Sephora V.I.B 20% off sale haul

I know that a lot of people know that the past weekend was the sephora V.I.B sale that happens only once a year.  Most people take complete advantage of this sale and so did I but i kept in mind that i wanted to go all out for Boxing day sales so i restricted myself.

 I honestly was going to get only the sugar lip treatments but the set of six for $58, but the impulse and hoarder inside of me just keep walking around in the store and kept picking up things I didn't need but only want just to secure my next year 20% off V.I.B status.  I believe that all V.I.B that went in that weekend to buy anything would receive their reusable Sephora bag.  I read only that a lot of people were dissapointed since last year they got umbrellas.  I'm not going to complain because this is the first time I got to be a V.I.B so whatever :), still got a cool bag.

 Ughh i still droll over this set but I knew I couldn't even finish using one of these in a month! Look at all those pretty colors! I know that when summer hits, I'm going to get that coral shade (maybe if i ever finish my Korres lip butter in Mango).

 I thought that the set of six was the only value set so I was quite pleased there was a smaller trio set.  So i just picked this one up just to be more sensible and the fact that i didn't want to spend almost $60 for lip balms LOL.  I can get frugal sometimes I know.

 This set comes with the colors berry, Honey and passion.  I'm most excited to use the Honey color since it looks like a really nice nude browny color, my favorite!  I haven't tried the other two but I think it would be somewhat the same thing as Rose which I got for free from Sephora's free birthday present. Got this set for $25.60 after discount.

I finally picked up the beauty blender! I know I know, this has been out for decades and I never really got into the whole WHOO EGG SHAPED BLENDER! I was a little bit hesitant on getting this since it is $26 for a little sponge but I decided why not since I do have 20% off :D.  I used it the other day and I have to say I really love it! I couldn't believe my eyes but this little egg thing actually makes my skin look flawless! I'm no longer scared of using foundations since foundations usually make me look dry but not anymore! I also picked up the solid soap for this for $8 (original price $10) which smells really herbally and clean,  Works quite well but I will also have to try cleaning the egg with regular soap too. 

 Isn't this boring? Got a duo eyelash glue which I would NEVER use all of.  I had to throw the tube away from about three years ago that which I never even made a dent in the tube.  One thing I really don't like is the smell! It smells like stinky plastic :/.  I thought it was just my old tube but the new tube smells the same too.  Yuck!  Doesn't really matter since I don't use false lashes that much but this is nice to have :).

The sephora girl gave me a small sample size of the NARS eye make up remover which was really sweet of her :D.  I didn't even notice that she gave me a sample since it was hiding under the bag.  I noticed two days later when I went back into my bag to take these pictures. I'm happy since I can leave this in my purse, I always needed some make up remover on the go anyways!

I think I did okay for an impulse and hoarder that i am.  I spent $75 after tax so I think I did okay.  I was walking around the store and picked up the Cinderella mirror that i liked for $26, another Korres lip butter in guava, sephora deluxe face sample for $57, benefit porefessional for $18? and the little benefit sampler for $47.  Yea needless to say, i got myself under control in girl paradise.  

What did you guys buy in the sale? Did other people get their 15% off yet or is that later on?

Small winners haul

Pretty sure you know that I'm obsessed with Winners by now but I'm trying to conserve my money for BOXING DAY SALE! WHOOO I can't wait! Anyways, so lately I've been just avoiding going out the house all together XD.  So for the past four days, I literally didn't step outside the house.  The only time I actually went out was to get the letter at the mail box.  I'm going to turn into a vampire! Well not that I'm not already pale HAHA, but I might start to sparkle :O.

I think I did pretty good, got three small things in the past four weeks.  That is actually a huge improvement! Before I would go almost everyday since they restock their store everyday so it's always a surprise to see what they have.  Well I only go out on the weekends with my boyfriend and all of these trips were with him so he can control me.  Sometimes I can't control my wants so i tell my boyfriend "STOP ME NOW!" He's like my red button! ALERT ALERT!  HAHA okay enough rambling...

 I found this gorrrrgeous lace dress which caught my eyes when it was peeking out of the rack of dresses.  What caught my eye was the lace and the material.  Usually a lot of lace dresses have really crappy materials where if it was hooked onto something, it would rip right away.  This one is so high quality and has a good weight to it, it surprised me that it was only $40.  Not bad not bad.  My camera doesn't do it justice but there is actually a sliver foil finish on the lace! So pretty in person.  The inside has this semi lingerie looking top.

