Walgreens Haul and Deals

So after 2 weeks of less-then-great days, I needed some retail therapy, and Starbucks. Underline the Starbucks. Capitalize the Starbucks.....and put it in bold. STARBUCKS.

So I went to Walgreens for some cheap thrills, although I spent more then I expected to. What else is new?

First off I was excited to see my all time favorite conditioner was on sale! I have been loving the John Frieda Frizz Ease Smooth Start conditioner for awhile. I've been using salon brands for years, and I won't lie. This is better then any of the salon brands I've used, and quite a bit cheaper! 

Normally $7.79, on sale for $5.99

Next up I needed some small hair clips (great for putting under a ponytail to give some extra umph to your pony). Goody was BOGO 50%, but I only needed these clips.

$2.99+BOGO 50% off

This wasn't on sale, but I love this magazine! Nail It! is a great magazine for nail techs or nail lovers. I always find great articles and inspiration!

$5.99 (if you like it, I recommend subscribing to it for $14.95 a year, way cheaper!)

Wet N Wild has a new display at Walgreens in honor of the 69th anniversary of the famous WWII kiss. They feature the color Think Pink (which looks more peach then pink to me). Also, I just read on their facebook page that for each Think Pink lipstick sold from now until December, they will donate $0.25 to the American Cancer Society, which is pretty cool. 

$1.99, no sales this week on Wet n Wild, but they almost always have some kind of sale, so just keep checking!

Lastly I picked up this adorable brush set! Its from the brand Studio 35 Beauty. They had this pink and purple giraffe set, and they also had some other animal print (leopard I think). You get 5 brushes and a brush clutch (which is way to small to hold the brushes without bending the bristles). This set is decent, for the money I'd rather buy a EcoTools set. These brushes just aren't anything special. They feel soft, but pretty flimsy. I'd recommend going with EcoTools, or even some ELF brushes if you want some good, but cheap brushes!

$12.99

Splurge Friday!

It's Splurge Friday! I thought I'd start this series off with one of my all time favorite splurge items. I've written about it briefly in other blog posts, but it definitively deserves it's own review.

So, for the first Splurge Friday, I choose.......Yves Saint Laurent's Rouge Volupte Shine. These retail for $35 and comes in 19 shades.

Rouge In Danger is a deep strawberry red. It pulls ever so slightly an orange on me, but it's very wearable on my skin color (NW10).

 Shade 11 (bottom swatch) is a pretty fuchsia pink. I love how it pops against my pale skin. This is a shade I can see working on almost every skin shade.

First off, the packaging is amazing. It's heavy and feels expensive and luxurious. The gold along with the YSL logo and small section of color is beautiful. I must admit, I feel like a pretty sophisticated bitch pulling this baby out of my purse!

The formula and feel is the main reason I love this lipstick. Its a gloss finish without the feel of a sticky, heavy gloss. You get the color and depth of a lipstick, but the sheen of a gloss. It feels smooth and almost moisturizing on the lips. It's super easy to touch up. Even with these vibrant colors, it's not hard to touch up quickly. They don't dry your lips out, or leave flakes or dry spots on your lips. 

I also love the color range, they have everything from subtle nudes to shocking fuchsias. 

Of course with a $34 price point it's a splurge, but it's sometimes nice to save up and buy something special that you wouldn't normally get.

Something new is brewing....

So I had a fabulous idea today while in the shower (because all great ideas come to you while in the shower, you know I'm right!). I'm going to have a new "series" on my blog!  3 days a week, I'll have a new blog post. What is this magical, amazing, wonderful series you might be asking? Well here goes, Dollar Monday, Mid Money Wednesday, and Splurge Friday!

Further explanation needed? 

~Dollar Monday. The day that everyone hates. You can always use a pick me up, but after spending all your money at the club over the weekend, it has to be cheap. So how about dollar Monday. Each Monday I'll review a makeup/hair/product/fashion piece that you can find for.....you guessed it...ONE dollar!

~Mid Money Wednesday. So maybe you found some extra change in the couch cushion and you want a little mid week pick me up. Wednesdays will have a review on a product that is $10 or less.

~Splurge Friday! It's payday, why not splurge a little. On Fridays I'll do a review on a product that's a little more pricey, $25 and up. 

Let me know if you sophisciated bitches have any suggestions or ideas for this series. And of course, I'll still be doing reviews, new product posts, hauls, etc along with this series. 

E.L.F Snow White Limited Edition Collection

So who else knew E.L.F was coming out with another Disney Princess collection? My walgreens put this out just this morning, and I had to pick up the whole collection. In case you haven't guessed, the collection is Snow White, my personal favorite! The prices range from $4.99-$9.99, and these are a limited edition Walgreens collection.

