BareMinerals Haul

A few days ago I visited Ulta after work... I had some gift cards that I needed to use up... here's what I came home with!

This is basically everything I purchased: The BareMinerals 'Get Started Complexion Kit', BareMinerals Renew & Hydrate Eye Cream, an eyeshadow duo and an eyeshadow quad. 

Here's a look at the inside of the Get Started Complexion Kit. (Please excuse my shoddy job of covering up the reflexion in the mirror!!) (:

I didn't necessarily need any of these items, as it comes with everything I already own, but I was sucked in by the packaging. I love the sleek black travel case! (It says "hello gorgeous" inside above the mirror. How cute!!) 

I use everything inside on a daily basis (aside from the primer and mineral veil, which I only use here and there). Usually I use the 'medium' shade of foundation, but it's starting look a little too dark for the wintertime, so I purchased this kit in the 'fairly light' shade. I was a little worried about the color having neutral undertones but I really think it suits me.

Inside, there is a an original foundation, a matte foundation, a small all over face color in the shade "warmth", a small mineral veil, a little prime time foundation primer, and a flawless application face brush. 

It was $49 and the Ulta's website says that it's a $109 value. (;

Here are the two eyeshadow palettes I picked up: The Dream Sequence and The Enlightenment. 

The Enlightenment (on the left) has two matte neutral colors. I picked this up with the intentions of testing out the color on the right to fill in my eyebrows. 

I had originally received The Dream Sequence (on the right) from my boyfriend on Christmas, but when I opened it, it was cracked. So technically, I didn't purchase this... just exchanged it for a new one. (;

Lastly, I needed an eye cream, because my beloved Benefit one was causing me to break out. Since I love everything else BareMinerals, I opted for one of their Renew & Hydrate version. 

It's such a little jar! (It's pictured above between the eyeshadow palettes to give you an idea of how tiny.) It was $32 for this little guy, so hopefully it lasts a long time! 

One of the (many) reasons I love shopping at Ulta are the free samples they have with purchase. I got a few this time for purchasing BareMinerals.

They gave me a sample of the Multi-Wrinkle Repair (hopefully it works as prevention as well, since I'm only 26!) and an adorable little sample of a matte foundation and brush. I'm not sure which brush this is, but I like it for under my eyes and around my nose. 

So that's it for my BareMinerals haul! What's your favorite BareMinerals product? Let me know in the comments and I'll look in to it. (:

You're Giving Me a Complexion!

As promised, here's my review for (part of) my haul from The Balm!!

This kit is probably my favorite that I picked up.  For $20, it came with:

 Time Balm concealer
 (originally sells for $18)
Sexy Mama anti-shine, translucent powder

(originally sells for $19)
Liquid Time Balm spot concealer

(originally sells for $20)
Balm Shelter tinted moisturizer

(originally sells for $25)

Total savings = $62

 I'd say that's pretty awesome!!  (:

This little guy is awesome for under-eye circles!  The Time Balm concealer comes with a sponge (for application, I'm assuming?) but I just use my finger to dab it on and that works just fine.  The shade is in light/medium and it's very blendable so I feel like it could work for a wide variety of skin tones.

I was going to take a different picture of the Sexy Mama anti-shine, translucent powder but I like this one because you can see part of my Rilakkuma phone case in it.  Hehe.

I really don't have much to say about this one... It's a decent setting powder and the packaging is really cute, but it's just a setting powder... lol.  It says on the back of the package that it contains "tiny oil absorbing spheres" and I don't know how true that is, but it does keep my face pretty matte so it works for me!




As I had mentioned in my initial post, I had tried the Liquid Time Balm spot concealer before - one of the makeup artists at Sephora had used it on me and it looked really nice on my skin tone.  I had originally purchased the shade "fair" because I'm pretty pale, but this kit came with "nude", and it's not that much darker - it'll be perfect for summertime when I get just a little bit darker.  (;
I love this concealer because not only does it match my skin tone really well, it blends nicely and most importantly - it contains tea tree oil.  I have to admit that sometimes I'll skip out on concealer when I break out because I'm worried about clogging my pores/feeding the breakout, but this concealer is great because tea tree oil is really good for treating acne, so this is like a concealer and treatment in one.  Yay!

Finally on to the Balm Shelter tinted moisturizer!  This came in the shade "light/medium" but it seems more on the medium side than the light side (though, this could just be because I'm pretty pale)... Overall, I like it - it has nice coverage for a tinted moisturizer and it doesn't leave my face feeling greasy like some of the tinted moisturizers I've tried in the past have.

Left to right - Balm Shelter tinted moisturizer, Time Balm concealer, Liquid Time Balm spot concealers (in 'nude' and then 'fair')

 It's hard to swatch products that match my skin tone so well.  Haha!

Overall I'm very pleased with this kit!! Next time I'll review the eyeshadow kits from The Balm that I picked up.  (:

Have you ever tried anything from The Balm?  What's your favorite product from them?

The Balm Haul

 Hey girls!  (:

A few weeks ago while I was shopping at Marshall's, I noticed that they had some boxed sets from The Balm.  The only products I'd ever tried from The Balm was their Liquid Time Balm Spot Concealer - which I had purchased from Sephora a year or so ago, so I was curious to try some new things out!

I decided on the "You're Giving Me a Complexion" set and the "Smokey Eye Kit"

After I got home and tested them out/looked up the prices and realized what a steal these were, I went back and picked up some more!

 

Second time around I got the "Brown Eye Kit" and the "Green Eye Kit"

(and another 'Complexion Kit' because I really like the products included!

The eye kits were $9.99 - definitely a great deal considering one of their Overshadow Loose shadows sells for $15!

 The complexion kits were $20 and contain four products - The Liquid Time Balm concealer that I had purchased a while ago was $20 by itself.  

All in all, I'm super happy with these purchases!  I plan on doing a review for them if anyone is interested?  Let me know in the comments!! (;

Baby polishes!

I really wish that the Blogger app had more editing options!! It really stinks that I can do the basic gist of a post from my iPhone, but then I have to get on my laptop to edit the post and make it look nicer. D:

Excuses aside, I have a mini nail polish haul from Ulta. (: All the polishes are from the brand Essence, from their colour & go line.

The blue a deep teal (55 - Let's Get Lost)

The red has a slight orange tinge to it (46 - Wake Up!)

The purple is a periwinkle with pink shimmers in it (86 - A Lovely Secret)

The green is a light yellow-green (39 - Lime Up!)

I love this line of polishes! They're only .99 ¢ at Ulta and they come in a ton of gorgeous colors. The shades I picked up are fairly opaque and only need two coats at most. They're smaller than a 'typical' bottle of polish but I rarely ever use up a whole bottle so it's fine with me! (;

Numbers 55, 46, 86, 39.

 Have you tried Essence polishes before? What did you think of them?