 The one problem I have with the dress is just the tie, it makes the whole dress look super cheap.  I was thinking of doing this kind of necklace backdrop to make the dress a little more glamourous and expensive looking.  Was thinking of using some Swarvoski crystals and everything, SPARKLE :D.  Yes I am like a crow, shiny things!  Hopefully I can find all the materials I need to make it happen :).  The back of the dress is a low "U" with an invisible zipper going down the dress so I can actually get in. I will do a outfit of the day for you once I can find the perfect accessories for this dress so watch out for that!

Has anyone heard of this brand? Its called Lipsy London, I'm assuming this is an European brand, from Britian maybe LOL. I checked up the retail price on this and its $115 CAD which I only paid $40 + tax for this so I think this was a complete steal. I was trying to talk myself out of buying this but I just couldn't let it go since it was the only one!

 Winter is already here for us in Vancouver and it has been sooooooo cold! My car feels like a freezer! Omg.  I just couldn't stand it anymore and went back to Winners to get the Ralph Lauren leather gloves I was lusting for for a while but didn't want to get them since they were $30 (compared to $80).  Thats not a bad price for Ralph Lauren but I couldn't really justify for just gloves :/ but it got way too cold and my hands were freezing! 

These are 100% leather and has a really cute bow detailing on the bottom.  I'm usually not a bow girl but these were small bows which had that hint of femine touch but not too much to the point where I would want to puke! The bow tie came in four colors, dark cofffee brown, light sand brown, cream and red.  There was only the red ones in my size and these fit really nicely, not too tight and I could actually move my whole hand without any struggle :D so i just settled for these.  There is also the Ralph Lauren stamp on the bottom of the stamp.  I have an absoulte soft spot for Ralph Lauren since the brand is really simple, semi high class, and i can see myself wearing it until I get old so i don't mind shelling out a little bit more money for them :).

I was in Metrotown waiting to watch Wrack it Ralph with my boyfriend so we had some time to kill so naturally I strolled into Winners.  Nothing peeked my interest until I went to the little skincare section and saw these little boxes.  The design on them were so cute and retro! I absoultely love it! The brand is called Tokyomilk which...well I never heard of or saw them anywhere before.  They were little pots of solid perfume and each of them had a different number.  The one I picked up was #61 Sugar Plum.  I really wanted to get the cupcake one since it smelled so yummy.  This actually surprised me since I don't really like things that smell like food, I'd rather make the food and eat it so if i had a perfume that smelled like food.....I might actually bite myself out of confusion :/.

Each little box came with small card.  They were cute but I didn't really find any  use for them.  The men swimming and the chinese looking ladies were another scent.  The swimming men smelled sooo bad....I don't understand why anyone would want to smell like that.  It smelled like a dirty washroom, UGH! The chinese ladie one smelled like a grandma that didn't shower for ceuntries and smelled in flowers...Not good flower, really strong and stinky flower. LORD!

The side of the box.  I wonder what one note is...

 The lid is pretty cool :D.

The solid perfume itself smells divine! It just striaght up smells like sweet plums! Ughhh So yummy.  The sad thing is that the smell doesn't last and isn't strong enough to be an actual perfume so this kind of sucks :(.  Even when i rub a lot on my wrist, still can't smell it but I am happy I have this because the smell just makes me happy :). So when there is a stinky person in an elevator or someone farted, just whip this out and bam! Oh yea!

Hope you enjoyed my little Winners haul.  I absolutely love my white lace dress and didn't really mind adding another lace dress to my collection since my other lace-ish dress is black and skin tight.  What was your favorite item in my haul?

ELF fall haul featuring Jumbo eyeshadow sticks, blush and contouring cream and mineral pressed eyeshadow

I know I know…I have been going crazy with the elf hauls. They are like back to back, but this is the last one I swear. Okay maybe I might get a few things on cyber Monday but I swear! LOL I even banned myself from going to Winners since I’m basically get prepared to go on a shopping spree on Boxing Day! First store I’m going to hit is Nine west for more heels! I’m eyeing this really cool black heel with a wedge, but its not exactly a full on wedge and it has really beautiful, somewhat indian-estque gold sun embellishments on the wedge but it is $345. Geez :/ That’s a lot of money. Anyways back to the elf haul!

