Drugstore Haul!

 On the weekend I had a chance to take advantage of a friends employee discount at a drugstore that carries some high end products (30% off? Yes please!) I restrained myself from going too crazy (because I happen to get 20% off as a mall employee at this location) and stocked up on a few items.

First up is my beloved Bioderma which came in a two pack for $30 (normally retails for around $24 in Canada) so this was a great steal. I love this cleanser and so far no other micellar water has held up to it's lofty standards (look for a review/comparison coming soon of the Avene version) This is a  great cleanser for sensitive skin.

Next up is Urban Decay's Naked Basics palette. I own both Naked and Naked2 but thanks to Essie Button I was talked into this one. Also at 30% off I couldn't resist. The packaging is compact and perfect for weekend trips. This has a guaranteed spot in my makeup bag for Japan. I also picked up another Urban Decay Potion Primer. This will be my third tube of the stuff in approximately 2 years and so far it's the only primer I've found that has worked for me... mind you I haven't tested that many.

Next up is the Urban Decay Smoked palette. This one I hemmed and hawed over because it's not practical like the Naked Basics. I had Evasion used on me when I had my makeup done at Sephora a month ago and fell in love with this palette. I figured I'd take the plunge with the extra 10% discount. This comes with a full sized perversion liner and a mini potion primer which I am so glad about, totally taking it to Japan. The salesgirl also convinced me to buy Urban Decay's grindhouse. At $12 it's not a huge investment and she really sold it to me by making the case that other sharpeners tend to chew up Urban Decay's 24/7 liners. At $23 per liner I want to make them last as long as possible so I figured this was a safe purchase.

Finally I picked up Stila's Convertible Colour in Petunia. I've eyed these a few times and my friend Christine at Starry Eyed Beauty raves about them. I texted her the night before and asked her opinion on which one to get between Lillium and Petunia and she told me to get Petunia. I've never used cream blush before so I can't wait to try this out.


This will (hopefully) be the last haul (excluding what I buy in Japan - vacations don't count) until Sephora's VIB sale in the winter. I think two palettes and a blush should tide me over until then. 

What I got for Christmas/Boxing Week haul!

Sephora VIB Haul!

A chatty video about all the stuff I got from Sephora for the VIB sale!

Massive Highend Haul!

So on Tuesday I posted about returning my Sephora + Pantone brushes, and because I was in Toronto I stocked up on a few other products that aren't easily found in my area.

I picked up the Laura Mercier Oil Free Flawless Face Kit ($80CAD) from Sephora. It's a really good deal as you get two brushes to apply product with, the foundation primer, a tinted moisturizer, the undercover pot (two shades of concealer with the translucent powder) and a couple of applicator spounges with this really handy makeup bag. I'm really excited to test these out as I've heard amazing things about the concealer and the translucent powder. Laura Mercier is a rather expensive brand, their translucent powder retails for $45 for a full size one.

I picked up the Nars Laguna/Orgasm bronzer/blush duo which retails for $50. I forgot to take a closer picture of it, but I will post a review + swatches in a month or so once I've given it a thorough test drive. I've been using it for a few days and I have to say I love it so far.

 I also snagged a little travel version of Urban Decay's All Nighter Spray for $14 and cashed in 100 Beauty Insider points for a really nice sized sample of Benifits Watt's Up highlighter.

Unfortunately there is no Chanel counter near me (the nearest one is 45 minutes away) so I took advantage of the fact that I was right by one to pick up the Vitalumiere Aqua foundation in the colour B10. This is a rather expensive foundation at $49, but I've heard such amazing things about it from so many YouTubers I respect (Pixi2woo, Missglamorazzi, FleurDeForce) that I really wanted to try it. I've been using it ever since I got it and I adore it.

I also picked up a Coco Rouge Shine in the colour Boy that my friend Christine of Starry Eyed Beauty told me to buy when we did our shopping day together. I took her advice and bought this super pretty shade but almost had a heart attack when the lady rung me in. It was over $30 for a lipstick! I think MAC lipsticks are expensive at $18 but this was huge sticker shock for me. While I really like this product and packaging I just don't think I can justify spending that kind of money all the time on lipstick.

The bonus of buying my Chanel products at the Bay was that I received a $10 off with $50 spent in the beauty department gift card for my next purchase! I had also been given a $50 gift card for looking after my neighbors pets for a few days for my local mall, which thankfully has a Dior and MAC counter in the Bay.

