So it's been several months since I've posted on this blog. I'm sorry about the prolonged absence but real life has been draining my energy, leaving me with none for blogging. It's a little awkward getting back into it; I've actually been very nervous about posting again in such a long time. Anyone else feel me on that?
Anyhoo, I've bought all these things last year around November and most of it's just been sitting here, waiting for me to crack it open and use it. I'm embarrassed to say that most of it hasn't been tested at all and still sits in its original packaging. However, I will give updates when I do get around to testing everything.
These are all the items I picked up from ULTA for my birthday. I wasn't able to go pick up my birthday gift as it's in-store only but my new house is a 6-minute drive away from ULTA--VERY dangerous for my wallet.
While I'm not a fan of the Body Shop's skincare, I am a devoted follower of their body butters. They are great at keeping my body moisturized for at least 10-12 hours, smell amazing but not sweet, AND they're cruelty-free! I'm on a mission to try all their scents and the ones I picked up this time around are olive, Fuji green tea and moringa. Shari from the Misty Mom once mentioned the olive scent in her top picks from the Body Shop so I knew I had to give it a try. I've tried a moringa-scented hand cream from TBS and loved the smell. Green tea is one of my favorite flavors and the scent on this is citrusy and peppery--big fan! It doesn't leave me sticky and sinks in quickly despite the thicker texture. I save it for my legs and feet as those areas are the driest on my body...other than my humor, haha. I might do a review on all the scents I've tried so far because these babies are good enough to get their own post!
With how stressful my life has been these past couple of months, my hair has been falling out much more than usual. I read somewhere you lose up to 60 strands of hair a day and I'm amazed that I haven't gone bald, haha. I notice more hairs in the drain and my ponytail isn't as thick as it used to be. My mom is a fan of the Renewing Argan Oil for Coarse Hair so I decided to give the Anti-Hair Fallout Niacin + Caffeine Shampoo, Conditioner and Root Stimulator Spray a go. I haven't used it yet as I'm still finishing up my current shampoo but will be giving these guys a try soon.
Onto the makeup goodies! I'm a huge lip junkie so when I saw these ULTA Lip Butters, I decided to pick up two. Since I bought these in the winter, I went for darker colors, Ravishing and Stargazer, both berry shades. The reviews said that these were sheer so maybe that's a good thing. I don't know where I put these since I took these photos weeks ago but once I find them, I will update with swatches! NYX Cosmetics has been quite popular in the blogosphere but for some reason, I never got around to trying their products. I bought the Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray, Mineral Stick Foundation in Light Medium and the Proof It Waterproof Mascara Topcoat. I've been having issues with dry skin when I wear foundation so I'm hoping to use this as a mist to refresh and rehydrate my skin. I love stick foundations because they are easy to use and blend, and look the most natural on my skin. This one isn't as yellow as I need it to be but I'm going to try using a yellow powder over top to correct the color. And the best purchase of this whole haul: the Proof It WP Mascara Topcoat! I have tons of mascara samples but my oily lids and watery eyes always make my mascara smudge. I've been using it for months and I don't have that problem anymore! This topcoat opens up my mascara options as I can wear over anything. So far, I've only tested it with the Too Faced BTS Mascara, which used to smudge like crazy on me. I went a little crazy when I thought that I lost it and bought another so now I have two. I'm going to stop here because I want to devote an entire post to it and test it with other mascaras but long story short, it's good! I'm a huge fan of Lorac eyeshadows so when I saw this limited edition Lust & Love Palette, I had to pick it up. The two palettes were divided into matte and shimmer shadows, guess which one I picked ;) ?
I've heard so many good things about the itCosmetics CC+ Cream that I had to pick one up. I bought the travel size in shade Light which is almost a dead-on match for my skin tone. There's four shades I believe and they lean yellow toned. Seriously, this is one of the most full-coverage bases I've ever used while not feeling heavy. It is moisturizing but I usually use a sunscreen/moisturizer combo underneath this CC Cream. This does contain SPF 50+ but I feel safer layering my SPF rather than relying on just one. I've even bought the full-size, which comes with a pump. Super excited about using this for a Springtime appropriate glow!
Moving onto the Sephora stuff! Sephora has their bi-annual sale in April and in November, which is convenient as my birthday is in November. I picked up the Kat Von D Innerstellar Palette after seeing it featured in a SoYoung Diaries a few years back. I rarely wear cool-toned shadow looks as they make my eyes look bruised but she made the colors look gorgeous! I didn't take a photo of the shadows because I broke one of them. But don't worry--I've fixed it and will review it soon.
