Drug Store Haul // Big Lot's

Don't ever let me pop in to Big Lot's ever.  Most likely I will come out with a few (or more) beauty items for no good reason.  I'd actually thought about giving up on Big Lot's after not finding anything great there lately but you know, one last stop down the beauty aisle couldn't hurt anything but my wallet right? Right.

So I came home with a bunch of discontinued & limited edition things from some of my favorite brands.  My favorite find was all four limited edition Color Sensational Vivids from Spring 2013!  You may remember that the Vivids were the first ever lipstick collection I got into in January of 2013 so to find these other ones was just pure awesomeness.  I actually found them between two trips to two different Big Lot's - one near my house & the other near my work.  Here's what all I found between the two trips:

I've been really into lip liners lately.  I love the staying power they add to a lip color but they can be really expensive - I guess not really expensive but if I'm already buying a lipstick I guess the extra $3 - $7 bucks at the drugstore is too much.  These are from Rimmel & I hadn't seen them before.  I'm sure they were repackaged for this but two fro $2 is a steal!  I love the pinks & nudes in this little collection.

These are the limited edition Maybelline Vivids colors from Spring 2013! Talk about a score for $1.50 each!  I need to go to other Big Lot's around & see if I can find the final color Pop of Cherry intact.  At my Big Lot's they were all mushed but I found these three colors in pristine condition! hooray!  You can still see the clearance sticker on them from what looks like Wal-Mart.  I'm not sure of the original price, probably somewhere around $7 but you can see they were clearanced to $5.50, then to get them each for $1.50 at Big Lot's....I think it was worth it!  I don't know how the Big Lot's system works but I'm never discounting them again!

Then I found these pretty colors for $1.50 as well.  I did some research but couldn't really find when they were released or when they were discontinued.  I saw posts as early as 2011 mentioning these & as late as January 2013 - so maybe they were discontinued last year?  Any ideas?  I'm loving the coral color & seriously can't wait to bust coral colors back out this spring!  Maybe I'll share my favorites - spoilers, they are both Maybelline!

This is a horrible picture but can you believe these Maybelline products for under $3?  I passed on the Dream Sun this summer but for $2.00 how can you not pick it up.  I also picked up a Fit Me foundation in a darker shade to see how it would work as a bronzer.  It's just a tad deeper than my skin color so I think it's going to be perfect.  They also had some discontinued colors of the Fit Me liquid foundation.  Not sure if they changed the formula or the colors or something in this line but this is still in stores!  Finally, can't ever pass up Wet n Wild.  I swear if we weren't in the middle of a crazy blizzard in the middle of me writing this I'd head to another Big Lot's asap.

I never saw these either this summer - but I wasn't as in to make up as I am now.  This one is a lovely nude color called Sandy Shores.  While I'm not a complete fan of these cream bases/eyeshadows I still do love them.  And getting a nude colored Color Tattoo for a dollar?  Heck yes!

If you're a fan of drug store make up don't skip the beauty aisle at Big Lot's, you never know what you might find!  I feel like I hit the mother load with this trip & really can not wait to stop in another Big Lot's.

xoxo, Moe

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New Wet n Wild Products January 2014

One of my favorite drugstore brands is Wet n Wild.  I still remember my moms' Wet n Wild nail polish from the 90s but lets be real for a moment - Wet n Wild has stepped up it's game.  It's now one of my top favorite brands ever.  They always come out with pretty cool stuff & I'm so excited to have picked some of the new things up:

All of the Balm Stains! Hooray! It really is the best feeling to walk into a store & see a fresh display ripe for the picking.  It is so very satisfying to grab up one of each thing (especially when there are $1 coupons attached!)  The texture on these is awesome.  Much better & smoother than I expected.  They are super creamy & beautifully colored.  I can't wait to try them all out!

I also picked up the mattifying powder from the Fergie Collection on a whim.  I didn't even really pay attention to the packaging but it's much, much smaller than the Fergie Collection eyeshadow palettes.  But it does come with a whimpy puff.  Guess that's something.  Don't know if I'm excited about this one yet.  Also, you can't tell from the image above but there's a little bit of some sort of glittery-ness in there.  Not sure what's going on with that.