So I just had to buy the Dior Diorskin Shimmer Star in Amber Diamond which retails for $45. This has been mentioned by just about everyone as an amazing highlighter that you can also use for your eyes and I've been lusting after this for a while. So I was $5 short and while the Dior Lipgloss in Sari Pink is on my wish list I really didn't feel like paying $30+ again for a lip product in a week. So I went over to the MAC counter and picked up the cremesheen in Creme Cup! I haven't purchased a MAC lipstick in so long and while I have a ton of things to depot so I can b2mac them I decided this was one of the least expensive beauty purchases I could make so I could get that $10 off.

I also ordered online these two palettes from Stila, the Rome and the French Rivera sets. These are an amazing deal as you get 3 full sized Stila eye shadows + a holder for $18CAD when a single eyeshadow retails for $22CAD. Rome is now sold out, but there are still four other sets to get. I'm on the fence as to order the other three sets as these are such a great deal. In the Rome set there is Kitten, Golightly and Java. The French Rivera set has Kitten, Grace and Mahogany. Yes I did end up with two kittens but as my friend A- said you can never have too many kittens. I prefer the French Rivera set to the Rome trio as I find it easier to wear during day (the colours are a bit lighter). Both are great investments though, I can see these becoming my go to palettes for weekends getaways, simple pretty neutrals. I'll post a review and swatches really soon as I've already taken the pictures I just want to wear them a bit before I post a full review.

I had quite a bit of sticker shock while buying some of these items (ahem- I'm looking at you Chanel, Nars and Laura Mercier) but I'm really happy I took the plunge and bought these products. I couldn't wait to try them once I got home and I'm loving every one of them so far. I don't normally spend this much money all at once on makeup, but as I'm planning a purchasing ban from September until IMATS and most of these products had been on my wishlist for months I figured I would get a good back to school shopping haul in.

Haul Post: Shopping with Starry Eyed Beauty!

Topshop necklace and lip glaze

So on Tuesday I went and met my friend Christine aka Starry Eyed Beauty at the mall and we did a big(ish) makeup shop! I kept myself pretty well in check and only bought a few new things to test out. I haven't seen Christine since we wrote our British History exam way back in April, so it was great to catch up!

First up is this adorable necklace from Topshop that we both got for $18. I really love wearing delicate long necklaces and this ones 3D shape makes is really interesting. I also snagged Topshop's lip glaze in bubblegum which was around $11. I've tried it once and it's not too sticky and the colour is really nice, but I thought Topshop was supposed to be cheap? I find their prices to be a bit much considering the quality of the garments... I do really like their accessories though for more trendy pieces.

 

Next up I bought the St. Tropez tanning mouse and mitt from Sephora. I try to avoid tanning in the sun because skin cancer runs in my family and I'm super pale so I burn really easily. I am getting really sick of people telling me I'm pale though, as right now I'm tan for me! I even had a sales girl at Origins scoff at me when I said that.  

Miss Glamourazzi, Fleur de Force and Elle Fowler have all raved about this self tanner and as they're all fair skinned girls I thought I would take the risk and try it. I will report back and fingers crossed I don't turn into anything resembling a member of Jersey Shore! The mouse is rather expensive, at $38 for the smaller bottle, but with recommendations from three of my favorite YouTube beauty gurus I figured I'd take my chances.

That little pink thing is the Sephora Precision Pore Cleansing Pad which retails for $7. It's a cute little exfoliater that works with your cleanser to scrub away dead skins. I've used it already and it's gentle enough for my sensitive skin, plus it feels a bit more sanitary to use than my body shop scrub brush for my face as this dries really quickly. 

Last but not least (and kind of out of focus... oops!) are the three things I bought from MAC! Now I only bought two with Christine because the MAC we went to had terrible service and kept us waiting for forever! I bought the 15 slot palette which I will give you guys progress as I fill it up as well as my first eyeshadow for it, All That Glitters. I've got some MAC eyeshadows to depot and I can't wait until I have this filled! I don't live near a free standing MAC that sells palettes so I've been putting off this purchase for a bit.

The other thing I bought from MAC I picked up on Wednesday which I had meant to buy but was too irritated to wait for them to help me find the product was the Cream Colour Base in Pearl. Amarixe used it in this tutorial and it looked so pretty and I don't currently have a highlighter so I took her suggestion and made the purchase. I can't wait to see how it looks with my daily makeup :)

I felt like I had a lot of bags at the mall, but when I gathered it all together to shoot it for this post I realized I hadn't actually bought that much. I'm really excited/nervous to test out the self tanner and after a couple of uses I'll be sure to post a review up!

Sephora Haul!

I have an obsession with makeup brushes at the moment and when I saw these strokes of nature brushes by Sephora in collaboration with Pantone I had to have them! My obsession with teal is legendary so these fit in perfectly. Seriously though, at the airport on the way home from Italy without trying to I was carrying my bright teal luggage, wearing a bright teal hoodie, with my new teal purse. It was a little embarrassing because I didn't realize until it was too late for me to change out of such a matchy matchy outfit!

