My Latest Grocery Outlet Haul

Hey y'all!

Celebrating Kalmo's return (woot woot!) to the blogosphere, I figured I might as well get my butt into gear with regards to posting again.

I ventured out to Grocery Outlet again to stock up on my usual fiber bars and also to spy what new beauty goodies had been stocked.

Here's what I picked up.

Spent more money on cosmetics than food this time. Rational spending fail.

I bought:

Physicians Formula Multi-Colored Pressed Powder Powder Palette in Peach Nude ($2.99)

I couldn't find any reviews of this shade, but Muse seems to be a big fan of the product! I hope it'll be similar to N.Y.C. Color Wheel Mosaic Powder in Peach Glow, as that's discontinued. :/

Burt's Bees Lip Stash Pack ($3.99)

I was soo excited to find this! Four Burt's Bees lip balms for four bucks is a really good deal. The kit retails for $10! It has a Beeswax Lip Balm tin and three tubes of Honey, Replenishing (pomegranate), and the minty Beeswax one. Besides this, I also saw a bunch of other Burt's Bees products at Grocery Outlet: a travel bag of mini-sized products, their Rosemary Shampoo Bar etc.  

L'oreal HiP Studio Secrets Professional Eye Shadow in Luna Noir, Darkwave, and Enchantress ($1.99 each)

It was a complete surprise to find these as these duos came out last fall in the limited edition Midnight Muse collection. And the prices are to die for! There are two other duos. I'm sure they were there, but I wasn't just looking hard enough. It was getting close to dinner time!

Beyond my haul, I saw some cheapie face masks and nose strip packs for $.99 apiece. I also saw Revlon Colorstay Mineral Finishing Powder in Suntan Matte. People were going gaga over this during the last CVS clearance sale. Lol, and now it's $.50 less at $2.99. So if you're ever frantic about missing out on a discontinued product, you're bound to see it at Grocery Outlet sooner or later. 

Happy July 4th! My partner's back in Canada and celebrated Canada day on July 1st. Guess we're not so different after all. :)

As for me, I'm going on a group hike tomorrow afternoon with a potluck afterwards. Made onion dip and spinach chickpea curry and a cantaloupe bundt cake for tomorrow night. I know, weird combo, but I'm just clearing out some leftover produce!

How are y'all spending July 4th weekend? :D

My Love Letter to Grocery Outlet

To my dearest Grocery Outlet,

As evidenced by my latest haul, I have quite the relationship with you. Shh, don't tell my partner! I'm sure some people might be skeeved out by the idea of you (would you ever buy food at an "outlet"?) They might call you names like "Gross Out" (because bullies are sooo clever). But I get you, I really do.

I even get your silly commercials that might garner the attention of the lawyers of Jim Henson's estate.

 I know that you have tons of makeup goodies, tacitly reserved for those who can look past your "skeeviness."

Kiss My Face Shave Cream

L-R: Beverly Hills Skincare (picked up some for my mom!), L'oreal Collagen and Skin Genesis

L-R: Neutrogena scrub, Tree Hut body wash and body splash

Some Revlon lippies, Almay foundation, Physicians Formula makeup

L-R: Revlon mascara, Maybelline, Almay eyeshadows

L-R: Clean & Clear eye makeup remover (bi-faciltype) and cleanser, Clearasil cleanser, night treatment, and serum

L-R: ELF Mineral, Almay mascara, Revlon mascaras

Freeman cleanser, moisturizer, masks!

Garnier Nutrioniste cleanser, treatments, scrub

More Tree Hut body washes

And some reason, Grocery Outlet, you double as a storefront for ELF cosmetics, not that I'm complaining!

But my absolutely favorite aspect about you is that you're adventurous. You introduce me to products I would never get to try otherwise. With awesome prices, I'm not afraid to try!

Here's a beloved brand that I owe you for introducing us!

Petal Fresh Whitening range with cleanser, toner, moisturizer and mask! Petal Fresh is an American brand, so I don't feel guilty trying, since it doesn't have to ship from another country. :)

Some products that intrigue me, but haven't tried.

Creams from an unknown brand and Nivea scrub

And don't just think I'm after your beauty products, you're so much more than that! I'll actually buy your food (though I'll check your expiration dates meticulously). I can always count on a cheap fiber bar from you and a chuckle looking at the products that were obviously bad marketing ideas. And ice cream: ZOMG. You know me so well that you know I'd eat discontinued flavors like Haagen-Daz's Sticky Toffee Pudding (in case you're wondering, yes I bought backups. ;) ) and out of season flavors like Girl Scouts' Samoas (are we still allowed to call them that?).

And I treasure your quirks, like your inexplicably Japanese Spam.

I made delicious musubi out of you.

What I'm trying to say in so many words is that I love you and I want you to be mine. Let's take the next step and move in together. I'll sleep by the freezer on hot nights (I'll guard the ice cream).

Yours, 
Angelica

Champagne and Beer Haul

A few days ago, I ventured out to Kiehl's for a pricey purchase. I have been trying to put off buying, because I thought it was way too much for the quantity. Though I'm cheap first and vain second, my paranoia over my aging undereye area sent me to seek out pricier solutions. 

I've been on the lookout for a high spf eye cream since forever. I'm all about high sun protection, I never leave the house without spf 70 slathered on my face. But I've been neglecting my eyes. Bad Angelica! 

If it helps, my excuse is that there doesn't seem  to be any versions in the drugstores. Nothing goes above spf 15. Revlon Age Defying concealer goes to spf 25, but I just want an eye cream. 

There doesn't seem to be too many options in high-end either. There's Shiseido's Sun Protection Eye Cream 32 PA+++, but at $32.50 daaamn! I'll go broke if I paid over $1 per spf point for my sun protection. There's also Lancome's Bienfait Multi-Vital Eye SPF 28 Sunscreen, but it's even more expensive ($38)! Clarins' Sun Wrinkle Control Eye Contour Care SPF 30 is slightly cheaper at $28. 

Kiehl's Ultra Moisturizing Eye Stick SPF 30 won out by being the cheapest ($20), which is what I ended up with. A solid sunscreen in a lipstick tube is definitely the most unique application of the options. 

But ick, $20 for 4g is still really pricey! I got a free sample of Midnight Recovery Concentrate, but it doesn't help. 

The next night I went to Grocery Outlet. Haha, a complete 180 right? And picked up these lovelies. 

St. Ives Warming Scrub $2.49
Petal Fresh Pomegranate & Raspberry Whitening Firming Anti Wrinkle Cream $1.99
Petal Fresh Avocado & Green Tea Whitening Detoxifying Facial Clay Masque $1.99
Garnier Nutritioniste Nutri-Pure Oil-free Detoxifying Cream Cleanser $2.99

I know that these products are incomparable to sunblock, which is an absolute necessity under the California sun. But look how much I saved! Plus for the remaining money of one eye cream, I was able to buy this. 

Yes, I'm mad serious about my fiber, in case you were wondering. 

I can afford to eat! This is why I love shopping thriftily.

Grocery Outlet + Moi = <3 

Do you mix high-end and bargains too?