Click to see more!
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Monday, 29 July 2013
Nails Inc Golden Touch Limited Edition Polish
Hi again everyone! I had been meaning to share my experience of the Magnum popup store here in Toronto. A couple weeks ago I found out that the ice cream brand Magnum had opened up a popup store in downtown. I was immediately curious because I had never been to a pop up store and because I heard rumors that a Nails Inc polish was given out if you knew the code word.
For $6 the store offered a bar of ice cream (you had the choice of chocolate or vanilla bean) dipped in your choice of milk, white or dark chocolate and an unlimited amount of toppings. These toppings included common stuff like chopped almonds, coconut shreds, toffee bits etc and more interesting things like goji berries, bacon bits, rose petals for the more adventurous.
L'Oreal - He Red My Mind & Top Coat Matte (Matte Top Coat Comparison)
Today I have L'Oreal Paris He Red My Mind, a nice shimmering red and a Matte top coat comparison at the end! :)
Click to read more on my review about He Red My Mind & Matte Top Coat Comparison!
L'Oreal I Pink I'm In Love and Confetti
Hi everyone! Anyone else experiencing the Monday blahs? To make matters worse it's rainy and gloomy again here in Toronto. I decided to create another glitter gradient pick me up since I loved the look of my previous post. This time I have L'Oreal I Pink I'm In Love from their Colour Riche line and colour riche top coat confetti. I used Confetti in a previous post here.
L'Oreal Colour Riche I Pink I'm In Love is a shimmery light pink. In contrast to the other Colour Riche polishes this one was very very sheer. Even after two thick layers my nail line was still quite visible, on the plus side the dry time was pretty quick. Personally, I don't like pink polishes very much so I don't see myself wearing this colour alone in the future. So when I had this colour on I had an idea to create a glitter gradient to cover the visible nail line and subdue the pink.
L'Oreal Colour Riche I Pink I'm In Love is a shimmery light pink. In contrast to the other Colour Riche polishes this one was very very sheer. Even after two thick layers my nail line was still quite visible, on the plus side the dry time was pretty quick. Personally, I don't like pink polishes very much so I don't see myself wearing this colour alone in the future. So when I had this colour on I had an idea to create a glitter gradient to cover the visible nail line and subdue the pink.
Saturday, 27 July 2013
L'Oreal Money Manicure: New Money and Gold Carat
Hi everyone! Hope you're all enjoying your weekend so far. Today I have a quick post of a manicure I did a couple days ago. A couple weeks ago L'Oreal generously sent Mir and I a package of assorted nail polishes. When I saw the names of these 2 polishes I knew they needed to be used together! I decided to do a glitter gradient using New Money as a base colour and Gold Carat on top.
L'Oreal New Money is a chartreuse green, half way between green and yellow. I absolutely love L'Oreal's Colour Riche line, I have yet to be disappointed with the polishes they sent us to review. Every polish applied like a dream and could certainly pass off as one coaters.
Click to read and see more!
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| L-R: L'Oreal New Money and Gold Carat |
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Summer Dotticure
Hi Everyone,
Many apologies!!!! I am so backlogged at the moment and I am still quite busy with a situation! Don't miss me too much as I will be back regularly soon. Aside from the situation, Toronto had some heavy rains which lead to flooding in some parts and power outages in others. I was without power for a day and no internet for about 3, luckily my area was safe from flooding! Hope everyone was okay too =) Was anyone stuck on the GO and had to ride a boat out??
Anyway, today my post will be very lacking. Since I didn't bring my camera and my phone completely went haywire and died all weekend..ugh!!! I only have one picture of my manicure, since M&J (my friends) think I am obsessed and they shouldn't be fuelling my habit ahahah..
Confession: My phone contains MANY nail /nail art pictures.
The past weekend, I went camping and one of my friends told me to bring some polishes. So I grabbed a (coincidental) rainbow of colours + basic manicure tools there. At night, the 3 of us decided to do our nails. First we decided to do something plain since we were "roughing" it..
I picked Essie's Blanc (yes, this summer white is my go-to colour - I absolutely LOVE white polish)
M picked Essie's Rock the Boat + Essie's Butler Please as accent nails
J picked Quo By Orly's Hot Mess
M then suggested we do nail art, since I didn't have anything but a dotting tool with me.. I decided it would be fun to do a dotticure - it's easy and we can use a variety of colour.
