CVS/Walgreens Drugstore Haul!

I did a bit of prowling around the drugstores this weekend, looking for new Halloween displays, sales, and anything else that seemed exciting! Here's the total damage:

And read on for details and close-up shots!

wet n wild Coloricon Bronzer, Reserve Your Cabana - This is way more of a highlight than a bronzer, but it's one of my absolute favorites....I actually dropped and broke mine a few months ago, and I've been missing it so much that I needed another! Out of everything I purchased, this is the one thing I would 100% recommend, because I've used it before and it is lovely!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color, 660 Indi-glow - It's hard to see in the picture, but this is a pretty purple/indigo jelly polish with green/gold glitter. SO stunning in person!

Maybelline Baby Lips Crystal, Crystal Kiss and Pink Quartz - The Crystal line of Baby Lips is the only line that I haven't tried yet, so I figured I'd give a couple of shades a try! I LOVE the pink glittery packaging!!

wet n wild Eyeshadow Brush and Angled EyeShadow Brush - these were both only $.99! Not sure how great they'll be, but for a buck each, I have no problem giving them a chance, Plus, if nothing else, they'll look cute with my other brushes!

wet n wild Megalast Nail Color, Rouge 66 - This is a matte red shade that I actually used to paint my toes yesterday! I like it a lot, the color was very opaque and the matte texture is extremely pretty! It's not quite as matte as I would have thought, there's still a little shine to it, but a matte topcoat would fix that if you want it as matte as possible.

e.l.f. Snow White "The Fairest of Them All" Eye Collection - I just had to have this set for the cute Snow White themed palette. I think this is a situation where I was suckered in by the packaging, but for just $5, I don't even mind! The palette is completely darling!

e.l.f. Ariel "Under the Sea Eyes" - Again, the cute packaging won me over! That burgundy/purple shade in the bottom duo looked like it would be nice for fall, so I have some high hopes for this one!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color, 770 Copa-Banana - This glitter was just too fun to pass up! I haven't used it yet, but it seems a little sparse, so this may be a polish that requires a lot of effort.....hopefully it's worth it!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color, 930 Mind Your Manors - This chunky glitter is a mix of pink, green, and blue, and looks simply amazing!

wet n wild Fergie Longwearing Eye Pencil, Ex-Stacey and HyperSky - I couldn't pass up a bright pink and blue liner! I love to incorporate color into my eye looks, so these are practically made for me!

wet n wild Megaslicks Balm Stain, 2AM Call Time - I think this product is a part of the Halloween limited edition collection, because it has a "limited edition" sticker on it - don't quote me, though!! Either way, the deep purple shade is great for fall!

e.l.f. Beauty Book, Class of 2014 - I'm not sure if this palette has some sort of official name other than "Class of 2014," but either way, when I saw it at Walgreens I had my heart set on getting it! I just graduated college, so the class of 2014 is very special to me, and I love having little things to commemorate that!

Sinful Shine Nail Polish, Nouveau Purple - I tried a blue shade of these polishes, and the shine was incredible! I thought this shade would be a nice fall color to work with.

Sinful Colors Glow in the Dark Nail Polish - Honestly I'm not sure if this will even work, but I think glowing nails are sooo much fun, so I thought I'd give it a go!

wet n wild Coloricon Palette, Daring Downtown - Again, one of the limited edition items, this palette has five dark and shimmery shades, perfect for Halloween or just a fun smokey eye!

And some closer shots....

Can't wait to review and swatch some of these things for you guys!!

XOXO,

Ally

(Yet Another) Superdrug Haul!

I stopped by Superdrug this afternoon for some retail therapy, and I definitely got what I was looking for!

First off, something that I have been DYING to purchase - Sleek eyeshadow palettes! The two that I have here are in Oh So Special, which has some gorgeous neutral shades as well as some peachy, coral pink shades, and Au Naturel, which is obviously a neutral palette. I haven't played with them yet, but I can't wait to swatch them for you guys!

I also got two Sleek blushes, in Rose Gold and Life's a Peach. I plan on reviewing these two once I test them out so I'll put up some swatches and close-up shots of the shades when I do that!

Really excited about this too - I had heard about the new Rimmel Apocalips lip products, and I was pumped to see that they had them in! I got the shades Stellar and Luna, and I plan on reviewing these ASAP! I also got the Rimmel Scandleyes Mascara for FREE since I spent over £10 on Rimmel products....score!

Superdrug was also doing a buy one, get one 1/2 off on their makeup brushes, and the Barry M brushes just looked too cute and colorful not to try out! I've never tried the Barry M brushes before, so I'm excited to see if they work as well as they look! I picked out an eyeshadow brush and a concealer brush, although I may just use the concealer brush for eyeshadow as well, since it looks like it would pack color on quite nicely.

