Beauty Haul

Hi guys! I've been so busy this past week... it was pretty hectic for me! I hope everyone is well :) I now have a blog sale going on, do check it out!

I spent the day with my mom today and I did some damage :( I didn't plan on spending money at all and I spent nearly.. $120! I couldn't resist it. No excuses. My mom wanted to pick something up from the mall and I tagged along to eye shop at Sephora. It ended up being a lot more than that lol. And then we went to the department store so my mom could exchange something. I passed by the Lancome counter and the SA stopped me to tell me about their promotion. If you spend $39 at Lancome, they give you a free 7-piece gift.  The SA was so good at her job, I wanted to buy everything! I wasn't so excited about the promotion but I fell in love with all of their blushes. I couldn't leave without buying one :(

So here is my small beauty haul!

Sephora:

Tokidoki Rollerball Perfume: Siberia ($7)

Tokidoki Rollerball Perfume: Adieu ($7)

Hello Kitty Rollerball Perfume ($7)

Ole  Henriksen: The Naked Truth ($22.50)

Lancome:

Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover ($27)

Blush Subtil: Rose Douceur (it's a peachy-pink) ($30) 

Ahh I couldn't resist the perfumes! They smell so good (fruity lol) and they were on sale! Look at how cute they are! I can always count on Tokidoki and Hello Kitty to have the cutest packaging... I'm probably giving away one of the Tokidoki perfumes. Maybe a small giveaway in the near future! 

Despite the mixed reviews, I always wanted to try some Ole Henriksen products and this kit includes both the truth serum collagen booster and the truth creme advanced hydration moisturizer.  But I am a bit disappointed with the amount of product I get... especially for $22.50! These better be good.. please be good :( 

More interestingly.. my Lancome freebies! 

2 cosmetic pouches

1 High Resolution Refill-3X SPF 15 moisturizer

1 Absolute Premium BX-cream SPF 15 moisturizer

1 Genifique Serum 

1 Blush Subtil in Shimmer Pool Pink

1 Color Design Lipstick

2 Hypnose Mascara

2 Cils Booster XL Mascara Base

These are more than 7 pieces and the SA was very generous with me. I think it's because I said I'd come back and I really did, haha. She told me not to stand her up and I didn't! I also came back with my mom who was wondering where I was and I told her about the promotion. She knew I was hesitating so she told me to purchase everything. The SA gave a few extra things so my mom and I can share them.  I gave my mom the serum, both moisturizers, the lipstick, and the pouch. I kept the mascaras and the blush because she doesn't use them.  I feel like I paid too much for the eye makeup remover but I really do love it so I'm in for a treat. And, well, I will always love blushes so I don't feel that I wasted any money on the blush. I can't wait to review some of these items! I'm very excited to try the blush in Shimmer Pool Pink, I think it's from the same line I bought the full sized blush from. 

Do any of these items tickle your fancy? :) 

My Beauty Addiction: Blush

I never had and probably will never have a lipstick addiction.
I never had and probably will never have a lip gloss addiction.
I never had and probably will never have a mascara addiction.
But I love my blushes and I will never give up my love for them LOL.

As the title of this post says, I am addicted to blushes. There, I said it!

Blushes are the only type makeup I will buy with less hesitation because of price. As long as the product is great, I probably won't mind the price tag.
I love blushes because they can give you that pop of color on your face when foundation and/or concealer washes out some of the color on your face.  It also adds more dimension to your face! What is there not to love?

Of course it's rather easy to "over do" blush, looking like a clown in the end. But with some practice and lots of blending, you can add a very nice touch to your overall makeup using blush!

Without further ado, my blush collection!

-NYX Rouge Cream Blush (cb02 Natural)
-NYX Rouge Cream Blush (cb05 Glow)
-Stila Custom Color Blush (Sheer Pink)
-Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush (Amused)
-Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush (10 Pink Frosting)

-Benefit (Coralista)
-Too Faced Leopard Love Complexion Perfection Kit (Candy Leopard)
-Illamasqua Cream Blush (Promise)
-Benefit (Bella Bamba)
-Benefit (Dandelion)
-ELF (Candid Coral)
-theBalm (Hot Mama)
-HK Memoirs of a Kitty (Shade 1 / Shade 2)
-L'Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle (824 Cherubic Candide)

I use one of these brushes to apply my blush.  From top to bottom: MAC 116, random brush I purchased from the IMATS, random angle blusher brush I got from TJMaxx.  This also happens to be in price order.  The MAC was probably around 20+ dollars, the brush I got from the IMATS this spring cost me $7 and the bottom brush from TJMaxx cost me $3 (originally $20 so it was a bargain!).  I absolutely LOVE the angle blusher and I use it more than I use the MAC brush. I wish I had purchased this first, I would not have bought the MAC brush. BUT the MAC brush is excellent for powder highlighters.  Both are very soft but I mean, $3 vs $20 is a big deal for me. Love them both.

