ULTA HAUL / SHOPPING SPREE

During the month of December Ulta had various promos running so I took full advantage and purchased a couple of items. I stocked up on several more of the Prestige Blackest lashes mascaras, a Butter London nail polish in Queen Vic, a China Glaze nail polish in Sea Spray, and a Maybelline blush #800 Pressworthy Pink. A recent magazine article had said that the Maybelline blush was considered to be a "Must Have" for your blush collection so I definitely had to give it a try. Anyway, by the time all the discounts and coupons were calculated I paid just under $20 for everything.

CHANEL: CHANCE EAU TENDRE SHEER MOISTURE MIST

The fruity tenderness of CHANCE EAU TENDRE is re-imagined in a refreshing after-bath indulgence; its sensuous mist leaves skin delightfully scented and velvety soft

Back in September I had posted about the new Chanel Chance Moisture mist (you can read the post here) that was first available in February of this year. According to some it was to be exclusive to Nordstroms department store only. However it was also available on the Chanel website as well (I purchased mine from there).

I purchased the CHANEL CHANCE EAU TENDRE Moisture mist around the beginning of November when Chanel was offering free shipping with any purchase from their website. The Moisture mist retails for about $40 for 3.4 fl oz.. It has a faint fruit-y floral scent that lasts about 3-4 hours and reapplication is necessary if you plan to wear this as your main scent. Even when layered over body lotion the scent does not linger. I find the best use of this product to be right after a bath because it does leave the skin soft and silky smooth. I then lightly apply (or layer) the Chanel Chance Eau Tendre perfume so as to enhance the over-all scent. **PLEASE NOTE: You must shake the Moisture mist before applying.

Final Thoughts:

If you love Chanel and you want a high-end body spray with a clean, floral, fruity scent then this will be a definite "Must Buy" for you. Otherwise there are cheaper alternatives out there.

For myself I do consider this product to be a nice splurge-worthy item to have in my collection so I'm glad I purchased it.

GILT GROUP HAUL / SHOP SPREE: KATE SPADE SUNGLASSES

Evan Square Frames

* Square frame
* Acetate
* Tinted gradient lens
* Metal logo plate at temple sides
* 100% UV protection
* Comes in a designer case
* Front piece length 5 1/2 inches; lens height 1 3/4 inches

Brand: kate spade sunglasses

Color: brown gradient

Material: Acetate, metal

I've always wanted a nice pair of name brand sunglasses. Something that was classy but not too over-the-top and it wouldn't cost a small fortune either. A couple of weeks ago, Gilt Groupe, (see my post about them here) sent out a mass e-mail alerting their members to the upcoming Kate Spade sale. I had purchased other Kate Spade products from Gilt Groupe in the past and have always been more than pleased with my purchases so I was extremely excited to learn that it would be the sunglasses this time around.

On the Gilt Groupe website there were about 30 different pairs to choose from with the lenses and frames ranging in various colors and designs. Some of the choices to choose from were purple, pink, brown or black lenses and frames, just to give you an idea of the variety that was offered. Which believe it or not makes it quite difficult to choose just one pair. Ha Ha! Anyway, I knew I had a budget to stick with so I chose the Evan Square frames. I chose them not only for their cost (I think these were about $45-$50) but also for their size and wear-ability as well. In other words, the sunglasses will pretty much match any outfit that I own and they are nice enough to been worn in a professional setting too.

P.S. I love the green leather bag that came with these sunglasses! A definite "Must Buy" more in my book if they are ever offered again!

CHANEL: Le Crayon Levres Precision Lip Definer 05 Mordore - Nude

Of all the Chanel lipliners this one is my favorite and I keep backups throughout my home and office. I would even go so far as to say its my "HG - Holy Grail". Now the name (on the Chanel website its listed as Mordore but on the box its called Mordore - Nude) is a little misleading because its not really a true nude color as one would expect. When I think of a true nude color a brownish flesh-y color comes to mind, but that is hardly the case here. I think what Chanel was going for here was the "MLBB - my lips but better" type of nude color, making it geared more toward those of us who have really pigmented lips (myself included) that is more on the pinkish mauve-y side of the color spectrum. I find that with really pigmented lips unless you use some type of coverup on your lips, then your natural lip color will change the appearance and color of the lipstick once its applied and sometimes its really not a good look. We all know what I'm talking about - the crypt keeper look, or as others would say - the porn star look which is definitely not a look to be rockin' in an office environment.

