Ulta haul

So, I went to Ulta today to see what I could find worthy of the 20% off coupon. I got this:


BareMinerals Ready Remix The Wild Thing, OPI liquid sand nail polish in Get Your Number, Physicians Formula Bronze Boost Goddess Glow shimmer powder, and some vanilla scented polish remover pads.

Shadow swatches. Top left: pale oyster with strong light green duochrome. Top right: satin chartreuse with some sparkle. Bottom left: greened gold brown. Bottom right: the ocean on a stormy day.

Shimmer swatch - it's a diffuse, coppery shimmer with medium small flecks

Evil Shades Haul and Swatch Pics! Finally!

Something is wrong with my computer. Maybe age or a lack of RAM. And also I blew out my Internet and spent an inordinate amount of time monkeying with wires and resetting things before finally unplugging everything and letting it take a nap before I tried again. So here, finally, are the pictures! You may want to click on them for full effect - they're a little small on this page.

My haul. Mmm. Hauley goodness.


The lip swatches. I wrote the shade name on my hand before taking the picture. I think I NEED a full size of More Synth (the glitter one on the top).


The blush swatches. From left to right: Skon, Ravishing, Ceylon, Gossamer. I bought the middle two in full size, and I'm glad I did. I'm such a blush addict!


Eyeshadow swatches part 1. I think it's awesome that they have a shade named Wyvern. Wyvern is one of my favorite SyFy Original Movies.
Before I did these, I put a big stripe of the Vitrum spectrum pot I ordered on the left and a big strip of the Opal eye primer sample I also got on the right. So that's what these babies are swatched over.


The purples. Same deal on the primers as the first batch.


What do you think? Review to come.

My Physicians Formula haulage wasn't over!

So, I'm getting over a cold. I did have to call in yesterday, but in the process of getting cold meds also got a CVS coupon for $10 off Physicians Formula foundations, powders, blushes, or bronzers. This week, those things happen to be $7 off at CVS already. They also have some clearance stuff still out.

So, I bought:

Physicians Formula organic blush/bronzer duo - usually $13
Physicians Formula Solar bronzer - usually $12
Physicians Formula Plump Potion lipstick - usually $11

So, my total out-of-pocket expense for two bronzers and two lipsticks was $5.75, or on average less than $1.50 for all four things. My haul would have cost $36 full price, but THE LIPSTICK WAS A TWO-FER PACK!

So, I really got $47 worth of stuff for $5.75.

I think I'll like the stuff after I play with it some more - the lipsticks were a bit of a risk, but they don't have beeswax, rosemary, or lanolin (the stuff that breaks them out), so I'm hoping they'll be safe.

Still no sign of the new products I'm interested in, yet, though... :(

Recent Physicians Formula haul

Hey yous!

So, as you may know, Physicians Formula (my favorite drugstore brand) just released a bunch of new stuff. CVS is also having their beauty clearance sale, and a bunch of older Physicians Formula stuff is on sale for 75% off.

I have bought:
The new Mineral Wear nude liquid primer
The new Happy Booster blush
Mineral Wear pressed powder - Soft Green (this formula - they seem to be phasing this product out)
Mineral Wear blush - blushing glow
Healthy Wear bronzer - fair
Shimmer strips duo liner and shadow - hazel eyes

I still need to fill out the rebate form for the primer (yay almost free stuff!), the Happy Wear blush had a $3 off coupon, and the other stuff was all on sale for 75% off.

I haven't tried the primer yet - but even if it doesn't work, I won't be too sad since it was pretty much free with the cost of a stamp.

I do like the Happy Booster blush - it's kind of what I was hoping the shimmer strips blushes would be, except that those are all full of frosty 80s shimmer that I did not want. Happy Booster offers more of a glow than blinding frostiness, which is good.

The Mineral Wear blush is also nice - good for a goof-proof, shimmer-free wash of color. The color I got is a light apricot, which is good for days I don't want pink but I still want color.

I'm hoping the green powder will be nice as well - sometimes all I have to cover is a bit of redness, and not wearing any powder makes me an oil slick in short order. I used to really like the translucent shade of this product before I got into loose stuff, so if this works out as great, I'll be happy.

