TJ MAXX HAUL! Quick trip to TJ Maxx one evening. The inventory at my local TJ Maxx has been pretty stale lately so not much so see (or buy).
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Intensive Lip Balm – this is normally $20 at Sephora but was at TJ Maxx for $10. I’ve had this product on my list to try and compare to my other lip balms. Haven’t pulled it out yet but probably will this weekend.
Tangle Free Hair Brush – This was an interesting brush as the bristles are rubber and very short compared to a normal brush. I’m glad I only spent $4 because it does not help with tangles at all – it just gets to the hair tangle and yanks. Not a pleasant feeling. I think the brand was something like Cala or Cana.
Ulta Haul! Not sure this is a very exciting haul but two standout products.
Ulta Beauty Premium Pillow Cotton Pads – these are like the Tom Ford of cotton pads. There’s a little spot for two fingers on the back which gives you great control. My Swisspers exfoliating pads keep disintegrating on me so hoping these are better.
Morphe Highlight and Contour Beauty Sponge – I actually like this one for applying liquid foundation, rather than highlighting or contouring.
Two items I bought online using a $100 reward from Sephora (the other three items were previously posted). The items purchased using the reward are not able to be returned so most of these purchases are either items I needed restock or formulas I knew I’d love. I also got a sample of foundation from Jouer.
Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Shine Lip Set – This is a set of six lip products curated by Sephora, including two full size items and four trial size items. Sephora says this set has a $74 value and is being sold for $28. I tend to like these lip sets because for one I like sampling lip products and two because I rarely use up a full lipstick. This set includes lip gloss from Anastasia Beverly Hills in Venus, Jelly Shot from INCredible in Ex Revenge, Volupte Liquid Balm from YSL in Chase Me Nude, H2O lip gloss from Tarte in Sundress, Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment from Fresh in translucent and Lip Injection Extreme from Too Faced.
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Setting Powder in Butter – This is sort of a repurchase – I have this powder in the Lavender shade. The lavender shade is great for brightening (looks beautiful under the eyes) and works well on my red cheeks. However, moving into spring I used up my sample of this powder in butter, which is more of a nude tone.
Three items I bought online using a $100 reward from Sephora (the other three items are forthcoming). The items purchased using the reward are not able to be returned so most of these purchases are either items I needed restock or formulas I knew I’d love. I also got a sample of Briogeo’s Scalp Revival shampoo which I actually really liked.
Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair Leave-In Mask – This is a restock item. Literally, this product is the only way I can get my long hair detangled after a shower. It also, over time, has improved the texture of my hair by adding moisture and reducing split ends. If I know the humidity will be high I use this in conjunction with Briogeo’s Rosarco Milk spray which I feel like tames frizzy hair better.
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask – Also a repurchase. I go through one of these about every four months so I knew I better pick one up. I only use mine at night and it does help improve the texture of my lips so I can wear matte liquid lipstick.
Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Bruise – this is from Urban Decay’s Vintage Capsule Collection and is a beautiful sheer deep burgundy red. Vice lipsticks are one of my top three cream lipsticks formula for how nice they look and how well they wear throughout the day. Also, this was on sale for $11, which only further motivated me!
I love the sheet masks from Tony Moly and usually grab several up when they go on sale at Ulta. Ulta was also offering extra points on all Mario Badescu products.
TonyMoly I’m Lavender Mask Sheet – hydrating sheet mask which is very calming. Saving this one for after my upcoming surgery!
TonyMoly I’m Real Mask Sheet – skin soothing
Mario Badescu Facial Spray – 80% of the time I buy the lavender spray because it is so calming. I don’t use this to set my makeup as I don’t think it holds long enough but it’s great for a mid-day refresh and wonderful at night. As I mentioned, I’m having surgery later this week and due to the anesthesia, I can’t have any food or liquids after midnight. That means I will be without fluids from 12am to about 2pm and based on my last surgery, I will be feeling so dry and parched. While I can’t drink any fluids, I can spray my face to add some moisture back in. So, this little guy will be going in my hospital bag.
I’m considering switching to posting hauls as I buy items, rather than grouping everything at the end of the month. I feel like its just overwhelming by the end of the month and will be more fun to share. Let me know what you think!
Three items I bought online at Ulta with my 20% off coupon. I also got a replacement cleanser from Boscia but the jar is leaking so I’m waiting to see what Ulta does.
BH Cosmetics Blushing in Bali Palette – I bought this when it was on sale for $9.60, and then got 20% off of that. I love the blush shades so much. I like the two lighter highlighters but the third one is too dark for me,
Nooni Applebutter Lip Mask and Applemint Lip Oil – this is a K-Beauty brand that is carried by Ulta, sometimes in store. When I bought this they had an offer where if you bought $20 or more worth of Nooni products who got to choose one of four headbands for free. I got the unicorn style. So cute.
