MOTD

“Treat Yo’Self”

Courtney Salinger

What’s fresh at ULTA?!?! Spring is here! When seasons change, fashion and beauty looks change. When a new movie comes out, new makeup themed palettes are created. (Hint, Hint 😉) New products are being packaged and sold! The theme here is new, new, new! So, what did I buy for my latest ULTA Beauty haul? Let’s take a peak!

First off, we have Lorac’s newest collection; Disney’s Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Collection, which features the latest installment of the movie franchise. This collection features an eyeshadow palette, a cheek palette and dual ended lipsticks. I bought the eyeshadow palette and the cheek palette. The ULTA that I shopped at didn’t have the lipsticks in yet. The eyeshadow palette comes with 18 shades, a mirror, and a mini black eyeliner pencil. The cheek palette comes with 6 shades; 2 matte blushes and 4 highlighters. The cheek palette fits inside of the eyeshadow palette, in a secret compartment. I figured, I HAD to buy both of them. As a gift with my Lorac purchase, I received a mini sample of the Light Source Illuminating Primer. The eyeshadow palette runs for $52, whereas, the cheek palette is $30. Stay in touch for an upcoming review of this collection, coming up real soon 😊.

Next, we have a few new items from ULTA Beauty’s line of products. At the time of my purchase, ULTA had a sale going on; buy two ULTA Beauty products, get the third free. I took advantage of that and bought; the 3-piece liquid lipstick kit, the bronze gel eye liner, and the rainbow highlighter. The lipstick kit features three metallic liquid lipsticks; a red, a gold and a berry. This kit runs for $16. The bronze gel eye liner isn’t new, I just wanted to try it and was what I saw when it came to choosing three items for the deal. The eye liner is $10. The rainbow highlighter is really pretty. I have another rainbow highlighter from Forever 21 that’s comparable, but this one from ULTA swatches golden hues and is creamier. ULTA’s highlighter retails for $10.

Buxom recently launched limited-edition shades of their super popular lip-creams. I had never tried Buxom, prior to this purchase. As soon as I saw the diamond sitting on top of the bottle, I knew I had to have it. So cute! I bought the shade; “Blushing Margarita,” which is a pretty nude. Buxom’s lip products are known to plump lips. As soon as I put this on, my lips started tingling and looked fuller. I am so obsessed with this product, that I’ve been using it every day. This product sells for $21.

Tarte cosmetics launched a rose gold clay pot, which is an Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liner. This product retails for $21. The pigment is super smooth and creamy, it swatches pink with silver glitter.

Too Faced Cosmetics introduced their newest collection; Natural Love, which features and eyeshadow palette, melted matte liquid lipsticks, highlights and brow pencils. I bought a melted matte liquid lipstick in the shade; “Wicked.” “Wicked” is a deep forest green shade. These lipsticks sell at $21 apiece.

Sun Bum creates sun care products. I’m obsessed with their lip balms! Each lip balm has spf 30, aloe vera and vitamin and ranges in different scents.  My favorite scent is Key Lime. These lip balms sell for $3.99 each.

Lastly, we have a Capelli New York set of 2 chokers. One choker features a string daisies, the other consist of white lace. These retail for $4.99.

As the saying goes; “treat yo’self!” Hauls don’t come often. It’s always fun and therapeutic to spoil yourself from time to time.

Dear Diary…

Courtney Salinger

Goodies!

Valentine’s day has approached us! Boxes of chocolates are bought, bouquets of flowers are given, reservations are made, and most importantly, fun and pretty Valentine’s Day beauty looks are created! I just so managed to get my hands on the newly and highly coveted; “Kylie’s Diary” from Kylie Jenner’s Valentine’s Day Limited Edition Collection, which I will be wearing for the occasion.

I first got a glimpse of the eyeshadow and blush palette from Kylie’s snapchat. She teased her newest collection over her Snapchat, back in January. When I first laid eyes on “The Diary Palette,” I just knew I had to have it! The bright pink shade, “Love Potion,” sold me!

