This is a mini-haul item wise but I’m so excited by the products I had to share. I bought these items as gifts to myself for my birthday (aside from the two Sephora makeovers) and Valentine’s Day. I figure when you’re single you’re not buying for a significant other so you can legitimately buy something for yourself. I bought the eyeshadow palette at Ulta and ordered the Hourglass compacts from Sephora online. I got the lipstick using some Beauty Insider points at Sephora.
Urban Decay Born to Run Eyeshadow Palette
It’s a thing – I generally buy myself either an eyeshadow palette or yarn for my birthday. This year – eyeshadow palette. Usually if I buy a nice palette I go for a Too Faced palette but the new Pretty Rich palette isn’t really calling my name. Also, I have a lot of neutral palettes so I wanted to buy one with more variety in shades. The greens in this palette are especially beautiful!
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure
The makeup artist at the Sephora in Chicago used this but I held off buying due to the price ($38 is a lot for a blush!). After looking at a lot of the brands I normally shop for blushes, I couldn’t find a similar plum colored blush. It truly is a unique shade and I already love it.
Hourglass Ambient Bronzer in Radiant Bronze Light
While this wasn’t used in either of my makeovers this year, it was used in my mom’s Sephora makeover (and she bought one). I have very few bronzers (two from Too Faced and a Physician’s Formula one that looks horrible on me) and nothing this tonal so into my cart it went! Radiant Bronze Light is a warm bronze shade fused with Radiant Light to mimic a summer glow.
The Walmart Favorites boxes aren’t subscription boxes (or even mystery boxes) but they do contain a variety of curated boxes and I thought they would be fun to unbox. There appear to be about six boxes and I purchased four of them. I’ll cover each of the four in separate blog posts. I didn’t buy the “Extras” box as it contained a lot of nail products, which I don’t need. There is also a hair care box but I couldn’t find it at either of my local Walmarts. Each box costs $10 (at least where I live).
Time to stop yacking and start unboxing! Let’s dig into the with the “Latest in Lips” box.
Overall Box Impressions: For $10 this is isn’t a bad box. There is a WIDE variety of items and brands you can receive, which is a great way to sample products. Two of the products are sample size and five are full size, which is a big improvement over the other boxes. The box does says “valued over $47” and given four lipsticks are full size, the mask and decent size samples, that amount doesn’t sound far off. I would have liked it if there was more variety in the shades of lipsticks included. Of the five colored lipsticks, two are light/medium pink, one is a shimmery pink and two are pinky mauves. So, no reds and no berries. I know this is a “favorites” box but I don’t think that extends to colors since I don’t know a ton of people who wear pink and no one that wears exclusively pink. The lip patch was a fun addition to the box though!
Hard Candy Max Pout Plumping Serum – this is a clear “volumizing lip gloss” which I assumed is similar to the lip injection formula from Too Faced. I know a lot of people don’t love the tingly feeling from lip plumpers but I don’t notice it that much. That said, I don’t see much improvement in the fullness of my lips either after use.
Sooae collagen hydrogel lip mask – If I like this and the benefits hold more than a few hours, I’m buying more. I usually use a lip mask (like the one from Laneige) every night so I can use a matte lipstick the next day but my hope is this product would do the same thing in 10-15 minutes.
Almay Goddess Gloss in Angelic – very sparkly full size gloss
Wet N Wild Liquid Catsuit (sample size) – I’ve heard people rave about this formula but I wish the color wasn’t so pink. The color name is Flirt Alert.
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Lip Shine (sample size) – I actually like this formula (I own it in another color) but again, the pink color (it’s more pink, less mauve in real life). The color name is Radiant Rose.
Burt’s Bees Liquid Lipstick – this is between a matte and gloss in that it doesn’t dry down 100% but it’s not sticky either. It also doesn’t hold the color exceptionally well (at least my red one doesn’t). This is in the shade Tidal Taupe which is a taupe-y pink mauve.
Flower Beauty Miracle Matte Lip – I’m excited to try this as my Walmart doesn’t carry Flower Beauty and I love love matte lipsticks. This is also the exception to all the pinks above and mattes down to a darker mauvy brown.
