Tag: Sale

 
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National Nail Polish Day

Did you know that June 1st is National Nail Polish Day? Me either! Even though it sounds like a totally made up holiday, I am willing to play along since Target offered 25% off on nail products that day. I was too lazy to go there in person, so I placed an online order…

The first one I added was OPI “Tutti Frutti Tonga”, on clearance for $2.84. I also added essie “Blue-Tiful Horizon” ($6.59), which is a stunning periwinkle blue with a pink flash.

Target was also had a deal offering a $5 gift card with the purchase of 3 Sally Hansen polishes. I jumped on that deal. I picked up Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Rose Flush” ($3.99) and two of the Color Therapy polishes – “Reflection Pool” ($6.79) and “Burnished Bronze” ($7.99). I haven’t tried the Color Therapy formula, but I’ve read that it is REALLY good.

So with my 25% off + %5 off with my Target Red Card + $3 off $15 from last month’s Target Beauty Box + free shipping, my order total was $21.61 for five polishes. The $5 gift card (which I just used towards a new Mr. Coffee) brings the total down to ~$15 for five polishes. Not bad, if I do say so myself!

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Triple Freebie Haul

Not 10 minutes after I placed that last Sephora order, I placed this Ulta order…I had kept adding things to my shopping cart over the past month and when the freebies were just right…I made my move.

The biggest part of my haul was Redken Color Extend Magnetics Shampoo and Conditioner (regularly $20 each, on sale 2/$24). I’d samples this duo a few months ago at my sister’s house – it made my hair feel amazing! The price has held me back – even on sale, this is the most expensive shampoo/conditioner I’ve purchased yet. I’m going to give it a trial before switching for good…

I had sworn off Nair when I was 15 – I tried it once and it made me look like I had leg measles and didn’t melt the hair off. I was swayed by a new product – Nair Charcoal Brighten & Smooth Leg Mask ($11.99). I tested a large patch on my shin and it actually worked this time. I left it on for the 10 minutes recommended and it actually worked on me – I was shocked. It still smells like burning diapers, but it didn’t give me a rash. I am trying my entire leg in a few days – fingers crossed.

I also tried a new deodorant – Meow Meow Tweet Grapefruit Baking Soda Free Deodorant Stick ($14). I know, I know – I’ve scoffed at fancy hippy deodorants for years…but I’d noticed periodic rashes from regular antiperspirants over the last few years, and since my surgery, I’d stopped using them almost altogether. I live in Texas though – I probably should use something. I’ve been using the Meow Meow Tweet and I feel like is working at repelling odor – but it doesn’t stop my pits from getting moist. I may have to start alternating with an antiperspirant to see if that helps.

I’ve been eyeing the Sally Hansen x Jelly Belly collaboration for a while and finally decided to pick up the Sally Hansen Insta Dri x Jelly Belly Nail Color Duo Pack with “Berry Blue” and “Tutti Fruiti” ($7.99).

Ulta was offering a free 3 piece gift with $19.50 purchase – a huge Beach Bag, a Matte Bronzer, and Lip Plumping Transforming Top Coat. I am paranoid about going without eyebrows, so I got a back-up Ulta Ultra Slim Brow Pencil in “Dark Brown” ($10). I also snagged the Mercury in Retrograde 5 Piece Rose Quartz Look Book ($16). I got the set solely based on a lyric from the song “Wasted Youth” by Jenny Lewis – the line about “Mercury in Retrograde” has been in my head for weeks. (The whole album “On the Line” is amazing – you should check it out.) The kit includes Confidence Boost Facial Mist, Be-You-Tiful Cream Eyeshadow (light pink shadow with shimmer), Self Love Lip Crayon (creamy, rosy pink), Crystal Blush (rosy-toned pearl blush), and Rose Quartz Face Gems (54 count). The blush is my favorite part, but I was pleasantly surprised by the cream eyeshadow.

And the freebies…I got a Glow All Day 5 Piece Sampler with my $65 purchase: Murad Resurgence Replenishing Multi-Acid Peel; Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Bright & Plump Moisturizer; Derma e Vitamin C Concentrated Serum; Boscia Matcha Magic Super-Antioxidant Mask; and Origins Plantscription Anti-Aging Power Serum. I got a Step Up 7 Piece Sampler with my $75 purchase: Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels; Botanics Hydration Burst Sheet Mask; Clarins Hydra-Essentiel Creme; Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion; Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair; I Dew Care Cake My Day Hydrating Sprinkle Wash-Off Mask; and First Aid Beauty Pure Skin Face Cleanser. My skin is going to feel FANTASTIC!