Burgundy Smoky Look

The “Limited Edition” collection released on February 2 at 3pm. I waited about an hour after the initial launch time to actually check the website because I was in class. When I searched kyliecosmetics.com, the bundle, the minis and the “Head Over Heels” Lip kit were completely sold out. That’s ok! I really wanted the diary! As I added the diary to my cart, I looked around and read descriptions of other products, just to make sure there wasn’t anything else that I really wanted. I was close to getting the “Valentine” Lip Kit, as well, but realized that I have something similar to it. I ended up checking out with only the diary.

“Kylie’s Diary”

“The Diary Palette” cost $54 and included free shipping after you spend $40. Overall, I dished out $54, which is pretty standard for a higher-end eyeshadow palette. You do get a bonus because this palette includes two blushes. I had never made a Kylie Cosmetics purchase, prior to ordering the diary. So, I was pretty excited!

 

Pinky Pinks Look

I waited a little over a week for my Diary to come in. When I received the black box in the mail, I was overwhelmed with cheer and excitement! This was my first time purchasing from Kylie, so everything was very new to me. As I opened the box, I noticed that the box was all black, had the signature “Kylie” logo on the inside of the box, along with white dripping detail along the inner top layer of the box. The box included a handwritten note with holographic eye detail on the back of it and “Kylie’s Diary,” which was wrapped, and my confirmation papers, of course. The note read; “Eye couldn’t wait to share my new eyeshadows with you. Eye hope you adore the as much as eye do! Eye Love You.” And then she concluded with a smiley face.

As I opened the Diary, I noticed that it weighs pretty heavy, and consists of a good size. The front of the packaging entails red glitter “Kylie’s Diary” writing and shiny white hearts with red shiny trimming around the sides. The back of the packaging has the big “Kylie” writing logo along with the writing; “Pressed Powder Palette.” Below that, the names of the eyeshadow shades and blushes are shown, along with ingredients and specifics of the makeup.

“Heart Eyes,” “Romance,” “Loves Me Not”

When you take out the palette from the packaging, the same red glittered; “Kylie’s Diary” wording is on the front. There’s red glittered lining on the spine of the palette. When you flip it around, the wordage says; “XOXO, Kylie.” Below that, is “The Diary Palette,” featuring the names of each shade and again the specifics of the makeup.

As I opened the palette, I was just in amaze! The palette looks even better in person! On the left side, we have a square mirror along with the “XOXO, Kylie” wordage. And again, the shiny white hearts. On the right side, we have 6 eyeshadows and 2 blushes. Starting from the top left corner, we have, “Bae,” “Heart Breaker,” “Make Me Blush,” “Sweet Like Candy,” “Love Potion,” “Be Mine,” “Heart Eyes,” “Romance” and “Loves Me Not.” The Blushes are called “First Date” and “Virginity.”

“Bae” is a holographic, icy-bluish, with a hint of grey, shimmery shade. “Heart Breaker” is the perfect light shimmery pink. “Make Me Blush” is a shimmery mix of purple and grey. “Sweet Like Candy” is a coral pink shimmer with gold sparkles. “Love Potion” is a satiny hot pink shade. “Be Mine” is an orangey pink coral matte shade. “Heart Eyes” consists of a purple maroon matte color. “Romance” is a brownish shimmery shade with hints of red and purple. “Loves Me Not” consists of a bluish, purple, grey, lavender matte shade. “First Date” blush is a soft matte orange shade. “Virginity” blush is a soft bubblegum pink matte shade.

“Sweet Like Candy,” “Love Potion,” “Be Mine”

After swatching the shades, I was so impressed. The colors are beautiful and well thought out. I like the mix of mattes, shimmers, and satin. I love every color! One of the first looks I tried, I used the shades; “Sweet Like Candy,” “Love Potion” and “Be Mine, along with a mix of both “Virginity” blush and “First Date” blush. So, the whole second row of the palette. I started off with that orangey, pink coral matte shade, “Be Mine.” I colored my whole eyelid with it. Next, I blended in the coral pink shimmery gold shade, “Sweet Like Candy,” all over the eyelid. After, I took the satiny hot pink shade, in “Love Potion,” and blended that into my outer corners for definition. Then, I took a clean blush and blended those together to create a pinky orange sunset! Finally, I lined my lower lash line with “Be Mine,” to tie everything together. I added Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascara on both my top and bottom lashes and lined my waterline with NYX’s “Faux Whites” eye brightener in “seashell.” After I finished my eyes, I tried the blushes! I started off with the pink blush, “Virginity,” then I added the orange blush, “First Date,” to incorporate the balance between the pink and orange hues on my eyes.

