MUJI Haul - Stationary & Organization Products

When I think of MUJI, these three products immediately come to mind: my absolute favourite grey clicky pen, my acrylic storage unit, and the notebook I purchased on opening day of MUJI ATRIUM in downtown Toronto (adorned with the in-store stamps, of course!). I love the simplicity, functionality, and affordability of MUJI products so I was thrilled when they invited me to the head office to check out their line of stationary and organization products for back to school.

MUJI showed us a variety of different products and I learned about a few items that quickly made it to the top of my wish list, including an oil based marker (similar to a Sharpie but without the scent) and transparent sticky notes. There were a variety of other items that piqued my interest so I was very thankful to MUJI for providing us with goody bags. Here is a little overview of what we received - as I start trying the products, I will be posting videos on my YouTube channel of some of these products in action. I have a feeling my first video will feature this set of 24 markers because they are too pretty to sit in their cannister unused. Note that I've included links where I can but they lead to either the US or EU online store - prices in Canada will be different.




Oops, I "swatched" these out of order but hopefully you get the gist...


I'm pretty sure I did a little fist pump when I saw that MUJI included my favourite pen in a couple of different colours. While grey still has my heart for day-to-day use, I'm going to try to incorporate some pink and green into my life.


Keeping on the theme of pens, this very functional pen case is the perfect vessel to house your favourite writing instruments. There is a little compartment at the top for your eraser or some paper clips. Nestled beautifully inside are an assortment of MUJI's best selling pens. I've never owned these specific ones in 0.5mm (although I did have the thinner 0.38mm version - since passed on to my sisters) so I'm excited to see how I like them. Upon doodling with them for the first time, I can report that they write very smoothly.




This 6-in-1 colour pen is a great concept. It writes very smoothly but I personally was not a fan of how splotchy the ink looks.


Finally, in terms of writing instruments, we received the following 2 mechanical pencils, both of which take 0.5mm refills. I have tried using these very briefly, and the weight & ergonomics of both pencils were very much to my liking.


Let's talk notebooks! We received a 5-pack of ruled notebooks - these are very similar to the notebook I purchased on opening day (except mine had blank pages), which I still haven't used because I love it so much and I haven't come up with a good enough idea of what I want to use it for. I'm happy I have a few other notebooks to play around with now!


I'm super duper excited about this little notebook because it has dotted pages! I've been watching a ton of bullet journal videos and dotted notebooks are very popular in the bullet journal community. I've been wanting to give dotted pages a try and now I can without having to go through the process of selecting a notebook myself. When there are too many options, I tend to suffer from analysis paralysis - anyone else?


And since I'm asking questions, who doesn't love a good to-do list notepad?


We received this academic diary, which runs from August 2016 to September 2017. It's simple and elegant but I already have a planning system so I will be passing this on to a better home.


We were also provided with an assortment of cute supplies: mini stapler, cat sticky notes, transparent sticky notes, aluminum card case, and pen holder.


Retouch tape, glue tape, and key ring memo block. Apparently, the key ring memo block is extremely popular among Japanese students for learning English. The little pieces of paper essentially function as flash cards, where a Japanese word would be written on one side and the English translation on the other side. So interesting!



My husband is very passionate about shredding confidential documents so he was quite interested in this little handheld shredder.


We were spoiled with these next items - acrylic organization units! I've been meaning to purchase a smaller set of acrylic drawers as I currently have the 5-drawer unit but it doesn't fit in the new spot I allocated for my planner supplies. This 3-drawer unit is perfect and I have already transferred my supplies over.


The other acrylic storage unit we received was a small rack style unit with various slanted "shelves" - I was not familiar with this piece and I am pleasantly surprised that it has become one of my favourite products from MUJI. I used to store my pens in the pull-out acrylic drawers but now I have them sitting pretty in this unit and they are so much easier to access... love love love!



A huge thank you to MUJI for inviting me to the office and providing us with such generous goody bags! Be sure to tune in to my YouTube channel for videos of some of these products in action! There may or may not be a little giveaway tied to one of those videos. :)

Not sponsored. MUJI provided these products for review purposes.

The Body Shop - A Small Haul

Collective Haul - Clothing, Accessories, Home Stuff

It's haul time!! Here are the things I purchased during our road trip to Pittsburgh (and Niagara-on-the-Lake). This is also a bit of a birthday haul as I included a few gifts I received from my loved ones. TGIF! :)

Collective Beauty Haul - Skincare, Hair, and Makeup!

