An Overdue Sephora Haul

I ended up at Sephora yesterday after work because that damned Urban Decay Naked palette has been on my mind the past few days.  I really wanted to hate this palette because I really don’t need anymore eyeshadows at this point – just put in my order for MAC Dare to Wear – I have 5 new eyeshadows on the way.

There are lots and lots of reviews on Youtube regarding the product and a lot of them were from women of color which I rarely see on Youtube when it comes to Urban Decay…across the board so that’s what sucked me in.  Anyhow, I ended up picking up more than just that palette.  Take a look!

OK so I picked up an Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin (loving it!) $18.00 and I’m going to post my review about my Naked palette ($44.00) in another post so here we go with everything else I got…

Another eye lash curler because I needed one so why not go Shu Uemura this time around?  So I got one for $19.00.

When I saw this eyeshadow in my promo email from NARS I knew I had to have it.  It’s called Daphne ($23.00).  It looks like a beauty in the pan, a mess on my hand swatched out and I have yet to put it on my eyes so I’ll let you guys know how it goes in a new post.  It looks like a hot purple with some royal blue undertones in it…very pretty looking.  There is a swatch located  all the way at the bottom of this post for this shadow on NC45/NC50 &  NW45 skin.

I have been pondering about this next product for a very long time and it’s been on wantages list for a long time as well because I was NOT about to pay $42.00 for some facial cream.  It is called Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer and I got it in Mocha (the darkest color – great that it matches my skin tone because it is the only “dark” color in the line).  Well what had happened was (lol) I got angry with liquid and cream foundations this summer because it’s just too heavy for to be wearing out in this heat.  I went for the gusto and bought it.  I figure that if I don’t like it I can just return it.

Today is my first time wearing it.  Alone, I can get light to medium coverage from it, it moisturized my face (it was very dry this morning because I didn’t moisturize), it didn’t feel like I had anything on my face because well it’s not a foundation, but it does cover.

I went over it with some concealer under my eyes and around my nose and yes, I set it (was I supposed to do that?) with a very light coat of MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural on top.  It looked beautiful afterwards (9:30am) and I’m looking in a mirror now and I’m just a little oily, but not massively as I would have been with MUFE Mat Velvet by now.  It is now 3:45pm.  I still have some more testing to do so I’m going to say if I like it or not just yet, but I think I’m going to.  Off to go blot!

Swatches!

A Back 2 MAC & a Return 2 MAC

I suck because I cannot work with that eyeshadow in Sand & Sun from the To The Beach collection so  I took it back to MAC and swapped it out for Shimmermoss in the To The Beach collection packaging and I am so very happy with it.  Very pretty!

I had one set of Back 2 MAC containers so I picked up an eyeshadow in Rule.  Rule reminds me of Illamasqua’s eyeshadow in Vapour, but it has a little more red in it.  Both eyeshadows are matte and I own both of them.  Not sure why I went with another orange-y eyshadow (including Off the Page), but I love them.

Here are my product pictures and swatches!!!

Love Lace Is Such A Pretty Eyeshadow!!!

I have been very lazy lately and not posting my hauls when I get them – so I am late and behind according to MAC’s collection release schedule.  I am doing my best.  I have been soooo lately, but I manage to go hauling right?  OK no more excuses.   I will try to keep up.  I’m having issues with nail polishes because I can’t remember the names and I’m too lazy to go look at them after I put them away.  I bought a lot of polishes and I’ll be posting them some time soon.  I love nail polish!

Here is all that I got over the past month…

From the MAC store I picked up MAC Love Lace eyeshadow from the, Love Lace collection, which is absolutely lovely (it looks hot on my lid – I think it’s a frost but I can’t remember right now), a back up of MAC 3N lipglass and MAC 5N lipstick which I should have bought a back up of because I have been using that lipstick almost everyday since I got it.  Eeeeek!