Last time I tried a Healthy Wear bronzer, I'm pretty sure it was the Light, which was too dark. The Fair seems to work a bit better. I like that it's matte because that's better for contouring and not making me look like a clown. Seriously - this one time in high school I was in a play and the lady doing my makeup to make me look old made me look liked I'd been horribly disfigured in an explosion or something. So not cool. This bronzer should not have that effect.

Last but not least - the duo liner/shadow. Look at the picture in the link. See the tiny colored ends of the wand? That's all the color you get. It's a very small amount. The product seemed fine when I swatched it, but I'm thinking it'll go quickly.

This company also has a few other products out there that I'm dying to try - if the new airbrushing brush is actually really soft, I might be interested in that. I'm also keeping my eyes out for the lash boosting eyeliner pens (I want to snag one with a rebate sticker) and the Glam Collection shimmer strips gel liners for brown eyes - but I'll have to wait until those are a little more commonplace and go on sale.

Physicians Formula isn't half bad - they just seem to be very hit or miss for me. I either love their stuff or hate it (I'm looking at you, shimmer strips bronzer and all Organic Wear products I've tried, as well as the funky smelling Bamboo Wear powder inserts).

I'm such a sucker for anything they put out - thankfully I'm not interested in the other new Mineral Wear products or the new Shimmer Strips eyeshadows.

Mini-haulettes!

Recently, I made two of the world's tiniest makeup orders ever. Like, seriously tiny.

I wanted to double check my foundation shade at adorned with Grace, pick up some clearance eyeshadow, and try out their new Merciful color corrector in Apricot.



Franchesca threw in samples of Merciful corrector in yellow and pink, too! The eyeshadow, Enthralling, was a free sample in my last order. I didn't have much in the way of yellow, so I snapped up five sample baggies for 1.63 - when decanted into a 3g jar, you end up with slightly more than a Fyrinnae sample.



I also wanted to find out what all the fuss about Sassy Minerals, a new player to the game, was about. So I ordered Warm Fair foundation and a sample of Gasoline Rainbow eyeshadow. They threw in samples of Warm Light foundation and Apparition eyeshadow. Good thing, too, because Warm Light is a much better match for me, and Apparition is pretty nice. Haul pictured below with two Fyrinnae colors that looked similar.


As you can see, Gasoline Rainbow and Fyrinnae Immortality are pretty similar - GR has more brightly colored shimmer, and I think I like it better. Apparition, on the other hand, is a very different beast from Fyrinnae Equality. Apparition looks lavender in some light, is more metallic than sparkly, and doesn't have Equality's rainbow shimmer. They are both really nice colors, though I have to quit with the gray shades, because they're not the best on me (but I love them anyway!).

Aromaleigh mini-haul, parts one and two (text only, sorry)

In February, I decided to use a gift code that my awesome boyfriend got me for Christmas. Nea (Fashioned in Finland) had raved about Aromaleigh's Spring Solstice eyeshadow collection, and it was on sale! So I picked out a complete sample set, and a few Gothic Lolita collection shades, knowing that with the discount, the gift card would cover it exactly. Unfortunately, with Aromaleigh's new sale system, it's impossible to use both a gift code and a coupon code at the same time. I emailed Steve (Mr. Miss K), and he said that he wouldn't charge my card for the extra $5.

Somehow, my card ended up getting charged. So I emailed back, and Steve told me that he'd tried to refund the card, but it had expired (D'oh!). So he offered me the chance to pick out $5 worth of stuff, and he'd send it to me.

I picked out samples of the Gothic Lolita shimmers in the apricot and blue colors, and a sample of Nocturne Lite treatment powder.

I got:
1. The shimmers (amazing!)
2. TWO sample of the Nocturne Lite (saving these for when it'll be possible to order a full size if I like it).
3. Five Bete Noire samples.
4. A FULL SIZE Rocks! Sonic lookinforakiss.
5. And - a whole pile of lip balm samples. I can't use these (stupid beeswax allergy), but I'm hoping a swap partner loves them, especially since Aromaleigh is discontinuing all of their lip products.

I'm VERY impressed by the customer service experience. When I have disposable income again, I will TOTALLY give Aromaleigh more money.

Swatch pics coming!

Mini haul - Lovely Android: EDIT - now with pics!

I just got my mini-haul from Lovely Android, a new mineral company based in California. I got a foundation sample kit, which I'll be swatching and reviewing later this weekend, Pinkpocalypse blush, and a free sample of Tuxedo eyeshadow. Tuxedo is a sparkly navy blue.




