Back-to-School Drugstore Eyeshadow!

Check out my top picks for back to school eyeshadow singles and palettes - all from super affordable drugstore brands!

Palettes:

Physicials Formula Shimmer Strips Palette, Nude: Not only are these shades all super shimmery and neutral, but they're not too pigmented - normally I wouldn't consider that a plus, but if you want just a touch of a nude color across your lids, a less pigmented palette might be perfect for you! Also, how cute is that packaging??
Jesse's Girl 9 Pan Eye Shadow Palette, Tickled Pink: This is actually one of my favorite palettes to work with, especially in fall - as you can tell, my case is rather well-loved! The lighter pink shades are totally school appropriate while still bringing a bit of fun color, and the darker purples and burgundies are perfect if you want something more dramatic or to take a look from day to night!

Singles/Duos:

e.l.f. Essentials Duos: This particular duo doesn't have a name on it (I believe it came in a set), but the colors are light enough to wear to school - and since you get two shadows, you can switch up your look each day!
L'Oreal Infallible 25 HR Eye Shadow, Iced Latte: This shadow is probably my absolute favorite in this post - the formula is amazingly smooth, it lasts all day (perfect for school!), and the light cream color is also super shimmery, meaning you get a really nude color but a ton of shimmer to catch the eye! I recommend all the shadows in this post, but if you're only going to pick up one, this would definitely be it!

Wishing everyone a happy school year - and I hope your makeup looks fabulous all year!

XOXO,
Ally

3 for 2 Haul - new MUA Makeup Academy face products

Hiya loves! Yeah, I'm getting used to the British lingo here, and I figured I should use some in this British makeup brand haul. MUA is a super affordable drugstore brand that can be found at Superdrug stores in the UK and online for people in other countries. Their products range all the way from £1 to around £6, which reminds me a lot of the e.l.f. brand in the US. Anyway, since my trusty Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme foundation is almost out and I couldn't find it in stores, I decided that I'd give a new foundation brand a try. And the newest range of MUA face products had a buy 2, get one free deal, so my choice was pretty obvious!

The three products that I picked up were the Undress Your Skin Illuminating Foundation in the shade Beige (which is the middle shade, since it's almost spring and I'll be getting tanner), the Matte Perfect Primer, and the Radiant Under Eye Concealer. I believe the foundation was £5 and the primer was £4...I forget the price of the concealer but it was definitely less than £4. So far, I've only tried out the concealer, and I do like it, but it has some downsides that may not appeal to everyone.

After applying it under the eyes and setting it with powder, the concealer felt very secure and crease-resistant, which is a definite plus. But I felt like it made my pores look larger (which is not an issue for me around my eyes, but if you want your skin to look smoother in that area this might not be the product for you), and this may be due to the fact that there are tiny shimmery particles in this concealer. Now, since I'm only using this product under the eyes and not all over my face, I don't mind the shimmer so much. But if you are looking for something completely matte, this product won't work for you. I'm a little worried that the foundation will have shimmer as well, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to test that...

 Here's a picture of me wearing the concealer under my eyes - as you can see the shimmer isn't very apparent at all, however when I test it in natural light that might change. Hopefully I like the other two products as well when I test them out!

XOXO (and cheers), 
Ally

Wet 'n' Wild Shimmer the Night Away (Holiday Limited Edition) - Review & Swatches

Wet 'n' Wild has stolen my heart with their incredible eyeshadows and super low prices, and they're always at the top of my list when I'm checking out drugstores. So of course, I was going out of my way to search for these limited edition holiday palettes when I first heard about them online. The collection is called Where's the Party? and features three palettes: Drinking a Glass of Shine, which is a re-release of the I <3 Matte palette, Sparkle 'til Morning, which is mostly neutral shades with a pop of blue, and Shimmer the Night Away, the one that I picked up, which is blacks and silvers along with purple and blue shades. Shimmer the Night Away seems similar to Petal Pusher, but the two are definitely not identical. Shimmer the Night Away had more black, silver, and blue shades, while Petal Pusher has more light purples and pinks in it.