Now for the middle brush I got from the IMATS, it's a small stipple brush I only use for applying my cream blushes.  I actually like that it's not too dense as this avoids picking up too much product.  I gently swirl the blush around my cheeks and I love how soft the brush is! I have no idea which brand it was from other than the fact that I got it from IMATS here in NYC. 

Without Flash

With flash

My three Benefit blushes! My favorite, or most used I should say, would be Dandelion and Coralista.  Bella Bamba is more of a brighter pink with many glitter particles. Usually, it's too overwhelming to wear on a normal day. Dandelion is very subtle and can be used as a highlighter.  Coralista falls in the middle of these two! I would love to purchase Hervana in the future! These are $28 each if I remember correctly.

 Without Flash

 With Flash

These are my other powder blushes.  In pan, ELF Candid Coral and theBalm Hot Mama look somewhat alike.  It isn't so when swatched and the quality of theBalm is better.  I think Candid Coral was one of my first blush purchases and I liked it very much in the beginning.  I wonder how Hot Mama compares to NARS Orgasm? I think it's a couple of shades lighter but still pretty comparable. I'm not sure at all though, as I do not own NARS blushes yet. 

The HK Memoirs of a Kitty was my first Hello Kitty for Sephora purchase. I own one more palette and I think these are pretty good for the price ($36).  You get 4 eye shadows and 2 generously sized blushes in a REALLY cute package. I already did a review on this so if you want, check it out here.

I purchased the Too Faced palette a while back and I think the packaging is really cute! I do like the highlighter (right) but I'm on the fence about the bronzer (left) because it's a bit too sparkly.  I really think bronzers should be matte! The blush is in the middle and it's a nice baby pink with some darker pink and peach mixed in as well.  The only problem I have with this is that it's very powdery. And it's not as pigmented as I'd like it to be.

I suppose the most interesting from these would be the Stila Custom Color Blush, which is pH based.  Basically the idea is to adjust to your skin tone this way it's like a "one color for all skin colors" kind of thing.  I can tell you that you have to use a light hand if you do not want to look like a toy but with a lighter hand, it does seem to show up a little different on my skin vs my friend's skin, who is darker than myself.  This is $20.

The Tarte Amazonian Clay is probably a cult favorite, EVERYONE loves these. My friend got this for me for Christmas and it's amazing. It's matte so it looks even more natural.  But the color I have it in is a bit bright, depending on how I use it, it calls for a lotttt of blending.  Still a wonderful blush nonetheless.  I recommend this to people who are first trying out, I guess, "higher end" blushes.

Without Flash

With Flash

These are my cream/not powder blushes.  I generally like cream blushes more, even though lasting powder for these babies may not be as long as powder blushes.  The reason I like it is because my skin is rather dry and I feel that cream blushes add some "dew" to my face.  I don't like looking overly matte because that does not look natural at all so these are my go-to blushes.

The Illamasqua one is in the shade "Promise" which may be limited edition, I'm not sure.  But it's such a gorgeous color. THIS IS MY FAVORITE BLUSH EVER. Out of all my blushes, this must be my favorite.  I love the consistency, the packaging, and the color! It does not feel sticky or wet and dries very nicely on my cheeks. The only downside is the $24 price tag for something I feel I would use up quicker than a typical powder blush. Even then, I would repurchase. Over and over.

The L'Oreal magic smooth souffle is also great, a little goes a long way for these. It's definitely under $10 at drugstores. I feared it might be too dark but by using a little and blending out, it looks very, very, very, nice.  Maybe if I bought this first, I might have not bought the Illamasqua.. but I really love my Illamasqua blush so I don't know. Another good thing about this blush is that it lasts a really long time. I love that about this blush. 

I like the NYX cream blushes as well but not nearly as much as I like the Illamasqua blush.  It is significantly cheaper, I bought it for around $6 at the IMATS.  The packaging is okay too! It's definitely a pass.  But I have a problem with the consistency of these blushes. They're very.. sticky and almost gooey feeling to me. I like "natural" more than "glow" as glow is too dark for me but to me, these almost feel like lip glosses... on my cheek. And they take a while to dry down on my cheeks.  Still, very pigmented and I absolutely love the look after it finishes drying lol. 

I'm sure by now everyone has read/seen/bought the Dream Bouncy blushes by Maybelline and despite most people not enjoying this, I pop this into my makeup bag during school days and apply this when I feel it's necessary (even if I did apply this specific blush in the morning).  It's not that bad, rather subtle in color but looks natural without many glitter particles. I love the consistency too! But I don't think I'll repurchase as isn't really great on it's own. 

