Haul: May!

Hello! Today's haul post is a big one! I may have gone a bit overboard this month. I definitely broke all the rules. What can I say? Without getting too detailed, I finally got the raise I had been expecting for quite some time, so I celebrated in polish! ...and a fancy dinner one night!

I'm always weak when it comes to in-store shopping. I stopped into Ulta to look for a few specific, non-nail polish items, which I didn't find, but walked out of the store with these lovelies: OPI Jinx, Essence Peach & Cream, Zoya PixieDusts in Dahlia, Chyna, and London. Hangs head... I have no willpower!

Ulta Polish Haul!

Next came my celebratory polish haul from Head2Toe Beauty. I love their prices, but their shipping is a flat ~$12 for any amount of polish. So, I usually wait until I want a LOT of polishes from there to 'justify' the shipping costs. From China Glaze: United, Orange You Hot?, Make a Spectacle, When Stars Collide, and Strap on Your Moonboots.

Head2Toe Beauty Haul: China Glaze!

From the Color Club family: Winter Affair, Ruby Wing Wildflower, and Fashion Addict.

Head2Toe Beauty Haul: Color Club & Ruby Wing!

 More form Color Club. Halo Hues: Cherubic, Cosmic Fate, Cloud Nine, and Blue Heaven.

Head2Toe Beauty Haul: Color Club Halo Hues!

From Orly: Au Champagne and Golden Maharaja.

Head2Toe Beauty Haul: Orly!

Lastly from Head2Toe, I picked up a dappen dish. This one was listed as "Raspberry". It's a really small but very solid glass dish, which I was hoping would be perfect to hold just a bit of the acetone I use for clean-up while swatching. It is the perfect size for this type of use. I had been dipping my clean up brush directly into the acetone bottle, but I was losing a fair amount of product to evaporation while I worked, plus worried about tipping it over. This glass dish suits my needs perfectly! And, it only cost 59 cents! I pictured it next to a Sinful Colors bottle so you can get an idea for just how small it is.

A dappen dish next to a Sinful Colors bottle for size reference.

My super awesome fiance surprised me with these after what he knew was going to be a long day at work that I had been dreading. Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat in All Yarned Up and Tight Knit. Isn't he great!?

Surprise polish!

I also splurged and picked up my first (and probably only) Deborah Lippmann polish. Million Dollar Mermaid just had to be mine, regardless of the $19 price tag!

Nordstrom loot!

I also ordered on-line from Ulta. I purchased the brightening serum and another of my favorite essence eye pallette. My purchase qualified for the "free bag o' stuff promotion" they had going on! This included deluxe sizes and full sizes of about a dozen Ulta products: deluxe sized lip gloss, face wash, blush, and nail polish. Full-sized mascara, lipstick, eye shadow, and eye liner. It also came in a nice make-up bag with a few brushes.

Ulta loot!



Ulta Freebies!

Lastly, I snagged all of my lemmings from Elevation Polish during their latest restock, which are Haba Xueshan, Daisen, and Stay Behind Catch a Wave. Circle glitter perfection!

Elevation Polish Haul!

Oofda! What a month! I'm gonna go play with my new "toys" now! Enjoy your weekend! And, as always, more soon! ^_^

Haul: April!

Hello!!

It's already time for another monthly haul post. Where is this year going?

Tarte Favorites: finishing powder and blush.

I held off on this first purchase for awhile, but in the end, I couldn't resist Tarte's 20% off birthday offer plus freebies. I repurchased the two items I like most out of all the Tarte products I have tried: the Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder and the Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in Glisten. The finishing powder is packaged extra pretty right now because it's part of a limited edition line. I love that aqua and red combination! It's the same as the usual product, but I couldn't resist getting the pretty one. :)

Tarte freebies: Maracuja Sample and deluxe eye shadow primer.

The birthday freebie this year is a deluxe sample of the Maracuja oil. I'm mostly a make-up newbie, so I'm not sure what this is for or if I'll even use it. Last year's was a lip gloss, so this was a bit of a disappointment. I also picked the Smooth Operator eye shadow primer as my free sample. We'll see if it compares to my much-loved Urban Decay Primer Potion. I have hope because it is part of the Amazonian Clay line, which I've had great success using.

Pretty & Polished: House of Heroes and Peebles

A small Pretty & Polished order came next. Peebles was the last P&P on my wishlist, so when they brought it back, I had to get it. I picked up House of Heroes, too... you know.. to make the shipping cost hurt less... yeah. Addict.

Pretty & Polished: House of Heroes and Peebles.

