Haul! Sephora, Ulta, and MAC

 

Apparently after doing an Empties/Products I Hit Pan On as my last post, I felt like it was time for a shopping trip. I actually did quite well with self-restraint this time, and this is a roundup of trips to Ulta, Sephora, and MAC. I got some necessities and some experiments. But enough about my thought process while shopping, let's get to the products!

SheaMoiture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie 

I like a lot of SheaMoisture products for my naturally curly hair, a few of which I mentioned in my Best Styling Products for Curly Hair, and I kept hearing good things about this, so I decided it was time to try it. I used it today, and I have to say, it might be my favorite of their products. It really helps your natural curls be their best. It is very moisturizing so it really smooths and defines curls, but it is not extremely thick or heavy, so it will not weigh down or flatten your hair. I got lots of body and volume, with really well defined curls, the perfect combination. It also holds and maintains curls really well. Your curls stay in tact and hold up, even when sleeping on them, which is always great because you can go a few days between washes and still have in tact curls.

Dove Quench Absolute Conditioner

I needed conditioner, and I'm always experimenting with drugstore brands in hopes that I will find a fabulous, cheaper one. I have liked other Dove products before, and when I saw the word "Quench", I grabbed it. I am so happy that Natural Hair has become a movement, and brands are finally making products to enhance your natural curls instead of only products to relax or straighten them. Anyone with curly hair knows that there is no such thing as enough moisture, so this was an obvious choice to experiment with. It is from their new Quench Absolute line along with a shampoo and a few styling products. I have not tried it yet, but you will definitely hear about it again if I like it. 

NYX Cosmetics Jumbo Eye Pencil in Cottage Cheese

Don't ask my why they chose this name for this color, but once you get over the gross sounding name, the color is actually gorgeous. It is a beautiful pearly white. I like these Jumbo Pencils a lot. They are great for many different uses. This pearly white shade will be a beautiful highlight which you can easily just draw onto your brow-bone and inner corner. These pencils are nice and creamy, so they blend out well, and they have great staying power, which makes them good bases for powder shadow too. This is the swatch on the left in the photo. I swatched it next to a similar product I bought (and will get to in a minute) to compare.

tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Eyeshadow Palette

I finally caved and had to join the Tartelette craze. I've been eyeing it for a while, and I felt like it was in every single January Favorites video/post I saw, so it was time. I caved and finally bought it. I love matte shadows, and this is an entirely matte palette with 12 shades in a gorgeous range of light to dark, neutral, warm, and cool shades. I would definitely recommend this palette, especially because of all the tutorials it has been in lately. If you are new to eyeshadow, or afraid of mattes, or just want some new looks, there are tutorials EVERYWHERE using this palette, which makes it a great one to buy, then see what tons of different people have done with it, and try it yourself. Seriously, just Google it and tons of tutorials will come up, you can play for hours! Matte shadows can be kind of chalky sometimes, but these blend really well. I am very excited to try some of the looks I have seen others creating with this, and to create some of my own.

Kat Von D The Kat Eye Set

I saw this set and noticed that it included a mini version of the Tattoo Liner, which I absolutely love. It is the perfect size to stash in your purse for touch ups. This liner has a super fine tip, which makes it really easy to be precise, and it is the blackest black ever. I just realized I don't think I've ever mentioned this pen before, and I'm shocked. The set also came with a mini Immortal Lash 24 Hour Mascara, which I have never tried, but the brush looks like something I would definitely like. It has a spiral of very tiny, flexible bristles, which get more dense toward the tip of the wand, where they come into a ball shape. I love mascaras with a ball tip. They make it super easy to really bulk up your lashes. I love applying a few coats with the wand horizontally, and then turning it vertically and brushing just the ball through lashes. It really bulks them up, and I love volume on lashes. Again, I haven't used it yet, but you'll know if I like it.

Lacome SOURCILS TINT - Longwear Eyebrow Pen Ultra-Precise

Apparently I was in a pen mood after the Kat Von D set. I was intrigued when I saw this in the store, and after playing with it, I thought I would really like it. Like the Tattoo Liner, it has a very fine pen tip, which draws on a precise, extremely long wearing liquid. It is extremely buildable. One swipe gives you a light, natural color, but you can go over it a few times to really get a bolder color. I like that because I don't always want the same color all over my brows, and this gives me that versatility in one product. I can lightly fill in my brows, draw a precise edge on them with the fine tip, and then go over the bald spot I have in one brow a couple more times to make that color match the rest of my brows. I might be hooked on this very soon. I bought the lightest shade, 01 Blond, which seems like it will be a decent match. The shade range was limited, only four shades-this, which is the lightest, an orangey shade which would actually probably be really good for red heads, a cool deep brown, and a black.

tarte Colored Clay CC Eye Primer Stick

I mentioned in my last Products I Hit Pan On that I had used up my beloved Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Tube-Original so it was time for a new eye primer. I have looked at this one a few times, and I really liked a few things about it. I like how creamy it is, but dries to a texture that you can tell won't move. I also like how it comes in a stick form, so you can draw it on and then blend it out, and I like how it is tinted so it will cover the veins that are visible in my eyelids and sometimes show through lighter shadows. I use eye primer not just on my lids to keep eyeshadow from creasing and last longer, but I also sometimes use it under my eyes to prep for concealer, which keeps that from creasing just like it does the eyeshadow. This seemed easier to use under my eyes since it is a stick, and again the tint seemed beneficial. I have used it a few times so far and really liked it. On days I have lots of eyeshadow on for several hours, I do notice it fades a bit, which it wouldn't have with the Urban Decay primer. However, I like the tint in this one better, as it provides a more neutral base for shadow so you really see the true color, unaffected by your lid color, and the staying power is fine for everyday use.

Sephora Collection Brow Enhancer in 06 Pearly Opal

This is another eye pencil for highlighting, in a pearly white shade, but this is much lighter than the NYX pencil, and has a bit more of a pink base than stark white. I will use this in the exact same way, on my brow-bone and inner corner of my eye to highlight, but when I want a more subtle look than the NYX pencil, which is very bright. In the swatch, the NYX Pencil is on the left, Sephora on the right. This pencil was also a little less creamy than the NYX pencil, which means it will not blend out as effortlessly, but will probably last longer. It is still creamy enough to blend out, and the fine pearl in it is really pretty.

MAC Pencilled In Tinted Lipglass in Heroine

I am obsessed with the MAC Lipstick in Heroine, which I featured in my Current Obsession: Purple Lips, and have been for quite a while, so I was SUPER excited when they finally made a Lipglass to match it. I like the matte finish of the lipstick, but sometimes you just want a glassy mirror finish. I usually used a clear or similar (as close as I could find) glosse over Heroine, but now there is finally a match made by MAC. Their Lipglasses can get a bad rap for being rather sticky, but I find that when you put them over lipstick, they really aren't that sticky. You can see in the side-by-side swatch that the gloss is slightly lighter than the lipstick, but that's to be expected because obviously it is more sheer. And together (in the photo of my lips) they are absolutely stunning. This collection doesn't state that it is limited edition, and I certainly hope not, because I will be going through many of these.