Anyway, this lipliner is more of a coppery mix with a slight hint of reddish mauve so it enhances your lips natural pigmentation and amps it up a bit with some color. For those of you out there with really pale lips I would skip this one as it might be to much color for you (think reddish Goth look) but hey, you might be into that look so who am I to judge. Typical wear time for me with the lipliner is most of the day, yes, even after eating or drinking and I usually layer a gloss over it due to how pigmented the color is.

This lipliner currently retails for $29 and is a dual ended lipliner, lip brush combo. So that means you have one less makeup brush that you have to tote around. It also comes with a separate pencil sharpener for the liner as well which is nice not only for sanitary reasons but also it is made for this type of product and will not destroy the liner when you go to sharpen it. For a mid-level price range alternative think MAC lipliner in Whirl. Whirl is more brownish pink in color though and currently retails for $14 and doesn't come with either a lip brush or a pencil sharpener. For a drugstore alternative I have heard that Rimmel London Darling Nude is a good dupe but I've been unable to find it at any of my local drugstores. I do know that Rimmel lipliners range in price from $3-$7 depending on your location and the store (think CVS, Ulta, Walmart, etc.).     

SMASHBOX HAUL / SHOPPING SPREE

I make it a point to visit the Smashbox website a couple of times a month; especially on Tuesday and Thursday when they have their "Let's Do Lunch" offers. They typically offer double or triple pretty points and a bonus deluxe sample with every order as well.  You can read all about it from my previous post here. Their "Final Call" section is where all of their newly discontinued products are listed and you can find some really great deals there too. Just like this lip enhancing lip gloss (see below for pics) that I got for $14.25 (it originally retailed for $19) and everything else were the "Freebies" that came with my order. I know...its an A-M-A-ZING deal.

2010 MASQUERADE LIP ENHANCING GLOSS in Disguise

Drench your lips in dazzling, shimmer and shine. A beauty editor's favorite, these lip-pampering golden glosses are ultra-nourishing and moisturizing. Guaranteed to keep lips looking gorgeous all night long.

To create the illusion of a fuller pout, darken the area underneath the center of bottom lip with the NUDE LIP PENCIL in a shade that matches your skin tone, then apply LIP ENHANCING GLOSS in REVEAL or DISGUISE in the center of lip.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I really liked this gloss a lot but it was a little more peachy-pink colored than what I was expecting. I would have preferred a more pinkish color. As far as color pay-off it was a tad sheer and it was very drying on the lips at least for me it was. I'm glad that I got this on sale because otherwise I would have returned it.

HomeMade Nail Polish Rack

Most of my nail polishes sit in boxes gathering dust because I don't have a way to display them. I had seen on YouTube where several users had bought acrylic racks to display their nail polishes which I really liked. The only thing I didn't like was the price tag and the fact that sometimes, depending on where you purchased your rack, it could be cheap plastic disguised as an acrylic rack. So for the past several months I had been pestering hubs to buy me one for Christmas because that was the only way I could honestly justify spending that much money on something that may or may not last very long.  

Well, my wonderfully talented husband, Charlie, unbeknownst to me, made a homemade nail polish rack for me. He had researched the different websites & stores and all of the racks he saw were extremely cheap plastic so he decided to build me one out of wood instead. And yes, I cried when he showed it to me...what can I say, I'm an old soft-y at heart ♥

Here are pictures I took of the shelf before and after I had filled it with my nail polishes.

Now, I love that man to death, but I don't think he realized just how many bottles of nail polish I really had. After he was finished, I quickly filled up all of the shelves and he about fainted when he saw how many more boxes of nail polish that I still had left and I was pulling even more boxes of nail polish out of the closet. As he left the room his last words were, "Just let me know when your finished so I can start measuring and I'll build you another one"...  Like I said, I love that man to death but when it comes to makeup, there are no limits!!!