I've already worn Peebles. It's a bright pink jelly base packed with yellow and pink glitters. House of Heroes looks like a fun mix of pastel hexes, rectangles, and shiny brown glitter in a shimmery sheer green base.

Surprise Wal-Mart find! Duri Rejuvacote

That was really all I intended to purchase last month, but I got lucky in a few random stores. Lately, my nails have been peeling pretty bad, so I wanted to try a nourishing base coat. I've read other bloggers' love of Duri Rejuvacote, but no one ever mentioned where they bought it from or even what it looked like. So, there it is! It comes in that blue box, so if you're out looking for this 'mysterious' wonder product, now you have a reference!!

I found it first online at Amazon, but had decided to just pick up Essie Feed Me since I had to make a trip to the crazy-crowded, local Wal-Mart to refill a prescription. I didn't find the Essie at Wal-Mart (sold out), but they had the Rejuvacote!!! Has anyone else noticed that Wal-Mart has really picked up their polish game? Or is it just my Wal-Mart? Maybe mine has a polish addict in charge of ordering product? They had the Rejuvacote, plus a few other base coat options, and even had nail art supplies. I saw nail art brushes, cheap copycat versions of the Ciate Caviar mani sets, tons of nail wraps, and a wall of polish. Color me happily surprised!

JulieG Frosted Gumdrops: Rock Candy and Crushed Candy.

Just a few days ago, I ran into a Rite-Aid just to see if that one carried the JulieG polishes. My store does! And the Frosted Gumdrops display was freshly stocked. Now, I'm waiting for Zoya to update the Share the Love Points program rewards. Thanks to all you polish lovers out there who used my link (in the sidebar) to create an account, I have a TON of reward points to use. Unfortunately, Zoya started ignoring that program before my points were rewarded, so I'm sitting on a bunch of them. The customer service representative that responded to my inquiry about the program said they were determining what direction to take with it and to not expect an update until late June. I'm not going to order from them until I can use up those points, so I as much as I want to wear their textured PixieDust line (and oh my does the summer collection look fabulous!), I wait. And try other textured polishes instead! I grabbed two that looked to be different colors than those in the Zoya sets I intend to buy -- Rock Candy (already swatched here!) and Crushed Candy. I'm lemming an orange textured polish, which the Julie G line has, but I must hold out for those Zoyas! >.<

Did you make any fun purchases in April?

Happy May! More soon! ^_^

Haul: March!

Hello!

I can't believe March has come and nearly gone already! Time sure is slipping, quickly on by... my March was awesome! How was yours?

First up, Pretty & Polished happily surprised me by bringing back Tart and Cheer Camp (already swatched yesterday!) just in time for my birthday! If you are unaware, when you order during your birthday month, ask to be in their birthday club and give them your birth date in the comment section of your order, and they will send a mini polish along as a gift! It is my understanding that each year's birthday polish will be unique and otherwise unattainable. It's a fun bonus!

Pretty & Polished Tart, Happy Birthday 2013, and Cheer Camp.

In the middle of the month, I made a long-overdue trip back home to Minnesota. I miss that place every day. I ate a TON of delicious food. My small town has a plethora of amazing independent restaurants that I crave food from every now and again, so I ate pretty much everything I've wanted from home in the last year in one week (the new diet started the Monday after I got back lol). 

Every time I'm home, I go to see my awesome stylist at a little independent salon in the local (tiny) mall. She is so awesome! This time I asked for dip-dyed ends in jewel tones, and I couldn't be happier with the result. My hair is very dark brown and the colors pop nicely. Check out how awesome that purple is in the sunlight! It glows!

Outdoors, sunlight!

You know I had to eye the nail polish display while I was at the salon. I found OPI Russian Navy. I'm not sure on it's availability, but I've never seen it anywhere before. It's a gorgeous shimmer polish, so it was a happy find. My aunt from Alaska was also in town at the same time, and she gifted me the polish on the right. It is Suncoat Petal Blush. I've never heard of this brand before, but it says it is water-based, meant to peel off, and made in Canada. I've already used it and love it as a base for milky glitters!

OPI Russian Navy and Suncoat Petal Blush.

And now onto the birthday gifts! I am so spoiled! Besides new tires for my car, I got the following lovelies:

Jade Hypnose, Vermelho Surreal, and Mystic Gold. Jessica Pumpkin Delight. AEngland Princess Sabra. Model's Own Ibiza Mix. All from Ninja Polish.

AEngland She Walks in Beauty. CrowsToes Her Goose Got Cooked. Hare Polish Ocean of Alloys. Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Dupe. Contrary Polish Santorini. Emily de Molly When Planets Collide. Picture Polish Cosmos. All from llarowe.

