Hey all. I have an Ulta and Sephora haul to share with you beautiful ladies today.
All these items were purchased before Black Friday. That doesn't mean I didn't do any shopping on Black Friday. Oh no no. I spent wayyyy too much money online shopping as I do every year. Mostly for myself, no shame there. But no, all these goodies below were purchased about a month ago, I've just been too lazy to write this blog post until now.

Let's start with the stuff from Ulta:

Morphe M433 and M504 Brushes
My first ever Morphe brushes! I'm so happy that Ulta finally started carrying the Morphe brand. I've been lusting over their makeup brushes for over a year now, but could never bring myself to pay the hefty shipping price Morphe charges. I haven't used these suckers yet, but I have high hopes. Fingers crossed!

Morphe 35F Fall Into Frost Eyeshadow Palette
Let's just talk about the main feature in this haul here, my very first Morphe palette ahhhhhh. The feeling is surreal. I really hope this palette lives up to my expectations because I've been so excited to start using this. The fall into frost palette was my favorite out of all the current palettes. I think it offers the best shade variety in terms of colors and mattes vs. shimmers. Even the box it comes in is so lustworthy. I so desperately wish this palette came with a mirror on the inside, but I cannot complain since this baby was only $23 for 35 shadows, most of which are very useable shades. I can totally seeing this being my go-to palette this winter.

Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey
This was a freebie gift because I spent more than like $50 on Clinique items. I'm a huge Clinique skincare fan, although I haven't tried a lot of their makeup products besides the foundation and powder. The lipstick is a pretty generous size and a universally flattering berry-brown shade. Not bad for a freebie!

Clinique Stay-Matte Sheer Pressed Powder in "Stay Golden"
I finally used up my old Clinique pressed powder so it was time for a refill. I love using Clinique foundation and powders because they have use good ingredients, are oil-free, have a large variety of shades to pick from, and are relatively affordable. This is holy grail status and a product I'll continue to repurchase over the years because it's just so darn good. It locks in my makeup, removes shine, and adds just a touch of extra coverage to my foundation/concealer regimen.

L'Oreal True Match Super-Blendable Crayon Concealer in "Light/Medium Warm"
My holy grail concealer from Milani was discontinued, so I needed a new concealer. I'm a fan of stick concealers and this one had good reviews. Although the crayon itself has a great formulation and applies very creamy with good coverage, the color is toooooo light for me. I'll be picking up a different shade in this range for sure though because the formula seems promising and similar the Milani Secret Cover Concealer that I've loved over the years.

Moving on to stuff from Sephora:

Fresh Nourishing Naturals Lip Duo
Despite their hefty price tag, the Fresh Sugar lip balms are one of my favorites. Some lip balms end up drying out your lips even more, but this one is extra creamy and rich. I've been meaning to try out their Sugar Cream Lip Treatments, so this set was a perfect opportunity to get one of my favorite lip balms and try out a new lip product.

Tarte Tarteist Pro To Go Amazonian Clay Palette
I got this palette specifically to travel with. I know that ever since losing my Naked palette while on vacation, I've been dead against traveling with high-end makeup products. But I just cannot bring myself to fall in love with drugstore eyeshadow palettes. Therefore, I decided that this $23 mini palette from Tarte is going to be my new travel buddy. I love this for so many reasons. It's tiny, sturdy, it's affordable, it has a mirror inside, and the shadows are right up my alley.

Sephora Collection Baby Z-Palette
Why the heck are Z-palettes are Sephora so cheap?! I got this "baby" size Z-palette to move my blush pans into, so that I could use my second, large-size Z-palette for more eyeshadow pans. But guys, this Z-palette can definitely hold more than 2-3 blush pans and probably even up to 8 eyeshadow pans. I'm very impressed.

Sephora Collection Colorful Eyeshadow in "Good Fortune Cookie"
I'll be honest, the only reason I got this is to boost my order up to free shipping status. I had low hopes for this, but it's actually quite a beautiful shade upon swatching. It has some glitter flecks in it, but isn't dripping with chunks of glitter. It may be too light for my skin tone since it's a light champagne gold, but I can see myself playing this shade especially over the holidays.

Target Valentine's Day Haul

It's snowing blizzarding outside! #SnowstormNiko. I feel extremely grateful that I'm on QI this month and don't have to go into work today. God Bless my colleagues who have to brave it into work today, hope they all stay safe. I lost my voice...again. I had a bad cold starting a few days ago and I've been coughing and hacking so much that I think my vocal cords are are swollen. And my throat is killlllling me. I've been drinking so much tea to calm my throat, it's insane. I've gone through almost two boxes just in the last few days. Thank gosh I'm on my QI block and can just relax and heal at home, instead of overusing my voice on the floors.

A few weeks ago, I was shopping at Target and found sooooo many adorable things for Valentine's Day. I really had to resist not picking everything up. OH and then I found a box of dark chocolate heart-shaped cookies at Trader Joe's that I had to include in this haul. They're super yummy! As far as the stuff I got from Target, the first thing you see on the left is this super cute mason jar topped with a heart-adorned lid. Inside the jar, I put some Hershey's Cupcake Kisses (the bag pictured above) and placed the jar in my kitchen. I'm totally going to keep it there even past Valentine's Day. Perhaps my favorite purchase are the pink and gold glitter votives in the center there. It's no surprise that I love anything glittery, and these look absolutely stunning on my work desk. I also bought a pastel pink heart-trimmed mug. I have so many mugs in my cabinet, but I couldn't pass this one up. Last, but not least, I got a sweet little heart-shaped cookie cutter. I'm hoping to make some sugar cookies this weekend, so this is going to be perfect!

If you're in the Northeast, please stay safe during this storm! 

Revlon Spring 2017 Mini Haul & Swatches

Happy Sunday! Actually not really one of the better Sundays I've had. This month on ED has disoriented me so much. I'm switching from evening shifts to overnight shifts to daytime shifts all over the place. It's been such an exhausting two weeks, can't believe I have two more left. The only good part is that it's going to be smooth sailing from here on out once this rotation is over. To make matters even worse, I woke up feeling sick this morning and only got 4 hours of sleep because I'm on backup call today. Oh and I'm taking Step 3 in less than a month and have been spending my rare days off studying. Pretty much the lowest point of intern year thus far.

