Collective haul + new daily staples

It's not new news that I disappear then re-appear on my beauty blog every now and then. Sorry, again... and hi. :)

I haven't been able to splurge as much as I'd like to lately, but I've managed to buy total must-haves, except maybe the VS lip gloss since I'm not a big fan of lip gloss. It was on sale for $1.75 during their semi-annual sale.

Victoria Secret lip gloss in Ms. Mojita $7.00 - I wanted to give lip gloss another go, and since this was only $1.75, it wasn't heartbreaking. I can stand using lip gloss indoors, but I don't like it outdoors where my hair blows all over my face. I end up licking off this lip gloss because it smells so yummy. It doesn't taste as it smells, but it doesn't taste nasty.

Chapstick in green tea mint $3.99 - One day I was "craving" for that minty feeling on my lips and so I got my fix at Walgreens and bought this lip moisturizer. I've been using it everyday because I love it! Alternatively, I have other moisturizers that I love: MAC lip conditioner SPF 15, Rosebud Perfume Co. strawberry lip balm, and Ole Henriksen African red tea lip salvation.

MAC pro long wear concealer in NC42 $16.50 - MAC pro long wear is the best foundation and concealer at the MAC store suitable for my oily skin. I use this concealer to cover my dark circles as well as attempt to highlight my face, but I need more practice on that. I apply this with my Revlon crease brush, it's like a mini MAC 224 brush, sort of. Sometimes I skip concealer and just go straight to foundation.

Make Up For Ever HD foundation in 153 $40.00 - This is the most expensive cosmetic product I've bought so far, and it was worth it. I don't use foundation everyday, so this will last me a long time. I think I'm a closer match to 173, but I got 153 because I apply just a sheer layer of foundation to my face to give me a brighter complexion since my neck gets lighter than my face. I'm a number of shades all over my body, but I can't avoid how much the sun hits my face. The consistency seems thin, but it has good coverage. I love it because I have oily skin so that's a plus. Also, I could never find the right shade of department store foundation elsewhere besides at MAC, so that's why I got this too. It's a notable foundation as well as more affordable compared to other higher-end brands that I'm not willing to splurge on. This is a great buy. I've stopped reaching out for my MAC studio fix and pro long wear foundation. Then again, I've stopped reaching out for them because it takes too much effort to get to because I've packed a bunch of stuff on top of my train case.

Eco Tools bamboo finishing kabuki $6.99 - Eco Tools brushes are famous for being soft, and this one doesn't beg to differ. It's a typical stippling brush, but just softer and I got this mainly for travel purposes. Cheap and effective, love it.

MAC paint pot in quite natural $16.50 - I use this on my eyebrows in place of an eyebrow pencil ever since I colored my hair brown. Then I apply dark brown eyeshadow to make it darker since the paint pot is just a brown, not light, not dark. This product lasts forever. I've been using it everyday for two months now and barely made a hole in it.

Bobbi brown gel liner in black ink $21.00 - My beloved Smashbox gel liner has been nearing the end of its lifestyle so I decided to try out a new one. My eyelids are extremely oily and it does a good job at staying put when the weather's not too humid here. However, summer's been humid here in Hawaii, so I use some UDPP to make it last longer. Sometimes I give into the hype (not that it's a bad thing) and buy things that are being raved about, but I tend to take a while to buy it. I like this eye liner, but I think Smashbox's gel liner is better for me.

Bdellium Tools studio brush #957 (travel-sized) $15.00 - I've always wanted a brush like this and so I got it. It's a very pretty brush and my current favorite brush to apply and buff foundation and powder to my face.

Tweezerman Tweezerette tweezer $7.00 - This tweezer grips onto hairs really good. I haven't tried the original Tweezerman tweezers so I don't know how they compare. However, I have a hard time tweezing my super thin and super short hairs with this tweezer but I blame my hairs more than I blame the tweezer. I'll probably look more into the Tweezerman pointed tweezer for my next tweezer purchase. (I've never used the word tweeze so much before!) Switzerland is the best place for steel tools! ;)

Review: Sally Hansen "flirty eyes" eyelash curler & haul

Even though I know that you should stay away from curling your eyelashes, I do it anyways because it's the only way to make my single eyelids bigger to seem more awake. I naturally always look tired because my eyes are so small. :( So thank goodness for eyelash curlers and mascara when you don't feel like wearing falsies or investing in eyelash extensions, eyelash growth products, or the patent pending lash mascara that lasts for weeks. 

I can get away without wearing make-up... except for my eyebrows. When I'm drawing in my eyebrows, I tell everyone it isn't make-up just to make myself feel better... hahaha. So, I don't tweak my eyes every single day of my life because sometimes I get lazy or run out of time since I'm not quite a morning person. 

