Ipsy January 2015 - Fresh Start

New year, fresh start!  At least that's what Ipsy trying to preach with their bag this month.  I got five products this month, and my experience is 50-50.  I only like two products so far, and haven't tried one out yet, so I won't rule that out so quickly.

Mojito Lip Balm

Mojito Lip Balm:  This is a lip balm by Malin + Goetz.  I've never heard of this company before, but the lip balm is okay.  It's not too slick or oily, perfect for throwing in any purse for travel.

Ipsy September 2014 - Street Style

Yay, I'm actually able to get this up before the end of September!  For some reason, I get my Ipsy bags quite late, so it's not totally my fault.  The theme for this bag is Street Style and I'm not quite sure what they were going for here.  I didn't really get any products that screamed "edgy street style!" to me besides the bag.  Nevertheless, the products I received were pretty nice and I've already used all of them at least once.

Pictures taken under daylight bulb and swatches done over ELF Essential Primer (click to enlarge)

The bag this week is gunmetal with studs, very cute.

Face Cleanser

Face Cleanser:  This is a face cleanser sample from Nourish Organic.  I've used this twice and was pretty meh about it.  I do like the scent, it's a mild watercress smell.  The cleanser didn't dry me out, but didn't remove my makeup (which it didn't claim to do).  This is a great cleanser to have, even though I don't sound too excited about it.  I generally don't get too excited about cleansers.

ELF Haul!

It's been such a long time since I've made an ELF order!  If you didn't read my blog in the early stages, I bought from ELF Cosmetics so much.  I only stopped because I discovered the greatness that is indie companies.  However, I was running out of some products and needed some new brushes, so here goes my haul :)

Yay brushes :D

October Ipsy Bag - The Art of Beauty

I'm finally caught up on Ipsy posts!  For the month of October, the theme was "The Art of Beauty".  We got a white bag with the words, "Love of beauty is taste.  The creation of beauty is art."

Drugstore Haul! (Hair rollers & Makeup)

Holy moly do I have a lot of posts scheduled or what?  Being so backed up recently and at the same time buying a lot of things do NOT make for a good combination.  I'd been on Spring Break last month, and I took that opportunity to go to my trusty neighborhood beauty stores and buy some things.  These stores are only found in my neighborhood, but I'm sure you can buy each item online or in other stores!

Revlon Colorsilk in 'Dark Burgundy' ($5), Kiss Adhesive Remover ($3), Kiss False Lashes in 'Au Naturale' ($3), Push Liner brush ($2), Suave Max Hold Hairspray ($3), Divine 2" Foam Rollers 4-Pack ($1.29)

Annie 3/4" Soft Twist Rollers 5-pack ($3.50), Annie Magnetic Rollers 12-pack (bigger ones, $2.50), Annie Magnetic Rollers 12-pack (smaller, $2)

NYX Blush in 'Red' ($5), Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in 'Breeze' ($1), NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in 'Amsterdam' ($6), Jordana Easyliner in 'Baby Berry' and 'Latte' ($2/ea), NYX Lipliner Pencil in 'Nude Beige' ($2)

L.A. Colors in 'Luscious Wine' ($1), L.A. Colors in 'Berry Ice' ($1), Wet n Wild Megalast Lip Color in 'Sugar Plum Fairy' and 'Vamp it Up' ($2/ea)

Wet n Wild Color Icon Palette in 'Comfort Zone' ($5)

Whew, that took forever to finish!  I didn't buy all these in one day, they're purchases made throughout the month.  I actually just applied for a Rite Aid Wellness+ card so I got all the Wet n Wild things at Buy 1 get 1 50% off :)

I had been interested in trying hair rollers for some time, so I took the chance to buy some while I was home since the dollar store near my school didn't have many options.  Stay tuned for swatches and reviews of these products!

- Jolie ♥

Coastal Scents Mystery Box #2

Hello all!  As you can see from the title, this is the second mystery box I've gotten from Coastal Scents.  I've already done a post on my first box, which you can read here.  To save you the trouble, here's a little run-down of what the mystery box is.

