Massive April Haul! Ulta, Sephora, Lilly Pulitzer for Target, Victoria's Secret, Michael Kors and more!

So... there was a lot of shopping this month...

There were lots of deals everywhere and Sephora and Ulta both had their once a year coupons good for anything so you know I had to stock up.

Check out my haul and if you like what you see subscribe!
Please comment what you'd like to see in depth reviews on and I'll try to get those posted for you.



Thanks for watching!

Sample Sunday: Sephora VIB Event

I got a card in the mail about a Sephora VIB event that gave me 15% off purchases for a week and also a free cosmetic bag and some free goodies. While I was hoping to get the Urban Decay Electric Palette but they were out of stock, so I just got some things I needed.

 The bag is a cute wristlet that I'll probably use when I travel. There were 6 samples that came with it: Buxom Full On Lip Cream in Mudslide, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo in Dark Brown, Sephora 10HR Wear Perfection Foundation in Sand, Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer, Murad Age Reform Perfecting Night Cream, and First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream.

 

I've reviewed the Smashbox primer and the FAB cream before, the others are all new to me.

I'm a little bummed that there wasn't a choice of colors for the foundation, since I'm super fair and it will be pretty pointless to test the sample except for texture. The texture is silky and has medium coverage. The Buxom lip cream had a silky texture and a tingly sensation, much like their other lip products. The color is sheer and neutral, but very pretty. I'll be trying the Murad cream overnight and I'll update in the morning.

15 Free Samples from Sephora Plus a Makeup Bag

Beauty Insiders, the season of giving is in full swing at Sephora.You can get some amazing deals right now with their holiday gift sets and snag this sample set with a makeup bag of your choice!

Right now with code FIXIT you'll get to pick one of 3 makeup bags that comes with 12 samples to get you through the holidays, plus the 3 free samples you get with every Sephora.com order. That means 15 samples!
Check out the screenshot from Sephora.com below:

Get It While You Can! Benefit Countdown to Love

I had been debating on waiting to get this amazing advent calendar by Benefit, maybe I could get a few more gift cards or it would go on sale. Not the case. I decided I had to have it and I'm so glad I ordered it when I did. The day after I placed my order it sold out on Sephora.com (it's also web exclusive so I wouldn't have been able to find it in store.)
I had heard Ulta.com and Macys.com still had it, but as of this morning, they are also sold out.

Seems that the Benefit website is the only place to find it right now, so hurry! I'm sure they're going to sell out too!
(Currently someone is selling theirs for $189.99 on Amazon! and I found some pricier ones on eBay!)
I can't wait to get mine and I'll be posting pictures daily!

Here's some sneak peaks from the Benefit website.

Benefit.com: Enjoy FREE US Standard Shipping on ANY purchase using code HOLIDAZE.

Not combinable with any other promotions. Offer valid through 12/23/13.

8 Free Sephora Samples

Right now Sephora has an awesome deal. On top of their usual 3 free samples, you can get a nice free makeup bag with a selection of 8 free samples. There are four collections to choose from and they are all awesome. Supplies are limited to definitely get them while you can! The code is BLITZ.

 

OCC All Star Lip Minis

So EXCITED about these! I have been stalking every Sephora store in the area trying to find this set. A big thank you to Melinda at Sephora in N. Dartmouth for helping me find these! I only recently got turned onto the OCC Lip Tars and this is a nice mini set to try out a few and the colors are great picks. You can use them as they are or blend them into custom shades.

 

From left to right: Memento, NSFW, Anime, and Black Dahlia.

 

Left is a full sized OCC Lip Tar in Strumpet, right is All Star Mini in Anime

 

 

Sorry these swatches are so messy, Top to bottom: Memento, NSFW, Anime, Black Dahlia. 

I am super impressed with these for both color and texture. You also only need the absolute tiniest amount. Picture how much you need and it's probably 1/5 of that. I can't wait to play with these more!

Have you tried the OCC Lip Tars? What's your favorite or which would you love to try?