Notice how the heart stickers match the color of the product inside?



Swatch of both the blush and the freebie eyeshadow. The eyeshadow looks bluer in real life.



Just the blush in close up - swatch on the right is over ELF mineral eye primer. All of Lovely Android's blushes are eye and lip safe.



Just the eyeshadow - swatch on the left is over ELF mineral eye primer (which I seem to use mostly for swatching lately).

Reviews to follow.

Everything was very professionally wrapped, and I like the packaging - clear jars with silver tone lids. Very classy.

Silk Naturals Haul!

The other day, I got my Silk Naturals stuff in the mail.



I know I like the Sonic and Sleep in a Jar (Extra Light Peach) because I had samples. Bubbly was the free eyeshadow, and I also got a sample of Date Bait powder. I still want to play with foundation options some more, so I got some of those. I also got skincare gumballs and some of the Aloe and Green Tea moisturizing serum, which I like so far.

Oh, and remember my blush drawer, full of old EDM I'd never use up?


Well, I also got some 10g jars, and this is what happened to it!

Mail! (ETA - now with pics!)

Today, I went to the post office to pick up all the mail that had accumulated while I went to visit family for the holidays.

I got:

1. My Earthen Glow Minerals mini haul - a full size mineral mousse foundation in Lora (light warm), a Cover Me light sample kit (loose foundation), and a cream liner (Alpine - off white). I'm pretty excited about the foundations, but the cream liner came hard, so I'm hoping I'll hear back from them soon. I hear good things about their customer service, so I'm sure it'll be ok.


2. A swap package from Jackie over at Chanty's forum: some EDM samples, a couple Signature Minerals sample blushes, and a nice pile of baggies with pretty colors in them.


3. A swap package from Nacori, also over at Chanty's forum: a foundation sample kit from My Beautiful Earth, which is a UK company I wouldn't get to try normally.



4. A free return postage label from Physician's Formula so I can return a tinted moisturizer I bought from them that expired two months later. Now that's what I call customer service!

Aromaleigh mini-haul plus BONUS EOTD

I got my Aromaleigh micro-mini-haul the other day and finally have the pics uploaded!

I also did a very neutral eye look with some EDM stuff and a Meow sample.

So, the haul!


And, the swatches!
Top row: Gothic Lolita Burnt Roses; Gothic Lolita Divine Intervention; Rocks! Sonic planetearth.
Bottom row: Opulent Lustres Jasmine; Opulent Lustres Ginger; Opulent Lustres Tea; Rocks! Sonic lookingforakiss.



I also took pics of an eye look I did the other day. It's not flashy or anything, but it's the first eye look I've ever gotten good macros of. I did take care of the brows right after - they were a little overgrown.

Anyway, on the lid I have my mix of EDM's Opening Day blush and Pure Luxe's Awakening (a sparkly light green) shadow. Then, I used EDM's Shopping Spree in the crease, Meow's ScandalEyes Traci L. to highlight, lined with Wet n Wild creme liner in eggplant (probably returning to the store - I reacted to it a little), and Gabriel Color mascara in Black Brown. The crease color was darker than it looks.

adorned with Grace mini-haul plus bonus SN/Meow swatch pics

So, I got my awG mini-haul the other day. Here's pics!

Eye stuff in one pic, plus face stuff in the other pic.



Swatch pics! All eye swatches over ELF mineral eye primer. Blush swatches on bare skin.



Top row: Steadfast (d/c), Capricious (d/c), Enthralling.
Bottom row: Forebearing (d/c), Remarkable, Enigmatic.

The full sizes were a clearance trio, which I'm glad I bought, and the samples were a surprise. I can see myself using up the samples and buying full sizes.



Top: awG Wonderful.
Middle: EDM Nick Nack. (like, but would like a non-EDM replacement when I run out)
Bottom: awG Beautiful.

I wanted to find something similar to a few EDM blushes I liked and keep finding that the texture of other brands is better.


Bonus swatches!

Left four are Silk Naturals, right four are Meow Cosmetics.
Top row: 9:59 (GWP), Satin (freebie sample baggie), VandalEyes Breaking and Entering (sample), VandalEyes Grand Larceny (sample).
Bottom row: Lime (full size), Sonic (freebie sample - getting a full size soon), ScandalEyes Traci L (freebie sample baggie), Egyptian Treasures Sand Dune (full size).