Looks like this haul made me Platinum for 2020 – just $733 to Diamond status. I also am up to $53 in points…hmmmm, what do I want to buy???

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Sugar Strawberry

I cannot believe I paid $33 for a fucking face wash.

Fresh Sugar Strawberry Exfoliating Face Wash ($33) is a new product and it’s not exactly what I expected. I was expecting a cloying fake strawberry scent, but it was a natural raw strawberry smell – very subtle. The scrub has two different sizes of sugar crystals – it’s very refreshing. The grapeseed oil leaves my face hydrated, but not greasy. I am still not sure I’ll buy it again – $33 goddamn – but I do like the product.

I also picked up another new skin product – Sephora Collection Hemp Mousse Instant Mask ($7). It’s supposed to target blemishes, but I used it and couldn’t really tell if it did anything. Oh, and it vaguely smells like pot, which is weird.

As usual, I stopped by the Sale page…I picked up a Sephora Collection Luster Matte Long-Wear Lip Color in “Magenta Luster” ($3, down from $16). I feel like I got this formula in a Play! box and liked it?

I used a promo code to get a set from Tata Harper – Regenerating Cleanser and Resurfacing Mask. I only got ONE of the free samples I chose at check-out – the Glow Recipe Avocado Sleeping Mask – and I cannot wait to try it. I was so annoyed that a sample was missing, that I contacted customer care. They did give me 200 points, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

$741 to Rouge status in 2020…

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Scentporta-yay

As much as I complain about all the retail spam I get – how else would I know about all the good sales? I got an email from Bath & Body Works that Scentportables would be $1.95 each on Memorial Day, so I got my ass in the car!

I threw 10 in the basket, mostly “Rose Water & Ivy”, but a few other scents, too. The store wouldn’t let me stack coupons, so the rest of my haul was a separate transaction, so I could use the coupons I got in the mail – 20% off, plus a free product up to $6. For my free product, I got a travel size Shower Gel in “Hello Beautiful” – that’s the current scent in my travel bag. I also got a few body poofs and Lily is now obsessed with “Black Cherry Merlot” and wanted a Hand Cream – I made her pay me back.

I did not go crazy because I know the Semi Annual Sale is just around the corner…stay tuned for more soap hoarding!

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HEY ROUGE

All this “controlling my purchases” is making me tired.

A few weeks back, Sephora’s spring bonus event hit and I placed, the tiniest, most pitiful order. I’d been stalking Dolce Garden since I got a sample of it and used the whole thing. I was going to get the purse spray for $29, but then I saw the Dolce & Gabbana Dolce Travel Set ($45), which includes purse sprays of Dolce, Dolce Garden and Dolce Rosa Excelsa – fuck yeah, I’ll get that. I’ve been alternating between the three sprays for the past week or so. I smell rich.

I also picked up another Cocofloss in “Pure Strawberries” ($9). Best floss ever – just ask my work wife.

My husband was not impressed that I got him a Sephora Collection Shear Genius Eyebrow Trimmer ($11). I guess I’ll have to use it on him in his sleep.

For samples, I got a sample I chose – philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser and one I did not – belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb. I don’t mind about the belif though – I love it.

If I would’ve been smart, I would’ve ordered a birthday gift for my sister during the bonus period, but I forgot and did it Friday. Yes, I love her enough to pay full price. $794 to Rouge. Fuck.

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Fanny Pack Haul

I never thought I’d see the day that my children would be fighting over a fanny pack!

I really try NOT to buy things just for the “gift with purchase”, but there was a little bit of that in this purchase. A $20 NYX purchase gets you a Coachella hot pink NYX Fanny Pack with NYX Pore Filler and NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray. I was gonna use it myself, so I could be like my bestie Sally…but Lily is BEGGING to use it for Frightmare next weekend. My son says he wants it too, but I think he is just being annoying – I’ll probably let Lily “borrow” it. Good thing I am IN LOVE with all four lippies that I picked up – no guilt. The NYX Soft Matte Metallic Lip Creams were on sale for $5, down from $7. They are my absolute favorite NYX formula – I picked up “Rome” and “Budapest”. I’ve been alternating them the past few days. I also tried out two of the new lippies. NYX Glitter Goals Liquid Lipstick in “Cherry Quartz” was a bit pricey at $9, but worth it. It starts out matte, but turns to glitter with friction and wear. It lasts well. NYX Line & Load All-in-One Lippie in “Ride or Die” was $8 and a genius product. It’s a super thin doe-foot applicator that alllows you to line your lips with precision and it DOES NOT BLEED. I need this in red – ALL red lipstick bleed on me.

So…last week, I found out that my son was scrubbing his face with a toothbrush (not the one he uses in his mouth – ew). I freaked out and ordered him an Ulta Advanced Cleansing Rotating Facial Cleansing Brush ($12.50, on sale from $25) and replacement heads ($4, on sales from $8). I mean, if I was rich, I would’ve bought him a Clarisonic like mine – but he can rough it with the Ulta version. Lily was bugging me for some bobbie pins the other day, so I added some of those, too. All Ulta Skin was on sale, so I added a few Single Use Face Masks to my cart ($1.50 each, down from $3) – a Calming Rose Sheet Mask and a Soothing Calamine Mud Mask. I used the Calamine Mask yesterday and it was wonderful. It applied like a regular mud mask, but it didn’t dry down like a normal mud mask – it stayed flexible and felt almost hydrating.

Did I forget to mention a few bottles of Zoya Remove+? My Holy Grail…

No order is complete without a freebie bag. The coolest thing in the bag is the Real Techniques Travel Sponge Case – I’ve just been throwing my Beauty Blender into my makeup bag like a savage! Also in the freebie bag: Sun Bum Revitalizing Dry Shampoo; Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk; OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Dry Shampoo; Vichy Liftactiv Supreme Anti-wrinkle and Firming Correcting Cream; Wunder2 Wunderkiss Essential Lip Scrub; Tweezerman Browmousse (weird); Maybelline MasterPrecise All Day Liquid Liner; L’Oreal Pure-Clay Cleanser Detox-Brighten (m y favorite one); and wet n wild Megaglo Highlighting Powder in “Royal Calyx” (interesting – a blue highlighter).

On top of all the freebies and gifts with purchase, there was that 20% off coupon. I’ve just one or two more orders to get to Platinum status – $64. I’ve also managed to accrue another $33 in points. Diamond Status isn’t out of the question this year…

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Wall Flamingo

I am running out of plugs to stick my Wallflowers in!

I had seen this Flamingo Wallflower ($12.50) on Insta, and had plotting to bring it home for several weeks. It just turned out that Lily needed a gift for a birthday party this weekend…how convenient. I even remembered to bring the coupons I got in the mail: a free gift worth $5.50, a single wick candle for $5 and 20% off my entire purchase.

We quickly added the Flamingo and a gift set to our shopping bag. The $5.50 gift could be either a travel size or a purse size hand cream, so I chose a hand cream in “Rose Quartz”. Aromatherapy was B2G2, which is better than the usual B3G3, so I picked out some “Love” scented products – Rose and Vanilla. I chose 2 Aromatherapy Body Washes ($13.50), an Aromatherapy Body Cream ($13.50) and an Aromatherapy Pillow Spray ($15.50). My pillows will put me in the mood now!

As for the candle, I was gonna grab a random rose scent until Lily found this “French Baguette” candle ($5, down from $14.50). I was skeptical, but it really does smell like crusty french bread. My mom would have been OBSESSED with this candle – it’s so buttery! I need the body spray….

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Rebel Rose

I waited and waited and WAITED for the new wet n wild beauty Rebel Rose Limited Edition Collection to hit Ulta, but only the individual products are carried, not the box sets. I cannot figure out how Ulta decides which boxes to carry. They did not get the Midnight Mermaid or Goth-o-Graphic boxes, but did get the Fire & Ice Dragon box and the Flights of Fancy box. I added all of the products to my basket and it was around $90. Ew, no. A week later, WnW was BOGO 50% off and it went down to $60-something, which was only slightly more than the full box set. I had heartburn about it, so I let my cart sit…and the very next day, the wet n wild website had a 40% off everything sale – that clinched it. I was able to get the full box set for $35.99, down from $59.99 – and free shipping!