Each shade in this palette is marked with the area of the eye that it should be used in - each side contains a browbone, lid, crease, and definer color. Of course, this doesn't mean that you have to use these colors in the way that they specify, but if you're just starting out with makeup it may help you learn where to apply certain shades.

The left side of the palette contains a shimmery white highlight shade, a silver lid shade, a shimmery black color for the crease, and a black shadow with glitter for the definer shade. All four of these colors swatched really vibrantly on bare skin, and were super pigmented. The two blacks were rather similar so I don't quite understand why they both needed to be included in here; the crease shade is a little lighter and more shimmery than the definer shade, but I would have liked to see a gray or another type of color instead of two blacks.

On the right side, the highlighter shade is a light dusty pink color, the lid shade is a gorgeous magenta with purple shimmer, the crease color is a lilac shade with a slight shimmer, and the definer shade is a really pretty rich blue shade. The highlighter shade seemed to be the least pigmented, although that might not be a problem if you're looking for a light browbone application. I really liked the bright pink/purple lid shade - it reminded me of MAC's Stars 'n' Rockets or Urban Decay's Fishnet.

I used a few of the shadows to do a smokey purple and blue eye look - the colors blend really well and last a long time, and were super smooth as well. I honestly didn't have an issue with any of the shades, and for only a few bucks at the drugstore, this palette (like most of the other Wet 'n' Wild eyeshadow palettes) is definitely worth a shot. Makeup beginners in particular may appreciate this palette because you're getting nice quality shadows for a bargain price.

If you like purples, blues, and smokey eye looks, this is a must-have! You can create an endless amount of looks from this one palette, or you could use the pigmented black shade to darken up any eye look, or the bright blue to add a pop of color to a more neutral look. This one was definitely a hit for Wet 'n' Wild!

Rating: 5/5

XOXO, Ally

Review & Swatches - New CoverGirl Eye Enhancers 4 Kit Shadows

Hello hello again! Have you guys seen these new quads from CoverGirl? The packaging has been totally revamped, and I think the new gray packaging looks so much sleeker than the old blue packaging. I only have one CoverGirl quad in the old packaging, and I've had it for ages - I bought it back in high school when I first started wearing makeup and as obsessed with bright shadows. I like it, but I never felt like the pigmentation or texture was anything impressive.

Super old and super dirty!

 CoverGirl Eye Enhancers 4 Kit Shadows in Tropical Fusion - old packaging

Shiny and new!

CoverGirl Eye Enhancers 4 Kit Shadows in Sugar Coated - cool new packaging!

I saw this quad in Sugar Coated and the deep, peacocky colors just called to me! I like the combination of neutral and more colorful shades, and I like that you get a quad that consists of mostly darker shades - it seems that palettes these days seem to lean towards the "full eye look," where you get a lid, crease, and brow shade, but I actually like palettes with shades that don't always work together. I feel like it forces me to be more creative with my makeup. Anyway...

Shiny and new!

CoverGirl Eye Enhancers 4 Kit Shadows in Prima Donna

This quad has some gorgeous neutral colors in it, and I think you could definitely use all four shades to do a complete look. Prima Donna is probably a little more "wearable," if you will, than Sugar Coated, although personally I'd use both these quads in an everyday look.

Sugar Coated

Prima Donna

I swatched these shadows on bare skin without primer, and I wasn't necessarily blown away. I never actually wear shadows without primer but in order for me to consider an eye shadow outstanding, I think it does need to be able to perform spectacularly on its own, and these just don't. They're not bad shadows by any means, especially in terms of pigmentation, and considering the fact that they're at a drugstore price, there's no reason not to pick up one or two if you happen to fall in love with certain shades. But I wouldn't say that the gold is the best gold I've ever used, or that the blue is the best blue I've ever used.

I think these shadows would work best as a wash of color over the whole lid - some of the shades are actually pretty shimmery and mulch-dimensional, so they give you a nice look without needing to use a ton of different colors. When I blended these shadows out with other shades they lost a little bit of their pigmentation and became a little too blended, to the point where it was hard to distinguish individual shades. So keep in mind that you'll need to pack on a lot of color with these, or you'll risk blending them away completely.

