My ebates Shopping Spree

Wowzers...this past week was beauty week on ebates, and I believe it's still going on right now, where certain beauty vendors are giving double cash back. I took advantage of the 14% that Lancome was giving and the 8% that Sephora was giving. I normally do not buy Lancome stuff because it's super expensive, but since the cash back was so good, I thought I'd browse. So, I got a Definicils Waterproof for myself and a Hypnose for my aunty that did me a favor last month (she likes the stuff but can't imagine spending the dough to buy it).

I am so excited about the good deals I got. I got tons of cash back, and also a lot of deluxe and coupon code samples. Be on the lookout for reviews on these products:

• Lancome Definicils Waterproof mascara
• Lancome Genifique Concentrate (sample)
• Lancome Color Design Lipstick (sample, not too sure what color)
• Lancome Juicy Tubes in Moulin Rose (sample)
• Lancome Bright Expert (sample)
• Lamcome Juicy Tubes in Touched By Light (sample)
• Shiseido Skincare 1 2 3 Pureness Oil Control Set
• MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Microfinish Powder
• Stila Smudgestick Waterproof Eyeliner in Stingray
• Bumble and Bumble Seaweed Shampoo
• Dior Best in Show Mini Mascara Duo (Diorshow in Black & Diorshow Maximizer)
• Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm Duo in Black Tea & Blackberry and Grapefruit & Ginger
• Urban Decay Afterglow Glide-On Cheek Tint in Quickie (sample)
• Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Packet Trio (sample)

I'm really interested in the Dior mascara (I've heard a TON of people, especially people I know personally, rave about this stuff), and the Bobbi Brown foundation. These are two products I didn't purchase a full size, but they're so expensive that I don't think I would feel very comfortable purchasing.

I got a bunch of samples from Lancome, and that goes to show the greatness of coupon codes. And the best part was I found that particular code on the ebates' website, not the Lancome one. So even if you're not interested in cash back (sorry, I think you'll have to be nuts to not be), the site is a great resource for coupon codes :D

One more note/piece of advice: since Sephora is such a great place to find all kinds of department store brand makeup, if you're interested in a certain product, go to the store and ask for samples. Now don't go off asking for samples of all the products in the store. It's suggested that your "limit" should be 2-3, or else the staff may not be too nice to you. After sampling these products, you can buy more confidently, especially if you like buying things online.

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Beautylish

So I found this website, that is sort of like the facebook for beauty enthusiasts, called beautylish. I just signed up, and I've been snooping around, and they have great articles, also tips for those who do tutorials. They also feature different gurus and looks that they do. It's a bit like an interactive magazine. This is also a good place for new gurus to get noticed.

I haven't really interacted yet on this site, but I do have a profile. Come follow me if you want!

New Product Curiosity: INGLOT Freedom System

I've been reading about this brand called INGLOT that is based in the UK that has this eyeshadow palette like MAC and MAKEUP FOREVER that you can customize with eyeshadows of your choice. I've been contemplating getting a Zpalette, and getting MAC and MAKEUP FOREVER eyeshadows, and de-potting my Urban Decay eyeshadows. And after doing a little looking up, it seems that I think the INGLOT route is right for me.

At first, there were a few problems, one was that INGLOT was only a brick and mortor store...only a product listing was available online. Now that they finally have an online store, shipping is quite redonkulous-it's based on the price you're paying (the more you buy, the more you have to pay for it to be shipped). Anyway, there are stores in the US, including one in Vegas and a bunch on the east side of the country. This excites me because I would like to travel to New York (where they have a store) in the winter...just waiting on one of my friends to confirm so we can start planning our adventure there.

Anyway, I would like to point out a few things that make this company rise above the rest:

• SIZE: The size of the INGLOT eyeshadow pans are 2.7 grams. MAC and Urban Decay ones are 1.5, MAKEUP FOREVER comes close at 2.3 grams, and stila comes even closer at 2.6 grams (not too sure if these are the same size as the pans they used to sell-they're now sold in a pot)
• PRICE: When bought in bulk (>10), INGLOT eyeshadow pans are $4.50, even when you buy only one, the price is $7. MAC ones are $11 (for the pan only, in the pot it's $14.50), Urban Decay is $17, and you do not have the option to buy just the pan, also no pan only, stila at $18, and MAKEUP FOREVER at $19.
• FREEDOM: INGLOT comes in many varieties. You can choose from the duo eyeshadow palette for $1, 3 pan for $7, 5 pan for $10, 10 pan for $20, and 20 pan for $23. They will be releasing a 40 pan palette, which I'm not too sure about the price for. MAC Pro Palettes come only in the 4 and 15 option. The empty palettes (without the eyeshadows) are actually cheaper than the INGLOT ones. The quad is only $5 and the 15 pan (which can hold up to 22 I believe) is $14. MAKEUP FOREVER also has a palette you can put their eyeshadows in that holds 10, for $20. I thought they had another one (that holds less), but I can't find it. stila has empty palettes: 3 pan for $13, 4 pan for $16, 6 pan for $24, and 8 pan for $30.