Please forgive the quality of the pictures. I lost the cable to my camera, but I wanted to get this collection up as quickly as possible.

First off , The Fairest Of Them All Beauty Book. It includes 7 eyeshadows, 1 eye primer, one mini eyeliner, a sponge tip applicator, a blush, mini blush brush, and mini lip gloss. I'll be honest, I mostly picked up this collection for the collectors stand point. The book looks adorable sitting on a vanity! Overall, I'm not impressed with the quality of the shadows. Way to sheer! I could barely get any color from them, and even the darker shades came out very faint and chalky. The eyeliner is a nice dark black, rather dry though. The blush comes out pretty orange looking, not exactly the rosy Snow White cheeks you would think of. the gloss is a pretty color, very dry formula though! The mini blush brush is rather pointless, it's to small to blend the blush properly. If your in a pinch, you could use it as a cheekbone highlighter brush since it's so small and precise.

Next we have the eye collection. You get a palette of 6 eyeshadows, the lengthening and defining mascara in black, and a double ended sponge applicator. 

The shadows in this palette do have a little more pigmentation. I keep getting the same problem as in the beauty book, they shadows are just very chalky! I haven't tried the mascara before. It has a more tradition brush.

Out of everything I picked up, this lip trio set is the best quality wise. You get a stain, gloss, and balm (swatch photo, top to bottom, stain, gloss, balm). I was very impressed with the balm! It's a very pretty deep red, just the color I would think of when thinking of lips red as blood! The balm is more of a rusty red color, and the gloss is more of a sheer plummy red. I really feel like this collection doesn't suit the colors of snow white! I'm expecting dark, rich, blood reds. 

The face collection is by far the worse of the lot. I have very pale skin, and I couldn't even get the blush to show up for the camera! The bronzer is pretty muddy and sheer. The blush is just pointless, to chalky! Their just isn't any color to it. Yet again, I feel like E.L.F is missing the point of a Snow White collection. It would have been great to see a more reddish blush! I also don't get the point of a bronzer. Snow White has skin as white as snow, I doubt she'd use a bronzer! 

Lastly we have a brush collection. You get 4 brushes and a case. It comes with a powder brush, blush brush, foundation brush, and eyeshadow brush. With exception to the eyeshadow brush, they are pretty scratchy and cheap. The foundation brush is a no go, way to flimsy to be able to get a blended application. The powder and blush brushes are okay, not horrible but not great. I do love the eyeshadow brush though! It's been a favorite of mine for years! It's great to pack on shadow colors on the lid.

You also get a little case/stand with the set. It's super cute, but very flimsy and cheaply made, which was disappointing!

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with this collection. First of all, I feel like the colors are all wrong. Maybe I'm over thinking it, but I want to see colors that are relevant to the character. Such as a yellow and blue eye shadow for her dress, a deep red lip color, a reddish blush, etc. Also quality wise, it's pretty bad. Now I do love some E.L.F products, the Studio Line has some pretty good quality products for the price! I wish they would have done a better job with the pigmentation and the chalky fall out!

Are you planning on picking up anything from this collection? You might want to act quickly, it is limited edition, so once it's gone, it's gone!

E.L.F Disney Ariel Collection

So I finally got my hands on this collection! This is a limited edition from E.L.F, and it's only carried at Walgreens. In the collection they have a lip trio, brush set, false lashes, duo shadows, a beauty book, and a bonzer. They retail from $4.99-$9.99. I picked up the bronzer and beauty book. I could tell just by looking at the brush set that the brushes weren't that great of quality, I also passed on the lip trio just because it didn't stand out as anything unique. I also passed on the shadow duos, I just wasn't interested in the colors.

I LOVE the packaging for the bronzer! It's honestly the main reason I bought it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Ariel image is actually a part of the compact as opposed to being a sticker. This bronzer (named Surfs Up) also comes with a mini kabuki brush which isn't to amazing. It's too small and compact to really be able to blend well, and it's not the softest brush I've seen from E.L.F. I love that the bronzer has spots of a gold highlight shade. You can either mix the colors to create a lighter, shimmery bronzer, or use it separately as a highlight. In the swatch photo, the swatch on the left is the bronzer alone, next to it is the highlight alone, and on the bottom it's mixed. The bronzer is nicely pigmented and it's not chalky. It is shimmery though, so I wouldn't advise using it as a contour. 