I also grabbed the single eyeshadow in Nutty.  While this isn't new, it's in a new display & fully in stock.  It's never in stock, ever.  So I snatched it up.  I skipped on the single glitter shadows though.  Nothing appealed to me about a creamy glittery disaster. But this Nutty shade is great.  All I ever wanted & more!

On the topic of eyeshadow I picked up one of the new 5 pan palettes but only in The Naked Truth.  The others just didn't appeal to me - I don't need all purples, all blues, a smokey look, or bright colors.  I think this will become a great travel neutral palette.  The consistency doesn't match the other ColorIcon trios or 8-pan palettes but it's alright.  It's the consistency of what you'd expect from the drugstore if that makes sense.  Still good & easy to work with but nothing compared to the original ColorIcon collection.

I've also been into lip glosses lately & when I saw these in the display I knew I had to pick some up.  Mainly because of the names.  It just so happens that Throwing Shade (which I still have to return - it was already opened!) & Giving Realness (the one pictured above) are the best names anyone could come up with.  So I picked up this lovely berry purple & beautiful nude color.  The nude is rather sheer where as the purple color seems to give a lot of pigmentation.  Can't wait to play around with these!

There was quite a lot more available but I passed on the clear mascara, the glitter eyeshadows, the colored eye liners, & the BB Cream from the Fergie Collection.  Though I may go back later & pick some of those.  I do wish Wet n Wild would come out with some different colors in their ColorIcon blushes.  Those four colors are awesome but I'd love to see more colors because who can ever have just one of anything, right?

What are you excited about at the drugstore?  Any new products you're in love with?

xoxo, Moe

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Fall Dollar Store Make Up Haul

I filmed this haul like last week but never knew when to post it!  So I'm sorry if you can't find anything that I've mentioned anywhere, but the point of this video is to share with you that the dollar store can be a great place to look for affordable make up.  A lot of times discount stores - like the Dollar Tree - get name brand things that are from last season.  Sometimes they are repackaged & sometimes it's in regular packaging.  The Milani things I found seemed to have been repackaged into blister packs but the elf stuff I found came packaged as if you'd buy it at Target or off the website.  

The one thing I've learned from dollar store shopping is when you see it, buy it.  It won't be there long!  So if you're able, go ahead & stop in more than just once in a while because you never know what you're going to find!  I'm also planning on doing a fall make up look with these products but I haven't had the greatest light to film it.  Hope you enjoy:

xoxo, Moe

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Trend Tuesday // Elf Limited Edition Venomous Villains Palettes

One of my favorite parts of the day is my lunch break.  Why?  Because often to just get out of the office I head over to Walgreens & CVS for a quick walk around.  I love this because I can keep an eye out for all things new at the drugstore.  (I also get to scope out the sales all the time.)  I've been dying to get into all the Limited Edition things brands come out with & one thing I was super excited about were the Venomous Villains palettes to be released by elf!  I saw the ones from last year on a blog somewhere then one day on instagram I saw something about them being back!  These are different from last year & in fact a whole bunch of different brands have jumped on the band wagon - there are lashes, make up bags, & hair ties in addition to these palettes.  Elf even has a 12 pack of nail polish to go with the palettes as well!  Today I want to share with you the two palettes I have: the Evil Queen & Cruella De Vil.

I was drawn to these two palettes because of the seemingly neutral nature of both.  Even though I love bright colored eyeshadow I never wear it.  So I thought these would be a better choice for me.  Who doesn't need a zillion neutral eyeshadows, right?

Each palette includes a the same liquid eye liner, mascara, pencil liner, brush, and eyelid primer.  The eye shadow palette & lip color included are palette exclusive, meaning the colors aren't duplicated.  So thats the only downside to buying more than one - you get doubles of 5 things.  But all of these things from elf are pretty great.  I'm pretty sure the eye lid primer is the one everyone raves about (personally I don't have it to compare!)

Cruella De Vil Palette

Evil Queen Palette

Each palette also features a saying across the acetate protective sleeve.  The Evil Queen palette says mirror, mirror on the wall and the Cruella De Vil palette says It's a beautiful thing, darling.  Then on both the left & right flaps are instructions for a night & a day look.  I think the best thing about the palette is that everything is removable.  I tend to stay away from palettes that include things like liners & glosses because I'll take the accessories out but the eyeshadows are stuck in there.  It just look so unappealing to use that way.  Not to mention it's bulky to travel with.  So, for me, the fact that everything is removable is pretty awesome.

