First Haul In Awhile!

Kohls is currently running one of their buy $50 get $10 Khols Cash and I hopped over there yesterday in celebration of my job offer.

I found some of the beautiful Beloved rose collection blushes from American Beauty 50% off (original price of $18). At $9 a pop, I picked up 3 of the colors...


Starting on the left, the colors are Nectar Blossom, Rose Shimmer, & Rose Bouquet.

They are beautiful.

I also stopped by ULTA the other day and found some Garden Botanika for 75% off. I had to pick up a few of the eyeshadows at $2.99-$3.99 - yeah I don't know why the prices were different but certainly inexpensive enough for me!


Starting on the left, the colors are Ivy, Blossom & Moon.

I love GB shadows, especially the mattes (Blossom & Moon). And I couldn't resist the dark green shade. Those of you who know me will know exactly why!

I'm Back - Kinda

Well, it's been almost 2 week since my last post here, for good reason. I have not the money to spend on cosmetics since my grad class started (that is $1200 + a $100 textbook - oh and time of course). I've been trying to hide away from 2 of my loves: shopping and makeup.

I've been so good. I skipped the Bobbi Brown 25% off sale (even recieving daily e-mails about it - and of course the last day they send several: only 24 hours left, only 12 hours left, only 6 hours... you get the idea). I also skipped the MAC 25% sale. I hear rumors that the code though SUMO is still working so use it while there is still time.

Apparently Laura Mercier has a whole bunch of sale stuff on her site too. The only thing I've bought has been a couple pair of shoes from DSW and only because I had one of those reward coupons and a $10 off code.

I feel so good about myself. Hah.

Anyway, another thought. I've been meaning to review or post about a certain type of product a day of the week to get things picked up around here and I fear they are all taken. Well, all 1 of them that is. There are a few bloggers that have "Taupe Tuesdays" but I wanted to be original even though I love taupes. The only thing I could think of was Highligher Humpdays. Is it too ridiculous, probably. But it's really the only genre of color/product I have enough of to last more than a couple weeks. Or how about silver Sunday/Saturdays. I know I only have 1 reader but any other ideas?

♥ jeweledthumb

MAC Goodbyes

Just got an e-mail from MAC about some products that are getting discontinued. I hate when they do this, but my assumption is it is part of their marketing scheme.

Fluidline: Shade
Lipstick: Delish
Tinted Lipglass: Nico
Nail Laquer: Abstract and Gee Whiz

If these are some of your HGs you may still be able to get them at your local counter till they are sold out or at a CCO (Cosmetic Company Outlet) and at 30% off.

Bridal Makeup Booking

Since my wedding, I had forgotten how much fun doing bridal makeup was, so just to get my feet wet, I made a post on Craigslist on Saturday and today got an e-mail from a bride getting married in only a week kind of scrambling to find someone. Thankfully, my schedule is free and I gratefully accepted to do her wedding makeup, as well as possibly the makeup for her MOH and her mother.

I'm actually really excited. I love doing makeup in a more personal environment than a store and that's what I've been doing for the past few years. You really don't get the opportunity to really talk to someone in a retail store and it's hard to be able to concentrate on 1 person (or in this case 3 - but we all know the bride is the most important).

Either way, we'll see if the bride allows it, but I hope to post some photographs of my handiwork assuming the trial goes well.

*EDIT*

Well, I guess I shouldn't have written about it, because she e-mailed me back saying that they had moved the wedding date - and that weekend I have a work related barbecue that I have to be at. Poo. The only good news is my photographer friend is looking for a makeup artist and it looks like we'll be collaborating so I'll be able to brush up on things and expand my portfolio a bit.

Drugstore Diva?

Even though I have hauled online quite a bit, someone really stop me please, I continue to need that instant gratification from the drugstore. I've noticed a few things.

1. The prices are getting insane (I'm talking to you, Revlon!)

2. There are more options than ever before including color choices, remember when you could really only buy black, blackest black and sometimes brown for some brands of eyeliners? No more! With brands like Styli-Styli, Wet n Wild (though I hate their pencil eyeliners, I don't recommend!), prestige, L'oreal's HIP line and Milani, there are so many choices out there. This is somewhat bad for me since I want it all! And of course, each color is slightly different, right? And the formulas are slightly different, just different enough (even if you are talking about regular 'ol black) that in our heads we can authorize the purchase and say it isn't like anything else we own, which is a lie of course.

3. The sales aren't as good. Even I have been sucked into Buy 1 get 1 50% off, which really is just 25% off - not that great. Now a true BOGO or Buy 1 get 1 free calls my name often, which is unfortunate. I remember when Wet n Wild used to go on sale for 3/$1 back when I was in my teens. What happened? I know that cosmetic companies have gotten greedy - it's not as though the product has suddenly started costing them more money - there are many sites out there that look at the true worth of say, a lipstick, which is somewhere around $.30 to make. That's a lot of profit!