The Walmart Favorites boxes aren’t subscription boxes (or even mystery boxes) but they do contain a variety of curated boxes and I thought they would be fun to unbox. There appear to be about six boxes and I purchased four of them. I’ll cover each of the four in separate blog posts. I didn’t buy the “Extras” box as it contained a lot of nail products, which I don’t need. There is also a hair care box but I couldn’t find it at either of my local Walmarts. Each box costs $10 (at least where I live).
Time to stop yacking and start unboxing! Let’s dig into the with “The Eyes Have It” box.
Overall Box Impressions: For $10 this is isn’t a bad box. There is a WIDE variety of items and brands you can receive, which is a great way to sample products. As compared to the last two boxes I covered, there are more full size products in this box. The front of the box says its “valued over $32” and I feel like that is a stretch. The four full-size products are worth $24 (based on Walmart prices) and there are two small samples. So, the samples would have to be worth $4 a piece (when the full size is likely $8 each). So, I think $10 is reasonable to pay for the box, just know that the items in total are not worth the $32 plus stated on the box.
L’Oreal Voluminous Primer Base – super small sample (there’s a mascara wand in there) but I think this would be a good product to put on my lashes under some of my colored mascaras.
Maybelline Lashsensational – slightly curved but fine wand.
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Serum – kinda cool product but no idea if its actually effective. I will need to set a finite period of time to use this regularly to see if it results in stronger/longer lashes. The wand part just has little ridges and there’s a brush tip on the end to apply along lash lines.
Covergirl Flourish by Lash Blast – I used to use Lash Blast all the time but it got to be clumpy once applied. I might try this one a couple times to see if that formula as changed. The wand is straight and thin, which isn’t my favorite style.
CoverGirl Lid Lock Up – This is a nude colored lid primer. I really like my NYX lid primer but might give this one a try. The CoverGirl one will have to outperform my NYX one though as the CoverGirl on is more expensive.
e.l.f. Brow Pencil – traditional brow pencil with a pointed tip on one end and spoolie on the other. I believe this pencil runs a couple dollars. The pencil in the box is brown so I will give this one a try.
Masqueology Under Eye Gold Gel Mask – it’s nice that this is more than a one time use mask and I do love eye masks!
The Walmart Favorites boxes aren’t subscription boxes (or even mystery boxes) but they do contain a variety of curated boxes and I thought they would be fun to unbox. There appear to be about six boxes and I purchased four of them. I’ll cover each of the four in separate blog posts. I didn’t buy the “Extras” box as it contained a lot of nail products, which I don’t need. There is also a hair care box but I couldn’t find it at either of my local Walmarts. Each box costs $10 (at least where I live).
Time to stop yacking and start unboxing! Let’s dig into the with the “Glow Like a Pro” box.
Overall Box Impressions: For $10 this is isn’t a bad box. There is a WIDE variety of items and brands you can receive, which is a great way to sample products. However, these are all sample size products. And that’s where I take an issue with the box. The front of the box says its “valued over $36” and I feel like that is a stretch given these are sample sizes. There are 7 items, which works out to $5.14 per sample. Now, given that the full sizes of several of the products only cost $6-$9, I don’t see how the value of the items in the box is more than $36. So, I think $10 is reasonable to pay for the box, just know that the items in total are not worth the $36 plus stated on the box.
e.l.f. Poreless Face Primer – in the past I tried the elf blemish control primer and it gummed up on my skin almost immediately. I’ll give this a try since large pores are an issue for me.
Maybelline Master Prime – hydrating and smoothing primer might do well for my areas of dry skin.
found Illuminating Makeup Setting Spray – I’ve never seen this before and I don’t have very many dewy sprays so I’m excited to try this.
Hard Candy Matte Setting Spray – I also haven’t tried any of the setting sprays from Hard Candy (our Walmart only got hard candy within the last few months) so I’ll add this to my try pile.
Hard Candy Body Luminizer – This looks a bit dark and sparkly for my pale skin but maybe by summer I’ll be dark enough to give it a try. Typically not a product I use but that’s why I like these sample boxes – to try new things.
