A birthday treat contemplation

My birthday month has arrived and I will for sure go and collect my birthday gift from Sephora for the year, also I am contemplating what and if I should purchase some cosmetics for myself for my birthday. 

So what am I thinking if I should purchase? Well I have a few items I have been contemplating. First of all I am very curious about the Rhode pocket blushes, in particular shades Sleepy girl or Toasted teddy - but then again I already have 11 cream, liquid or stick blushes in my collection, and all of them I have accumulated since or after 2020 - so the question remains do I really need to add one more? Yes some of the ones I own are not full size but still they will take a long time to finish, and over half of them are in a very similar shade, which I think is similar to the blush from Rhode in the color "tan lines" so that shade in particular would be ridiculous for me to purchase. 

Or do I rather want to wait for the Rhode bronzers that Hailey Bieber has been teasing online?

On the bronzer note, should I get the RMS ReDimension hydra bronzer, perhaps in the color beachwalk betty?

Or the Jones Road bronzer in the color Dusty rose? Or the cult classic Mac Give me sun?

Or should I consider purchasing is a Nilens Jord Cheeks & lips - which I would consider to be a blush stick. It is highly unlikely though I would purchase this one though as I would like to swatch them in person, and they are not sold in Icleand or USA. But the next time I am in Copenhagen this purchase might happen. The colors I think I would lean towards are: berry and chestnut - and some say guava looks nice.

Another possible blush stick I have heard raved about online for the longest time is the Jane Iredale glow time blush stick in the color balmy.

Or Merit beauty flush balm which is kind of a blush stick? Some time back I was thinking about getting the color "Stockholm" now I am leaning towards are: Aprés, Archival, Bespoke or Postmodern. 

I also found the Saie Super suede baked powder blush in the shade Ciao to be an intriguing color or should I look towards Hourglass ambient lighting blush in the shade mood exposure.

Another route to go would be getting a bigger eyeshadow palette: Makeup by Mario master mattes - the neutrals eyeshadow palette, which I have had my eye on since it launched.

Another eyeshadow palette I have also considered in the past are Idun minerals mineral eyeshadow palette in the shade lavendel, but they seem to have discontinued that color and launched four new shades.

Yet another eyeshadow palettes I have considered purchasing recently are the Jane Iredale pure pressed eyeshadow palette either in naturally matte or pure basics, also I have contemplated the Hung Vanngo color story eyeshadow palette in new neutral. Or even the Sensai eye color palette, which is a quad, which has three very nice colors; shiny foliage, night sparkle and petal dance. Another eyeshadow brand I have coveted is Viseart Paris, but they regularly launch new color nuances, but I think I would rather lean towards a cool palette with that brand vs. the cult favorite neutral mattes palette. I have also thought about the Mac palettes in the line Connect in color, but the big one is quite warm, and the smaller ones which have six shades - there are always a few colors in each one I would not use.

Should I do a big splurge and buy the Tom Ford eye color quad in Nude dip, or Prada dimensions holo nude eyeshadow palette in 07 peony? At 95 and 85 USD a pop is a bit expensive though.

Another item I have contemplated to purchase for some time now is another shade in the Merit Solo shadows, a cream shadow in the shade "studio" which is more pinky toned (or cool mauve) compared to the color I have "vachetta" (warm beige). 

Or should I get another Makeup by Mario master mattes long wear cream eyeshadow in mauve, a color I should perhaps have gotten instead of the color I got in this formula - but the downside is that this is a very quick drying formula. The color of this eyeshadow I think though might be similar to the Merit sudio.

Another eyeshadow I have contemplated and thought about purchasing is Just a sec eyeshadow from Jones Road Beauty - a beautiful potted creamy shimmery eyeshadow  - I swatched it once in store and omg it is gorgeous!! I am not sure what color I would choose though, maybe golden peach, bronze, topaz or cool taupe - I would just aim to choose in store in New York.

Or should I get a matte shade in the Armani eye tint long-lasting liquid eyeshadow?

Yet another item I have also had my eye on is Violette Fr Bisou balm, possibly in the shades Betise, Bonbon Coquelicot, Guimauve or Amour Fou. This is a formula I am very curious about - but then I have more than enough lip products, so I need another lip stick like I need a hole in the head.

Do you have a suggestion on what of these I should choose?

October - December Haul 2025

 So how is my low buy for 2025 going, well it is going this well:

Setting spray, toner, creams and more

Bleaching cream, balm and African black soap

Samples, cream eyeshadow, lip gloss and lip liners

Tower 28 - Daily rescue facial spray (30 ml): I had bought this facial spray for one of my friends, who absolutely loved it, and during the Sephora sale, I grabbed me the smallest bottle of it. 

