Recent Haul: Drugstore + Sephora + ELF

In all my excitement about spring, I totally forgot about the things I recently bought. So, I thought I'd share my favorite items from a recent drugstore, Sephora and ELF haul. Let's get it to it!

I'll start off with the drugstore items. So, I made a trip to the local Walmart and got a few things. And, just so you know, Walmart trips are generally what I do for fun here. Seriously. It's the most exciting thing in town.

Anyway, the first item I'll be talking about is the Wet 'n Wild Color Icon Brow and Eye Liner.

cr: http://www.musingsofamuse.com

I picture above is actually  the eye pencil in Black Black. I bought the one in Charcoal because I like my brows to look a little softer. I also wear glasses, so if my brows are too defined or too dark, I just look really funny. Here's a swatch of it on my hand:

I had previously used Maybelline's Define-A-Brow Eye Brow Pencil, and they're fine. But, I came across this one and thought I'd just try it because Wet 'n Wild eye shadows are pretty good. Plus, this pencil is only $0.98. Yes, folks, before tax, it's not even a dollar. It's long and fairly pigmented. And, as a brow pencil, it is fantastic. Now, I have never used this as an eye liner because I honestly don't wear eye liner on a daily basis, and when I do, I use my Lancome Le Crayon Khol in Black Ebony. However, after using it daily for about two weeks, I think that this might not be such a great eye liner because it does smudge on bare skin.

Next, I bought two new lipsticks and I have been super in love with them. They are the Maybelline Color Whisper in Orange Attitude and the Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids in Fuchsia Flash. Here are the swatches:

top: Color Whisper in Orange Attitude
bottom: Color Sensational Vivid in Fuchsia Flash

I just think that both of the colors are so pretty and so suitable for spring. I am very impressed at the lasting power of these lipsticks. I have quite a few Lancome lipsticks, and some of them don't last more than three hours. The Maybelline lipsticks lasted through six hours of classes with lunch in between. 

This next product totally saved my feet. I'm not the type of person who spends a lot on bath and body stuff. Brands like Soap & Glory, Lush, and L'Occitane are great, but they are so pricey. So, I buy bath and body stuff mostly from the drugstore. I recently purchased Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Foot Cream because my feet were just messed up from the dry weather.

I've tried a couple of foot creams in the past from Dr. Scholl's and Jergens, but they didn't really do anything for my feet. This lotion, though, is amazing. Within a week of using it every night before bed, all of the cracks in my heels were smooth. So, I'm terribly grateful to this lotion!

The last drugstore purchase I have are two face scrubs. They are St. Ives Blemish Control Apricot Scrub and St. Ives Blemish Control Green Tea Scrub.

These were definitely an impulse buy. I've tried St. Ives lotions, and I thought they were just marginal. But, I found these in the 'travel-sized' section, and they were $1 each. So, I thought I'd just try them. Even though they are all-natural, I didn't have high expectations at all. I thought to myself that if these didn't break me out, I'd consider it a success. My first impression: they smell amazing! I couldn't stop sniffing them. :)

I tried the apricot one last night. Like other drugstore facial washes, it was drying to my skin, but that's not something that really fazes me anymore. It cleaned my skin fairly well, but this thing is nowhere near holy grail status, not even ten miles away. I think I'll need more time with it in order to really see how it works. Plus, I haven't tried the green tea one yet. So, I'll keep you guys updated.

So, my birthday was last month, and this particular Sephora purchase was made just because I wanted the birthday present, which were two mini Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment lip balms. :)

One is just like a regular lip balm while the other has a VERY sheer rose tint to it. They are very good, long-lasting lip balms, and they have SPF 15. I don't know if I would necessarily buy them on my own because they're about $23 a piece. But, if you can afford it, feel free to give them a shot! :)

Now, for the things I actually bought at Sephora. I actually bought one thing. In two colors. :)
I bought Sephora's Smoky Kohl Eye Liner in Copper and Lilac.

left: Copper (looks brown on camera, but more shimmery copper in real life)
right: Lilac

They are not waterproof and they're honestly not very pigmented. But, I will say that the Lilac one is more pigmented than the Copper one. They are smudge-able, so I use the copper one on my lids a lot. The Lilac one is good for lining the inner corners of my eyes and the lower waterline. Sadly, they're not fantastic. But, they are on sale for $3 each right now. So, if you want them, get them before they go back to being $12 each. It's just not worth it then.

For my ELF purchase, I bought a couple of the brushes from their Studio line. Specifically, I bought their small angled brush, small precision brush, small smudge brush, concealer brush, and blush brush.

from right to left: smudge brush, angled brush, concealer brush, precision brush, blush brush

Honestly, I'm not too happy with any of the small detail brushes because I don't think they pick up enough product. And, they could be a little softer. So, I don't really recommend the detail brushes from them. However, I do love the blush brush. It is very soft, and unlike the small brushes, it does pick up a good amount of product. I've washed it and I haven't experienced any shedding. For $3, I feel like the blush brush is a pretty decent buy.