$1 Sephora Haul!!

I got $347 of merchandise from Sephora for a dollar... yes one dollar. Wanna know how? Keep reading.
First the goods!

 First up is the Sephora Favorites Lash Stash, an 11 piece set which includes some full and some half size mascaras:  Sephora Collection, Tarte, Benefit They’re Real, Lancôme Hypnôse Drama, BUXOM Lash, Clinique High Impact, YSL Babydoll, Blinc, Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant, and Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara and a set of Sephora Collection Celebrity Lashes.
This is a $145 value for $45 and is amazing! Two are truly full size and the others are half-sized or more.

 

Next up is the Sephora Favorites Give Me More Lip This 16 piece set is ridiculous and includes: bareMinerals ® Marvelous Moxie™ Lipstick in Never Say Never, Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Pomegranate, BUXOM® Full-Bodied™ Lip Stick in Menance, BUXOM® Full-Bodied™ Lip Cream in White Russian, Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Icon, Kat Von D in Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick in Backstage Bambi, Kat Von D Foiled Love Lipstick in Adora, Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Bare Naked, Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural N45, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Strumpet, Smashbox Be Lengendary Lipstick in Nylon Nude, Smashbox Lip Gloss in Pout, Stila Color Balm Lipstick in Sonya, Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lip Color in Dolce, Tarte Glmazon™ Pure Performance 12-Hour Lipstick in Inspired, and Too Faced La Crème Color Drenched Lip Cream in Marshmallow Bunny. 

This set is a $209 value for $59, again crazy good deal. 4 of these are full sized and all but 2 are about half size.

What a mouthful indeed!

 

Last but not least is Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Raindrops. This gorgeous blue based grey has just the slightest little gorgeous bits of shimmer, reminiscent of, you guessed it, raindrops. It was a contest winner and limited edition. I've heard that when it first sold out, bottles were $100 on eBay. Glad to get my hands on it! It applies like butter like all Illamasqua shades. This was $17. 

I split my order in 2 and got free shipping for both as well as 3 samples and a deluxe sample free with each for a total of 8 samples. They also threw in a free sample card of Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb. For the deluxe Stila CC Cream sample use code STILACC, there are also a few other codes on the Sephora website. The eye makeup remover code seems to be gone for now though.

 So I know you're all still wondering, how did I get all this for $1? One word: Viggle. I am a Viggle fiend! It is a free app that you can use while watching television. You check into shows and earn a point per minute. There are also check in bonuses, Viggle live, and MyGuy. All of these points can be traded in for gift cards to Sephora, Best Buy, Royal Caribbean and more! My mother also uses the app and graciously gave me some gift cards as well. I got $120 of Sephora gift cards completely free. The app is available for Apple and Android and costs absolutely nothing.

I am also very fond of Swagbucks, another free service where you can redeem your points for gift cards and merch as well. You use it as a search engine and are rewarded for searches at random. There are also games, surveys, polls, tasks and videos. I also love that you can shop your favorite websites (including www.Sephora.com) to earn even more points. There is even the Swagbucks TV app, also available for Apple and Android and this app is also free!


Use my link here to be rewarded with bonus points!

It can take a little bit of time, but with patience you can earn a lot of points and save a lot of money! The other advice I have is to sample any products you can in store, which helps eliminate wasteful purchases and things you won't use. Invest in good products that work and will last and you will spend less. Also, shop sales, deals and bundles! I have wanted to try many of the products in these kits for a long time, but I won't commit to a product I don't love. These sets give me a curated collection of things I've wanted to try and the ability to make sure I love them. I once bought my mother the Sephora Favorites Lash Stash To Go, which was essentially a mini version of this lash kit. Why? Because it was a great deal, my mother is a mascara fiend, AND most importantly, it also came with a certificate to get a full size of any of the mascaras in the collection. It basically let her try 5 mascaras without commitment, before she chose a new one, to ensure she loved it without having to buy them all. 

I know this post was long, but I hope it was helpful and that you are able to get lots of free gift cards as well!

