So I went to Sephora. And I bought some things. Just a few things. Things I needed. At least that was the intention. Go to Sephora, pick up a concealer that needed to be replaced and some setting spray because I’d run out and that was that. In and out.
But then the aisles of shiny pretty things lured me in (not that I resisted that hard) and soon enough I had that little black basket full of new toys to play with while I eyed distracting baubles that lined the way to the cash register. How many more Jack Black lip balms did I need? I was carrying two in my purse right at that moment. You have no idea how much strength it takes to keep passing over that Shu Uemura eyelash curler time and time again because who needs 4 eyelash curlers, right?
For too long I’d been pretty staid with my previous beauty purchases; spending only birthday gift cards on things that needed to be replaced and cashing in my MAC recyclables for new lipsticks. This time, however, I just said fuck it to responsible beauty purchases and decided I was just going to buy whatever the hell I felt like buying. And so below is a collection of beauty stuff I bought over the course of the last 6 weeks.
I rarely cash in my Sephora points. I don’t know what amazing thing I’m saving them up for, but usually if there is a mascara I haven’t tried I’ll use 100 points to save from buying a new mascara (until my more recent purchases, I hadn’t bought mascara for about a year between my Sephora points and Clinique bonuses).
It took some convincing by the Sephora girl to get me to try out the Tarte cheek stain because I don’t usually bother with blush more than a swipe of NARS Orgasm to give my face a little colour. But thank you Sephora girl for convincing me to try this because I LOVE IT. It looks so natural and it lasts all day and gives my face just the right amount of colour. The only problem is that I probably need to get like 4 more now.
I am a huge, huge fan of the Real Techniques brush line (so much so that I’m always trying to get people I know to buy them like I’m a pusher, but my drug is fabulousness and tools to help that fabulousness along). I just wanted a spare liner brush, but no one seems to carry just the liner brush here, so I bought the entire starter set because who can’t use more eyeshadow brushes, right? A week later I found the silicone liner brush at Winners and the heavens opened up, cherubs began to sing, and I was ensconced in an ethereal light. I found the liner brush of my dreams, because my dream is a liner brush that is easy to clean and keeps it’s tip sharp.
I’ve been using the Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray for years now, but this is the first time I tried the B6 spray and because I keep forgetting to actually use it, I haven’t really formed an opinion on how well it works. Oops.
My newest thing has been trying out and collecting different concealers so I rarely buy the same one twice, except that I love the NARS Creamy Concealer so much that I can’t imagine not having it in my makeup bag. But that is what tempted me into buying the new Laura Mercier Full Coverage concealer. It’s a bit on the dry side, which makes it perfect for mixing with my MAC Pro Long Wear concealer. I’m pretty sure this tube will last me until the next millenium because you only need the teensiest amount to cover your entire body.
Hourglass’ Iconic liquid lipstick is one of my favourite lip colours (I’m going to have to update this post already) which I bought especially to wear for my cousin’s wedding in Ottawa.
This is the third time I’ve replaced that Stila liner, which in my universe means that me and that Stila liner are now married.
The Maybelline 24 hour lip colour I bought because I kept hearing about how great it was (when worn properly) and how it lasts forever. I’m not saying I fell asleep wearing it and woke up the next morning with perfect lipstick, but I fell asleep wearing it and woke up the next morning with perfect lipstick.
The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder trio is the one thing that I regretted not buying when it first came out, but now it’s permanent, so now I can look like I’m being followed by a professional lighting crew wherever I go.
The only time I buy makeup remover wipes is when I travel, so I bought the Elf ones before I left for Ottawa. They got my makeup off and didn’t dry out my skin, so thumbs up.
I actually bought the Kiehl’s stuff before anything else because I needed a new moisturizer, and lemme tell you, since I started using the ultra moisture line, my skin is SO much better than it was earlier this year. For the first time in ages my skin is closer to normal than dry and I don’t feel like a crocodile so much anymore.
I needed a new blush brush that wasn’t an angled blush brush (say blush brush 3 times fast) so I bought the Real Techniques one because it’s cheap and awesome.
I heard a rumour that MAC was discontinuing the Strobe Liquid, so I panicked and stocked up because what was I going to do without Strobe Liquid? I use it just about everyday (mixed into my foundation) and have for the past 15 years or so, so the thought of it being discontinued was like ABC canceling Pushing Daisies all over again.
