New Year, New Haul

​Happy 2020 guys! It's been a while since my last blog post. As you know, I've been taking some time away from everything and just focused on the holidays and shutting everything off, in a way, to focus on family. I hope you guys had a great holiday season.  I thought it'd be nice to kick off 2020 with a collective haul post, things I've picked up after the holidays that went on sale, and some brand new things for 2020. I cashed in my points with ULTA and took advantage of the Sephora sale on sale event. 

​Let's start with Sephora because I only purchased one thing but I also cashed in some points for a reward, and got my free birthday gift they do.

I picked up the Herbivore Self Love Facial Ritual Kit. I'd been wanting to try their newer products like the Emerald Oils and PRISM Glow Facial (20% AHA + 5% BHA). So this came with a decent size of the Emerald Oil that is only the Hemp Seed + Adaptogens, not the CBD version if I'm correct. It's around .35 oz which is 10 ml and that sounds very small but it's not. Considering how many facial oils I have, and test, this is a perfect size for me actually.  So for reference your usual facial oil is 30 ml making it 1 oz. The PRISM glow facial is .5 oz/15 ml and a new launch. It is another good size. The set also comes with their Rose Hibisous Coconut Water mist. It's 2 oz and I think that's full size. I'm not the biggest fan of mists but I have been using them more often. Pretty sure I seen Caroline Hirons talk about this in an empties video. It also comes with a Rose Quartz Gua Sha facial contouring tool/crystal. Yes, I'm aware of all the stuff about crystals and I actually love crystals and have a nice collection of them. However in regards to using them on the face whether it's in roller form or other facial contouring versions of them, I tend to only use them when I want something cooling on my skin, or if I'm rolling in an oil that might have the tendency to ball up if I use my hands. They're great for headaches and fevers I've noticed. I don't think they're a necessary thing though.

As rewards and bonus points. I got a duo of Tatcha "The Deep Cleanse" and "The Water Cream". I had tried The Water Cream before and thought it was ok. It was such a small size though that I couldn't really form an opinion. I haven't tried The Deep Cleanse which is a purifying cleanser with natural fruit exfoliant. I've wanted to try it for a while and both of these samples are pretty good sized so I think I can form an opinion. I also got my birthday gift from them, which I picked MILK Makeup, and they had a lot of options actually. The MILK Makeup set is KUSH Mascara one of my faves, one of their cheek tint sticks, and a little packet of Hydro Grip Primer which is really good and I am going to buy a bigger size.

Next let's talk ULTA

I placed 3 orders between December and January. Basically cashing in on 20% off coupons and $10 off coupons and then cashing in points that I had built up. Which is why ULTA has Sephora beat in regards to perks.

Some of the stuff I've been able to try and then some I have not. So I will list them and if I've been able to try it, I'll give you my thoughts.

Tarte Chrome for The Holidays: This is a 4 mini Chrome Paint shadow set. It's more like loose pigment in my opinion. I got this because they were so hyped up and they are okay for basically everyday wear because they aren't super intense and they don't necessarily need a mixing medium or glue. I much prefer the Inglot AMC foiled pigments though. So it's just meh in my opinion, but only because I really like something to pop out at you.

I got the Morphe x Jeffree Star Iconic Nudes. This is a set of mini lip products. I really like it because there are 2 of his liquid lips that are staples of his line pretty much, in LEO and Manniquin. There are two glosses, one being clear and the other being a nude gloss. There is one lip topper in Slurp. It's the only one I've not used. This is one of two sets this nude one and a red one. Which if it's still available I'll probably get it because it's $25.

I also picked up another Morhpe sponge because that's how I like to apply my highlighters. Also very good with foundation. I am not the biggest Morphe fan as you probably know. I only buy anything of their's through ULTA because it's better shipping. The Jeffree Star set was hard to pass up when it's part of his normal line. The sponge was because my other sponge needed to be replace. 

I got two products from Indeed Labs. 
No Acid Pads which I've only tried once and so far it's just, as you would expect, a more gentle exfoliation.
I also got the Bakuchiol Reface Pads. This is an alternative to retinol. It's plant based. It's becoming more popular. I actually find these kinda strong for what they are. I've not been using them long enough to tell you what the results are though.

Wet N Wild Ultimate Brow Micro Brow Pencil. This is $4. I really like it. They have other brow products as well.

Tarte Shape Tape Glow Wand. There will be a review on this for sure.

Bareminerals Rosy Days Lip and Cheek Duo. This is $15 and it's full sized products. Gen Nude liquid lip in Frendship and Gen Nude blush in On The Mauve. I've used them both and they are really nice. The blush looks super intimidating because it seems like it'd be much darker or too intense but it's not. It's buildable. I use it for carving out my cheekbones.

Stila The Highest Realm Glitter and Glow Liquid Eyeshadow set. This was kind of a bust and it's sold out so no big deal.

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser. No opinion yet.

L'Oreal Super Slim Liquid liner in Grey. Haven't tried it yet.

MAC Star Dipped Face Compact. This is lovely. I use it as both highlight and blush. It's like a summer night on your face.


That's everything guys. Hopefully we'll have some real winners in here that I can discuss more in depth later.