I wanted to share an Ulta haul today. I bought a few goodies last week and have been playing with them over the last few days. Revlon products were buy one get one free so I decided to pick up a few things from their new spring collection. There are soooo many new products at the drugstore this spring. It feels like every single drugstore brand is putting out a new collection. Revlon has always been one of my favorite drugstore brands, so I was super excited to try out some of their new launches!

Revlon Kiss Balm Lip Balm in Berry Burst -- I'm a sucker for tinted lip balms. I like the way these smell and the packaging. It has a pleasant fruity, berry scent and applies quite smoothly on the lips. I've been loving a sheer berry lip during the winter, and this one is perfect for those no-makeup makeup days. It's also buildable so if I do want a more opaque lip, it's achievable with this. The only con about this product is that it's not as hydrating as some other tinted lip balms out there.

Revlon Ultra HD Gel Lipcolor in Desert -- I haven't played around with this product all that much yet, so I can't give you my full opinion its application and longevity. However, it's a gorgeous pinky-brown that applies very smoothly on the swatch. I thought these would be full on opaque, but I like that it's more of a medium-opaque shade.

Revlon ColorStay Creme Eyeshadow in Caramel (710) and Chocolate (720) -- These cream eyeshadows are packaged very similarly to the Maybelline Color Tattoos so I'm assuming they are meant to be dupes. However, I personally think that these are better than the Color Tattoos. These apply much more evenly and smoothly compared to the Color Tattoos. I've worn the shade Caramel a couple times on top of my NYX Glitter Primer and I'm honestly in love. It's a gorgeous medium golden-bronze color brightens up my eyes and it lasts all day without creasing. The trick with these cream shadows is using a tacky primer underneath, such as the NYX Glitter Primer. My biggest gripe with the Color Tattoos was that they were a pain to apply without patchiness or fallout. What I love about these Revlon cream shadows is that they come with a mini brush that is perfect for applying the shadows and to evenly spread the color evenly.

I haven't played with the shade Chocolate yet, but I was a bit disappointed at how dark the color is. I'm going to try and play with this some more, but it might end up being more suited as an outer corner or crease color more than an all-over-eyelid color. But the color still applies very evenly on the swatch, so the formula is very similar to Caramel.

Berry Burst, Desert, Caramel, Chocolate

Here are some swatches of the products above. Expect a few more hauls coming up in the next few weeks! Oh and plus, this weekend Ulta launched a 20% off coupon so expect a few more goodies from Ulta to be showcased here in the next week! :)

Bath & Body Works Haul

Survived the first week of my Emergency Medicine rotation! Oh my gosh, even though it's been only one week, it feels like it has been a whole month. The shifts go by fast, but it is just so exhausting especially during the cold and flu season. I have today and tomorrow off, and it feels soooooo nice, even though most of my days off have been spent studying for Step 3.

Like every year, I bought a crap ton of stuff from Bath & Body Works during their winter Semi-Annual Sale. I love their shower gels, so I stock up each year during the winter sale. I think I got a good mix of stuff this year, so I'm super excited to be sharing it with y'all.

Yummm, the shower gels. I picked up 7 scents this year. I've been a huge fan of the B&BW shower gels for over two years now. They lather so well and the scent lingers even after I step out of the shower, which is a huge plus. This year, I tried to get a mix of scent families. Amongst my favorites Snowflakes & Cashmere, Peony, and Velvet Sugar.
My favorite of the bunch would have to be Velvet Sugar. I love the packaging and the shower gel smells just like candy, but it's not sickly sweet like Vanilla Bean Noel is. Vanilla Bean Noel has a veeeery sweet sugar cookie scent, but I'm hoping that it's not as overpowering on my skin. I'm obsessed with Cashmere Glow scent, but they didn't have it in the full size, so I purchased the travel size instead for trips and such. Snowflakes & Cashmere smells pretty similar to Cashmere Glow, so I'm happy I snagged that baby up. I was a little sad that Peach Bellini and Mango Mandarin smelled so similar to one another. I still love the freshness of each scent and can't wait to use them during the summer. Of the bunch, Freesia was a huge disappointment. It smells like laundry detergent. Yuck, that's the biggest downside of ordering online -- you can't really smell it before you purchase it. But still beats shopping in a busy little boutique and standing in the long line.

I also picked up some foaming hand soaps. Again, love these. I used to buy just regular Up & Up hand soaps from Target, but I bought a few for my new apartment last summer and fell in love. And never looked back! I currently have holiday-themed hand soaps in my kitchen and bathroom, so I picked up some for the spring when those run out. The pictures on these look so spring-y!

I burned through the last bit of my favorite candle, Marshmallow Fireside, so of course I had to pick another one up. The packaging on this year's candle looks oh so adorable.

I finally ran out of antibacterial hand gel, so it was time to restock. These 5 came in a set, I'm blanking on the name. I love the packaging and honestly there's not a scent I dislike in this bunch. My favorite is "On Christmas We Wear Pink". Super sparkly and smells like a cupcake.

Last but not least, I got a new antibacterial gel holder. This is sooooo sparkly and gorgeous, the picture does not do it justice. Looks beautiful on my black crossbody bag.

That's it for this haul! I've been shopping a ton over the last few weeks, so be expecting a Target and Ulta haul soon. January is definitely going to be the month of haul posts! Toodles <3 

Blogmas 2016 : Day 10 : Little Holiday Haul

Hey guys! Do you like how focused that picture is? I figured out why my uploaded pictures were showing up so blurry on Blogger. For some reason, saving it as a JPG file was making it look blurry. So I changed the format to PNG and under HTML, made sure the resolution was showing up as 1600, and wabaam my pictures look soooo much better now.

