Sephora Haul: June 30, 2013

So since all the Sephora by OPI products are 50% off or more (it's still going on! Check it out!), I decided to buy 2 of the nail sets and split them with a friend.  I got

Image courtesy of Sephora

Image courtesy of Wanelo

 

 

These are so cute! But they had 2 of the same shades, so I'm glad I only got 1/2 of these.

 

Here's my haul:

Back row L to R: Living Proof Nourishing Style Cream, Boscia BB Cream SPF 27, Bumble and Bumble Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner, Philosophy Cinnamon Buns Shampoo, Shower Gel & Bubble Bath, Especially Escada, VIB Tarte Kit (Pure Maracuja Oil, Lights, Camera, Lashes! mascara, MultiplEYE Clinically Proven Natural Lash Enhancing Primer)

Middle row L to R: Sephora Collection Colorful Blush in Peach Fusion, Nails Inc Mayfair, Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams, Sephora by OPI It's All About Me, Sephora by OPI Mermaid to Order, Sephora by OPI It's Bouquet With Me, Sephora by OPI Bare to be Different, Sephora by OPI I'm Wired, Sephora by OPI Nonfat Soy Half Caff, Sephora by OPI High Maintenance, Sephora by OPI Already Famous, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

Front row L to R: Tarte LipSurgence Lip Crème in Carefree, Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Mini, and my Sephora Collection Ariel Storylook Palette

 

Here's a closer look at the products:

Tarte LipSurgence Lip Crème in Carefree: described as a light pink shimmer, but it definitely has a bit of mauve to it



Sephora Collection Colorful Blush in Peach Fusion: a matte peach, definitely well pigmented!

The nail polish again: Nails Inc Mayfair, Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams, Sephora by OPI It's All About Me, Sephora by OPI Mermaid to Order, Sephora by OPI It's Bouquet With Me, Sephora by OPI Bare to be Different, Sephora by OPI I'm Wired, Sephora by OPI Nonfat Soy Half Caff, Sephora by OPI High Maintenance, Sephora by OPI Already Famous, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic



This was a big haul including 2 separate orders from Sephora, hence the 5 samples, and 2 promo codes used (BDAY2012 to get the Fresh lip duo and VIBTARTE to get the Tarte trio).

After this big haul I'm going to try to resist Sephora until all the lovely Christmas collections come out, we'll see if that works!

How do you talk yourself out of beauty purchases?

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: June 27, 2013

Here's another NOTD, with nail polish from this haul

This is Orly Angel Eyes (3 coats over Revlon Multi Care Base+Top Coat).  It's a very sparkly blue glitter with hints of silver and baby pink.  I was fooled by this bottle thinking it was a base and glitter, but from this pic you can see it is just a densely packed glitter.

Have you ever been fooled by a nail polish?

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: June 25, 2013

Another quick NOTD for you:

Essie Buy Me a Cameo, the perfect neutral for those who don't like neutrals (it's basically a gold, but with a mocha-tinge). So cute! I will definitely be wearing this more in the fall!

What's your favourite neutral nail colour?

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: June 20, 2013

Here's another quick NOTD!

This is OCC's Grandma! It applied surprisingly well over my Orly Top2Bottom base coat and was sooo shiny by itself I didn't even do a top coat!
I'd describe the colour as a coralish red, which definitely took me out of my comfort zone, not being too keen on red nails. But this is such a summery fun colour that I'm definitely glad I got it!

What nail colour(s) is out of your comfort zone?

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: June 16, 2013

Here's today's NOTD:

One of my fav and most interesting nail polishes is Orly's Ingenue. Isn't this beautiful? Here it is from a different angle:

I'm trying to capture the duochrome-ness of the colour, but alas my camera can't seem to do it justice!

It's a gold flaked reddish purple, that in the shade appears more purple and in the sun appears more a pure gold.

It's definitely one of fav nail polishes! Can you think of any dupes for it?

Thanks for reading!





Haul: June 12, 2013

Planned myself another big haul! Went to 2 Winners and a Shoppers Drugmart, here's what I found!

