This is a massive haul. Epic even. I went to the U.S. for two weeks and it was basically a “no holds barred” kind of deal. I mean… when everything is just naturally cheaper, even when you factor in the exchange rate, what the heck else are you supposed to do? Dive right in, throw money at things and have a damn good time doing it!
So buckle in. This is a big one.
And to start us off… the boring stuff. I haven’t seen my usual Marcelle makeup remover on sale in a while so I decided to pick up the Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Make-up Remover since it was on sale instead. I’m a bit confused how this is oil free and yet there is two distinctly differently liquids inside that need to be shaken up. I’ve not used it yet as I have a minuscule amount left in my Marcelle bottle.
I bought Nivea‘s Milk & Honey balm specifically for my vacation in March as I didn’t have a lip balm in a tube anymore; they’re all in pots which are really just too messy for travel. It’s okay… nothing overly special though. I’m not over the moon about the scent like a lot of people are, but it’s a serviceable lip balm and that’s all I needed.
My first stop in the U.S. was to Sephora. And I dove right for the Too Faced display. I had heard many good things about their La Creme lipsticks but (like a lot of things in this post) the Canadian price tag had made me go “NOPE”. I picked up Coral Fire from their original line and from their spring collection I picked up Jelly Bean and Bon Bon. They are unbelievably creamy and they have a smell/taste unlike any other makeup product I have ever sniffed – it’s lemon-y! I love it! Totally unique and completely unexpected.
I hemmed and hawed over Too Faced‘s Chocolate Bar palette for a few months. For one, it’s yet another neutral palette and I prefer brights. For two, I have a lot of eyeshadows to begin with. And then the buts started. But it smells like chocolate. But it’s so pretty. But it’s cheaper in the US. But it’s got a matte brow bone shade. But it has more than just neutrals (*cough*notreally*cough*). In reality, I didn’t need it, but I wanted it. I tend to skip over palettes because they’re “expensive” and I could usually buy more items with that money (even if it is less bang for your buck). But I really do like palettes and I want to have more of them and less single eyeshadows. I’m really enjoying this palette so far and probably the most boring shade (Salted Caramel) has been really lovely.
The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes are just too pretty to pass up. I’ve heard nothing but good things so I picked up the one that suited my tastes the most – Diffused Heat. On first swatch I was not impressed at all: The blush is way less coral than anticipated and actually looks mostly pink, a light pink in fact. I was a little incensed, even though I knew that this was supposed to be pretty paled-out considering it’s mixed with a face powder. In the end, the colour is beautiful on me and is an incredibly easy colour to wear. It must be because of the swirled in face powder, but I dare say this blush is idiot proof. I restrained myself to only one in this line… although I really would like more of them…
Bobbi Brown‘s Apricot blush was what I was expecting Diffused Heat to look like on the skin. I picked this up as it’s been mentioned a few times in Essie Button‘s videos. This is my first Bobbi Brown product and so far I’m impressed. I thought this would be similar to my Illamasqua blushes, but it’s (thankfully) not the same. I *never* get compliments on my blush, but this one garnered instant compliments at work when I wore this.
I picked up Tarte‘s Amazonian Clay Gel Liner in Black because they claim this is waterproof. MAC‘s Blacktrack
I’d heard amazing things about Formula X for Sephora but since I’m not a massive nail polish junkie (I wear it frequently enough, but it doesn’t get me excited like face makeup does) I hadn’t ever really considered picking it up. And at $15 CAD a pop, you had better damn well LIKE it for it to be worth it. Well, I was finishing up my rounds at Sephora and just happened to spot these.
I knew the green (Lightning) was a winner as soon as I saw it, and bought it with St. Patrick’s Day specifically in mind. It’s chockful of glitter in a green jelly base – it. is. STUNNING. The black and blue one (Turbulent) is supposed to be a top coat, but I wear it as is and it’s also amazing. I’m so stunned by how awesome these polishes are that I really, *really* want more. The price tag is a bit over the top, but the ones that I picked out are totally unique to anything I own.
Next up, Ulta! They were having several deals so I made sure to take advantage. Real Techniques were buy one, get one half off. I really wanted the dual fiber brushes but couldn’t seem to find them (or they’d been totally wiped out by the sale). Instead I picked up the silicone liner brush (first impression… not great, although it’s a very unique idea) and the miracle complexion sponge (first impression… this is AWESOME).