So today I wanted to share a mini holiday haul from this weekend. I spent most of today shopping. Totally unplanned, but I realized I needed an outfit for the holiday party this upcoming week, so finding an outfit took forever. Plus, I wandered a bit around Target, went to Trader Joe's, and hit up Ulta since it was right next door. Later on in the evening, I got a craving for Panda Express and drove to Forest Hills at like 8pm at night. Huuuge mistake. I absolutely hate driving in Queens, and my trip tonight definitely confirmed that, lol. The streets are so narrow and the traffic is horrendous so it makes for a bit of a dangerous driving situation. I had to squeeze my way through an illegally stopped car and the opposing traffic in a small side street. So grateful my car didn't get scratches everywhere. I'm pretty sure I also ran a few reds on my way there.  But I made it back in one piece, along with my car, whew! And the Panda Express chow mein and orange chicken really hit the spot.

I picked up a few festive items that I thought I would share with you guys. Target has some of the cutest holiday gift wrap at a very affordable price. I had such a hard time deciding on which pattern gift wrap I wanted to get this year. I finally decided on this adorable blue-white gift wrap with ice skating raccoons and polar bears. Each roll has 75 square feet and was only $2.50! They had lots of cute gift bags, tags, ribbon, and bows but since I'm only giving gifts to my immediate family this year, I just stuck to the gift wrap. I got the gift bows from Michael's. They were so unique and I think the red/gold is going to look stunning against the ice blue wrapping paper. Ah I just love buying Christmas gift giving stuff, definitely gets me in the festive mood!

While I was Michael's I also picked up a mini hot glue gun and glue sticks. I'm getting ready to make mason jar snow globes and realized I didn't have any glue in my art bin. I've been wanting to get a hot glue gun for ages, and this was the perfect opportunity!

Lastly, I picked up another crimson nailpolish. I've been alternating Essie Shearling Darling and Essie Bahama Mama on my nails every fall and winter for the past two years, so thought it was time for a change! I picked up Essie Nailpolish in Limited Addiction, which is a nice medium crimson shade. I love Shearling Darling, but I feel like it's a bit too dark and almost appears black. I wanted more of a red-crimson shade, so this looked nice on swatches online. So pumped to wear it this season! :)

#healthyholidays Day 10: Didn't binge eat my Panda Express takeout! :) ate half tonight and saved the rest for tomorrow :) 

Beauty Haul!

Welcome to Thanksgiving week! It's officially the week of stuffing our faces with turkey and getting a head start on holiday shopping. November is always the worst financial month for me. There are soooo many amazing deals going on that I tend to overspend every single year in November. December is pretty bad too, but not nearly as bad as November. But how can I resist all the pretty makeup and packaging and holiday decor and ornaments and treats and etc etc?!

As with every year, I got my 20% off VIB coupon for Sephora in the mail earlier this month and of course, I had to go shopping. I was going to buy a lotttt of stuff because I had to spend $200 to renew my VIB status, but after a lot of thought I've decided to just give up on the VIB program. I've been a VIB member for two years now and have finally realized that it's just not worth it. Every year I force myself to spend $350 on products I don't really use just to keep being a VIB member. And to be honest, the rewards just aren't that worth it. Sure you get exclusive deluxe rewards and stuff and yearly coupons, but I just don't buy that much makeup at Sephora anymore to justify being a part of their rewards program. So for next year I think I'm going to switch to Ulta for all of my beauty stuff. You only have to spend $450 per year, which is quite easy to do if you buy all your beauty stuff there -- cleansing wipes, cotton rounds, Q-tips, face washes, etc...it adds up! They carry literally everything I need from drugstore and high-end sides, and I just feel like I have a much more fun experience shopping at Ulta than at Sephora. The Ulta rewards program also seems much more robust with points contributing to dollar values off, 20% off everything coupons 3-4 times a year, and more points earned per purchase. But I barely shopped at Ulta this year so I figured I'd start that in 2017.

Okay enough chatting. Now to talk about the goodies I got.

Clarisonic Mia 2 in Gray -- yes I finally got a Clarisonic!!! My skin has been breaking out like crazy over the last month. I don't know if it's hormonal or from inadequate skin cleaning, so I decided to try out the Clarisonic brush. Apparently it's way more efficient than manual cleansing, so let's see if my breakouts are really from me not washing my face adequately at night. Clarisonic recently had a sale where the dark gray Mia 2 was 50% off on their website so I jumped right on it and got it for only $85! Steal of the season.

Beauty Blender with Mini BlenderCleanser Solid -- Another beauty staple that I just purchased for the first time. I've been applying my favorite Clinique foundation with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush for the last few months and I feel like I cake on my foundation. I decided to try the beauty blender to help my foundation go on more seamlessly. Plus, using a brush really drags on your skin, so I'm hoping this causes a little less damage to my skin when applying ze foundation.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion -- Okay for some reason this was on sale for $10 (it's usually $20). I thought I was going to get the baby size, but nope I got the huge wonking full size one! I have no idea why this was on sale for half off because this product is definitely not discontinued. Maybe they were just getting rid of product in the old packaging? In any case, this is one of my holy grail, everyday products that I was running out of and looks like I'm going to be good on primer for the next five years!!

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Radiant Light -- Hourglass just came up with itty bitty baby sizes of their lighting powders that were oh-so-raved-about two years ago. I never picked one up when they first came out because I'm not one for fancy highlighters and powders (especially when they cost $46 a pop), but when I saw smaller sized ones for half the price I figured I'd try it out. Plus, the Becca highlighters are way too shiny for me, and this one seems like a much more subtle highlight for everyday wear. It looks gorgeous on the swatch so I have high hopes for this product!

Sephora Collection Push Back Cuticle Pusher -- I love doing at-home manicures, but with the winter my cuticles get really dry and start flaking. I've always wanted to buy a cuticle pusher, but they're sooo expensive! When I saw this one on sale for $7 along with my coupon, I knew I had to get it. Hoping this pretties up my nails for an even better at home manicure!

