My Sephora VIB Haul

So I purchased a few different items during Sephora's VIB sale. I'm just goo to post some pics below. I'm not going to go into details because I'm still 'reviewing' them. I will say that I'm loving the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette and the NARS lip pencils.

I'm slightly disappointed at the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz pencil-- but maybe I'm not using it right. 

Tarte's Friends & Family Sale

Tarte extended their F&F sale and today is the last day! Use the code 'DECFF' at checkout. And shipping is always free if you spend $40 or more. Check it out and snag some blush ladies!

Urban Decay Friends & Family SALE!!!

Urban Decay is currently having it's friends and family sale, which started today I believe.  Anywho, this is a great sale guys! 20% off your purchase, and free shipping (always) for purchases over $50.  I'm definitely using this opportunity to pick up the limited edition Vice 2 Palette. You guys might want to take a looksey!! I'm going to try and talk my mom into getting me a lipstick or two lol!

The code is: FFHOLIDAY13

The website is urbandecay.com !

Mini-Sephora Haul (Last Week)

***I wrote this post last week or maybe the week before sometime.  Forgot to finish by attaching pics, but here it is...better late than never!***

 Sorry things have been so hectic I haven't posted in a while.  Not that I've been busy, but I've found a couple of new series on HBOgo and they've consumed all of my time lol.  Now that I've finished one series, I have more time :).  So here's a post of my Sephora haul from last week.  I was not shopping for anything, but lo-and-behold an email from Sephora pops up in my inbox and it has this cool looking lip collection for $25.  I decided to check it out, and since of course shipping isn't free until you spend $50 (the agony) I picked up a Make-Up Forever Aqua Shadow Essentials Set.  This retails for $23 and based on MUFE's pricing, it looks like a good value.  Also, this is my first ever MUFE purchase, and I know this is a well loved brand by many folks out there. The aqua shadow pencils retail for $20 I believe, and this comes with two full-sized pencils and a mini aqua eyes liner pencil.  You can't mix and match shades, but there are three options to choose from: Neutral (pearly taupe and pearly beige), Smoky (taupe grey and pinky beige), and Pop of Color (blue and taupe colors). I also picked up Urban Decay's eyeliner in Gunmetal (on sale for $6 at Sephora-old formula).  Check out the pics below! (*PS-this purchase pushed me up to VIB level!)

Sephora's Give Me Lip collection features a full-sized Tarte LipSurgence, and sample sizes of other products.  Specifically,

 *Laura Mercier Lip Glacé in Bare Pink
* Buxom® Full-On™ Lip Polish in Dolly
*NARS Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight
* Fresh Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment
* Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Rhubarb
*Tarte LipSurgence™ Lip Luster in Glitzy(full sized)

TARTE Friends and Family Sale!!!!!

So, the makeup gurus from above have personally blessed me with this Tarte Friends and Family Sale.  LOL. I'm being a bit dramatic.  But seriously, I was just browsing the net last night and stopped on Tarte's website and saw that they are currently having a Friends and Family Sale, 30% off your entire purchase (yes, even clearance)!!! YES, 30%!! That is a worthwhile sale, AND free shipping on purchases of $40 or more! So you'll really see your discount.  I don't know how long the sale has been going on, but it ends August 4th (Sunday).  I think it's a great deal, and with 30% off everything, I will try a couple of the Glamazon lipsticks.  You really can't beat that, it takes the price down from $26 (a bit steep for me) to $18ish dollars (not much more than a MAC lippie).   

I only own one Tarte blush, which I do like, and I've heard raving reviews of their BB cream (which unfortunately there isn't a shade for me in).  I'm not a Tarte expert or conneisuer but I do want those lipsticks, and will def be taking advantage of the sale.  

However, like I mention pretty frequently, I will not be making any new purchases, probably with the exception of RiRi's Fall Line for MAC, Antonio Lopez's Fall Line for MAC and perhaps something from Nars 2013 Fall Line.  But that's it...no more random spending here and there.  I've got bigger things to save for now!!