Overall, this haul is pretty good. As always, if you have any questions for me, or if you have any products you'd like for me to try, please leave them in the comments section below. I'll talk to you soon!

-N

Spring!

Hey, guys! I hope everyone is having a great March so far. Since winter is about to be long gone (except that it's still freezing here and there's still snow on the ground...), I thought it'd be nice to post some of the things we can all do to get ourselves ready for spring!

1. Spring cleaning... for your makeup bag.

I KNOW for a fact that I am not the only person who is guilty of just hoarding makeup. Most of the time, I just find it kind of wasteful to throw away makeup, especially if it's something that I love and I still have some left in the container. I'm one of those people who get every last bit of toothpaste out of the tube before I throw it away... However, we have to realize that products aren't made to last forever! According to WebMD, here's how long you should keep your beauty products:

Sunscreen (or anything with SPF) - until it expires, or three years, whichever one comes first
Eye Cream - three months, or sooner if it has changed color/consistency/smell
Body Lotion - a year, or sooner if it has changed color/consistency/smell
Mascara - three months (obviously, please throw away IMMEDIATELY if you've had some kind of eye infection...)
Lipstick - up to two years
Moisturizer and Liquid Foundation - up to six months

Now, personally, especially if I haven't opened the product, I won't necessarily go with the guidelines above. But, if I have opened a product, I would go with them just so that I'm not putting anything on my face that shouldn't really be on my face anymore... Plus, cleaning out your makeup collection will totally make room for pretty new spring makeup! :)

2. Drink enough water!

I know for sure that I am guilty of not drinking enough water on a daily basis. I keep trying to convince myself that coffee, tea and juice contain water, so I'm good. Technically. That's not the case people. Even though drinking plenty of water won't give you hydrated skin, it will prevent your skin from getting dehydrated. Plus, with hotter weather coming, you want to keep yourself well hydrated so that you replace the water you lose during perspiration, and help your body do its normal bodily functions. Keep your body happy and drink enough water!

3. Eat with the season.

cr: http://thegreenden.blogspot.com/2010/05/springing-food.html

To me, spring is kind of the season for open markets. I mean, the colors you see with the fresh fruits and vegetables are breathtakingly beautiful. Plus, they're all just really yummy. Face it; that's why we buy them. I will say that the peak of spring eating is not until late spring and into early summer, though. That's when you get the GOOD stuff, such as strawberries, apricots, radishes, sugar snap peas, rhubarb, etc.

If you have an iPhone, there is an awesome app called Seasons that will show you which fruits and vegetables are in season. If I'm not mistaken, I believe you can use this app in the US, Australia, Europe and the UK. If you're like me and just has a good ol' computer or laptop, you can check out Epicurious's Seasonal Ingredient Map. It's very nice because it tells you which ingredients are available in different states so that you get the freshest ingredients possible. I do apologize that I don't have a map for places outside of the US, but if you know of a website, please leave it in the comment section below. Sharing is caring! :)

4. Get that SPF ready.

With more sun coming, sunscreen is going to be very important. Whether you're out on the beach during spring break, or just taking a stroll and airing out those legs that have been covered up all winter, put on sunscreen. Not only do you want to avoid getting sun damaged skin, but you also want to put on sunscreen to prevent skin cancer.



The moisturizer that I use every morning--which is Lancome's Beinfait Multivital Daily Moisturizing Lotion--has SPF 30 in it, so I don't use a separate sunscreen. I have heard from multiple online reviewers that the Diorsnow UV Shield and Shiseido's Ultimate Sun Protection Cream are both very good. If you want a drugstore option, I've read that the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock is also good.
For the body, I am honestly less concerned with the brand. I actually currently use Aveeno Baby Continuous Protection Sunblock Lotion with SPF 55.


I suffer from eczema and I constantly have to use products that are really gentle. So, most of the time, I go for baby products. I've read reviews where babies with eczema or just really sensitive skin have had terrible reactions to this stuff, but I personally haven't. But then again, I'm not a baby...

5. Get your spring break on.



Okay, so this is mostly for me and people who are still in school. However, I do encourage everyone to just go outside and enjoy spring before the sweltering heat of summer comes, and we all have to crawl back into our air-conditioned happy places.

I AM VERY EXCITED FOR SPRING BREAK. For one, this will be my first spring break as a college kid. Secondly, I am going to New York!



Yes, that New York.

I'll be visiting a very good friend of mine who currently attends NYU, and I am super excited because I haven't seen her since last May. I am also excited about all the places I want to visit and all the stores I want to check out. I'll be sure to do a post on my NYC vacation and possible NYC haul.


So, I guess that's it. I hope every one is looking forward to the new season as much as I am. If you have any questions for me, or would like to recommend any product for me to try, please feel free to post in the comments section below. I'll talk to you soon!

-N