The body shop - Aloe soothing toner (250 ml): A constant repurchase for me, a mild and soothing toner that does not agitate perioral dermatitis for me. 

Boots - Ingredients - Deep moisture spray (150 ml): When I was on holiday in Scotland, Edinburgh to be precise, I went to Boots of course, one of my favorite stores in the UK. And I had a few recommendations from Andrew Donaldson-Wheatcroft on Instagram, this was amongst them and in a category I do not have "too many" backups of already, so I could justify the purchase. 

Byoma - Moiturizing rich cream (50 ml): My friend recommended this cream as her daughter had discovered the brand on TikTok - and during one of my work trips to the US 

Lancome - Eau Miceallaire confort (50 ml): When me and my mom went to a promo event in Smáralind shopping center a few years ago, we each got a gift bag full of Lancome products. This was one of the products in my moms bags which she has not used so she gifted this to me to use. I loved my bottle, so this will come in handy for work and travel. 

The Edinburgh natural skincare co. - The very, very best lip balm in the entire world! (15 ml): This I purchased in the Edinburgh christmas market. It felt great, but it has a very big name claim. 

Vieve - Super skin nova - Moisture rich primer (12 ml): I spent one last night in Scotland in Glasgow, and visited the Vieve store. For how long I had wanted to visit this store, I spent only about 15 minutes in store. Well I had spotted a few items from Vieve in H beauty or John Lewis in Edinburgh and swatched a few items there. Plus I really do not need any more eyeshadows, nor foundations, so I stayed clear of temptation.

Jolen - Creme bleach lightens dark hair mild formula (30ml + 7g): This I purchased as a pure backup as I have this item, but as I was in the UK I decided to grab another, as I have never come across a bleaching cream in Iceland, and as my facial hair is darkening a bit with changes in medication recently, I see this as something I will use on the regular in the coming future. 

Balmonds - Skin salvation (50 ml): This was another recommendation from Andrew, as this is supposed to be excellent for eczema skin. So that I also grabbed in Boots.

Shea moisture - African black soap - Calm & Clearing bar soap (227 g): My favorite facial soap that manages to keep by perioral dermatitis in check, without stripping my skin. 

The body shop - Plum shower gel (sample): This came as a gift with purchase when I bought the toner.

The body shop - Plum body yogurt (sample): This came also as a gift with purchase.

Wycon - Mono shot eyeshadow - 21 brick ( ): I had a work trip to Rome, Italy in November, where I had a free afternoon in the city. So I took a stroll to the Spanish steps and Fontana di Trevi - and strolled perhaps along two of the main shopping streets between those two places. There I came across a Wycon store, which I had never heard of before. They were having a some sort of a black Friday sale, so after swatching a few items in store, and contemplating what I could justify to buy - I opted for a single eyeshadow in a brown color with a warm red undertone.

Makeup by Mario - Master mattes long-wear cream eyeshadow - Sandstone (2 ml): These cream eyeshadows were so hyped online, and this brand in general. And as I do not own anything from this brand I decided to grab one of these cream eyeshadows during the Sephora sale, where I got a 10% discount. This one is very similar in tone to my skin color though, so it is more of a no makeup, makeup look. It dries down super fast, I am not sure I would want to pick another up in a darker color, as I am not sure I would be able to blend it well enough before it would dry down on me. 

Lancome - Fix it forget it - Makeup setting mist (1.5 ml): Another item from the Lancome gift bag from my mom. I can put this in my travel makeup bag and use it up in a matter of days. 

Vieve - Super skin nova - Moisture rich primer (1 ml sample): This came as a sample with my Vieve order I placed after my holiday in Scotland.

Vieve - Lip dew glossy lip oil - Socialite (6 ml): This I did purchase in the Glasgow store, initially I had thought to buy the color supermodel, but I did chicken out as it was quite brown. This is more beige, lighter brown, but I am still not quite sold if a brown lip color suits my rosy colored lips. 

Vieve - Modern lip definer - Velvet sands (1.2 g): This lip liner I grabbed in Glasgow - after I came home it was a bit warm though, and started to have second thoughts if I should have purchased a different color.

Vieve - Modern lip definer - Aphrodyte (1.2 g): After I came home from Glasgow, oh did I hit the Vieve website, used my points for the in store purchase towards more Vieve lip liners. The aphrodyte color is right up my ally, rosy brown. 

Vieve - Modern lip definer - Bark (1.2 g): This I also ordered online, a perfect shading color to go with either the velvet sands color or the aphrodyte. 

So that concludes my shopping for 2025.