These are the two items I was most excited about as one of my favorite beauty YouTubers raves about the blushes and highlighters from Milani. On the left is a blush in the color Romantic Rose (which is really lighter than the picture) and on the right is a Strobelight highlighter in the color Afterglow. Both are just beautiful!
The Walmart Favorites boxes aren’t subscription boxes (or even mystery boxes) but they do contain a variety of curated boxes and I thought they would be fun to unbox. There appear to be about six boxes and I purchased four of them. I’ll cover each of the four in separate blog posts. I didn’t buy the “Extras” box as it contained a lot of nail products, which I don’t need. There is also a hair care box but I couldn’t find it at either of my local Walmarts. Each box costs $10 (at least where I live).
Time to stop yacking and start unboxing! Let’s start with the “Everything Skin Kit” box.
Overall Box Impressions: For $10 this is isn’t a bad box. There is a WIDE variety of items and brands you can receive, which is a great way to sample products. However, these are all sample size products, with the exception of the mask. And that’s where I take an issue with the box. The front of the box says its “valued over $53” and I feel like that is a stretch given these are sample sizes. There are 12 items, which works out to $4.42 per sample. Now, given that the full size of several of the products only costs $4-$5, I don’t see how the value of the items in the box is more than $50. So, I think $10 is reasonable to pay for the box, just know that the items in total are not worth the $50 plus stated on the box.
Neutrogena Make-up Remover Wipes – I like these but usually buy the ones made with micellar water instead as I think they remove make-up better.
Garnier Micellar Original and Micellar for Waterproof Make Up – I’m anxious to see if the one for waterproof make-up takes off my waterproof mascara.
Clean & Clear Lemon Zesty Scrub – I strongly dislike the smell of lemon (a la Pine Sol) so I will add this to the donation bin.
Found Fruit AHA Peel Pads – I need help with skin ton and pores so this sounds like a great product for me. This may be one I purchase a full size of although my Walmart doesn’t actually carry this product.
e.l.f. Hydrating Bubble Mask – will try
Olay Regenerist Whips – not sure if this will be too “heavy” for my skin but I might try a tiny amount. I know a lot of people rave about this for anti-aging.
Sky Organics Rose Water Toner – it looks like from the directions this can be used as a face mist OR a toner.
Physicians Formula Mini Rose All Day Oil-Free Serum – normally serums are applied before moisturizer but this product says it can be used along, under or over makeup.
So I’m not very excited about these three items and they will likely go in the donation bin. We received the CeraVe cream and the Cetaphil moisturizer in our Target box in January and the Jergens is coconut scented. So, none of those are speaking to me to try something new.
Last weekend my parents came to visit from Missouri for my banner year birthday and I took my mom into the city to get a makeover at Sephora (her very first!). I also got another makeover but I wasn’t nearly as impressed as I was with the makeup artist in Chicago. That said, I did find some new products, bought a replacement for an empty and acquired a few samples for products I want to try. So let’s get going!
NARS Sheer Glow Foundation
I’ve been looking for a good radiant/natural foundation that still had has decent coverage. My mom loved this foundation on me so I did purchase this. My only annoyance is the product doesn’t come with a pump – you have to buy it separate (which I didn’t know until I got home). So, online order to buy the pump. At this price point though, I’d have thought the pump would have been included. I’ve worn this a couple days since last weekend and it applies easily and looks great! The shade is Mont Blanc.
Clinique ID Oil-Control Gel + Uneven Skin Texture
I’ve been seeing this new product (well, combination of products) from Clinique. It allows you to choose one of three bases (a jelly moisturizer, dramatically different gel or dramatically different oil-control gel) and one of five active concentrates (uneven skin texture, uneven skin tone, irritation, fatigue and lines and wrinkles) for a customized combination. I chose the oil-control gel because on my the regular gel was tacky on me and didn’t dry down. I chose uneven skin tone because, um, crater sized pores. I also consideration the irritation cartridge.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Matte Lipstick
Now I know what you’re thinking – how can you possibly need more lipstick? To be fair I did not have a cream lipstick in this sort of peachy-nude and this color looks amazing with dark green smoky eyes. Oh, and it’s a good color for work. The color is Kiss.
