Happy Holiday Haul (way belated)

Oooooh goodness. Here we go! It's the Holiday Haul! Yep, it's finally happening. I'm sorry it's in February, but life has been pretty hectic. I actually have more than this, but that was bought a couple weeks after all this stuff, so I figured I'd put it in another post so this wouldn't be SUPER long.

First up are some eye shadows I got from Ulta around Black Friday time.

LE Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eye Shadow in Matte Brown

LE Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eye Shadow in Nude Pink

I was SO excited to find these at Ulta, since they'd already been launched for a while and I was thinking the display would be pretty well picked over. Honestly, it looked like it had hardly been touched. I was like WHAT?! So I got the colors I wanted. I heard that these were all great, but the gold/yellow shade didn't appeal to me. I'm so excited that these are matte. I haven't worn them yet, so I can't tell you about that, but I mean, they're Color Tattoos. I'm sure they'll be great.. They swatched pretty nicely.

Essence 3D Eye Shadow duo in Irresistible Caramel Cream

Essence 3D Eye Shadow duo in Irresistible Chocolates

So these are pretty nice shadows. I got them because I thought they were all on clearance, but I think only one of them ended up actually being on clearance. It was alright because they're already pretty cheap to begin with. It's been a while since I swatched these, so I can't really comment on texture, but I'll do a review after I've had more time to use them.

Sooo... this shadow is just one big disappointment. First of all, that is somebody's nasty, dirty, finger smudge in the eye shadow. Gross, gross, gross!!!! It's not mine. I tried to see if there was a smudge before buying it (since Essence doesn't have any tamper evident packaging), but the lighting in Ulta can make it difficult to see those sorts of things. Plus, this was the last one available. Anyway, I didn't see the smudge until I got it home :( I'm not using a shadow that someone else has dug their grubby finger in! Thankfully, I was able to switch the shadow for a new one, later on when they had restocked.

Essence Metallic Effect Eye Shadow single in Party All Night

Still, I have my qualms with this shadow. To keep it short: It only shows that color in the swatch for a short time. The beautiful gold color you're seeing? That's an OVERSPRAY!!! What?! Such a disappointment :( I mean, that's a GORGEOUS color, and it only lasts for a short while. Boohoo. Oh well.

Here's the rest of the stuff I got, all around Christmas time.

NYX Love in Paris Palette in Je Ne Sais Quoi

I've been hearing a lot of good things about the NYX eye shadow palettes, so I had to pick this up. The colors were calling to me. It was also BOGO 50% off, and I was already getting the NYX HD eye shadow primer, because I needed a new one. The pigmentation is a little hit and miss, but I've been using the black a lot lately, and it shows up a little better than it swatched, I think. That lower right hand shade is pretty disappointing, though. Pretty patchy and just sparkle.

Revlon Photoready cream blush in Flushed

I've seen a lot of people using this on YouTube, and I've been curious about it for a while. Since I was getting the Nearly Naked foundation, and it was also on sale, I decided to finally give in and pick it up. It's pretty thin in texture, so I'm thinking this will end up working pretty well.

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

I've heard good things about this and I don't feel like spending $20 on the beauty blender. I feel like this works pretty well (and you can see that I have indeed used it, haha). I don't have the BB to compare it to, but I don't care. I like this all by itself. The flat side makes application all over your face pretty quick.

CoverGirl and Olay Concealer Balm in Fair

I don't know why I'm showing this to you. It's just a concealer. But, there it is. Nothing fascinating to look at. I will say though, I'm kind of disappointed with their shade range for this concealer. It looked like it was pretty much all for lighter skin, just different undertones. I mean, that's great if you have light skin, but what about all the other skin tones?! I'll have to look into it more.

Too Faced Beauty Blogger Darlings set

I was considering getting the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara, but decided against it since it was so expensive and I didn't know if I would like it. Then at the checkout I saw this set for $20. Buying it, I got to try out not only the mascara, but also the famous bronzer and face and eye primers.

Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara wand

Super excited to try this! It's pretty good, I must say. And it's growing on me as I use it more. The hourglass shape of the wand doesn't prove to be especially helpful, but it isn't a hindrance, either.

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

I haven't used this enough to say much, but I'm excited to finally have a sample to try!

LE OPI Nail Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, Glitzerland, and
All Sparkly and Gold (top to bottom)

I almost forgot! I got these in an effort to find a good gold nail polish. Unfortunately, I think they're all limited edition. I saw All Sparkly and Gold was reduced to $4.99 in the JC Penney salon area. The girl also showed me that they were having a BOGO for a $1, so I was drawn in. I used the BOGO deal for the other two. I think All Sparkly and Gold was part of the Maria Carey Holiday 2013 collection, and the other two are part of the Swiss collection.

Here's the nails I did for Christmas:

I used Ulta's Freshwater Pearl as the base and OPI All Sparkly and Gold as an accent. And actually, the accent nail had Glitzerland as the base, so that's not just ASaG layered up to that opacity. I must say, I liked the look, but I don't know if I'll be going to glitter that often--it's a royal pain to get off! It takes forever to remove, and it doesn't feel like it will ever come off. Ugh. I have a headache just thinking about it. I think I'll just save it for special occasions. Yep.

So that's pretty much it! I don't have pictures of the primers and foundations because, honestly, what's the point? The foundation matches my skin, and the primers are clear/flesh toned. I hope you are having a great day, and that your preparing yourself well for Valentine's Day! I need to work on a tutorial/makeup look idea. Have a beautiful day!!!

Stacie

Does anyone else think it's weird that we have to make a claw in order to show our nails? There must be a less menacing way to go about this!