Make-Up Haul & GIVEAWAY!

Post by Jessica

Last Saturday Alex and I met up at the Ulta in Port Chester. I walked into a make-up and beauty heaven. Where to start first? Benefit? Stilla? NYX? Not to mention all the drugstore brands of makeup and the brands that are exclusive to beauty stores like Ulta. Needless to say, I browsed every make-up aisle in the store and swatched almost everything on my hand. Alex got first hand experience with my shopaholic alter ego, she even lost me a couple of times in the store!

The day before my Ulta visit I stopped by Sephora to return exchange my Clinique stay matte foundation. I had purchased this foundation before and was really satisfied, I used it almost every time I applied makeup and when I went back to repurchase it the formula was different, it was really liquidy. Maybe I got a defected version, but I decided it was time for a new foundation that was not from the drugstore. One of the makeup artists at Sephora was kind enough to give me a consultation, she told me about the new Becca ultimate coverage complexion creme. I love the Becca primer I've been using for the last couple of months and I know Becca is a good, high-end brand and when I tested our the foundation I fell in love! I have oily skin, so I will only buy a matte finish foundation and this product is perfect! It's a little pricey, but a little squirt of the foundation covers my entire face and it's full coverage! Along with my foundation I decided to try another primer and the lady at Sephora suggested the Smashbox photo finish matte primer.

It doesn't feel as silicony as my Benefit porefessional and it gets the job done, I bought the sample size because the full version is a tad expensive and I want to make sure it's worth the money before I splurge. I also got Benefit's erase paste concealer.  If you look at the picture on the right, it reminds me of silly putty, it's thick, but it works nicely. To complete my face product haul I purchased the Real Techniques miracle complexion sponge. I LOVE THIS SPONGE! First, it retails for only $6.00 which beats the Beauty Blender's $20 price tag. Plus, it's incredibly soft, airy and light. It blends just as well and the beauty blender, and I really like the flat edge for blending foundation. I definitely suggest this sponge if you can't bring yourself to spending $20 on the beauty blender. My only con about this sponge is the color. I love pink, this is not pink. But I have hope they will come out with a pink version.

The rest of my haul consists of some more items from Sephora and Ulta. The NYC lip crayons are surprisingly very pigmented, I need to go back and buy more colors because they're so cheap! I'm also in love with the smell of the Hand Food lotion. Honestly, I've only used my NYX eyebrow push-up bra one and I find the brown brow fill in shade hard to apply because the pencil is not soft, the highlight is nice though, I don't really think it's worth $10. There are a couple of items I forgot to photograph but I'll include them below.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain in 030- Smitten Eprise

Revlon Colorburst balm stain in 001- Honey Douce 

NYC City Proof Twisistable Crayon in 030- Metropolitan Mauve

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in 604- Milk, 619- Rust & 602- Dark Brown

Ulta Eye Crayon in Little White Lie, Black Tie & Pink Pearls

NYX Eyeshadow base in nude and white

Rimmel London Kate Moss Collection in 104

Pop Beauty Lovey Little Liners - Smokey Hues

NYX Eyebrow Push-Up Bra

Urban Decay Naked Basics [I seriously love this pallet because I adore matte shades and all but one shade in here is matt and you can create the perfect smokey eye for day or night]

Soap & Glory Hand Food

Revlon Color Burt Lip Butter in Pink Lemonade [I'm so happy Alex convinced me to buy this, I love the formula and the pigment]

NYX Super Skinny Eye Marker [I bought this hoping it's a dupe for my Stilla all day liquid liner, I have not used it yet, but I did swatch it compared to my Stilla liner and I did a quick smudge test and the Nyx liner smudged, I hope It will last on my eyes if I give it time to dry *fingers crossed*]

Wondering about the giveaway? I love the Soap and Glory hand food lotion so much I'm giving away a tube. To win, like us on Facebook and comment on this post or our Facebook update about this post. I will randomly pick a winner by Febuary 15th.