Latest hauls^^ [7] Lunasol, Crabtree & Evelyn X Hello Kitty, and HABA

One of the more massive hauls I have did over the holiday season (in terms of $$ spent) was my haul from Hong Kong. My haul arrived in a 5kg box from Hong Kong!

Full layout of my haulage:

This time around I have hauled 3 main things. First off, it is the Lunasol X'mas 2011 party coffret set; second was my long awaited HABA ion machine and their skincare items; and third was a limited edition crabtree and evelyn featuring Hello Kitty.

In fact, the Lunasol set and the Haba items were purchased from Sogo Department store during their anniversary sale. I wouldn't have haul them if the price was so attractive! (well, someone really need to check out my shopaholic symptoms...*blush*)

Moving on to the haulage, here is my haulage from the lunasol party coffret set.... the outer packaging box is so pretty and shiny!!! (and it is also a fingerprint magnetic...)

In Japan, this set retails for 6,500 yen, but because of the high yen these days, it would have have cost over $80usd.... but Sogo has a more competitive pricing and I hauled mine in roughly $70usd...

Lunasol provides its coffret with 4 full sized products:

1. the Skin Contrast Face Powder in 01 Glow
2. Full Glamour Gloss in EX19 Tender Glow Pink
3. Cream Cheeks in EX 04 Tender Glow Pink
4. Eyeshadow palette in EX 01 Tender Glow Beige Brown

5. A fury makeup pouch (the promotional pictures looks more glam than the actual pouch)

Honestly, the main reason for getting this coffret set is because of this eyeshadow. People that knows me well already know that out of all makeup items, I love eyeshadow the most :P

And EX-01 Tender Glow Beige Brown is yet another neutral palette.... and yes, how many more neutral palette do I need??? lol...

EX-01 in shade

EX-01 under sun

EX-01 appears to be another warm toned neutral palette. Swatches can be found here at BirkenBagBeauty.

Moving on to my next item in my hauling is the Crabtree & Evelyn set featuring Hello Kitty. To be honest, I don't really get about the handcreams, shower gel, etc that came with the set, as we can get Crabtree & Evelyn products fairly easily in the US. All I was eyeing for was the Hello Kitty vanity case.... and Crabtree collaborated with Hello Kitty for these sets and they are exclusive to Asia.

Other then the Citron one that I hauled, they have have limited edition sets for other scents like Rosewater, Iris, Gardeners, Nantucket Briar, Lavender, La Source and Summer Hill. See Rouge Deluxe post for pictures from the rest of the Hello Kitty collection.

Yellow isn't normally my favorite color, but the lemon-y scent is my love. And recently I bought a pot of lemon verbena from Trader's Joes and I have placed it on my work desk... I have been rubbing the herb's leaves every now and then and the smell is absolutely divine!

I like the pouches from other scents, but I cannot justify myself buying everything in the range and pay excessive shipping for them (lotions and creams are kind of heavy!)

This was what I was up to. A summer feeling/life is full of lemons vanity bag:

it has a magnetic closure and comes in 3 zippered compartments. The middle compartment can be removed with 2 snap button closure. These compartments are pretty roomy and they can fit most travel sized toiletries and even my clarisonic mia! Only if I have more chance to travel!

The cute logo with Kitty's bow.... I am not sure why we don't have this collection in the US.... and Hello Kitty remains an Asian kind of thing....

Moving on next is my haul on Haba. I got these items from Sogo's Anniversary sale. Haba have regular sales on sets once in a while, but the sale from Sogo was one of the better ones with better offers.  

I have always wanted to try the Haba Ion machine, and I decided to get it. I have been using it for perhaps once a week so far and I like the results. Whitening serums are more effectively absorbed into my face and I notice a lightening of post acne scars. And my overall skintone is whitened as well. But this machine is a tad on the pricey side, however, I think because in the US facial spas are quite expensive to go, I think this ion machine is a good investment for me. 

And the entire treatment takes 8 minutes for one cycle. Now that my schedule is free up, I will keep using it and do it more frequently!

Haba's White Lady is also their signature product, and it is used in conjunction with the Ion machine. Because of the nice pricing, I hauled 2 sets of them. I am going to be a Snow White... someday!

These cotton sheet masks are to be used with the Ion machine treatment. They are really high quality and thick sheet masks... but because they are cotton, they tend to absorb a lot of liquid.... meaning you are using a lot of essence that you paid for.... so I tend to use my paper masks for this ion treatment.

And my purchase also comes with a GWP.... it's a 2 piece chirimen pouch and coin case and a lipstick with a hydrating essence core. 

Overall it it a good buy. But when my White Lady is used up later, I may have to come up with an alternative whitening essence to replace it, because:

1. White Lady is not available in the US

2. They are quite pricey with their original price.

So far I am considering whitening treatments from Kiehl's, Neogence, and Dr. Wu as potential replacements for White Lady. I just hope they will be as equally effective....

So, my skincare experiment continues!