So, if you get together with some friends and go to the store, you can get a good deal on eyeshadows. I've seen swatches on Temptalia's, Beautezine's and Xsparkage's blogs, and the color payoff looks great. Also, it seems after reading that the glitter in these are better at staying on your eyelid, instead of your cheek, which is something I really think Urban Decay should look into working on.

All you need to do is buy 10 pans, and you can get them for cheap. For me, that's just enough to get colors for natural look, a black, a gray/silver, an eye color enhancing look (for me a few purples), and a pink (which I like to use with neutrals). I think that could easily fill 10 pans. If I buy in the near future, I think I'm gonna pick up a 20 pan palette, and a few of the colors I mentioned. One thing I would like to do, if possible is make a dupe for the naked palette. However, in actuality, the Naked Palette is actually a good deal ($4 an eyeshadow, plus a free brush and primer potion), but I don't like the fallout from the glitter shades

New Product Curiosity: MAC Prep + Prime Beauty Balm SPF 35

When I was browsing around on the MAC website tonight, I noticed that they came out with a new product called a Beauty Balm. I tried to see if any of my favorite beauty gurus/bloggers had written about this product because it sounded awfully like a BB cream, as you can see from the description from the website:

Prep + Prime Beauty Balm is lightly tinted in a nearly sheer beige tone to work on an array of complexions, it creamily re-texturizes the skin and then goes on to excel at being a face primer with highly everyday UVA/UVB SPF defense.

A BB cream is somewhat what this product is supposed to be. From my understandings, BB stands for blemish balm, and what it is supposed to be is a multi-tasking cream that takes care of everything: skincare, sun protection, and skin tone evening. Most of them have high SPF and usually have the "special" sunscreens that protect against both UVA and UVB rays, which is an important factor with sunscreen. Most of them also have special skin treatments like anti-aging ingredients, and also whitening ingredients. Another thing is that these are supposed to be like a sheer alternative to foundation. I would say that the coverage is supposed to be a few notches more than a tinted moisturizer. I personally own the Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream. I'll review that later. I like certain things about it, but there are some things that make me not like to use them.

Anyway, my point is, I don't think MAC's intention was to make a BB cream. I think if that is what they intended, they would have done a few things a little different: 1-they wouldn't have called it a beauty balm versus a blemish balm (what BB is supposed to stand for), 2-I think they wouldn't have put it in the Prep + Prime line, and 3-they would have made a few more shades. I know traditionally, BB creams don't come in the largest array of colors, but it's MAC, they're usually skin tone accommodating. Well, I just wanted to point this out because many of the reviews I've been reading about this product compare it to BB creams. I really wouldn't. I actually would put this product into just a skin tone evening primer, with a sunscreen.

In the end, I think this is an interesting product. I think good for the summer in that it could even out your skin tone prior to foundation so that you don't have to wear too heavy of a foundation. Plus you have a rather high SPF, which is always great to have. I don't know if this is going to be in the permanent line, but if it is, I may look into buying it one day.

Memorial Day Sales

So many good sales going on this week!!! To commemorate the holiday weekend some of my favorite places to shop is offering deals that I would so go for, but don't have the money :(

Kali's Nail Supply is going out of business. They're actually retiring, and it was a quick decision, so they will be open today from 10 till 6 and tomorrow from 10 till 4 and they're offering 50% off the whole store, at least their retail products, which include nail polishes, treatments, and other basics that don't require a license. Check out their facebook page for the details.

HauteLook is one of my favorite places to get things that I can't normally afford or don't have access to. This weekend they are offering free shipping for orders 50% or more. It looks like the sales are lasting through the weekend instead of the normal three days, and there also seems to be more sales going on now.

And Tokidoki is doing a Memorial Day sale with 30% off online and in store. I don't know of any Tokidoki stores here, but since their stuff is quite pricey, I think this would be a great time to buy those gifts to yourself ;)

Okay, not that many things I found. Just to help you people on a budget. It's also a great opportunity to buy gifts :) I think it's never too early to start Christmas shopping, although I usually scramble starting December 20th or so ;P

Happy Memorial Day!!!