I need to stop buying other brands of foundation because Revlon‘s Colorstay is by far my favourite. So for that reason, I picked up two shades for when I fluctuate skin colour throughout the spring. I snagged 200 Nude (Combination/Oily) and 220 Natural Beige (Dry Skin, because they were out of the Combination one). I’m curious to see what the actual difference is between the two types.
Maybelline‘s The Buffs have been out for a while now buttttttt since Ulta was also having BOGO 50% off at Ulta I waited to pick them up there. Unfortunately, all of the paler shades were sold out, so I only snatched up Maple Kiss and Stormy Sahara. Maple Kiss is really brown. Browner than I had expected. But Stormy Sahara seems to be a good neutral on me, although I’ve only swatched it on my lips once.
Next up are two Rimmel Apocalips (called Show Offs in the U.S.) shades that weren’t released in Canada – Nude Eclipse and Luna. I already love the formula of the three other shades I have, so I’m happy to add to my collection.
NYX‘s Fizzies was the one Butter Lipstick I knew I wanted for sure from that line. Fizzies is gorgeous, although the texture is a lot less buttery and creamy than I had expected. It actually slides on a bit stiff! That being said, the lasting power is longer than I had anticipated and this particular shade is really, really pretty. I wish I had bought more shades but I tragically opted for more Milani lipsticks instead (further below).
I’ve heard of this brand, but never been able to find it in Canada. Tree Hut‘s Shea Sugar Body Scrub in Brazilian Nut smells so bloody good that I actually want to eat it (funnily enough, it does say “DO NOT EAT” on the tub).
Anastasia‘s Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde was a challenge and a half to find. Sephora didn’t have it. Two Ultas didn’t have it (and one Ulta actually had a note on their Dipbrow display saying they were out of stock indefinitely because the product was in way too high of a demand!). As a last ditch effort, we stopped in yet another Ulta and I managed to get my greedy paws on the last Blonde Dipbrow sitting on the shelf. I’m not much of a brow person – the only brow product I have ever used is MAC‘s Omega eyeshadow to fill them in, so I’m excited to try something new out. I’ve used it once and the colour match seemed quite good.
Well I bought into the hype of these Milani lipsticks – I just wish I hadn’t gotten so many of them.
They smell like fake watermelon and it doesn’t go away on the lips. The colours are beautiful, but they’re actually quite stiff to apply on the lips. They’re sealed in the store so I couldn’t even get a whiff of them before I bought all six of them. Kind of kicking myself now because I would’ve preferred more of the NYX Butter Lipsticks. Ah well.
Hands down my favourite brand/type of lipsticks. Revlon‘s Creme Super Lustrous lipsticks are better than anything I’ve ever tried, including MAC. I got the Black Cherry andPink Velvet at Ulta (again, BOGO 50%) and then had to HUNT for Snow Peach since it’s part of Revlon‘s re-released collection. (Honestly, took about 12 different drugstores before I finally found the display.)
I love Julie G‘s YouTube videos and wanted to support her nail polish at Rite Aid. I have another shade from a previous trip to the U.S. (Mermaid’s Tale) and the quality of the polish was excellent. The new shades I picked up are My Private Palace and Golden Sunset. Golden Sunset is supposed to be textured but is definitely not (not a complaint really, I prefer smooth nail polish, but it struck me as odd that it would be advertised as textured when it’s decidedly not).
So you can actually get Wet n Wild products in Canada a lot more readily now, but I don’t tend to think about them when I’m in Rexall and I thought they’d be cheaper in the U.S.. They weren’t, but I picked some up anyway (because vacation money isn’t REAL money right?!). Just Peachy (903C) is much raved about by Tati of GlamLifeGuru so I thought I’d give it a shot, and Red Velvet (910D) is just a beautiful red all around. As a warning though, I wore the red while on my trip and it stained the everloving crap out of my lips. To the point where I woke up the next day and look like I’d been eating raspberries all night!
I own one of Wet n Wild‘s blushes, but wanted more, so I snatched up Mellow Wine and Pearlescent Pink. Out of all of Wet n Wild‘s products, these are the most awesome ones they have. Aside from the fact that they only have four blush colours, the pigmentation is wonderful. Highly recommended.
And lastly from Wet n Wild, I picked up a single shadow in Brulee because I often just need a single eyeshadow to pack with me on vacations if the palette I’m bringing doesn’t have a matte brow highlight shade.
I felt like the last person alive to own this blush. Milani‘s Luminoso blush seems to be the love child of every beauty blogger and YouTuber alike. This was another item that was hard to find. It was either sold out or broken at almost every drugstore I went to. I did finally find one intact and snatched it up immediately.