Happy July, Everyone!! :)

It's been a while since I've done a beauty haul. I've been trying to use up my products and not add to my already-huge stash. While it's been going well, I have picked up a few things here and there, mostly when I need to replace a product or when it's time to switch to a cruelty free alternative. In this video, I show a whole bunch of stuff I purchased or received over the past few months... a couple Sephora orders, Optimum points redemption, birthday gifts, and more. :)



In case you don't feel like watching the video, I took some photos for the blog! I'm like a whole new person (for now).

To start off, just a few little foil packets and bonuses I received with my 2 Sephora orders. I am careful what I order online from Sephora now because of the duties but I believe everything I ordered below was duty free (perhaps because they are made in the U.S.?). Also, if you order online, check your points because they automatically credit your account based on the U.S. price and you have to email them or send them a Twitter/Facebook message to give you the difference based on the higher Canadian price. One final note, I usually wait until there's a decent bonus before ordering from Sephora - the freebies are not necessarily cruelty free but everything that I purchased is.




Here are the items I purchased. The Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Brown was a recommendation from one of my YouTube viewers (thank you, Zookeeper123) and I am loving it!



I also purchased a bunch of overpriced hair products. I am looking for a less expensive (preferably drug store) cruelty free hairspray in an aerosol format - if you have any recommendations, please let me know as the two bottles of hairspray below cost me $60 and I don't think I can justify paying those prices on an ongoing basis. Yikes!



Bonus redemption weekend is always a fun time at Shoppers Drug Mart when you have points to spend. I selected a lot of necessities but splurged on two makeup items. I finally picked up the original Naked palette - I felt a little guilty afterward since I've been so good about not buying unnecessary makeup and I was actually going to exchange the palette for something else; however, one of my friends on YouTube so highly recommended it that I decided to keep it after all. I've been using the Naked foundation on weekends and it's been pretty good - it's very runny and light in terms of coverage but it feels like nothing on my skin and I like the finish (not dewy but not matte). I was matched to shade 3.0 but I might also pick up 3.5 now that I'm a little darker from the sun.



This next set is a gift from my sisters. The set is called Pardon My French and it comes with the cutest little makeup bag! I've started using some of the products and I've been loving the eyeshadow palette in particular. It's a beautiful collectable tin and the eyeshadows inside are nice and buttery. The set also comes with a sample of the Shadow Insurance, a sample of the Lash Injection Extreme Volume Tubing Mascara, and a full size Perfect Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Perfect Black. I brought the entire set (minus the mascara since I'm trying to get through a couple of other tubes at the moment) to New York with me and had so much fun trying the products. The Shadow Insurance was a little slicker/oilier than some of the other eyeshadow primers I've tried but it seemed to work at keeping my eyeshadow on my eyes. The eyeliner was super easy to glide on - I expected a harder texture - it wasn't exactly smudge proof but it seemed to stay in place a little better than the other eyeliners I've been using to tightline.



My mother-in-law gave me a huge Dove gift set (she doesn't know I'm going cruelty free) and this set is chock-full of full size products. It comes with a large faux leather cosmetic case and a small pouf white, which is already in my shower. It also came with 2 beauty bars, which I happen to love - and again, one of the beauty bars is already in my shower.



I recently attended a Pelle Beauty event at BlushPretty and it was fun to chat with Marnie (the owner) again. She gave goodie bags to everyone at the event, which contained a full size Vanilla Lip Balm, a sample of the new Bloom Facial Mist, and a sample of the Luxe Beauty Oil. I can't wait to try all three products! I also purchased some more of the Stellar Multitasking Facial Oil because I love the stuff (the scent is strong but so appealing to me - it's a mix of neroli and sandalwood) and the Eye Balm, which is another new product.



Finally, I picked up a bunch of stuff from a 40% off site wide sale at The Body Shop. The Aloe Calming Toner and Satsuma Body Puree are a couple of favourites, which I repurchased. I also picked up the Banana Shampoo - I've tried this before and loved the scent but I couldn't remember if it worked well to cleanse my hair so I will give it another try. New to me products are the Vitamin C Daily Moisture SPF 30 (since my new favourite Julep SPF 30 is discontinued... boo!) and the Vitamin E Sink-In Moisture Mask. I also received the Moisture White Shiso Brightening Serum as a PR sample recently but I haven't tried it yet because I'm not a fan of products with whitening properties - perhaps I'll give it a try towards the end of summer when I have a bit of a tan.



