I've been away for a while and now I'm gonna backtrack a bit. A while ago I went to Ulta for the first time ever! I love it soooooo much. But it's really far away from me. :(
Here you go!
So I got 2 Orly nail lacquers, one mini (wish it was full size, but I only had so much money on me), and a free full size. The mini was $3.50 in the color Rage, which is an absolutely gorgeous rose gold color. I also think it works year round. Love! The second one was free with a coupon from a magazine. They usually retail for $7 btw. It's called Shine and I still haven't tried it on, but I think it'll be my next nail color. Right now I'm wearing a shade from the UD Apocalyptic Nail Kit which I'll haul really soon.
NYX lip stuff was BOGO50% off so I got a round lipstick in Jupiter (normally $3.50) and a soft matte lip cream in Milan ($6). Jupiter is a really light, very frosty pink. Milan is a deep muted rosey berry, as best as I can describe it. I like the fact that the tube is the color of the product. So when I first got these my lips were pretty dry and neither product looked very good. Jupiter is a frosty pink, which is not cute on cracked lips. Milan is a bit drying and looks much better on smooth lips. Now that there is a little humidity and moisture injected into the air and I've found my HG lip conditioner (I'll talk about that in a mo'), I've been wearing Milan, but to date still haven't worn Jupiter out. I'll wear it Monday (probably). The lipstick is not drying, but the cream is a bit. If you don't know what the soft matte lip creams are, they're basically matte, liquid lipsticks with a doe foot applicator. I think I want more NYX lipsticks, but in more wearable formulations and colors. I'm excited that they've started to bring more and more NYX to Urban Outfitters. As a splurge I might pick up this gigantic bronzer that they have for face and body. It's $16 though, and I don't really have a big enough kabuki. :/ We'll see.
So just 4 products. I also used a $3.50 off $10 coupon so the whole purchase was under ten.
Here's a pic, sorry, you can request swatches if you like.
So I just talked to my friend and she asked me to pick her up a stila palette. I got her the floral chic one because it was the cleanest...and her name is Flora. Anyways...while I was at Urban Outfitters, I noticed the POPBeauty Cat Eyes eyeliner that I wanted (retails for $16), had a $3.50 tag on it! I obviously got it! I think the sticker was from a NYX eyeliner, so now I feel sorta guilty. Their mistake, right? Anywho...it's very nice. It has tiny, tasteful flecks of shimmer and a beautiful, creamy, smoky, blendable look and feel. This color is No. 1 Black Onyx.
Pics:
The first line is drawn with the tip of the rectangle, the second two the whole surface area of the rectangle, and the fourth one I used the rectangle horizontally.
Meow. Haaa- thanks for the cute idea Marin from your Physician's Formula post.
Also, I went to CVS for kicks and decided as a pick-me-up to grab one of those wet n wild $1.99 glosses. I bought the brightest pink, without sparkles or glitter. I just wanted shiny lips, and these are called mega slicks (not a very good name...ha.) I got home and wanted to try it on. I was happy because it smelled deliciously sugary and was very very bright in the tube. When I pulled the doe-footed applicator out of the tube completely I was extremely disappointed. Zero pigment. I think had I bought the clear gloss or wanted a clear gloss I would've been happy but this was really quite lame. *RAWRR-MEWANTLIPGLASS* Sorry.
One thing that cracked me up is a lot of French designer brands have the names of the products in French and English on American products and cheap brands imitate them to seem classier or pricier. The name of this gloss is "Cotton Candy". Not classy. The funny part is that in French Cotton Candy is called "Barbe à Papa" (Daddy's Beard). Classy. :P By the way, I tried to take a picture of the product on my lips but I'm having lighting issues. I'll work on it.
Pics:
It looks even brighter than that (in the tube) in real life!
So I've been using my VitaminWater lip balm for the past few days now and I really like it. If you put waaaaaaaaaay too much on (like me) it becomes a bit grainy but other than that my first impressions were spot on. Someone was interested in packaging and pics, well here you are!
