Yet Another Ulta Haul

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts over the past week, it's just that school has started up again but expect a few posts this weekend. 

Nothing makes me more excited than affordable, high quality products, so be expecting reviews on most I have gotten, if not all of them. After this I will *attempt* to put myself on a no-spend, but I'm not making any promises.  

From what I know Essence is a brand available at German drugstores, whose products are extremely affordable. Price wise they're about the same as Wet N' Wild or NYC. As you guys may already know I love a good cream eyeshadow and these are great. The Essence Stay All Day Long Lasting Eyeshadow are $2.99 each, making them one of the cheapest I own. They're very creamy and pigmented. On Ulta's website they only have these 3 colors available unfortunately, cause all of the colors are lovely and I would buy them all up. Cream eyeshadow overview coming up soon.

The Essence Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner is a felt tip liquid eyeliner. Priced at an affordable $2.79, I'm excited to try this cause I've heard nothing but good things. Liquid eyeliner overview coming up.

Also got the Essence Eyebrow Designer in 02 Brown ($1.49). Haven't given this a try yet so I have no thoughts on it so far but it looks like a good match for my dyed brown hair.

Even though I love my Imju Fiberwig mascara I always like trying out new products to see how they compare and with Essence's affordable prices it doesn't hurt your wallet too bad. From left to right, Maximum Definition Volume Mascara ($3.99), Multi Action False Lashes Mascara ($3.49), Get BIG! Lashes Volume Boost Mascara ($2.99), I Love Extreme Volume Mascara ($3.99), All Eyes On Me Mascara ($1.99)

The Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss ($2.29) are lipglosses that have a sweet candy scent. I actually really like these lipglosses and I'm a lipstick person. They're not very sticky and provide a decent amount of color. You can't beat the price either. Review coming soon.

Also picked up the EOS lip balm set ($5.99) that comes with the passion fruit and strawberry sorbet ones. Like everyone else in the world, I love everything about these lip balms, from their scents to their shapes. And how could I not resist in getting them in these cute, limited edition, pastel colored packaging? Although I've seen the pink one sold seperately so maybe it's just the purple passion fruit one that is limited edition?

I've promised myself that I would try and take better care of my skin from now on so I got the Formula 10.0.6 So Totally Clean Deep Pore Cleanser ($5.99) in the original formula. It's not actually a cleanser but a toner. I havn't tried it yet but I've heard good things. Will share my thoughts once I've given it a good try. 

From the same brand I got the Deep Down Detox Ultra-Cleansing Mud Mask and the Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mud Mask (both $5.99). I love trying facial masks, they're a good pick me up when I feel like my skin is looking a bit dull. Everything from this brand is affordable and I absoulutely love the packaging of these products, it's simple, clean and eye-catching.

Along with the 2 other masks, I got these two from the Freeman Brand. They have a lot of choices to choose from for all different skin types and are all priced at a affordable $3.99. Most of the ones I was interested in were sold out already but I still managed to pick up the Cucumber Peel-Off Mask and the Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask. 

I will admit that I am a very nice person to my hair. I don't always condition it and sometimes I don't use a heat protectant. I have long waist length hair with fairly damaged ends. I bought the One 'N Only Argan Oil Treatment in an attempt to not completely destroy my hair. I didn't want to spend the ridiculous $50 price tag on other brands, so I got this one for $11.99. I've heard many good things about this product as well, will review once I've used it for a while. 

If you have any questions, please leave it in the comment section and I'll make sure to get to them as soon as I can. Goodbye everyone! 

No Shame In A Little Retail Therapy

About 2 weeks ago Ulta was having a one-day deal on the Cargo Beach Blushes. Instead of  the usual $30 price tag, they were 50% off at a much more reasonable $15. Since I was contemplating on purchasing one anyways, I quickly jumped on the opportunity and bought 2. The ones I picked up were Coral Beach and Sunset Beach.

The Beach Blushes are suppose to be a blush that is the perfect mix between a blush and bronzer, giving you the flush of a blush but the warmth of a bronzer. Depending on which stripes you use, you can get different colors but the swatches above are all 4 stripes blended together. Coral Beach is a coral bronze color and Sunset Beach is a pink bronze.

Last week Ulta had all NYX and Revlon products 40% off. I also took advantage of that and my lip color addiction continues...

The Revlon Lip Butters were reduced from $7.49 to $4.49 and since my local Walgreens *still* doesn't have these in stock yet, so I only ordered 4 of them cause I know I'll eventually pick up a few more. Not going to talk about these too much since pretty much everyone has talked about these at one point or another. Creamsicle is a peachy-pale orange nude, Creme Brulee is a tan beige, Strawberry Shortcake is mid-tone bubblegum pink and Candy Apple is a warm apple red. 