Since they had a 50% off all eye product coupon code and I really wanted their new jumbo eye shadow sticks, I thought this would the perfect opportunity to go ahead and order. When I found out that elf was coming out with jumbo eye shadow sticks, I freaked out! And since it was just a sneak peek on instagram, I just couldn’t wait! Sad thing is that they are $2, not $1 but still good! They came out with nine colors but a lot of them are frosty. Only about two are matte. The biggest disappointment was the two lightest shades since I was hoping it would be a matte skin color like the soft ochre from MAC. Nope, it’s a shimmery mess and it doesn’t even show up on the skin. What a bummer. My first impressions of them are that they are really creamy, really pigmented (well at least the darker shades), and easy to blend. I was somewhat hesitate about getting these since I did not like their past cream eye shadows. They were greasy and just plain gross. I still have to experiment with them but overall I like these :). Oh yea, these don’t need sharpening! Stupid NYX jumbo eye shadow sharpening cough cough*. They twist up, how convenient.

Another really new product was their contouring blush and bronzing cream! Now everyone already know and love their powder form but they have it in cream version now! I don’t know why but I kept thinking that these would be just like their cream blushes, which has the same texture as the Maybelline bouncy blushes. So when I opened the compact, I was surprised it wasn’t that formula! It’s just the typical cream texture, easy to blend and pigmented! I think you guys would like it. This goes for $3 from their studio line.

Some other random eye products I picked up was their essentials custom eye eye shadows for $1. I really do love these eye shadows but the one complain I have with these is that it isn’t pressed tight enough cause them to be somewhat powdery fall out city! This I can easily fix with pressing it myself so I didn’t really mind. They came out with a lot of new colors so I picked up three of the ones that interested me the most, Wheat (light brown wheat color with golden brown shimmers), Taupe (taupe gold with a hint of warm green; shimmery finish) and a bright teal. I might pick up the rest when it comes around to cyber Monday but I am pleased with these.

 

I also go some backups of my favorite eyelid primers from their essential line for $1, sheer and champagne. I love love love the color champagne since it is the least shimmery out of the three colored ones and the color is really natural. They came out with primer eye shadows a long time ago but I never got around trying it. Their cream eyeliners (in black and coffee) are a must for my since it’s so cheap but it works well and it doesn’t budge at all! Not bad for only $1.50. Not really liking the fact it is really frosty but we’ll see. Just like the usual, I got the free gift which is their hypershine lipgloss in Flirt.

The last two items I got were their newest pressed mineral eye shadows from their mineral line for $3 each. I didn’t want to go crazy with these since a lot of the colors were really similar and the swatches I saw online didn’t really excite me. I only got two shades which would be lunch break (light cool wheat brown color; satin frosty finish) and What’s your name (cool purple shade; satin finish). Not really excited about these colors but they would be a color I’d be comfortable using day to day.

Which products are you most excited about? Which ones do you want to see reviews on? :)

Cougar boots haul

Since the weather was changing drastically in Vancouver, I thought it would have been a good idea to get a rain boot for the upcoming horrors. And since Winners was having a boot fest, where they had tons and tons and tons of boots to choose from, I thought I would find myself the perfect pair.  Right when I got to the aisle with all the boots, my eye just shot to a pair that had the green and white lettering logo called Cougar.  I remembered when Juciytuesday on YouTube was doing a “What would you do for a pair of boots” video that spotlighted on these boots.  Cougar boots is a Canadian brand where they keep Canadian weather in mind so I thought this brand would be perfect!

The first pair I got was a pair called “Storm by Cougar”. It has the shape of a standard rain boot but it has a waterproof fabric for flexibility and then some leather on the top of the boot.  What really attracted me to these pair of boots was that it was fleece lined.  Sooo comfy and warm, it’s amazing.  It also had slight pillow happiness for my feet.  They are also guaranteed to keep you warm under -11°F (-24°C).  And they were only $50 which I happily paid for but my mom kept saying that it was ugly and the fabric part made my legs look chunky.  I thought these were finding but I really did like the other cougar boots that they had to offer, especially the pillow boots. And also the fact that these storm boots were made in China was kind of a deal breaker for me since it’s supposed to be a “Canadian brand.” I was hoping that I was actually supporting a Canadian brand.

