July’s beauty haul is slightly more exciting than last month’s no buy that’s for sure!
My mission to find a matte black liquid liner in a pen-style format with a brush tip continues! So far this is the best one, but it’s still not perfect. Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner brush tip applicator is absolutely perfect at distributing product – it continually amazes me that the product is ALWAYS at the tip of the brush (which is a slight problem I’d had with the Physicians Formula eye booster in the same style). It makes for super easy application, especially when you’re used to a gel liner and brush. However, it’s still not *completely* matte black. It’s nowhere near as shiny as Make Up For Ever’s Aqualiner in Black, but it still has the very hint of a sheen, which means it can pick up lid eyeshadow to a certain degree. However, this being the best one I’ve found yet, its ease of use far outstrips any shine it may have. I picked this up primarily because I’m going on vacation in September and since I wear a lot of winged out liner, the last thing I want to do is fuss around with a pot of gel liner and a brush while trying to get out the door to go sightseeing.
Unlike every other Neutrogena makeup remover, the Hydrating version almost never goes on sale which is incredibly frustrating. I noticed they were slightly less expensive at Walmart this time round so I snapped them up while I was there.
Be A Bombshell‘s Last Call Girl lipgloss was a freebie from Ipsy. I had complained about the extremely horrible scent of the Be A Bombshell’s mascara I have been previously sent and they sent me two free products (next one follows this one) as recompense. I’m not sure when I’ll wear this, if ever. It’s not a colour I usually gravitate towards and it’s a gloss which leaves me feeling even less enthused. Ah well. Better than the mascara, that’s for sure.
The other freebie I got from Ipsy was the Elizabeth MottIt’s So Big mascara. It works well on my lower lashes (where I want less product and less volume) but it doesn’t do much to boost up my upper lashes. I’ll keep using it for my lower lashes for sure though – I like how it deposits just the right amount of colour I want on them.
I hadn’t planned to do an Empties update for another month but this bag was getting way too full and I didn’t want the post length to be too ridiculous. So here we go! Makeup first because I know that’s the interesting stuff.
Not one, but TWO eyeshadows done! Can I get a “HELL YES!”? The top right was MAC‘sHaux, my oldest eyeshadow. After 19 years, I can finally retire it , but it has definitely had a good long life. The bottom right is MAC‘s Brule. Brule only took me about 3 years to finish up as it was my daily browbone highlight.
Repurchase? No, but not because they were bad, but because I have a great many other shades that are near identical. Plus I clearly didn’t like Haux that much if it took me 19 bloody years to finish it up!
I really liked MUA‘s Matte Foundation at first – their Shade 1 Soft Sand was a great match for my skin and it went on my face really well… but the niceness stopped about an hour after application. It started out looking really good, but this foundation eventually dissolved into a greasy mess by the end of the day or night. I’m not even prone to oil but this certainly induced it! I went through about half the tube, so I definitely gave it a fair shot, but I decided this wasn’t worth finishing when I had other products I much preferred.
Repurchase? Definitely not.
Another “meh” product from MUA. (So far, the only thing I’m liking from this brand is their eyeshadows.) Their BB Cream in Light was overly thick and not much fun to wear. It had more coverage than I expected (which may be good for some people), but for me it looked like I’d applied a paste to my face. I just never fell in love with it after using half the tube so I decided enough was enough and chucked it in the garbage.
I’m not sure why this hasn’t been included in an empties post earlier, because I’ve been done with this liner for a very long time. Physicians Formula Eye Booster liquid liner inUltra Black made me fall in love with brush tip pen liners (NOT felt tip – those are the devil). Very black and easy to wear although slightly lacking in the waterproof department. I’ve since heard that the Ultra Black shade has gone slightly grey which is a bit of a disappointment. This, thankfully, was a liquid liner that didn’t seem to have the horrible reflective properties of other liners (I’m looking at you MUFEAqualiner).
Verdict: I wouldn’t repurchase this right now as I’m firmly attached to my gel liners, but I would recommend it to others.
Duo eyelash adhesive is my staple eyelash glue. This tube is very old (~3 years) and needed replacing.