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Fresh Cut Split End Mender -- I got this as a 100 point perk. I've been meaning to try something for the ends of my hair because they get sooo dry. Not sure if this product is really meant for that. I don't get split ends as often as I used to because I don't heat style as much, but with all the pulling and tugging I do for my curly hair, I'm sure I still rack up a few split ends. The reviews seem good so fingers crossed that my dry hair days have come to an end!



So that's all the gems I picked up at this holiday season's Sephora spree. I know Black Friday is just around the corner and there are sooooo many beauty goodies on the preview ad for Sephora and Ulta. BUT I'm going to be a good girl this year and probably won't buy anything from those sales. Instead my money is going to Kohl's  (and possibly Ann Taylor/LOFT). Kohl's has an AMAZING Black Friday sale every year and I just put in a huge ass order this morning for a ton of wardrobe and home staples I needed.
But anyways I hope you all have a great work week, and expect a blog post up on what I did this Thanskgiving (my first one alone in a new city!).

Ulta Fall Haul ♥

Did I need new makeup? Definitely not. But I couldn't resist! I was going through my makeup collection the other day and realized I hadn't gone makeup shopping in months. Seriously, I think the last time I bought new makeup was back in December. So naturally, I felt like I needed some new goodies to play with, and rushed out to Ulta. None of the products I got are new or limited edition. Drugstore brands haven''t really come out with exciting new collections this fall. So I decided to pick up a few things I've had my eye on for the past few months.

Makeup Revolution Iconic 1 Redemption Eyeshadow Palette -- This palette is a dupe for the iconic Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow palette. I lost my UD palette a few years ago at a hotel, but cringed at the thought of shelling out another $50 to purchase a new Naked palette. When I saw this palette at Ulta for $7, I knew I had to get it. The colors seem identical to the UD Naked palette, and the reviews on these look excellent too. Expect a blogpost with this soon if all goes well.

Almay Smart Shade Lip Butter in Berry Medium -- Back about five years ago, I was obsessed with the Revlon lip butters. Last year, their sister company Almay released their own line of lip butters. I owned every single color in the Revlon lip butter line and thought nothing could come close to their formula...but I was mistaken. The Almay lip butters are so much creamier and apply seamlessly on the lips. I already own two colors in this line, but picked up this gorgeous berry shade for the fall and winter season. As with the Revlon lip butters, my favorite part is that they are the perfect consistency between a lipstick and tinted lip balm, and are not too sheer but not too opaque either.

Palladio Shadow & Liner Herbal Crayon in Iced Coffee -- Palladio is another makeup brand that is new to Ulta. The crayons were on sale at Ulta, so I decided to pick one up and try it. The color is a cool taupe that I think would look pretty as a liner brighten up the eyes on a no makeup day.

NYX Cosmetics Hot Singles Eyeshadows in Sex Kitten and Gold Lust -- NYX makes some of the best drugstore eyeshadows. This particular formula is one of their older ones, but is my preference over their newer Prismatic eyeshadows. Mainly because I can depot these and pop them in my Z-palette. Second because the packaging and product is more sturdy. I picked up these two shades because they're gorgeous, everyday colors that make an essential addition to my Z-palette.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blush in Flushed -- How gorgeous is this blush. Such a beautiful bright, watermelon pink color that's like a mattified version of Benefit's Bella Bamba. I definitely don't have a color like this in my collection, which is why I had to get my hands on it this fall. It would make a gorgeous color for the summer, but I could also see it giving that just-came-out-of-the-chill flush to the cheeks.

Nivea A Kiss of Milk & Honey Soothing Lip Care -- I have no shortage of clear lip balms. In fact, I have an embarrassing amount compared to how often I actually remember to apply lip balm. But I was shopping at Ulta, and I couldn't help but pick this baby up. It's one of my favorite lip balms out there. The scent is uber yummy and cozy, and the most hydrating balm I've ever tried. I prefer it to the EOS lip balm, Chapstick, Burt's Bees, etc.

Soap & Glory Rich & Foamous Body Wash
Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Body Milk Lotion

I swear I had no intention of picking up this product when I first stepped foot in Ulta. But of course I was perusing the aisles, saw that Soap & Glory products were buy one, get the other half off and had to get this. I hate the classic S&G scent. Most people love it, but it makes me nauseous. So I thought no way in hell will I ever use any S&G body products. But I was wrong. I am obsessed with their Smoothie Star line. It smells like oats, almonds, and brown sugar...the most cozy, comforting scent for winter time. Luckily, winter also happens to be the season when my skin becomes parched and cracked and in desperate need of body lotion. I used to get the Bath & Body Works body lotions and butters, but they're all so richly scented it's sort of become off-putting to me. So I decided to try the S&G body lotion this winter because of the pleasing scent, the fact that the lotion comes with a pump ( I hate greasy lotion hands), and of course the cute pink packaging. As I was picking up the body lotion, I of course decided to get the body wash with the same oatmeal sugar scent. Cannot wait to use these babies this winter <3

Ulta Haul ♥

Hey everyone, hope you are all having an excellent weekend. I, for one, have had a pretty lousy weekend :( Lots of shitty stuff happened, and I just felt like de-stressing and writing a bit on this beautiful Sunday. The sunshine outside has honestly been my saving grace today! Given my crappy weekend, I decided to go ahead and do some stress-shopping at Ulta this afternoon. I was actually quite proud of myself for behaving and not getting every little thing I eyed. I also spent $62 at Sephora last weekend on a YSL lipstick and eye cream (post soon...maybe?) so I had a bit of a tighter budget. I also had a few Ulta coupons and some of the products above were on sale, which brought my total down to $30 for all these goodies!

A good chunk of this haul was actually skincare items. Especially, moisturizers. I've never had issues with dry skin, but my skin's been scaly and patchy over the past few weeks and in desperate need of some moisturizing. I absolutely hateeeee applying body lotion because it leaves my hands so greasy and yucky, so I decided to try out the Nivea Cocoa Butter In-Shower Body Lotion. I'm hoping it really does work and hydrates my scaly skin! I also needed some more hand cream for my backpack, so I picked up the Pacifica Malibu Lemon Blossom Hand Cream. It's thick and moisturizing like my favorite Body Shop hand lotions, at a reasonable price of $9, and smells soooooo yummy and perfect for the spring season. Plus, how cute is the tube? Lastly in the moisturizing department, I got the cult classic EOS Smooth Sphere Lip Balm in Strawberry Sorbet. Let's be honest, I'm a sucker for anything packaged in pink, and I love strawberry-scented things. I've gotten sick of my Burt's Bees lip balm and so decided it was time to finally invest in this baby. I tried it in the car and it smells sooooo good, exactly like a strawberry milkshake. This is one lip balm I'm sure to be sporting all spring and summer.

I also picked up a few other bits and bobs. I needed an eye makeup remover, but they were all out of my usual Neutrogena Eye Makeup Remover. However, the Simple Cleansing Micellar Water was on sale and I decided to give it a go because of all the rave and hype I've heard about this product on Youtube and beauty blogs. I also got a pack of my favorite Ulta Premium Round Cotton Pads to use the micellar water with. I normally just clean my skin with Simple Makeup Wipes at night, but I wanted to get something that cleaned my skin deeper. I don't like using my St. Ives Green Tea Scrub more than once a day, since it is quite exfoliating and you generally shouldn't use a scrub more than once a day if that. Since the Simple wipes do a  good job at taking off my makeup and don't break me out, I'm hoping that the Simple Cleansing Micellar Water will work with my skin. Lastly, I got some makeup products to try out. The NYX Cosmetics Glitter Primer is something I've had my eye on for a while. I own a ton of glittery pressed eyeshadows, but I hate that they never stick on eyelids and fall out over the course of the day. That includes my L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows. So I'm hoping that this glitter primer is tacky enough to keep those types of shadows on all day with minimal fallout. And lastly, I've been obsessed with wearing smudged brown eyeliner on a lazy makeup day. I love the NYX retractable eyeliners so I decided to pick up the NYX Cosmetics Retractable Eyeliner in Bronze, which is a beautiful bronzy color with a ton of sparkle. It looks like it would be perfect for everyday looks.

There you go, my stress-shopping Ulta haul. I'll have my updates from the Skinny Jeans challenge sometime this week or next week. It was a bit crazy last week, which is why I have to wait another week before posting the results. They will be up soon I promise :) Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Massive Winter Haul: Drugstore Beauty

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!

Massive Winter Haul: High-End Beauty

Hello, hello everyone. Well that hiatus was short-lived, huh? Luckily the situation got sorted out fairly fast and I'm feeling tons better now. With the grace of God, no patient harm came out of the situation. I'm finally getting around to cleaning out my makeup drawer and unpacking my huge beauty haul from this past November/December. Yes, I realize it's three months later...time flies! As you can tell from the flood of personal posts lately, I've been in a really bad mood ever since coming back from vacation. I've been on this constant go-mode since November and I'm just exhausted at this point. And the whole issue with the HIPAA violation just got me really really upset. I've been mustering as much energy as I can, and I hope things will be different now that match day and graduation are approaching. 

Anyhows, enough of my personal bantering, on to the makeup! I split this haul up into two parts -- high end and drugstore. There's just SO much stuff and I would be incredibly overwhelmed if I went through both parts in one post, so hence the splitting. Interestingly enough, the high-end side is much larger than the drugstore side this time. Usually it's the opposite!

So let me go through each product one by one. I haven't used any of the products yet, but I swatched most of them so I can offer my first impressions at least. In no particular order, here goes. The ones without links were limited edition holiday products that are no longer available.

bareMinerals Tutorials: Neutral Eyes -- Let me be honest, the main reason I bought this kit was because I had a 20% off coupon at Ulta including prestige brands, and this set caught my eye as I was about to checkout at Ulta. It's actually a pretty handy. It comes with a (full-size?) eyeshadow duo, a mini size of their 5-in-1 BB cream shadow, a eyeliner, and mini eye brush. Plus, it comes cased in a  gorgeous reusable metal tin. I really like this set, but I am a bit disappointed with the eyeshadow duo. I expected it to be more warm-toned based on the picture on the back, but it's in fact a bronzey-taupey mix. I'm hoping it's still wearable on my super-warm skin tone, and I'm definitely looking forward to using the other products in the set. Neat little gift idea and it would make a good starter makeup set.

Clinique Whole Lotta Chubby Set -- I saw this cute little holiday gift set as I was online shopping for a cream blush stick. I was about to buy the full size of the Amp'd Up Apple, but I stumbled upon this set and decided to buy it! For $25 you get deluxe sizes of five products from their "Chubby" line -- a cream blush stick, an eyeshadow stick, one regular chubby lipstick, one baby tint, and one intense chubby lipstick. The shades are Amp'd Up Apple (blush), Bountiful Beige (eyeshadow), Curvy Candy, Mightiest Maraschino (intense), and Poppin' Poppy (baby tint). Overall, I'm very glad I bought this set since I'm a huge fan of their Chubby range. I never finish a blush, and this set allows me to try a bunch of other shades and products from the line. Also, the sizes in the set are quite generous!

Clinique Even Better Makeup Foundation in Cream Caramel -- I've been wanting to get a heavy-duty foundation from a makeup line that emphasizes "good ingredients" and sensitive skin. I'm not a huge fan of the bareMinerals or Tarte foundations, so I thought I would try a Clinique foundation. It's an old formulation, but it got excellent reviews on multiple sites. I'm going to have to experiment with it a bit more before making a final verdict, but so far so good! I put it on my face using a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and it applied well, blended seamlessly, and was lightweight. Going to have to use it a bit more to determine if it's a good color match and if it's heavy duty enough.

Clinique Stay Matte Sheer Pressed Powder in Stay Honey -- To match my new foundation, I picked up this powder from Clinique. Not much to say about this one. I didn't swatch or test this, but I imagine it functioning like any other old pressed powder. We shall see!