I am going to leave ou M&J's combo since there's no pictures :P
Then my manicure - the one pictured here is...
First I did spaced out dots of Essie's Naughty Nautical & Essie's Butler Please.
Ps. Butler Please is not a good polish for dots, it's quite sheer and dries semi-matte.
We thought it was a bit plain so M suggested I add on Quo By Orly's Hot Mess. At first I was a bit skeptical but after I added it, I thought it was quite lovely and quite the punch of colour!
What do you think? Does this colour combo work??
What colour combos are you go-to for dotticures??
Can't wait to hear your responses :D
- Mir
Many apologies!!!! I am so backlogged at the moment and I am still quite busy with a situation! Don't miss me too much as I will be back regularly soon. Aside from the situation, Toronto had some heavy rains which lead to flooding in some parts and power outages in others. I was without power for a day and no internet for about 3, luckily my area was safe from flooding! Hope everyone was okay too =) Was anyone stuck on the GO and had to ride a boat out??
Anyway, today my post will be very lacking. Since I didn't bring my camera and my phone completely went haywire and died all weekend..ugh!!! I only have one picture of my manicure, since M&J (my friends) think I am obsessed and they shouldn't be fuelling my habit ahahah..
Confession: My phone contains MANY nail /nail art pictures.
The past weekend, I went camping and one of my friends told me to bring some polishes. So I grabbed a (coincidental) rainbow of colours + basic manicure tools there. At night, the 3 of us decided to do our nails. First we decided to do something plain since we were "roughing" it..
I picked Essie's Blanc (yes, this summer white is my go-to colour - I absolutely LOVE white polish)
M picked Essie's Rock the Boat + Essie's Butler Please as accent nails
J picked Quo By Orly's Hot Mess
M then suggested we do nail art, since I didn't have anything but a dotting tool with me.. I decided it would be fun to do a dotticure - it's easy and we can use a variety of colour.
I am going to leave ou M&J's combo since there's no pictures :P
Then my manicure - the one pictured here is...
First I did spaced out dots of Essie's Naughty Nautical & Essie's Butler Please.
Ps. Butler Please is not a good polish for dots, it's quite sheer and dries semi-matte.
We thought it was a bit plain so M suggested I add on Quo By Orly's Hot Mess. At first I was a bit skeptical but after I added it, I thought it was quite lovely and quite the punch of colour!
What do you think? Does this colour combo work??
What colour combos are you go-to for dotticures??
Can't wait to hear your responses :D
- Mir
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
L'Oreal Greyt Expectiations with Confetti Top Coat and dupe
Happy hump day everyday! I'm not sure about you guys but I was ready for the week to be over yesterday. This week has sure felt like it has been dragging on! Today I have a L'Oreal colour riche and confetti top coat to share and a comparison.
L'Oreal Greyt Expectations was released in May 2013 along with 8 other colour riche shades, retails for $6.99 and is 11.7ml in size. It is a dusty purple reminiscent of Essie Merino Cool or Sephora by OPI Metro Chic. In the press release booklet I received it says the colour riche polishes have "...a gel-like formula for a smooth glossy finish with up to 10 days of shine." I didn't have the polish on my nails for 10 days so I'm unable to comment on that. But I was really impressed with the formula and coverage of this particular shade. I used 2 coats only because I was talking pictures in sunlight and sometimes sunlight can be pretty unforgiving. I could consider this a 1 coater if you're in a hurry.
I decided to make my manicure a little more exciting so I decided to use a colour riche top coat in confetti. L'Oreal Colour Riche Top Coats were released in Canada in July 2013, retails for $6.99 and is 5ml in size. Confetti is a black and white multi sized matte glitter top coat, it also has very fine silver glitter which I was unable to capture with my camera. I remember seeing this polish earlier this year and knew I had to have it, I love how cute the bottle is and I'm really loving the indie polish like look of the black and white glitters. I used 1 coat of confetti in the pictures below.
Click to see and read more!
