Properly Made Up

Well, I know TJ Maxx carries some things I like like fitness equipment, DVDs and beauty stuff so I went in to see if I could find anything worth buying.  I found it!  I have been wanting Mariah Carey’s M for a long time, but was never able to find it for a good price.  I got lucky and got a 3.3oz bottle for $24.99.  So now, I have my two favorite Mariah perfumes…Luscious Pink that I got from Costco for $34.99 around the holiday and M for $24.99 just last week from TJ Maxx.  Of course I had to share my bargains and pics.

I also bought an extra thick, fancy Yoga Matt and a Gaiam Yoga DVD for cheap, but that will be posted in my fitness blog.

YAY YAY YAY!!!  I got my URBAN DECAY ALICE IN WONDERLAND BOOK OF SHADOWS!!!!!  Yeah I know I’m late posting, but whatever.  Me love love love.  I love UD shadows a lot and I found that out after I bought the Deluxe palette.  I always get compliments when I wear any of their shadows.  I am so impressed with this new one.   I love the colors because they are all amazing.

I only own the Deluxe palette so it was mandatory that I get this product.  I ordered it from Sephora.com on the day they offered it.  I’ve been waiting for this one…and being a Disney fan too makes all the difference.  Here are the pics with no explanation because you can get info about this anywhere by now.  I just want to post my pictures!!!

Yay yay yay!!!!

And I did very good this time around too.  I was happy to find everything in the clearance shelf  at Target that my wonderful hubby located this past Saturday.  Here is my haulage…

Well, I was gawking at this mascara (yep I’m late) called Telescopic by L’Oreal when Hubby came to me with this Eco-Tools brush set and my face lit up like a full moon because I love my Eco-Tools Powder brush and angled liner brush A LOT.  It was the limited edition Alicia Silverstone brush set that I wanted to get when it first came out, but I wasn’t able to find it at my home Target.  The box was a little bit beat up so I opened it up to check out the condition of the brushes and I found that the stippling brush was twisted and kind of damaged.  Hubby came back with another box and so we checked it out and switched the bad stippling brush out for the good one in the other box so it worked out perfectly.

The brush set came with a brush bag and four brushes (blush, stippling, angled shader brush and lash/brow comb brush).  I was happy to have come into this because I was debating on whether or not to purchase a MAC 187 brush which I don’t have, but need.  I have yet to try this brush out, but I hope it works just like the MAC 188 that I do have.  I don’t know the original price of this set, but I got it for $3.47!

There is also a bookmark that came with it that has Alicia’s picture on it that explains what she uses each brush for.  Included is a dollar off coupon on any Eco-Tools product.  I’m not sure what I’ll use it on…maybe another liner brush.

This brush I’m very excited about…the Eco-Tools Finishing brush (stippling) which is dense, firm and very soft.

I also picked up the limited edition Eco-Tools Earth Friendly Train Case which I love and what I’ll be taking with me on vacations.  I also go this lovely case for $3.74!

Another coupon…

Yes To Carrots…a brand I had never heard off until I spotted it on the clearance shelf.  I was able to get a stick of C Me Smile lip butter (berry flavor), a squeezy tube of C Me Shine lip gloss (flirty pink flavor) and a tube of C Me Blush lip tint (sunset pink flavor).  These products are 95% organic USDA approved (it says it on the products)…ummm ok.  LOL!  I never heard of that before.  Something is either organic or not, but anyway I am happy to try out these products.  The packaging also says, ” All Natural.  Free of  Parabens.  Three delicious and organic ways to nourish your lips.”  I’m not really into flavored lip products, but I’ll give them all a try for $2.48.

I also picked up two eyeshadows by Almay Pure Blends in Steel (a silver color) and Ivory (an ivory color) to try out because the price was so good on them. I never thought to look at these shadows before, but I’ll see what I can do witth them.  I swatched them and they come out a bit ashy.  I will let you guys know how it comes out on the eye when I get around to using them.  Price: $1.61 for both.

Swatches!  The top color is Steel and the bottom is Ivory.