My consensus on these is that they're nice, but nothing spectacular. The new packaging is probably the most exciting part of these new CoverGirl quads, the rest of the quality is just average.

Rating: 7/10 - pretty average all around.

Until next time!

XOXO, Ally

Lots of Extrabucks = CVS Haul!

Yesterday my hair was feeling pretty greasy and I had no time to shower before my sister's band concert - so I figured it would be the perfect time to invest in a dry shampoo. I ran into CVS and grabbed the Tresemme Freshstart Dry Shampoo, which ended up being on sale (I got it for $3.49 ish and saved $2.99). I also got a ton of coupons at the end of my receipt, so today I stopped into CVS again to spend my $16.50 in extrabucks, along with a few other coupons that I had been saving for a rainy day.

CVS brand skincare was buy one, get one 50% off, and when I scanned my card in the store I got a $1 off two CVS brand skincare products - it was definitely an offer I couldn't pass up. I decided to get the CVS Apricot Scrub, since I'm running out of my other apricot scrub, and the CVS Deep Cleaning Pore Strips. I've used the Biore Pore Strips before but I wanted to see if the CVS brand would work the same, since they were several dollars cheaper. And I picked up the Clean & Clear Blackhead Eraser Scrub - in case you couldn't tell by my other skincare purchases thus far, I have major issues with blackheads and clogged pores, so I like to try anything that promises to help with blackheads. I mean, you never know what might work, right?

Finally, I got two products that I can't wait to try - the L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in 888 Iced Latte, and Bio-Oil! I've heard amazing things about these L'Oreal eyeshadows, and I love iced lattes so it was pretty obvious which shade to get. And I've been hearing a lot of good things about Bio-Oil, but it's a little pricey (around $12 for the little 2 oz. bottle), so I wanted to wait until I had Extrabucks to use on it. Fingers crossed that it'll work for me!

XOXO, Ally

Walgreens Haul!

I snagged a few cool things from Walgreens today and I wanted to share them with you guys before I actually reviewed them!

First is the new Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzer in 743A Reserve Your Cabana. I had heard that this was the same shade as the discontinued Acapulco Glow over at Nouveau Cheap (which is one of my favorite blogs, by the way!) and though I've never used Acapulco Glow, I figured that if it was so beloved, I might as well give it a try! You get .46 oz of product for $3.99 (in comparison, a MAC beauty powder is .35 oz and a NARS blush is .16 oz), so the value is pretty great, and the shade looks absolutely gorgeous!

I picked up another shade (40 Purple Pizzazz) of the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polish, since some of these polishes were on clearance for about 80 cents. I've really been loving this galaxy nail tutorial, and I thought this dark, glittery purple would be a perfect shade to use for that!

Also from Wet n Wild, I got a Megalast lipstick in 901B Think Pink (you'll see why later!) and one of the Juicy Lip Balms in Raspberry. I've been loving the Maybelline Baby Lips tinted balm, so I wanted to see if this Wet n Wild one would give similar pigmentation. Fingers crossed!

Finally, I got one of the new Kate Moss Lasting Finish lipsticks in 08 from Rimmel. I'm absolutely in love with the packaging on these, and the little signature reminds me a lot of the signatures on the celebrity Viva Glam lipsticks from MAC. I really wanted to try the nude shade but Walgreens only had one left, and it had been used, so I went for a different color instead (08 is more pink than nude, almost in the mauve family). And the last thing that I picked up was the Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in 063 Eastend Snob. I got the Wet n Wild lipstick in Think Pink because it looked like it would pair well with this lip liner, and I really wanted to try out a light pinky-nude lip.

So that's all I got during this haul, but I'm really excited about everything. Hopefully all these products live up to my expectations...I guess we'll have to wait and see!

XOXO, Ally

Revlon Lip Butters - Review and Swatches!

Hey everyone! So for the past week or so I've been slowly but surely collecting an array of different shades of Revlon's new Lip Butters. It seems like every store I went to was almost totally cleaned out, so I had to drive all over my town just to find the shades I wanted, and there are still a few more that I'd love to own (like Gumball - lilac? Yes please!) Anyway, I wanted to review and swatch the shades that I do have at the moment, especially because a couple of these belong to my mom and my sister, and I didn't think they'd appreciate them being exiled to my "waiting to be reviewed" pile.