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Nicole By OPI - Gumdrops Collection
I've been waiting for these to be released. I quickly bought them once they were out on display. I had such a pleasant surprise, since with all my stalking of blogs, I only noticed there was 6 but this display had 8!! So, even if one was yellow, I quickly scooped them up to show you!
Of course after I googled the names, the brand website came up (duh! - Why I never check official websites is beyond me...) hehe anyway...from what I gathered .... That's What I Mint (the dark teal) and Lemon Lolly (bright yellow) are Shopper Drug Mart exclusives!!! Super excited, an exclusive? wow!!
Click to see many more photos!
Monday, 22 July 2013
Revlon Nail Brightner and Cuticle Softener Review
Last month Revlon generously sent us some products to review, I have 2 products from their nail treatment line to share with you all today.
Revlon Nail Brightener
The name of this product is a little misleading. I guess what I was expecting was a nail whitening product, what we have here is a brightening product. Instructions on the bottle recommend to use this product alone or as a base coat. From afar the polish is milky white in colour but a closer view shows a burple micro-shimmer, on the nail it gives off a sheer pearly finish. The brightener did not whiten my nails or remove stains but I found the glowy effect of the burple shimmer definitely helped my nails look more naturally refined and shiny. I can see myself using this polish for days when I want a demure look to my nails. I don't know how often I'd use this products as a base coat because I felt the burple tint was actually quite strong when on my nails.
Revlon Cuticle Softener
At first glance I thought this was a polish but upon closer inspection it turned out to be a cuticle softening product. Unlike many cuticle care products out there this was a blue tinted gel with little micro beads that dissolved once massaged into you skin. I liked the frosted glass bottle and absolutely loved the smell. I thought it smelled like lychee and the scent lasts after the gel is absorbed into the skin. A little product goes a long way, I thought the gel was absorbed quickly but left slightly tacky film where it was applied. The skin around my nails did feel softer but I haven't tested the products over a long period of time yet. I think this product will work well with individuals who dislike the oily feeling of traditional cuticle oils. Personally, I didn't love or hate this product but is something I can see myself using in a pinch.
The little beads in the cuticle softener reminded me of that 90's drink, Orbitz...does anyone else remember these?
Each bottle is 14.7ml big and can be purchased at any drug store in North America.
Have you tried any of products from Revlon's Nail Treatment line? If so, which ones?
Annie
***Products were sent for review in exchange for our honest opinions***
Revlon Nail Brightener
The name of this product is a little misleading. I guess what I was expecting was a nail whitening product, what we have here is a brightening product. Instructions on the bottle recommend to use this product alone or as a base coat. From afar the polish is milky white in colour but a closer view shows a burple micro-shimmer, on the nail it gives off a sheer pearly finish. The brightener did not whiten my nails or remove stains but I found the glowy effect of the burple shimmer definitely helped my nails look more naturally refined and shiny. I can see myself using this polish for days when I want a demure look to my nails. I don't know how often I'd use this products as a base coat because I felt the burple tint was actually quite strong when on my nails.
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| Naked Nails |
Revlon Cuticle Softener
At first glance I thought this was a polish but upon closer inspection it turned out to be a cuticle softening product. Unlike many cuticle care products out there this was a blue tinted gel with little micro beads that dissolved once massaged into you skin. I liked the frosted glass bottle and absolutely loved the smell. I thought it smelled like lychee and the scent lasts after the gel is absorbed into the skin. A little product goes a long way, I thought the gel was absorbed quickly but left slightly tacky film where it was applied. The skin around my nails did feel softer but I haven't tested the products over a long period of time yet. I think this product will work well with individuals who dislike the oily feeling of traditional cuticle oils. Personally, I didn't love or hate this product but is something I can see myself using in a pinch.
The little beads in the cuticle softener reminded me of that 90's drink, Orbitz...does anyone else remember these?
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| Photo Source: Wikipedia |
Each bottle is 14.7ml big and can be purchased at any drug store in North America.
Have you tried any of products from Revlon's Nail Treatment line? If so, which ones?
Annie
***Products were sent for review in exchange for our honest opinions***
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Revlon Nail Art Contest
Last month Revlon generously sent us some products to review, currently Revlon has a nail art contest going on. This contest runs until July 31st, there are 2 grand prizes which consists of 160 polishes from their nail art line. This past week I had to time to play around with some of their nail art polishes. I was inspired by my Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume and decided to do some simple flowers.