Bite Beauty is known for their amazing lipsticks. Sadly, I wasn't able to get a full-size of their Luminous Creme Lipsticks but I hear that the Amuse Bouche are just as good. Picking up these two duos bring my total up to 4 now. I love how small and precise they are. These are one of the few lip products that don't dry out my lips, leaving them better off after I wear them. I don't know if a review would be particularly helpful now that they've been discontinued; let me know if you still want one!
The other items are purchased using my VIB points. I've had a good experience with NUDE Skincare in the past so I was excited to try the oil. My mom is a fan of the YSL Faux Cils Mascara so I got this mainly for her to try. The 5 Lancome items came from a 500-point perk. My all-time favorite mascara used to be the Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara because it gave me awesome lashes, withstood my oily and watery eyes yet came off easily at the end of the day. Since going cruelty-free at the beginning of the year, I've been searching for a replacement. Anyway, I pretty much know I'll like the Hypnose Drama mascara but won't be purchasing the full size. I'm a sucker for blue eyeliners and being a cobalt color cemented my love for it. Unfortunately, it dried out before I got to use it. That's no longer a problem because I found a Sonia Kashuk liner that I'm hoping will be a good dupe that's coming in the mail later this week. The other three products haven't been used yet but I'm pretty sure they'll be amazing.
Lastly, I received the NARS VIB Rouge kit that contains 2 of their lip pencils, one velvet matte and one satin. Cruella is a scarlet red that is a favorite of ViviannaDoesMakeup so I'm glad to have it in my collection. Rikugien is one of my favorite everyday pink lip colors. It's a rose pink with subtle shimmer that doesn't dry out my lips. I considered picking up a full size of it but now that I have this mini, I'll hold off for a bit longer. The last item is their Larger than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto, a matte black. I'm not too fussy when it comes to black eyeliners. I had another mini a while back and I don't remember how I felt about it. I'll probably pass this one onto my mom because she's all about that black eyeliner life, haha.
I think this goodie bag was one of their holiday offerings. The one that I wanted to get was OOS so I went with my second choice. I still haven't used any of these items but I know that I like the FRESH Sugar Rose Lip Balm and the Jack Black Lip balm from previous minis. I will update once I find out where I put these samples!
This bag was one of the Cyber Monday mystery perks. Some people got the Clinique foundation but since the shade is random, I'm glad I recieved this one. I'm embarrassed to say that these items are still sitting somewhere, waiting for me to use them. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of the Benefit POREfessional and Josie Maran Argan Oil. Both of these are some of my favorite products and I have full sizes of both. Once I finish the POREfessional, I won't be repurchasing so if you have any good primer recommendations to fill in pores and prolong makeup, I'm all ears! Josie Maran's argan oil can be used on any dry areas but I usually save it for my face. I've gone through 2 of the travel sizes and with the full size, I've barely made a dent. I like using it as the last step of my skincare to seal in all the goodness. I've even worn this under makeup and found that my foundation went over it very smoothly. I wouldn't recommend doing that if you have oily skin but on my currently normal-dry skin, my makeup doesn't break up if I use a small amount and give it adequate time to sink in.
And that's it for this post! I apologize for the lack of swatches but I was competing with the setting sun when I took these photos. Add to that the fact that I've misplaced these items so swatches will be postponed. I appreciate my mom cleaning my room but sometimes, I go crazy trying to find where my stuff has been put. I suck at being neat but I am an organized mess kind of gal, haha. Everything has its pile so when it gets disturbed, I fly into a mess trying to relocate them.
I know I was trying to write a post everyday in March that stopped halfway. I kind of had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to keep up but I wanted to challenge myself. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue it as the posts were slotted for that month. But, I might just continue it sporadically throughout my regular posts if they relate to my current stuff.
I have a couple more haul posts coming so stay tuned! I swear I didn't buy this all at once...they just piled up over time and writing these posts reminded me to put them to the test so I can talk about them with y'all!I will be using the skincare stuff tonight. Mondays are always rough for me...I'm slowly losing the will to stay awake but I don't want to mess up my sleep schedule anymore than I already have...*sigh* Only two more hours before I can sleep at an appropriate time!
What have you all bought lately? See anything you're curious about? I missed doing this!
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