Along with the Revlon Lip Butters, I got 5 of the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams, which were reduced from $5.99 to $3.59. I've been wearing Antwerp while putting this post together and sipping on some tea and it's held up incredibly well for the past 2 and a half hours of wearing it. The texture of it is quite different as well, it's hard to describe. It does dry to a matte finish but it isn't unbearably dry (I'm looking at you MAC matte lipsticks!) Tokyo is a pale pink, Stockholm is a brownish peach, Antwerp is a coral-pink, San Paulo is a berry and Addis Ababa is a hot pink with tiny blue micro-glitter.

Last but not least, I got 6 of the NYX Xtreme Lip Creams that were also reduced from $5.99 to $3.59. The Xtreme Lip Creams are like liquid lipsticks. I guess you can say it is a glossy version of the Matte Lip Creams. Natural is a beige nude, Nude Peach Fuzz is a peachy pink, Buttery Nude is a is a brownish-peach, Candy Land is a mid-tone bubblegum pink, Dolly Girl is a hot pink and Strawberry Jam is a bright strawberry pink. 

Along with the lip products I also got Revlon Top Speed Nail Polish that was reduced from $5.99 to $3.59. It's in the color Jaded. I've been wanting this nail polish for forever now but it never seemed to be on sale when I was in the store. It's a lovely mint color that is fully opaque in 3 coats. 

I absolutely love everything I got, especially the bright lip colors and completely recommend all of the products. Until next time, goodbye everyone!

Review: Real Techniques Brushes

I thought it was about time I finally purchase some Real Techniques brushes by Samantha Chapman. I'm a little late on the bandwagon but that's only because there is no Ulta near me for miles. Closest one is in New Jersey to be exact (I live in NYC.) I'm not going to go in too much detail about the brushes cause I'm sure you've seen/heard about them before, but I will go into detail about the 2 new brushes that has came out since I have not heard many people talk about them. As you may see some of them are dirty cause I got these a few weeks ago and couldn't resist using them. Sorry! All of the brushes are made out of synthetic taklon bristles and are super soft. They have white tipped bristles so you know how much product is on the brush and when you need to clean them. The sets come with a panoramic case which I'm sure everyone knows what it looks like by now.

The Core Collection (retails for $17.99):

1. The Contour Brush can be used to apply highlighter as well as contouring. Haven't actually used this one yet cause I haven't had time to contour in the mornings lately.

2. The Pointed foundation brush is actually a bit to small for my liking to be used for foundation, but not entirely impossible. I like it more as a concealer brush for concealing large areas.

3. The Detailer Brush is a small concealer brush that I use to get under my eyes, without getting concealer on my lashes, and for concealing specific spots.

4. The Buffing Brush is a great does-everything brush. You can use it for powder, liquid or mineral foundation, blush and bronzer.  

The Starter Set (retails for $17.99):

1. The Deluxe Crease Brush can actually be used as a concealer brush which is what most other people use it for and is great at blending the concealer into the skin.

2. The Base Shadow Brush is flatter on one side and wider at the other. Would be great at just applying an all over the lid color, crease brush or a blending blush.

3. The Accent Brush is a nice stiff brush that can be used to apply color in the inner eye and smudging out eyeliner.

4.  The Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush is a bit too thick for eyeliner for my taste, unless you like thick dramatic eyeliner. If you want an eyeliner brush from Real Techniques, luckily Sam has came out with an individual liner brush here. I've used it to apply highlighter to the inner corners of my eyes.

5. The Brow Brush is fantastic for brows. It's thicker than your average angled brush which means that you get your brows done quicker. Can also be used for thick dramatic eyeliner.

Individual Brushes:

10. The Stippling Brush (retails for $9.99) is shorter and denser than your average stippling brush. It's everything I wished the MAC 187 to be. 

11. The Blush Brush (retails for $8.99) is also not like your average blush blush. It has a sort of an egg shape. Not only is it great for blush, but for bronzer and powder too.

12. The Setting Brush (retails for $7.99) is a micro setting brush that can be used to set small areas of the face such as under and  around the sides of the nose, near the hairline and under the eyes. I also use it for applying highlighter onto the tops of the cheekbones, down my nose and any other places I would like to place highlighter. As you can see from the pictures above it is tapered to a point and is flat on on side. 

13. The Expert Face Brush (retails for $8.99) can be used for cream or liquid foundation. It is great at applying foundation without leaving you looking streaky and blending into your skin. You can use a stippling, stroking or circular motion. It is dense and stiff and kind of looks like an over-sized eyeshadow brush. The size of the brush isn't too big nor too small. The design of the brush is fantastic at fitting into the cervices of your face such as the area between your nose and lip, the sides of the nose, under the eyes and your eyelids. 

Hope this has been helpful, not sure about where you can purchase or how much these brushes are outside the states, sorry!