New In: Sephora - Too Faced, Korres, Clinique, Shiseido, Philosophy

Hello again loves!

I'm going to level with you guys because I love you, this haul is from March or April and this post has been all typed up just waiting to be posted since then, but somehow it was lost in a sea of other posts that I had already published, so Ebates no longer has 15% cash back for Sephora, but I'm sure it will happen again so please don't kill me. Thank you and now back to our regularly scheduled super old blog post.

I was just sitting on the couch watching Netflix with my boyfriend minding my own business when Andie from technocupcake.com and technocupcake on YouTube brought to my attention that Sephora and Nordstrom were 15% cash back on Ebates when they are usually 3% or 4% and it was just too good a deal to pass up!! Thank you Andie, you're a peach! I then decided to place an order on sephora.com to pick up a few things I actually needed and then a few that I'd been eyeing for a couple weeks. I mean, I was getting money back like my own personal VIB sale so I let myself splurge a bit...and by a little bit I kind of mean a whole heck of a lot.

I think I'll share the products I meant to buy first and those would be the Philosophy Purity Made Simple One Step Facial Cleansing Cloths, Shiseido The Makeup Facial Cotton, and Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm. I love each of these products and I tried to live without them for a little over a week, but I just couldn't handle it.

After I kept my cool for about 10 minutes, I lost all control of my body, went ape-shit crazy and added quite a few new products that I've wanted to try out for the last few months to my cart. The first product being the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Taupe and I'm a little worried it's going to be too dark for my hair color, but I think I'm going to try to embrace darker brows. Blondes can get away with that right? Hell yes we can!

I also picked up the Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express For Brows and Eyes in Blonde because I'm trying to decide which I like the best: brow powders, brow pencils or a combination of the two and this kit was cheaper than buying the eyebrow stencils and brow powder separately with a few extras thrown in that made it a really good value in my opinion. So far it seems like the perfect little eye and brow kit. I swear, Anastasia, you can do no wrong and my brow game is about to be strong.

My excessive makeup hoarding brain then decided that I shouldn't have live any longer without owning a Clinique Cheek Pop blush because the damn, sleek as hell, clear plastic packaging and 3D daisy embossed in the powder was just too cute. I was torn between...well all the shades to be honest, but I was seriously torn between Ginger Pop and Plum Pop. Ginger Pop won out because I was thinking a warm peachy shade would give my cheeks that freshly come in from the sun look that I desperately look for in the summer as my pale ass doesn't get outdoors much without SPF 1000+ (my skin seriously burns within minutes of exposure to the sun). They always say, "Fake it til you make it" and I do that allllll summer long. My seriously eyes teared at the sight and it was over. In my cart it went to play with all the other kiddies.

I was in the market for a new lip balm because I just finished my Burt's Bees chapstick and a couple samples of the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment. Don't get me wrong I liked the Fresh lip treatment, I just wasn't ready to drop $22.50 on one tube of lip balm. That's just too steep for something I am most likely going to lose, ruin or use up quickly so I chose to purchase a potted lip balm namely the Korres Lip Butter in the Jasmine scent/shade. I wanted something that was going to hydrate my lips while not stressing me out about whether it's going to slide all over my face like some kind of terrifying clown monstrosity. That's not a cute look for anyone, least of all me and I always keep Purell in my bag so the less-than-hygienic packaging doesn't bother me too much.

That is all I was going to purchase and then I remembered that the last time I was in an actual Sephora store I sniffed the Elizabeth & James White and Black perfumes and fell deeply in love with both of them so I purchased both of them in rollerball form because I wanted to be able to wear them separately and layered together and I didn't want to spend like $500.00 that day so rollerballs it was. They smell diviiiiiine alone and layered so it's like I got three perfumes. Ermagerd!

I had been hearing about the Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick from everyone and their mothers for the better part of two months and I couldn't resist the siren song any longer. I obviously had to experience the "melted" formula and weird felt applicator (although thinking on it now the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors have the same applicator and no one thinks those are weird), so I picked up the shade Melted Peony and it is gorgeous!! The formula is that of a melted lipstick and that sucker stays and stays on my lips for a good long while. I like them and of course that means I'll be picking up the other shades in the line. The only shade I'm not too sure about is Melted Nude as I think it may be too much of a brown pinky nude to look flattering on my skin tone. I don't want my lips/mouth area to look like a butt-hole. These are the things that often keep me up at night with worry. Just kidding.

Not long after I bought my first BeautyBlender, I received a deluxe sample size of the BeautyBlender BlenderCleanser in my Ipsy Bag or Birchbox, I can’t remember, (can we just talk for a moment about how ridiculous the name of this product is? Do companies try to come up with names that are the longest, most difficult names to remember ever?) and I was using that to clean my BeautyBlenders, which I felt like I had to use a lot of it to get the sponges clean, and when I ran out of it I had to decide if I was going to repurchase the one I got for free or try something else. I decided that I wanted to try the BlenderCleanser Solid because I had watched several reviews on YouTube in which all my favorite beauty vloggers were raving about how it lasts longer than the liquid version and I am all about product longevity. Seriously, I really don't like when I purchase a product and then it runs out so quickly I'm back in the store like three days later picking it up again. Not about that life. At. All.

I believe that was all my crazy shopping addict self purchased that day, so I hope you enjoyed the post and I'll have another one for you on Monday. Have a great weekend, y'all!

Summer 2014 Lips + Tips

Hello lovelies!

