Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner

Ulta had this promotion last month where one different brand in their stores gave a discount on one or two of their products from their lines.  I wanted to take advantage of the Amazing Cosmetics concealer, but I couldn’t make it on two of the three days the promotions took place.  I went for the Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliners because I really like the Kajal ones (my favorite liners ever) so I decided to try these.

The promotion said to buy one and get one free so I picked up two of these eyeliners.  I got Peacock which is a blue peacock color and I wear this on my lash line and lower lash line – perfection.  The other one I got is Moray which is an army green with some brown undertones in it and what makes it even more beautiful is the small flects of gold shimmers in it making it perfect for wearing under the lower lash line (which is how I rock it).  The liners are in auto sharpening packaging so you won’t know if you’re at the end of the liner or not so that’s not good.  Both of these liners give a metallic finish so they are very in for this season.  These liners are waterproof and last all day long.  I’m glad I got these.  Price: $20.00 each, but I paid $20.00 for both through the promotion at Ulta.

Swatches!

Haul from Stila’s 50-75% Off Warehouse Sale

A long time ago I remember buying that Sephora 10th Anniversary can thingy that contained Stila products that did not match my skin tone (I didn’t know that back then) and I immediately hated it.  I had gotten that Convertible compact (too light), a mascara (just didn’t like) and a lipgloss (hate the brush applicator so I tossed the whole thing).  I never used the compact, but I did use up the mascara.  I still have my kajal pencil in Onyx which I love love love and that was all I loved about the kit.

Since then, I haven’t been interested in Stila at all except for their kajal liners.  I had only bought the kajal pencil in Topaz since then and that’s it.  Sad, right?  Well, I wasn’t feeling Stila like that.  *shrugz*

Stila had come out with that Barbie collection and when I saw that black Barbie with an afro I wanted that kit so bad.  I didn’t want to spend the money on it because I didn’t want the lip glaze or the mascara.  I just wanted the eyeshadows and the blush…with the can of course.  Love the can!

How did I end up with this kit?  Well, Stila had their Warehouse Sale two weeks ago 50-75% off. I took a look at the inventory on their website and saw that this kit was  more than half off so I purchased it right away.  I purchased it along with some other items like the smudge pots – both more than half off.  I got one in Pomegranate and one in  Purple Pumps.   Another thing I really wanted for a long while, but I wasn’t trying to pay full price for since I have a lot of MSFs, was that Illuminating Finishing Powder in Bronze and that was half off so I purchased that too and got more than half off.

Here is the Barbie Loves Stila Foxy Doll set…that came with a Stila can (which I love and it comes with a little doll bio book which is too cute- I have 2 now), a Lash Visor Waterproof Mascara in black (I think – haven’t tried it yet and won’t for a while because I have too many mascaras to try out), a Lip Glaze in Foxy (looks good, nice color and consistency, but I still hate the brush applicator – makes a mess if you’re not careful), and a trio palette with Foxy Barbie Doll on the cover that protects two eyeshadows (one is pearly white shimmery color and the other reminds me of a less shimmery MAC Patena) and a blush that looks like the color of  my Pomegranate smudge pot.  Retail Price: $40.00,  Sale Price: $18.00
Keeping Reading & See More Of My Pics!

GOOP SEE Newsletter: Q&A from Yesterday re: BEAUTY PRODUCTS – YAY!

For those of you who DO NOT know, I love the reading GOOP.com.  I love the newsletters and all of the various recommendations they offer regular people like me from varying topics such as food, HEALTH, FITNESS, life, home, family…even more stuff…and BEAUTY OF COURSE!   Anyway, the site is owned by the fabulous Gwenyth Paltrow and it’s really a beautiful site.  She does lots of advertising, but a lot of the stuff she advertises she has used herself so it’s okay with me.  The GOOP website can be found by clicking HERE!

I wanted to share with you all the Question and Answer part of the newsletter that GP’s people did with Dr. Frederic Brandt (a Hollywood Derma doc) where he recommends a lot of “great” products we should be using or trying out re: skin care and beauty.  Let’s see what he recommends!

***Text below was taken from the GOOP SEE newsletter subscription that was sent to me today.

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Q:  “I’d like to know about new cutting edge facials and techniques for natural glowing beauty at home. I would love to know about great products that we could learn about.  Also anti aging techniques would be great, as many say “oh, I drink a lot of water or stay out of he sun.”  But in reality they have perfectly line free, plumped, spot free skin. What can we do for lasers, peels, light therapy, tricks of the trade etc.. To stay looking healthy and vibrant?
A: Dr. Fredric Brandt is a cosmetic dermatologist notable for launching at-home skincare treatments that actually work and don’t require a prescription or a visit to the doctor. Here is one product from his line that I use and recommend especially. It really works.”

dr. brandt® laser a-peel ($75) is just like an in-office peel. The great thing about it is that it comes as a combination of two bottles, one that that does a deep, exfoliating peel and one that soothes the skin.

A: When it comes to my skin-care regime, I use a grab-bag of makeup, creams, and oils that I like to mix and match on a daily basis. Here are a few of the products that I love and that really stand out:

I use Stella McCartney’s Purifying Foaming Cleanser for a gentle wash each day.

Rodin’s Olio Lusso ($140): This all-natural moisturizing oil leaves skin looking radiant. It has a subtle lovely fresh scent, too.

I love Intelligent Nutrients products which are all organic. The Anti-Aging Serum ($60.00) and the Anti-Aging Mist ($35.00) work in conjunction to eliminate signs of aging and make skin look luminous.

In the winter, when my skin gets especially dry, I use a combination of products from Skinceuticals. A few drops of Hydrating B5 Gel ($67) goes a long way in helping to keep my skin fully moisturized. I use this along with their A.G.E Interrupter ($150) which fights wrickles and C E Ferulic ($142), their anti-oxidant, after washing my face, neck and chest.

My LA facialist, Sonya Dakar, has an eco-friendly group of anti-aging products called Neutrasphere that I find really works.

I like to use bright lipstick when all the rest of my makeup is minimal. A few months ago, I found the most gorgeous and sleek box set of Tom Ford lipstick. From his line of makeup, these lipsticks come in 12 essential colors. The set can be purchased in Neiman Marcus and Saks in the US and at Selfridges in the UK (after August 1st).

I use Chanel’s Ecriture Automatic Liquid Eyeliner ($34) and Soleil Tan ($48) as a Bronzer.

Laura Mercier’s Undercover Pot ($34), I find, is the ultimate blemish and under-eye circle cover-up. It comes in a pot with a 3 product combo that you can mix up to hide blemishes.

Estee Lauder’s TurboLash Mascara ($32) has a brush that actually vibrates to curl and give lashes volume and length.

For Blush, I stick with Stila’s Convertible Color ($25) which gives a nice glow.

I’ve been using Kiehl’s #1 lip balm forever. It’s permanantly in my handbag.

Bobbi Brown’s Tinted Moisturizing Balm ($50) is the perfect foundation with SPF 25 as a major plus. The Everything Mascara ($22) is also one of my everyday essentials.

Costco, Ulta & Walgreens Collective Haul

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!!!!