These brushes are so pretty in person, honestly I love them. The bristles are super soft and I will post a review as to how they stack up to my MAC brushes. These are such a good deal, you get 5 brushes for $46CAD. To put that in perspective my favorite MAC 217 brush is $27CAD for just one brush.

There is a story behind why I got the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette (which at $60CAD is a big splurge). I have terrible friends, I've been back in the country for two weeks now and had plans on 3 separate occasions with 3 separate friends and they all bailed on me! For legitimate reasons, but still! I figured I would have spent around $20 each (at least) getting dinner or drinks with these friends and therefore I was going to spend the money I saved by buying the Naked 2 palette. Because makeup never stands you up.

I had a really hard time choosing between the Naked palette and the Naked 2 palette. I swatched both (which covered both of my forearms, I looked a tad silly in the store) and stood there for about half an hour trying to decide. I've really been loving grey tones lately so I went with the Naked 2 palette, but I think I might save up and by the Naked palette for my birthday in September.

I really love that every colour in the palette is something I would wear, I feel like this would have been amazing to have had with me in Italy. I can't wait to play around with it and create a ton of looks to share with you guys!

Ok so I feel like all I'm posting lately are haul posts lately, so I promise my next post will be something other than a haul.

Italy Haul: Kiko Cosmetics!

All my Kiko purchases!

When I was in Italy for 3 weeks I really wanted to find makeup that I couldn't get back home. Visits into Sephora didn't turn up much, it was mostly the same product. On my daily walk to school I saw Kiko Makeup Milano Cosmetics. Kiko was a great place to pick up everything from mascara (I bought a purple one for less than 6 euros), Nail polish (they were having a sale, 2.50 euro each!), lipstick (2.50 euro) and eyeshadow (4.90 euro). At such great prices I slowly built up a collection. I didn't go too crazy (my roommate bought 6 nail polishes by the end!) but I did pick up enough to get a feel for the brand. Kiko is available in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal and the UK. The quality was great for such cheap products, the nail polishes went on smoothly and dried super quickly, great pigmentation in the eyeshadows and lipsticks as well.

A closer view of the eyeshadows and lipsticks I got

I got a lovely grey-taupe colour that is a great all over shadow, as well as their blackest black which I`m currently using as a liner. I was boring with my lipsticks and stuck to coral-pink tones. They had a BB cream out, but by the time I went to go purchase it they were sold out.

Lipsticks and Eyeshadows swatched

If you are ever in Europe looking for cheap but good cosmetics I HIGHLY recommend this line.

Mini Haul

Went to Marshalls today and was pleased to see this wish kit from Smashbox for $19.99, originally retailed for $56. The soft-lights bronzer itself is worth $36 and I get to try out the photo finish primer, their Photo-Op under eye brightener, the O-Gloss in gold, and the Jet Set waterproof gel liner. I'll write reviews for these after I've had a good while to test them out.

They also had the Sally Hansen Salon Effects in this cute heart pattern for $4.99 so I snatched it up to give it a try. I was really impressed with the selection at my Marshalls, they had tons of Bliss products for the face, some nice bamboo makeup brushes (I have my eye on some sephora ones at the moment), some Pacifica body butters and most of the China Glaze Hunger Games polishes. I'm definitely going to keep visiting to see what other goodies I can scoop up at a steal to test out and review.

Last but not least I got a new case for my Kindle. This Verso Marrakesh cover was waaaay out of my price range at $70, but Chapters.Indigo had it on for 50% I could justify it. My old hot pink case was getting a little worn and this is simply gorgeous, even if it does seem a touch pretentious.

MAC and Drugstore mini haul

Here's a mini haul of what I purchased today. Went to shoppers this morning because they have the Revlon Lip Butters on sale for $4.99 this weekend. Miss Glamorazzi aka Ingrid recommended the lollipop shade so I picked that up. I already have the peach parfait and sweet tart shades that I purchased earlier.

I also picked up the Sally Hansen insta-dri nail polish in presto pink and lively lilac on sale for $4.99. I'll post pictures and a review soon.

From MAC I picked up their brush cleaner which I had never used before. Confession: I'm terrible at cleaning my brushes regularly. Simply shameful the state I let them get into. I'm going to try to get better though at regular cleanings.

Miss Glamorazzi in her makeup starter kit video raved about MACs lipglass in pink lemonade, so I splurged and picked that up as well. I don't know if I love this yet from the quick test I did but I did it over bare lips and I have very naturally pigmented lips. I'll try it over my peach parfait tomorrow and report back!

Hope you enjoyed my mini haul and see you all again soon!
Alysia