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

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? 

Baack from NYC with a Haul (of course)

Lol, I started this post two days after I got back from New York and I'm finally finishing it up! Slacker much? :P

I'm excited to start blogging again, though I don't expect to post as frequently until after finals! Bah, I'll try to take it easier academically in the summer, which means more blogging!

Here's a collective haul pic. 

It's not complete, as I hauled a NYX felt-tip liner and a NYX concealer pen the day after. But it's mostly what's there.

Haul deets

From Wigs And Plus, I hauled the NYX sharpener so I can finally sharpen those fat NYX Jumbo Eye pencils. I expected more NYX products in NYC, since we're so deprived over here. Wigs And Plus' NYX selection isn't that good. Beauty 35 is better, though they don't have NYX's Mosaic powders, which Wigs And Plus carries. Plus, I later found out that Beauty 35 sold the sharpener for a dollar less. Shopping FAIL.  

I was most excited about getting my hands on some Ben Nye. I haven't had any success finding a good Ben Nye selection in SF stores. I didn't want to buy Ben Nye online, because of shipping fees and I wanted to try out testers. Some forums pointed me in the direction of Ricky's. I went to four or five Ricky's before I realized that their Ben Nye selection is extremely limited. I was looking specifically for Ben Nye's blushes and contour powders, which none of the Ricky's carried. I was about to give up when I saw this post. I saw the contour powder in the post's photo and I knew I had found it! 

Alcone is a professional makeup shop that basically carries full selection of many stage makeup lines like Ben Nye, Cinema Secrets, etc. Check their website for info on their inventory. It's a very small shop, but there are trays and trays of testers for everything! Customer service is a bit subdued since they cater mostly to makeup artists. But that just means no hard-selling and pressure to buy more than you want. :D In addition to Ben Nye's Contour #1 powder, I also picked up the Visage Poudre in Banana to try, Tao's HG finishing powder. I was walking back to the subway when I decided to check MakeUpAlley on my phone to see what else Alcone had to offer. Then promptly ran back to grab a few of their awesome sponges, haha.

If you live in the area or will be visiting, it's better to go to the storefront than to shop on Alcone's website. There seems to be a price jack going on online. I picked up the contour for $8, and it retail $10 on the website.

If it weren't for the extreme weather (I'm a climate-spoiled Bay Area brat!) and slightly scary pedestrian traffic, I could see myself living in New York. Why?

The drugstores, baby.

Many drugstores were open very late and even 24 hours, a rarity in the Bay Area. If I lived in New York, my bf would know where to find me if I was missing at 3 in the morning. At the drugstore! ;)

I really loved Duane Reade, a local drugstore. Though their sales are meh, their selection is incredible. There are Duane Reade drugstores that have a specialized beauty section called "Look Boutique." Look Boutiques carry more higher-end brands not found at the normal Duane Reade, they remind me of drugstores in Canada , which are also more upscale.

At one Look Boutique

I pissed my pants when I saw this. I had no idea that any store in the US carried GOSH. GOSH is a cosmetics company from Denmark that is popular for their 24/7 eyeliner dupe. Before i saw this, I thought I could only buy GOSH online or pester my bf to CP it in Canada. But no, lucky New Yorkers have access to GOSH's full line!

Some mo' photos

A Lush-like bodycare company called Me! Bath. They have testers.

Another brand I'm not familiar with, a makeup company called StudioMakeup.

The regular Duane Reade is pretty awesome too.

Some brands that intrigued me. 

DERMAbaria, a moisturizer brand I've never seen before

Raw Essentials, a natural skincare line

And Duane Reade carries Korres' sister brand Kings & Queens! I love their scents!

Duane Reade's sales seem to vary from location to location

Aaand my Duane Reade haul

I picked up the DERMAbaria cream to help soothe my wind-chapped skin. Man, my combo skin type was really not equipped for East Coast weather! I also picked up GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner in Bananas, because Arianne recommends it as an inner corner brightener. Thanks for the lemming, Arianne!

