Huge drugstore haul!

This is going to be a quick post just sharing all the goodies I've purchased over the last few months. (And after this, I am on a strict no buy in order to save more for a house!) Everything is drugstore priced items except for two things but I wanted to share them anyway! There aren't going to be any short reviews on anything because I plan on doing full reviews on most of the items in this haul. I will list all the products under the photo so you can see brands and names of colors, where I purchased, etc. 

From Ulta:

• 2 packs of cotton pads, round ones that I use to take off eye makeup and square lint-free ones I use to take off nailpolish
• NYX Tinted Brow Mascara in Chocolate
• NYX High Voltage Lipsticks in Flutter Kiss & Sweet 16
• NYX Intense Butter Glosses in Spice Cake, Napoleon, Orangesicle, Sorbet, Toasted Marshmallow, Funnel Delight, Banana Split
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit in Light
• IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness Neutralizing Correcting Cream

From Target:

• Sally Hansen Gel Shine 3D Top Coat
• Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream
• Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Normal/Oily Skin
• Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Balancing Toner for Normal/Oily Skin
• Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spray 100% Organic

From Walgreens:

• St. Ives Blackhead Clearing Green Tea Scrub
• Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara in Soft Brown
• Maybelline Lasting Drama by Eye Studio Gel liner in Blackest Black
• Maybelline Color Sensational Bloom lipsticks in Bubblegum Bloom, Carnation Cabernet, Tangy Tulip, & Playful Peony (all limited edition for Spring)
• Maybelline Color Elixir in Passionate Peony (also limited edition for Spring)
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Gel Liner in Black
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara in Black
• Revlon Photoready Prime + Anti-Shine Balm
• Loreal Brow Stylist Plumper in Medium to Dark
• Colour Prevails Bashful Biscuit Blush/Bronzer Duo in Beached Bronze
• Colour Prevails Blank Canvas Liquid Foundation in Porcelain
• Colour Prevails Classic Lip Duo Lipstick/Lip Gloss in Neutral Pink
• Colour Prevails Nail Lacquer in Reality Star & Mr. Wrong
• Colour Prevails Eye Shimmer Powder in Rose Gold
• Colour Prevails Eye Calligraphy Liquid Liner in Purple 

Whew! That was a lot of stuff. Look for reviews coming soon! I plan on reviewing the Colour Prevails line in depth (new and exclusive to Walgreens) first. I also have a fun "Battle of the Brows" review planned for the three brow gels/mascaras from my haul. See you soon!

e.l.f. Ariel Collection Haul

I first saw glimpses of this collection on the blog nouveaucheap. And I, being a huge Disney fan, could not wait until I got my hands on it! When it arrived at my Walgreens, I snapped several pieces up.

As you can see above, I bought the lip set, lash set, shadow duo set, and eyeshadow palette. There was a small brush set and a few hair accessories available as well but I was mostly interested in the makeup items. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous and this set is probably one of the few things I'll actually keep in the packaging just so I can hang on to it. 

The item I was looking forward to the most was definitely the eyeshadow palette. I have a weakness for eyeshadow so I knew I would be purchasing that for sure. It comes with 9 shadows, 2 bronzers, 1 lip gloss, and 2 brushes. The palette also has a small mirror and some artwork demonstrating 2 looks you can create with the colors.

I swatched everything over bare skin - no primers used. The bronzers are very pigmented but shimmery; they almost have a metallic finish that I think would be more suited to an eyeshadow than a bronzer. The shadows would certainly benefit from a base underneath. I've found this is the case with most e.l.f. shadows though so no surprise there. The gloss has a creamy, semi-sheer finish that looks like you can build up to more full color.

I also swatched the rest of the collection:

Sunrise and Sunset are their super glossy lip shines and Pink Petal is a lip stain marker. Sunrise is fairly sheer while sunset was surprisingly pigmented. I'm excited to see what Sunset will look like on my lips. (My lips have been stupidly chapped so it'll be awhile before I can try them out. Boo.) I was pretty impressed with the staying power of the stain; I really had to scrub at my hand for awhile to get it off. The shadow duos had a little more pigmentation than the larger palette. The purpley color in the Coral Reef duo has a really pretty almost duo-chrome finish that looks fun. The waterproof eyeliner pen is a very rich, solid black.

I really love the collection. The packaging and artwork is beautiful and the products inside look like they'll be fun to play with and create some great looks. I bought a few items from their Disney villains collection when it came out over the holidays and I'm pumped they're continuing to collaborate with Disney to create more collections. I hope e.l.f. comes out with more fun collections in the future! 

Sephora Haul

I made a trip to my local Sephora to pick up a few things. Well actually, I only went in there to pick up one thing but you know how well that always works!

 I wanted to test out the Becca mattifying primer because I kept hearing great things about it. My skin is combination/oily and it gets especially oily in the summer. I've tried several options and nothing really works as well as I would like so I decided to plop down the money and try this. I've heard it's tricky to work with, you have to pat it into the skin vs. rubbing it in or it tends to pill. Despite its uncooperative application possibilities, I'm excited to try it.

I've also been on the lookout for a new moisturizer to help keep my oil and shine at bay. I pretty much just grabbed this Clinique Dramatically Different moisturizing gel while I was waiting to check out. I see it mentioned a lot on different blogs and forums so I'll have to see if it works for me.

The biggest purchase was the Bare Minerals Get Started Complexion Kit. It includes 2 of their foundations - one regular, one matte, a prime time primer, a blush/bronzer, mineral veil, a brush, and a bag to hold everything. I've never tried anything from Bare Minerals before so I'm looking forward to testing everything out. I'll be doing a full review on this kit sometime in the future. Stay posted!

And last but not least, a mini Tarte Flushed cheek stain that I got as a 100 point perk. I don't have a ton of experience with Tarte. I received a large set of their Lip Surgence lip crayons from my sister Jessica and a kit that had a blush, mini Maracuja oil, and a mini Lights, Camera, Lashes from my coworker Anna for Christmas this past year. But that's really it. Typically cream-like blushes don't work well with my oily skin but I still want to give this one a try.

So that's it. Like I said, I will be doing a full review on the Bare Minerals kit in the future but if there's anything else you'd like a review on, please let me know!