Tag: L’Oreal
November Beauty Box 5 – Gracefully Grounded
Just like last month, I got my Beauty Box 5 on the same day (Saturday) that I got the shipping email. I understand them hedging their bets – why not send the emails a bit later than they day the drop them in the mail? No matter what, I get them pretty quick since they are based in Austin.
“Gracefully Grounded” is November’s theme. Inside my box: L’Oreal Paris Nail Color (Really – another polish without a name? I thought L’Oreal always names their polishes? I call this one Bright Ass Tomato Red…); DenTek Floss Picks + Case (perfect for my purse); HASK Macadamia Revitalizing Shine Oil; Laura Ashley Body Butter in “Cherry Blossom” (Is Laura Ashley still around or is this product left over from the 80s?); and Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash (I got a full size in my Allure Beauty Box, but haven’t tried it yet.)
My BFF didn’t get hers until today – I FINALLY got one of my boxes before her!
Target Beauty Box – October 2014
The Target Beauty Box is back! The price went up – $7 instead of $5, but I still got 5% off with my Target Red Card and free shipping.
Elnett Extra Strong Hold Hairspray – I don’t use hairspray often, but the only one I have is an Aveda one that my sis gave me, so I kind of needed this.
Fekkai Professional Blowout Hair Refresher Dry Shampoo – Ugh, another dry shampoo. I haven’t tried ANY of the ones I’ve gotten yet.
LANEIGE BB Cushion Sample – I am most excited about this one. The sample card comes with 3 different shades – yay! I comes with an antimicrobial cushion to apply it – no more dirty makeup hands.
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in “Milk” – Lots of beauty blogs suggest using “Milk” as an eye shadow primer to make the color pop, so I’m going to try it.
L’Oreal Colour Riche Extraordinaire Lipstick in “Nude Ballet” – Not a stick, but a liquid with a doe’s foot applicator – I LOVE those.
As before, there’s also a $3 off $15 coupon – it will not go to waste. The box still appears to be available online, so git ya one!
Birchbox Limited Edition CEW Boxes
Every time Birchbox comes out with a Limited Edition Box…just take my money. TAKE MY MONEY, Birchbox! With the Modern Mermaid box, I acted like I might not buy it and waited a few weeks. I didn’t even bother waiting to buy the Limited Edition 2014 CEW boxes – I bought them the first day they were available – $28 for both boxes is quite a deal. All of the products were finalists in this year’s CEW Insider’s Choice Beauty Awards.
The Mass Appeal Box contains stuff you can find at any drugstore or grocery store: a travel size Dove Go Fresh Restore Body Wash; a full size Simple Protecting Light Moisturizer with SPF 15; L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Butterfly Mascara (I got one of these a while back in my Target Beauty Box, but I just opened it last week – I love it…it’s better than Urban Decay Perversion!); Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips (I hate sticking my finger in lip balm); Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Lip Gloss in “Spring Splendor”; and a full size TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Keratin Infusing Serum. What a great box!
The Prestige Headliners Box contains higher end brands: Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Crème; Josie Maran Cosmetics 100% Pure Argan Oil Light (more goat poop oil!) ; 100% Pure Creamy Nail Polish in “Seafoam”; philosophy miracle worker overnight; COOLA Environmental Repair Plus Radical Recovery After-Sun Lotion (I got this in my May Birchbox – love this stuff after a hot day at the pool); and two lifestyle extras – a pocket mirror and pedicure toe separators.
In LOATHE paying shipping, so I added something I needed to my order – another Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in “Soft Brown”. I also got 2 mystery samples that I had already gotten in boxes – a Cynthia Rowley Beauty silver eyeliner (April) and suki “Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser” (June).
Two great boxes…you gotta get these!
Late Ulta Post
I was so caught up in my fingernails, I didn’t do my Ulta post last week. As you’re reading this…pretend it’s last Friday…
After visiting Bath & Body Works and Bed, Bath & Beyond, I slunk over to Ulta. I was ready to spend some money! The first thing I hit was the nail polish. I wanted to try Zoya Pixie Dust. No dice. This location didn’t have a Pixie Dust display.
My next stop was back to the front to test high end BB Creams. First I tried Benefit “Big Easy,” which claims to be “Better than BB” right on the tube. It was shit and settled into every pore and crack on my wrist. I moved on to Smashbox BB. It was even grosser. Why do all these high end cosmetics company call their products BB Cream, when they’re plain old foundation? I tried a few more brands, but it was too late – I was devastated…
Then I tried to buy a gift for someone and this location was out of stock of what I was looking for. Fuck.
After aimlessly wandering down every aisle, I finally realized that I couldn’t find a single thing to buy. I think I have a mental block and was unable to buy anything without my bestie there with me. (She had the same thing happen to her at Ulta earlier this week – I wasn’t there and she couldn’t find anything to buy either!) I was sad until I got home and checked the mail…and found my Lucky Mystery Box AND a box of stuff I ordered from Ulta.com last week!
I used a $3.50 off coupon to try Physician’s Formula BB Cream. I freaked out at first when I saw I received “Light/Medium,” until I realized that it’s the lightest color available. I tried it on my face and it is actually a good match, maybe one tick too dark for me. By summertime, it will be perfect. It’s a lighter texture than the L’Oreal and blends more smoothly. It’s not white out of the tube, but it feels more like a BB Cream than the other products I tried that day.
See that cute makeup bag? It was a gift with purchase from Laura Geller. It had Spackle Primer, lip pops Lush Waterproof Lip Gloss in “Sunrise Rose” and Eye Rimz Baked Wet/Dry Eye Accents in “Supernatural Smoke” with a matching brush. Obviously, I needed more primer!
Since I had such bad luck with fragrance sample, I chose mystery samples this time. I got Butter London Scrubbers, Hempz Body Wash and Biolage Shampoo and Conditioner. Interesting…but I probably won’t try them until I travel…
Target Beauty Box
Did you know that Target has a “Beauty Box”? Luckily, it’s not a monthly subscription – just an occasional thing. Plus, it’s only $5! ($4.75 using my Target Card and free shipping.) All the products are either Deluxe Samples or full size products, so it’s a steal.
TONI&GUY Casual Sea Salt Texturizing Spray – I use the Bath & Body Works version, so I’ll actually use this.
L’Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara – I’m skeptical that what they call “butterfly lashes” really look like “tarantula lashes”, but I’ll give it a go.
Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo – I could’ve used this while I was camping…
Cover Girl Smoochies Sizzle Gloss in “Date Night” – It’s a clear gloss with silver glitter, barely visible while on. I’ll likely use this before I go to bed.
Jergens BB Body Cream Light – The same product I got in my Birchbox, but a larger size tube. Nice…
The box also came with a $3 off $15 coupon, so this box was really just $1.75. Even if I only use a few of the products, it was a great deal!
Ulta Shipment!
It’s only been a few days since I got mail…my mailbox has been so lonely!
I decided to treat myself and get one of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I was eyeballing them at Ulta last week and took the plunge. Upon Amy’s suggestion, I went with the Naked 2 Palette. She has Naked 3 and said it was okay, but her daughter has Naked 2 and she likes it better. I am so SINGLE WHITE FEMALE.
I also took Beth’s recommendation and ordered L’Oreal Magic BB Cream. Fingers crossed – I’m trying it tomorrow!
I also had an email offer for a free StriVectin Skincare Kit, but that is coming in a different shipment…odd.
The fun thing about Ulta is that you get Samples with every purchase. I chose the Fragrance Sampler and got Especially Escada, Guess Girl and Calvin Klein Encounter. Encounter is for Men, so the husband gets it. I sniffed it for him and managed to spill it all over my fingers. 3 hours later and a dozen handwashings later and I still smell it. To me, all Calvin Klein scents smell exactly the same. It’s GROSS…and I can’t get it OFF ME.
The Purge
After painting my nails, I decided to clean out my makeup drawers…you know, to make room for more makeup.
For years – nay decades, I’ve been searching for the perfect foundation. I scooped up all the failed attempts – Revlon Colorstay, L’Oreal True Match and whatever other liquid, powder and concealer and chunked it.
All the old eyeshadow, blush and lipstick, I put in a box for Lily to play with. There were about a dozen Clinique, Lancome and whatever “Gift with Purchase” lipsticks that my mother had given me. Since she died nearly 9 years ago, I figure that I had held onto them long enough.
I found enough old razors to shave a Sasquatch – gone. I found 3 boxes of Sally Hansen mustache bleach – ha! Gone. A squeeze bottle from when I used to dye my own hair…lord knows I won’t be doing that again. I found an unused pregnancy test…I kept it, but not sure why.
As good as buying stuff feels, throwing stuff away feels even better! I’m not quite back to square one makeup wise, I kept all of the Urban Decay eye stuff, no matter how old. I’m not quite THAT strong.
I also learned something very important today. Don’t ever tag a pic #Purge on Instagram. Apparently, that’s what anorexics, bulimics and cutters use to tag their posts. I clicked on the tag and was treated to pics of bleeding forearms. WTF teenagers? What happened to getting wasted on Mad Dog and Strawberry Hill and giving yourself tattoos with India Ink?