Beauty Haul

 Hi, everyone! How was your weekend? The last few days have been crazy and stressful for us. My husband was in a car accident on Thursday and his truck was totaled. Thankfully my husband is alright aside from some bruising and soreness. I'm so glad it wasn't worse!

On to better news, here are the new products I'm trying out!

Nars Pleasure Seeker Afterglow Lip Balm Set

I've been really into lip glosses and lip balms over lipstick lately. I saw this holiday set and wanted to give it a try. They feel comfortable on my lips, but they aren't at all hydrating.

Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector

I have heard good things about this product, so when I saw it as a 100 point perk on Sephora's website I added it to my cart. I LOVE this! My hair looks and feels incredible after I use this. I've already purchased a full size bottle of this product...it's also in this beauty haul. lol

Dior Backstage Foundation sample in shade 1N

This shade matches my skin perfectly. It feels nice on my skin and doesn't look thick or cakey. I've only worn it once, and I plan on wearing it at least a few more times before I decide if I want to purchase this. So far though, this is really nice and I like how it looked on me.

Natasha Denona Sunrise Palette

This was half off on Sephora's website, and I've been DYING to purchase a Natasha Denona palette. I bit the bullet and just purchased this one. The shade range is beautiful and there's a good mix of shimmer and matte shades. The mirror is large and the hard plastic case feels sturdy.

First Aid Beauty Your Future Looks Fab Set

I love these FAB holiday sets! They are always an amazing deal, and I genuinely love this brand. I didn't NEED anymore skincare items, but I simply can't resist these sets.

Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector

As you saw earlier in this post, I tried out a sample size of this product and loved it so much that a purchased a full size of it. It's really spendy for the amount that you get, but the results I get from using this product is worth it to me.

Dior Diorshow Mascara

I've used up this mascara once before and really liked how it makes my lashes look. When I saw it as a free sample on Sephora's website, I had to add it to my cart. I just wish this wasn't so heavily scented.

NARS Afterglow Lip Shine in Orgasm

This was sent to me free from BzzAgent for review. The formula is very thin and not sticky at all. The shade is very, very light. It almost looks clear on my lips with a sprinkle of sparkles.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture The Slim Matte Lipstick in Dare to Rouge

This was also sent to me from BzzAgent for review. The shade is darker and more orange than I thought it was going to be, but it isn't an awful color. I normally steer clear of orange shades because I don't think they look good with my complexion, but this shade is one I may actually wear on occasion. It's very opaque, so one application is more than enough. It is a matte shade so the formula is a bit dry, but not uncomfortably so.

 

Aveeno The Favorites Collection Gift Set

Please ignore the fact that this box is absolutely mangled. My 2 year old got to it. lol This was part of a Christmas gift. I've been using Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion for a long time, but I haven't tried much else from this brand. I'm excited to give these other two products a try.

 

 

Colourpop Super Shock Cheek in Flexitarian

 

This is a stunning cream highlight! I'm so happy I finally decided to pick it up.

 

Ahava Dead Sea Water Mineral Hand Lotion

I love this hand lotion. I repurchase this all the time.

MAC Viva Glam x Keith Haring Lipstick in Red Haring

I thought the packaging on this was really cute, and you all know how much I love a red lipstick, so I just had to have this.

The Nubian Palette by Juvia's Place

I've been wanting to try out more products from Juvia's Place and I've heard amazing things about this palette. This palette is so nice! The shades are beautiful and they blend out so nicely.

 

Free makeup bag with samples

This was free from Ulta with $70+ purchase. There's a TON of samples in here!

 

DPHue Color Fresh Dry Texture Spray

I received this free from BzzAgent for review. I don't like this. It smells okay, but it leaves a crunchy, sticky residue in my hair that I am not at all a fan of. I'm pretty sure this is clear. I have dark roots right now and I didn't notice any white in my hair. That's the only thing I like about this product though.

 

 

ACO Skincare

 

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for review. I was given four products to try out: Renewing Daily Cleanser, Rescue Mist, Perfecting Serum, and Purifying Day Cream. I've never heard of this brand before but I'm always up for trying new products. I'll leave a review here on my blog after I've used them for a while.

