I’m one of the fortunate ones that has their birthday in mid-January. So just when I’m getting over (aka sad) the fact that I was showered in presents over Christmas, I get to do it allll over again for my birthday! Woohoo!
Sephora BI Birthday Gift (free)
I also get to get my hands on the Sephora Beauty Insider gift early. This year they were handing out a duo of NARS in Cruella and Rikugien. I’ve never picked up any NARS lip products before so this was a nice surprise.
Some Makeup Geek shadows….
I also went haywire this month with Makeup Geek. An order I placed mid-December finally showed up (problems at the border due to a shipping method they tried out) annnnnd then I placed another order. I won’t list them all, but I ordered 32 shadows, including the full line of foiled shadows which are just as incredible as everyone else has been saying. I think it’s now my life goal to own all her eyeshadows… (As a note, Marlena has said that she expects to be raising the price of the eyeshadows by a dollar in the coming year because she needs to be able to pay her staff before… hence why I’m going bonkers.)
My aunt had given me a Sephora gift card for Christmas and I knew exactly what I wanted to pick up with it. I had gotten a sample of the Elizabeth & James Nirvana Black perfume a few months back and while I hadn’t loved it right off the bat, I definitely fell head over heels for it over the coming months. This stuff is NOT cheap, so I was really happy to use a gift card to pick it up. This is not my typical kind of scent either. This is definitely heavy and sexy, whereas my usual fragrances are all aquatic and watery. I really don’t know why I’m drawn to it so much either.
And then, a very good friend of mine (the one I went to Prague with this past year) gifted me a palette by a brand I’ve oddly never used before. (And holy crap the packaging… shiny rainbows?!?!?) Sara knows how much I love palettes and I’m impressed that she managed to grab me something that I didn’t already own!
Having never used Smashbox before, I’m excited to use this palette especially given how many options there are in there! I believe the On The Rocks palette was limited to the holidays.
Next up are three different scented soaps: Chocolate Orange, Rosemary Mint and Guinness Oat Sage. I’ve not opened these yet as I’ve got a lot of soap I’m trying to finish first, but these are sitting in the linen closet making everything smell amazing.
Last year Alison gave me some lotion for either my birthday or Christmas and I finished it up pretty quickly. I love this smell of this one and can’t wait to use it.
And then, to round it all out, she made THIS. THIS SUGAR SCRUB THING SMELLS FREAKING AMAZING. Lime in anything I’m all like hellz to the YES. But then add in coconut too? Jesus, just add some vodka and I’m good to go.
I’m not sure why these didn’t get included in my Christmas haul, but oh well. My brother picked up a few things from France and distributed them amongst my family members. I snatched up the body butter from Omnia Botanica because it’s winter and I need ALL THE MOISTURE… but this thing is hard as a rock. It’s been cold pressed, which I think is part of the issue. Once you get it on your skin it definitely melts, but man, digging it out of the container is a chore in and of itself.
Another one from France. Since I almost never have bath salts, I grabbed this one out of my brother’s pile and claimed it as my own. Mostly because I need something to soak my sore ass muscles!
My mom knows I like anything aquatic-scented, so she picked up two shower gels fromThe Body Shop in Fijian Water Lotus for my birthday. I didn’t even know this stuff existed, but damn does it ever smell good. She said she would’ve gotten me one in the larger size, but it seems they only make a 250ml version? It very faintly reminds me of the Oceanus scent they used to have wayyyyy back in the day. Man I loved that stuff. I had the oil, the perfume, the soap, the shower gel… I was Oceanus everything back in my teen years.
Another birthday gift! This one was a total shock to me. I’ve always been interested in trying The Balm, but just never really got around to it. It’s also not a brand I’ve ever brought up with anyone either. So imagine my surprise when my aunt had a package sent to me for my birthday and it was the Meet Matt(e) Nude palette! I’m so pleased with this! It’s a completely matte palette (duh), which I definitely need more of, and the colours are all ones I can incorporate into my brighter looks to help ground them.
And what’s a monthly haul without makeup remover? As I always say… I either buy this on sale, or when it’s in the larger packaging (for the regular price). Marcelle’s waterproof makeup remover is all I need and I have zero intentions of everything trying out another brand again for makeup remover.
You know, aside from dropping like $200 at Makeup Geek (lol) over the last two months, I’m actually surprised how little I spent on myself this month. The bulk of everything was gifts or gift cards that were given to me by very generous friends and family!