Last, but not least, I got a Rimmel Shock32 Magnifying lip gloss in Amp’ed for $1.48.

I’m going to keep this one short.  NARS baby!

I figured I was in need of more NARS and since I love NARS blushes I decided to pick one up.   I swung by Sephora in my favorite mall (Willowbrook Mall in Jersey) and decided on Taos.  Taos had been on my list for a long while after I got Love Joy so I went for it.  Taos reminds me of Love Joy, but it has a brick red color in it with flects of gold glitter which is what I love about NARS - I love the shimmer and the pow of their colors.  Both blushes are different, but remind me of each other.  I was happy I made the choice to get it because it is beautiful on me and it shows up very well.  Price: $25.00

I also picked up a NARS eyeshadow.  Yay!  It is my very first NARS eyeshadow and that’s because I am a MAC eyeshadow hoarder.  I had seen this shadow time and time again and have swatched it time and time again, but never bought into it.  I know people rave about this shadow a lot so I decided to get it.  This color is goregous.  It is a deep brown color with flect of gold glitter in it.  I wore it today and it came up on me so beautiful!!!  I paired it with Glamour Check! by MAC — GORGEOUS!  The eyeshadow I’m talking about is Galapagos! Price: $22.00

Swatches!!!

I am totally in love with my purchases. 

OK so I am always passing this Goodwill store on my way to anywhere when I’m out shopping and so yesterday Hubby and I decided to swing by to see if there was anything there we might be interested in buying.  Hubby runs to the books because he loves to read old books and I run straight to home wares to see if there are any containers I can use to store my makeup, beauty and or hair stuffs.

Anyway, the make a long story short, we made our way over to “electronics” and I spotted (out of the corner of my eye) a makeup mirror made by the Clairol people back in the day.  It was brand new in the box and I had hubby test it for power and it worked!  It had never been used and it was marked $5.99.  What??  Old or not, I had to have it because a mirror like this runs at least 30 dollars at Target.

I got my mirror home and checked it out.  It came with a little instruction manual plus a “Makeup Tips From Michael Maron and Clairol”…sweet!  It’s a complete little booklet that give makeup application tips and the like.

UT OH!!!  IS THAT NATALIE FROM “THE FACTS OF LIFE” in my throwback booklet??????????? LOL!!!  Too funny!

And here are pictures of my new vintage Clairol beauty mirror which was released in 1988!!!  I was 9 years old back then.  It comes with four lighting settings (day, office, home and evening), an adjustable stand, regular and magnifying mirror and an extra outlet.

Ummm yeah…I am very happy and excited to have this mirror.  I already have another beauty mirror which is pretty, but you can never have too many mirrors on your vanity.  That’s all!

Long over due, but here it is (from the Fragrance Outlet & Cosmetic Company Store - CCO)…

NYX single syeshadow in white and lip glosses (from left to right in upper left hand corner of above image) in Cady Shop and Ice Princess

MAC Kohl eyeliner pencil in Feline (bottom right off above image)

MAC Greasepaint Stick in black (bottom right off above image)

MAC lipglass in Liberated… (Style Warriors packaging)

MAC 165, 134 and 129sh brushes

MAC 129sh brush w/ Fafi protective case

MAC eyeshadows in (top pan) Flip and (bottom pan) Bold and Brazen and mineralized eyeshadow quad in Fashion Patch

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC50 and Mineralized Skinfinish in Perfect Topping

MAC Nail Laquer in (from left to right) Fluid, Naturally Rich and Firehouse

Hi everybody!!!  I haven’t been posting to this blog like I should, but I still have been hauling like crazy (of course) in while MIA so here goes a bit of a collective haul.  I collected these items over a period of about three weeks, I believe.

OK so I visit Costco about once every two weeks to pick up organic brown rice, organic spring mix salad, fresh shrimp cocktail, bottled water and to check out the beauty and skincare aisle.