Supposedly, Coastal Scents only runs these promos about twice a year; you pay $20 (not including shipping), for a box of completely random things that are supposed to be worth over $50.  Once you get it, there are no returns or exchanges, obviously because you buy it knowing that there is a risk of getting things you don't like.

The point is to try things that you normally wouldn't, whether it be colors or products, and what's not to love about getting more than twice your money's worth of products?  In my first mystery box, I calculated about $65 worth of things; what an amazing deal.

However, I was only okay with the things I got in the first box, so my boyfriend (the enabler), got me a second ♥  After a week of anticipation again, I finally received the box and was super happy with what I got!

Contents in their packages

Contents unboxed

I was SO excited this time because I got the thing I wanted the most --> a Divine Line cream eyeliner!  I had wanted to get that in my last box, but got the liquid eyeliner instead.  Also, I only got one repeated item, which was one of the Hot Pots, but it's okay because I really liked that color.

Values of my contents:

Black Soap ($4)

Sunless Body Art in 'Dark' ($8)

Duo Shadow Pencil in 'Copper Penny' ($3)

Lip Pencil in 'Pinky' ($3)

Duo Defining Wand in 'Chocolate/Pistachio' ($10/discontinued)

Divine Line in 'Lolite' ($10)

4 Hot Pots in 'Peachy Pink', 'Coral Rose', 'Berry Grey', 'Tarnished Nickel' ($2 ea/ = $8)

2 Mineral Shadows in 'Rose Sparks' and 'Key Lime' ($5 ea/ = $10)

Eyelash Curler ($5)

Lip Smacks in 'Bohemian Orange' ($3.75)

Small Angle Brush (Price not listed)

Total: $64.75

I really liked what I got in this box mainly because I didn't get any repeats.  There were a lot of new things I had not explored on the website and would not have known about if it weren't for this promotion.  I did some swatches of certain items but I plan on doing an in-depth post on them.

I mostly really liked the lip gloss color I got, because in the first box, I got a light baby pink color which I was not fond of, but Bohemian Orange is a gorgeous rusty orange color that looks great on me!

If the promotion is still on, I strongly urge you to try it out because it's definitely worth it!  Once again I had gotten more than three times what I paid for :) 

Stay tuned for in-depth reviews on these products, and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

- Jolie ♥

Coastal Scents Mystery Box

Oh my, I didn't realize it's been a month since I've updating the blog.  I've bought a lot of makeup in the meantime and actually have quite a few posts scheduled, so don't fret!

I've recently been buying more Coastal Scents things because I know from experience that their eyeshadows are great (better than Elf's), but I've never actually tried anything else from them.  So imagine how happy I was when they came out with their mystery box promotion!

Apparently the promotion only comes about twice a year and it's a great deal.  You pay $20 for their mystery box in which they can throw anything in and its said to have over $50 worth of products.  So even if you have to pay for their shipping, which cost me about $8 something; I should still be expecting at least $20 of free stuff!  (Just to warn you, the mystery boxes are non-refundable and you shouldn't really complain to the company about getting something you didn't like since you are paying for the randomness and surprise.)

Any-who, I finally got the package after so much anticipation during the week, and here is what was inside!

Its a small box within a box!

The contents in their boxes

Contents unboxed

I was overall pretty happy with my things, especially since I calculated everything and the total came out to be over $65!  

Another E.L.F. Haul? No Way!

Yes, you read the title correctly.  ANOTHER elf haul.  I really do have a problem haha, but they had a promo code that was $5 off your order with NO MINIMUM.  Which, in elf language, is pretty much never.  But with the $7 standard shipping, you end up paying $2 for shipping after the discount which is still not too shabby.

I guess I would consider this a mini-haul, and boy was I tracking this package for days.  Finally received it tonight and was so, so happy.  Without further ado, here goes!