HAUL: Nails Nails Nails

So it would be a pretty big understatement to say that I bought a lot of nail stuff this past week. Let me just recap a bit: earlier in the week, Kali (from Kali's Nail Supply) had tweeted that she put more nail polishes in the $2 box. I LOVE the $2 box. The things that go in there are actually still good stuff, it just may be discontinued, or the packaging was done wrong, so they can't sell it at full price anymore. And, in commemoration of their 25th anniversary, they did a 50% off the entire store for their "First Sunday/Monday" sale they do monthly. I HAD to take the opportunity to check it out. So, the big sale was today, and I really wanted to get more stuff, but I really had to limit myself to just essentials. So, I got nail polish remover, a file, LOTS of top coat, and glitters. Here's what I got from all this maddness:

DISCLAIMER: I still haven't gotten the hang of taking these types of pictures, so some of them look a little overexposed, some underexposed, and some are out of focus...SORRY!!

$2 Polishes

Left to right: Breakdown Blue (light blue to pink), Patient Pink (light pink to white), Fearless Fuschia (fuschia to pink), Paranoid Purple (purple to pink)

These Jessica Polishes were kind of a disappointment unfortunately. They're supposed to be color changing , according to their temperature, but they don't work that well. The other thing was that they're really sheer, so it took I think 4 coats to get it nice.

Left to right: Manhattan, OC Codler, South Beach, Bridgit

Left to right: Chily Secret, Times Square

Left to right: Hello Hello, A Lot Of Shekels, Bright Tights

Left to right: Shower Popper, Handle With Flair, Lacy Not Racy

Left to right: Baby Girl Pink, Spring Lining Lavender, Baby Girl Pink, Purple Glitter

I know what you're thinking...they're the same color? I don't have a definite answer, but my guess is that it one of the two was incorrectly produced, and since they had different labeling (on the bottom), I assume one was in the box because it was "old" and the other because the color was wrong. That's purely my guess.

These are the nail art ones. The three on the left have a nail art brush and a pen in the top. I have one of these, and the color got really whack after a while, I think it was because of how I stored it (in sunlight), so I'm hoping for the better in these. The one on the right is a glitter, I think it's a clear base with purple glitter. All are by Nubar.

So, after all that madness, I don't have room in my box anymore. It's totally full, and I still have other stuff to store. I am on the search for more storage!

Here's those essentials that I got from today's sale:

Zoya remove + is one of the best nail polish removers I ever used. As you can see I got that small bottle a while back, and I like that flip top thing, you can push down on it and it will dispense the product. This is way better than placing your nail wipe (or cotton ball) on your bottle opening and flipping it over, risking spillage and dried out skin. It's not just the bottle I like though, it's the product. It removes nail polish without really drying out my skin a lot. I used to use the pure acetone, which is actually not too good for your skin, or your eyes (your cornea to be exact), but it was the fastest way to remove polish and glitter. Now that I found this one, I think I will stick to it because it removes glitter pretty well too, not as great as pure acetone, but it doesn't take years to get the stuff off my nails :) I bought the big bottles because I can just refill, that's no issue, and it's a better value ;)

The BEST top coat EVER! Enough said!! Hah...This really is my favorite. It not only dries quickly, but it's super shiny, and it self levels, so when I use glitters, my nail is left pretty smooth after I apply this top coat :D

Now, I know glitter isn't really an essential, but to me it IS!! I love China Glaze's Nova, and I wanted to try Techno. They're both silver holographic glitters, but Techno has medium and large hexagonal pieces, and Nova just has the medium ones. Also on the far left is Nubar (I WILL GET THE NAME SOON!!). Just figured I'd try it since it was half off ;)

Also, a few weeks ago, Zoya did this massive sale online to its account holders. They were pressuring all their facebook followers to make sure they had accounts because that was the only way you had access to the sale. The deal was buy one get one free for their entire summer collection for this year...PLUS only $2 for shipping. I couldn't believe my eyes, AND to note...they shipped to Hawaii, which is quite spectacular because many companies do not ship nail stuff here. Of course this sale was pretty neat, but unfortunately, I don't have all the money in the world, so I only got these four colors:

Left to right: Apple, Faye, Mira, Areej

Some Nail Pics

I finally have time to upload some pictures that I've been dying to upload :) Unfortunately, I am still not able to upload from my older camera, but I have ordered a new memory card reader, so hopefully...SOON!

Here's two of my most recent nails that I've worn.

On this set of nails (it gets complicated), here's the break down:

• On thumb, middle, ring, and pinky: Sunset Sail (Anchors Away), Knotty (Anchors Away), and Black Mesh (Crackle Glaze). All by China Glaze
• On pointer/index: Sunset Sail (Anchors Away), White Cap (Anchors Away), and Nova. All by China Glaze.

I ended up really liking the more subtle colors from the Anchors Away collection. The other color from that collection I got was Below Deck, which is a mauve-y color. And, for now...I only have Black Mesh from the Crackle Glazes. I have on back order Cracked Concrete and Fault Line...looking forward to those :)

On this set of nails, I'm wearing Catlin (Intimate Collection) and La Pop both by Zoya.

I normally don't really take into consideration the brand of polish that I'm wearing, just so happens that on these two sets of nails I was consistent with brand :)