For this look I used:
Revlon Moon Candy Orbit #1
Revlon Matte Top Coat
Revlon Neon Neon Light #1
Revlon Expressionist Vincent Van Gold #1
Dotting Tool
I did have to use 2 coats of the matte polish since I did not apply enough near the base of my nails and when it dried I could see the finishing line between the regular finish and matte finish. But I was pleased with the matte effect. It lightened up the purple base coat a little bit but I thought it ended up looking really soft and smooth.
I kept things really simple so I used 2 coats of base colour then for the flowers I used a dotting tool and made 5 white dots for the petals and a gold dot in the middle. This was my first time creating flowers so please excuse some imperfections :) For some white dots I had to go over them again because I didn't have enough product on the dotting tool or the polish dried a little bit and became a bit too sticky to create a nice clean circle.
This look was super easy to do but I'll be the first to admit that I need some more practice with my dotting tool ;)
Have any of you entered Revlon's contest? What look did you submit?
Entries can be uploaded here, contest ends 11:59pm ET July 31, 2013. You are allowed one entry per day from per person/household/email address and it open to Canadian residents over the age of majority. One random draw will be held on July 22, 2013 and a second random draw will be held on August 21, 2013.
Annie
***Products were sent for review, opinions are my own, honest and unbiased***
For this look I used:
Revlon Moon Candy Orbit #1
Revlon Matte Top Coat
Revlon Neon Neon Light #1
Revlon Expressionist Vincent Van Gold #1
Dotting Tool
I did have to use 2 coats of the matte polish since I did not apply enough near the base of my nails and when it dried I could see the finishing line between the regular finish and matte finish. But I was pleased with the matte effect. It lightened up the purple base coat a little bit but I thought it ended up looking really soft and smooth.
I kept things really simple so I used 2 coats of base colour then for the flowers I used a dotting tool and made 5 white dots for the petals and a gold dot in the middle. This was my first time creating flowers so please excuse some imperfections :) For some white dots I had to go over them again because I didn't have enough product on the dotting tool or the polish dried a little bit and became a bit too sticky to create a nice clean circle.
This look was super easy to do but I'll be the first to admit that I need some more practice with my dotting tool ;)
Have any of you entered Revlon's contest? What look did you submit?
Entries can be uploaded here, contest ends 11:59pm ET July 31, 2013. You are allowed one entry per day from per person/household/email address and it open to Canadian residents over the age of majority. One random draw will be held on July 22, 2013 and a second random draw will be held on August 21, 2013.
Annie
***Products were sent for review, opinions are my own, honest and unbiased***
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
OPI Bond Girls: Vesper
Bad news :(
Let's start off with I LOVE liquid sands..
but Vesper, I hate Vesper :(. It was super sad because Vesper, the purple was the one I was most looking forward to!
I would love it as a normal purple colour, but as a liquid sand, boo! In the bottle it looks like a weird brown with a purple tinge and black dots.. I tried to take a photo which shows it as brown, where the 'bubble' is you can see the purple! :)
It's just a deep purple base with black 'sand' ..
Even with the combo, it's underwhelming compared to the other beautiful liquid sands OPI came out with!
I didn't even bother swatching it on my hand sorry, it looked terrible on me. I did it on one finger and when I removed it, all the micro black 'sands' stuck to my cuticle bleh.
In good news, it does act like the other liquid sands, as a nice sandy finish, opaque in 2 coats.
Not sure of its lasting power, but if it's similar to the other ones, it's great!
I'd say, buy the other ones, they are much prettier, especially Tiffany Case. I thought it was similar to Get Your Number, but it's not, I definitely put in an order for Tiffany Case, right away!!
I should have blogged about the other liquid sands first but I took the pictures and totally forgot, oops!!
But can't wait to show you after, they are B-E-A-U-TIFUL!!
Did you purchase anything from this collection..? if so, which ones?? :D
Mir
OPI can be purchased at Trade Secrets in Canada for average of $10. OPI is also carried in various retailers :)
This was purchased by me. Reviews are all my honest opinion at this moment in time, not company influence.