**The coupon code is TARTEFF for the 30% off.**

Hautelook Sales for the Week

HauteLook has a couple of sales this week that I'm totally going to be checking for! Today, at 8am Pacific time Urban Decay goes on sale.  Thursday, August 1st theBalm goes on sale.   NuMe hair tools also has a sale beginning tomorrow that I will take a peek at.  My problem with NuMe tools is that they are super overpriced only so that NuMe can "mark them down" or "have a coupon code" for certain people in the beauty profession.  I am generally not a fan of companies that constantly mark their items up JUST to make it seem like they're offering a good deal by having all of these "exclusive" coupons, discounts, or sales.  Seriously, if a curling iron is $262, and really worth $262, are you really going to offer it for $50 constantly??  Just make it the price it should be and skip the sales.  Regardless, if it's a quality product, your customers will know.  Random rant, sorry. 

But yes, def check out the HauteLook sales this week...you don't have to purchase anything.  I find that some companies come up on the HauteLook sale list regularly, every couple months or so.  Anywho, good luck shopping (or browsing like me)!

Maybelline Baby Lips--Electro Collection

I stopped in Ulta today and saw the newer Maybelline Baby Lips from the Electro Collection.  There are six in total, and I picked up four colors that I liked.  The colors I picked were: Strike a Rose, Pink Shock, Oh Orange, and Berry Bomb.  Two pinks, and orange and a purple.  They apply sheer, with light color, definitely something fun and cute for the summer.  These would look great over some of your lipsticks, or you can wear them along as well.  These babies are made with shea butter and vitamin E, and are "proven" to moisturize lips leaving them smoother and suppler (so says the packaging).  

FYI there are two more colors in the collection, I just did not pick them up.  They were available at Ulta, but I had previously seen swatches and the colors barely show up at all.  Plus, even if they did show up, the likelihood of me wearing yellow (Fierce N Tangy) or green (Minty Sheer) anything on my lips is slim to none. 

As a side note, if you are interested in picking these up, I'd recommend going to Wal-Mart or Target.  They retail for $2.99 as opposed to $3.99 at Ulta.  The only reason I picked them up at Ulta was because they were there, on an endcap I passed and I figured I might as well get them while I was out and I had a coupon. All of the Baby Lips are cheaper at Target or Wal-Mart. 

I find the Baby Lips to be "okay".  I know most of the beauty community would think otherwise, but again, this is just my opinion.  There are folks who have tons of them, and collect them.  I only own (besides the four neon ones) 3 in total.  I personally prefer my lip balms to be balms only, with no color.  I think when you add color it makes application trickier, and for me I usually apply a ton of lip balm so then I'm sitting there with super thick and uneven color.  My all time favorite lip balm will always be EOS lip balm.  It is moisturizing, not too heavy and not too light, and doesn't make you want to apply it every hour like other chapsticks.  

Check out the pics below!

NYX Cosmetics 20% off Sale

Sorry I'm late! But I just saw this on my Instagram feed...NYX is havinga 4th of July sale today!! 20% off all products., only online at http://www.nyxcosmetics.com.  At checkout use the code SPARKLE for your discount.  If you guys know, I love NYX!!! It is a super affordable but still good quality make up product.  They make a wide range of products, with some of my favorites being their lip sticks, glosses, and eye and lip pencils.  Check it out if you get a chance...it is affordable and with the extra discount, treat yourself.  HAPPY 4TH OF JULY FOLKS!!!! 

Updated (again)!!! Wet 'n' Wild Lipsticks

Look at these beauties I picked up at Rite Aid last night! Four Wet 'n' Wild lipsticks, one of which is supposed to be a new color.  I haven't used Wet 'n' Wild lip products in ages, but I was walking past the stand and this brown color called out to me. They were priced at a super affordable $1.99, so I picked up four.  Can you believe when I went to the register they rang up for only $1.29? I got all four for less than the cost of an extra value meal LOL!  Anywho, check out the pics below.  These babies have fully opaque color, are creamy and apply smooth, AND have no scent! Or at least no perfume-y scent that will deter potential buyers.  These were a great find, and I'm excited to try the Wet 'n' Wild glosses later this week.These lipsticks aren't drying either, which is good.  According to the promo advertisement, these babies are supposed to last up to 4 hours (before needing to reapply).  That's not too shabby..depending on the MAC lipstick finish, they last anywhere from 3-6 hours roughly.