Verdict: Forever repurchase
As I said in my Ipsy Haul for February 2014, Pop Beauty’s Plump Pout in Fuchsia Freesia smelled bad. Well, it turns out there was a bit of a to do with Ipsy and Pop Beautythat month and I could’ve gotten a replacement for my rotten smelling lipgloss. It’s a shame that I didn’t, but I’m not using this sucker and it’s going straight into the garbage.
Verdict: Just based on the toxic scent and how the whole thing was handled (poorly and secretively) I’ll be avoiding this brand.
Too FacedBetter Than Sex mascara: Loved this stuff, but hated the wand. The formula of the mascara is fantastic, but the wand made it really, really annoying to apply. There’s nothing easy about an hourglass shaped wand!
Verdict: Won’t rebuy – the formula isn’t worth the hassle of the brush.
Blistex‘s Lip Medex is like medicine in a tube for your lips. Nothing heals my parched, dry, cracked lips like this stuff does throughout the cold winter months.
Verdict: Love it and will repurchase it in the winter.
Marcelle‘s Gentle Make-Up Remover for Sensitive Eyes is a forever favourite. This is the best makeup remover I’ve ever purchased and it works wonders on waterproof makeup. I usually wait to buy this on sale and then get a bunch of them all at once.
Verdict: Repurchase most definitely
MarcelleCleansing Cloths are adequate, but nothing to write home about. They only remove waterproof makeup “so-so”.
Verdict: No repurchase
GarnierMoisture Rescue wipes: Useless and stinky. Dry and irritating. YUCK.
Verdict: Never, EVER repurchase
NeutrogenaAll-in-One Makeup Cleansing Wipes: These are okay, completely satisfactory, but I bought these by accident when I thought they were the same as:
NeutrogenaHydrating Makeup Remover Cleansing Cloths: These are holy grail. Not buying any other makeup removing cloths after trying these. They’re wetter than any other cloth I’ve tried and they actually remove waterproof mascara well.
Verdict: Would repurchase the Neutrogena Hydrating wipes
I love Lush‘s Honey I Washed The Kids soap, but the darn thing just runs out way too quickly. It’s Raining Men is their shower gel equivalent and it such a better investment in terms of money. This stuff lasted me absolutely forever (about a year, using it intermittently with other washes and soaps) and easily outdid the longevity of the bars of soap. This smells like honey and caramel and *edible*. To confirm: It is NOT edible, in a moment of weakness I tested it with the tip of my tongue and it tastes like soap. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible!
Verdict: Definite rebuy!
Fortune Cookie SoapNative Nectar Body Wash: A very liquid body wash, but lovely nonetheless. It had small shimmer particles in the product, but they didn’t stick on the skin (so it just looks pretty, really). It has a very clean coconut smell – very lovely.
Verdict: Would repurchase
Fortune Cookie SoapVenus Fly Trap Perfume Oil: This stuff is amazing. It smells like sickly, sweet flowers but not in a revolting way. It doesn’t smell like old lady perfume and it’s pretty light and not cloying (as in it won’t give you a headache with its thickness). I never, ever thought I’d like a scent like this (FCS indicates that it has “Bergamot, narcaisse & musk lurk beneath delicate notes of water orchid, sparkling lemon & pink jasmine.”) but this is just beautiful.
Verdict: Would repurchase
Fortune Cookie SoapMake it Rain Whipped Cream: Love this so much! The formula and it does feel like whipped cream on the skin. I also really, really love the scent. I’ve heard some people say it smells too much like musk, but I actually get a very clean, very laundry scent out of this.
Verdict: Definite repurchase
DERMAdoctorwrinkle REVENGE: Completely forgettable in every way.
Verdict: Would not purchase
BioreBlemish Fighting Ice Cleanser: I don’t have acne problems (and this contains salicylic acid to help with breakouts) so I can’t really say if this helped combat anything, but it did feel nice on the skin.
Verdict: Purchase if on sale
BenefitThe Porefessional: I genuinely do not get the hype with this product. It seemed fine as a primer, but nothing earthshattering.
