my products so that's a major plus. I had a peek at the ingredients, it has lovely stuff in it like Apricot oil and Jojoba seed oil so it makes me happy to think it's actually doing something for my skin other than just sitting there under my foundation. So thank you WIMH!

If you girls are interested in getting to know about this website copy this link:

http://www.whatsinmyhandbag.com/r/3j9

If you do register I'd be so grateful if you could do it via this link, as the more friends I invite the more goodies I can eventually get. (I have no idea what, but I'm going for it!). Invite your friends after too!

Also don't forget to register for this week's free try : Balance me Moisture Rich Cream (10 ml).

By the way, they can't guarantee everyone who registers gets a free try, they base their choice on your beauty profile you fill in as you sign up and surely there must be a limited stock. But it can't hurt to try, now can it?

7 comments:

  1. What a shame! I just tried to join and its for the UK only. :P

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    1. Aww that's a shame.. :( maybe they'll make it available for other countries soon.. xx

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  2. I signed up for WIMH this week, but didn't realise you had to take a photo of what's in your bag! I don't have a handbag!! Haha I love the box they sent you the freebie in, so chic! I opted in for this weeks "try it" as well. Do you have to be active on their site to get the try? xxx

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    1. Hi babe, no you don't have to take a photo of your bag and contents, it's optional! :) I haven't taken one yet - haven't got that many interesting things to show at the moment! haha. You don't have to be particularly active on their site, I registered for a free try on the day I discovered the site and I don't think I went on it again until I got a confirming email that they were going to send me my free try! After that I've been on there more often, poking about through a few bags but you don't really need to :) x

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  3. p.s. adore the new name and stuff you've done to the blog xxx

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    1. Thank you! :) I seem to have outgrown my pinkaholic stage and was needing a bit of a change :) Glad you liked it! xxx

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  4. Oh my goodness, that is too cute and I have totally been thinking about trying something Paul and Joe, they make the cutest stuff and I'm always seeing it on Urban Outfitters! You are gorgeous girly and I love your blog! XO Lori
    PS lady friend, you should totally enter the giveaway on my blog for a gorgeous vintage apple necklace from Ally Hoot Vintage!!!! http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2012/05/ally-hoot-giveaway.html

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