My absolute favorite part of my trip was actually leaving the island and visiting Flushing! Flushing is a mecca of authentic and cheap Chinese cuisine. Obviously, my bf and I gorged ourselves silly on dumplings, $1 soymilk and scallion pancakes, and shaved ice!

I also discovered it's the place to buy Asian cosmetics, particularly Chinese Skincare. The drugstores in Flushing have the best selection of Asian cosmetics that I have ever seen in person! It's kinda sad really, since most of imported Asian cosmetics pass through the ports of California. Where's the Bay Area's supply?! :P

I couldn't get a better photo, the streets are super crowded near the subway!

Right by the Main Street, Flushing station is a pharmacy called Tung Ren Tang. They sold My Scheming Beauty masks for $10, which is very close to Sasa's price. 

I picked up Liyanshijia's 24-K Active Golden Yulan Oil Facial Mask, 10 pieces for $10. It is a whitening mask. I heard about the brand from Jean. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it. I asked my aunts to pick this up for me in China, and they couldn't find it. How strange to find it in Flushing! So I had to buy it. :) However, my spirits were a bit dampened when I later discovered that the masks expired last year. Learn from me and remember to check the expiration dates on the products!

My favorite drugstore for Asian beauty in New York was Starside Drugs & Surgicals. It is a Chinese pharmacy chain based in Flushing with five locations. Selection varies from location to location, but the well-stocked ones carry Japanese brands like Ishizawa Lab and Dollywink, etc. All the locations carry the Hong Kong beauty brand O'slee and a mainland Chinese brand I wasn't too familiar with called Tongrentang. I also checked out a few Asian beauty boutiques in Flushing, but don't recommend them. The markup was ridiculous (sometimes 3 times more than its retail value in Asia!) and it seems like the boutiques simply purchased their stock from Sasa. Pharmacies seem to actually purchase from importers, so I often saw products I couldn't buy from Sasa.

My Starside haul

I picked up O'slee's Peeling Milkshake Cleanser, because of Birkie's rave and since it was no longer sold on Sasa. I picked up Tongrentang's cleansing cream that claims to fade pigmentation (for my mom's age spots). The manager helped me pick it out. There were five different kinds of Tongrentang cleansers, which I couldn't tell apart since it was written in Chinese, so he helped me translate. So nice! The blotting paper was a freebie, since I spent over $20.

And that concludes my haul! It's quite a bit for me. I didn't tally it up for my budget, because I definitely surpassed my $40 beauty limit! But whatev, I was on vacation (the perfect excuse). Any reviews you would like to see next? Let me know. Any shopping suggestions to add? What are you looking forward to this spring? Your thoughts!

My Haul Under $20

Today I walked into CVS hoping to take advantage of the amazing Physicians Formula deal (Buy $10 worth, get 7 Extra Bucks). 

Little did I know the stars were aligning for me. 

My treasure trove

When I scanned my CVS card, the machine spat out a Physicians Formula $3 off coupon. Sch-weet! I also saw that my local CVS stocked the PF Happy Booster and I picked up the last blush in Natural. That had a $3 off coupon stuck on the package. So I paid $5.99 plus tax for an $11.99 blush! And I still qualified 7 Extra Bucks offer. With the Extra Bucks, I only paid a few cents for the blush overall! 

Then I went back to the cosmetic aisle and hauled like a maniac, because Elle raved about these Sally Hansen eyeshadows which are 75% off for $2.19. I picked up Sally Hansen Instant Definition Eye Palette in Ocean, Mountain, Amethyst, Stone, Earth, Metallic, and Quartz. Then I went back to the checkout and paid for part of the cost with the EB's I just got. The cashier looked at me like I was a god and I was high-fiving people up and down the line.

Ok, that didn't really happen, though the cashier was mildly impressed that I knew the shadows were on sale even though they didn't have stickers on it (lol, it's the secret drugstore club we all belong to b/c of Gianna).

In total, I spent $16.98. I'm more happy about the savings than the products, haha. 