Look at the size of my nail in comparison to the tube! Huge!
By the way, when I bought it, the packaging was a little grubby (duh, it was from Urban Outfitters), but I realized there was a whole seal on the outside printed the same way as the sticker on the tube so it was nice and clean when unwrapped, without any yucky price tag residue.
I love the balm. It gives my lips a really nice shine, but it hasn't replaced my Yves Rocher reparing balm. I use that under lipstick.
For the third day in a row, I went to Urban Outfitters. Don't judge! I can walk there in five minutes. Their beauty selection is limited but I think it's rather nice. They have those little Stila palettes that cost ten bucks and have four eyeshadows and a convertible color. Most of them are destroyed and have fingerprints or the pans are gauged out! Eww. They were $1.99 today with and everything on sale was 30% off so it was only $1.39...woww. I found one that wasn't too gross. I bought it, brought it home and gave it some TLC. I cleaned up the palette and sterilized the shadows and bronzer/lip color with alcohol. The color I got was Fabulous in Fiji!
Inside the magnetized case is a nice big mirror with an Amelia Earhart quote.
"Flying may not be plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price."
The colors-
r&r- light grey silver- top left escape- dark grey silver- top right palm- light bright forest green (if that makes sense)- bottom left wave- deep dark blue- bottom right
plumeria- dark bronze- it's the big one...
These are all quite shimmery.
The convertible color is soooo creamy. I really want a pink one. I wanna see if there's one that's not too damaged from the pretty floral palette.
The silvery shadows look nice but I probably won't be using the blue and green shades anytime soon. I might do a look just for fun.
This palette just got swatched!
Eww you can see my arm hairs... hehe.
I also purchased a white nyx nail art nail polish. It may be useful. The wand is really long and thin.
I wasn't sure whether it was polish or a detailer but now that I know I may also get a black one. Both of these purchases together cost less than a chai at Starbucks. :)
Also...you may recall that in my last post I mentioned how much I really really wanted the NYX cream blush in glow. Well, my friend got it for me!!
She's so nice! I'll have it by Tuesday, though I might not be able to get a review in by then.
By the way, Physician's Formula didn't really excite me.
xx,
beautygeek0
PS Does anyone have an unhealthy obsession with Bones like me? The show- don't worry.
I bought none of the stuff from my shopping list. I got a Wet n' Wild Liquid Liner (I'll do a post about that very very soon) instead of a MAC Blactrack Fluidline, I did get an angled brush from Urban Decay when I ordered the Ink for Eyes in Pyrotechnics on Hautelook, my mom bought me a Revlon Brow Fantasy kit at Walgreens (it's too light for me), and Christmas and the holidays passed, I'm on the lookout for Spring colors like the Glee collection or I totally want the Black Shatter top coat from the Serena Williams and Katy Perry collections! I just haven't figured out where to buy it...so I'm sorry I didn't buy anything...but oh well. I did buy a ton of stuff. I need to tell you all about the great things I bought without premeditation. At Urban Outfitters, they weref having this huge sale that included NYX pigments for $1.99 down from $6. I was excited, and bought one called Oro. It looks pretty bronzey-orangey in the container, but on skin it looks more gold. I tried a warm-toned look on my eyes and I found it looked amazing. I went back the next day and bought five more...hehe. I got Lagoon (a beautiful mermaid color), Sunny Day (hot magenta), Violet (dark purple-based blue), Golden Peach (it's golden peach...), and a Glitter on the Go in So Pretty (baby pink with sooo many iridescent sparkles, very finely milled). I am in love with them. There were one or two colors I didn't buy, I remember there was a dark green one I didn't like. I will probably swatch them and post