Click on the pictures to see them bigger!

So the shades that I have are (from left to right):

• 025 Peach Parfait - a shimmery peachy shade
• 001 Pink Truffle - a light brown-ish pink
• 050 Berry Smoothie - a lighter raspberry color
• 075 Lollipop - a really bright fuchsia shade
• 035 Candy Apple - a bright red
• 040 Red Velvet - a dark red

As you can see, the shades are really pigmented, like a cross between a tinted lip balm and an actual lipstick. These have a lot of shine to them, and feel nice and moisturizing on the lips. On me, they don't wear as long as a regular lipstick, but I still get a few solid hours and they definitely wear longer than a lip balm would. I like that you can get sheer color as well as really opaque color when using these, depending on how much you apply.

The packaging on these is really nice, and I like how you can easily tell the shades apart, in case you have a big collection of them and are trying to grab the right one. And something about the metal packaging on the inside feels really sleek and high-end.

(I know these lip swatches are a little sloppy - I was a bit under the weather when I swatched them, and you can definitely see that I wasn't really feeling it. But seeing the shades is the most important part, right?)

You can really see the shine in these lip swatches - it's not as much as you would get with a gloss, but these are definitely nowhere near matte!

Rating: 5/5
These are just as good as a regular lipstick, but are super moisturizing and creamy. I really don't have any complaints!

XOXO, Ally

Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes Review (and...swatches?)

Maybelline Great Lash was probably one of the first mascaras that I used, back in 7th or 8th grade when I started wearing makeup. But even though the pink and green packaging is the cutest thing ever, I eventually realized that I really was not a fan of the actual product. The formula was always kinda wet and clumpy for me, and it just made my lashes look spidery. So when Maybelline came out with the new Great Lashes Lots of Lashes mascara, I wasn't sure if I wanted to give the product a second chance.

Eventually I was tempted with a $1 off coupon that kept popping up in my Facebook ads, and I picked up the Maybelline Great Lash mascara in Blackest Black. The packaging is as cute as ever, and I really liked the heart-shape theme that was carried throughout this product (there are hearts on the packaging and the brush is described as "heart-shaped"). Also, the fact that the acronym for the product name is "LOL"...my inner geek thinks that's hilarious and actually really adorable.

Bare lashes without mascara

Lashes with one coat of Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes Mascara

The actual product is...ok. I like to build my mascara gradually but if you apply more than a few coats of this it can get pretty clumpy. I also prefer thicker, drier mascara formulas, and Great Lash can be rather watery. I like how it looks on my bottom lashes, but it didn't impress me on the top lashes. I actually do like the brush, although you have to turn your hand around to do your other eye in order to get the same effect, which is something I don't normally do. I'm currently carrying this mascara in my makeup bag for touch-ups during the day and I do use it, but it won't be replacing CoverGirl's LashBlast as my favorite mascara. It's not bad, but I wasn't blown away by it, either.

Rating: 3/5
I like it better than the original Great Lash mascara, but I didn't like the original very much in the first place, so that's not saying much. The brush is pretty neat and if you prefer wetter formulas, maybe give this a try!

Maybelline Baby Lips in Pink Punch - Review & Swatches

For the past couple of months I've been hearing a ton about the Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm, and I finally decided to pick one up. These retail for $3.99 at Walgreens, but I got mine for $1.99 since Walgreens is having a buy one, get one 50% off sale on Maybelline products. I chose the shade Pink Punch because it seemed like it'd be pretty pigmented and I've been really into pink lips recently.

Pink Punch has a fruity punch scent which I really like, and a little bit of a flavor. For a lip balm, it definitely has nice pigmentation, which I really appreciate because my lips are pretty pigmented in the first place. The balm just gives my lips a pretty pink tint, and it's really quite gorgeous. I also like the fact that it's something that I can reapply quickly without needing a mirror like I would with a gloss or lipstick (aka it's perfect for class!) It's really smooth and moisturizing, although I can't say it's necessarily the best lip balm I've ever used. Obviously some of the product stays on top of the lips to give it the color, but it doesn't feel waxy or heavy. And it does have SPF 20, which of course is important in a lip product.