I am also in love with the packaging for the Treasure Within Beauty Book. It's nice and sturdy, it's a thick book that will look super cute sitting on your vanity. It has a mirror and a fold out section where you get the instructions for 2 different looks (a lighter daytime look, and a darker nighttime look). In the book you get 1 eye brush, 1 mini bronzer/blush brush, a lip gloss, 2 bronzers, and 9 eyeshadows. Not bad for under $10! I love the eyeshadow brush, I have used it for years and even keep some in my freelance makeup artist kit. It's great quality, and you can buy it on it's only for only one dollar! The mini bronzer/blush brush is pretty pointless, it's way to small and flat. It could possibly be used for highlighter though, since it's so small. The lip gloss (Go on and kiss the girl) is decent. Not amazing but not horrible. The 2 bronzers are nice and pigmented and soft. The eyeshadows are a bit hit or miss. The lighter shades tend to be a little chalky and not very pigmented. Over all, the shadows aren't the best things I've tried. They would definately work better with a base, such as NYX's jumbo pencil in milk, or even just a good eye primer to help bring out the colors.

All and all, I'm happy with my purchase. The bronzer is just plain cute and the beauty book has a great variety of colors are products. It's nice for people who travel, since they can easily have an entire eye, lip, and bronzer look from one palette. You could even use the Seashell shade lightly as a blush if you're stressed for space in your suitcase! 

If you plan on getting this collection, act fast since it is limited edition! You may be able to get it on drugstore.com or the walgreens website depending on if they restocked it or not. 

Fridays are for thrifting...

So I recently got rid of about 70% of my closet. I've "grown up" fashion wise, and needed a change. I realized that the majority of my closet didn't make me feel great, or even good. I was in the rut of buying clothes just because they were on sale. Or buying clothes that were to big or small thinking I could "make them work" (I'm no Tim Gunn!), or buying clothes just for the sake of buying them so my closet would look more full. I was buying clothes that I didn't love, I was buying clothes that didn't look good on me, or flatter my body or skin type. So I went through my closet and was brutally honest. I got rid of a lot of things that I liked, but knew I would never wear (mostly because they were way to big or way to small). I took my purged clothes to a thrift shop that I consign with so I could make some money to put towards my new collection.

That brings me to this thrift haul. Now that my closet is mostly empty (I only kept what I really, really love and what looks good and fits), I need to start rebuilding my fashion collection. Most people would go to their local department store, but I turn to my local thrift shops instead. I've always had a love for thriting. It's a treasure hunt, you never know what you'll find. I've gotten everything from vintage Dior to Gucci. I love it, plus it's loads cheaper then "normal" stores. And what's more bitchy then getting a great deal? 

With my new mantra in mind (only buy what I love, what fits, and what makes me feel good), I headed to the thrift shops.

First up the consignment shop (where I take all my items I no longer want). I only found one blouse, but I love it. It's an New York & Company sheer blouse. I like it because it's a neutral color, and I can dress it up and down. Since it's sheer, I can wear it in the summer, and since it has long sleeves, it can transition into the winter. I paid $2.81.

I also went to a local thrift shop where the proceeds benefit charity. I only found one top, but I really loved the fit and the detailing on the shoulder. I also love that since it's strips, it's more of a classic piece that can be worn for years without looking dated. It was half off, so I paid $1.50

I found the best deals at Goodwill. As soon as I walked toward the store, they had this blouse hanging in the window. I am a huge lover of Asian fashion. I grabbed it out of the window, and immediatley saw the Chinese fashion tag! I was thrilled! I live in hicksville where people don't have much of an open mind when it comes to fashion. The edge of the ribbon has frayed a little bit, but that's an easy fix.  I paid $6 (my goodwill has really raised the prices on clothes in the last few months).

I was holding my breath, thinking how cool it would be to find one more Asian piece of fashion. As I pawed through the racks of clothes, one piece jumped out at me. And yep, it was another Chinese fashion brand! Score! I love the top, but I'm not thrilled with the ruffles. I mean it's adorable, but just doesn't flatter my body shape. I saw that the ruffles can be easily ripped out, so I went ahead and got it. I love the detailing around the neck line and the vintage look and feel of the lace. This was also $6.

I then saw this top. I immediately thought Pinterest where I've seen many looks with this style shirt. How cute would it be with some casual jeans, cute flats, and a messy bun? Plus the fit is great, and I like having more casual clothes that I can throw on while running errands or going out to a casual lunch with friends. I also got this for $6 (what's with $6 for a tshirt?!)

I saved the best deal (money wise) for last. I picked up this Cynthia Rowley tunic style blouse for guess how much? You guessed it, lucky number 6. Her tops and blouses generally retail for $250-$290. So paying $6 wasn't to bad! I love that all the beading is intact, none of it is coming loose. I also love that the beading acts as it's own accessory, so you don't need a lot of jewelry. 

So all together, for 6 pieces of clothing, I spent less then $30. Honestly I would have been a bit happier spending a little less, but over all, I must say I did pretty well.