I wanted to try Urban Decay’s new felt tip Perversion liner, but I didn’t like it (it’s not a bad liner, I just didn’t like it) so I exchanged it for the Naked Flushed palette in Streak, which I loooooooooove. The blush is a gorgeous coral, the highlighter is a super pretty golden colour, and while the bronzer is a little light for me, I don’t mind because it 1. has no shimmer, and 2. makes for a really great blending colour for eyeshadow.
Since I keep hearing good things about L’oreal’s gel liner I thought I’d try it out for myself since my MAC gel liner is starting to dry out. The formula is pretty nice and smooth and colour is opaque, though maybe not as black as I tend to like (I like my eyeliner to be the same shade of black as my soul). Not sure if I’d repurchase this one though. I think I might go back to my number one gel liner love: Bobbi Brown’s Long Wear Gel Liner.
I’ve been using Benefit’s Brow Zing for years, but once Anastasia’s Dip Brow came out, I had to try it. My brows are unruly and Dip Brow reigns them in really well. A little goes a long way, but it makes a huge difference in how groomed my brows look. Plus, it lasts all day, which filling in with powder didn’t always do. I’m a little obsessed with this stuff.
So, I wasn’t planning on buying anymore cosmetics for a while because I technically didn’t need anything new, except Benefit decided to release a new eyeliner and technically I needed to try it out. For science. And of course I couldn’t just order the eyeliner, I had to order enough so that I qualified for free shipping. I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Pay for shipping? Hardly.
So I added a few more things to my basket: The Sephora Favourites Lash-To-Go box, a Josie Maran Coconut Water eyeshadow, Amazing Cosmetics concealer, and then a bunch of samples I haven’t gotten around to trying out yet.
The Lash-To-Go box includes a Blinc mascara, TooFaced’s Better than Sex mascara, Lancome’s Hypnose Drama, Tarte’s Lights-Camera-Lashes mascara, and Bare Mineral’s Lash Domination Volumizing mascara, plus a voucher for a full size mascara of your choice. I’ve only used one each one once so far, so I haven’t really formed an opinion on any of them yet. The Blinc mascara is a tubing mascara and while I don’t particularly like it for my top lashes, it’s been great for my bottom lashes (I don’t know what it is about tubing mascaras, but they’re the only type of mascara I look forward to taking off because it’s so fun to watch the tubes come off your lashes!) Better than Sex mascara is probably my favourite mascara so far because it makes my lashes look really full while also separating them. I LOVE Lancome mascaras and the Hypnose Drama is pretty nice, though the Doll Eyes mascara is still my favourite. The Tarte mascara is also nice so far, but I haven’t really formed much of an opinion on it either way. That goes for the Bare Mineral’s mascara too.
Once I’ve gotten a better impression of them each I’ll do a separate post on them and by then I’ll probably be able to decide which one I’ll use my voucher on.
Ok, so let’s talk about Benefit’s Push Up Liner. There has been a lot of hype around this liner and I’ve read dozens of mixed reviews; I personally like it a lot, but I don’t LOVE it. The formula is a little dry and I think the product as a whole would benefit (heh) if the gel formula was closer to the consistency of Bobbi Brown’s gel liner (which is a little more watery than MAC’s and L’oreal’s). To get the liner to the intensity that I prefer I have to go over the line a few times, and if I don’t work quickly and the formula dries the liner will start to flake. And if you twist out too much product it will crumble. On the plus side, Push Up Liner makes easy work of winged liner (yes, even for me). If Benefit ever decides it’s going to rework the formula though, I will probably love the hell out of this because it’s pretty excellent, aside from that little problem.
I think from all the stuff I got, my favourite product is the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolour eyeshadow. It’s a liquid eyeshadow that is lightweight but very pigmented. I got Playa Del Pink because it seemed like a nice neutral colour; the shadow is a light golden shimmery colour that I can’t even really call shimmery. It’s more accurate to say that it glows, but not in that Mr. Burns-I-bring-you-love kind of way, more like an ethereal elf queen kind of way. I LOVE this eyeshadow. It’s so perfect for summer. This colour is light enough to be worn in the day (and would look so gorgeous on the beach because of it’s shimmer/glow) and translates perfectly to night because you can build it up without the shadow creasing or looking heavy. I wore this to my friend’s wedding on Monday, which was an all day event, and there was no creasing or fading in the least (I did wear it with a primer, but I have oily lids and need to wear a primer). I will probably be buying at least a few more shades from this line.
Whew! That’s it. That’s all the makeup I bought lately. Now I need a nap.
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