Yankee Candle Votive and Tart Haul

Yankee Candle had their $1.00 votive and tart sale last week. I nearly forgot, but at the last day ran in to see what they had left. There were some new (to me) scents like Fluffy Towels and Chocolate Bunny. I read about Fluffy Towels on a blog. They said it had great throw, so I thought I'd give it a go. Dang! I have't even opened the plastic and my livingroom is bathed in the scent of clean laundry inb sunnmer time. It's a lovely light and clean scent. In that vein, Fresh Watermelon is a strong fruity scent reminisent of summertime picnics. It even reminds me of tropical locales (and that's a GOOD thing)..

The biggest surprise was Chocolate Bunny. I generally dislike chocolate scents (unless it's actual chocolate), but the cute name drew me in. DANG! This candle really smells like chocolate!! And it as tremendous throw. I light it, wait an hour or so, then blow it out. It cann actually be *too much* scent. How awesome is that?!?

Anyway, it;s obvious my "No Buy" isn''t going that well. At least I got a big bag of smellies for super cheap. *grins**

Birthday Haul : part deux

First, let me apologize for picture quality. My memory card is currently stuck in my notebook, therefore I'm having to shoot pix with my phone. Anyway, somehow I justified a second birthday haul. Here it is :)

The Ecotools brushes were on sale, buy one get one. I went to 2 Rite Aids and could not find the kabuki on a stick (they call it a bronzer brush) I wanted, so I got another brushroll with eye brushes and a pouch with a small kabuki, powder brush and 2 eye brushes. They were all backup, but they're such great quality and it is so convenient to have enough brushes that you don't have to constantly clean them. While picking up the brushes I got one of the Megalast lipsticks from Wet n Wild in Stoplight and a nailpolish in wet cement. The lipstick is a winner, but that nailpolish is - uck - just uck! I've been trying to add purple to it to see if I can franken it to the point of a purple/taupe. We will see.

The Elf setting spray hasn't been tested enough to really review. However, I have used it and it didn't cause breakouts or feel sticky, so I have hope!

The Sephora order includes the Benefit set of minis called "Tan About Town". It includes a mini Hoola (squee!), mini Some Kinda Gorgeous in medium and a mini Bad Gal mascara. I know I would never finish a full size Hoola, so this mini is PERFECT. I also really like Some Kinda Gorgeous and hope medium will work during the summer. If not, I can use it to contour with.

The bargain of the order is a silver Sephora atomizer that was $3.00. I've been looking for an atomizer and the price was right. It even comes with the tiny funnel that is freaking adorable.

Since I've been into fragrance lately, I also purchased the Tokidoki coffret of tiny bottles. Such a great size to try them and awesome for my purse.

Also, the eyeshadow quad is Smashbox and seems a nice quality. I'll have to use it further to pass judgement.

Haven't yet tried the Urban Decay set and only sniffed the Dolce and Gabana Light Blue (which was FREE!).

Reviews and necessary comments to follow as I test my new pretties~

Philosophy's "Cocktail Party"

This arrived yesterday via UPS and I was completely surprised! Sure, my birthday was last week, but being sick sort of made everything kinda fuzzy. So, I really had no idea what the package was or who it might be from. Turns out, my stepsister sent this and I'm glad as I quite like it. I don't think this is the first "Cocktail Party" set, as I have a set of shower gels I could swear came in a set by that name. My fave from that set was Senior Margarita so I'm glad this set came with one :) The lip gloss is nice. Sort of the same gloss Phiosophy always does - which is nice. The only gloss I ever found to be a standout from them was the Toasting Marshmallows one and that was purely for the scent. I don't think any of their glosses ever have much color. I'm sure that makes them more marketable, but it would be nice for long term Philosophy fans to get a color product in their gift sets. We HAVE plenty of clear gloss now, thanks.

Nail Polish Collection

Birthday Haul (part 1): otherwise known as "I didn't need any more makeup"

Ok, I know I haven't given this blog the attention it deserves. So, my most recent haul has inspired me to come back and talk about the pretties - ALL THE PRETTIES!! This is part 1 of my birthday haul. There is still another Sephora order and a Fyrinnae order and whatever fun stuff my family decide to gift me with :-P

First of all, the Too Faced Palettes are very nice. I don't know why I never gave them a look before. The first one is called "Glamour To Go" and it's in pretty black ornate packaging. Very Anna Sui-ish! The 8 eyeshadows are easy to wear as they're nice midrange colors that blend well. Other than the pink and white (obviously intended as highlights) you could use any shade as an all over lid color.  In the slide out tray below there is a blush, highlighter and bronzer. The blush is pink enough for my cool complexion and the bronzer is subtle enough - you don't have to worry about that oompa loompa look!

Secondly, Glamour To Go II is a similar quality. Smooth, non-chalky colors in a range of easy to wear colors. There are shades of brown, tan and greys with a  pale pink and creamy yellow thrown in for easy highlights. In the tray below you will find 4 lip colors and a lovely pink blush. Again, I am pale and cool tones, but I can wear this palette.

Next item I ordered was the Stila "Love at First Blush Palette". I missed out on the one last year that had the gold overspray so when I saw this one I had to have it. There was also an option to order it with 2 coordinating lipglosses, but those glosses just aren't applealing to me so I went with the blush on its own. The surface of the blush has layered heart in relief and 3 separate colors. In the middle of the pan is a candy pink color (no sparkle). The bottom of the palette has a more vibrant pink tone and the top of the pan features shimmery lavender hearts. Using the right blush brush you could absolutely control what color or colors you put on your cheeks. I've been leaning towards using the middle and bottom color as my blush with the lavender as my highlighter,.

To wrap up today's haul I'll just mention that this year's Birthday Gift at Sephora is very nice. I'd always meant to try Fresh lipbalms and I can report I'm smitten :)  Lastly, I got a mini Shiseido lipstick and it's really all that. The color is RD305 which looks like a darker red in the tube, but goes on my pigmented lips as a more berry tone. Now I'm going to have to give Shiseido a chance. **grumble**

Until later, kittens. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the pudding

Saturday's Nail Polish Haul

These were found at Walgreens for .99 a duo. The duo is one of the 60 second polishes plus a topcoat. There was a lighter pink one I gave my Mom (Hannah Pinktana - there was only one left in that color) and I skipped the colors I already had (Greys Anatomy, party of Five Glitters). Now, what do I do with all that topcoat?? It seems really thin, so I don't know if it's any good for frankening, but the extra bottles will be handy,.Ugh, spare Party of Five & Greys Anatomy would also be handy for frankening. Hopefully they have some left!

Color Craze nailpolish sets

Out and about today I happened upon these LA Colors nailpolish sets. I'd seen them before and decided against them, but today I was weak. There was a set of full size bottles, then there were these 2 sets of minis. I find mini ANYTHING tough to resist. Especially in a makeup item. I just never finish anything, so minis work for me.

It was tough to capture the glitter in the second set as I shot the pictures at night with flash. The 2 sets were definitely made to go together. There's a purple glitter to go over the purple cream, a gorgeous teal glitter to go over the teal blue cream. There're silver and gold glitter too, which will mix and match well. The pink one (2nd from the left) is a very pretty jelly with microglitter that almost glows! Is that the "holo" I hear people talk about?

What really impressed me about these nail polishes is that they're "3 Big Free" - no toulene, formeldahyde or DPB. That's something the higher end brands are doing now. It's nice to have a healthier product that's so affordable. Each set of 5 mini polishes was $2.99 and that is a bargain.