So I’m on the skin care and beauty aisle and I run into Bliss.  I had never tried any products from Bliss before so this was a good opportunity for me to.  The package came with two products and they are called, “tried+blue body lotion pour le corps (a moisture milk with marine botanicals) and tried+blue bubbling body wash (with moisture-binding marine active)“.  And this is what the packaging says on it.  These products smell soooo so good!  I use these when I need some comfort and want to feel all cuddly.

These products do not do anything so don’t buy them if you want to exfoliate or scrub because you read on the packaging that they contain ingredients from the sea.  These products are simply “comfort and soothing” products.   The shower gel makes my skin very soft and makes me feel really clean.  The lotion is light and it really does moisturizes my body superbly.  I have used these before I go to bed so when I jump into bed…I feel soooo nice and I smell so good!  I paid $12.99 for both.

I also picked up the makeup removing wipes made by the Costco brand, Kirkland.  These wipes OK, but I find that I don’t use them a lot.  They remove most of my makeup, but I have to use two sheets in order to get all of the makeup off the surface of my face.  It’s not good with removing eye makeup and I wear a lot of eye makeup so that could just be all my fault, I don’t know.  I paid $14.99 for a four pack of 15 (I think) wipes.  Sorry about the blurred pic…not sure what happened.

Next, my wonderful husband bought me these from Costco…

It’s almost Christmas time so Costco has all of their gift items out and of course, they are selling high end fragrances.  They had D&G, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Juicy Couture and more.  My husband got me Princess by Vera Wang (which I love love love) in a 3.4 oz. bottle and on another visit to Costco, he got me Luscious Pink by Mariah Carey (which I love now that I own it) 3.3 oz.  Both fragrances for the sizes I have go for $72.00 approximately elsewhere.  I think they can be bought cheaper on Beauty.com, but their prices are not as low as Costco.

I’ve never owned any of these perfumes before, but I love Princess.  Every time I go to a counter that has it I spray myself all over with it.  I really wanted M by Mariah Carey because I love that one too, but they didn’t have it so I picked out Luscious Pink not knowing what it smelled like.  I now love Luscious Pink.  It smells so sexy.  I love love.  The only thing I don’t like about Luscious Pink is that it fades away kind of quick for a perfume.  I spray on my Princess and it lasts all day long and I can still smell it myself, but that’s not the case with Luscious Pink.  I am not one to spray loads of product on, but I have to do that with Luscious Pink if I want to keep the smell going throughout the day.  Also, there is no label on the Luscious Pink bottle at all - what is that about?  I wish the whole container was in glass, but it’s not.  The bottle is in glass, but the top (butterfly) is plastic.  :(  Take a look. Both fragrances cost him $45.99.

Moving on…I picked up a few nail polishes from Walgreens. I have a love for Sinful Colors nail polish over both OPI and China Glaze AND Zoya.  I don’t know, but I LOVE the colors and I love the staying power AND I love the price.  Each bottle, including the base and top coats all cost $1.99 each.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

So right now, I’m on Sinful Colors.  I picked up (from left to right) the base coat (love), Vacation Time (a creamy, opaque light coral color), Let’s Meet (a yellow cab color with flects of gold sheen) and not pictured Purple Diamond (a light lavender violet color with flects of silver sheen - very pretty) and Gorgeous (a royal turquoise metallic color - swatched below.

Last, but not least…I went on a visit to Ulta on Black Friday.  And although I didn’t get any Black Friday deals, I had to have these items.  I picked up Urban Decay’s Deluxe Eyeshadow Box ($36.00), Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner Mini Pencils ($34.00) and Stila’s Kajal Eyeliner in Topaz ($18.00 and worth every penny!).