Some of the drugstore brands have gems though! For instance, I will never pay more than $10 for a mascara anymore because I know I can get it cheap at the drugstore, especially if you stack coupons with sales.

My favorite drugstore products include:

• Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara - one of the only mascaras I can use in the winter when my eyes usually tear from the cold and then mascara usually further irritates them. I originally picked this up pretty cheap and will continue to buy it.
• Nearly the entire H.I.P line from L'oreal! What a great line. Just buy it on sale since it is fairly expensive.
• L'oreal Colour Riche lipgloss - this lipgloss is on the sheerer side, but it's super moisturizing and just gives the lips a subtle hint. This is one of those items I always keep in my purse.

Of course, there's a ton of other wonderful products out there. And with deals and coupons even those of us that are on a budget, can get good products!

Avon/Mark Haul

After perusing The Pink Train Case's Mark/Avon haul I went over to the site myself and found some great deals to be had, so of course I hauled.

I've been on a taupe/neutral kick for eyes and glossy lipsticks that seem like glosses for the lips. Here's some pics of my favorites.

Avon's new eyeshadow quads, singles and blushes are still on sale on their site. Quads are retailing for $5.99 (reg $8) which is very nice, too nice, in fact as I picked up 3 of them. Oops. My 2 favorites are Blushing Raisin & Mocha Latte

From left to right (or top to bottom depending on your screen size):
Blushing Raisin no flash, Blushing Raisin flash, Mocha Latte flash, Mocha Latte no flash

I love both of them, especially the 2 lower left shades in both palettes. The raisin quad's shade is a plummy taupe and the Mocha quad is more of a silvery brown taupe.

Then I picked up the Mark. get bright highlighting liquid in light - this is fabulous and very subtle and the Glazewear Diamonds lipstick in Ruby Slippers which has a gel-like formula and goes on bright pink but not over the top. Great for a neutral eye.



All these items can be found on the mark and/or avon sites, or order from your wonderful rep. Prices I paid:

True Color eyeshadow quad $5.99 (sale)
Glazewear Diamond lipstick $2.99 (sale)
Mark. get bright hook up highlighter $6.00 (reg price)

Finally Pictures LUSH Haul

Ok, finally a picture of my $15 LUSH haul! Not all bath bombs are pictured, since they are all repeats, but they are adorable and they smell fantastic! See the little miniature flowers on the eggs? So cute.
I also received my Haute Look Josie Maran order but I haven't even opened it up yet. Pictures and my thoughts on the products coming soon!

LUSH Easter Haul

Now I don't celebrate Easter myself, but I'm totally in a celebratory mood if there's a 4-letter word involved: SALE! I went into my local LUSH store yesterday on my day off and happened upon 2 tiny baskets hidden away below one of the least prominent shelves in the store, and in those baskets? LUSH bath bombs in easter egg shapes for $1! I completely cleaned them out, and also got the huge pink easter egg filled with soap and I think a massage bar for $5 (original price $29!). I do so love a good deal. I did leave a couple eggs and the bunny ones (since how on earth was I going to explain the eggs to my husband? Let alone a little bath bomb (not like he knows what that is) bunny. But they smell delicious and all for about $15 I got 9 bath bombs and a huge bath bomb to use bits of pieces of filled with other LUSH goodies! If you have a local store, I do recommend stopping by to pick these cheap goodies up before they are all gone. Pictures to come!

Sephora Haul & Review

I of course succumbed to the Sephora 15% Beauty Insider sale I posted a little while ago. I received my package quite awhile ago but I only recently got a chance to really open it up and see how everything was.

Well, first of all, here's the box filled with my goodies.

Looks great, right? I ordered the Tarte Spring Greening Reusable Palette and the Are You A Scweppicure? Kit (the lipbalm is going to my husband and I'm keeping the bag). The Tarte palette is Limited Edition and Sephora claims it is worth $95. I was really excited about opening it up and was sorely dissapointed. You'll see why. In general, I've been pretty impressed with Tarte's LE palettes. Most of the time you get at least 1 full sized product in them, if not more, and generally the eyeshadow palettes are full sized... I'm going to dissapoint everyone and tell you that the eyeshadows in this palette are tiny. Super tiny. As much as I love the idea of the cute little carrying case, the kit would likely be mutilated in my bag, I can just see it slowly ripping to shreds. And the lipglosses are equally as tiny and actually in mine they look 3/4 of the way full. If that weren't enough, the lipglosses don't have names - the description says they are all new shades but are they permanent or LE with the case? Who knows! See the picture on the right to see the size of the palette in relation to a nickle.