There are two layers of products in the Full Rebel Rose box. The first layer is skincare: Photo Focus Rose Multi-Use Oil (smells divine and light on the face), Photo Focus Rose Toner, Photo Focus Rose Primer Serum (reminds me of the Farsali Unicorn Serum, but FAR more affordable), Perfect Pout Jelly Balm (another black gloss that turns into your own perfect pink – I like this one on me better than the essence ones), and Perfect Pout Lip Scrub (this is NOT even comparable to Jeffree’s scrubs – not tasty and very greasy, very disappointing).

I have been LOVING the products in the makeup layer of the box: 3 Color Icon Eyeshadow Quads“Bed of Roses” (my favorite, with rose gold shimmer), “Secret Garden Rendezvous”, and “House of Thorns” (I tried with the dark green eyeshadow and looked like my husband slugged me); Color Icon Cream Blush (remember your mom’s cream rouge? This is like the black color change version); 2 MegaLast Liquid Catsuit Matte Lipsticks“Kiss of Death”, a dark maroon, and “Deviant Damsel”, a dark navy; and 2 MegaLast Liquid Catsuit High-Shine Liquid Lipstick“Petal Poison”, a dusky pink and “Bud Romance” a dusty purple. I am shocked to REALLY like the high-Shine lipstick – they stay on until about lunchtime, which isn’t bad. Oh, and I cannot forget about the brushes – a Rose Eyeshadow Brush and a Rose Blush Brush. Honestly, the Eyeshadow Brush is poorly designed. Every time I use it, I stab myself in the eyelid with the leaves on the rosebud. It’s a shame, because the brush itself is wonderful.

Oh, and a Foundation Sample bag – 6 shades of wet n wild PhotoFocus Foundation to try out, plus MegaLast Liquid Catsuit Matte Lipstick in “Sea Seduction”, which I already have, but oh well.

The Rebel Rose Full Collection Box is still available on wetnwildbeauty.com for $59.99, no longer on sale. You can also buy the Rebel Rose Skincare Collection Box for $24.99 or the Rebel Rose Makeup Collection Box for $39.99. Even though I wasn’t able to get Ulta points from the purchase itself, I was able to put the purchase on my Ulta card, which will get me a few points.

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1/21 Days of Beauty

It’s that time at Ulta again – their 21 Days of Beauty Sale. It’s rare that I find deal that interest me during the 21 Days of Beauty, but I wanted to give Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz a try at half price ($10.50, down from $21). This time, I got “Chocolate”, a darker shade than my previous “Soft Brown”. It’s been a few years since I’ve used Brow WIz and my base hair color is a biot darker than it was then. Now that I’ve gotten used to the richer, thicker Ulta Brow Pencils, I actually like them better than the ABH. Who knew that a cheaper product would be better?

The Essence Lipsticks were an impulse buy, but at $3.49 each, they were a steal. Not even that much – they were BOGO 50% off. Essence Kiss the Black Sheep is a black lipstick that turns baby pink and Essence Kiss the Flamingo is a pink lipstick that turns…more pink? Kiss the Flamingo does have a more coral tone and I feel like it lasts longer on my face than the Black Sheep.

Still no free samples with online orders. I’m waiting.

$122 to Platinum status for 2020.

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HUE19

Oh Zoya, it’s been so long…

I get all kinds of good information from my fb Groups. I had somehow missed the HUE19 promotion – no emails, nothing on from the brand on Social Media – but an online friend clued me into the HUE19 sale – any 4 polishes “FREE”, just pay $15 shipping. I took advantage of a similar sale in 2015, except it was just 3 polishes. Nice!

I only picked one from the newest collection – “Winter Holos” – and that was “Everly”, diamond holographic fuchsia red. I skipped straight to the “Jubilee Holiday 2018” collection for the last three: “Juniper”sparkling teal textured PixieDust, “Kateri”midnight brown cream, and the one I’d been lusting after for months – the Leopard Spots Topper.

Of course, I jumped on the Leopard Spots Topper first – I’ve already used it twice!