Good afternoon, loves. I'm just sitting on my couch relaxing, drinking a cup of coffee, watching some Kardashian's and thought this was a good time to do some blogging before the weekend. This is part two of my winter haul, featuring all drugstore goodies. Most of the stuff was bought at Ulta, but a few of these things were from Rite Aid. The drugstore has definitely been stepping up its game recently! Like the Sephora stuff, I haven't used many of these products but I have swatched them so I can offer my first impressions at least.
Physician's Formula Argan Wear Blush in Natural -- The packaging on Physician's Formula stuff always gets me, and that's exactly what happened with this blush. It's a pretty ordinary pink blush, buttttt what makes it stand apart is the gold outlining, gold embossing in the center of the product, and the gold packaging. Just makes it seem so luxe! I also love the quality of the Physician Formula's blushes so I'm hoping this one lives up to the standard despite the inclusion of Argan Oil in the product.
Makeup Revolution The Matte Blush in Beloved -- I have never tried Makeup Revolution products and heard good things about it on Youtube. Ulta recently started stocking Makeup Revolution products so I thought I would add one of their products to my online order (they aren't sold in my local Ulta store). At the time I was in the market for a matte peachy-apricot blush and this one looked decent and got decent reviews. However, when I swatched it, I honestly was not impressed. It's chalky and swatched as more of a whitish-orange color. I'm not sure if it will even show up on my skin. I'm still going to try it out on my cheeks, but unfortunately I'm not expecting much after the disappointing swatch :(
L'Oreal Voluminous Volume Building Mascara in Blackest Black -- Not much to say about this one. It's one of my favorite mascaras ever and I needed a new tube, enough said :) one of the best volumizing mascaras at the drugstore!
Essie Nailpolish in Ballet Slippers -- SO excited to wear this Essie classic this spring! I've been wanting this shade for literally two years now -- two years it has sat in my Ulta shopping cart! I decided to take a plunge and buy it this year since interview season got me in the mood for neutral polishes and this is a beautiful sheer pink.
Wet & Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio in Bohemian Wrapsody -- Another product that I was super pumped to try but am super disappointed with after swatting. Wet & Wild released some new eyeshadow trios as part of their holiday collection. I picked up this one because it had all neutral colors. They are obvious glitter bombs in the pan, but I did not expect them to be as poorly pigmented or chunky on application. Even after three swipes, they barely left any color. Just chunks of glitter :( I'm not sure if these are meant to be used on top of other eyeshadows? Definitely not the same quality as other W&W trios, and like I said a huuuuuge disappointment. I'm afraid to even try them on my eyes because I can see these having a huge amount of fallout.
NYX Prismatic Eyeshadow in Liquid Gold -- NYX shadows are one of my favorites at the drugstore. They're incredibly pigmented and perform at the level of high-end eyeshadows. My biggest problem with NYX shadows is the packaging. My singles aaaalways fall apart --I've had the plastic breaking off, the pan falling out, the shadow cracking, pretty much everything with these eyeshadows. As for this one, the pan fell out, causing the product to crack :( I probably won't be getting more of these in the future because of the packaging issue, but gives these shadows a try if you're in the market for drugstore eye makeup because the product performs quite well.
Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipgloss in Always Lovely -- This is another product I've had in my Ulta shopping cart for a long, long time. I have so many lip products though that it was hard for me to justify getting yet another gloss. But I decided to pick this up when I saw that it was 50% off at Rite Aid (maybe they're discontinuing the line?). These glosses are good, but they're nothing out of the ordinary. They are very high-shine and come in a nice range of colors. The shade I picked up is a classic pink that leans a bit more cool and has some micro-shimmer in it. Quite a pretty shade for the spring and nice one to toss in your bag on the go!
Almay Smart Shade Butter Kiss in Berry Light-Medium and Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm in Blooming Balm -- While I was waiting for my prescription to get ready at Rite Aid, I was scouring the makeup aisles and saw this product. It's a Almay lip butter with a free liquid lip balm. The whole package was $6, which is the regular price for one of the lip butters...so pretty much you get the lipgloss for free. I've been wanting to try one of the Berry shades and the gloss seemed like a pretty sheer pale pink, so I picked it up. The lip butters are beautiful and one of my favorite lip formulas, so I'm really excited to try that. However, I've tried Almay's liquid lip balm before in the shade Canteloupe, but have not been a huge fan of the formula. The color doesn't go on very smoothly and streaks/patches up on my lips. I'm going to give it another shot with Blooming Balm and hopefully I have good things to report!
Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex Hair Masque -- I was in the market for a hair mask since my hair has been atrociously dry over the winter, which is pretty bad since my hair is veeery course and prone to tangling very easily. I was ready to buy an expensive hair mask, but then I saw excellent reviews for this mask and decided to give it a try. Ohhh my gosh, if you have dry coarse hair you need to try this mask. Unlike the other drugstore masks I've tried, especially the L'Oreal and OGX ones, this one is SUPER thick and moisturizing, and really sticks to my strands. I put a shower cap on top and leave it on my hair for about 10 minutes and my hair is soooooo soft afterwards! It's only $13 and Shea Moisture often runs for Buy 1 Get One 50% off at Ulta. Definitely new holy grail product for me and something you will see for sure in my monthly, if not yearly, favorites!
Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub -- Lastly, but certainly not least, I finally got this bad boy!!! I've wanted this scrub since Soap & Glory released it a couple years ago. They recently pulled out of Sephora and have been available at Ulta for $10 cheaper so of course I decided to pick it up. It doesn't smell as good as its body butter counterpart, but it's still divine and I can't wait to use it this!