Too Faced Love Flush Blush in Love Hangover -- I've wanted to try a blush from this collection for sooooooo long! Yes, the packaging is definitely what sucked me in. I didn't fall in love with any of the shades in the collection, but I figured I couldn't go wrong with Love Hangover which is a dusky rose shade with a slightest bit of sheen. It's a gorgeous everyday, natural sort of blush. This shade is perfect for the spring and summer!

Burberry Wet & Dry Silk Shadow in Pale Barley -- This product was a total splurge! I love dabbling around with luxury makeup, but I don't have the funds to purchase them on a regular basis. So every time I feel like it's a particularly challenging time of year for me, I splurge on a makeup item and remind myself that I've worked incredibly hard to get where I am and I should be treating myself, not being down in the dumps. This time, it was application and interviewing season that had me feeling really nervous and frantic, and I decided to splurge on one of these shadows. It's one of those products that just makes you feel extra fancy everytime you bust it out of your makeup drawer. The shade isn't particularly unique, but the formula is really silky soft as the name suggests. This color leans more cool than I initially thought, but it's not as ultra-cool as other taupes I've played around with. Definitely not a product you need to rush out and purchase, but definitely check these out if you need a little pick-me-up ;)

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo in Pepper/Fig -- Recently, Bite Beauty started making mini size duos of their lipsticks at only $12 a pop. I bought the Fig/Date duo last year, but the colors unfortunately didn't suit my skin tone. This Christmas, they came out with new duo combinations and one of them happened to have Pepper, which I've wanted for a long time! It's a beautiful dusky pinkish-red shade and the perfect MLBB shade. It has the signature creamy Bite Beauty formula and I love the way these duos feel on my lips. Unfortunately, the duo came with Fig, which is in the other duo I have, but luckily Fig looks gorgeous when topped with a pinky gloss!

Fresh Sugar Rose Ritual -- During holiday shopping season, I'm always excited to see Fresh's holiday gift sets. Since a full size of their lip balms are quite pricey at $22, getting a bunch of different colors and types of Fresh lip products in mini sizes is my favorite way to try Fresh. This year, they had quite a few awesome holiday sets to pick from. I ended up picking up one that had both a lip treatment and a lip balm, and was reasonably priced -- the Rose Ritual set was perfect. I love the wash of sheer red the lip balm gives me, and am super pumped to try out the Rose lip treatment counterpart, which is just a glossy version of their lip balm.

Tarte Fanciful Favorites Deluxe Discovery Set -- I bought this at the Sephora black friday sale. I'm a sucker for Tarte's Amazonian clay blushes and so I always pick up a set during the holidays to try out some new shades. The Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes blend so beautifully, are packaged well, and last all day on my cheeks. This one is a nice everyday matte (I believe) medium pinky rose shade that has the awesome Amazonian clay blush quality. The set also contains a sample of the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara that I have been dying to try and a small bottle of their Maracuja Oil.

Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask -- I believe this was a deluxe freebie Sephora was offering around the time I put in my online order. I decided to include this because it's one of the best face masks I have ever used and does an excellent job at cleansing my pores. Granted this is the only high end face mask I have tried, but honestly it's quite affordable for how well of a job it does. The deluxe sample I got was 1oz, which is very generous for a sample considering that the 1.7oz tube is $17! Hands down my favorite mask and I would encourage anyone, especially those with oilier skin, to try this awesome charcoal mask!

Lorac Pro Metal Palette -- I saved the best for last! Out of all the stuff I bought over the holidays, I'm most excited to try this palette. This is a permanent item, but it was discounted at 50% on Ulta over Black Friday I believe. Or it might have been after Christmas, I'm not entirely sure. I was skeptical on getting this palette at first because I've been buying way too many eyeshadows recently, but after I read some reviews on this palette, I knew I had to get it. I absolutely love metallic pressed shadows and this palette featured a lot of my favorite colors. I could definitely see myself wearing more than half of these shades on a regular basis. It has a rose gold, olive-gold, buttery golden, and a copper which are all amongst my favorite neutrals. I'm also excited to try out the grayish taupe shade and cobalt shade even though they are slightly more cool-toned! The quality on these shadows is AMAZING. Super buttery and richly pigmented, and very very metallic for all of us metal lovers out there. I loved the palette so much that I took a close-up of it below. Isn't it gorgeous? So excited to play with this baby in the next few weeks.

$10 Sundays: ELF Cosmetics

I haven't done a $10 Sunday in so long! I haven't been doing too much shopping, and I've been enjoying just playing with the makeup I already have in my collection. However, I went to Target a few days ago and decided to pick up some goodies from ELF that I had my eye on for quite some time now. Sooo many Youtube gurus have been raving about ELF products, and I haven't really dabbled in too many of their products. I own several of their brushes, but besides that I haven't tried too many things from their makeup line.

I really needed a new eyebrow brush since my Real Techniques one broke recently :( I believe I had gotten the ELF Essentials Brow Comb + Brush in the past, but I had lost it or something. I remember it being really good so I decided to buy another one and give it a go. It was only a $1 and is fairly good quality for this price!

Next, I decided to pick up the ELF Studio Lip Exfoliator for $3, which is an exfoliating lip stick. I've never seen an exfoliator in a stick before, but I saw this in one of Emily Noel's videos and knew I had to try it. I've always gotten the LUSH Lip Scrubs, but I don't like how you have to dip your finger and smear it all over your lips. It's super messy and the sugar gets everywhere. I've also tried the Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub, but that one's more liquidy and even messier. I'm hoping the ELF Lip Exfoliator is less messy and gets the job done. My lips chap super fast, so this product will be holy grail status if it works well!