Starting with nail polish:

From L to R: Orly Gumdrop, butter London Billy No Mates, butter London Scouse, Orly Angel Eyes, Essie Buy Me a Cameo

 



These were all on sale to varying degrees, the butter London were $12.99 each (compared to the usual price of $17 I couldn't resist!), Orly Gumdrop was $5.99, Orly Angel Eyes was $2.99, and Essie was $7.99 (I know it's cheaper in the states, but in Canada Essie is usually $11 - a big rip-off).

So far I've only tried Gumdrop, which is almost exactly a Tiffany blue, I love it! Very different from anything else I own, and I'm thinking it will go well with Revlon Whimsical.

Makeup and skincare:

From L to R: Vichy Normaderm Salicylic Acid Lotion, Bioderma PP Baume, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Nude Lustre, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Temptress, Maybelline Color Tattoo Metal in Barely Branded, Bioderma Sensibio H2O Cleanser

 

The Vichy and Bioderma products were actually samples, the nice lady at the beauty counter gave them to me, I've never received samples at Shoppers before but apparently you can! 

 

The deal was to buy 2 Revlon lip products and get 2000 bonus Optimum points, since I've been wanting to add more lipstick into my beauty routine, I decided on Temptress

 

 



As you can see it's a beautiful medium pink.  Since I have fuller lips, I'm a bit intimidated by lip colour, so this should help me start to get out of my comfort zone!

 

I picked out Nude Lustre since most of my lipglosses are pink or very shimmery, so I thought this would also be a nice change.  I think it has enough colour to it not to make my lips look dead, but I haven't tried it out so we'll see!

 

I've been hearing rave reviews over at MakeupTalk for a while about how awesome the Maybelline Color Tattoos are, and they were on sale this week so I picked up Barely Branded, which I've heard can be used as a base as well as alone.  The colour is a bit lighter than I was expecting, but it definitely lasted a long time without creasing so far in my experience!

 

What do you think of this haul? Any drugstore product recommendations for me?

 

Thanks for reading!





NOTD: June 11, 2013

Today's NOTD:

This is Orly's Fiesta, with my Revlon Multi Care Base+Top Coat as the base & top coat.

I'm loving this bright pink with just a hint of shimmer! I definitely need some more pinks in my nail polish collection! ;)

Do you have any nail polish colours you're seriously lacking?

Thanks for reading!

End of May Sephora Haul!

From L to R: VIB Stila set, Sephora Collection Colorful Blush in Pink Flush, REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask, Sephora Collection Waterproof Contour Eye Pencil in 24 Surfer Babe, Sephora Favorites Lash Stash, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme, OCC Lip Tar & Nail Lacquer Set in Grandma, and Amazing Cosmetics Concealer

 

 

So I'd been eyeing the OCC Lip Tar & Nail Lacquer Set for sometime, having wanted to try out a Lip Tar, but being unable to justify the price of a single Lip Tar, so this set was perfect to try out a Lip Tar and basically get a $3 OCC nail polish. The Lip Tar was a bit more orange than I expected, but I love the brush and the feel of the Lip Tar, not as drying as other lip stain products. Also, you can definitely increase or decrease the intensity of the colour by adding more product or using less.

 

 

 

The Sephora Collection Colorful Blush were in the sale section for $7 each, so I decided to pick up Pink Flush, since the price couldn't be beat & I think blush would be a great addition to an everyday or special occasion makeup look. Surprisingly this is the first blush I've bought!

I also found Sephora's eye pencils cost only $11 and the variety of shades was awesome! Reviews online compared these pencils to Urban Decay, so I decided for $11 I'd give this one in Surfer Babe, a peacock blue, a shot. The pencil arrived broken so I'll have to sharpen it before using, the color looks amazing though! Unlike anything I currently own.

For my online code, I decided to go with VIBSTILA which included Stila's waterproof mascara and 2 lip glazes (which I already knew I loved). The 3 items came packaged in a pretty sheer pink bag that can be reused for gifts. Since this was free this was awesome!

 

 

 Having passed on the Sephora Favorites Lash Stash at Christmas, I decided to shill out the $30 for this set of 5 mini mascaras with a voucher to purchase the full-size of your favourite mascara of this set instore.  I have a few mascaras to finish up before starting on these, but I still think this was a good deal!

 



The 3 free samples I received with this order were: REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask (0.17 oz, very generous for a free sample), Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme, and Amazing Cosmetics Concealer in Medium Beige.

I requested the Amazing Cosmetics Foundation in Medium Beige, so I'm guessing the concealer will be too dark for my skin tone, so this might be given away to someone who can use it.

 

Have you done any big hauls recently? Do you like Sephora's brand of cosmetics?

 

Thanks for reading!

NOTD: June 9, 2013

Here's another NOTD look:

For this look I used OPI Thanks a Windmillion with Revlon Whimsical on top and Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac as the accent nail. I loved the OPI colour and for $2.50 the Sally Hansen is lovely as well!

How'd you like this pastel inspired spring look?

NOTD: June 5, 2013

I finally got around to trying the polish from my May Julep Maven box! If you're interested in learning more about becoming a Julep Maven see this post

This is Julep's Alice, I used my Revlon Multi Care Base+Top Coat for the base & tops of this look.

For the May Julep box I deviated from my usual It Girl box to the Boho Glam box, mostly because I thought Alice was so freaking beautiful. It definitely did not disappoint me!
Love the light lilac colour with the slight metallic sheen that this polish has! I actually liked it better in real life than in Julep's pictures!

Are you a Maven? If you're interested in becoming a maven click the link on the left side of my blog so that I can get rewards points for referring you!

Thanks for reading!

May Empties

Thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and start posting empties posts. Not only will it help me use up my makeup/products but I will also give a short review on each of the items. So here's the items I used up in May!

Front row L to R: Garnier Fructis Body & Volume Conditioner, CoverGirl Lashblast Fusion Water Resistant Mascara in Very Black, Garnier Fructis Body & Volume Shampoo
Back row L to R: Balea Purifying Face Mask in Jasmine & Cactus Flower Extract, SPAresource Coconut Body Mist, Murad Acne Clarifying Cleanser, Compliments Premiere Quality Cotton Pads, Secret Clinical Antiperspirant Waterproof.

Garnier Fructis Body & Volume Shampoo and Conditioner: honestly can't say where I got these samples from or even how long ago. I don't generally need volumizing hair products, since my hair is medium-thick naturally.  These smelled great (as expected), and did a good job cleaning and smoothing my hair. I won't repurchase however as it isn't a product I need.

CoverGirl Lashblast Fusion Water Resistant Mascara in Very Black: definitely my favourite drugstore brand mascara! Lives up to the volume & lengthening description, and definitely lasts smudge-proof throughout a long day at work. I would highly recommend this mascara, definitely worth the price! On a side note, I'm keeping this empty mascara around, since my ELF Lengthening & Defining mascara seems to last longer when I sweep this brush through my lashes after applying the mascara.

Balea Purifying Face Mask in Jasmine & Cactus Flower Extract: received this mask a while back for Christmas and finally got around to using it. I'm not a huge face mask person, but I do enjoy them every so often. This one isn't one of my favourites that I've tried, it's a peel off one, but I must've not applied it evenly because even 5 minutes after the recommended time to take off the mask, I was unable to peel off my right cheek.  The stickness/goopiness of the mask took probably longer to get off my face than the total time to apply and wait to dry.  Pretty frustrating. Also didn't notice any difference in my complexion. I won't repurchase this product.

SPAresource Coconut Body Mist: received this as a Christmas present a few years ago, and have finally finished it up. Although I wouldn't have picked a coconut scent for myself, I actually really enjoyed this scent. It was a sweet coconut scent, that reminded me of pina coladas without the pineapple. Refreshing & sweet, a great combo in my opinion. Wouldn't repurchase though since I'm not sure where I could buy this brand.

Murad Acne Clarifying Cleanser: received this in my IT Kit from Sephora back in December. Thought it was a decent cleanser, but definitely won't be replacing my usual Cetaphil with this, as I didn't notice any difference, and I find this product too expensive for no results.

Compliments Premiere Quality Cotton Pads: picked these up quickly at Sobey's for nail polish removal. These were strong enough not to completely disintegrate and didn't have a lot of lint. For the price I will definitely buy these again. Good for both nail polish removal & toning my face.

Secret Clinical Antiperspirant Waterproof: my favourite deodorant! Haven't found anything that works as well as this!

What products did you use up this month? Any favs or recommendations for me?

Thanks for reading!