Category: Fragrance
Ulta Cyber Monday Bag
Online shopping orders are coming in! There were some smoking beauty deals on Cyber Monday…Ulta offered the choice of 3 different beauty sample bags with a $60 purchase and since I needed some gifts for my bestie, why not order online and get a gift for me?
I chose the pink glitter bag, mostly because it came with a sample of Benefit The POREfessional. This bag is LOADED with goodies!
Makeup: Benefit The POREfessional (my biggest beauty concern right now is my giant crater like pores); Cargo Swimmables Water Resistant Bronzer (Uh…no.); Bare Minerals 5in1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow (I’ve gotten this before and never tried it); Too Faced Tinted Beauty Balm in “Nude Glow” (I’ve been wanting to try this!); Ulta Lip Gloss in “Charmed”; tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in “Fearless”
Face: Hada Labo Ultimate Anti-Aging Facial Mask (with a $3 off coupon); Rodial Stem Cell super-food facial oil; Exuviance Daily Antioxidant Peel CA; Philosophy Purity Made Simple 3-in-1 cleanser for face and eyes
Body: Vitabath Body Wash “In Bloom” (Asian Orchid & Coconut)
Hair: Rusk glue (Deluxe sample!); Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Shampoo and Conditioner (Anti-aging shampoo? Really?); Macadamia Beauty Deep Repair Mask
Fragrance: Dolce & Gabbana “light blue”; Dolce & Gabbana “light blue” Pour Homme; Marc Jacobs “Daisy”; Dolce & Gabbana “Dolce”
Other: Hollywood Fashion Secrets Fashion Tape (I actually need this – my boobs are always popping out)
Coupons: 20% off your next hair service at Ulta The Salon; $10 off Bare Minerals (online only); $15 off any online purchase of $75; $5 off any Ulta brand purchase of $10+
I chose the variety sampler and got Ouidad Moisture Lock (I don’t have curly hair) and a single use sample of Butter London Lippy Moisture Matte Lipstick in “Ruby Murray”. It was kind of a lame sample pack, but I don’t even care with all this other great stuff.
Teensy Ulta Haul
This is the time of year with deals too good to pass up. A few weeks ago, Ulta was running a special that made most of their cosmetics $5 each. If you got 3 of them, you also got a free Ulta makeup brush. I decided to try Ulta Minerals Finishing Powder, Ulta Gel Eye Liner in “Peacock” and Ulta Double Duty Lip Stain and Balm in “Fantasy”. (I think I have ALL of the Double Duties now!) The free brush I picked was the large eye shadow brush.
There was also a Christmas gift in the order…shhhhh…
There was also a special $5 off $10 purchase coupon. On top of that – free shipping on ALL orders!
Even though I just got that huge sample set, I picked the free fragrance samples. I got another vial of Juicy Couture “Viva La Juicy Noir”, Gucci “Made to Measure” Pour Homme and Oscar de la Renta “Oscar”. I’m afraid to crack them open after yesterday;s migraine…
Le Poop and Le Barf
Puss has being absolutely BEGGING to be featured on my site and today, she wouldn’t take NO for an answer.
My son thinks he is a comedian. As I gleefully opened up my Ulta “Finishing Touches” Fragrance Collection, he asked if any of the perfumes were from France. So I started reading off where the perfumes were from and he says, “I thought so – it smells like Le Poop and Le Barf.” How can a 9 year old be so funny?
A few Saturdays ago, I was sitting at my daughter’s Gymnastics Class and got an Ulta email…The special of the day was 2/$40 on the “Finishing Touches” set, plus a free stainless steel 3 piece serving set. Why not? I can keep one and use the other for a white elephant gift. (I was a little perturbed when I saw that Ulta will have these for $14.99 on Black Friday, but then again – that would require leaving the house on the most dangerous day of the year.)
Inside the box: Bvulgari “Omnia Crystalline”, Calvin Klein “Endless Euphoria”, DKNY “MYNY”, Estée Lauder “Modern Muse”, Giorgio Armani “Acqua Di Gioia”, Jimmy Choo “Jimmy Choo”, Juicy Couture “Viva La Juicy”, Lancôme “La Vie est Belle”, Philosophy “Loveswept” (the only one of these that I already own – I got it for Valentine’s Day), Prada “Prada Candy”, Ralph Lauren “Midnight Romance”, and Vince Camuto “Femme”. The set also came with a refillable purse atomizer and a $5 off Fragrance Coupon.
I also picked the mystery sample pack – I got L’Oreal EverSleek Intense Smoothing Shampoo, Conditioner and Humidity Defying Leave-in Creme; Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream and Redken Diamond Oil. Interesting…
I can’t wait to try all my new fragrances – I hope I like at least one of them…
Coming Up Roses
So I had $30 in Birchbox points burning a hole in my pocket…and a 20% off coupon code, so I HAD to place an order.
Ever since I discovered Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in “Soft Brown”, I have an almost pathological fear of running out and not having a back-up. Yeah, it’s $21…but it is the only eyebrow pencil I’ve found that doesn’t make me look like Cruella DeVille.
I am always looking for a good rose scent, so I decided to try Jurlique “Essence of Rose” Roll-on Fragrance Oil. It’s a traditional rose scent – my husband wrinkled his nose and said, “Grandma.” Well…tough shit. I also got Jurlique Love Balm in “Rose” – the cold weather is taking a toll on my cuticles and knuckles.
My free mystery add-on was 2 pouches from Hairkop Essences: Treatment Conditioner and Leave In Moisturizing Cream. They both contain Obliphica (Sea-Buckthorn) Fruit Extract. I have no idea what that is and it kind of scares me.
So I got $60 of loot for $10.80. I LOVE Birchbox so fucking much.
October Birchbox – Fanfare
It’s here! It’s here! I’ve been seeing people’s boxes on Instagram for a week!
October’s theme is “Fanfare” – celebrating all the new shows and stuff coming out. Technically, I was watching The Walking Dead a few nights ago and I was actually watching Nail’d while I was doing my nails tonight – shhhhhhh…
Birchbox offered a product choice again this month – I chose Mally High Shine Liquid Lipstick in “Petal to the Metal” – full size! I also got dr. brandt pores no more vacuum cleaner (Excited – I hate my pores); Essentiel Elements “Wake Up Rosemary Shower Gel” (STRONG SMELLING); a sample vial of Harvey Prince “Petaly Noir” (Maybe all of Harvey Prince’s fragrances smell like old lady – This one actual reminds me of Bath & Body Works “Black Amethyst”); and ModelCo POWERLASH High Impact Black Mascara.
Another great box!
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
I Swear…I Only Went in for a Haircut
Really! I hadn’t gotten my hair cut since February, so I figured it was time…OK, I kind of knew that I would probably buy some stuff if I actual went to the salon in Ulta to get my hair cut. Shhhh,,,
Ulta was running a special on Zoya polish – buy 2, get a free gift – “A Matte Story”, which came with Zoya Matte Velvet Top Coat (I’ve been needing one!) and Whore Red Matte Velvet Lipstick. the two polishes that I got were Zoya Matte Velvet “Harlow” and Zoya “Remy”.
I went to the fragrance section to sample “Stella” by Stella McCartney. There was a placard for it, but no bottles. A clerk offered to go check the back and came back with a single bottle – saying they had discontinued carrying it. I made a split second decision to go for it and buy it…not realizing that it was the $72 50 ML size. Uhhhhhh…I got it anyway and in my excitement, I totally forgot to use my $3.50 off coupon. The blow was softened, however, by a VISA gift card I had gotten as a “thank you” from my AVP last week.
I was so excited, that I opened “Stella” in my car and started spraying. I LOVE the way it smells on me, but I was a bit disappointed in the scent’s staying power. It’s just a few hours later and I can barely smell it on me. I had read online that the new 2014 version has less staying power, so I guess I need to be on the lookout for one of the old bottles. Trader’s Village, maybe – or one of those Indian perfume places?
Following in My Footsteps…
While the boyfriend is away…the BFFs will play.
We don’t usually go to the mall, but when we do – we Sephora. (And Nordstrom Rack and Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works and you get the picture…) I have been hearing about lots of Kat Von D on clearance lately, so I was ecstatic to find the Esperanza Palette on clearance for $19! To be honest, I am more in love with Kat Von D’s packaging than the actually makeup, but I keep buying it anyway. I used this palette this morning and it faded quite a bit by lunch, but there was nowhere near as much fallout as the Chrysalis Palette. I’m going to try it with a primer next time.
I asked a girl who worked there if they carried Atelier there or if it was only online and she looked at me as if I asked for Jean Nate. Seriously? I am not a fragrance snob by any means, but really? I guess I need to hit Neiman Marcus to get a sniff…
I was smelling rollerballs and I happened to pick up Stella by Stella McCartney. Holy Fucking Shit – it’s the rose I’ve been looking for. I had my BFF smell it and she said, “It smells like you.” (Notice that she did NOT say it smelled good.) Of course, they were out of the rollerball. I wasn’t smitten enough to blow $52 on the bigger size, so I figured I could just order it online…but the website is also out of stock. I guess I’ll keep looking…
While I was rooting through the clearance bin, I wasn’t exactly paying attention to what my child was doing. I could see her right beside me in my peripheral vision, so I didn’t think anything of it. I grabbed 2 of the Esperanza Palettes and went to show my finds to my BFF. My child did not follow. I went back to get her and she was balls deep in applying makeup. To be fair, I think she was applying NARS blush when I found her, so she appears to have very expensive taste in cosmetics. I wonder where she got that from? I hope she didn’t get face cooties…
Vacay Shopping
Did you miss me?
Or did you just miss my nails?
No one will be surprised that I managed to find new nail polish while vacationing in the sleepy little fishing town of Ketchikan, Alaska. The economy of Ketchikan is built on fishing and cruise ships – the town is comprised of 90% gift shops, 9% bars and 1% everything else. In addition to the many T-shirts, stuffed animals, totem poles and various sundry tourist knick knacks, I found Caribongo Sun Activated fingernail polish. I got blue glitter – “City Girl” – and silver glitter – “Puttin’ on the Glitz”. As far as I can tell, both turn red in the sun.
…and then my sister took me to her favorite store…Simply Bella. Simply Bella is a boutique that has everything – beauty items, cookware and entertaining, gifts, home fragrance, chocolate, jewelry – just anything you could ever want.
I picked up “Royal Peony Rose & Mandarin Musk” Perfume Oil by Lucy B Cosmetics. I had never heard of Lucy B. – but this perfume oil is the real deal. Here’s a blurb from their website: Lucy B. is the only fragrance and colour range in the world to have infused the natural Australian Flower Essences within their products, offering you a taste of the Australian energy & lifestyle.
…so we went back to Simply Bella a few days later and I stumbled across a 75% Clearance Rack.
I showed some restraint and picked up Coco Rose Tinted Lip Balm in “Blush Pink” by Figs & Rouge. Figs & Rouge is a 100% natural lipcare brand from the UK. Can you see the FLAMINGOS on the balm????
I also grabbed a Butter London Lippy in “Pip Pip”.
I was also introduced to John Kelly Chocolates. Jesus, that shit is GOOD.
One last pic…somehow, I managed to NOT paint my nails during my whole vacation. 10 whole days. For real.
I’m still not sick of Zoya “Sooki”.
This is the nasty tear I suffered at the claws of a Dungeness Crab. I fought the crab and the crab won.
I did have the last laugh…he ended up in my tummy!
July Birchbox – Power Up
I got my Birchbox so quick this month – I just got the shipping notice yesterday!
July’s box is a collaboration with Women’s Health Magazine called “Power Up”. Look how cute the box is – no plain brown box this month! There’s even a card in my box for a free subscription to Women’s Health Magazine. I’ll probably go ahead and send it in, even though I’ll probably never read it. My kids constantly need pictures for collages at school and the only magazines I get are Consumer Reports and IKEA catalogs. Their collages have been pretty lame.
Also inside my box: Cynthia Rowley Beauty Creamy Lip Stain in “Sugar” (I got to pick the color – I love it when Birchbox does this!), Harvey Prince Singular Scentsations “Imperial Gardenia” (It smells SUPER old lady), NAOBAY Body Radiance Lotion (very mild smell, thank GAWD), Number 4 “Super Comb Prep & Protect” (yes! more tiny spray bottles of stuff for my hair), and Real Chemistry “Luminous 3 Minute Peel” (looking forward to trying it).
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Rapture Light
I’ve been wearing Victoria’s Secret “Rapture” since its launch in 1992. Stephanie Seymour was the face of “Rapture” and she was one of my idols in high school. (I totally thought I would be getting married in her mini-skirt wedding dress from “November Rain.” Don’t judge.) Funny, when I was 16, wearing it made me feel all grown-up, but wearing it now…it makes me feel young.
“Rapture” is a heavy scent and it’s easy to put on too much. Victoria’s Secret just came out with a lighter version – “Sensual Fragrance Mist”. It’s in a bottle like a body mist, but you can’t give yourself 8-10 sprays, like a mist from Bath & Body Works. Even though it’s lighter than perfume or cologne, it’s stronger than most body mists. Use with caution!
Regular price is $25, but it was on sale for $15 at launch a month or so ago. It was backordered and I just received it today. Youth in a bottle!