The colors, top to bottom are: 916D (no name, the new color), 908C Sugar Plum Fairy, 914C Mocha-Licious, 902C Bare It All. 

Update!!!! I went back to the store tonight and picked up the two reds that i didn't pick yesterday.  Same formula as the others... Check out the pic below. I am so excited with my Wet N Wild purchase!!!

6-10-13 Update. I went to pick a couple up for a friend, and wound up picking three more.  Shame on me! Anywho, there is another picture below with the new three.  Very pretty colors..I will admit though that when applying these swatches, there was a bit of "pull and tug" with these...not sure if these are the new formula or old, but they were a bit harder to work with. 

Nordstrom-Buy Two Get One Free Mascara, Today ONLY!

WHY, WHY, WHY do I subscribe to emails from all these companies? I am FLAT BROKE lol. I have California this upcoming weekend and I've spent every penny preparing for the trip and everything. UGH. But seriously? Buy two get one free mascara?? ANY BRAND? MIX OR MATCH? Come on now, that's a good idea. And you can never have too many mascaras, ever! And it's a great opportunity to try new ones you've wanted to.  I'm going to resist the urge...but I'm letting you gals know if you're interested.

Okay, I just have to update this to say that if I could pick three mascara IF I WERE GOING TO ORDER THEM WHICH I AM NOT, they would be: 1. Burberry "Effortless Mascara" 2. Guerlain "Le 2 de Guerlain" Mascara 3. any of the Lancome mascaras

Loreal Nail Polish (Summer colors)

So in my Target clearance purchase today I picked up three shades of Loreal nail polish.  They retail for $4.99 and were on sale for $2.48, so I decided to pick up a couple of the clearance shades that looked "summery".  I've never tried Loreal's nail polish before either, so this was exciting! Lol.  The three shades I  picked up were: Royally Reinvented, Orange You Jealous! and Not A Cloud In Sight.  They're all gorgeous and bright in the bottle, so I knew these would work with my summer colors.  The packaging is also very pretty, love the matte gold finish. The formula was just okay for me.  The purple nail polish worked beautifully, not too thin, not too thick, and not streaky at all.  It coated very easily.  The blue shade was a bit more difficult, sort of streaky and a little thick.  The coral shade, which is probably my favorite and absolutely gorgeous gave me the hardest time.  It was very streaky and applied unevenly.  Total bummer.  But remember, I bought these polishes for half off so I don't think its a bad deal, and perhaps its just an old bottle.  The colors are gorgeous, the pics don't do it any justice.  Although admittedly the blue was just "ehh" to me, seems like a blue shade I've seen over and over and probably have a couple of similar bottles. I've attached some pics below, but don't judge me or my nail application!!! I couldn't find my polish remover so I had to apply all the polishes on one hand, so that I could try out all three colors at once.

Target and Ulta Haul

Took the day off to spend time with my daughter.  We had a great time and we mostly ran errands, bought some toys, and came home for play time.  Days like today make me miss staying at home with her, wishing I had more time to spend together.  :(.  Sidenote, we made a trip to Target for a couple things and I browsed the makeup section. They had some nice things marked down so I picked up a couple of items I've never tried (shown below). I'm excited to swatch and try these out later on!

Also I stopped in Ulta to pick up the mirror that was in this week's sale ad. Only $14.99, and it was eligible for the 3.50 off of 10.00 purchase coupon! I also got my hands on the OPI matte topcoat which I can't wait to try out!! EOS lip balms were also 2/6$ so I picked a couple extra up. They make great stocking and gift stuffers too.