Lastly, I purchased the ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion for $3, which is a super bright, cool-toned matte fuchsia pink. It reminds me a lot of Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface, but it looks brighter and a bit more cool toned. Now, cool tones don't look the best on me, but I've been into bright blushes recently and decided to give this one a shot. I've heard a ton of great things about these blushes and I'm so excited to finally try a blush from ELF! I wanted to get one of their Blush Palettes, but I have so many other blushes in my collection I've been meaning to try that I decided to just pick up a single blush pan for now. I have my eye on the palette though so I'm sure that will be featured in an upcoming haul soon ;)

ColourPop Haul, Swatches, & Thoughts

A while back near my birthday, I placed my very first order at Colourpop. I've heard so many amazing things about this brand and had to try it out for myself, especially since their products are so cheap and I had a $5 off coupon. I ended up ordering 3 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, and one lipstick, all for $25! Since I bought these around May, I've used most of the products and can offer a review on them.



Here are swatches of the eyeshadows -- Get Lucky (top left), I <3 This (top right), and Smash (bottom).  As you may know, the texture of their products are a cream-mousse-powder hybrid, which is pretty unique. They remind me of the Maybelline Dream Mousse blushes from back in the day.  The formula and pigmentation of these shadows is amazing. They're very buttery and apply true to color. Get Lucky is a bright yellow-gold. I <3 This is a white gold duo chrome. Smash is a bronze-antique gold blend.

As far as application, I've been applying it all over my lids with a flat eyeshadow brush. Get Lucky and I <3 This contain more glitter and go on a bit patchy with the use of a brush. If I try to even out the color with a brush, that just causes the glitter to spread everywhere, which isn't the most flattering look. Smashon the other hand is a much less glittery and contains more sheen. It goes on very smoothly when applied with a brush. It's become one of my favorite products in my entire eyeshadow collection! I've been told that that the best way to apply the Colourpop eyeshadows is by patting them on the lid with a finger and then blending it out with a brush. I may try this method next time I use one and hopefully get a more even application with the more glittery shades. So overall, loving Smash but not having the best of luck applying the glittery Get Lucky and I <3 This with a brush. I'm hoping using my finger to apply these shades will work out better since they are quite gorgeous, brightening lid colors.

Here are swatches of the lipstick and blushes -- Brink Lippie Stix (left), Quarters blush (middle), Fruit Stand blush (right). Brink is a matte dusty rose-mauve. Quarters is a matte burnt apricot. Fruit Stand is a matte bright red-orange. They had a wide variety of blush shades but I chose these two because I didn't have colors like this in my collection. Again, the quality of these blushes are amazing. They're super pigmented and blend beautifully. Fruit Stand looks scary in the pan, but it blends out to a really beautiful bright coral-red shade. I haven't played around too much with Quarters, but it seems like a gorgeous fall shade. It looks much different in the pan than when it's swatched on my hand. Brink is by far the most surprising purchase. I mainly got the Lippie Stix to try out the formula, but I fell in love with the color. I'm not a huge fan of matte lipsticks but this one looks stunning on tan skin tones. Again, it's going to be gorgeous for the fall.

All in all, loving my first few ColourPop purchases. Super affordable brand with excellent quality products. I would recommend everyone try out at least 1-2 products from their line, just to try their unique hybrid eyeshadow and blush formula. I'm hoping to buy a few more eyeshadows and Lippie Stix from their line in the near future. They also have some new lip glosses that I have my eye on. And with just $5 a pop, my wallet won't be cringing!

Sephora & Ulta Makeup Haul

It was my birthday a few weeks ago and like I do every year, I decided to spoil myself and get some new makeup goodies to try! The stuff I'm going to be showing below is a mix of things I had gotten for my birthday and some drugstore makeup I got a few weeks back for the spring season. I figured I'd show everything here since it's all stuff I'm super excited to try out. And I'll also show my super luxurious birthday makeup treat! The box on the right is actually stuff from Colourpop. I was going to combine the two hauls, but when I saw how many things were in the Sephora bag, I decided to split the two into separate posts.

So this post is all about the stuff I got from Sephora, Ulta, and Marshall's over the past few weeks.

First off, in the corner you see my huge makeup gift this year, the Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette. I'm super super super excited to try this palette out!! I lost my beloved Naked palette last year so I really wanted to get another high-end nude palette to replace it. This palette is perfect, smells like cocoa powder, and has a really nice mix of shades. Too Faced shadows are super nice quality as well! I think this is definitely going to be my reach-for palette the rest of the year. I also purchased the Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo in Fig/Date. I've had this on my Sephora wish list for the longest time and I finally bit the bullet and picked it up. So far I'm loving how creamy the lipsticks are and the nice neutral shades perfect for everyday wear. Lastly from Sephora, I replenished my Sephora Daily Brush Cleanser, which has become a holy grail product for me. Keeps my brushes clean and soft.

The rest of the stuff is from Ulta and Marshall's mainly. I got the Almay Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm in Canteloupe Cream which I thought would be a really pretty shade for the spring and summer. I like the color, but the formula is a bit patchy and not as glossy as I had hoped. I've only used it once so hopefully it's going to grow on me a bit more. Next, the CoverGirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss in Apricot Twist, which was actually on sale at Target! I believe they may be discontinuing these, but I'm not entirely sure since they're still available at Ulta. I heard such great things about these glossy balms when they first came out but I never bought any since I was so into the Revlon Just Bitten sticks. I actually like these a bit more because they're more balmy and more sheer than the Revlon ones. Plus the color is a super gorgeous for the spring and summer. I also picked up another gloss, the Burt's Bees 100% Natural Lip Shine in Flutter from Marshall's. Again, had this on my list forever but I decided to pick it up when I saw how cheap they were at Marshall's. Really nice sheer, glossy raspberry color that reminds me of The Body Shop's fruity lip shines. I love that it has no glitter or sparkle in it, and it's super "juicy" and sheer...I don't know, hard to describe the formula but I'm in love with these types of sheer juicy glosses for the summer. I can see myself wearing it all year long especially in the later summer/fall months. I picked up one of my favorite mascaras from Ulta, the Maybelline Pumped Up! Colossal Volum' Express Mascara since they were 40% off. I love how much volume it adds to my lashes without any clumping. The hot pink tube is a nice added bonus.

