cosmetics

NYX haul

by Lara on May 16, 2011

in beauty

Just like the e.l.f. purchase I shared, Cherry Culture recently had their periodic 50% off sale on NYX products. I’m already sold on this line from some products I got at Ulta so, I took advantage of the sale and grabbed a few things I was curious about.

Full prices are shown.

First, the things I’ve previously purchased before these crazy sales:

Eyebrow marker – LOVE this so much I’ve given up on my beloved Rimmel pencil. This has a super fine point that’s perfect for filling in sparse areas with hairlike strokes. Doesn’t smudge like a pencil, lasts all day but not waterproof. $10

Eyeshadow base – I’ve already said how much I like this stuff. I use the white but there’s also white pearl and peach. $7

Mega Shine Lipgloss – I’m a total lipgloss junkie and I’ve been pleased with these. Not too sticky with good color payoff but I could take em or leave em honestly. There’s always a new one to try and I am loyal to NO gloss! I have Beige (a natural pale pink when put on lightly) and Copper Penny (a universally flattering shade) Check out those swatches here. $5.50

Slim Lip Pencil in Sand Pink – This is a pretty bright pink, a nice base to gloss that lasts. $3.50

 

Now for the new products:

I got a few polishes and just now realized how similar the colors are. I’m a moron. Here are swatches from other people-

NYX Nail Polish in Juliette $5  via

NYX Nail Polish in Thunder $5  via

NYX Girls Nail Polish in Gemma $3 (my own manicure shot coming soon)

NYX Girls Nail Polish in Perfect Grey $3 via

NYX Girls Nail Polish in Algae $3 via

I’m in love with their polishes!

Candy Glitter Liner in Disco Queen & Aqua $4.50

Liquid Crystal Liner in Crystal Onxy – This is a black glitter liquid eyeliner with a black base. Swatches here. $4.50

Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk – This white pencil is frequently used instead of the primer. I wanted to see for myself. It works great! Swatches here. $4.50

 

Slim Lip Pencil in Coral – I love lip liner and needed this shade for all the orange lips I’ve been doing. $3.50

I got all of these lipsticks and I hate them all. Seriously the quality is absolute crap. B52 was the only one that felt and looked nice. I would much rather get cheap lipstick from e.l.f.

Round Lipstick in Margarita via

Tea Rose via

Louisiana via

Fig via

B52 via

If you can’t catch a 50% off sale at Cherry Culture, NYX products can be purchased cheapest at Beauty Joint, in store and online at Ulta, Makeup Geek Store, and the NYX site. Tons of deals can be found on eBay as well.

 

 

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e.l.f. haul

by Lara on May 9, 2011

in beauty

I had never used e.l.f. cosmetics before. There were super cute sets for $5 at Target around Christmas but I had no faith that it would be of any quality. After following so many beauty and nail blogs lately, I’ve seen people sing their praises. They just had a 50% off sale a couple weeks ago so, I went ahead and placed an order.

Full prices are shown.

conditioning lip balm in Strawberry Creme $1

The scent/flavor was almost unnoticeable but I put it on before bed and woke up with lips still soft and velvety. I want to keep one of these everywhere!

nail polish remover pads $1

Little screw-top jar of 18 pads. Great to keep in your purse for a nail emergency. One pad took care of a 3 coat glitter nail. Reviews said 1 pad could do an entire mani. No way. Pleasant smell is nothing like acetone. A little oily.

Shine eraser sheets $1

50 oil-blotting sheets. I’m obsessed with these things and can never have too many. They work but are a bit delicate. I probably won’t get them again.

Vanilla Coconut body butter $4

Love the scent – very beachy. Absorbs quickly.

waterproof eyeliner pen $1

I got this in plum and teal. The plum should just be called black. I’ll be using that to touch up my liquid liner. The teal is more a navy blue. Great for those who hate brush tips. No idea how quickly it will dry out though.

cool bronzer $3

I heard great reviews about this non-shimmery bronzer (the Cool one). I have never been a fan of bronzers since I hate shimmer on my skin but this is really nice, blends well and is great for contouring cheekbones and giving a healthy glow on my super pale skin. The bf randomly looked at me yesterday and said “Your skin looks exceptionally brighter today.” NO LIE. If that isn’t an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

lipstick in Fantasy $1

This is a really pale brown shade w/ a touch of pink. Holy cow does it stay put! Doesn’t feel drying either. Wonderful pigment. I want every color of these.

Hypershine gloss box set in Summer Ready $5

I got this to toss in my mom’s bag for Mother’s Day. The color selection and velvety texture is lovely but I can’t stand the scent/flavor. It’s very perfumey, like when you spray perfume and get some in your mouth. Mom loves them. No thanks for me. You can purchase them individually for $1.

lip lock pencil $3

When I bought this, I didn’t read the description completely and thought this was a lip primer. Nope. You put it around the outside of your lips to keep color from bleeding. I don’t have that problem and haven’t used it yet. If you do have trouble with bleeding color, check this out because the reviews are great!

nail polish in Passion Pink $1

All the trendy shades were sold out so I grabbed this just to see what the quality is like. 2 coats did the job. Much better than other cheapo polishes.

Messy mani – the color is neon in the sun!

All in all, I’m really pleased with the products and the prices.  They have different lines (studio, mineral, etc). There are reviews of each item and people have even uploaded swatches since the colors are not true to the online pics. That’s my one major complaint but, through the power of the internet you can now check real swatches online before any color purchases!

Soon, I’ll have a NYX haul to share, since they also just had a 50% off sale!

Have you tried any e.l.f. products? Have a fave?

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about face

by Lara on April 2, 2011

in beauty

Okay, this is the last beauty post for a while!

I’m ashamed to admit the amount of time I have wasted on eBay lately. Every few years I get sick of the way I have my makeup organized. You rearrange furniture or move and things just don’t work anymore.

I considered a train case but couldn’t see myself spending $50-$100 for a glorified box. I wanted to avoid zippers and bags and just have it all out in the open… but not. I finally found these stackable wooden trays at Burlington Coat Factory of all places for $2 each. (I looked everywhere.) When I get sick of this system, they can at least be used in my linen closet or elsewhere.

This is after I cleaned out my stuff, not counting the bag I carry every day.

I was also hung up on the purse situation (my old Sephora freebie bit the dust) until I found this adorable drawstring pouch for dirt cheap on eBay! It’s silly but I love the kawaii stuff.

How cute is this?!!!

Here’s the eBay search to find one of your own.

After cleaning everything out, I went ahead and ordered 2 palettes (88 neutral colors and 120 brights), a huge brush set and eye primer. Time to start fresh.  I wanted to try some of the affordable stuff the beauty blog chicks were raving about.

Well after some research, I found that the 88 and 120 palettes were all coming from the same manufacturer in China and could be ordered on eBay  for 1/2 to 1/3 of what BH Cosmetics and others were selling theirs for, without a name printed on top. With so many great reviews out there, I had to give them a shot. The wait for shipping from China is agonizing though. Over 2 weeks!

They finally arrived!

about $10 each, including shipping!

These things are fantastic and truly exceeded my expectations. Some colors look redundant in the pics but they all have different finishes – matte, pearl, glittery, etc. Only one color came damaged from the overseas trip so that was fine. The textures are silky and they blend beautifully. The pigmentation is nuts!

I tried to do some swatches but none of my cameras are doing them justice so, I found this post that has every single color of the 120 swatched and here are some from the 88 warm palette.

I will pretty much feel like a total asshole if I’m compelled to buy another shadow any time soon.

Now for the brushes:

The best bang for my buck on eBay was this set of 32 natural fiber brushes with soft leatherette roll case (and fake M.A.C. logos printed on each, which I never noticed in the pics) for about $15 including shipping.

They weren’t advertised as being authentic and I had no idea until they arrived, but I absolutely love the set. I doubt I will use them all. They have wooden handles and have different feels – silky, firm, fluffy, etc. The large brushes didn’t feel as nice as my EcoTools face brushes but whatever.

So that’s that. It took a few weeks and about $50 and I got my cosmetics overhauled for the next few years!

Now, I’m obsessed with manicures but, I won’t torture you with nail talk! ;) From someone who paints her nails twice a year, it’s kind of a big deal.

Have you found any amazing/surprising deals lately?

If you have any questions about any of the products, let me know!

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what $17 got me at Sephora

by Lara on December 6, 2010

in beauty

I love the coupons I get from Sephora around the holidays! I just cashed in a $15 (off a $25 purchase) code that went in the gift card option, and got to use an additional promo code for a huge freebie! Yay!

Too Faced Cheap Thrills Set

All full-sized (except the bronzer), wearable colors – $20

100 Boscia Peppermint Blotting Linens – $5

the usual freebies – 3 intensive hair treatment samples

free Getaway Kit of practical samples w/ a $25 purchase

Have any of you guys heard of, or are using Birchbox? It’s a new sample site that has a $10 monthly subscription (you can cancel any time if you do the month-to-month option). Every month, you receive 4-5 deluxe samples of high-end brand cosmetics, there’s a point system for future savings. I haven’t joined yet but I’m considering it, since I love love trying new beauty products.

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pack mule

by Lara on September 24, 2009

in fashion

Yesterday, I needed new liquid eyeliner so, for the sake of convenience, I hit the CVS down the street to try some new applicators by L’oreal. One was the elongated felt tip Lineur Intense (love it) and the other was their Voluminous beveled edge felt tip marker style. Well, after opening the beveled one, it was obvious that the tip was not like it was shown on the packaging. It was round and blunt. No way was I getting cat’s eyes with that. So, I called the 800 number and I am pleased as punch with their customer service. It was obviously a manufacturing flaw and they were quick to remedy the situation with a free return mailing label and gift certificates. Hell yes!

Then, after adding my one new liner to my purse, I noticed how much crap I carry around with me! I like to be prepared for anything. If I had a pack mule to follow me around all day, I would probably carry around an emergency sewing kit, an extra pair of shoes, a mini blow dryer, a lint roller, a netbook, a clothing steamer, my perfume, a folding chair, a chess set, a hefty dslr camera, my cat, and snacks galore.

Instead, I carry a big bag. Not so big that I’m dwarfed by it but, a nice size to carry all of this:

  • old as hell and just won’t die Nine West wallet
  • silver glitter make up bag (really a pencil case I picked up for $1) containing high and low end products, all tried and tested and have never failed me- 2 mini moisturizers, Bare Minerals foundation, brush, compact, concealer, tweezers, eyebrow pencil, eyelash curler, lash comb, mascara, 2 liquid eyeliners, 2 eye shadow brushes, 4 shadows (TIGI, Bare Minerals, Revlon, Hard Candy quad)
  • In a side pocket I have way too many lip glosses and lipsticks and lip liners and lip treatments – I have a problem.
  • Helio Ocean phone (charging)
  • cigarettes and lighter (in the livingroom)
  • keys (in the front door)
  • comb
  • 2 mini hairsprays
  • children’s scissors for emergency bang trimming
  • hair ties and clips
  • ginger Altoids
  • lotion
  • mini nail file
  • random candy (I’m like a grandma)
  • an emergency xanax and ibuprofen
  • my small Nikon camera (not pictured, of course)
  • pen
  • (usually) a list of things to do or groceries to get
  • cat claw clippers (2 cats at 2 different locations, I need to buy another)

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