The combination of the great scent, nice pigmentation, and adorable packing are what make this product a winner in my opinion. And it's a pretty good value for $3.99, even better if you can find it on sale. I probably would repurchase this if I were to run out or if I wanted to try another shade. What can I say ... I'm a huge sucker for the packaging! It's beyond cute and if you're looking to try a new lip balm, I'd recommend giving this one a try!

Rating: 4.5/5

Wet n Wild Enter a New Realm Palette - Review & Swatches (& Comparison!)

When I saw the Wet n Wild Dream Weavers collection online, I knew that I'd have to go drugstore hunting until I found it. Luckily I stopped into a Rite Aid while I was vacationing in Maine, and they had a new display with these little palettes all set up.

Enter a New Realm was one of my biggest must-haves from this collection, mostly because of the red shade. Red eyeshadow is pretty hard to find in drugstores, so to be able to get a palette with a red shade for $2.99 is pretty crazy. And I love the quality of Wet n Wild products, so I was all over this new collection.

The palette has three shades in it - an eyelid, crease, and browbone shade. You obviously don't have to just wear the colors like the palette says, but you definitely could! I swatched the three shades over Too Faced Shadow Insurance and they all seemed vibrant and really pigmented. The browbone color is a metallic, shimmery silver color, the crease color is a matte black (with a tiny bit of shimmer if you squint and look really hard) and the eyelid color is a shimmery red. The colors stayed on really well (I had to scrub hard to get the swatches off my hand) and they blend nicely, as most Wet n Wild shadows do.

When I saw this palette, it instantly reminded me of another Wet n Wild trio that I own - Spoiled Brat. When I swatched them next to each other they definitely have the same concept, although the actual formulas seem different. The silver in Spoiled Brat seemed brighter, the black contains some glitter, and the pink ... is pink instead of red. But without a doubt, they share some similarities. I think they're both great to have in your collection - for only $2.99, you can definitely afford to pick up both.
Rating: 5/5
The quality is great for the price, and finding such a unique color in a drugstore is pretty exceptional!

XOXO, Ally

CVS Beauty Clearance - Haul and Swatches

Guys, I look like SUCH a stereotypical lazy beauty blogger right now. I'm in my pajamas, my hair is up in a towel, I have a green face mask all over my face (not like it would go anywhere else) and I'm writing up a blog post about makeup. Oh gosh, what has my life become? (Oh right - super-mega-awesome-foxy-hot, that's what it's become.)

Anyway, my local CVS finally busted out their beauty clearance, after days and days of checking in with no luck. I saw them putting out the stickers two days ago and planned to actually go on a hardcore CVS shopping spree yesterday, but there was a major snowstorm yesterday so I was basically confined to my house. But today I managed to stop in twice, and completely shock my mom with the amount of makeup that a single person could purchase at one time.

(From left to right.)
Loreal HiP Shocking Shadow Pigments in 102 (Exciting): 75% off of $14.49 = $3.49
Rimmel London Stay Matte Clarifying Matte Foundation in 100 (Ivory): 75% off of $7.99 = $1.99
Peacock ring from Payhalf: $4.50
CoverGirl Outlast Smoothwear Lip Liner in 100 (Blush): 50% off of $9.49 = $4.75
Milani Lipstick in 32 (Berry Rich): $6.79
Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in 001 (Lilac): 75% off of $11.29 = $2.82
CoverGirl Continuous Color Lipstick in 565 (Rose Cashmere): 50% off of $8.29 = $4.15
CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 660 (Happy House): 50% off of $7.99 = $3.99
CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 615 (Plum Crazy): 50% off of $7.99 = $3.99
CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 610 (Tickled Pink): 50% off of $7.99 = $3.99
CVS Purifying Mint Masque: $4.59
Almay Pure Blends Foundation in 140 (Buff): 75% off of $11.49 = $2.87
Almay Pure Blends Loose Finishing Powder in 100 (Translucent Matte): 75% off of $15.99 = $3.99
Rimmel London Colour Rush Quad Eyeshadow in 001 (Smokey Noir): 75% off of $8.49 = $2.07
Loreal HiP Shine Struck Liquid Lipcolor in 662 (Arresting): 75% off of $14.49 = $3.62
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in 200 (Lilac Pastelle): 75% off of $9.99 = $2.49
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in 160 (Firecracker): 75% off of $9.99 = $2.49
Revlon ColorStay Mineral Bronzer in 040 (Golden Bronze): 75% off of $13.99 = $3.49
Maybelline New York Expert Wear Blush in 100 (Mocha Velvet): 50% off of $5.99 = $2.99
Total: $66.57
Total value: $181.82
Money saved: $115.25, 63% of total value

