ULTA HAUL / SHOP SPREE

This is just a quick haul / shopping spree of some drugstore makeup and haircare products that I recently picked up at Ulta. I am really loving the John Freida line of haircare products; especially the Luxurious Volume line. My hair is really long, medium to fine in thickness, and has a slight wave. So when its humid outside my hair tends to get a little frizzy.

This shampoo and conditioner really helps to tame my hair and gives it a wonderful shine that is amazing! Now I do alternate my shampoo and conditioner routine so this is just one of several that I use when I wash my hair in the mornings. I'll try and post some of the other haircare products later.

The Maybelline color tattoo cream eye shadows are the big thing to have right now. So many people are raving about their texture and staying power. Now, while I haven't tried these yet, I have used other cream eyeshadows. I typically apply the cream shadow right after I use an eye shadow primer. For me, it helps to set the eye area and aids in reducing eyeshadow creasing.

I think the big draw for most everyone is the price. These are so affordable compared to the pricier brands. Just about everyone can afford to purchase the Color Tattoo cream eyeshadows. They currently retail for $6.99 at Ulta and there is a promotion going on right now. If you buy two of them you will get a third one for free.

The last item that I bought was the L'Oreal infallible eye shadow in iced latte. It's a powdery eye shadow that glides on smooth like butter. It is a light vanilla golden color and is similar to Stila Kitten but not quite as shimmery. I currently own both and I find that Stila Kitten leans more warm where as the iced latte, has more of a shimmery vanilla, almost neutral tone. If that makes sense, ha ha! Don't get me wrong, I do love both, but Kitten is $18 and this was only about $7- $8. So for the money and if you are on a budget, the L'Oreal iced latte is the better deal and the closest dupe, in my opinion, to Stila Kitten.  

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LOREAL: Color Riche leGloss

#160 VIOLET ATTITUDE

#154 WATERMELON CRUSH

#153 RASPBERRY SPLASH

Yesterday I was at Super Target and I saw the new display for the L'Oreal Color Riche leGloss. I had seen the ads in the August 2011 issue of InStyle magazine and loved how Jennifer Lopez looked wearing #159 Golden Splash. What caught my attention was the shine and how creamy the glosses looked. So I picked up #160 Violet Attitude, #154 Watermelon Crush and #153 Raspberry Splash. The gloss is really creamy and goes on smooth. I like how it doesn't feel sticky and it lasts about a good 2-3 hours wear time (wear time does not include eating or drinking anything).

The leGloss retails for $5.99 which is relatively cheap for a drugstore brand because the majority of them retail for around $8-$11 each. The only complaint that I have about these glosses is the color selection. The display that I saw only had about 12 different colors to choose from and the majority of them were nudes, peaches and browns. So other than the three glosses I bought yesterday I really didn't see any other pink ones, which was kind of disappointing.

FREEBIES: MY TARGET BEAUTY BAG REVIEW

I love a good deal especially when the good deal ends up being a freebie offer. A couple of weeks ago Target was offering a free beauty bag on their website. The only requirement was to fill out a short survey and then sign up for their e-mail alerts which was optional of course. When I first heard about the offer my first thought was this must be a scam. You know, one of those offers where you have to fill out a bunch of surveys and you never receive the gift. So I was pleasantly surprised when this actually turned out to be legit. The items that I received were trial / sample sized items which are typically big enough for you to try but small enough to leave you wanting for more which make these perfect for travel! The only thing that worried me about this offer was on the Target website one of the disclosures stated that due to demand not all beauty bags will have the same items enclosed. Hmmm, interesting! So I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Anyway, I made it a point to share this offer with my co-workers so we could compare our items.

Here is a picture of the items that I received in my Target Beauty bag..

And here is a picture of the items that my co-worker received in her Target Beauty bag...

I have listed the names of the items here for you in no particular order:

• Sonia Kashuk makeup bag
• Nivea Express Hydration Daily Lotion
• Pantene Color Preserve Shine Shampoo
• Fekkai Shea Butter Moisturizing Shampoo
• Fekkai Shea Butter Moisturizing Conditioner
• Neutrogena Naturals lip balm
• Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss
• Coupon booklet with over approx. $25 in savings

After my co-workers and I compared our Beauty bags that we received in the mail from Target we realized that everything was exactly the same - same items and same coupons! Pretty cool!