That's all for now - next up, a review of those Apocalips! I'm wearing one right now, and I can't wait to let you guys know my thoughts on it!

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

Superdrug quickie haul!

England is amazing, and one of my favorite things about being here is Superdrug. I can finally check out all those amazing makeup brands that I've heard about online but was never able to buy over in the states...starting with Barry M!

I was in the mood to paint my nails, so I picked up three really pretty nail paints by Barry M...the one in the middle is called Teal and it applies beautifully after two coats! The other two are called Peach Melba and Mint Green, and they're gorgeous colors, but I had to apply three really thick coats to get the color to be opaque. 

I also picked this up totally randomly...it's a limited edition champagne-flavored Vaseline lip balm. It was around $4 (converting from pounds to USD) which I think is a little pricey, so this is definitely a splurge item. But I've been using it a lot and it tastes really awesome, and my lips feel great!

Hugs and kisses from England!

XOXO, Ally

My last haul of 2012!

Dude, it's 2013 already! I seriously can't believe how 2012 flew by...it feels like just yesterday that I was getting 2011 and 2012 confused, and now we have 2013 to throw into the mix!

I wanted to share my last haul of 2012 with you guys - I picked up some things from CVS before visiting some friends for New Years, mostly travel-sized stuff and some CoverGirl products because I had a coupon.

CVS cleansing and makeup removing wipes (travel size, pack of 5) - these worked really well! I love using makeup removing wipes especially for traveling, but I didn't have any at the time so I figured a tiny pack would be perfect for me!

Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion - I don't know if this is technically a face moisturizer, but it was the only travel sized lotion that they had...it was definitely too thick for my face, so I'm guessing it's more of a body cream. It was nice, just not for my face.

CoverGirl Liquiline Blast in Violet Voltage - I haven't tried this out yet, but I have swatches coming up!

An exciting toothbrush case in red. Functional and necessary.

CoverGirl LashBlast Clump Crusher Mascara - I haven't tried this either, but I love LashBlast so I have high hopes for this mascara!

And that's all! I hope everyone had a great New Years and I wish you all a happy and healthy 2013!

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

The Most Wonderful Day of the Year - the CVS Beauty Clearance, of course!

Guys, I'll admit it - I have a bit of a makeup addiction. That euphoria when I come home with a bag full of beauty goodies...it's the best. So obviously the CVS Beauty Clearance is my favorite event of the year, period.

I just hit up my first CVS (I have two or three more to go!) and I grabbed a bunch of 75% off (and a few 50% off) products. I'll try and do actual reviews on some/most of these products later on, but for now, I'll just show off my first haul out of (hopefully) many!

First is the Physician's Formula Bamboo Wear Bambuki Brush. I've never actually used any Physician's Formula brushes, but I do like a lot of their other products so I thought I might give this kabuki brush a try. Plus it's made out of 100% natural hair and fully sustainable bamboo, and having just watched two documentaries on climate change for my international relations class, I'm all for using renewable resources when making beauty products.
Original price: $10.79
Price after 75% off discount: $2.69

Next, I grabbed two nail polishes - mostly because they were already really inexpensive, and the 75% discount just made it too good of a deal to pass up. The first is the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Nail Color in 05 Diamonds, which is a sheer, sparkly color that's actually a little more yellow-toned then this picture seems to show. I've never tried any polishes from the Diamond Strength line before, but I do think that the little plastic diamond on the bottle is super cute! The second color is the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color in 14 Plum Power. I have a few other Xtreme Wear polishes and I like them quite a bit, and with the 75% off discount this polish ended up costing about three quarters. That's even cheaper than doing a load of laundry in my dorm...
Diamond Strength Nail Color 
Original price: $5.49
Price after 75% off discount: $1.37
Xtreme Wear Nail Color
Original price: $3.19
Price after 75% off discount: $.79

Since we're talking about nails, the one other nail product that I grabbed was the Sally Hansen Quick Care Growth Treatment. Now, I normally wouldn't spend a lot of money on a product like this, unless I knew for sure that it worked well and would grow my nails. But since it was on clearance, I decided to go for it. After all, if it doesn't work, I only wasted around $2, instead of around $10. I'll let you guys know how it works for me - I tend to bite my nails (even though I'm trying to stop!) so they're perpetually short. Hopefully this treatment will encourage them to grow a bit and I can have nice, long nails!
Original price: $9.99
Price after 75% off discount: $2.49

I didn't get too many face products, except for the Physician's Formula Mineral Wear Correcting Concealer set thing. I've tried green correctors before (my face has some redness issues) but they never seemed to make a noticeable difference. So I figured I might as well give this one a try (I got the green corrector shade, they make one with yellow as well) and if it sucks...well, at least it was 75% off. The packaging is pretty cool - the little containers snap together, which would probably be neat if you had more than one set and wanted to organize them (it reminds me of their Gel CreamLiner sets that also snap together - more about those later, *wink wink*). The set contains a corrector, a concealer, and a highlighter, so it seems like it would be ideal for traveling or on-the-go touch-ups.
Original price: $8.99
Price after 75% off discount: $2.25

I also only picked up one lip product - the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Siren. It's a bright orange/coral color, and while it may not be the best color for the winter, it's definitely a gorgeous color for spring or summer. I'm already a huge fan of this shade and I can't wait to get more chances to wear it - I'll probably break it out during December and January even if it's not totally appropriate for the season, because it's such a great color.

Original price: $8.79
Price after 75% off discount: $2.19

Ah, time for the eye products. First up are the only two things that I got for 50% off instead of 75% off - two Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palettes in Vanity and Greed. I don't think i need to tell you guys how good these are - they're definitely fantastic! I have one of these palettes in Lust and I use it all the time, but I really wanted to try their more neutral palettes as well. I have really high expectations for these two since Wet n Wild has some great quality products out there, but I'm sure they'll live up to my expectations! 
Original price: $4.99 (x2)
Price after 50% off discount: $2.49 (x2)

Next is a bit of a spur-of-the-moment purchase. I've never used any Almay eyeshadows before, but I saw that their Intense I-Color shadow palette for brown eyes was on sale, and since I have brown eyes, I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone - test out some Almay shadows, and test out whether or not the shadows actually make my brown eyes look any better! I normally ignore all that "for blue eyes!" and "for brown eyes!" stuff at the drugstores, but who knows...maybe they're onto something! The shades look really pretty, so I'm super excited to test this one out and let you guys know what I think! 
Original price: $8.99 
Price after 75% off discount: $2.25

We've made it to the Physician's Formula eye products, which means we're almost to the end of the haul! Now, I don't have hazel eyes, but I still picked up the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips palette for hazel eyes because...well, look at those colors! Gorgeous! I actually have one other Shimmer Strips eyeshadow palette and I'm not a huge fan (it's from the Smoky collection and for green eyes, and I don't wear a lot of grays or greens so I really have no idea why I got it...it was probably from the CVS Clearance last year). But I wanted to give the range another try, this time with colors that I use more often, and there are a lot of beautiful colors in this palette. So fingers crossed that this one works out for me! 
Original price: $10.99 
Price after 75% off discount: $2.75

Lastly, I was really excited to grab two more of the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Gel CreamLiners. I have the liner set for brown eyes from the original collection and I use them a TON, so I thought it was definitely time for me to pick up some more. Ironically, all three of the eye products from Physician's Formula are for hazel eyes, but I have brown eyes...I guess hazel eyed people just get the best shades of these things! It was really hard to get a good picture of these while they were in the packaging, because their plastic lids are so reflective, sorry guys! Anyway, I got one set from the core collection (it comes with taupe, pink, and black with pink shimmer), and one from the glam collection (it comes with antique gold, metallic amethyst, and black with gold shimmer). I love love love the one set of these liners that I already have, so I'm super excited to try more. And I adore the fact that they can stack together - I'll never lose any of the little pots! Plus, the brush that comes in this set is actually pretty useful. All in all, I love these liners and can't wait to test out some more of them!
Original price: $10.99 (x2) 
Price after 75% off discount: $2.75 (x2)


I had a $5 extrabucks coupon, so that made my discount even better - in the end I spent $23.60 after tax and the $5 off coupon, and I saved $76.92. CVS Beauty Clearance ... I honestly love you.

I still have a few other CVS's to check out next Monday, when I'm home from college, so expect more hauls soon!

XOXO, Ally

Jordana Cosmetics - Cyber Monday Haul

What constitutes a haul, anyway? I only ordered four items, and that seems rather small for a "haul," but I guess technically it still is, right?

Anyway...regardless of what it's called, I got my order from Jordana Cosmetics today! I've actually never tried any of their products before, but when I saw that they were having a 25% off plus free shipping sale (on their already very reasonably-priced products) for Cyber Monday, I figured now was the best time to give them a try!

From bottom-top: Easy Shine Glossy Lip Color in Raspberry, Easy Shine Glossy Lip Color in Sweet Strawberry, Lip Out Loud Gloss in E-123, Lip Gloss in Cotton Candy

I ordered two of their Easy Shine Glossy Lip Colors in Raspberry and Sweet Strawberry, the Lip Out Loud Lip Gloss in E-123, and their plain old lip gloss in Cotton Candy, which was apparently a cult favorite that they brought back. Each lip product retails for $1.99, except for the lip gloss in Cotton Candy, which is $1.49. I'm really excited to try everything and review/swatch them for you guys!

XOXO, Ally

Tiny Hot Topic & Wet Seal Haul

A little while ago my friends and I took a mini road trip off campus and ending up stopping at a mall - which was particularly exciting since I haven't been to an actual mall in forever! There was a gigantic Sephora which was probably the most temptation I've ever experienced in one place, but thankfully I survived without squandering my life's savings! I did, however, grab a few sale things from Hot Topic and a couple of pieces of jewelry from Wet Seal.

Now I don't usually frequent Hot Topic, even for makeup, but I saw a few things on clearance that caught my eye - a set of two mini nail polishes for under a dollar, and some blushes that were also on sale, I think for a dollar or two. I also saw a lonely Kill Audio comic book in the clearance bin so I obviously grabbed it without a second thought - and if anyone actually happens to know the Kill Audio comics, please just be my best friend right now.

From the pictures you can see that the blushes do have a bit of shimmer, but it's actually not overpowering once you swipe a brush across them (and speaking of brushes, the ones included aren't awful, but I do prefer to use my own). These are heavily pigmented and I'm assuming they're intended to be that way, but I prefer to use only the tiniest amount when I wear these. I've found it's pretty easy to just barely touch your brush to the product and apply it, and then repeat as many times as you need to build the color. That way you don't get too much pigment at once, and you can build the intensity to the amount that you want.

At Wet Seal I decided on two necklaces (it was buy one get one 50% off, I believe). The first one is just a cute jointed owl, which I've been wearing a lot lately. The other one has a dragonfly (hint hint to the people who had heard of Kill Audio) and a few other charms hanging off of it - it's pretty long, so I don't wear it as often because it really only looks nice with certain outfits.

And that's all I ended up buying, unless you count an iced vanilla latte!

And I hope you all had a wonderful Star Wars day - I'm watching The Empire Strikes Back in my dorm room at this very moment! I would have done a Star Wars look to celebrate but ... I forgot. Next year, next year.

XOXO, Ally

Zoya, MAC, and Sephora - Mini Haul

First off, hey loves! Sorry I haven't been posting much, I had midterms and then my spring break started, so I've been all over the place with work and packing and traveling and such. But I picked up a few things at the mall today, as well as m Zoya polishes coming in the mail, so I thought I was long overdue for a post on here!

I snagged the  Zoya Intimate collection back on Women's Day when it was $25 and free shipping, and these colors are just as gorgeous in real life as they were online. Caitlin is a light gray-ish indigo, Dove is just a straight-up light gray, and Marley is a shimmery pink with a touch of purple. Dannii is a darker purple with gold shimmer (it didn't show up too well in the photo, but trust me, the gold is there and it's crazy-sparkly), Gemma is a dark green with a beautiful blue/purple duochrome, and Jules is a sparkly, metallic gold that looks almost taupe-y from some angles (again, the sparkle doesn't show up too well in the picture but it's super shimmery in real life).

I also picked up Stars 'n' Rockets from MAC, because I had heard a lot of great things about this color - this shadow can be so many different shades of purple depending on the angle you look at it, it's insane! And since my bronzer brush from Bare Escentuals had fallen apart, I got a fairly inexpensive ($19) face brush from Sephora to replace it.

So that's all I've collected over spring break thus far, other than a few things from Victoria's Secret which I didn't feel like photographing with my 12 year old brother watching me! ;]

XOXO, Ally

NYX on HauteLook - Haul!

Waiting two hours for the campus post office to open so I could pick this up was agony. I've heard so many good things about NYX that I was pretty much dying with anticipation waiting to try all this stuff. I just managed to snag the package ten minutes before my class started so I couldn't do much except for drop it off in my room and then run to class - but now that I'm back and I've opened the package and squealed over everything you get to check it all out too!

Actual reviews will be up once I get a chance to test everything out, but until then I'll just give you a sneak peak of what I got!

 Yeah, ok, pictures of the box are not very exciting. But I love the little tissue paper that everything comes wrapped it! It's like getting a birthday present or something!

 Jumbo Eye Pencils in Lime, Gold, Baby Blue, Black Bean, Cottage Cheese, and Purple

 Studio Perfect Photo-Loving Primer in Green, HD Studio Photogenic Primer, HD Eye Shadow Base

 Eye Pencil in Dark Brown, 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Strike a Pose, Eyeshadow Base in White

(And I love that the cardboard box shows the colors on the side! If you bought more than one of these and didn't remember which colors were included in what - well, now you know!)

Glitter Gel in Silver Lake, Glitter on the Go in Sparks, Glitter Cream Palette in Paradise

So I'm pumped to actually try these out and review them for you! I haven't used anything yet but my first impressions have been pretty positive so far. I know you can't always judge the quality of a product by the packaging, but I do really like the NYX packaging. It's simple but cute - I'm not a fan of cheap packing that tries to look expensive and just ends up looking tacky. While nice packaging is a plus, the product is the most important thing in my opinion, so I have no problem with a company saving money on packaging - and NYX is a great example of packaging that's nothing unique or special, but still looks very sleek.

XOXO, Ally