Let's start off with I LOVE liquid sands..
but Vesper, I hate Vesper :(. It was super sad because Vesper, the purple was the one I was most looking forward to!
I would love it as a normal purple colour, but as a liquid sand, boo! In the bottle it looks like a weird brown with a purple tinge and black dots.. I tried to take a photo which shows it as brown, where the 'bubble' is you can see the purple! :)
 |
| love the grittiness, horrible on my hands :( |
It's just a deep purple base with black 'sand' ..
Even with the combo, it's underwhelming compared to the other beautiful liquid sands OPI came out with!
 |
| LOVE THE PURPLE! |
I didn't even bother swatching it on my hand sorry, it looked terrible on me. I did it on one finger and when I removed it, all the micro black 'sands' stuck to my cuticle bleh.
In good news, it does act like the other liquid sands, as a nice sandy finish, opaque in 2 coats.
Not sure of its lasting power, but if it's similar to the other ones, it's great!
I'd say, buy the other ones, they are much prettier, especially Tiffany Case. I thought it was similar to Get Your Number, but it's not, I definitely put in an order for Tiffany Case, right away!!
 |
| bleh, why are you so ugly on me..? |
I should have blogged about the other liquid sands first but I took the pictures and totally forgot, oops!!
But can't wait to show you after, they are B-E-A-U-TIFUL!!
Did you purchase anything from this collection..? if so, which ones?? :D
Mir
OPI can be purchased at Trade Secrets in Canada for average of $10. OPI is also carried in various retailers :)
This was purchased by me. Reviews are all my honest opinion at this moment in time, not company influence.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Indie Spotlight: Sweet Tips Nails
Today I have another awesome Canadian Indie maker to share with you guys. Jen of Sweet Tips Nails (Etsy | Facebook) is a talented indie maker from Wellend, Ontario. Her Etsy shop offers a range of beauty products like nail polishes, lip balms, body butters and body sprays. In the future she will also be offering body scrubs, bath bombs, and bath salts.
A couple weeks back she had an awesome sale going on and I took that opportunity to purchase a couple polishes to try out. I'm so glad I did because I was very pleased with my order! The package was sent out in a timely manner and I received it within a week, Jen was also very generous and included a lip balm, a trial size body butter and candy in my package. Everything was packed with care and communication was excellent! Here are the polishes I will be reviewing today:
A couple weeks back she had an awesome sale going on and I took that opportunity to purchase a couple polishes to try out. I'm so glad I did because I was very pleased with my order! The package was sent out in a timely manner and I received it within a week, Jen was also very generous and included a lip balm, a trial size body butter and candy in my package. Everything was packed with care and communication was excellent! Here are the polishes I will be reviewing today:
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| Her logo is so gosh darn cute! |
Saturday, 6 July 2013
KKCenterHk Paper Eyelashes Review
Hi friends! Today Mir and I have a review of paper eyelashes from KKCenterHk to share with you all. KKCenterHk is an online retail shop that sells a huge variety of beauty products, from false eyelashes to wigs to nail products and even clothing. Some products from the site that really intrigue me include these Plastic Stamping Plates and these variety of patterned Nail Foils. As for today we have the Honey Butterfly Rose Paper Eyelases reviewed by Mir and the Bright Peacock Eyelashes reviewed by myself.
Honey Butterfly Rose Paper Eyelashes
Paper lashes, what a first! I hardly have experience putting on normal false lashes let alone paper lashes. If you take a look you can see my application is a bit off due to its length. I know that for false lashes we're supposed to shorten them a bit but due to its intricate design.. I wouldn't know how!
Now they're not as fragile as you think but they still need special care when applying this. If you noticed, my pictures aren't 100% the same as the picture (it's because a rose bud broke off heheh.. I don't even know when?!)
Because these are specialty lashes, there's not really a way to "blend" your real lashes with this set nor curl or coat with mascara. I put on a bit of mascara and curled my own lashes first before applying. After I just pushed the paper lashes a bit to curl them and there you have it!
I won't say they're totally uncomfortable but I wouldn't wear them on a daily basis!! They don't cut into my eye or anything but I definitely know they are there!! Personally because I have a few eye issue I couldn't wear it for a prolonged period of time (see my wrinkles from my allergies? T_T)
I quite like the design and will keep them for a very special occasion. Just not sure what type.
