A Beauty Haul for Y'all

I've been shopping. These products are not all from one shopping trip. What kind of person do you think I am?? Haha...but seriously, I could do so much more damage in one day. But I'm getting better.

I'm starting a new little series type thing. My Mascara Problems post hinted at this new idea. I'm going to start a series on my quest for the best mascara. I'm starting with drugstore brands first. So when I was at Walmart and Shopper's Drug Mart, I picked up some mascaras to help me dive into this new endeavour that I will be taking on. I've heard good things about all the mascaras pictured above and I can't wait to try them out and see how they wear. Stay tuned for full reviews of these mascaras coming soon...

Also from Walmart, I picked up this random blending brush I found in the cosmetics section. It's from a brand from SOHO London and it was under $10. I've used it a couple times already and so far I really like it. I mean, it blends...so it does its job accordingly. I wasn't about to fork out over $30 for the MAC 224 blending brush, and this one suits me just fine for now. 

I couldn't go to a drugstore without getting some nail polish. I HAVE A PROBLEM! But look how pretty they are...I picked up: (from left to right) Essie "Sand Tropez"/ Essie "Tart Deco" and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Lacey Lilac". Look for these coming to a NOTD post near you!

I also made a stop into Sally's Beauty Supply a little while back and picked up this donut hair thingy. You use it to create the perfect high fashion bun, or I guess you could use it for a  chignon like the label says. Comme ci, comme ça! Maybe I'll post it in a HOTD post (hair of the day)!


And now for the grand finale!

So many beauty gurus on youtube, especially Tanya Burr, or pixi2woo, RAVE about this highlighting powder from Dior. When Shopper's was having their 20X the Optimum Points event, I jumped at the chance and finally got this product. I feel as though, if I'm going to buy this product at some point eventually, I might as well collect a bunch of Optimum Points in the process. 
I haven't had the chance to use it yet, nor have I wanted to make that first sweep into the product because it's just so beautiful and glamorous!

High-end cosmetics are such a luxury, I know. The packaging on this is beautiful! It comes with a little velvet pouch to keep the compact in, to avoid fingerprint and scratches I guess. It just seems like such a beautiful little item to have in my possession. I'm treasuring it like a baby!

The product itself is an absolutely beautiful array of golds, peaches, and whites. I can't wait to actually use this product for the first time. And y'all know that I'll be using it for a makeup look sometime soon :)

That's the end of my haul! Until next time...

xoxoDarlingBuds

A Makeup Haul

I know shopping can be an addiction, hence shopaholic anonymous. But is there such thing as a shopaholic who only indulges in makeup? Makeup-aholic? Well, that's me.
Word of caution: this haul is special. It is a collection of things acquired over the Christmas break and from a shopping trip to Buffalo. This is beyond the normal amount of makeup I would purchase in a span of only a couple of weeks...usually. You have been warned. Proceed with caution...


My first makeup stop was Sephora at the Walden Galleria mall in Buffalo.

First I picked up some hair ribbons from the Sephora brand. Basically, they're a more elegant hair elastic - specifically a hair tie. They're super cute and they hold my ponytail in place. Only problem is they're a little small so I can only get my hair through it twice. These aren't good hair ties for a messy bun, but they look great in just a simple ponytail.

The second item I bought was Hand Food from the UK brand Soap&Glory. I always hear british YouTube beauty gurus raving about this product and I finally managed to get my hands on it. It smells lovely, isn't greasy feeling on your hands, and makes your hands touchably soft. The formula also works itself right into your skin, instead of lingering on the surface (I detest such hand creams). Hand Food is a great hand cream and I would highly recommend it. The texture is very comparable to the Shea Cashmere hand creams sold at Bath & Body Works.

The "Legally Bronze" value set from Benefit was too much of a bargain to pass up. It comes with: full size Gilded highlighting pencil, full size Hoola bronzer, full size High Beam highlighter AND a full size BadGal brown mascara...all for $38! Evidently I had to buy it
                                      
 The first item in the bag is the Gilded highlighting pencil. It is a golden tinted, shimmery pencil. It is very similar in consistency to the NYX jumbo eye pencils. It is very creamy and slides on the skin nicely. I would use this product either as a highlight around my eyes or even on my cheeks for a goldish shimmer.

Gilded highlighting pencil swatch

The next product in the bunch is Hoola bronzer. It's brown. It's matte. It's a bronzer. 'Nuff said

Hoola bronzer swatch

I was super excited that High Beam was included in the set. This product retails for roughly $30CAD on its own and to get a full size of it in this set was a steal! I love the way High Beam looks on the skin. It gives a really lovely sheen wherever applied without looking overly done. I've been really into the dewy look lately because my skin has been so dry during the Canadian Winter season.

High Beam swatch (right is blended out)

 Next up: BadGal brown mascara. I'm not really into brown mascaras all that much. I like to accentuate my eyes and a black mascara helps me do that. I will get use out of this mascara though, on lazy when I'm going for a natural look but still want definiton.

BadGal brown mascara wand

 After venturing out of Sephora, I found myself drawn to the beauty supply store in the Galleria mall. This store was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! They carried every. single. essie nailpolish EVER! The OPI selection wasn't as impressive, but thankfully they had all the colours I was looking for.

OPI (from left to right): "Lincoln Park After Dark," "Vodka & Caviar,"
"Cajun Shrimp," "You Don't Know Jacques," and "Dulce de Leche"

Essie (from left to right): "Lapis of Luxury," "Absolute Shore,"
"Fifth Avenue," "Trophy Wife"

All in all, it was a successful shopping month for beauty products, especially at the Galleria mall in Buffalo. Oh but wait, there's more. Running out of time right now, but I will haul and review more products soon time. Here's a little sampling of what is still to come...