That is basically it for my haul! As a side note, I will not be doing a June empties video or blog post because most of my June empties were inadvertently thrown out... waaaaaaah!!! :( I was very upset at first but I guess it's just garbage after all. I am diligently gathering my July empties and I will have something to share in August.

2013 BlushPretty Beauty Board Haul

The BlushPretty Beauty Board was one of my favourite events last year so I was super excited for another amazing event this year. This event allows beauty lovers to become beauty editors for the day - testing out samples, speaking with vendors, and providing feedback. There are also products available for purchase at prices below regular retail. For the price of admission, you also got to munch on yummy hors d'oeuvres and delicious MANcarons... plus you received a sweet swag bag to take home! I wish I saw more of the pulled pork sandwiches and fancy hot dogs... I certainly didn't need any more food but boy did I want some! :) This year, the event was held in Loft 404, a quirky loft space with a lot of character. It was extremely hot and busy when I first arrived at the event but cooled down as the day went on and as the event cleared out a little. The music was great and there was a really nice vibe to the event. I fell in love with the space, especially with the beautiful dressing room. I wanted to go in and try on some of the vintage goodies!



The rest of this post is going to focus on my Beauty Board haul! I purchased a few things (some are not shown as they were for a swap), won 3 prizes in the raffle draw, was given a few products when walking around, and of course left with a great swag bag!



I've grouped the photos by type of product for the most part so I will indicate where I got each product. The first set of products is from the ever generous Farleyco! We received:

• Flexitol Blistop // swag bag // 32.5 ml (full size) // $7.99... This product is supposed to help prevent blisters. I've tried this product once already and I think it works! Apparently, runners also use this product to prevent chafing so my hubby has since claimed this product for himself!
• Splat Hair Chalk in Dusty Rose // swag bag // 3.5 g (full size) // $8.99
• Real Techniques Your Eyes Enhanced Starter Set // raffle prize // 5 brushes (full size) // $19.99... I was SO happy when I won this prize! I wanted to buy the Core Collection at the event but it was sold out by the time I got to the Farleyco booth. Thankfully I still get to try some of the brushes.
• Montagne Jeunesse Zap Them Peel-Off Mask in Ginger // swag bag // 10 ml (full size) // $1.99... I hope there's enough for 2 applications so my hubby and I can try it together! :)

Next up are some products from Pelle Beauty and Kaia. I really enjoyed chatting with the ladies about their respective brands!

• Pelle Beauty Lip Balm in Mint // raffle prize // 4 g (full size) // $48.95 for all 4 products in the travel kit prize
• Pelle Beauty Stellar - Multitasking Facial Concentrate // raffle prize // 15 ml (travel size) // $48.95 for all 4 products in the travel kit prize... This is Pelle Beauty's bestseller and I am super excited to give it a try. There are a multitude of different uses for this product but what stood out to me at the event was to use this as a base before you apply your clay mask. Apparently, it helps keep the moisture in your skin and also allows your clay mask to be more effective.
• Pelle Beauty PelleClean - Gentle Cleansing Gel // raffle prize // 60 ml (travel size) // $48.95 for all 4 products in the travel kit prize
• Pelle Beauty Citrus Facial Mist // raffle prize // 60 ml (travel size) // $48.95 for all 4 products in the travel kit prize
• Pelle Beauty Botanical Facial Mist // swag bag // 30 ml (sample size) // approx. $4.48
• Pelle Beauty Stellar - Multitasking Facial Concentrate // swag bag // est. 2 ml (travel size) // approx. $3.86
• Kaia 24hr. Booster Serum with Argan & Moringa Oils // swag bag // 30 ml (full size) // $36

I've only tried a few Pure + Simple products but I've really liked all of them so I was super excited when I saw travel sets for sale at the beauty board. I thought these travel sets were a good way to try 4 different products at a pretty reasonable price ($25). I bought a set, my hubby got a free set, and we also got a little something in our goody bag!

