Venturing Into High-End Cosmetics

For several reasons - including wanting to limit the growth of my collection and simple curiosity - I've decided to start experimenting more with buying high-end beauty products. Because these products are more expensive, I put more time and effort into making sure they are a product I want and will actually use. If possible, I sample products for awhile before finally buying them. Since so much more planning will go into these purchases, I think I'll spend about the same -if not even less- than when I go to the drugstore and pick up a bunch of random products pretty frequently.

That said, today I went to get some samples from Sephora of products I've been wondering about, as well as see some colors in person. I got these samples to try: (if any of you have any tips on how to best use these, I'd love to hear!)

I also tried the MUFE lipstick #37 and I loved it - the color, texture, and staying power all seemed really good. It - as well as NARS Pure Matte lipstick in Carthage and MUFE Smokey Lash mascara - are on my list of products to probably purchase eventually. 

I also stopped in the MAC store on this mall visit. I decided it was finally time to get the eyeshadow in Lucky Green that I think I've been lusting after for at least a year by now, and there were a couple lipsticks I wanted to see in person. I ended up getting the eyeshadow and the lipstick in Rebel. I am really excited for both of these and am very pleased with my purchases. 

In case you're curious, I swatched the lipstick straight from the tube and the eyeshadow with just my finger without any primer. 

Face of the Day - January 22

Face:
Palladio primer
Revlon Colorstay foundation
Milani HD concealer
Milani compact makeup pressed powder
Milani minerals blush - Luminous

Eyes:
NYX HD primer
ELF Beauty Book Bright Eyes Edition (3rd shade in the middle row, first two on the bottom row)
Sonia Kashuk gel liner - ebony
Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium

Lips:
Milani lipstick - Mandaraina
Kat Von D lipgloss - Marg

I picked up the blush, powder, concealer and lipstick yesterday at CVS. I think I'm really going to like all of them, except for the powder which is too dark and too yellow for my skin. It's not terribly obvious except to me but it's enough that it bothers me so I probably won't use it much.

Face of the Day January 13th

Face:
Revlon Colorstay foundation and pressed powder
Wet n Wild blush - Heather Silk
Physician's Formula Happy Booster powder - Translucent

Eyes:
Palladio Primer
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil - Purple
ELF quad - Silver Lining
L'Oreal Voluminous mascara - Carbon Black

Lips:
Revlon Colorburst lipstick - Petal

Depotted Eyeshadow Collection

This is just a very quick post for those who were curious about my eyeshadow storage. If you would like to know the names of certain shadows or anything else at all about this setup, please ask! 

The palettes appear in the same order as they are stored.

Recent Manicures

I recently got Essie's Shine of the Times topcoat and I absolutely love it so I put it over quite a few polishes. These two Sally Hansen polishes were ones I got during the clearance at CVS so they were pretty new to me as well.

Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Uptempo Plum with Essie - Shine of the Times

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Purple Pulse with Essie - Shine of the Times

This manicure would have probably also worked at Christmas, but I think it's fun for anytime!

China Glaze Holiday 2011 - Poinsettia and Twinkle Lights

Mini CVS haul, review, and face of the day

Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad - Inspired
Covergirl Lip Perfection Lipstick - Spellbound, Eternal

Face of the Day using the Revlon quad over Palladio primer and the Covergirl lipstick in Spellbound. (among other products, but those are the new ones)

I love the lipsticks - I have two others that I've had for quite awhile so I knew I liked the formula, and these colors are so pretty! The eyeshadow quad is so disappointing, though. The colors look so lovely and vibrant in the pan but just barely come off. You can't even tell I used the green at all, and the blue is after trying to pack on several layers. I should have known better considering how poorly pigmented the Revlon quads in the older packaging were, but I hoped the formula would be different as well as the packaging and color choices.

This haul was extremely affordable! Covergirl products were buy one get one 50% off and I had a $2.50 off two Covergirl products coupon from the newspaper. Beyond that, when I scanned my card at the machine, I had $5 extrabucks from the Beauty Club, $4.50 in extrabucks from something else, and a $5 off of $25 coupon that I'd put on my card from the website. After all that, I paid less than $3!

Even though the quad was essentially free, I'm still going to return it and get something else instead. Why keep something around that I'm not going to get any use out of? I'd rather try some other new products instead.