Final thoughts...

1. I love makeup bags and truly believe you can never have enough of them. They are very useful for holding all sorts of items other than makeup too! The Sonia Kashuk makeup bag that the items were packaged in is very nice. The quality of the bag is exceptional, extra roomy and can hold a lot of stuff.
2. The Nivea lotion however has a slight perfume-y scent which according to the bottle is Sea minerals and Lotus Flower. Although the scent is not strong or overpowering it doesn't add to the quality of the product. It actually would have been nice if a more neutral scent had been used instead. But overall the lotion did make my skin feel soft and smooth.
3. I have my hair colored / dyed on a regular basis and in the past I have found that certain shampoos tend to make the color fade much faster. So I have to be careful when using new products. I have had great success with Pantene's Restore Beautiful lengths conditioner so I wasn't to worried about their shampoo. The Pantene shampoo that was sent has a nice clean fragrance (scent) and manages to really clean my hair. In regards to color fading, I didn't notice any which is always a plus but multiple washes is really needed to truly judge whether or not the product speeds up color fading.
4. Even though you should try to wash your hair every other day, I am one of those people who has to wash their hair everyday due to an oily scalp. So when I saw that I had received a sample of Fekkai shampoo and conditioner I immediately put it in my giveaway pile. I have used this product in the past and did not have good results. For me it enhanced the appearance of an oily scalp and I felt that it didn't wash as well as it should. 
5. I love the Neutrogena Naturals lip balm that was included in this freebie. I had never tried this brand or product before so it was a nice change from what I currently use and love - NIVEA A KISS OF product line. 
6. I am not a fan of the packaging for the Revlon Colorburst lipgloss sample because it is hard to actually use the product without making a mess. I found it was easiest to use a q-tip to swatch the product on my lips and even then there wasn't much product to work with. I guess that is why it is considered a sample...ha ha! I would have preferred that the Revlon Colorburst lipgloss sample had come in a mini lipgloss tube like so many other companies package their lipgloss samples. Anyway, overall the lipgloss itself was really nice and not to sticky.
7. The coupon booklet was an added bonus for me because the coupons don't expire until the end of July and there were some products listed in the coupon booklet that I had never tried before. So this gives me plenty of time to try some of them and at a discount as well.

Here is a list of the coupons that I received in my Beauty bag
• $1 on 1 Revlon item (Custom Eyes mascara or Top Speed Nail color or ColorBurst Lip Gloss) (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 CoverGirl Cosmetics item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 Olay Facial Care item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $0.75 off 1 Suave Professionals hair care item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 Neutrogena facial care item (excludes cleansing bars and trial/travel size)
• $1 off 1 Nivea Skin Care item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 2 Hair care items: Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Aussie (excludes trial / travel size)
• $2 off 1 L’Oreal hair color item 
• $5 off 1 John Frieda Precision Foam Colour hair color item
• $3 off 2 John Frieda Full Repair hair care items (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 TRESemme hair color item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 Aveeno body care item: Skin or Sun (excludes trial / travel size)
• $3 off 1 Nivea body care itemGood-bye cellulite serum (2.5 oz.)
  Sun-Kissed Beautiful Legs moisturizer (6.7 oz.)
  Good-bye Cellulite gel-cream (6.7 oz.)
  Sun-Kissed Radiant Skin (8.4 oz.)
  Skin Firming Moisturizer (13.5 oz.)

• $1 off 1 Burt’s Bees Lotion (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1.50 off 1 Pond’s facial care item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 Neutrogena cosmetics item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 Maybelline FitMe cosmetics item (excludes trial / travel size)
• $1 off 1 Sally Hansen nail item: Color or Care (excludes trial / travel size)

So overall this was an excellent promotion from Target. Would I be more likely to shop there in the future for my beauty items? You bet I would! When a store takes the time to get to know their customers and offer them a chance to try brands / products for free it is most definitely a WIN in my book!