On my visit to the CCO last Saturday, I wore Urban Decay’s Honey eyeshadow on my lower lash line with Urban Decay’s Eldorado 24/7 eyeliner on my water line and I had gotten so many compliments and questions as to what it was.  Nice!!!  Love!!!  So I am loving my Deluxe Eyeshadow box.  All of the shadows are shimmery, but not overly shimmery and are easy to work with.  The colors are highly pigmented as well.  I really do enjoy this product and it makes me happy!  This box came with a mini bottle of Primer Potion as well.  To me, it works just like Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

PENCILS PENCILS PENCILS!!!  The mini 24/7 glide on pencils are short, but you get eight (8) different colors so IT IS WORTH IT TO BUY if you have never tried out the 24/7 pencils or if you don’t want to pay full price for just one full size. I didn’t want to pay for full size Urban Decay pencils so I got these.  I am in love with my MAC kohl pencils and Stile Kajals…anyway.  This was a great deal. The only thing I don’t like about these pencils is that they wipe away or dissolve easily/quickly.  I will have to definitely set these liners each time I use them.  I can usually get away with not setting MAC kohl and Stila Kajal liners most of the time.

I’ve only so far wore Eldorado (a 24kt gold color) and Corrupt (a dark brown color with gold glitter).  From left to right in the image below, here are the pencil names…Zero (a matte black color), Oil Slick (a very dark gray black color with silver glitter), Corrupt (a dark brown color with gold glitter), Eldorado (a 24kt gold color), Graffiti (a Christmas green color with silver glitter), Binge (a matte navy blue color), Ransom (a dark matte purple color), Rockstar (a very dark burgandy brown color) and Stash (a metallic dark brown color).

Stila!!! I am so in love with Stila Kajal pencils!  I fell in love with them way back when I got my first Kajal pencil in Onyx a while back when Sephora was celebrating their 10th Anniversay and it came in a Stila kit that contained a mascara, convertible color and a decorative can.  Now, I’m very much in love with the Topaz pencil.  Some time ago, I wanted to make my eyes look larger because I have chinky eyes and white eyeliner was not working out for me.  I am an NC45/50 so I was looking kind of crazy wearing white eyeliner.  Then months later I saw Michele1218 (my favorite Youtube guru) had hauled one of these pencils in October or November (I can’t remember) and she said that Topaz looks good with day looks and it looks great on skin of color so I was sold right away.  I love this pencil. It is a cream peachy color so it goes well with neutral looks perfectly.  I wore it only once and I got so many compliments on this one too.  Amazing!  I will be using this pencil A LOT.

And as for this mess below…I will explain that major CCO and small NYX haul later, but for now take a look at my new goodies!!!!

This sale came out right after Sephora ended their 20% of Friends and Family sale.  I didn’t catch their sale in time so I went to Beauty.com and got the same deal.  I only wanted three things, but one of them Sephora didn’t have at the time and Beauty.com doesn’t have at all and that was Gold Member cream blush from NARS.  The other two items I did purchase were Love Joy blush by NARS ($25.00) and that Stila Smudge Pot mini set that came with a tiny liner brush ($36.00) + the 20% discount.  And yes, I paid $5.99 shipping for snail mail.

Anyway, here are my items.  Please excuse my camera, but it was acting out that day…

Smudge Pot colors, top row, from left to right:  Kitten (reminds me of painterly paint pot, but shimmery and creamy) and Starry Night (a deep blue-purple color)

Smudge Pot colors, bottom row, from left to right:  Violet (a dark violet color) and Black (jet black)

Blush:  NARS Love Joy (a shimmery, medium-dark, pink-tan color with gold flects of glitter)

At the moment I have to stop wearing nail polish because they are damaging my poor nails.  After years of having strong nails and starting up wearing nail polishes, my nails have taken a very nice hit into the wrong direction.  My nails are peeling and are thinning out.

I’m sure, now, that my base coat that I’m using by O.P.I. for Sephora is not a good base at all.  I’m not sure if this brand is the same as regular O.P.I. and instead of trying to find out I’m just going to take a rest from nail polish all together.  I have had to go find my Sally Hansen Hard on Nails nail hardner so I’m just using that.  I’m trying to repair my nail issues.

Anyway, here is my Sinful Colors nail polish haul from Walgreens.  I haven’t gotten a chance to wear any of these yet.  They were all purchased about three weeks ago.