Again from Marshall's, I picked up a nice bright red nail polish for the summer time, the Essie Nailpolish in Lollipop. On the site, it's described as a candy cane red which is a great description. I love bright reds in the summer because it looks so refreshing and sophisticated on both fingers and toes. And again, it's a great transition shade for the late summer/fall. And lastly from Marshall's, I picked up a body scrub for the sweaty summer months, the Earth Therapeutics Loofah Exfoliating Body Scrub in Peaches & Passion. Smells super delicious and a nice treat to get soft, smooth skin in the summertime. Plus, I really like the way my face scrub has been cleansing my skin, so hopefully this scrub will smoothen out and brighten my skin. And as a side note, I'm really really loving all the wonderful makeup finds at Marshall's! They have recently discontinued makeup products and shades at more than half their original price, which is super super super awesome for a makeup junkie like me!

And lastly my biggest birthday treat this year, which you can also see in the picture above....




The Dior Addict Lipglosses!!!! This was a totally random, spontaneous purchase for me. We were in the Duty Free shops at Niagara, and I found this beautiful set of three Dior glosses and a cute makeup bag for only $66 US Dollars! That's an absolutely amazing deal for these since each one usually retails at $29+tax. So I was able to get 3 shades plus a cute pink makeup bag (as you can see in the photo above) for roughly $22 a piece. Less than that if you include the bag! Plus, the makeup bag is pretty good quality and not your typical fake pleather stuff. It's pretty large and can hold a good amount of makeup especially for small weekend trips.

The colors in the set were Delice, Diablotine (which is the color I had been wanting for months!!!), and Princess. Delice and Diablotine are my favorites, but I can also see myself rocking the Princess shade. They're definitely targeted towards fairer skin tones, but I feel like these colors are so natural that they would also look good on darker skin tones. I'm definitely the most excited for Diablotine since it's the shade I had wanted for so so long. Such a gorgeous coral-red shade for the summer. If this shade wasn't in the set, I probably wouldn't have gotten it but when I saw that it was included, I knew I had to get it. These glosses are very pigmented and smooth, but definitely not worth spending $29 a piece. They're definitely luxury items and look so classy in their sleek packaging. Not worth getting on an ordinary basis, but a really nice luxurious makeup treat. Sometimes it's nice to have fancy products and feel like a princess :)

So that is it for my Sephora & drugstore makeup haul. I will be posting about my Colourpop goodies soon. And then I also put in another order at Sephora recently. I've been so bad and makeup crazy!!! Definitely going on a no-buy May and June at this rate. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

$10 Sundays: Dry Shampoo & Finishing Powder

For this Sunday's $10 haul, I decided to purchase some products that I really really really needed.

I've been meaning to purchase a new bottle of dry shampoo since my roots have been oilier than normal lately. I think it's because I blast my heat at night and sweat, causing me to wake up with dirtier hair (gross, I know). I really like the Suave dry shampoo -- it does the job, doesn't smell too powerful, and doesn't leave any residue in my hair. The best part, it's only $3! They've been out of it at my local Target for the past few weeks, so I'm glad they restocked this week and I was able to snag a bottle.

Next, I decided to pick up a finishing powder. I've been faithful to my bareMinerals Mineral Veil for quite a while now, but I hate how it makes me look chalky since it's a white powder. I wanted to try a tinted finishing powder in hopes that it would look more natural on me, so I picked up the L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Powder in the shade W5. I wear the L'Oreal True Lumi foundation so I just picked up the corresponding powder shade...easy as pie! I've heard good things about this powder so I'm really excited to try it out.

That's it, a quick and simple little $10 Sunday. I'm quite proud of myself for not caving to the bunches of new lippies that hit the drugstore this spring season. I haven't been wearing lip products all that much lately, so I didn't want to buy more lip products that would just sit in my makeup drawer unused. The new Maybelline Lip Elixirs are really really tempting and calling my name though, so I feel like I may cave in next week??....

My First Makeup Geek Goodies

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$10 Sundays: Concealer & Green Eyeliner

Voila, my new idea to control my shopping obsession! I love love love love trying out new makeup (like any beauty junkie), but it can get very expensive and if you don't keep track, it definitely adds up. So here is my new solution to help me control my spending while still being able to try out new makeup collections: $10 Sundays. Every Sunday (usually my grocery shopping day), I'll buy $10 worth of makeup, haircare, accessories, etc to try out for the week. That's not a lot of money, and adds up to $40 a month which is way less than how much I spend on new beauty stuff in a month currently. I'll probably still do seasonal hauls, but hopefully less frequently than before. 

For this week, I decided to purchase a concealer and an eyeliner. I've always struggled with finding a good under eye concealer since I have genetically very dark circles. I've used MAC StudioFinish concealer in the past, as well as a few other pastes and sticks and none of them have been able to flawlessly cover up my circles. So I gave it some thought and decided to try a liquid concealer since they have better coverage. I've heard a lot of good things about the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser for Dark Circles, so I picked up the concealer in the shade Honey. Even the Ulta sales clerk commented on how great the product is!

I also got the NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Golden Olive. I don't really wear a lot of eyeliner since they accentuate my dark circles, but I'm hoping to start wearing more this year! I recently read a Fitness magazine article on how green-colored eye makeup compliments brown eyes and brings out its amber tones. I own an olive-green eyeshadow that looks absolutely stunning on my complexion, so I definitely agree with that statement. I think eyeliner is a really fun way to add small pops of color to your makeup without going overboard. I'm not very adventurous with my lipstick colors, but when it comes to eye makeup, I love to try new styles and colors. While purple and pink eyeshadows can look crazy in the office, I think colored eyeliner can add a pop of color to your look while still looking office-appropriate. I'm not saying a green winged eyeliner, but more like a smudge of green liner across the lower or upper lashes.

So thats it for this week's beauty purchase. Next week, I'm thinking of trying out some new lippies that have just hit stores. I may do a look using the two products I just bought in the upcoming week, so look out! Just waiting for my skin to clear up a bit...it's been going through a rough patch this last week with the crazy weather. Until then, stay warm my friends!