The weather is warming up where I live so I thought it was high time I let you all in on the lipstick and nail polish shades I am really looking forward to rocking this summer. I think we’ll dive straight into the lipsticks I can’t wait to wear all summer long!

My first lipstick pick is a cult favorite from MAC Cosmetics. Lady Danger is my favorite shade by far to wear in the summertime. It is so fun with its bright red-orange hue and it seriously lasts on the lips because of the matte finish. I find that as long as your slap a lip balm on a few minutes before you’re ready to apply this shade, the matte formula really isn’t too drying and downright comfortable to wear. Now if you’re going to be eating while wearing Lady Danger you will need to touch up a bit, but it’s such a stunning shade I totally don’t mind.

I think we’ll keep the MAC train rolling with Crème Cup which, I’m not going to lie to you, I wear all year round. It’s a fabulous light blue based pink cremesheen formula which is one of my favorites and is probably the best “nude” shade for my skin tone. I love wearing this on its own or with a gloss over top because it’s gorgeous.

Continuing with my MAC lipstick picks, I know I’ll be wearing Kinda Sexy a lot this summer. It’s a neutral pinky-rose color so it’s usually my go-to on days when I don’t want to wear very much makeup, but still want to look like a person. One example of a makeup situation I would pair it with is if I just want to go to the grocery store so I’ll throw on some concealer, a super light coverage foundation, a teensy bit of a contour/bronzing with heaps and heaps of mascara and this lipstick. It makes you look like you made an effort while still being super easy to do in like 5-10 minutes before you run out the door to be a responsible adult…hehe just kidding! You know I’m going to the store to buy Toaster Strudels and CapriSuns. (Yes, you are right, I am a 5 year old in a 24 year old body…you caught me.)

 The last MAC lipstick pick that will be on my lips all summer long is Crosswires. I love this pinky orange cremesheen formula because it’s bright, but it is also easy to wear. When I’m wearing a shade like this that has orange in it, I really like to make sure my teeth are as white as can be as it tends to make my teeth look a teensy bit yellow. Not ideal, but I can work around it and it motivates me to whiten my teeth a bit more regularly.

My next pick isn’t summer specific, but I do love it and wear it all the time so I thought I’d include it. It’s the YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick in No. 1 Nude Beige. It’s a good nude lip (I really don't like that term) option for me and it’s easy. I can apply it without a mirror, it wears off nicely (read: evenly) and the formula is pretty darn moisturizing.

I have obviously been on a MAC lipstick kick, so there’s that. Moving on to nails, I’m basically going to go through my whole manicure routine and a few shades I’m loving this summer.

After trimming, filing and buffing my nails I like the apply a nail treatment. The one I have been absolutely loving is the OPI Nail Envy. Now when I first saw people doing reviews on YouTube I was not about this product because I just thought everyone was getting paid to say that it was good (which they probably were), but now that I’ve been using it for about a year, I can say that I actually really like it.

Sometimes I’ll use the OPI Nail Envy as a base coat in addition to being my nail treatment, but for the occasions that I want to make sure my manicure lasts as long as absolutely freaking possible I will use the CND Stickey Base Coat which is ah-mazing! I’m nearing the bottom of my bottle now and I’m sad to say it’s getting goopy and hard to apply. Hide yo kids, hide yo wife cuz Heather's gonna be picking up another bottle when she can’t handle how difficult and shitty the formula gets. I promise I won't be referring to myself in the third person anymore in this blog post, pinky swear.

After whatever base coat I’ve used has dried, I apply two to three coats of the polish I’m using depending on the formula, opacity, blah blah blah. A few of the shades I’m going to be rocking all summer long are as follows: Essie Snap Happy (a gorgeous bright-ass red that is perfect for toes and fingers alike), Essie In The Cabana (the best aqua-turquoise shade you ever did peep, it’s SUCH a pretty color), Orly Rage (because who doesn't need a metallic-ass rose gold in their life at all times?), OPI Pompeii Purple (this shade is so beautiful you'll probably cry, you've been warned) and the last thing I have to share is a nail combo that is just divine in the summer, or anytime there is lots and lots of sunshine and that is one coat of Essie After School Boy Blazer and two coats of Essie Aruba Blue and that produces the most beautiful nail color EVAR! When you're indoors it looks are dark and awesome, but when you're outside and the sun hits it, it's a shining, shimmering splendor and you"ll be in a whole new world (Aladdin reference intended). Oh! And if you're feeling really cray (yes, I did just say "cray"...I regret nothing!) you can do one coat of Essie After School Boy Blazer, one coat of Essie Aruba Blue then a coat of Deborah Lippmann Lady Sings The Blues (this is a super crazy beautiful chunky glitter that looks like perfection on the nails) and your nails will look absolutely fantastic!

I follow up my polish of choice with a top coat and I have two that I really enjoy. The first is Seche Vite Fast Drying Top Coat which smells like it’s super bad for you and will probably kill you in the not so distant future, but the shine it leaves your nails with, girl, it’s worth it. The second top coat is INM Out the Door which I usually use when I’m an idiot and decide to paint my nails like 20 minutes before I have to be somewhere, which happens more often than I’d like to admit.

Once my top coat has had a minute or two to dry, I apply a couple drops of the Nicole by OPI Drying Drops which are literally bottled unicorn tears and work beautifully. It seriously takes two or three minutes and I can be on my way, but before I go anywhere I have to apply cuticle oil because my cuticles are quite dry in the summer and the one I use is the CND Solar Oil, it’s fabulous!

That is all I've got for you. See you with a new post later this week!

xoxo Heather