Cruella Night Look Flap

Cruella Day Look Flap

Evil Queen Day Look Flap

Evil Queen Night Look Flap

There are also eyeshadow shade names unlike other elf palettes.  The downside is the names are only in the bulky packaging.  If you remove the eyeshadow palette from the box you loose the names of the shadows.  But on the back of the shadow palette is the name of the collection it came from!  So if you stick it back in the box you'll know which is which.

As for swatches, these shadows are pretty nice.  I think there are a few duplicates but for six shades that go together its' really awesome.  I was drawn to the Cruella palette first - even though she still scares the bejesus out of me - because it was all neutral.  In this palette Cruelty & Eccentric seem to be almost the same shade - I'm not sure if the difference is big enough to really count!  The dark matte brown, Stolen, isn't as pigmented as I'd have liked either, but it's not a badly pigmented shade.  They all seem to be good colors and each has it's place in a look.  There seem to be four shimmery shades - Puppy Love, Fur, Cruelty & Eccentric - one highlight, semi matte shade - Maniac - and one matte shade - Stolen.

I also picked up the Evil Queen palette because it seemed to also have a great array of neutral shades.   This palette though has two shimmer shades - Jealousy, & Majesty - a matte with glitter shade - Dark Magic - two matte shades - Witch & Vanity - and one highlight, semi-matte shade - Huntsman.  Between the two I have, Huntsman & Maniac seem to be about the same.  In this specific palette there didn't seem to be an overlap in shades at all.  The most interesting shade in this palette is Dark Magic.  It's a deep, pretty much black purple (though it's coming off like a brown in the palette image) with purple flecks of glitter that seem to shake off to make the shade matte when you're done applying it.  The other shades just seem to be shimmery but this one definitely has distinct glitter pieces.

As for lip colors, these really aren't anything to be excited about.  While they are ok, they aren't the best.  They are pretty sticky, don't seem to be too hydrating, & seem to be there just for novelty.  The orange-y shade in the Cruella palette seems impractical..the color just isn't appealing to me.  The applicator is a small doe foot, too small for me personally.  I've swatched them above, but they're nothing to write home about.

The other bits in the package seem to be standard things from the Elf Essentials line.  I looked it up, the liquid eyeliner, the mascara, pencil liner & the brush seem to be from the essentials line.  The eye primer could be from the mineral (at $3) or the essential (at $1) line but I'm guessing it's probably from the essential line.  The price for each palette is $9.99 so that means - if I'm figuring it up right:

mascara - $1
brush - $1
liquid liner - $1
primer - $1 

pencil liner - $1

lip color - $1

eye shadow palette - $4 

of course the palette could be $3 & that extra buck goes for the cool packaging!

As for price, I don't think you're getting cheated on anything.  The products seem to fall in line with the prices from the website & the quality you'd expect from the price.  Pretty much what I'm saying is that you're not paying for packaging, you're paying for product!

I think these palettes are fun, a great price, & have great colors for everyday use but really are perfect for Fall!  I also think the products are good enough to pick up just because the packaging is fun & nice.  You can find these palettes in store at Walgreens only.  Don't be afraid to pick up the other brands who've partnered for this line!

Do you pick up limited edition things like these palettes?  Do you have the ones from last year?

xoxo, Moe

**ps, I bought these palettes myself & the opinions are my own.  Just letting you know!**

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Trend Tuesday // e.l.f. Cosmetics Haul

I'm not sure if you're aware but e.l.f (or eyes lips face) is a crazy affordable cosmetic line you can usually find at places like Target & Meijer.  I've seen it pop up in Wal-Mart recently too!  But if you've ever passed up these little gems, you totally should turn around & pick up something to try - might I suggest their studio line blushes?  Any who, e.l.f. recently had a crazy sale where their Studio Line was 50% so I thought I'd give a few things a try.