We'll start with the lest beauty-related item that I got, although of course I only got it because I could use it with my makeup. It's actually a votive candle holder that was sitting all alone in the old Christmas items section, on sale for 50% off (originally 2/$5 or $2.99 each, I got this one for $1.49). I figured it would be perfect to hold my smaller brushes or my eyeliners and mascaras, since the cup I currently have them in is getting a little overstuffed.

Next, we have the foundations and things that I have yet to open and test, and a few other random assorted items that aren't really makeup. It's pretty much the misfit group, and I'll probably update this section as I test these out.
(From left to right.)
Rimmel London Stay Matte Clarifying Matte Foundation in 100 (Ivory): To be honest, from what I've read online I don't expect this to be the best foundation ever - but a sale is a sale, and I'm never opposed to testing new foundations, especially when they're wonderfully cheap. My face does get a little oily sometimes, so anything with the promise of 'matte' at least gets a chance in my book.
Almay Pure Blends Foundation in 140 (Buff): My opinion from the above foundation also applies here - I'm iffy on whether this will work well or not, but I figured clearance was the perfect time to experiment. This one is 97.4% natural and has SPF 20, while the Rimmel foundation does not.
Almay Pure Blends Loose Finishing Powder in 100 (Translucent Matte): Up until now, I never owned or used any sort of finishing powders, mostly because I only ever used powder foundation. But I figured it's kinda an important thing to at least add to my makeup collection, so I pretty happy to see this 75% off
Peacock ring from Payhalf: Yeah, so there's one thing thrown in here that's not from CVS, but oh well. There's a Payhalf right near CVS and my mom wanted to see if there were any super-cheap black skirts for my little sister to wear to her band concert, so we popped in there for a few minutes - and when I saw this ring, I had to have it. It was probably the fastest shopping decision I've ever made, actually.
CVS Purifying Mint Masque: I saw this mentioned by a few beauty bloggers recently so I figured I would pick it up the next time I made it to CVS. I currently have it slathered all over my face, and it feels pretty nice and refreshing, despite the fact that I look a tiny bit crazy. (Update: I just rinsed it off my face and my skin feels incredibly smooth! I'm definitely going to keep using this and see if my skin improves at all.)

Revlon ColorStay Mineral Bronzer in 040 (Golden Bronze): I typically use the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer that came in my Glamour Revolution Palette, but to be honest, dragging out that huge palette every day can get tedious. So one of the things I was looking for at CVS was another nice bronzer. This one from Revlon is fairly light, which is nice because I have a pretty fair skintone. It does seem to have a bit of shimmer to it, but nothing too overpowering. The actual poweder has a domed shape in the case, and unfortunately I knocked it off of my desk while I was taking pictures and the rounded part broke off - you can see what I'm talking about in the pictures. I'm a little bummed about that, but to be fair, it was mostly my fault. I'll probably crush it up tomorrow and either use it as loose powder, or try to press it with some rubbing alcohol.
Maybelline New York Expert Wear Blush in 100 (Mocha Velvet): I used to use a Clinique blush that was similar to this shade, but a little pinkier - I believe it was called Dusty Rose or something similar to that. Anyway, I picked this up because I have a lot of shimmery bright pink blushes, but not a lot of more subdued brown tones. I like that this brush is a little more substantial compared to the tiny one that came in the Revlon Bronzer, but I'll probably still use my own blush brushes for this.