Clinique Acne Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel
This was to replace an empty product I used up. I like this gel because because it’s not nearly as drying as most salicylic acid product. However, I do sometimes have to use a stronger product if I have a stubborn zit.
Drunk Elephant Beauty Insider Birthday Gift
I’ve been hemming and hawing about what to grab from the Sephora Beauty Insider birthday choices. I had considered the points but I already had so many. Instead, I went with the sample size products from Drunk Elephant. I like this brand but I don’t foresee it being a brand I use long-term.
SinglesSwag was my very first subscription box and while I almost considered cancelling it at one point, it is now my favorite box. Their curation of items is on point and unique.
There are two subscription options: $40 per month for 6-7 full size products or $25 per month for 3-4 full size products. For the larger box you generally you get a piece of jewelry, a tasty treat, at least one skincare item, a beauty item and more.
Overall Box Impressions: This box was very hit or miss in terms of products but the products I like are worth much more than the total cost of the box. The total retail value of the box, as noted by SinglesSwag, is $205. I think that’s overstated just a bit given the estimated $72 value of the necklace, but the total value is still easily over $150. I received seven full size products and a little sample size of chocolate covered nuts. Yum!
Jules Kae Snake Coin Purse & Gemelli Necklace
Aaand we’re back to gold toned jewelry. I do like the design on the heart pendant but since I don’t normally wear gold toned jewelry and I don’t love hearts, I don’t forsee myself wearing this. I suggested to SingleSwag, via their website, in prior months that they include the content/coating of jewelry which I’m happy to note they did this month. The necklace this month is gold-plated so I would have estimated the value more in the $40 range, not the $72 stated on the product card. While the prices on the product card are usually spot-on to the retail price, the jewelry retail values do seem high. It doesn’t actually bother me too much since the total value of the box, even excluding the jewelry is substantially higher than the cost of the box. MSRP: $72. Website: https://gemellijewelry.com/
The pink heart-shaped “coin purse” from Jules Kae is cute and appears to be of good quality. However, as mentioned previously, I’m not big on heart shapes and I definitely don’t do pink. So, I will likely gift this to a tween girl in my life. MSRP: $35. Website: https://juleskae.com/
Naobay Recovery Mask and Rutz Elixir Mist
On the left is a recovery mask for sensitive skin from Naobay. The packaging states the formula is anti-aging. I was really excited for this because it works for sensitive skin, which is rare for masks. While most of the time I can use about anything on my face, sometimes I’m hyper-sensitive and this would be perfect. However, it has a strong smell. THe packaging mentions orange water as an ingredient but I knew that wasn’t the scent. The product does contain lemon extract which is what I think I’m smelling. I may give it a try in hopes that it dries down scentless. If not, I think my mom would like this. MSRP: $29. Website: http://www.naobay.com/en/
The spray bottle is a face mist from Rutz Skincare called “In Your Face Spa-Ahh Elixir Mist.” According to the packaging it can be used as a setting spray, a refresher and a soothing spray. I don’t know that it would be great as a setting spray but it was definitely refreshing and soothing. It can also be applied after toning but before serums and moisturizes to improve absorption. I’m thinking I may keep this in my office at work for a pick-me-up. MSRP: $22. Website: https://rutznaturals.com/Nico New York Silver Bar Necklace
Italian Biscotti Cookies and Bonus Chocolate Covered Almonds
Haven’t popped open the biscotti cookies yet but I have had the chocolate covered almonds from Skinny Dipped before and they are amazing. MSRP: $5
Book: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
I actually looked at adding this book to my to-read list last year but didn’t get around to reading it. So, obviously, I’m very excited to have received this in my box! This is by the author of Eat Pray Love and is a “self help” book. Would you like a review when I finish this book? MSRP: $16
Give Them Lala Beauty Highlighter
This is by far my favorite item of the box. When I first opened this highlighter I thought it should have been labeled as a bronzer. Then I swatched it on my hand and it was GORGEOUS. I do not have another highlighter that has a rosy shade to it. This highlighter is in the shade Promiscuous. Post note – I mentioned this in a Facebook beauty group and one of the gals RAVED about this highlighter. MSRP: $26 Website: https://shoplalabeauty.com/
In addition to my Sephora makeover in Chicago, I had some additional purchases from Sephora, online and in store, in the last couple weeks of January. I also used up some points and received some fun samples.