Let me know in the comments what services you've used and what great deals you've gotten!

Sephora & Free Deluxe Bite Lipstick Sample

Oh Sephora, you just love taking my money. And somehow, I keep coming back to you. This week I indulged in my sick obsession with nail polishes and bought the Runway The

New Black nail set since it was not only awesome looking, but on sale. First one arrived broken, second one only arrived last night, so I still have to test them. I also ordered the Benefit Getting Cheeky trio since I've wanted to try their liquid tints for a while. Benetint always seemed too dark for me, so this seemed like a great way to try them out. The formulas seem a little creamier than I expected, but it's actually nice. I also got one of my mom's birthday gifts while I was at it (okay let's be honest, I started out shopping for her and ended up shopping for me.) My mom is always trying different mascaras trying to find Lash Stash To Go which has 5 mini size mascaras and a voucher for a full size of whichever you like best.
her next love. I got her hooked on one in particular, but she hates dropping money on one that she might not love and she's tried everything from $8 to $80. I decided that a sample box would be a great part of her gift so I got the

Everything I bought was pretty much a steal and with the code RMNBITE I also got a free deluxe Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Deluxe sample in Musk. (The minimum to qualify is a $25 order.)

What's your latest beauty purchase?

Photos courtesy of Sephora.com

Illamasqua Imperfect Nail Polish: Speckled Nails

I am loving some of the new nail trends, there's a big emphasis on birds and feathers right now. I adore the new Illamasqua Imperfect nail polishes which resemble the speckles on a bird's egg. I was finally able to hunt down a bottle and purchased it in Speckle which is a lovely lavender shade. For the best results you will need 2-3 coats of polish, this helps to really get the speckled egg effect. I chose to do 3 coats, but see the comparison of coats below. I love this for Spring, and as cliché as it is, I love it for Easter. I'm thinking of pairing it with an accent nail I recently saw on Pinterest using a real feather. If I'm able to pull that off, you guys will be the first ones to know. 

I had to ask for the polish at my Sephora, because they had just received the shipment and it wasn't even on the floor yet, so don't be afraid to ask!

There are five colors available:

Speckle (lavender), Freckle (cocoa), Fragile (light blue), Mottle (light moss green), and 

Scarce (light pink.) They are available exclusively at Sephora for $16 or on Illamasqua's Website

One coat on the right, two coats on the left

Two coats on the right, three coats on the left

 I was a little bit messy since it was kind of late at night, but I just couldn't wait to try it out!

Close up of the polish in the bottle

All done! (Don't worry I cleaned it up a little in the morning)

What nail colors/trends are you loving right now?

Ciate Velvet Manicure Review

A few months ago I bought the Ciate mother of pearl caviar nail set and was pretty happy with it. Just in time for the holidays, Ciate came out with their velvet manicure. I was dying to get my hands on both the deep garnet red and the navy blue. The two Sephora stores near me were out of the blue, so I decided to just try the red for now. I have to say I'm glad I didn't buy two. The color of the polish is absolutely stunning and I would definitely wear it again. The velvet is a whole different story. It was a little bit difficult to apply and the container for the velvet cracked halfway through doing my nails. I managed to finish up my manicure and it looked pretty good for about an hour. Once I had to wash my hands it looked a little worse for wear. The velvet dries pretty quickly, but doesn't look the same afterward. After about one day of wear my nails simply looked as if I had smudged the polish while it was wet. I did mine for Christmas (velvet always makes me think of Christmas) and it was sufficient to get me through the day. For $19 though I wasn't overly impressed. It's good for a one night occasion, but I didn't find it had lasting power past that.

I would give it a 3/5. Pretty, but not spectacular.

What nail trends have you tried?

My birthday weekend with the naughty monkey + birthday freebies!