Brash Blue Dream and Denim Doll. Finely milled glitter for nail art. Fresh Sugar lippie in Rose. Stila Liquid Luminizer in Kitten Shimmer. Tarte Amazonian Clay eyeliner in Indigo and mascara in Lights, Camera, Lashes.

Phew, major hauling! It was fun, but I think I'm on a 'break' for a bit. My three-drawer Melmer is nearly full, so I need to stop with the buying! On the other hand, my wishlist is nearly complete..... *evil laughter*

More soon!! ^_^

Bonus Post: NOTD and a Haul!

Good evening!

I wasn't planning on posting anything more until tomorrow, but I had some fun yesterday that I wanted to share. Mr. NeverWithoutPolish and I went on a shopping trip, and I scored some exciting things.


But before we get to that, I wanted to show you what I wore on my nails for this adventure. You see, by Friday night, my current mani (which you can see here) was in less than great shape, and I was tired of it anyway. I knew I'd be doing some swatching Sunday, so I needed a quick, fresh coat of paint to wear while out and about the next day. I told Mr. NeverWithoutPolish to pick a bottle, any bottle. He dug around a bit and surfaced with Zoya Maisie. Plan failed--this is a topcoat, I tell him, pick something to go under it. He searched some more and handed me my bottle of China Glaze Riveting. Here is the end result, excuse the tipwear, the pictures came after a long day of shopping.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I thought this ended up rather nicely, and Mr. NeverWithoutPolish thought he did a good job. The green-blue flakies show up in nice contrast to the orange sparkle of Riveting. For extra fun, I mattified my ring fingers. 

Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

 
Onto the good stuff!

Sally's Loot!

I had a ton of coupons to use up yesterday, and the first stop was Sally Beauty. The lady at Sally's yesterday was kind enough to get the new China Glaze Bohemian Luster Chrome collection out of the back for me to look at and take my pick from. I was really grateful for this since the ladies in my local Sally's don't do that kind of thing (even though, I'd heard of this happening to many people throughout the Interwebs, I hadn't been privileged enough to experience it firsthand until now). The display she brought out had all the polishes except for Unpredictable, which was one of the two I wanted, so the lady was even more kind to go dig through the extra inventory to get one for me. While she was gone, I hit up the clearance rack and scored Glam-more, which was one of those polishes I wasn't planning on picking up unless it was a deal. Score! I've seen a few jelly sandwiches that use this and now I can't wait to give it a try. I also had my 15% off to use this month, so I walked out of there with Swanky Silk, Unpredictable, and Glam-more for less than fifteen bucks!

Ulta Loot!

After that, it was time for Ulta. /rant on Now, I love Ulta stores--I like how they're set up. I like how friendly and helpful the staff are, and I like how everything is sectioned off and samples are out for me to play with. What I don't like is that nearly all of the good stuff is excluded from coupons--if you send me a 20% off my purchase coupon, I get bummed when less than half of what I buy is eligible. I know, I should be thankful for any savings but still, it's like their baiting me. /rant off  I picked up a few things I use everyday that I was running low on--the Urban Decay Primer Potion (totally awesome stuff--eye makeup stays on all day. Love. It.) and some more mascara from Tarte (I also love Tarte--I experimentally switched form drug store brands to cruelty free, higher end brands a few months ago and Tarte was my brand of choice. I snagged a few value sets to try a range of their products all at once, and I'm hooked. I have never been this happy with my skin before--it's finally clear! Rejoice!). And since I was already there, I of course had to look through the polish displays. Sadly, everything was very picked over and only a few lonely bottles were left anywhere. I had wanted to try some Essence polishes but they were completely gone. They have a buy 2 get 1 free deal going so I grabbed some Zoyas from my wishlist and Orly Androgynie at random (I fell victim to the gorgeous gold holo glitter peeking out through the black base). The Zoyas are Robyn, Mimi, and Charisma.

Fresh Sugar minis and a big ol' purse for traveling.

After that, it was on to the mall where I got my birthday gift offer from Sephora, free underwear from Victoria's Secret (not pictured), and a new purse! Mr. NeverWithoutPolish snagged some clearanced golf shirts, and we perused new luggage options from several stores in anticipation of our Montana vacation next month. It was a fun day--we ate some bad for us food (waaaay cheating on our diets--Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, Famous Dave's for lunch, and Coldstone Creamery for dinner. Nom!). We ended the day watching the Dark Knight Rises.

Such fun! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I spent most of today swatching in front of the television with the Olympics on. Go USA!! Check back tomorrow--I'll have swatches of the two China Glaze Bohemian duochromes for you!

More soon! ^_^