OLEHENRIKSEN 3 Little Wonders Kit
I loved the banana eye cream so much I wanted to try some additional products from OLEHENRIKSEN and had actually favorited this kit online. When I popped into my local Sephora store (which is inside JC Penney) I found the same set and snatched it up. I’m most interested in the truth serum.
Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Set
I keep trying to find a *great* highlighter and this looked like a nice option in a mini. It’s the Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter in Opal from Becca and also comes with a liquid spotlight that can be mixed with highlighter or primer for a glow-y finish.
Lip Scrub and Pore Cleansing Pad
These pore cleansing pads from Sephora are GREAT if you don’t want to shell out for a fancy brush. On the back of the pad is a little raised suction cup and you put the stem of that suction cup between your fingers. It feels great on your skin as you massage cleanser in and isn’t too abrasive. The lip scrub from Sephora is new to me – I like scrubs in tube form for convenience but some of the ELF brand ones have an off consistency (like putty). So I thought I’d give the Sephora brand one a try. Only downside is there are only two flavors, Coconut and Honey, and I’m not excited about either.
Reward Points – PeterThomasRoth Fantastic Four Set
Products on which to spend points in Sephora’s reward bazaar have been few and far between lately. This set was already sold out on Sephora’s website (it wasn’t there at 9am PST when Sephora says they update and was gone when I looked again in the evening) but I grabbed the very last one at my local JC Penney Sephora. Which worked out because the associate at that Sephora knows all things skin care and thought this set (in particular the glycolic acid cleansing gel and the peeling gel) would be great for my skin.
Freebies – Online and In Store Samples
So even though I had two online orders, I only received my samples on one of those orders because they forgot to include them on the first order. I received the Porefessional Matte Rescue and the Bite Beauty samples with my online order. I’ve used the Bite Beauty scrub and lip balm before (in sample size) and both products are awesome. I just wish the scrub came in more flavors because I don’t love the agave. I received the Tatcha Water Cream as an in store sample when the associate was trying to help me figure out a light weight but super hydrating moisturizer.
Ulta – home to the things I can’t find at Sephora. Generally, the folks at my local Ulta aren’t very friendly so I usually choose to shop at Sephora (and the prices on most items are the same). I found most of these items at the Ulta we visited in Chicago but a couple were at my local Ulta.
Morphe 9G Palette – Oh My Gorg
I love these $12 palettes from Morphe although I’m really selective about which ones I buy. In this case I loved the two purple/burgundy/wine shades and the two greens. So, over half the palette was shades I knew for certain I’d use. Just not brave enough yet for the yellow.
Setting Spray and Face Mist
If you saw my Sephora Makeover post you know about my love affair with the cherry setting spray from Urban Decay. I found another one, also on sale for $10.50 and snatched it up. I also found some face mist from The Body Shop in the clearance bin in the scent Mandarin Energising. It smells amazing! I love to use the face mists (I also have the lavender Mario Badescu one) in the morning and evening when I’m not wearing make up.
Dry Shampoo and Makeup Sponges
If you saw my last post on my TJMaxx haul you saw I also have a love affair with dry shampoo. There used to be a styling product from Aquage that I loved (and was discontinued) but since I know I like the brand I decided to give their dry shampoo a shot. Now, I have (or did have) a fair number of the mini makeup sponges but they keep going missing. While I’ve accused the cat I haven’t found her stash so I was forced to buy more.
Tarte Shape Tape
After finding the Tarte foundation at Sephora I wanted to pick up a slightly lighter shape tape from Ulta to use on my under-eyes. Fun fact: the numbering and shade system on the Amazonian clay foundation does not match up to shape tape. So I just had to guess, unfortunately.
MooseBeauty 