Apparently these eyeshadows are new (LE?) minerals eyeshadows. I found many of the colors rather unremarkable. I haven't even tried the lipgloss but see the lipgloss tube on the right that looks slightly used - never touched by my lips at least? I suppose these eyeshadows are nice colors for spring but I found a few of them to be rather chalky (almost like Tarte's old formula of eyeshadows) especially the purple shade and even when I first opened up the palette, I noticed a bit of shadow around the edges. Swatches below. I think I'll be returning this. Unimpressive.

To the left we have the top 2 shade on the right 2 fingers (I should have done swatches backwards in retrospect but hey, jeweled thumb is new so I have some learning to do! Get it jeweled thumb with eyeshadow? Isn't it catchy... ok maybe it's not as entertaining as I think. Onward. The bronze shade 2nd row on the left is the finger farthest to the left.









On the right we have my actual thumb with the very pale pink shade which goes on more of a neutral beige bordering on pink.







And to the left we have the bottom 2 shades. The purple on the left is actually several layers of the purple shade. I really had to dig my finger in there and if you notice the top of my finger is kind of bumpy? That's the layers of the shadow. I found the purple shade the chalkiest of them all, which is a shame because it is beautiful. There is a subtle blue iridescense to it that is really quite pretty.


So that's the palette. Do I think it's worth $96? Considering the shadows are quite a bit smaller than full sized Tarte shadows, not really. Not unless the bag is suddenly worth $40! It is a nice palette if you are really looking for something travel worthy and are into the shades and are new to Tarte too sheer! For someone like me that has many of Tarte's palettes in addition to several individual eyeshadows, I'm not sure it's worth keeping, even at 15% off.

*Edited to Add*
I actually tried swatching they eyeshadows with a brush and they were so sheer it was almost laughable. You could barely see any of the colors, and then I tested the glosses just to make sure I definitely didn't want it, none of them showed up on my lips. So I sent it back today (4/29).

Forgotten but Not Lost Products

Does anyone else have any products they kind of wish they would lose but don't have the heart to throw away? Those products that sit in your makeup bag unused. The ones you don't even want to swap because you can't imagine anyone liking them? The ones that you occasionally pull out and see if your dreaded hatred for them has changed, just to see -- and then become just as begrudgingly annoyed that you ever purchased them? Some of them were just so cheap and of course too good to be true. Some of them you received as extras in swaps and don't have the heart to toss or add to your swaplist and some you pulled out of the clearance bin saying maybe.... And of course there are the ones that are just awful, that maybe one day you will make some sort of concoction to make them wearable and beautiful, but you never do?

I know I have products like this lurking about in my bag(s). Oh did I hate to put that extra "s" in there!

For instance, Too Faced Kiss Sticks lipgloss in candy kiss. This I received in a random Ebay lot. You know the ones where they light up your interest with a list of possible lines and products you can get and then send you awful ones? Yeah, I learned my lesson and don't recommend them, even if the price seems right, it usually is too good to be true!

When I first got this, I thought, Ah! A brand I know! This is probably a good amount of money at Sephora or toofaced.com, I mean, of course I'll like it. I pull it out of the box to reveal a long thin pencil type thing and open the cap to view a brand new brush applicator (well at least they weren't lying about BNIB, I exclaimed!). I was excited. The product inside looked like a pretty darker coral pink with a sheen. I later learned this "sheen" was frost. Even when swatching it, it didn't seem too bad, but boy was it sticky! I am not a fan of sticky glosses, but I may be able to adapt based on color and wearability. Smell was slightly strange but pleasant, sugary with maybe a hint of a fruit flavor? I put on my lips and was horrified. Looking back at me was a PPP with awful frosty orange lips. Now, I could maybe see this working on someone with no pigmentation on their lips, or possibly someone with a deeper skintone, but for me, it looked awful, and the pearly pinkness was nowhere to be found. Frost, and orangey muddy frost at that. And the stickiness. Oh god, even after trying to get it off, I was left with a sticky layer of glitter on my lips! Awful! And then again, after brushing my teeth, a sticky substance was left on my lips. It didn't fade till the next morning.

Of course, I was lucky enough to receive 3 of these. Lucky me! Remember, don't trust those fancy attention getting lots on Ebay, just don't! Or maybe I got an old one (just read some makeupalley reviews and they are all pretty favorable), but with no offensive odor to be found, I thought I was fine. Or maybe my pigmented lips just can't take it!

What are some of your Forgotten but Not Lost Products?

Stay tuned for my next awful product that I twistedly make myself keep!