Have you ever had hauls that come about like this? Tried any of these products before? Your thoughts!

I Buy Too Much Stuff Part ∞

Thank goodness Christmas is over or else Santa would have given me a lump of coal! ;)

I've only been home two weeks and I've already accumulated so many products!

Ack, just look at my recent CVS haul!

Fear my shopping prowess!

But at least I hauled when CVS is having cra-zazy clearances to clear out the shelves! If you need more info on this, Gianna has the ultimate scoop.
I also took an increased interest in The Body Shop ever since I became obsessed with the unobtainable Sparkler. I picked up two amazing-smelling bottles of Pink Grapefruit shower gel at TJ Maxx and I was hooked! It's no longer just the shop that smells like orange Tic Tacs to me.  I went the actual storefront and took advantage of the post Christmas sales.

Utterly embarrassed about the terrible photo, sorry!

Yes, I needed to compile a spreadsheet of haulage.



Shopaholic that I am, you can bet I'll be back at the CVS for more!

I also got a package on New Year's Eve.

Oh, yes. I was able to ring in the New Year with the Naked Palette in hand! Their shipping is pretty darn fast, considering it was sent from Florida.

Some pics of my haul. It's the second time I've ever bought UD.

Naked Palette, Smoke Out Powder Eye Pencil in Maui Wowie, and Lipstick sample in Sellout

Lol, I don't have the Mini Primer Potion anymore, since my friend wanted to try it and I already have the professional size one.

The photo that has appeared on hundreds of beauty blogs, so nothing ground-breaking here.

It's such a surreal moment unpacking the box, since I've seen it so many times online, that I know exactly what it looks like: velvet-covered palette with magnetic closure. But with it being such an in-demand item, it's the first time I've ever seen one in real life. And it's all mine! Mwuahaha. :P

I bought a Smoke Out pencil, despite reading some pretty craptastic reviews on it on MUA. But a member said it works well wet, so I took the plunge.

Here is a comparison swatch!

Smoke Out Pencil in Maui Wowie: Left is wet swatch, right is dry swatch (lined several times)

As you can see, it is pathetically useless when applied dry. For the wet swatch, I just dipped the tip under running water and it gave a pretty smooth, pigmented line. The line takes some time to dry though. On the other side of the pencil is a sponge tip to smudge the eyeliner. I've never worked with wet eye products before, I'm excited! 

Forgive me for the slow updates, but it's so bothersome for me to take pictures and get ingredients for reviews. But I have some new posts lined up. Stay tuned!

Did you do a post-Christmas haul too? Your thoughts!

Prospective Canada Haul?

EDIT: for the horrendous misspelling of the title, it was late y'all. :P
I need your help, Canadian beauties!

My bf is currently in Quebec resting up with family and friends before the semester starts. He's mentioned he'll be happy (well, let's pretend he's happy about it) to pick up a few items for me. 

So do you have any suggestions for Canada-exclusive beauty must-haves? I'm thinking more along the lines of affordable drugstore brands like Anabelle, Marcelle, etc. 

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated. :) Your thoughts!

New Sightings at CVS and Haul

I went to CVS today to use up a $5 off $15 coupon. While I was there, I spotted some new displays.

New collection from Organix with argan oil! Organix is my favorite shampoo brand, I love their quirky botanical combos. Argan oil has been the it-ingredient in haircare for a while. Nice to find it in a more affordable range!

The collection includes shampoo, conditioner, hair serum, and treatment.

Some closeups 

EDIT: The shampoo and conditioner retail for $7.99 too.

The hair serum, it's not 100% aragan oil though.

I jotted down the ingredients for the Renewing Moroccan Aragan Oil Penetrating Oil (hair serum).

Ingredients: cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, cyclomethicone, C12-15, alkyl benzoate, butylphenyl methylpropional, argania spinoza (argan) oil, linum usitatissimum (linseed) extract, parfum, yellow 11, red 17

The ingredients are similar but definitely not identical to Josie Maran Argan Oil Hair Serum.