Time for you guys to confess: What is your beauty addiction? Do any of these blushes interest you? Let me know!

Review: Memoirs of a Kitty Palette

Hello! Hope everyone is well.

Today I want to do a brief review on the Memoirs of a Kitty palette. It isn't sold in Sephora anymore... I think (same idea here though). But it was $36 and I purchased mine back some time in July. I've used it for quite some time now so I think I can give a more accurate review now.

No matter how many times I look at it, I think it's so cute. I love the floral/pastel look of it and somehow I think "Memoirs of a Kitty" matches the palette very well. It also has a big mirror inside which I love.

Here's my general take on the Hello Kitty products sold at Sephora (then and now): The products are generally not that SUPER (compared to NARS/Too Faced/Urban Decay) but the packaging for Hello Kitty products are adorable. So is this palette worth $35? Maybe, maybe not. I personally would say yes because a) it comes with 4 eye shadows and 2 blushes. That's under $6 per product. The blushes come in a great size as well. And b) the packaging is adorable. I'm sorry but it is!



^This is the cover. Even the box this came with has the same design!



^I thought the bow was extra pretty. Sort of 3D!



^Contents.

The palette is divided into two levels. The first level contains the eye shadows, the second level contains the blushes.



^Level 1. I personally picked this palette because I can never have enough neutrals. #1 is a lovely highlight color, by the way. There definitely is fall out but nothing too excessive. #4 has the worst fall out but I've seen worse.



^Level 2. These are the blushes are these are still my FAVORITE blushes to date. I thought I would like #5 more (it's more peachy and less obvious) but it turned out that #6 looked better on me. I wear both of them though, I wear #6 first and I sort of blend everything out with #5.



^Swatches! It's a pretty frosty for the shadows and a bit shimmery (nothing too intense though) for the blushes.

No, these do not offer the highest of quality eye shadows. Yes, there are cheaper dupes of these colors. There is fall out and the blushes are better than the shadows in my opinion. But it is still good quality overall (and it is Hello Kitty) which should be noted. Would I buy one of these palettes again? I'm really not sure. For $35 I expect a teeny bit more from the eye shadows but if the blushes are the same quality and the eye shadows are colors I can work with, then why not? I believe Sephora is selling something similar right now but I'm not sure if I can work with all the eye shadows.

In short: 3.7/5

Here is a problem I had with all of the Hello Kitty products (or the ones I've come across, anyway). The shadows/blushes come in various colors but they don't have names! I wish they'd have names. Then I wouldn't have to number them from 1-6. Hah!

Are YOU a sucker for cute packaging? Confess!

Recent buys, FOTD, Updates

Hello hello hello! :) Hope everyone has been doing well!

A quick reminder that my one-year giveaway ends in SIX days. The month goes by so quickly, it's kind of scary. Make sure you have followed ALL of the rules. Go back and make sure you filled out all the mandatory fields!

I put up a new banner and my blog has a different color to it now. I know it looks so simple but it actually took a lot of time LOL. I don't know how some bloggers do it, with their fancy fancy fancy blogs! Totally envious, I'm pretty sure this is the best I got for now. I also changed my blog title to "sweetness of each day" because I want all of my days and yours to be filled with sweetness. I hope that my blog entries will be able to capture the sweetness of each of my days.

Enough of the sappy stuff LOL and onto the small haul. So as I stated in this post, I have been on a shopping ban for ~2 months. I was not able to not buy ANYTHING but I did not buy anything for myself that was over $20. In fact, I think the only thing I bought for myself that was ~$20 was the Too Faced Shadow Insurance Policy palette. So I didn't go cold turkey but I definitely was not spending $150 at Sephora! I'm really surprised at how well I did... really surprised.

Oh boo, this haul is boring :( And by "small", I meant really small.



Oh hello, horrid lighting not nice to see you again
I got this little bucket at Target for $1 :) It's about 4inches tall (without the handle) and I intend of keeping my brushes in it. The handle is a little crooked but all of them were kind of like that and I don't really mind.



Hello Kitty nail art stickers *HAPPY*. I'm going to do a NOTD soon using one of these. I think I'm going to use the lace stickers for nail tips but we'll see. These were $5 (EEEEEP) at Sephora. Goodness, really expensive for a small sheet of stickers. Why did I let myself do this?! But it's so cute... :( No more of these though. Hello Kitty ANYTHING is so expensive.



Lace eye mask from Target. Also $1. Not the best quality but it's good enough for me. Mostly because it's black and it's light. Because the quality isn't so great, the stretchy band thing isn't too tight, rather loose which I'll enjoy more.

On a random note, there is something new I want to try: Something like these...