Sinful Colors from left to right are…”See You Soon” (a really deep teal color with sheen), “What’s Your Name” (a black color with teal flect of glitter in it), “Rich In Heart” (a deep jewel tone burgandy with sheen), “Serena and Chloe” (a burn orange color with a black and gold undertones), “This Is It” (which I love - is a medium dark squash color with a black undertone) and “Toyko Pearl” (a pearl color with a nice meringue type of look - pretty).  The bottle on the far right is just a Top Shine.

Like I said, I haven’t used any of these yet but the colors are all beautiful.  The cashier told me that the first two look just alike, but they don’t.  They are both two different nail polishes.  To the untrained eye they may look alike.  One is a dark teal with sheen and the other is a black color with flects of teal glitter in it.  HUGE DIFFERENCE.  Ha!!!  OK crazy talk is coming out so that means I’ll stop this post right here.

Good night!!!

And of course I couldn’t pass these up because I am in need of back up brushes because I don’t wash (which I should) my brushes everyday so they are necessary for me.  I was going to buy those Sigma brushes because “they” compare them to MAC brushes, but nobody can beat the price tag of $19.99 for these brushes.  So I have kicked the Sigma idea to the curb.  Wait, scratch that.  I will go to Sigma for thier travel brushes though because I’ve heard great things about those and I do need a good travel brush set which I still don’t have…keep reading.

Let me start off by telling everybody how VERY SOFTthese brushes are.  I couldn’t stop brushing my powder brush all over my face because it’s so soft.  It’s softer than the MAC 134 (which I still don’t have, but LOVE to DEATH).  The handles are thick and durable.  They are covered by what seems to be a thin layer of rubber.  And the feral is shiney metal of course.  The length of the brushes are comparable to their MAC counterparts which is a plus for me.  I hate short brushes!

This set comes with eight (8) full size makeup brushes and a full size brush roll which can hold all of the full size brushes that comes in this set.  The brush roll is not made of leather, but of a durable material that has a diamond sewn in pattern, the feel is soft and it doesn’t look cheap at all. All of the brushes are dense, even down to the liner brushes and the travel size brushes.

Here are the brushes from left to right…powder brush (my favorite), bronzer brush (I only use this for blush application so far), angled contour brush, (I am only able to contour down the sides of my nose with this brush because it’s very flat and narrow), an eyeshadow brush, blending brush, liner brush, smudge brush and a dual angled liner / lash brush.  All of the brushes are made of synthetic fibers - cruelty free…big plus in my book.  The brushes are white at the top and black going down to the feral.  My powder brush has been used  in my MAC minieralized skinfinish natural as you can see in the picture.

The set also comes with an eyelash curler (which I was in really bad need of - tired of my dollar lash curler already) which features a plastic replacement when the old one goes bad and a travel brush set.

The travel brush set comes with a mini powder brush (which I have been using to blot with - really nice), a mini blending brush, a mini eyehsadow brush and a mini liner brush.  The mini brush roll is made of the same material as the larger brush roll that comes with the set which is padded and durable, not letter but it doesn’t feel or look cheap.

What I don’t like about this travel set is that it only comes with four brushes which means this mini set is meant for daily use vs. travel like going on vaction for a few days.  You couldn’t apply all of your makeup with the brushes in your travel kit.  Just an FYI…

My overall opinion of these brushes are very good brushes, very very soft, does their jobs and for the price of $19.99, you can’t beat it.  I’ve been using them for over three weeks now and I’m really impressed.  I am able to apply all of my makeup with this brush set except for my foundation which is a liquid.  The bronzer brush, which could resemble  the MAC 187, doesn’t work the same way.  I couldn’t even see applying mineral foundation with it and that’s what this brush was made for.  It’s just too small in diameter to work the foundation in - just my opinion.  My best friend ran out to get her set after taking a look and feel of my powder brush.  Love!

I’m so happy I was able to get these brush handles in black.  I saw a set, I think from 2008, where the handles were clear - not good for me all.  If they were any other color besides black I probably wouldn’t have bought them.  I’m just picky like that.  I am still collecting MAC brushes because I love them so, but in the interim, I will be trying out other kinds of brushes to find those that suit my needs.

That’s all for now!!!