The hair serum (in the box) and treatment (in the tub) retail for $7.99.

I spied some new Rimmel foundations.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation retails for $8.99

It's pretty chic for Rimmel. The packaging is luxe-looking, in a heavy glass bottle. Wonder how it performs! If you're in the UK, you can enter here to win a free full-size sample of this foundation to try out. 

Also saw some Tweezerman sets. 

I don't like traditional tweezers, I'm used to the scissor grip variety. I run through the revlon scissor grip ones quickly, because they misalign in months. I'm looking for a more durable scissor variety. Any suggestions?

A Maybelline One By One Volume Express Mascara display

Lol, it's not just cardboard, it's a giant wand replica. I'd blind myself with it if i used it!

I've seen this Milani display for a while. But it's the first time I haven't seen glitter polishes picked clean. 

Milani is BOGO1/2 off this week.

Aaaand my haul

I got: 
Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil Renewing Treatment ($7.99)
Milani Jewel FX Nail Lacquer in Gold and Gems ($4.99, BOGO1/2 off)
eos Lip Balm With SPF 15 in Lemon Drop ($2.99 on sale with $2.99 extra bucks, Thanks Gianna for the tip!)

I'm really excited to try the treatment. My hair is crazy damaged, I'll try anything to get rid of my split-ends. 
I'm slightly nervous about the glitter polishes. I feel like the trend is on its last leg. I'll bet next spring everyone will be rocking duochrome shades instead, and I'll be stuck with a dozen glitter polishes, lol.

Any of these new collections pique your interest? Have you tried them already? Your thoughts!

Black Friday, Cyber Monday Hauls and Disappointments

I'm back again! Thanksgiving was hectic, as I was cooking all Thursday. I got to break my meat fast for a bit by nomming on some turkey. I hope everyone got to spend some time with other loved ones! :)

I didn't think I spent that much money until I tallied it all up just now, lol. 

Here goes: 
I didn't buy much on Black Friday. I am super scared of big crowds and the cold. Black Friday's for the true fanatics! I stayed warm all day and ventured out to my local stores just to browse around. I picked up the N.Y.C. limited edition rose glosses Rite-Aid. Learn more about the collection here. The collection never showed up in the East Bay, but they found their way to my hometown. I was so excited to find them, because it's been a while since they've been released. And there was still one of each! I felt soo excited... until I got them home and realized that someone broke the safety seal on one of them and swatched it. Gah, but I decided to keep it and sanitize it with rubbing alcohol on the surface. Check the safety seal, it should be on all unopened rose glosses!

After dinner, I check out the local Ulta. They stocked some new Freeman products, so I, of course, helped myself to a new clay facial mask. I glanced over the ingredients for this one and I see no parabens, woot! (EDIT: I didn't looked closely enough, it does. :/) I'll get a new review up for this one soon. 

When I got back to school, I proceeded to haul some L'oreal products that have been heavily discounted. Thanks Gianna and Lisa for the tips! Another thanks to Gianna for alerting me that the new Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle nail colors were available at CVS.

CVS Haul

Here's the breakdown (yes, I made a chart)



I saved tons of money on the L'oreal sale, though I'm not a fan of L'oreal skincare or cosmetics. I've looked through the labels: way too much mineral oil/petrolatum and alcohol. But I'm pretty happy with my purchases nonetheless. Save even more money by printing out some L'oreal coupons. I found mine here. 

I kicked off Cyber Monday with e.l.f.'s 55% off sale on Sunday. It bugs me that it doesn't include free shipping, but $6.95 is manageable. Here's my forthcoming haul. 

The sale has been extended, so you still have a chance to get your haul on! Another way to save money is to spend over $30 on e.l.f., not including tax and not counting coupon savings. You'll then be eligible for a magazine. But if you forgo the magazine, you'll receive $12 rebate back. That's like super savings! Click here for more deets. 

Rants follow

Hard Candy Haul and Review

Ever since I heard about the new items for the Hard Candy line from Gianna, I was psyched about hauling them. Luckily, I was able to pick up everything I wanted. 

My haulage

My eyes were mostly on the duo blush sticks and concealer. I'm a blush fiend and I'm always on the lookout for my nasty undereye circles. 

(L-R) Hide & Glow Cheek Duo Cheek Tint in Pillow Talk, Hot Date, and In Love

When I got to the display, I did not want to choose between the three gorgeous shade duos, so I hauled them all. Typical me. ;)
When I first apply the blush on, it feels sticky, a lip balm-y texture. I kept expecting the blush to sink into my skin into a dry finish, but that never happened. I was so disappointed when I thought I was stuck with sticky cheeks! However, I found that when you blend it in with your fingers, the stickiness subsides. So blending is key to this!

Some Swatches

You get 8g of product per tube, 4g of each color. What I loved about the color range was that it all looked very natural on my cheeks. The vibrant, neon-ish colors are on top and darker, plummier shades on the bottom. In the tubes, In Love looked like a lovely vibrant coral. I wanted it the most coming out of Walmart. But after swatching it, I am far more impressed by the other two shades. Most of all, I loved the darker sides of the duo, which actually aren't too dark for me, like I had thought. Each tube retails for $6. 

Glamoflage Heavy Duty Concealer With Concealer Pencil in Light

I am not sure how to feel about this. This is a super pigmented concealer, so much so a teeny, tiny dot will be enough for your eyes. I totally think people will be able to cover up tattoos with this baby. But on the other hand, this is a bad undereye concealer. It looks fine when I first apply it, but it already settles into my fine lines in as little as five minutes. Yikes! Also, the concealer is formulated with petrolatum and lanolin, which make some people break out. And I am far too vain to use it, if it might make me break out. So, it might be good for covering up scars and tattoos off your face. 

A Swatch

Another tip is that the concealer runs very light, so you might want to go a shade up, if you are a fair-medium. I had to exchange the light for a medium.  The pencil concealer was a perfect match for my skin, you can't even see it! This retails for $6.

 

Glow All the Way Face & Body Luminizer in Doll Face

I randomly picked it up, since I was hankering for a new primer to try out. I had heard about liquid highlighters from Tao. This would be a super cheap alternative to Benefit's High Beam. You get 2.7 oz. for $8, which is a steal compared to High Beam which retails $24 for .45 oz. This luminizer is a pink gel consistency and is super pigmented with fine silver shimmer. You really have to be careful not to overdo. It's easier to work with if you apply it underneath your foundation, so it's more subtle.    

Holy Pigmentation, Batman!

Overall, I really love the blushes and highlighter. I'm still on the fence on the concealer. 

Have you hauled the new Hard Candy too? Let me know your thoughts! :)

At Long Last! Pixie Holiday wet N wild Collection Sighted!

After much anticipation, the limited edition holiday collection from wNw has finally arrived in my neck of the woods.

My visual proof/haulage

wNw coloricon palettes with eyeliner in (L-R) Night Elf, Sugar Plum Fairy, Golden Goddess, and Snow Sprite.

It finally arrived at my local Walgreens today. I bought them for $5.29 apiece and I used a $5 off $10 wNw purchase found in November's All You mag. I think they are supposed to retail for around $4.99, but Walgreens always has jacked up prices. For now, I will reserve my judgment on prices until I can compare it to the price at Rite Aid. 

The display was already missing nail polishes when I got to it. There are only two palettes in each shade in the display, so grab them quickly if you're interested! Check out great swatches from Rai here. Let me know if you would like me to do swatches!

Good luck, y'all! :) 

Update: Darn! Gianna just said that there will be a wNw 50% off sale at Walgreens next week. Wait until next week to get your haul on to save some money!

Mega Haul / is there an item limit on addiction?

I swear I didn't mean for it to end up like this. I've been school-free for the past six weeks. Not of my own volition, of course. I dropped a class (though I managed to learn P(finding an upper division probability course too hard to take during the summer) ~ 1). The first few days were heaven, no school to be late for, no homework to toil and weep over. It was absolute freedom.