Verdict: Would not purchase
H20Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment: I don’t even remember this stuff, so it definitely couldn’t have been amazing.
Verdict: Would not purchase
H20Aquafirm+ Micro-collagen Moisturizer: Can’t remember this one either.
Verdict: Would not purchase
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Alaska Light2: Quite liked this one actually. I got enough out of the foil packet for a single use and it smoothed on nicely and had light coverage, which was nice because it didn’t cover my freckles (which I like). [Click for a pic of the foundation on my face.]
Verdict: Will consider purchasing when I finally run low on other foundations.
My friend Ali made this wonderful Orange Whip body butter for me for my birthday. I used up the whole jar really quickly and loved it to pieces.
Verdict: No need to repurchase, I’ll just poke her when I need more!
Monumental effort here – I finished a perfume! I really liked Adidas‘ Pure Lightness. Fragrantica.com indicates that it has “Top notes of melon and red apple; middle notes are jasmine, magnolia, violet and lily-of-the-valley; base note is musk”. But to me, this just smelled aquatic. It’s light and crisp and has quite decent lasting power.
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 NeutrogenaOil-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 Blacktrackis definitely not waterproof, and I wanted to give another gel liner a shot since I can’t seem to find a matte black pen style liner. I dare say this is darker than MAC‘s Blacktrack, but it is definitely not waterproof. At least not to the extent that MUFE‘s Aqualiner is (although that’s shiney and so disappointing in that area). I’m pretty pleased that the liner actually comes with a double ended brush that’s actually completely serviceable. Love that little extra.
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 MACPrep + 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!
I know what you’re going to say. “You said last month you weren’t going to buy anything makeup-related until March!” I know I did, but I’ve got an excuse! My birthday was this past month and I was gifted almost everything I’m about to include in this post. Everything will have prices just so you’ll have an idea if you’re interested in some of them, but I’m only taking blame for some of these items! 😉
On with the loot!
This item was actually a replacement (in my eyes) for my returned Illamasqua palette. I’ve been wanting to pick up a 3D, disco-like glitter for ages now. I had wanted MAC‘s 3D Silver Glitter, but never got around to picking it up. I saw this while at Sephora and decided why the heck not and picked up MUFE‘s Glitter in 13. I am eternally in love with this kind of silver glitter with a rainbow sparkle to it. This is the kind of glitter I always have painted on my toes and I definitely wanted something similar to use on my face. I’ve not had the opportunity to use it yet, but I’m excited to!
I picked up this Joe Fresh Beauty Rose Gloss in Peach while I was out one day and didn’t have a lip balm on me. THIS THING IS AWFUL. Run away. Run FAR away and never ever buy one of these. First of all, it smells horrible. Fake, plastic and completely unpleasant. It also clumps up on the lips and causes horrible strings when you open your mouth. This gloss has no redeeming factors whatsoever. I mean, just look at this horrible picture. It looks like something out of a horror movie. Ugh.
I quickly depotted it and threw the contents out. I’ll use the pot for something else. Bleugh.
I spotted these Neutrogena wipes on sale so I snatched them up. Adding to my stack of four other unopened packs of wipes in my bathroom linen closet. /facepalm
This stuff is amazing. A dear friend of mine made some body butter for me! (You can find her at www.alidoesit.ca, or you can find a direct link to her recipe here.) The label rubbed off, but I believe she said it was Orange Whip Lotion. She also indicated she “messed up” the recipe and it came out thicker than she intended. Well to hell with her mess up, because I really love just how thick this moisturizer is! It’s far closer to a body butter, which is just all the better in my opinion. To me, I don’t get so much of the scent of orange, but I do get the scent of a million wildflowers rolled into a single mason jar. It’s as if you got dumped into a field of flowers and sniffed them all up at once. The smell is incredible. Not to mention it feels wonderful on the skin. Because the ingredients are all natural, it won’t last as long as some storebought lotions simply because it doesn’t have all the chemical additives in it. That being said, it won’t matter because I’m about halfway done the jar already!