 

 

Paul Mitchell The Conditioner

 

I bought this because I'm an idiot. lol! I ran out of conditioner and wanted to try out a "better" brand (I've been using drugstore brands for forever), so I grabbed this thinking it was a regular conditioner. It's not. It's a leave in conditioner. Haha! It's alright though, I'll use it. I ended up ordering the Ghost Shampoo and Conditioner from the brand Verb instead. I tried out a sample of them and I really liked them.

 

 Givenchy Le Rouge Deep Velvet Lunar New Year Edition Lipstick in 37 Rouge

I love the lunar new year packaging on this lipstick! Also, it's red, so you know I had to have it.

 

 That's everything for now! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Autumn Book Haul - 2021

 Hello, everyone! How was your holiday weekend?

These are the books I've purchased/have been given this season. I'm trying to convince my husband that we need to move into a bigger house. My book collection is getting close to needing a whole room to themselves!

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

This was pretty good. Lots of twists just when you think you've realized who the killer is.

Go The Distance by Jen Calonita

 

I've read one "Twisted Disney Tale" already, and this is my second purchase. I really enjoy Disney re-tellings.

The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

I've read amazing reviews about this book, so I finally picked it up. I've only read one other Grady Hendrix book, but I enjoyed it, so hopefully this will be enjoyable too.

 

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

 

I really like the Grisha verse, so I'm sure I'll enjoy this book too.

 

Classic Works From Women Writers

 

This is another leather bound classics book. I think they're absolutely beautiful. I have every intention of collecting all of them.

 

The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davies

I heard good things about this book, so I wanted to check it out for myself.

 

 

That's all for this season! Thanks for stopping by, and have a fun and safe New Year's!

Autumn Empties - 2021

 Hello, everybody! How was your weekend?

Can you believe it's already almost Christmas?! This year flew by so fast for me!

So, here are my empties for autumn. There are a lot of bad ones this time! I don't know what's going on. Maybe I just had bad luck with products this season?

Purlisse Daily Lip Nourisher

This isn't something I'd repurchase. It had a weird smell and didn't sink into my lips. It felt heavy and gross.

Dr. Teal's Moisturizing Bath & Body Oil

This isn't the best. The scent was fine, but it was really greasy and took FOREVER to sink into my skin. My hair barely touched my skin after I applied this, but my hair looked super greasy and dirty afterward.

 

 

Dr, Teal's Body Lotion

This was fine. Again, the scent isn't bad. I don't think I'd go out of my way to repurchase though.

 

Aveda Nutri-Plenish Leave-In Conditioner

This was eh. The smell isn't that great, and I don't think it did much for my hair.

 

Beauty For Real Lip Scrub

This smells just like Juicy Fruit gum! It exfoliated my lips very well. 100% would repurchase for the scent alone.

 

Beauty Counter Counter+

I liked that this definitely brightened my skin, but I don't think it did anything else for me. It sinks into the skin fairly quickly and it isn't greasy. I'm undecided on whether or not I would repurchase this.

 

La Mer

 

This was such a small sample that I honestly have no idea whether or not this does anything. I saw no difference in my skin after using this. For the price, I would say this is a no for me.

 

 

Youth To The People Kale + Green Tea Spinach Vitamins Superfood Cleanser

This was nice. I felt like it really cleansed my face well without stripping my skin of all oils. I would repurchase this.

 

Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Age Defying Exfoliator

If you've been around a while, you already know I really like this exfoliator. I have, and probably will again, repurchase this.

 

 

Burt's Bees Hydrating Sheet Mask

 

This was terrible. The mask was HUGE. I had to fold it down on almost all sides to get it to fit my face. Also, the holes for the eyes and mouth were way too small. I was afraid this was going to get into my eyes. It constantly slid down my face. I maybe wore this for 2 minutes before I ripped it off and threw it away.

 

Kiehl's Vital Skin Strengthening Super Serum

Again, this is such a small amount that I had no idea if this works well or not. Obviously I'm undecided on whether or not to repurchase this.

 

 

Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector

 

This was a 100 point perk from Sephora. I had heard good things about this, so I added it to my order. I really like this! I hate that you have to get your hair wet before you apply it, but it works wonderfully! I have already ordered a full size of this (spoiler - you'll see it in my next beauty haul) because I love how my hair looks and feels after using this. This is definitely becoming a staple in my hair care routine.