Ulta Full Coverage Liquid Concealer – one of my friends recommended this concealer for covering dark under eye circles without horrible creasing. At $9 I was ok with giving it a shot. I also appreciate they had a decent shade range, at least in terms of a variety of warm, cool and neutral tones.
I’m considering switching to posting hauls as I buy items, rather than grouping everything at the end of the month. I feel like its just overwhelming by the end of the month and will be more fun to share. Let me know what you think!
Three items I bought in-store at my local Sephora inside JCP. I also got a few foundation samples to try out ahead of the VIB sale later this month.
Urban Decay Hi-Fi Shine Lip Gloss in Backtalk – I like this formula and needed more work appropriate lip glosses that wouldn’t stick to my hair or teeth. Backtalk is a mauve nude pink and this awesome formula includes vitamin E (nourishing to your lips) and peppermint oil.
Briogeo Farewell Frizz Rosarco Milk Leave-In Conditioning Spray – I wanted to try this as an alternative to the more expensive leave-in mask from Briogeo. I’ve used it a couple times and think I will need to alternate between the two products. The Rosarco does decrease freeze but the leave-in mask is much more nourishing and kept my hair from tangling as much.
Milk Kush Mascara – this product has been hyped so much on YouTube so I was happy to find a deluxe size. Honestly, I don’t get the hype. This is an extremely wet formula and it clumped with just one coat. So wet and clumpy that it immediately transferred to my eyelid. This is generally not a problem I have and I will likely be returning the product.
I finally received the last of my Ulta 21 Days of Beauty packages so here we go. This is a combination of replacement products and new products that I had favorited. I tried (and mostly succeeded) in not buying items just because they were on sale. My replacement items were Clinque Moisture Surge, Anastasia Brow Wiz, Benefit Porefessional, Urban Decay Primer Potion, Benefit Gimme Brow, Lancome CILS Booster XL and Too Faced Sun Bunny Bronzer. The rest is all new to me!
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Pressed Powder in Translucent
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Loose Setting Powder in Translucent
Too Faced Born This Way Ethereal Setting Powder in Translucent
BareMinerals Mineral Veil Finishing Powder
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness Neutralizing Correcting Cream in Porcelain Beige
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness Skin Relief Treatment Moisturizer
Benefit Gimme Brow in 3.5 (I should have bought two)
Anastasia Brow Wiz in Auburn
Clinique Quickliner for Eyes in Intense Ivy
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Buxom Full-On Plumping Lip Cream in Kir Royale and Rose Julep (actually I don’t think both of these are lip plumping – Ulta’s website was wrong)
MAC Prep + Prime Fix Plus in Lavender
Benefit Porefessional
Too Faced Sun Bunny Bronzer
And for giggles, this is my mom’s haul. Since I’m Diamond/Platinum I get free shipping so I ordered all of her’s and will get it to her in a couple weeks. Also note how many items we both ordered (five total) – I really am turning into my mother! We even ordered the same shade of lip cream!
I bought a few things right at the beginning of April and didn’t want to wait until the end of the month to share so here they are! I bought a new primer, some under-eye setting powder, eyeliner and a lip balm set.
Face related items from my mini-haul from Sephora in early April: the new High-Adherence Silicone Primer from The Ordinary and the Secret Brightening Powder for Under Eyes from Laura Mercier. I purchased the primer because my mom had asked for one and I wanted to try it as well (we live six hours apart so trying the other person’s makeup isn’t workable for us). I purchased the under eye powder to try to deal with the darkness under my eyes, even after concealer, but this powder is stark white and leaves a dull cast on the under-eye skin so I may be returning it.
Eye and lip related items from my mini-haul from Sephora in early April: the Always Sharp waterproof kohl liner from SmashBox in Sumatra (a pretty brown shade) – I love how these kohl liners glide on the waterline and stay put all day. And, a lip set from Fresh. I was actually going to just buy the sugar caramel lip balm (guilty pleasure for the price) but for only about $10 more I would get the sugar lippies. They are a highly tinted balm and go on lighter than they appear. I haven’t worn them enough to form a solid opinion but my first impression is positive.
There were limited
freebies options (of the spend $x get y variety) on Sephora’s website when I
ordered so I went for a foundation sampler set. It was surprisingly nice –
samples of five foundations, a mini beauty blender with water, a mini primer
and a mini of the Laura Mercier translucent setting powder. It did ask for my skin tone so the samples I
received are aimed at lighter skin tones (for the most part), however, it doesn’t
address the warm/cool issue I always seem to run into.
MooseBeauty 