My Target Clearance Bin Haul

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.

Decided on the MAC 188 brush

I’m currently in the market for a good blush brush and I’ve looked into the Eco-Tools blush brush (if it’s anything like my powder brush then it will pick up too much product), the Revlon Blush brush (reviews are not so good on this), the MAC 116 (price is a little too much for me right now) brush and the MAC 187 brush (it’s too big and pricey). I remember people saying on the web that the MAC 187 brush is good for applying powders especially blushers and liquid foundations. I don’t wear liquid foundation (yet – I’m hoping my breakouts and scarring won’t last any longer) so I remembered that the MAC 188 (the smaller version of the 187) is available at my CCO. How nice.

What made me decide on the MAC 187 is that I read that it picks up a small amount of powder products which is nice because my NARS Taj Mahal is very pigmented so using a light brush is exactly what I need. I was using (and will continue to use) my Essence of Beauty Finishing brush (which is an odd brush to use blush for but I do not have a blush brush to use) to apply my NYX blush and it picks up a lot of product all at once and it’s the right amount for my cheek. When I go to use the same brush in my NARS blush the brush picks up too much or my NARS blush is very pigmented. I think it’s a pigmentation issue. The quality and pigmentation of my NARS blush is greater in that compared to my NYX blush, of course. I didn’t realize it because my only blush before my NARS was my NYX blush. No experience until now.

Anyway, what I had to do was go over my face with an MSF to cover up the over use of my NARS blush. It was too much product going my Finishing brush. I used my mineral face brush as well and I found myself in the same position. I’m hoping that the MAC 188 will pick up a small amount of product and will apply just right. I use a light hand in my NARS blush because I don’t want to waste it. I’m very careful with that blush as it cost me $25.00 for the one I have. Yikes!

Lastly, I was going to go ahead and splurge on the 131 brush, but I think it’s uncessary. I don’t really want to spend $40.00 on a brush I’m only going to use for blush. The 188 brush it is!