 

 

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Wipes

 

I like these. I don't really have much else to say about them.

 

Sunday Riley A+ High Dose Retinoid Serum

This was a lightweight formula and it sank into the skin quickly. There really wasn't enough product in this sample to see any differences in my skin though.

 

Princess by Vera Wang

 

I really enjoy this perfume. I've had this bottle for an embarrassingly long time. My husband bought it for me for an anniversary present in the early years of our marriage. We've been married for 13 years. Surprisingly, this still smelled nice even after all these years.

 

 

That's everything I was able to use up! Have you tried any of these products? If so, what are your thoughts on them?

 

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have an amazing week!

Christmas Decor Haul

 Hello, all!  How was your weekend?

Here's all the holiday decor I've picked up over the last few weeks.

Rae Dunn Spatula & Cookie Cutter Sets

Snack Bowls

These were $2 a piece at Target.

Santa's Snacks bowl

 

I found this at Fred Meyer. I believe it was around $2.

 

 

Mini Bottle Brush Trees

 

These are from Hobby Lobby. They're fairly small, but that's what I liked about them.

 

Red Pedestal

 

Also from Hobby Lobby. I'm not sure what I'll use this for, but I love the color red so I'm sure I'll find something to do with it.

 

Yankee Candle in Balsam & Cedar

We have a fake tree, so I like buying tree scented candles to put in the same room as my tree. I miss the smell of a real tree, but fake trees are better for the environment, so I'll deal with tree scented candles.

 

 

Red Espresso Mugs

 

Aren't these the cutest?! I found them at Hobby Lobby and I just couldn't resist them.

 

Large Lantern

 

This was from the Target Dollar Spot. I really like these lanterns, so I'll figure out a place to put it.

 

Picks

 

Again, these are from Hobby Lobby.

 

 

That's everything I picked up this year! Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Beauty Haul

 Hey, everybody! How was your Thanksgiving? This past weekend was my first weekend off since I started my job back in August. When I was hired I was scheduled to work Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. My husband has the opposite schedule. He works Tuesday-Friday. I was finally able to switch my days, so now I work Wednesday-Friday! I'm so happy to finally be able to spend some quality time with my husband and the three of us together as a family (especially this time of year!), so that was the number 1 thing I was thankful for. I also had Thanksgiving off so we were able to spend the holiday together with our family.

Onto the good stuff! Here are all the new beauty products I've picked up recently.

Colorstreet Nail Polish Strips

One of my friends sells Colorstreet and she had an offer for "buy 3 get 4 free". When you order from the website they always offer B3G1, so in addition to that she send me another 3 from her stash. The first picture is my B3G1 order from the website (t-b Cran-tastic, Light the Night, Winter Bow-mance, and Ring It In). The second picture is another set that I bought along with the 3 extra free sets (t-b Wrap It Up, Sakura Festival - my faaaavorite!, Wine Down, and Good Impressions). The last picture is 3 more sets that I bought from my friend when I looked through her stash (t-b Boo Crew, Bats Amore, and Salute To You). Lol it really is an addiction!

Soap & Glory Clean On Me

 

I really like this body wash, so when I used up my last body wash I decided to go back to using this one.

Juvia's Place i-Scult, i-Shade Brow Gel in Medium Brown

This was sent to me for free from BzzAgent. I like this brow gel except that the shade is pretty light. I think this is more of a light brown. I always use medium brown brow products and this is much lighter than any other medium brown product that I've used. I also don't think it held my brows in place as well as other brow gels that I've used.

Softlips x Hello Kitty Lip Balm Holiday Set

I saw this at Target and couldn't resist it. I love Hello Kitty, and the scents sounded interesting.

Shu Uemura Wata Wave Dry Finishing Spray

This is another freebie from BzzAgent. I don't like it. I didn't notice any texture difference in my hair, and this left a sticky residue. This is a no for me.

 

 

ILNP in Salem

 

This was part of my anniversary present from my husband. I love the holographic nail polishes from this brand. This is a black base with green glitter that reflects purple. It's stunning!

 

 

That's everything for now!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!