On another note, I love great drugstore beauty buys. One of my favorite drugstore brands from the very start is Sally Hansen. I was always fascinated with nail polish so I would be excited to see 40% off sales and would bulk up on products. Sally Hansen just came out with a bunch of beauty utensils that don't look like it's from the drugstore. I don't care whether or not things look like its from the drugstore, I just care if its decent or great quality for a bargain.

I got a nipper $10.99, brow scissors $6.99, and eyelash curler $5.99 from Walgreens. I know they're currently on sale at CVS (in Hawaii for sure) and they're 40% off which is the best deal ever. I bought mines too early. :( Oh well. 

Here are the corresponding captions to the following pictures:
First & second pic: right eyelash curled with no product on
Third & fourth pic: both eyelashes curled with two coats of Maybelline falsies mascara (my HG product! <333)

Review: I personally like this eyelash curler. It fits my eye just right so don't get it unless you have small eyes like me. It's not as wide as other eyelash curlers like Shu Uemura's or MAC's, I know that even though I don't own any of those. They do have another type of eyelash curler, so maybe it'll be a hit... or miss... for you beauties who have bigger eyes than me. :)

Review: Stila talking palettes

Hi all, I hope that you're having a lovely year-end. I was up last night feeling bored and tired at home and while thinking of what to do. I decided to post a beauty blog. :) I attempted to swatch out some colors, but being that I didn't do it before I was unprepared and realized four swatches later that I had run out of fingers and didn't want to gather up a few cleaning utensils. I must say, that even without swatches, the photographs below are pretty true to color and true to swatch depending on whether or not you use a base (MAC paint pots are the best!). 

Next to MAC eyeshadows, I love Stila eyeshadows because they're quite pigmented and great for on the go type of looks since I can literally take these palettes to go. They're quite pricey at $40 a pop, but this stuff lasts forever and sometimes you can find them while on sale or discounted with some sort of reward card or coupon code. They're very pigmented, and the colors are very workable for an everyday use ranging from matte to shimmers in most palettes.

I remember my aunty having the Barbie themed palette about two years ago when we vacationed in Davao, Philippines. I fell in love with it too, particularly with purple because I find that purple eyeshadows are one of the easiest colors to use.

However, even though they're great at being on the go items, I do want to depot them and put them into a palette because I'm hardly ever the type to apply make up outside of my vanity (which is my whole room lol).

Price: 4/5 $40
Product: 5/5 Great colors, pigmented, easy to blend.
Packaging: 4/5 I'd rather its packaging be made out of plastic than paper, but tg it's got a magnetic closure.

 Starlet by night

 The complete classic look

 Purrfect eyes

 Smoky eye

Haul: Nov. 21 - nail polish, make up, lip conditioners

Behold, this must be my real first haul :) Most of which were bargained for (details throughout this post). Most products were bought on a whim and all were purchased in a span of 2 weeks. Sometimes I forgot to mention products that I buy on a weekly basis because sometimes I just forget that it even exists, lol. 

On a side note, I've begun to utilize iPhoto just for the sake of importing pictures from my memory card since it automatically puts them into a folder by its date. Then, I transfer by dragging the folders into other folders in my external hard drive because that's really where I archive anything and everything... it's my baby; it's my life! 

Well before I start talking about other things, I hope you enjoy. :) 

Color Club nail polishes

• Who are you wearing? 
• High society
• Best dressed list
• Charity ball
• Uptown girl
• She's sooo glam
• Ms. socialite

I bought these at Ross for $7.99, that'd be about a dollar plus tax for each so it was very much a steal. Fortunately this was the last one there, unless they restocked on it after I left. One thing that I don't like about these packs (this is my third Color Club pack) but then again it doesn't even matter to me is the fact that the nail polish bottles don't have labels of their color names on them. I'm really not the type to remember each and every name for color, so I don't care for it. It just sucks because I can't refer to the color for fellow bloggers to indulge upon.

This is a color test of the fourth nail polish in that line of Color Club nail polishes. The no-flash picture is more true to its color but I couldn't get a good picture of it due to the dim lighting that I currently have. The consistency is pretty alright and typical: 2-3 coats of nail polish. I needed 3 with this application because with just 2 it turned out orange. After all it's a brown with an orange undertone. I love this color, it's sort of but not really comparable to a nail polish color that came out with MAC's Tartan themed products. 

 

Sinful Colors nail polishes 

($1.99 each at Walgreens)

• Nail junkie
• Hottie
• Pinky glitter

Sally Hansen nail polishes

($5 for both on a bogo sale at Walgreens)

• Disco ball
• Purple pizzazz

All that glitters ain't gold...

I've been falling in fancy with things that glitter lately, and news on the block is that they're in this holiday season (when are they never?). All of these colors contain glitter and are perfect for a top color on top a base color for a cool effect because the colors you see are quite sheer and translucent, except for the last one which has more of its own color. I'm not sure when I'll get to give them all a test drive but I can reckon that it won't be in quite a while... lol. 

Korres lip butter glaze

($24 for a 3-pack at Sephora)

• Jasmine
• Pomegranate
• Raspberry

My favorite lip product ever is Korres' lip butter in pomegranate because of it's subtle color when applied on my lips. I purchased the pack at Sephora because it was a holiday special unknowing if they were going to be available for single purchase after that. Having to use my finger or find a lip applicator to use my original lip butter was too much of a hassle for me. I like squeeze tubes better and so I used my logic that told me it was a win-win situation... lol... help me. 

Aquafina lip balms ($5.99 for a 3 pack with a bonus lip oil)

I'm not sure where the other lip balm and lip oil is... lol. I have a habit of losing lip balms which is why I often buy more, and more, and more for assurance that I'll always have one or some. :) 

Next of the mash up is dedicated to my eyes.

Actually most of these prices are an estimation because I can't give you the exact amount because I don't know where my receipts are.

MAC paint pot in bare canvas ($16)

Paula Dorf eyeshadow primer in deep ($12)

The Balm batter up ($22)

Prestige eyeshadow in onyx ($2.50) 

Wet n' Wild eyeshadows

($1 each, originally $1.99 each but I had some coupons)

• Sugar
• Lagoon
• Penny
• Envy
• Kitten

Revlon contour shadow brush ($5.99 each but one was 50% off, bogo ftw! from Walgreens) I love these brushes. They're really good drugstore brushes, not too soft and not too stiff, perfect for the crease area and for blending.

Revlon precision lash adhesive ($4.99 at CVS) I love this lash adhesive. I swear that I have the worst luck with squeeze tubes because of my butter fingers that can never give a consistent amount on the whole lash... but this is love... for me at least because of my eyes. Prior to purchasing this, I had got to a cancer fundraiser and my falsies hadn't been applied at its best manner so I was forced to take them off because I forgot to bring the glue with me and in turn forced to look for a better, more reliable adhesive. 

Bobbi Brown lip balm ($18 at Bobbi Brown) This just caught my eye... just another lip balm for my collection. 

Haul: Nov. 13 - eyelash galore and more!

This is it, just a new eyelash curler, some eyelid tape, a bunch of false eyelashes (lol, too many actually), and some pantyhose. :) 

Haul: Nov. 5 - clothing, accessories, and makeup and hair stuff

I've decided to start a new segment on my blog about my purchases for the week, of course items that are beauty-related. I haven't bought clothes in a while, but since the weather's starting to become chilly, I decided that it was time for new additions in my closet because I lack a lot of long-sleeved wear. 

(I'll probably number the items in future posts).

From a Craigslist post, I got a CHI straightener, finally. Now I don't have to damage my hair as much when I do curl it. I've been curling my hair with a cheap $20 straightener or my lovely Conair curlers.

From an online purchase I bought Skindinavia's no more shine spray to set my foundation. I just got it yesterday so I'll need a little time to further my opinion on it. Also included was a free sample-sized bottle of make up setting spray.

From Forever 21, I got a striped cardigan, and two pencil skirts. As well as two pairs of the same earrings just in different colors. I tend to do that when it comes to earrings that I absolutely adore and are absolutely affordable. Actually, I've got 5 more pairs of earrings that I had disoriented from its packaging and scattered all around my room.

From Target I bought the Herbal Essences tousle me softly hair cream. Hair products usually don't give me good results and it seems like all drugstore hair products are mediocre and do the same thing for the most part. I'm going to use this cream before I go to sleep and after I have shampooed hair for extra conditioning and to wake up with a bit tamed, yet messy looking hair. I also bought sponge wedges for foundation application.

And, from Claires I bought a wallet ($4) and accessories for $1 each.

Haul: mini nail polish haul - NYX (girls)

NYX girls was the brand of the first nail polishes I bought when I started getting into nail polishes. It was during my senior year of high school that me and my two friends wanted to invest in nail art after being attracted to such a hobby once we learned how to make a simple heart out of dotting tools, of which were plain toothpicks. Of course, three years later it's all different, just like the bottle of this nail polish. They have obviously manufactured this product to be more attractive and appealing to consumers like myself, the best part yet they're only 99 cents each. I didn't buy much because I'm currently on a budget and most colors I already have. I love the glitters because the gold one is a total dupe of Sephora/OPI's nail polish with gold holograms, while NYX is a dupe of China Glaze's techno. I got the black one to try it out on top of black nail polish, I figure it will be different compared to adding a top coat of the silver one. 

I can't read the black one.

Prismatic Gold

Grand Royal

Dark Beige