• Pure + Simple Sensitive Skin Face Wash // swag bag // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $3.99
• Pure + Simple Pure Skin Face Wash // hubby's freebie // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $2.99
• Pure + Simple Skin Softening Moisture Lotion // hubby's freebie // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $13.70
• Pure + Simple Pure Skin Face Oil // hubby's freebie // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $13.18
• Pure + Simple Purifying French Clay Mask // hubby's freebie // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $8.78
• Pure + Simple Sensitive Cleansing Milk // purchased by me // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $5.58
• Pure + Simple Cellular Repair Face Cream // purchased by me // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $17.58
• Pure + Simple Rejuvenating Face Oil // purchased by me // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $13.18
• Pure + Simple Rejuvenating Rosehip Mask // purchased by me // 20 ml (sample size) // approx. $10.98

My hubby loves bar soap so I find myself trying quite a number of them. Dot and Lil makes some of the best bar soaps I've ever tried... the scent is wonderful and they lather amazingly well!

• Dot and Lil Black Tea & Cassis Soap // purchased by me // 115 g (full size) // $7
• Dot and Lil Lemon & Sage Soap // swag bag // 30 g (mini bar) // approx. $1.83
• Consonant 100% Organic Olive Oil Body Soap // swag bag // 83 g (sample size) // $8.89
• Ella's Botanicals Beauty Bar Soap in Lemon Zing // swag bag // 12 g (sample size) // approx. $0.70
• Ella's Botanical Magic Balm in Lavender Bliss // purchased by me // 14 g (sample size) // $5

Next up is my favourite type of product ever... lip products!!

• Lippy Girl Sha-Zam Lip Shimmer Stick // raffle prize // 2.6 g (full size) // $10
• Lippy Girl Extra Virgin Vegan Lip Gloss // raffle prize // 14 g (full size) // $15
• Lippy Girl Vegocentric Organic Vegan Lipstick in Schmoopy // raffle prize // 5 g (full size) // $23
• Lippy Girl Vegocentric Organic Vegan Lipstick in Fancy Pants // raffle prize // 5 g (full size) // $23
• Revolution Organics Freedom Gloss in Freedom // swag bag // 6.5 g (full size) // $26
• Crawford Street Skin Care Spearmint-Vanilla Lip Balm // swag bag // 4.4 g (full size) // $5
• Sweet Leaf Bath Co. Peppermint Beeswax Lip Balm // swag bag // 6 g (full size but this must be a typo because it looks like 4 grams) // $5.50
• Kona Kare Lip Butter Balm in The Original One // swag bag // 4 g (full size) // $10 (on sale for $5 at the beauty board and on the Kona Kare website)

A close second favourite is... nail polish! :)

• Cheeky Monkey Nail Lacquer in Thigh Highs // purchased by me // 15 ml (full size) // $15
• Cheeky Monkey Nail Lacquer in Cheap Whore // swag bag // 15 ml (full size) // $15
• ImPress Nails in Over the Moon // freebie // 1 set (full size) // est. $7
• ImPress Nails in Ecstatic Cling // swag bag // 1 set (full size) // est. $7

Last but certainly not least, here are a few miscellaneous items from the beauty board!

• Cake Lollipop courtesy of Paper Plus Cloth // freebie... Yummy! This lollipop was so delicious!
• Paper Plus Cloth Washi Tape // swag bag
• A Paper Story Little Black Dress Card // freebie
• A Paper Story Set of 2 Thank You Cards // swag bag
• Miyu Hydrate Me Beauty Tea // swag bag... Miyu products are launching in August 2013 and I am incredibly excited about it. Not only do I love tea, I have just started using facial mists on a regular basis, and I absolutely love the Miyu branding and packaging.

The Beauty Board is an event held in Toronto and is organized by the amazing Stephanie from BlushPretty. Tickets were $35+tax and we received a great swag bag as a parting gift. This year, the value of the swag bag was around $150! A big thanks to Stephanie and Elaine for organizing such a great event. I had an amazing time testing out different products, chitchatting with fellow bloggers, YouTubers, vendors, etc., shopping for little goodies, munching on yummy hors d'oeuvres, and bopping to music!

Just a heads up for next year that there are usually a limited number of early bird tickets to this event at a discounted price... if you're interested, be sure to sign up with BlushPretty to be notified for the next event.