Loreal HiP Shocking Shadow Pigments in 102 (Exciting): Deciding which of these HiP pigments to get was incredibly difficult; I finally settled on this one because I didn't think I needed any more neutral colors and I probably would never use a bright pink, blue, or green. The little brush included with this is actually not as useless as most drugstore brushes are, but you can't go wrong with your own brushes, either. This pigment has a super gorgeous pink shimmer to it that I really like a lot.
Rimmel London Colour Rush Quad Eyeshadow in 001 (Smokey Noir): So I bought this mostly out of nostalgia - no, the black isn't the most pigmented and the shimmer is a little weak, but this was one of the first eyeshadow quads I bought when I was first getting into makeup and the black in this palette was the first eyeshadow I ever lined my eyes with (I used to stick with liners pretty exclusively). It's become a makeup staple in a way, just because it would be strange to see my makeup collection without it.

Milani Lipstick in 32 (Berry Rich): This wasn't on sale, but I bought it because I had seen a swatch on Temptalia and it looked gorgeous, and I'm a huge fan of bright lipsticks. It reminds me a little bit of a Revlon lipstick I have in 725 (Love That Red) because they're both so bright, but the Milani one definitely has a pinker tone to it. It also has a strange smell, like a strong berry/fruit scent, and I'm not sure if I entirely like it, but it's something interesting to note.
CoverGirl Continuous Color Lipstick in 565 (Rose Cashmere): This color seems almost like a Barbie-pink to me - and it's rather shimmery on the lips, which I usually don't like, but I don't mind it so much here. I swatched it next to the e.l.f. Essentials Lipstick in 618 (Seductive), and while they look similar on my lips, the e.l.f. one is much peachier than the CoverGirl one. I also love the packaging on this, it's really cute.
Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in 001 (Lilac): This is a really pretty purpley-pink color, without being completely intimidating. It's really gorgeous and the packaging is adorable! It's not something I'd usually wear, but I was in the mood to try something new.
CoverGirl Outlast Smoothwear Lip Liner in 100 (Blush): I like that this is retractable instead of needing to be sharpened, and the color is very close to my actual lip color. It's a really pretty natural-looking shade, so I'm sure it would look good on a lot of different people.

CoverGirl Wetslicks Amazemint Lipgloss in 610 (Tickled Pink), 660 (Happy Hour), and 615 (Plum Crazy): I bought this gloss in Tickled Pink the first time I stopped in at CVS, and loved it so much that I had to go back for more. The blue color shows up as almost clear, and is supposed to make your teeth look whiter, so I figured it would be something cool to try out. Plus, who wouldn't love to whip out a blue lipgloss and freak everyone out? These glosses are extremely minty which I love, but if you don't like minty glosses I would stay away from them. And something about the chunky blue top just feels awesome in my hands. I dunno, I just love them!
Loreal HiP Shine Struck Liquid Lipcolor in 662 (Arresting): This is a really cool color - it's a pinky magenta with a hint of purple shimmer. It was the only Loreal HiP lipgloss that my CVS still had in stock, but it's definitely one that I would have reached for anyway, because I love bright colors and I love really unique colors - so this is the perfect combination!
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in 200 (Lilac Pastelle) and 160 (Firecracker): I love the packaging of these too - very simple, but very chic and classy. Both these colors are gorgeous, although I'm not convinced that they would look good on everyone - and Lilac Pastelle definitely looks better layered over a lipstick (like the Revlon lipstick in Lilac). Lilac Pastelle is pretty opaque but still glossy, so it looks better layered over something light than on my lips alone. Firecracker is a lot sheerer and more orangey than the tube would lead you to believe, but something about it still appeals to me. It seems like it would work well for those days where you want a quick splash of color, but can't be bothered with layers of lipstick, liner, and gloss.

So I'm off to rinse my green, peely face off. I may try and run out to the other CVS near me to see if they have anything different in stock, but if not, that's all for my super-cheap drug store beauty hauls ... for now.

XOXO, Ally