a picture later! The other thing I bought was a set of Stila brushes!! I had been dying for some brushes, because the only one I had was that angled one. I found a set of FIVE Stila brushes on clearance for TEN BUCKS. Oh. My. God. Needless to say, I snatched them up. There's a powder brush, a lip brush, a concealer brush, an allover blending brush, and another brush that looks a lot like it. It was a holiday set with black handles and pink metal. They're so soft, I love them. Also, I bought a Jelly Pong Pong "Shadow Taffy" with an adorable bird on top of the enormous compact. I'm not sure it can even be called a compact. It's this weird consistency of shadow in bright pink and very shiny bronze. To me it looks like a blush/ bronzer duo. The bronze may be a bit too metallicy for bronzer but I may use it as a cream liner. The blush looks good! :) By the way, it was marked down from $24 to $6.99. Yayyy. In addition, I got a great sweater (soooo warm) for $10 and a Hello Kitty compact (dirty and scratched on the inside...) for $1.99. I also purchased a clearance Revlon mascara from CVS yesterday, but I think I'll be returning it today. It's just not needed. I'm going back to Urban Outiftters for the third day in a row today. They also had two Too Faced kits for $20 apiece but I decided against. I might show them to my friend. By the way, the UO website is horrible. All the prices are different in store and online. I told a cashier that NYX pigments were $2 online and that they were not marked down in the store, but that next time I should print out the page from the site so she wouldn't have to look it up themselves. Not happening. Waste of trees, waste of my time, and you're getting paid. No.
As you may have noticed, I have mentioned "Hautelook" a few times in blogs.
www.hautelook.com
Hautelook (pronounced OAT-look, not hot-look, like I have heard too many Youtubers say) is an amazing discount site where every day there are new sale events by designers or cosmetics companies. The sales usually last around 3 days, but some stuff sells out pretty fast. You need an account, but it's free and they send you a little email every day showing you the sales. They had a great Lorac sale, and an amazing UD sale, both of which I purchased stuff from. Semi-recently I bought two Lorac lip products.One was the Lorac Lip Polish in Groovy Fruit and the other was a Lorac Mocktail in Razberi Cosmo! Just saying- both of these products are glosses.
Polish:
When I saw the image I thought it was nail polish. It comes in a short glass bottle with a black top and a nail polish brush/applicator. For the color, think super-hot pink coral orange blend with sparkles. It smells kinda funny and doesn't really taste good. It comes off easily and is too sparkly. Thumbs down. Oh well. It was only $3 on Hautelook!
Mocktail:
Pretty color! It's like a natural berry enhancement of my natural lip color. I do like it a lot, it is shimmery, not glittery, it smells and tastes nice, and has a brush applicator similar to the stila pens or the pixi lip boosters. The only issue is that it's a bit messy. A good snag for $3.
xo, beautygeek0
P.S. I have no readers. If you are there, please give me a sign.
Ok, so last week I purchased the Urban Decay Beauty in a Box set exclusively by Sephora from their website. It was $39, plus I think I had 20% off with the code "extra". I don't think that works anymore, just saying. The kit was originally $52, but was recently reduced in a big sale that Sephora is having on a ton of random, assorted products. Oh, and by the way, there are two UD Beauty in a Box kits at Sephora. The other one was too glittery for me. This particular set contains:
Mini Size ________
-24/7 Eyeliner in Zero (matte black) -Eyeshadow Primer Potion in...Original(?)
Full Size ______
-Eyeshadow in Romp (dark purple, shimmery) -Eyeshadow in Skimp (champagne, shimmery) -Skyscraper Multi-benefit Mascara (black) -Lipstick in Wicked (mauve, a little shimmery)
Ok, I'll go one at a time, and then I'll give you my overall impression of the kit.
Eyeliner
The Urban Decay 24/7 liner is a matte black. It's the best-selling shade in the line. I have also tried it in Rockstar (dark purple) at a friend's house. It seems as though it should twist up, the liner is not actually in line with the pencil, but it is a sharpening pencil. You might not know what I'm trying to say, but if you see the product or look closely at the tip in a picture, you might get me. Look at where the product meets the pencil... Anyways, although I do not currently have a good sharpener, this is better than a twist up. It won't get all blunt, and won't have bacteria build up on the tip. Regarding the product, I have mixed feelings. This eyeliner has won awards; it's supposed to be awesome. For me though, it just seems too smudge-able, and the line is a bit spotty. It's not really jet black. Maybe it's not supposed to be. Maybe that's what liquid is for. For now, however, this is going to be my go-to black liner. I'll test out its lasting power and get back to you. Full-size goes for $17 a pop. For me and most people, that's a lot. Right now however, you can buy sets of two for $26. I mean, you don't get to choose the colors, but I think one of the sets has Zero. It also includes the normally $9 sharpener. This is a travel size or a mini. It's ok though, I'll never get through the whole thing before I find a new black eyeliner. I'm looking into MAC's blacktrack fluidline gel liner for next month's splurge. That was a bit rambly, let's get on with it.
Primer Potion __________
I'm pretty sure I got the original. Now however, they also make matte tawny (Eden), champagne (Sin), and gold (Greed). I got what's called a "travel size". It's reeeeallly small. The applicator almost fills the whole thing up. Not sure how many uses it'll get. I want to try this especially under my eyes, to prevent "racoonage" and simultaneously conceal dark circles. I might creative and see if it works as a highlight on my nose. After all, it is a matte liquid that is a little big lighter than my skin tone. This is for making eyeshadow last. The product claims shadow will last for 12 hours. I'll try it out on New Year's Eve and get back to you. ;)
Eyeshadows ________
The product:
Beautiful. Amazing pigmentation and great shimmer (not glitter!).
The colors:
Skimp: My favorite out of the two. It's this beautiful shimmery champagne color that I can use as a highlight, or a soft-spoken shadow for my lids. I think this will also go well under my eyes. It is too light for a liner in my opinion. I will not try this as a highlight on my nose because it is shimmery. It has a perfect amount of shimmer for me. I love this color!
Romp: It's a really dark purple. It's beautiful, and well pigmented, but unless I want super dramatic, I'll stick to using it as a liner. Nice, but not for me.
Mascara ______
Hmph. I really dislike this product. It's sooo clumpy and makes me look like I have four giant eyelashes. It also looks flaky. I like the applicator. It has short bristles and a bendy tip, but the product is a miss. Not for me. It's so big that I don't want to throw it away though. Usually I figure something out for products that don't work well for their purpose, but this is mascara. Since my brows aren't black, I just don't know. I'll keep it in the cupboard below the sink. It seems so sad, but it just doesn't work. I am getting another UD mascara in the mail soon; I bought the discontinued Big Fatty Colored Mascara in Indigo, but one of my friends has it and loves it. I got it on hautelook.com for $2. Score. Meanwhile my friend got it at retail price... like $17 or something. :) Don't buy Skyscraper. It's $22 on its own.
Lipstick ______
What surprised me was how much I like this. When it came, I told my mom she could have it if it was too dark, but when I showed her the color, she told me it would be fine for me. It has the perfect amount of shimmer, smells nice, a beautiful color, the only thing is it tastes a little bitter. It does keep me from licking my lips! I would put on a little bit of clear, sweet gloss if it really annoyed me. I have the set of Buxom lipsticks, but this to me is my first real lipstick. It is tied for first favorite in the set with the eyeshadow in Skimp, retail $17. This lipstick isn't super long, but it retails for $22 anyway. Oh well. If I run out, I'll wait for the next sale on hautelook. One final thing to mention about this lipstick is the packaging. The tube is purple metal, and the cap is clear, heavy plastic with purple designs printed on. A little tiny sword sticks out of the bottom. Amazing packaging, but very heavy product...
So, overall I am pleased with this. I will give Skyscraper another chance another day, but all the other products, I am excited to use. I would not buy this for $52, but or $39, with a $25 giftcard, with 20% off, with free shipping, I would buy it any day. Go for this if it is still $39, people.
xo, beautygeek0
P.S. Sorry I was rambly. I hope I gave you some good insight. Remember, I'm new at this.