Hi everyone! Sorry this post is coming a little late. I was away for a long weekend to celebrate my birthday and then my uncle arrived from Germany (it's his first time in the US!) Overall I had a really great birthday. My mother surprised me with the KitchenAid Mixer I've been drooling over for eons. Now my apartment search includes the qualifier of having enough counter space for the mixer to have a permanent home. Greg has asked more than once if this is going to be the mixer that opens my bakery. It just may be.
Originally I was planning on going to Maine's Acadia State Park to try to view the Geminid meteor shower, which was supposed to peak on the night of my birthday, work schedules, however, made for difficulties. It also ended up being very cloudy that night and the following night, so I didn't get to see any. Hopefully next year I'll have a little bit better luck. Even though the original plan fell through, Greg and I spent a fantastic weekend in Newport. We visit there a few times a year, but we never stay for the weekend, so this was a nice change. If you're ever visiting there, I can highly recommend the Hotel Viking where we stayed. The hotel itself is beautiful and located right at the beginning of Bellevue Avenue. If you've never been, this is where the mansions are and I highly recommend the Cliff Walk which is open to the public and completely free. If you can, do the guided tour of at least one mansion, they are spectacular. Greg and I walked around town for a bit and went down to Thames Street where there are lots of great shops and restaurants. This is another area I highly recommend, there is lots to see and do in that neighborhood. Greg and I headed back to the hotel after a few hours (mostly to escape the cold) and he sent me for a fantastic massage as my birthday gift. The hotel's SpaTerre is truly luxurious and I felt so pampered. I got all of my knots and kinks worked out and I felt like I was walking on clouds. As I returned to my room I found a box of cupcakes and a card from the hotel which was also good for a complimentary bottle of wine with dinner to celebrate. Greg and I got ready for dinner and this is when I met the naughty monkey. After a delicious assortment of crab cakes, stuffed quahogs, and the chef specialty grand chowder (which was amazing with lobster, shrimp and scallops) I had to peek at the dessert menu. I love dessert, so trying to decide what to try is always difficult. The waiter recommended the house specialty, The Naughty Monkey. Curious Greg and I ordered it and it was delicious. The Viking describes it as "a house made nutella filled crepe topped with caramelized bananas, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and a side of walnut chocolate chip ice cream." Re read that sentence and just drool, I know I am. If you are ever in Newport, even if you aren't staying at the Viking, go by there and just try the naughty monkey, it's worth it. All of the food at their restaurant, One Bellevue, is fabulous and you won't be disappointed. The next time I am up that way however, I really want to attend one of their afternoon teas, I swear I live in the wrong time period. 

After stuffing my face with delicious food for the weekend, I came home to my mother making my favorite, gnocchi and a birthday gift of Paula Deen coconut cake. Yummm.

Funny little side story. While we were out and about Greg and I went to the Alex and Ani store and he bought me the Fascinate Me with Love charm and I had my eye on one of the feather bracelets. I asked to see one out of the case and found one of the other ones I wanted to try was on the counter. I noticed that this one had a clasp instead of their usual expandable bracelet. I said to Greg, "Look this one is kind of weird, no?" The girl behind the counter looks at my wrist and says, "Oh! That one is a an earring!" I would do that... 

Anyway, on to birthday freebies! One of the best parts of getting older (one of the only good things) is getting presents! Here's a list of some of the perks and freebies you can get for your birthday.

- Free lip duo from Sephora for Beauty Insider members
- $10 for Victoria's Secret
- Free Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity breakfast at IHOP
- Free gift with $10 purchase at Godiva
- Free entree and dessert at Not Your Average Joe's
- Free box of chocolate covered strawberries with purchase of 2 4-course dinners at The Melting Pot
- $5 off $30 at Hot Topic for HT+1 members
- 50 free Swagbucks (I'll have a blog on those soon)
- Free smoothie at Tropical Smoothie Cafe
- Free pastry at Panera Bread
- Free drink of choice at Starbucks
- $10 free game play at Dave & Buster's
- Free piece of cake from Smokey Bones
- 25 points on your A.C. Moore reward card

and there are honestly probably many more out there.

What's your favorite part of your birthday?