Thursday, May 31, 2018

USA haul

So as my summer job for 2018 as a flight attendant will bring me to the United States of America several times over the course of the next few months, so here come the hauls for beauty products for my first three stops:

Haul one

So in my first stop over in Seattle, I managed to pick a few items up:
Elf - eye shadow brush (1 $ + tax @Target)- I bought this one as a backup for an older similar Elf eye shadow brush, but sadly they have changed the hair bristles. And it does a terrible job at applying color to my eyelid. I have to try it on more eye shadows, but now I can only see it being used wet to apply pigments, or wet eye shadow - as it does an ok job at that.
Estée Lauder - advanced night repair serum (7 ml) (16 $ + tax @Nordstrom Rack) - I have really wanted to try this serum out for some time, but as my skin can't handle any given product, I really wanted to be able to try it out before investing in a full size bottle. And finally I stumbled upon a small sample bottle, and can't wait to try it out
Elf - pencil sharpeners - set of 2 - (1.22 $ + tax @Target) - I wanted to buy a closed pencil sharpener, for two sized pencils to put in my cosmetics bag, ready to go with me to work, and this one fitted the bill, and on at a superior price. 
Shea moisture - African black soap with shea butter, troubled skin/severely dry skin (230 g) (5.99 $ + tax @Target) - 
Two oceans - Soothing Aloe Vera, Purifying charcoal - Deep cleansing charcoal soap bar (225 g) (3.99 $ @Ross) - I just couldn't resist picking this soap up as it is made in South Africa, and contains Aloe Vera and is black in color, as the African black soap, so it might work perfectly for my perioral dermatitis, if not I can always use it as a body soap in my shower. 



Haul two


Sephora - Pro brow brush no. 20 (18 $ + tax @Sephora) - I grabbed this to put in my travel makeup bag - to go with the brow powder duo. And it performs perfectly.
Anastasia Beverly Hills - Brow powder duo - soft brown (2 x 0.8 g) (23 $ + tax @Sephora). I asked for assistance at Sephora, and was recommended the auburn shade, as I have a hint of red tones in my hair, but did not dare to venture in that direction, and she tried this on me and it looked great in the store. But in retrospect as I continue to wear it I feel like it is a bit to warm for my brows, so I might actually return this color and exchange it for medium brown.
Mac - eye shadow in Kid (6 $ + tax @Mac) - as this is possibly a limited edition re-launch I decided to pick this shadow up, as I had heard so much about it on Youtube as the perfect crease color. And I am constantly on a hunt for one of those. 


Haul three

Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow brush- detail smudge no. 230 (11 $ + tax @Target) - as I busted my Elf detail crease brush, which I used as a smudge brush, I decided to pick this one up in Target.
Neutrogena - makeup remover cleansing towelettes - 25 ultra-soft cloths (6.29 S + tax @Target). A friend of mine recommended these towelettes, and said they get off all traces of makeup, even waterproof mascara. So I grabbed the type that comes in the plastic tub, which will be very convenient on the go.


So by now I have successfully finished my entire original quota (of 12 items) of color cosmetics for the entire year of 2018.
I had a very similar project/goal going on in 2013 - except in that particular project I did not count any purchases into the total count that I purchased abroad. With that in mind and considering I have only finished five items from the haul I made in Seattle in 2013, and two of those items being mascaras, I really have to start using my products more before I hoard any more. Still I am going to raise the total number of colored cosmetic purchases for the year 2018 to total of 18 items. But those remaining six items left then for this years quota have to be considered carefully before purchasing. And they have to have a very particular function in my collection.

Friday, May 11, 2018

One month haul

So in the month of April, I managed to use up my "quota" for seven months!

April haul

As I had space for two eye shadows in my Inglot palette, and Inglot in Iceland was running an offer of buy one item, and get the second free, I decided to get tow colors; 423 (a purple brown eye shadow, with a bit of a red undertone) and 337 (a light crease color, with a hint of a pink undertone). So now I have a complete 5 pan Inglot palette, a mix of cool and warm shades. And I love them all, great pigmentation and blend-ability. I am truly hooked on Inglot now and am eyeing a few more shades for future purchase.
At Gatwick airport I picked up the Urban Decay - Naked 2 - eye shadow palette. It has been on my wish-list for a few years, and as my sister and nephews had given me cash designated for an UD palette, I took advantage of the great price at the airport.
As I was wandering around the streets of London, I decided to drop in on the Burberry Flagship store on Regent Street, and take a closer look at the Burberry eye shadows, which I have heard SO much about, but never seen in person before. In particular I swatched Pale barley and Almond, but opted for the Burberry eye shadow in Almond no. 103, as my online research showed that a combination of Urban Decays Naked 2 shadows; Suspect and YDK mixed together, looks very similar to Pale Barley (see here).
As with so many other things, I fell for an offer at Lily Lolo where they offered free shipping, so I grabbed the Lily Lolo BB cream in light, as I had heard so many good things about it in relation to perioral dermatitis.
And thanks to Jennifer Lopez collaboration with Inglot and the launch of the limited JLO x Inglot collection, I fell into temptation, and bought an JLO x Inglot eye shadow in Lilac grey (J307), on retrospect it is a very similar color to UD Busted in the Naked 2 palette. Though Busted has a bit more brown hue to it, than Lilac grey.
The one item that does not count towards my quota, is the Sigma eye shadow brush in E45. I had heard so many good reviews online about this brush for hooded eyes, so I went for it when Fotia.is was offering a discount.
As with the Burberry cosmetics, I had never been to a Charlotte Tilbury counter before, until I visited one in Selfridges on Oxford Street in London. But as I already have so much makeup, I could really not justify buying another eye shadow palette, blush or a lipstick. But as I only own three other lip liners, and none of them in a similar color to the Charlotte Tilbury lip liner/lip cheat in Pillow talk, I could justify one lip liner.

So with that said, I have now purchased whopping ten items this year of my twelve item limit for the year of 2018 - and it is only May! 

My oh my, how am I going to cope with my work bringing me to the states several times this summer? I might have tor raise my limit this year - if I double it, it would be 24 items this year, which still in my opinion is way too much! I might consider multiplying it with 1,5, giving me a limit of 18 items in the year 2018 - which undoubtedly has a nice ring to it. I will keep you posted