Which meant I got sick of it after two days.

I was so bored. As the saying goes, the devil finds work for idle hands. Well, my idle hands shopped! It was way too easy to shop with all the available time. Now I know what they mean by "retail therapy."
Bad mood? -> Wonder what sales are at Rite Aid?
Miss bf? -> I think I need more blushes.
I'm bored -> I really should get into painting nails.
And on and on. And blogs and vlogs only gave me more new products to try. This added up really quickly.

Here's what it looked like after hitting countless CVS's, Rite Aid's, Target's, and Walmart's.

Can you tell it took 20 minutes to arrange it so it would all fit in one frame?

Pretty scary, right? It looks like I emptied a drugstore shelf into my shopping cart (which wouldn't be too far from the truth). It's actually worse than it looks, because some products are hidden by others. If I expanded it, it would look insane.

It's weird. I'm more interested in skincare, but I have an absolute weakness for cosmetics. If I love a cosmetic blogger's taste, I will develop a lemming for her raved products like no other until I have them in my hands. I have absolute trust in other bloggers' take on cosmetics, because I'm so unfamiliar with it myself (not wearing any on most days).

In contrast, I will be more skeptical with skincare. I won't invest in a skincare product until I know its ingredients, no matter how many raves I see.

What are y'all's buying habits like? :)

I'll break this down by store I purchased it from:




Haha, I realize that making a spreadsheet is pretty neurotic, but that's how I am when I have nothing else to do. I love being detailed and crediting sources. :)

I didn't just buy beauty products either. After I read Elle's rave over Poketo for Target's collection, I went the very next day to get my hands on some. They were available in Target and online way before the August 10 release date.

My Poketo Haul
Further evidence of my inability to resist temptation. :P

I bought a laptop sleeve (which fits a bit snug for my HP TX2500, but would be perfect for small, super thin laptops), a pack of three bags (big one for my make-up, medium one for pencils, and wee one for camera/phone), and an umbrella (couldn't deny myself cute green bears = fail). The entire collection was all so cute that I applaud myself for not walking out of the store with it all (baby steps).

My out-of-control spending habits will hopefully diminish with the new school year starting in late August. I'll be too focused on school, clubs, etc. to buy things or go to stores. You won't see hauls like this anymore!

Well,

we'll see. ;)

Virgin Post: Be gentle!

I first wanted to post a haul, because this haul is significant to this blog. I had promised myself that I wouldn't buy anything after too many rounds of buyer's 'morse. Haha, prior to that I spent way too much money on something I basically wasn't sure I wanted. I've definitely been a shopaholic way before I regularly read beauty blogs, but reading glowing reviews on unfamiliar products is super enabling! ;)
So I resolved to stop shopping for six months....that lasted two days! Because I walked through Rite-Aid and saw this.

Temptation calling

I am a huge Freeman fan! They use some really lovely ingredients. I am always wary of skincare products when they seem to be composed mostly of fillers. But Freeman doesn't seem to do that. I've seen a good selection of Freeman products only at Rite-Aid. Perhaps they're better stocked on the East Coast?

Anyway, my bf reminded me of my ill-timed no-buy pact. But he said I could buy it if I wrote a review of the products on my blog. He's so sweet to encourage my blogging! Procrastinator that I am, this haul was from May 30. But I'm here now! :D

I bought:
Freeman Pineapple Facial Enzyme Mask ($3.99), thanks to raves from Muse and Jean
Freeman Chocolate & Strawberry Detoxifying Mask ($1.99)
Freeman Dead Sea Minerals Anti-Stress Mud Mask ($1.99)
Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Facial Clay Mask ($1.99)
N.Y.C. Blushable Creme Sticks in Plaza Pink and Big Apple Blush ($3.99)

Swatches

Natural Lighting: Big Apple Blush (Top) Plaza Pink (Bottom)


With Flash: Big Apple Blush (Top) Plaza Pink (Bottom)

I've tried most of these products already, so expect to see reviews coming soon!