The second look I created was more of a burgundy smoky eye look. First, I covered my eyelids with “Heart Eyes.” Next, I added “Romance” on top of “Heart Eyes,” and blended that all over the lids. After, I brushed on “Loves Me Not” on the outer corners of my eyes to give some definition to the look. Then, I lined my lower lash line with both “Heart Eyes” and “Romance.” Finally, I blended all the colors together to get this rich and fresh burgundy look.

After looking at the finished products, I noticed that the colors are very easy to apply. The shadows blended nicely and really popped. The colors were very vibrant and they lasted all day, with no creasing. I noticed that these colors really made my eye color pop! They really brought out the gold in my eyes, and brought the light to my eyes, which I love! The blushes are very subtle and easy to manage if wanting to go from a sweet look to more dramatic.

Overall, I am impressed with the colors and creativity of this palette. The pigment is so fresh and bright. I just love it! The blushes are very easy to blend into the face and are very buildable. Like I said before, this was my very first Kylie Cosmetics purchase. After this write-up, I will probably be buying more stuff from her. I was very pleased with the outcome of my purchase!

Holiday Advent Adventure

Courtney Salinger

NYX “Box of Goodies”

‘Tis the season for hot chocolate, candy canes, holiday music, and advent calendars! Count down to the holidays with a beauty advent calendar. NYX’s “Box of Goodies” advent calendar, to be exact.

I first saw the NYX “Box of Goodies” advent calendar in ULTA’s weekly catalogue. The Black Friday edition catalogue. Right when I saw it, I knew I had to have it!

It was the day after Black Friday. I drove right up to my nearest ULTA and picked up the “Box of Goodies.” ULTA had quite a few left at the time. It retailed for $50, but was on sale for $25.

As I entered ULTA, I saw the calendars on display in one of the shelves right between the skincare and fragrance products. I went back to my house and pulled my advent calendar out of my bright plastic orange ULTA shopping bag. Here’s what I had experienced…

First, I acknowledged the boxing of the calendar and made some distinctions… The advent calendar is folded into a box. The detail of the box is very pretty and sultry. When you open the box, you can see that it lays vertically. The inside of the calendar has a light pink shade of black lace with flowers and leaves swirled around the area. Each side of the calendar has 12 pockets. The outside of the box is black and has pink lace wrapped around it. The front of the box explains what is in the advent calendar. The back of the box shows the exact colors and names of each item you find within the calendar.

Content in Advent Calendar

Then, I investigated the products that the calendar entails… The calendar contains 12 limited edition eyeshadows and 12 Lip Lingerie lipsticks. As I opened each cut-out by numerical order, starting with number 23, I realized that the eyeshadows and lipsticks coordinate with each other. When I opened number 23, I found an eyeshadow in the shade “Honeymoon.” Next, I opened number 22 and found a lipstick named “Honeymoon.” Is it more than a coincidence that the shades of the lipstick and eyeshadow have the same name? I think not. So, then I opened number 21, which was an eyeshadow named “Teddy.” Next, was a lipstick in number 20, named “Teddy.” The shades of the lipsticks and eyeshadows of the same name match each other. “Ruffle Trim” eyeshadow has a very similar color to the lipstick in “Ruffle Trim.” Next, I noticed that every other box has a lipstick. For example, I started off with number 23, which had an eyeshadow in it. Then, number 22 had a lipstick in it. Next, number 21 had an eyeshadow in it and number 20 had a lipstick in it, and so on.

After trying out the colors and checking out the packaging, I have to say I think NYX’s “Box of Goodies’ advent calendar is the cutest! The joy and excitement of carefully opening each “day” in the advent calendar makes for a fun little surprise. If it’s still on sale, I would suggest purchasing it. A normal sized NYX ‘Lip Lingerie” liquid lipstick runs for $7. This box gives you a smaller version of every color available in the “Lip Lingerie” collection, plus 12 limited edition matching eyeshadows. It’s truly a treat!

See Swatches Here: