Hi everyone! We just got back from our week long vacation to Iceland last night where we spent a ridiculous amount of money (holy heck, I knew the prices were high out there, but I didn’t know HOW HIGH!), attended Eve Online’s Fanfest, rode horseback through the countryside and visited the Blue Lagoon. We had a wonderful vacation, but it’s time for me to get back into the swing of things! So here are the beauty products I picked up during the month of April 2016!

Let’s start off with the Sephora Love Note sale items. I actually didn’t pick up much because I’m finding there’s not a lot I *need* lately in terms of new products (such a weird feeling). I was also somehow able to hang on to gift cards from CHRISTMAS so a lot of these items were actually free to me. (For convenience sake, I’m just listing the full retail value prices for the items.) Anyway, one item I felt like I was missing was a solid purple blush. I’ve been wearing a few purple eye looks lately and never felt like any blush in my collection was purple enough to complement them. Somehow I remembered seeing a review on Ivory Avenue for this Urban Decay blush in Bittersweet months and months ago, so I decided to pick that up since it’s a fairly unique shade. As I’ve been away, I haven’t actually tried it yet, so I haven’t a clue how it’s going to look on me!

I always end of picking up another Too Faced Melted lipstick whenever the sale happens because I am determined to eventually end up with the entire collection! This time I grabbed Melted Melon. It ends up  being slightly less orange than Melted Coral. (Comparison post on those coming soon…ish.)

This was a TOTAL impulse buy while I was out randomly shopping with Jen of Vibrant Beauty Blog after brunch this past month. (That woman is wonderful to shop with, but holy hell she can be dangerous! 😉 ) And yet.. although it was impulse, my gift cards were still going strong (I’ve got generous friends and family!) so this was technically another freebie. This gorgeous beauty is the Gleam Glow Kit by Anastasia Beverly Hills. I opted for this one because I love my oranges and… the names. Hard Candy and Mimosa? Starburst and Crushed Pearl? YES PLEASE! Swatches will be up this Sunday for those interested.

This was a purchase by Julie of Swatch and Review, but she ended up passing it on to me when she found herself not using it. It’s great being known as a Too Faced addict! 😉

And also for being known as a red eyeshadow wearer! Another unloved product that will have a very, VERY good home in my collection!

This poor liquid lipstick… she’s certainly made the rounds (the hussy!). ThisA Retro Coral liquid lipstick was first bought by Laura of Lipstick and Laura, only she found it too bright/weird on her, so she passed it on to Shawna of Spill the Beauty who also didn’t like it. And then it fell to me (and I still haven’t tried it yet, eesh)! I’m curious to try this formula out because my only experience with matte liquid lips is via the Colour Pop Ultra Mattes and those are NOT a well loved product by me. (They give me sand paper lips… ew.)

These last two items by Gamla Apotekid are kind of hilarious. When I finished my half marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland last Saturday (that race recap will be coming next Friday), one of the women at the finish line handed me a ticket number and ushered me towards another woman. She didn’t seem to speak much English and I definitely don’t speak Icelandic (which makes me sad) and I was SO CONFUSED as to why I was being given a gift since a) that’s not customary after finishing a race, and b) DEFINITELY not customary when you’re one of the last people to finish! Plus you know… I’d just run for over two hours, my mind was a little woozy! So anyway, I was gifted two skincare items by Gamla Apotekid which I believe is an Icelandic brand. One of them is a cream and the other a lotion and I’m excited to see how they work out for me!

Of course… this wasn’t the whole of it. If you’d like to see what I picked up during IMATS New York which was also during April, please head on over to my YouTube channel to check out that particular haul: