What I got for Christmas/Boxing Day Haul

Happy New Year Everyone!! I hope that you all had a great Christmas and New Years surrounded by friends and family.

I want to get out of the way at the beginning that this post is by no means me bragging about what I got and purchased for myself. I am simply sharing like so many others in the beauty community have been over the past week. These have been some of my favourite videos to watch lately, so I thought I would share some pictures.

I didn't get many beauty products for Christmas, cause honestly I really don't need anything. But on Boxing Day I picked up quite a few skincare and makeup sets. I normally go to Walmart first thing on Boxing Day because all of their Christmas gift sets go on sale 50% off. I stock up mainly on skincare, and I don't have to buy any for the rest of the year. I will put the price of the sets below the pictures.

Before Christmas, I took a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan and bought a few things. The first was the Clinique 3 Step bundle above. It cost $11.75 which was the price of the Clarifying Lotion by itself at the CCO. I needed more Clarifying Lotion so this was an easy buy. At Dollarama I picked up the Clean & Clear Body Wash to try out.

At a Lancôme Outlet store I picked up the Glamorous Nudes palette as a gift to myself for getting a new full time job. It was normally on sale for $45, I got it for $22. These are my first high end eye shadows and I'm really excited to try them out. At Ulta I could have gone crazy, but I restrained myself and only picked up a few things I have been wanting to try. The first was the UD De-Slick Spray. I bought the sample bottle for $14. I also picked up a sample trio of UD eyeliners. These were $14ish I believe.

The only makeup product I asked for this Christmas was the Real techniques Core Collection. I have been looking for this collection for so long, but they are always sold out. I'm glad that my mom could find it. These are some of my favourite brushes!

My parents also got me a box of the Kirkland makeup remover wipes from Costco. These are my favourite remover wipes, and this box normally lasts me an entire year.

This 5 piece travel makeup brush set was on sale for $4.50. The brushes are extremely soft, and I am in love with the rose gold handles.

This Venus Embrace Travel Pack came with the handle, two razor cartridges, a small can of shave cream, and the travel container. It was on sale for $9.

I couldn't find any Nivea skincare sets this year so I picked up two of the Olay Fresh Effects Sets. These were seriously the best deal. They were on sale for $12 and came with a full size cleanser, lotion, and makeup remover wipes. They also came with the small cleanser brush, that kinda reminds me of the Clarisonic, as well as, a sample cleanser to use with the brush. I am hoping that this skincare routine does wonders for me.

 I wasn't in the market for a hairdryer, but this Revlon one was only $15. It came with two attachments, a hair brush, a mirror, some hair clips, and a headband. It was a deal I couldn't pass up.

This Revlon set came with a travel sized straightener, three hairbrushes, and an assortment of other hair accessories. It was on sale for $12. Even though I already have a straightener, I picked this up because it will be good for travel.

At Shoppers Drug Mart, the Live Clean travel sized skincare sets were on sale for $5. I only picked up one, but I was tempted to get a lot more. But seeing as I have never used this brand before, I didn't know if I would like it.

 I love Clean & Clear skincare, so buying this set was a no brainer. It was on sale for $9.99.

This Balea set was a total impulse buy. It comes with makeup remover wipes, eye makeup remover, cotton rounds, and a BB cream. This kit was on sale for $11.99.

Essence wasn't on sale, but I couldn't pass up on this Limited Edition Collection. The eye shadows are so shimmery and glittery. I believe the eye shadows were $2.99 and the face powder was $3.99.

Did you get any great deals on Boxing Day? Let me know in the comments below!

Dupe Alert: Deborah Lippman Ruby Red Slippers

A few days ago Jen from From Head to Toe did a blog post about Deborah Lippman's Ruby Red Slippers ($19), and the polish looked oddly familiar to me. I am a huge fan of black polishes with any sort of coloured glitter throughout, so I knew I had a polish like this somewhere in my collection. I ended up finding the polish in question, and I have to say that it is quite the close dupe.

And what is this dupe you might ask? Well it is Once Upon A Time from the 2012 Fantasy Makers Collection by Wet n Wild. Once Upon A Time ($1.99) has the same semi-sheer black jelly base, with multi-sized red glitter as Ruby Red Slippers. In Jen's post she stated that she used 4 layers of polish to create an opaque nail, I was at four coats and was finding my polish not opaque enough. So I started over, first putting down a layer of Essence Back to Black ($1.99), and then two coats of the Fantasy Makers.

The Fantasy Makers polish dries somewhat matte, so I added a top coat for extra shine. With a topcoat you can really see the dimension to the glitter better. My nails look like they are covered in rubies. They are very eye-catching and I have received quite a few compliments on them. I am totally in love with the look, and I'm glad I get to enjoy it at the fraction of the cost of the DL.

Once Upon A Time is not available in this years Halloween Fantasy Makers Collection. So if you cannot get your hands on this polish, I researched a few other DL dupes:

• China Glaze Lubu Heels
• NYX Dark Glitter
• Wet n Wild Behind Closed Doors
• NYX Dorothy

NOTD: Essence Choose Me!

Here I am with another Essence Nail of the Day. Essence has really been my go-to brand for polishes lately and this one does not disappoint either. It took two coats for this polish to be almost opaque, but I would probably recommend doing 3 for full opaque-ness. When I used my Seche Vite Top Coat it pulled the polish away from the tips, so you can see the whites of my nails in all the pictures.

 

This polish really reminded me of a mermaids tale. The glitter had great depth on the nail and really glittered in the sun. Most of the time this polish looks blue, but every once in a while it looks kind of green and/or teal-ish. It is truly a beautiful polish, and one I would recommend to any nail polish enthusiast.

 

 

This picture shows more of the teal/green look to the polish, whereas above, the blue in the photos is how the polish looks most of the time.

 

 

 

NOTD: Essence Space Queen & Sweet As Candy

My last few nail polish choices have all been from Essence. I recently discovered this brand and so far everything that I have tried has been awesome! I picked Sweet as Candy to wear for a job interview this week because it is a neutral pink that is definitely interview appropriate. I topped it off with Space Queen a multi colour glitter top coat to give it just a little flare.

 

Sweet as Candy is a light milky pink. With my pale skin tone I feel that this polish almost disappears making me look like I'm not even wearing polish. This would be perfect for a french manicure because even after two coats I could still see the whites of my nails a little bit. I think this polish would look great on tanner skin tones.

 

Space Queen is simply gorgeous! It is a clear base polish with multi coloured micro glitter. I really liked how it complimented the Sweet as Candy and gave it just a little bit of personality. I only used 1 coat of Space Queen and got a nice amount of glitter. The thing I didn't like about this polish is that it was very thick and it was kind of difficult to get an even coat. I might need to add some polish thinner to this one to make it easier to use.

 

 

NOTD: Essence A Lovely Secret

This is the most frustrating polish I have probably ever used! When I saw it in the store it looked simple, like a bright but muted lilac purple. But when I picked up the bottle and took a closer look I realized that there was very fine purple micro glitter. I was so excited because I have really been on a glitter kick lately, but to my disappointment on the nails the glitter seems to disappear.

 

It looks like a light purple base with a darker purple grainy texture, but the polish dries completely smooth.I really wish that the glitter in this polish stayed visible and glittery because it would have looked so pretty in the light. Oh well, it is still a gorgeous polish and for only $1.20 its a steal!

A few of my local Shoppers Drug Marts have been getting the new bigger bottles of Essence polishes and I've seen some new colours, but this colour is still available for purchase. The bigger bottles still have the same $1.99 price tag as the smaller bottles so it is even more of a steal now!

 

Whats your favourite Essence polish?

 

 

 

 

FOTD: Date Night

Me and my boyfriend spend a lot of time together, but we don't always go out. Occasionally we will have a date night where we go mini golfing, get ice cream, or go out to dinner and a movie. Here is the makeup I wore on our last date night.

 

FACE

Covergirl Trublend Foundation in 410

Garnier Anti Dark Circle Roller in Light

MAC Select Coverup in NW20

PUR 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Makeup

MAC Tenderling Blush

MAC Cream Colour Base in Pearl

 

 

 

EYES

Hard Candy Eyeshadow Primer

MAC Painterly Paint Pot

Essence Quattro Eyeshadow in 05 to die for

Caryl Baker Visage Mineral Eyeshadow in Pillow

Cargo Eyeliner in 82 Black

Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express Flared Mascara

 

LIPS

Revlon Colour Burst Lip Butter in Sweet Tart

 

NOTD: Tiger's Game Mani!

So this NOTD post was inspired by the Detroit Tigers. My boyfriend got us, 6th row right behind first base, tickets for my birthday. I wanted to paint my nails in the classic Tigers blue and orange because I originally didn't have a shirt to wear to the game. I ended up getting a shirt at Target so I was Tigerfied from head to toe.

This mani is by no means fancy because I am totally unable to do any sort of nail art so I went for the classic accent nail mani. I used Essence Nail Polish in Wake Up! and LA Girl Disco Polish in Dance Studio. These polishes went on super easy with no streaking and dried fairly quickly as well.

I had some chipping the next day so I wouldn't say that the quality of these polishes are the best. Usually with other polishes and the Seche Vite Top Coat I can get through almost a week with no chipping.