We ended up at the Inglot in Chelsea Market in Manhattan, which meant it was completely empty and we had the run of the entire store. It was in a 5th floor loft area and it was wonderful! I put together a five pan palette of completely matte vibrant shades. With the neutral overdose of palettes lately, I needed a bright combination to make me feel alive again. I didn’t have a list of things I wanted, so I just went for colours I didn’t think I had. The one in the middle looks quite similar to MAC‘s Bitter which is the primary reason I wanted that one.
This Inglot duo isn’t for me, but for my mom. The left shade turned out way peachier than I thought it was in the store, but ah well. She’ll love the sponge tip brush that comes with it too.
And these. How could I pass these up? These Inglot AMC glosses reflect crazy, crazy colours and I had to have them. The pink one is completely wearable, it’ll catch some orange reflections, but mostly it just looks pinky-red. The white/blue/purple one… I have noooo idea what I’m going to do with that one, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out!
As the cashier was collecting all my items, I asked him what their best selling products were, or what Inglot was most known for. He took me straight to their gel liners which he said were so waterproof that he used them all the time for underwater photoshoots and they don’t come off the models’ eyes. I was pretty sure I’d heard mixed reviews, but thought I’d try one out anyway. Since I’d already picked up a black gel liner on this trip, I decided to go with the red so I could try out some new things. I’ve worn it once since then, and I have to say the gel texture is totally unlike any other gel liner I’ve ever used. It’s far more liquid in texture (not a problem, just odd) and if you don’t clean your brush off after you use it, all the hairs will fuse together. I love the colour and pigmentation, but I’m unclear on the waterproofness though.
e.l.f.’s Daily Moisture Stick is a weird one. It looks like a glue stick, it applies like a glue stick, it smells vaguely like a glue stick, but… it’s a moisturizing balm. I picked it up on Emilynoel83′s recommendation and so far it has definitely helped me out with some nasty dry patches around my mouth.
My friend was picking up the e.l.f. Lip Exfoliator and I decided to be a copycat. It smells so good you’d want to eat it. The product was a bit rough on my lips as the sugar granules are quite large but I’m sure I’ll get used to it after a few uses.
My standard lip primer. I’m close to finished on my current MAC Prep + Prime for lips so I needed a backup.
Another replacement for a product I own. My current Duo eyelash glue is quite old and needed replacing. I prefer the white/clear version, so that’s what I bought.
More Nivea chapsticks! None of these flavours are available in Canada so in my basket they went!
More makeup wipes (they’re about half the cost in the U.S.) for my stockpile.
Makeup Geek shadows! Yay! I already own nine from my haul back in December and I had to have more. These are quickly replacing my MAC eyeshadows, and at the price point, you really can’t argue. These are softer, more pigmented and just work better than MAC. Highly, highly recommended – to the point where I don’t actually think I’ll be purchasing many more MAC shadows unless they’re a truly unique shade. Also grabbed a larger Z-palette to fit all my shades.
Along with the Makeup Geek eyeshadows, I ordered a pigment in Vegas Lights. On first glance, it looks very similar to MAC‘s Coppering which is a favourite shade of mine. Unfortunately I forgot to buy the new sifters for the pots, so this’ll be a bit messy whenever I use it.
Various facial cleansers that are (once again) cheaper in the U.S.. The Clean & Clear cleansers are ones I’ve used for many years. The Olay ones sold me with their pretty packaging.
Last up is a Fortune Cookie Soap order I put in to have shipped to my friend in Baltimore. As I’ve said before, the shipping cost to Canada for any kind of FCS order is so ridiculously high that there’s no way I’d place an order to myself in Toronto. So I took advantage of having a U.S. address for a short week and had a box full of items I wanted to try shipped to my friend.
Various Fortune Cookie Soaps I can’t wait to try out.
FCS’ Tick Tock Whipped Cream smells like clean laundry to me. I knew it was supposed to smell fresh, but other than that I didn’t really know how I’d like it. It’s okay, but not something I’d order again. I wish I had ordered the Make It Rain Whipped Cream (the one that came in the Spring Soap Box), but they were completely out of it when I placed my order.
FCS also sent a sample of their Trendsetter Bath Bomb with my order.
HOLY MOLY. And that’s it. That was my ginormous March haul. I’m slightly ashamed about how much I bought, but the scary thing is that’s actually my tailored down list of items I wanted to pick up (!!!!). The next few months will likely not be that interesting in terms of hauling as I’ve certainly picked up enough items to play with for a very long time!