If you aren't familiar with e.l.f. they have a few lines of products - the ones you'll see the most (at least the ones I do) are their Essentials Collection and the Studio Line.  There are hits & misses in both lines, but for me the Studio Line is where it's at.  In the Essential Collection a lot of the products are $1 & in the Studio Line a lot of the things are $3-$6 ish.  So with a 50% off sale, you're able to get the Studio Line considerably cheaper...nearly the price of the Essential Collection!  So that's always a plus.  Also, if you've ever thought what you saw in the store was all the existed from e.l.f., check them out online.  There's a lot more than I ever would have thought!  For example I didn't know the Tone Correcting Powder came in different tones, nor did I know the Blushed & Bronzed Duo (or St Lucia blush/bronzer duo) came in different shades!  You'll get lost in the many, many, many options on the site!  So onto the haul, beware - many pictures below!

Angled Blush Brush, Professional Crease Brush, Stipple Brush, Powder Brush

I feel like I'm always looking for more brushes to serve a particular purpose & sometimes it's not the purpose they were intended for!  Buying single brushes means it's easier to double up on them if you really like them.  Right now I have a favorite brush for bronzer that I got in a kit & I'd like another but I don't want to buy another kit just for one brush.  I'm hoping that crease brush will be a better one than the one I have now at precisely placing product & blending it out.  I'm also hoping the stipple brush works great for blush or for foundation.  I used to have a stipple brush from Sonia Kashuk that I loved but it started to shed & leave little furs everywhere.  Gross! But this one isn't as dense.  The angled blush brush from the studio line feels a lot softer than the angled one I have from the essential line so I'm hoping I get more use out of it.

Bronzer in Warm & Bronzer/Blush Duos in Turks & Caicos and Antiqua

I love my St Lucia bronzer/blush duo so I thought I'd see what the others had to offer.  For 50% off of these it's worth a shot even if the bronzers would be too dark - which I think they may be!  The St Lucia duo is a teeny tiny tad bit too dark but works now that I've gotten a tan.  I'm not quite sure if I'll ever be tan enough for these two bronzers though!  But I think they would be perfect crease colors for a neutral eyeshadow look.  Who knows...maybe some use will come of them!  The left swatch above is the duo in Antiqua & right is the duo in Turks & Cacos

I've also seen this quad like bronzer palette thing - if you want to call it that! - in the stores.  But only in one shade.  On the eyes lips face website there are quite a few shades you can pick this bad boy up in.  That didn't really appeal to me at the time so I just picked up this one in Warm.  But when I swatched it I realized how perfect each of the shades in the quad was for eyeshadow!  I totally think you can get a great neutral eye look from this little thing.  So now, of course, I'd like the other two bronzer colors!  I'll wait until the next sale though.

Studio Blushes in ______________ & _____________

I already own quite a few of the blushes in the studio line & some of them are hit or miss.  For example, I really wanted Candid Coral to be a great peachy blush for me but it doesn't show up.  When I saw the color on the left ____________ I thought I'd give it a try.  50% off of these made them $1.50!  Then this golden color ______________ just stood out so I thought why the heck not.  It's weird because the plastic cover on the gold one had the logo on it but elf wasn't stamped into the blush & it was opposite for the other.

Shimmering Facial Whip in Three Colors & the Body Shimmer

The shimmering facial whips were from the Essential Collection so they weren't on sale but for a dollar a pop, seriously you can't pass it up.  I haven't opened them yet but I'm excited to use them because they say they are dual purpose as well - use on your face as a highlight, on your eyelids, or on your lips.  Pretty neat.  The next is this little deodorant stick type deal of a roll up body shimmer in Mystic Moonlight (swatched below):

I think this is super cool! You could use this for different things as well.  This is a swipe not blended out so it could be part of an eye look or blended on your cheekbones for a highlight.  I've never tried a liquid or a creamier style highlight so I'm excited to check these out!

So there you go, my huge discounted e.l.f. haul!  I love eyes lips face & if you're on a budget these products are great to add to your collection.  The reason I like drug store priced products is because I'm able to try out different looks & products without dropping so much $$$ if I don't like it.  With more affordable products that are good quality - let me clarify just because these are cheap in price doesn't mean they are cheap in quality! E.l.f. is up there with one of my favorite make up brands that are affordable & awesome.  You can get a lot but not make a dent in your wallet! 

What are your favorite e.l.f. products?  Any other drugstore products you rave about?

xoxo, Moe

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