This is definitely one I bought with my own money. This Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip in Sunset Strip was marked down 60% off and the tag indicated it was on clearance and their stock wouldn’t be replenished. Having always wanted to pick up one of these but had always balked at the enormous price tag in Canada (seriously, these are over $20 at the drugstore here), I panicked and purchased this because I was worried I’d never get the opportunity to test it out since it was on clearance.
Having a rather nice gift card to Sephora, I picked up a few items I had been lusting over. The first was this Living ProofFull Thickening Cream for hair. I had used a small sample of it and loved the effects and the smell of it. I then went into the Sephora, picked it up, brought it to the counter and was floored at the price tag. $32 for this thing and it is SMALL. I should’ve photographed it against my hand to give you an idea of size… but seriously, it is really dinky. I do love it, and I’ll use it up, but I’ll have to see whether or not it’s worth repurchasing at that steep price.
Another one I picked up from Sephora and my very first NARS product is an eyeshadow duo in Mediteranee. I’m curious to see how NARS compares to other brands I’ve used especially when I consider the sticker price. I’m a sucker for oranges and the shade on the left is slightly gold tinted so I’m excited to use this one.
Annnnd my next item from NARS (from Sephora). This one was absolutely necessary – allow me to explain. In the last two weeks, I don’t know what the heck has happened, but suddenly my Urban DecayPrimer Potion doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to. I’ve had a few days in a row where my eyeshadow almost completely creased off by the end of the work day. I’m in kind of a slight panic about it because I’m used to being able to put on eyeshadow at 7 am with UD‘s primer and have it last until midnight if it was a particularly long day.
I’d heard that NARS‘ primer was the absolute best for oily eyelids so I figured this must be a step up from UDPP. I don’t have an especially oily face really – I don’t powder my face, I don’t even usually have to wear foundation or anything mattifying, but I figure I must have oily eyelids to cause all my eyeshadows to crease. I’ve only tried it a few times with inconclusive results (some days it didn’t crease, some days I had minor creasing). I really, REALLY hope this works for me because having to worry about creased eyeshadow after having had years of no problems with UDPP is making me really, really nervous.
I was in Winners one day and stumbled over some Real Techniques with amazing price tags attached to their shiny packages. I’ve mentioned my lack of brushes previously and had intended to pick these sets up while in the US, but when I saw that these were cheaper than even what they sell in the US, I decided it wasn’t worth waiting to spend the money.
Everyone’s seen these, so I’ll be brief. This is Real Techniques‘ Travel Essentials set. It includes a foundation brush, an eyeshadow blending brush and a large powder brush.
RT‘s Starter Set includes two eyeshadow blending brushes (seriously, they’re too fat to do anything other than blend stuff on your face), a very small detail brush, a liner brush (there’s no way you can use this one for liner by the way, it’s way too big) and an angled brush that they’ve labeled as one for your eyebrows.
I love my other Real Techniques brushes so I’m excited to use these!
The Summer, Sky and Air scents from Bath & Body Works are a new addition to their regular line although I’m not sure if they’re limited edition. As a result of them being so new, they’re all on sale for roughly half price. I’m not sure how long this promotion will last, but snatch them up quickly if you like the scent. I really love the one I grabbed which is the Violet Lily Skyscent. I’m not even going to try to describe it other than to say that I really like it. I picked up the diamond shimmer version because I’m a sucker for anything with sparkle or glitter. Unfortunately, I’ve been wearing it the past few days and the scent disappears really quickly which is frustrating (it seems to be gone after an hour or two). The small sparkles stick around for a while on your skin though, so that’s quite nice.
If you’re familiar with B&BW‘s previous shimmer mist, then you’ll wonder if the new bottle (this time labeled Diamond Shimmer Mist) is actually bigger. I know it sure looked bigger to me, but as it turns out both bottles have 236ml of product, so you’re still getting the same amount, despite the change in packaging. I will say that the previous Shimmer Mist I had, the Warm Vanilla Sugar one, lasts a lot longer on the skin and I think the shimmer particles are slightly larger than the new diamond mist ones. Either way, it’s a fun product to have!
For a “no buy” month I sure did end up with a decent number of products!