I went to Bloomingdales to see if they still had MAC Blue Flame mineralized eyeshadow because I had saw it two weeks prior.  I got lucky and picked up the last one.  Yay!  So I have all of the Style Black eyeshadows except for MAC Young Punk which I didn’t want.  I also asked for a MAC Kohl Power Pencil in Raven which is lovely.

SWATCHES!!!

Top:  MAC 5N lipstick

From left to right:  MAC Raven Kohl Power Pencil, MAC Love Lace Eyeshadow & MAC Blue Flame Min. Eyeshadow

My First Ulta Haul

My best friend and I went on our first visit to Ulta today in Holmdel, NJ (great city by the way) and we thought the place was awesome.  As we walked through the front door we noticed that the cosmetics aisles were located on the left and the fragrances were located on the right.  We headed straight for the cosmetics aisles of course. My best friend said that Ulta reminds her of Sephora, but I don’t think so.  Ulta is so much bigger and they carry a wide range of cosmetic lines from high to low and lots of fragrances, skincare and hair care products…A LOT!

We walked around every aisle that held high-end cosmetics and swatched products here and there.  We then watched a MA make up a customer with Urban Decay cosmetics.  The lady’s face came out really cute.

After our little tour of high-end cosmetics was over we went looking for NYX cosmetics.  We both have been wanting that NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk and we were able to snag a couple.  We’ve been wanting this pencil for a long time and could never find it at our fragrance outlet store or anywhere else for that matter – I cannot wait to try them.   I also picked up a dark brown jumbo eye pencil as well and when I got it home, my 22 month old got a hold of it while I was taking haul pics and yeah, she made a little mess of it.  I won’t be able to line my waterline with it now, but it’s OK.  I need the practice filling in my waterline with a brush anyway.  Price $3.99 each, but I got a buy one get 50% the second deal.

We were then off to look around at more low-end cosmetics and we I found Eco-Tools (which was on my list).  I picked up an angled liner brush and a eye shader brush.  Both brushes are synthetic though, but soft and I’ve heard great things about both brushes so I thought I’d give it a try before I go for the MAC equivalent brushes.  I already have the Eco-Tools Powder brush (which is my favorite brush) so why not get more brushes in the same family?? Price $4.99 for each brush.

So, we were off again and I wanted to check out the nail polishes because I’ve been wanting to get my first bottle of China Glaze nail polish and the only color I found interesting within the inventory left was a burn orangey color called “Cruisin”.  It’s a beautiful, sheeny undertone type of burn orange and I love it. *****TOTALLY OFF-TOPIC, BUT I MUST SHARE***I was like I had to get it because today I ordered NARS Blusher in Taj Mahal which is a burnt orange blush and though I have never seen it in real life before, I love it.  I love NYX Cinnamon blush, which is an orange colored blush, but I heard that orange looks great on the cheeks of women of color so I decided to go ahead and order.  I will go more into the story as to why I ordered NARS blusher in Taj Mahal + backup once I get it in the mail.  I’m so excited.****OK NOW BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND****  Plus it’s almost Fall so this color fits the season so I’ll be sporting this polish on the 21st.  Price $6.50.

I wanted to get China Glaze base and top coats, but there wasn’t any.   I may have to just order them online.

After I picked up my nail polish, we decided to explore Ulta some more and my best friend eyes got caught upon the cosmetic bags shelf and made my way over to the skincare shelf where the sales where.  I didn’t get much of a sale, but I picked up Cetaphil Facial Cleansar that came with a free squeeze tube of Cetaphil Lotion.  I can’t wait to use it, starting tonight, as I need help with these breakouts I’ve been getting all summer.  I just wish it would stop.  Please excuse the flash off of the Cetaphil bottle in the picture, but it was wrapped in plastic so that’s why the flash bounced off so hard.  Price $9.34

That’s it!  I’m not sure what’s up with my camera today, but it’s actiing crazy.  Here are pics from my first Ulta store haul: