A Haul to End All Hauls

This is the most collective of hauls.
Over the course of the summer and fall, I've picked up a couple of new products here and there. There have been many-a-shopping excursion over the past few months aside from my recent Sephora Friends & Family Haul.
I picked up a lot of great stuff that I am absolutely loving, and some other things that I probably could have forgone. 

The product I am loving the most are these MAC Pro Sculpting Creams, part of the Face & Body collection they released this fall. 

Top: Pure Sculpture & Coffee Walnut
Bottom, right: [top] Coffee Walnut, [bottom] Pure Sculpture

I first got the colour "Pure Sculpture" (left) which is the more reddish/orange tone. This product is actually very comparable in colour and texture to my beloved Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel. However, for sculpting this was not a good colour match for me and I'm a little peeved that the MAC lady sold me on this. That being said, the second colour I picked up, Coffee Walnut (right), is an absolute dream! I also about this particular shade in my most recent Current Product Loves post. Coffee Walnut is a brownish/greenish shade and when applied to the hollows of the cheeks it just gives the most natural looking shadow. It's really a fantastic product and it was well worth all the hunting I did for it.

Another MAC product I've picked up is the 116 brush. 

I was looking for the 109 brush, but they didn't have it in stock and the MAC lady (a different one than the evil lady who sold me pure sculpture) offered up the 116 in replacement. I really like that it's a stiff, domed blush brush and I've gotten a lot of use out of it thus far. Happy purchase!

I had been dying to try the Too Faced Better Than False Lashes system, and in July, I finally picked it up for myself. 

This lash system is a 3 step process: first and third involved using the bigger gold tube of mascara to coat the lashes, and the second step is the "nylon lash extension." The application is simple and not too time consuming, it also doesn't take a lot of effort to get the desired look. My lashes definitely did look longer, so it worked! However, because of the fibres, my top and bottom lashes had a tendency to get stuck together when I blinked. It wasn't uncomfortable, per se, but it was definitely a strange sensation.

Too Faced Better Than False Lashes: this is the wand for the "nylon lash extensions" - you can see the fibres coating the wand

Two random baubles that I picked up were the Wet n' Wild Idol Eyes eye shadow pencil in the shade Pixi and MAC Studio Finish concealer in the shade NC20. 

I like them both, that's all I can really say about these. They're both pretty generic products. The WnW shadow pencil is really easy to apply to the eyes, and it blends easily, although I do recommend using a base and topping it with a shadow because it won't last long on its own. The MAC concealer is also really creamy and easy to blend and I have been using it mostly as an under eye concealer to help preserve the longevity of my beloved Bobbi Brown corrector. 

I've been a slave to my eyebrows lately and I wanted to try some drugstore eyebrow pencils. For days when I don't have time or don't want to spend the time filling in my eyebrows with powder (MAC Omega) I wanted a pencil for quick and easy touch ups. 

I picked the Rimmel professional Eyebrow Pencil in the shade Hazel and the Wet n' Wild Coloricon pencil in the shade Taupe. I won't be getting a lot of use out of the Rimmel pencil because it is way too orange for my brows/complexion. Unfortunately, Hazel is the lightest shade they have and the next shade up is way too dark. I do love the Wet n' Wild pencil though. Taupe is an ashy blonde colour and it works really well with my eyebrows. The texture of the pencil is very creamy/waxy (because these pencils are also meant to be eyeliners) so I find that it tames my brows along with filling them in. I wish that it came with a spooly on the end, but whatever.

I guess you can say I went a little blush crazy over the past few months.

I purchased my first two ever Topshop cosmetic products. I went for two cream blushes because I've heard the best things about those. I picked up the shades Head over Heels, which is a coral shade (definitely super easy to blend it out and make it more muted) and High Five, which is a bright pink shade. Both of these cream blushes are easily blended to create a flawless flush on your cheeks. I also finally caved and bought my first Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in the shade Tipsy. Tipsy is the most orangey/coral shade offered in the range, and I bought it on recommendation from Vivianna Does Makeup (as per usual). These blushes are super pigmented and definitely worth all the hype they get, in my opinion. I don't think I'll be able to get a lot of use out of this blush during the winter months because I get super pale in the winter I don't think I'll be able to pull off such a bright coral. But for summer, this blush was lovely.

REVLON KISSABLE BALM STAINS!!! I know, I'm probably more excited about these than any normal person should be.

bottom swatches: Charms, Honey, Cherish, Rendezvous, Adore

I was so stoked when these finally showed up in Canadian drugstores. Right off the bat, I purchased Charm, Cherish, Honey, and Rendezvous - brighter colours for summer, and Honey and Charm being more neutral/everyday shades that would have the most wear. Most recently, I picked up Adore, a deep red tube but the colour of the product itself is a lot more orangey/red, but still really nice. Here's a picture of me wearing it that I posted to my instagram:

As you can see, it's not the deepest red, but it's still wearable, especially this season.

Last up, L'Oreal Colour Riche by Colour Caresse (unnecessary long name)

The swatches are flipped
swatches [right pic]: Sunset Angora, Pink Cashmere

I picked up two shades: 171 Pink Cashmere and 176 Sunset Angora. I don't get as much use out of these as the Revlon Kissable Balm Stains, but I still do like these lip products. They are very creamy and they have better pigmentation than Revlon Lip Butters. They don't wear too long, maybe only an hour or two before they need reapplication. These are not to be confused with a tinted lip balm because they are not moisturizing nor are they forigiving on dry lips. The square gold packaging is very chic and I want to look into some of the deeper colours from this range for fall/winter.

WHAT A DOOZY

That was a long ass post for a big ass haul.
So that's a pretty good overview of the products that I've purchased throughout the summer, some that I'm loving and some not so much.

xoxoDarlingBuds

Music Monday #2

Before Monday becomes Tuesday I want to get this week's edition of "Music Monday" posted. I think I'm going to try and make this a weekly thing. I'm going to post a song or songs that have been playing on repeat on my itunes. 
Enjoy!

ZZ Ward - "Last Love Song"

Ke$ha - "Die Young"

(don't shoot me...this song is really catchy!)

Nashville cast - "If I Didn't Know Better"

(I have been so obsessed with this tv show lately! It's awesome. It's the tv version of the movie Country Strong [Donna]. This song is a cover of The Civil Wars song, and is it shameful that I like the Nashville one better?)

keep the music playing

xoxoDarlingBuds

p.s. oops, I just realized I haven't posted anything since last week's Music Monday. I have so many ideas for posts, I just have to hanker down and get all the photos and writing done. Please be patient!

Music Monday #1

Here are some more songs that I'm currently listening to...

Ray Charles - "Georgia on My Mind"

an oldy, but an absolute goody

The Fray - "Never Say Never"

apparently, I've been into a lot of soft-rock moody tunes lately

xoxoDarlingBuds

Sephora Friends & Family Sale HAUL

In terms of shopping, Sephora Friends & Family Sale is up there in my top 5 favourite shopping excursions. 20% off makeup that never goes on sale any other time...um, YES!
This year, I didn't purchase any of the "typical" products that I would usually go for. I didn't get any eyeshadows. I didn't get any blushes. I didn't get any nail polish. I know, strange. Needless to say, I'm super excited about the products I did get and I'd like to share them with you. 
Firstly, one of the great things about the Sephora Friends & Family Sale is that it occurs so close to the holidays therefore all of the brands' holiday kits are already on the shelves!
From Korres, I saw this unbeatable deal: two full size products for literally $5 more than one of the products would have cost alone. WHAT A DEAL!

This particular gift set is called the "Radiance Revealed Wild Rose Brightening Duo" which sounded right up my alley. It's comes with two full size products: Wild Rose daily brightening & refining buff cleanser (left) and the Wild Rose + vitamin C advanced brightening sleeping facial (right). I've been wanting to try the sleeping facial for a while now, and I almost purchased it on its own but when I saw this duo I just couldn't believe the deal. To put it into context: the moisturizer on its own is $62.50, this packaged deal was $69. AMAZING! I'm so excited to start using these products. 

Another amazing deal Holiday deal from Korres was this little bundle 3 full size Korres lip butters, in 3 different colours/scents. One lip butter on its own is $16 - $18). I only tested this lip butter out once on my lips but it was really really nice. I've heard so much about these lip butter from YouTube beauty gurus claiming them to be a miracle product for your lips. I finally caved and I'm inkling to see how they fair 

FINALLY I purchased the Nars smudge proof eyeshadow base that I have been eyeing for a long while(haha, get it? EYEing).

I'm happy to have all of these products in my stash now, especially the eyeshadow base because that have been a long time coveted product. 
Did you anybody else take advantage of Sephora's Friends & Family Sale??

Until next time, 

xoxoDarlingBuds