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February Beauty Buys

February 28, 2015

I love that so many online retailers put their summer beauty sets on sale in the beginning of winter, because it’s no longer warm weather time in most parts of the world. I, however, live in Southern California where it’s summer about 8 months out of the year! I’d had this set from Sephora in my cart for months before I finally clicked “check-out.” The bronzers, bright lip colors and fun nail polishes are welcome in my makeup kit all the time, but it’s awesome that I can buy pretty little sets at great discounts and start using everything right away.

From Macys.com
Benefit Cosmetics Bronze N Dandy cheek/lip set
MAC Pro Longwear lip pencil in More to Love
MAC Miley Cyrus Viva Glam lipstick
The lipliner and lipstick combo was recommended to me by a friend who works as a makeup artist for MAC. The liner is a great slightly darker, cooler base for the lipstick, and helps it stay on for hours upon hours.

From Sephora.com
Josie Maran 100% Light Argan Oil
Anastasia Brow Wiz in Caramel
Sephora Favorites Summer Stash Set including:
Canvas makeup bag
Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray
Deborah Lippman Glitter Nail Lacquer in Mermaid’s Dream
Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Pink Escape
NARS Laguna Bronzing Powder
Stila Magnificent Metal Foil Finish Eyeshadow in Metallic Pixie Dust
Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes liner in Iridescent Navy Blue
Buxom Divine Goddess Luminizer
OCC Cosmetics Lip Tar in New Wave with brush
Marc Jacobs Lash Lifter Gel Definition Mascara in Blacquer

And then, all of the lovely skincare and fragrance samples Sephora sent to me!

Eyes.Lips.Face

February 7, 2015

It’s been, oh, I don’t know, 4 years maybe since I ordered from ELF cosmetics’ website. Since their addition to Target stores, I’ve found myself just stopping by the aisle really quickly to pick up a replacement liquid eyeliner or eyelid primer, but not really pausing to investigate new products and shades. Then silly me remembered I had purchased a Groupon for ELF (that had long expired) and had yet to redeem it! It really did take me some effort to find enough goodies to make it to the free shipping minimum (that’s a lot of $3 lip products, mmkk?) but I’m pretty happy with my selections! I will try to get swatches up soon of the lip items and am also so happy to have a replacement for my old “dump” bag! I just love that they call it that, because you can just dump all of your makeup or whatever in it, but the one I had was from years ago and was covered in spilled loose eyeshadow and foundation, eek! This is much better 🙂

For the bargain price of $24 I received –
The infamous dump bag
a travel mirror
2 eyelid primers
a glitter primer (if I ever wear glitter on my lids again!)
2 lipsticks
lip exfoliator
gold smudge pot
3 tinted lip balms
blush palette

Not too shabby! I’m most excited for the wine-hued lipstick and that lip exfoliator.. My lips have been so dry recently!
What are your thoughts on bargain makeup brands like E.L.F.?
🙂

Birchbox vs Ipsy Roundup

January 23, 2015

I’ve mentioned on here before my love (ahem, addiction) of subscription services. Every now and again, I like to do a comparison of the items received in my monthly beauty deliveries from Ipsy and Birchbox. Over time, I’ve noticed that Ipsy is much more cosmetics-focused, while Birchbox is mostly centered around skincare. It works out though, because I end up with a perfect mix of both!

January’s Ipsy Bag
Hikari Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner
Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow in Ethereal
Probelle Into the Blue Nail Lacquer
Elizabeth Mott All Over Shadow Brush
La Fresh EcoBeauty Good Day. Day Moisturizer
I really like this bag! The flip side is cream-colored and it has an orange zipper.. Such a great color combo!

January’s Birchbox
Tocca Cleopatra Crema de Mano
Manna Kadar Lip-Locked Priming Gloss Stain in All of You
MyChelle Dermaceuticals Advanced Argan Oil
It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-in Treatment
Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream

December’s Ipsy Bag –
Tarte Deluxe Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara
Pixi by Petra Fairy Dust in Brightening Bare – this is a product I didn’t care for much.. I’ve already passed it on to a coworker to see if she likes it. I found the consistency to be a bit chalky and the color quite blah.
Nourish Organics Eye Cream
NYX Butter Lip Balm in Ladyfingers – this is very pigmented, I was surprised! It’s a great bright pink shade.
CoolWay Boost Repair Treatment

December’s Birchbox –
Dr. Jart+ Beauty Balm
Acure Sensitive Facial Cleanser
Benefit They’re Real Mascara
English Laundry Signature Fragrance
Toni & Guy Prep Heat Protection Mist – I want to give this spray another chance, but the first few tries left my hair a bit on the crunchy side.

December’s Ipsy Bag
Be a Bombshell Eye Base in Submissive – I’ve tried using this twice as a base and it creases like no other! It’s a pretty color (bronze with shimmer) so I may try treating it like a cream shadow and wear it over another legit base.
Elizabeth Mott You’re So Fine Liquid Eyeliner in Black
J.Cat Beauty Wonder Lip Paint – this stuff is so concentrated! I’ve yet to try OCC’s lip tars but I can imagine that these are very similar.
Temptu S/B Highlighter in Pink Pearl
I wanted to love this bag but those wrinkles will just not come out, even after stuffing it with paper to help it get’s it’s shape back.

November’s Birchbox
Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive
Camille Beckman Platinume Gold Imperial Repair Hand Therapy
Make Dual Phase Eye Makeup Remover
Toni & Guy Classic Shine Gloss Serum
Laura Mericer Kohl Eye Pencil in Black Navy

I’ve got to admit that I look forward just a little bit more each month to those shiny pink packages from Ipsy.. Birchbox has them beat though when it comes to hair samples!
What beauty subscriptions do you look forward to each month?
😀

Beauty Buys ~ October

October 13, 2014

This year’s holiday beauty offerings were some of the best I’ve seen yet! It was quite difficult to decide which of the sparkly sets I should add to my collection after perusing the goods at beauty mecca Sephora. I ended up picking the Bon Voyage set from Tarte, the Josie Maran Winter Dreams Argan Collection, and the Juicy Couture Travel Pen set. I also picked up my essential brow pencil from Anastasia Beverly Hills and a couple of Dolce & Gabbana fragrance minis.

From top:
Tarte Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palette (from Bon Voyage set)
Tarte lights, camera, action mascara, cheek stain in Muse, LipSurgence lip gloss in Visionary, LipSurgence lip tint in Romantic, maracuja oil, Amazonian clay finishing powder and travel bag
Josie Maran Winter Dreams Collection – Argan black oil mascara, Infinity lip & cheek creamy oil in Limitless Pink, Coconut watercolor eyeshadow in Rio de Rose Gold, Argan luminizer, Argan oil light
Juicy Couture Travel Spray Pen Set – Viva La Juicy, Viva la Juicy Noir, Viva la Juicy Gold Couture; deluxe Dolce & Gabbana Desire parfum; Dolce & Gabbana Dolce sample.

So far, I’m loving from Josie Maran the light Argan oil as a pre-foundation base, the coconut water eye color for a metallic bronze wash on the eyelids, and of course, the pretty travel case from Tarte. As far as the perfume goes, I’ve only spritzed the Viva la Juicy Noir. It smells so lovely at first, but an hour later, even a direct sniff of my wrist and there is nothing there 🙁 It might just end up being a fragrance I carry with me at night for touch-ups.

Which holiday makeup & beauty sets are you most looking forward to picking up?
Side note… I still might grab one of Stila’s collaborative sets with BaubleBar! Those bags are gorgeous!