Pre-Christmas Haul

And maybe the only haul? I don't know. Money is weird for this Christmas, so I don't know if this is pretty much all I'm getting or what. Anyway, I thought I would share this with you so you can maybe learn about something that hadn't caught your attention yet. I don't have swatches or anything right at the moment because I don't have a good camera or good lighting. Maybe soon.

So this haul was largely propelled by a search for dupes. I have recently found a blog called Nouveau Cheap and it's a great site for people who don't (or can't) spend a lot of money on makeup (like me). I went through all the posts on dupes and liked a couple of them; thus, my search began.

The first dupe was for Stila's "Kitten". The $1 dupe was from L.A. Colors, a Mineral Eyeshadow called "Beige."  You can get L.A. Colors from Dollar Tree, and some of the stuff can sometimes be found at Big Lots or places like that. I was kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to find it because it's not on the L.A. Colors website anymore. That's usually a sign that something has been discontinued (unless you're Wet'n'Wild and decide not to remove discontinued products from your site), but I wasn't too worried because makeup at Dollar Tree and Big Lots has a way of sticking around for a loooong time.  Well, I had to get an employee to get it from a high up rung on the wall, but it was there nonetheless! I was so happy. Still am. I can't wait to use it.

*I'll try to insert a photo later*

Since I was at the Dollar Tree, I saw some loose pigments by L.A. Colors and one looked kind of similar to "Beige," called "Honeysuckle". I figured, hey if "Beige" is being discontinued (and I bought the only one at that Dollar Tree), I should try to find something similar to it. It's the same company. Maybe they tried to do the same color in a different form. I don't think it's the same color. I'll look at it in better light and let you know, but the pigment is definitely much more sparkly than the pressed eyeshadow.

Next on the shopping tour was Big Lots. Nouveau Cheap said that some SoHo brushes and HiP pigments were there, and I wanted to check it out. Well, I didn't need the type of SoHo brushes they had, so I moved on to the pigments. The two I picked up were "Tenacious" and "Unashamed". "Tenacious" is a sort of pinky bronze and "Unashamed" is a deep, sort of diluted almost raisin purple. They're both lovely and they were only a dollar a piece. I was tempted to get the other color, but it was pretty copper-toned, and I don't really wear much copper. And this was a pretty red copper. Not for me. Since I was in the area, I also picked up a HiP concentrated shadow duo in "Sassy". It has a sort of purpley taupe on the left and a teal that tends more to blue on the right. HiP shadows have great pigmentation. I would've gotten more (since they were only $1.20 a piece), but the other colors didn't seem like things I would ever wear. Probably why they were discontinued.

Tenacious

Unashamed

Sassy

 Then my mom wanted to go to Target, so I decided to pick up the Brightening Eye Color quad in "Butternut". Apparently the section in the upper right corner is a dupe for MAC's "Woodwinked" (according to emilynoel83 on youtube). I did a quick swatch and I really do like the color. I think I'll get some good use out of this quad.

Butternut

And finally, we stopped at Meijer. I wasn't really planning on getting anything. I was just in the makeup section to see if Maybelline's new Color Tattoo Metal cream shadows had arrived, when I saw that a great deal of Milani was being clearanced. I don't think a lot of people buy it because it never goes on sale. Meijer just finally breaks down and clearances it because of protocol. I saw that the lightest shade of The Multitasker powder was half off, and I had to have it. It's apparently comparable to MAC studio something foundation. Sorry that my description is kind of ambiguous, but I haven't ever tried or owned a MAC foundation, so I really have no clue. The dupe was provided by emilynoel83, so definitely check out her channel! She is full of useful tips and dupe information. She's my favorite to watch at the moment.

Unfortunately, my face powder does not have the lovely design embossed on its surface like this. That may have contributed to the reason for its clearancing. Meijer was probably trying to move in a new, updated batch of face powders. Oh, well; I don't care. The pattern only gets worn away as you use it, and I'll be more prone to use it if I'm not afraid to get rid of the pretty design.

Well, that's all for now. I'm on Christmas Break, so I'll have more time to do what I want. If I can get my acne under control and find my camera, there might even be a video in the near future. Who knows? It's been a loooong time since I've done a video.

I hope you have a lovely day (or afternoon, or evening), and I'll talk to you soon!
~Stacie

Pic credit: Tenacious: http://www.lorealparisusa.com/_us/_en/external/images/products/large/Cos41h_8_large.jpg
Unashamed: http://www.lorealparisusa.com/_us/_en/external/images/products/large/Cos41h_7_large.jpg
Sassy: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=6533772
Butternut: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmmS7e_7fqE88qvXP3CHv6bRHyEcN1OAmDdFRq2Q-qr_wytLF5fn-cizkYRuZpkZoALrvahWqbmpvYb5lCGBLQ8nHSU87-5DR3mB9dbp3MBPqUK3dxXF9P_j5QFojdflct32g8GDBGVYk/s1600/IMG_9173.JPG
Multitasker: http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/71/74/89/81/0071748981701_500X500.jpg