Just kidding! But these are pretty crazy, huh? The one on the bottom is by Shu Umura (sp?) and I'm not sure about the top one. Neither are mine, credits to appropriate owners!
I want false lashes that are exactly opposite of the ones I showed, natural looking ones!
Some people argue that false lashes are the most fake things a woman can do to her face. Do you agree?

I also want to share a quick FOTD. I wish I would remember to actually sit down and take these, they never come out the way I want them to... although I don't think my real face justifies the picture at all LOL.



I had my hair pulled back into a messy bun hence... the bald looking head. But today, I liked my scarf and the way my eyeliner turned out.

I'm going to end this entry with...



AHH! 붕어빵! This is a Korean pastry that is in the shape of a goldfish and filled with red bean. It's sweet and fattening, all the things I love.

P.S. :I hate "disqus" or whatever the heck it's called. Why do so many of you guys use it :(

Tarte for True Blood & Memoirs of a Kitty

I will post the answers to my previous post! :)

1. bacon cheeseburger
2. chicken cordon bleu or just a chicken sandwich lawl
3. spicy boneless wings
4. onion rings and french fries
5. chicken teriyaki and nathan's mini hotdog(?) thingies with french fries
6. oreo truffle balls
7. fried rice with chicken pops!
8. spinach artichoke dip w/ tortillas and wings.

hehe that was kinda fun, no? :P I know some of the pictures had bad lighting and stuff, my apologies~ but all three of you did so well rofl. But nobody guessed the oreo truffle ball correctly loool probably because I didn't show the inside.

If you answered my previous post, please leave me your e-mail address! Since three people answered, I have three polishes and other stuff ready to be packed. But my cousin *hinted* she wants one of the shades so you must let me know by Wednesday (I will most likely ship out Thursday).

On with my recent purchases~




Poor lighting =( But I bought a bunch of cheap (but not so bad quality) nail polishes. I really like the "shamrock" from Forever21 (Second picture, second polish) but it smells really bad :X and it lingers! boooo. And the Sally Hanson Extreme Wear reminded me of Teenage Dream but it's less pink than it. Glitters are pretty similar though.




I can't resist bows! They're too cute. And I was expecting more out of the second necklace but... it's wooden lol. I bet I could make that in one sitting given the appropriate equipment.




I buy chunky necklaces because my clothes are rather plain. A plain grey shirt + the black necklace = not so plain anymore.



HEHEHE aren't the socks adorable?? Well.. to be honest I don't need anymore socks but I thought these were soo cute I couldn't resist! Who can resist chubby little bunnies?!

Last but not least, my Tarte for True Blood & Memoirs of a Kitty palettes! I actually forgot to upload this from a few weeks ago x_x and pretty poor pictures because my camera sucks but I am grateful I at least have a working camera LOL.

They say that the Tarte palette is a "must" for every True Blood fan but I'm just a fan of gorgeous packaging and quality eye shadow to be honest. The Tarte palette was $52 and the Memoirs of a Kitty palette was $35.






So basically, there are 17 eye shadows. Some are matte, some are shimmery. You get generous sizes of their emphasEYES aqua-gel eyeliner in black, lights, camera, lashes! mascara in black, and lifted natural eye primer. If you are debating between the UD naked and this palette, I suggest you go for this one because this palette can be used for neutral looks as well as... "vampy" looks lol! But in all honesty, I can see this palette working wonders for many.



It also comes with a tutorial leaflet kind of thing! I tried the "Vamp Glam" and my mom told me I looked scary so I guess I partially succeeded? But I get the feeling that while I will be incorporating some of the things here, I won't always do it word for word. Like I mean, I also tried "Luminous Fairy" and it appeared too light for my pale skin.



The emphasEYES aqua-gel eyeliner was most peculiar.. it wasn't quite gel... or cream. Very interesting formula I think.



Very dark though, right? I'm looking forward to wearing this more often! I hope it doesn't smudge :(


Say Hello - Memoirs of a Kitty Palette

What can I say? I'm a sucker for cute packaging :( and cute boxes, I am never throwing that box away! I like to store receipts and/or coupons in them lol :) I was upset because I went the the Sephora in the city and they only had the "Happy Fun" palette which have the eye shadows and lip glosses on the bottom. I'm a heavy lip balm/lip stain user so the lip glosses would have little purpose for me! I really wanted to try blushes and this was just a good price for 4 eye shadows, and 2 blushes. Plus I like the eye shadow colors in Memoirs of a Kitty much more.

So basically yeah, I came home and purchased online.



nice neutrals going on~ I actually didn't get to use this yet but, I'm getting to it!



Ahhhh the blushes! Surprisingly, I like the color to the left more :X I use both though, I apply the right and a little bit of the left on top of it so it isn't as pink. I mean, I want to look blushing -- not like I was standing out in the cold for an hour!

Heh, so that's about it. I had no money to buy a bagel after church today :'(
sad but true story.