Is my eye charming and attracting you? lol ;)
The Bright Peacock Paper Eyelash
These are the first paper eyelashes I've tried, to be honest I was very intimidated by them at first. I don't use false eyelashes at all so the thought of apply eyelashes made of paper made me pretty nervous nervous. The hardest part for me was to position the peacock head in the middle of the eyelid, I had to adjust it a bit but I think I did OK. Surprisingly the eyelashes didn't rip on me while I was applying and re-applying, though to be fair I was super gentle while handling them.
The shape of the peacock is difficult to see head on so all of my pictures had to be take on a angle. My paper lashes were a lot longer than Mir's so I found that the ends of the lashes were very itchy because they poked into my eyelid when when I opened my eyes. I'm not to sure when I'd wear lashes like these because they're so unique and not made for everyday wear. My usual makeup routine is super basic (concealer, blush, eyeliner) so I don't see these lashes having any part of my routine in the near future. Though I must say that with these lashes no one will be able to look away from your eyes. In my pictures I applied the lashes to my bare eyelid with no mascara, just a little bit of eyeliner.
All paper eyelashes are priced at $21.50USD, but currently some styles (including the Honey Butterfly Rose) are on sale for $9.99USD. KKCenterHk offers worldwide shipping, shipping prices and times are dependent on where you are located.KKCenterHk also has an affiliate program where you can earn points when people use you referral URL in exchange or coupons or money back.
Annie
Honey Butterfly Rose Paper Eyelashes
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| Photo Source: KK Center HK |
 |
| top: flash bottom: no flash |
Paper lashes, what a first! I hardly have experience putting on normal false lashes let alone paper lashes. If you take a look you can see my application is a bit off due to its length. I know that for false lashes we're supposed to shorten them a bit but due to its intricate design.. I wouldn't know how!
Now they're not as fragile as you think but they still need special care when applying this. If you noticed, my pictures aren't 100% the same as the picture (it's because a rose bud broke off heheh.. I don't even know when?!)
 |
| omgoshh my wrinkles!! sorry!!! |
Because these are specialty lashes, there's not really a way to "blend" your real lashes with this set nor curl or coat with mascara. I put on a bit of mascara and curled my own lashes first before applying. After I just pushed the paper lashes a bit to curl them and there you have it!
I won't say they're totally uncomfortable but I wouldn't wear them on a daily basis!! They don't cut into my eye or anything but I definitely know they are there!! Personally because I have a few eye issue I couldn't wear it for a prolonged period of time (see my wrinkles from my allergies? T_T)
I quite like the design and will keep them for a very special occasion. Just not sure what type.
Is my eye charming and attracting you? lol ;)
The Bright Peacock Paper Eyelash
 |
| Photo Source: KK Center HK |
These are the first paper eyelashes I've tried, to be honest I was very intimidated by them at first. I don't use false eyelashes at all so the thought of apply eyelashes made of paper made me pretty nervous nervous. The hardest part for me was to position the peacock head in the middle of the eyelid, I had to adjust it a bit but I think I did OK. Surprisingly the eyelashes didn't rip on me while I was applying and re-applying, though to be fair I was super gentle while handling them.
The shape of the peacock is difficult to see head on so all of my pictures had to be take on a angle. My paper lashes were a lot longer than Mir's so I found that the ends of the lashes were very itchy because they poked into my eyelid when when I opened my eyes. I'm not to sure when I'd wear lashes like these because they're so unique and not made for everyday wear. My usual makeup routine is super basic (concealer, blush, eyeliner) so I don't see these lashes having any part of my routine in the near future. Though I must say that with these lashes no one will be able to look away from your eyes. In my pictures I applied the lashes to my bare eyelid with no mascara, just a little bit of eyeliner.
All paper eyelashes are priced at $21.50USD, but currently some styles (including the Honey Butterfly Rose) are on sale for $9.99USD. KKCenterHk offers worldwide shipping, shipping prices and times are dependent on where you are located.KKCenterHk also has an affiliate program where you can earn points when people use you referral URL in exchange or coupons or money back.
Annie
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