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

Hearts Don't Break Even: Stila and Physicians Formula Heart Blush Comparison

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of this blessed/dreaded holiday, I'll be comparing the two heart blushes rocking the blogosphere this season.

My newest blush acquisition!

Stila's Make Me Blush Palette

I got this last week and I had been waiting patiently for it ever since it got Muse's seal of approval and picked up for 20% off plus free shipping too. Who can resist that?!

Admire it with me! Close-up of the gorgeous-ness. 

Hommina hommina

Top off

So much prettier than actual candy hearts

  

The gold overspray just comes right off! A reviewer dreamyone on Sephora said it would make a great eyeshadow. I tried it and it was gorgeous! Here's a swatch.

It's a beautiful vibrant, orange-y gold shimmery color. If you want the gold color without the blush, Prestige's eyeshadow in Golden Retriever is an exact match. 

And now a comparison swatch with Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural. I have a separate review for the PF blush. Check it here. 

See how the Stila blush looks kinda funky in this pic? I dropped it and part of it fell off. :/ It has fake overspray, but I shed real tears!

Here's an indoor swatch.

As you can see, the two blushes are in the same fresh, pink-y shade family. However, Stila definitely has a strong hint of reddish coral.

Swatch in sunlight

The two look even more similar in daylight, but Stila is more pigmented. However, that may or may not be a good thing for you. Stila is a bit harder to work with, I often have to buff it out even after a light application. PF is foolproof.

Blushes blended out

Blended out, they look even more similar, but no dupe. Looking closely, there's a noticeably heavier shimmer in Stila, but nothing too crazy.

As for logistics: 

Price: Stila retails $14 (there was a coupon code for at least 20% off online), PF $11.99 (but there's coupons and sales).

Where to buy: Stila is available online on Sephora, Stila, and Macys, though Sephora and Stila are out of stock right now. It's probably available at retail locations of these stores. I've seen the PF blushes in cardboard display stands at CVS and Rite Aid, though there's only two of each blush shade in each stand. 

Availability: Stila is limited edition (words I can't resist!). And PF is permanent for now. 

Size: Stila is 9.9g and PF is 7g. 

I'm glad I picked up both. They're not so similar that I have buyer's 'morse for getting both.

What about you? Which one do you like? Would you get both? Your thoughts!

Swatches and Comparisons: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush in Natural

I just need to post this before I forget. I couldn't wait to rip open the box and see how this blush looks!

The puur-ty box before I tore into it

It's a peachy-pink blush with a sweet, floral scent. It's pretty pigmented, but not so much so that you will have a hard time working with it.

From my first swatch, I knew I had other blushes I wanted to compare it to. I have an affinity for peachy blushes and knew I had similar blushes in my collection. Ah, a true sign of a cosmetic addict, accidental back-ups. :P

Here's what I swatched it next to: 

Yes yes, the coloring's so off, but I'll be as detailed as I can. These blushes are very similar shades but not identical. The peachy-est one is certainly Luminous, followed by Rose Gold  The Happy Booster blush seems to be the same pink and peach shade as Coralista! Yay, dupe! 

They all have different finishes though. Rose Gold has the most heavy gold shimmer, followed by Luminous and Coralista. I'm happy to say that the Happy Booster blush has the least shimmer, it really is natural!

Pick up the Happy Booster Blush in Natural if you want a less shimmery version of Benefit's Coralista. It certainly is a far more affordable version, even at full retail ($11.99 vs. $28 for Coralista). But I advise you to wait on a good sale, it's not limited edition! As for me, happy I may be with my purchase, I have got to stop buying more blushes. At least more of the same. ;)

Did this pique your interest? Tried it? 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!

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. ;)