Top:  Essential Tinted Moisturizer ($1/ea) in 'Apricot Beige' and 'Honey'

Middle:  Shimmering Facial Whips ($1/ea) in 'Pink Lemonade', 'Persimmon', 'Lilac Petal', 'Toasted', and 'Golden Peach'

Brightening Eye Color ($1/ea) in 'Nouveau Neutrals

Essentials Lipstick ($1/ea) in 'Captivating'

Bottom: Essentials Feather Proof Moisturizing Lip Liners ($1/ea) in 'Bark' and 'Natural Blush'

Essentials Shimmer Lip Gloss ($2/ea) in 'Dream'

Studio Eyebrow Lifter & Filler ($3/ea) in 'Ivory/Dark'

Studio Angled Blush Brush ($3/ea)

Studio Small Stipple Brush ($3/ea)

Eyelash Curler Pads ($1/ea)

Mineral Lip Gloss ($3/ea) in 'Trendsetter'

Hope the organization didn't confuse you too much this time!  I really tried to separate them into 3 groups.  This is my first time buying the facial whips and I originally bought them because you can use them on your face, lips, and eyes.  I intend to try to use some as bronzers and some as blushes (which is also why I bought the blush brush and stipple haha).  Plus the whips were only a dollar each, a little goes a long way, and other beauty blogs have given great reviews on them.

I will definitely try to review them all separately!  I've tried a few of these things, mainly the lip products, but since I have more colors in the same collection, I'm going to do in-depth reviews on each collection.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned!

- Jolie ♥

E.L.F. Haul

Hello again!  Posting so soon because I've been so backed up because of school and haven't been able to post any of the hauls I've gotten recently.  This won't really be a review because most of them I'm going to have to make a separate review post for.  I bought all of these using the Cyber Monday coupon code which was 50% off sitewide and made everything even cheaper, but I'll post the retail price anyway.

The whole haul!  I'll post each individual thing with the names and prices :)

Coastal Scents Haul: Swatches

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Hi again guys!  I know it's weird how I'm posting twice in a day, but I had a lot saved up and wanted to separate my elf posts from my Coastal Scents haul.  I ordered this during their Black Friday so everything was 50% off!  I'll list the original prices below and what I got them for.  As you can see, I've also just joined Bloglovin' so feel free to follow me!

Anywho, Coastal Scents is another online makeup shop similar to E.L.F.  If you've heard of them then it's probably because of their famous 88 Eyeshadow Palette that every makeup guru was raving about a few years ago.  Since then, they have came out with a lot of new palettes, including the 252 Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette.  Now bear in mind that it's the biggest palette on the market (for now), so it probably has all the colors a girl ever needs.  And judging from the hype about the 88 palette, I was expecting the same exact pigmentation and quality with this one.

The Haul: Eyeshadow sample, Kabuki Stick, 252 Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette, and nail polishes

Eyeshadow Sample: Top left to right: Ice Ballet, Peachy Keen

Bottom left to right: Bombay, Raisin Berry

One thing I really love about CS is their inclusion of a sample with every order.  The first time I ordered from them, they gave me one gorgeous vampy red color that I can't find anymore.  And this time they gave me some sort of quad.  I think it's adorable, and all their colors can be found on the website.

E.L.F. Haul and Reviews!

Hello everyone!

As you can see, I'm definitely trying to do my best updating this blog. I recently got a haul from the previously mentioned E.L.F. store online and I've been putting off writing this review since I had a terrible camera and my pictures came out pretty blurry. However, I JUST got a new camera (gift from my amazing boyfriend), and now I'm not ashamed to upload pictures anymore! Bear in mind that some of the pictures are still taken with the old camera so the quality will be 50/50. Also, this is my first review ever, so please be gentle :)

Here's a picture of my elf haul:

I got the 144 Eyeshadow Palette in Neutral ($15), five Essential Liquid Eyeliners ($1/each in colors: black, silver, plum, coffee, and forest green), Essentials Eye Crease brush ($1), Essentials Smudge Brush ($1), a Studio Eye Primer and Liner Sealer ($3), and got a free Hypershine Gloss (retail $1 in the color 'Flirt') for referring 3 friends.