Note: I paid for a ticket to this event.

First Murale Haul :)

I made a huge purchase at Murale this week! This was my first time buying anything from Murale.ca and I was very happy with how quickly the order was shipped and delivered to my door. I placed my order on Monday evening and received my order on Wednesday of the same week! I like that this is basically a higher end store owned by Shoppers Drug Mart so you can earn Optimum Points on your purchase. All the prices are the same as SDM and I wanted to take advantage of the Fab and Free promotion so I figured this was a good time to pick up a few new products.



Here is everything I purchased... you can barely see any of the products in this photo so I will provide more details below! :)



I'll start off with the Fab and Free samples. The largest item included was a faux leather pink tote bag. It is actually a very decent build quality so I was pleasantly surprised. It came folded up in the box so there is a visible seam in the middle and my bag has a little white mark on the other side (like the dye missed that spot or something). It is a good size for the beach or for school and I like that it has a fully zippered top. It's a lovely raspberry colour as well but I don't see myself getting a lot of wear out of this so I will probably be giving it away.



Here are the anti-aging and lifting samples that were included in the bonus:

Kibio Fit By Nature Lifting Cream Gel // 30 mL
Clinique Repairwear Uplifting Firming Cream // 7 mL
Clarins Extra-Firming Day Cream // 15 mL
StiVectin TL 360 Tightening Eye Serum // 7 mL
Elizabeth Arden Prevage Anti-Aging + Intensive Repair Daily Serum // 5 mL
Darphin Age-Defying Dermabrasion // 2 mL



Next up are the other creams and moisturizers:

Skin Authority VitaD Fortified Topical Elixir // 2 mL
Nuxe Nuxellence Jeunesse Youth and Radiance Revitalizing Fluid // 15 mL
Erno Laszlo Luminous Intensive Cream // 2 mL
Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet // 10 mL
B. Kamins Nutrient Replacement Cream // 15 mL



The cleansers! I was so excited about the Bioderma sample as I've heard such good things about this product.

Rodial Glamtox Cleansing Balm // 30 mL
Shiseido The Skincare Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam // 30 mL
Eve Lom Cleanser and Cloth // 5 mL
Bioderma Sensibio H2O // 20 mL



A few miscellaneous samples:

Ojon Rare Blend Oil // 6 mL
Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels // 1 pair
Skin Authority VitaD Fortified Whole Food Spice Powder // 1.42 g



Not surprisingly, here are my favourite samples in the set!

Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer in Sweet Dreams // 15 mL (full size!)
Soap & Glory Super-Colour Sexy Mother Pucker Lip Plumping Gloss in Candy Gloss // 3 mL
Lancome Definicils High Definition Mascara // 2 g
Benefit The POREfessional // 7.5 mL
Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator // 7 mL
Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer // 5 mL



Here are the additional samples I received. I was allowed to choose 5 and I also received the extra Benefit sample because I ordered a Benefit product that was at least $30.

Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream // 8.9 g
Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator // 7 mL
Clarins After Sun Moisturizer Ultra-Hydrating // 8 mL
Oscar Blandi Pronto Wet Instant Volumizing Shampoo & Condiitoner // 12 mL each
Deborah Lippmann The Stripper To Go // 1 mitt
Cake Milk Made Smoothing Hand & Cuticle Buffer // 12 g



Finally, we've come to the products that were purchased by me... including shipping ($8.50 to Toronto) and taxes, my order came to just under $160.



Shiseido Facial Cotton // 165 sheets // $9
Anna Sui Lip Rouge G in #304 // 3.4 g // $25
Benefit Brows a Go Go // $48
Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Carina // 3 mL // $29
Shiseido Eyelash Curler // $20

Oh, and Lulu loved the tote bag. She totally went to town on the zipper pull! Fortunately, she doesn't have strong jaws so she didn't do much damage at all. :)




This promotion is in effect until Sunday, April 21, 2013 and I thought it was a great bonus if you happen to have a few things you want to pick up anyway. The Fab and Free samples also came with a little booklet describing all 24 products. Overall, I was really satisfied with my shopping experience at Murale.ca. :) Have you ever shopped at Murale? Did you take advantage of this promotion?

I am behind with my unboxing videos so I will post the video below when it is ready! :)

Note: I paid for this order with my own money. Any links included above are not referral links.