 Before I went to school about two weeks ago,  I went and strolled around at the Downtown winners in Vancouver not really keeping in mind for the Cougar boots so it was a complete surprised when I saw the zip up pillow Cougar boots.  I didn’t really love them but I knew that I needed a really warm boot for the upcoming winter.  The boot itself is a yellowish tan color which really screamed retro to me.  It comes with a metal zipper with stud detailing all around the zipper and the interior is bright red which peeks out a little on the top when you wear it.  The inside is what the name is called, “Pillow boots; zip zip and away.” The inside,  just like the other one, is super comfy and warm and these boots are supposed to withstand the cold even under  -11°F (-24°C).  The price point for these are a bit hefty since these are made in Italy and the whole exterior of the boot Is genuine leather; $159.99 (compared to $256). I was a little hesitant about these boots but I thought to myself; I’d have these for a long time, leather boots, super warm, non-slip bottoms even walking on black ice…fine I’ll get these.  I was really excited about these boots and I wore them to school the next day.  But once I started walking in these, I noticed that the zipper near my ankles would fold in and the whole boot is kind of slanted.  It really pissed me off because it was annoying to walk in them with the fold touching my ankles like that.  And also the fact that I accidently hit the cement stairs when I was walking up back to the skytrain and a little bit of the leather already chipped off, that was a totally deal breaker for me.  I really wanted to love these boots but it was hard to for the price….It wasn’t worth it.  I returned both of those boots in the end and I’m still on the hunt for the perfect boots.  I’m still happy with my Nevada brown boots I got four years ago at Sears for only $30 but I wanted to add another pair of boots for the harsh winter season.  Guess I’m still going to have to look for one.

Has anyone tried cougar boots? These were super popular back in the 80’s.  If they are really that good, I’ll consider getting the original lace up pillow boots for fill price but what do you guys think?

Sears closing down sale haul

 Last week was the last week that Sears in downtown Vancouver at Pacific Center was opened for business so they were having a hugeeeeeee closing down sale. Everything was 70% off. I got three items that i really liked for dirt cheap and it is really good quality too. Its even better then Winners, price wise that is :). The selection was terrible but i had to make do. It was really hard to find my size since I'm a small girl, but i somehow scored some pieces that were actually size small! I was prepared to settle for medium but i guess i didn't have to.

 I found this really nice top from a brand called Nevada.  They make really nice basics for and for a very afforable prices and I believe this brand also makes my brown booties that i got for only $30 and it has gone through several camping trips, giant water puddles and a few winter seasons. :)  This is a good reliable brand and i loved the fact that this top was only $3 (Original price $39.99) and some change.  So dirt cheap and the material is really good.

 I love the mint green of the top and the matte marble buttons, something really different and casual.

 Right when I was at the checkout line waiting to pay for the stuff i got, my eye caught this sweater! Strips is an addiction for me.  I love strips...I don't know why but I just love it! I didn't really notice that this navy stripped sweater had strips going on the front, different sized strips on the arm and the back is a solid navy color.  This is a thin and soft sweater but i love it for that it isn't thick like other winter sweaters.  This is perfect for the fall and spring season.  This sweater is on the pricey side compared to the other ones.  Maybe because it is from a brand called Manc and jac, but it was $10 after the discount (origianly price $59.00). 

 I found this really cute thick navy winter sweater with a sideways collar detailing in a size small. I really liked the collar, which is basically the selling point.  The knit is quite heavy but for Vancouver weather in the winter, I'm going to need it. 

 I thought it was missing a button when I was in the store and when I got home, but i found that there was an extra button so i I didn't mind sewing it on myself the missing button.  But when i went home, i figured it out! There is a button on the other lip of the color so you can basically use it as a turtle neck while somewhat keeping the collar's style.  This sweater I paid only $6.89 (original price was $59.00, discount was $22.99 before the 70% off).  Oh did i mention this sweater is Liz Calborne? Not bad not bad :).

What was your favorite piece?  Mine is the stripped sweater HAHA, obviously.

Small ELF haul of the newest products fall 2012

 Elf has been on a roll lately! Since fall is already here, they have been coming out with awesome products like the jumbo eye shadow pencils, jumbo lip pencils and an upcoming gel eye shadow which I find really interesting.  If you haven't noticed by now, I am a really big ELF cosmetics fan! It just feeds my makeup cravings and I'm completely satisfied.  I love elf for that they are super cheap and the quality for what you pay is amazing. My love :)

 ELF came out with a new line of lashes called the Studio Lash collection.  They have four different styles to choose from: Everyday, natural, dramatic and flirty (Which i got). Each of these collections are $4 which isn't that bad for two pairs of lashes and a pair of decent travel friendly tweezers.

 Natural

Everyday

 Dramatic

Flirty

Each of the collections comes with two sets of lashes (one pair full band and one pair of half band), a mini set of tweezer and some lash glue.  I already knew myself that the glue would suck and i was right.  My glue was completely leaked in the package and ws stuck! It was annoying, and by the time i got it out of the package and smelled it, UGH.  It smelled exactly like super glue and the sticking power was like super glue O_O.  Are they sure they didn't give me super glue?  That is not going ANYWHERE near my eyes!

 Everytime i order, i'd always get the same lip gloss but i don't mind since its free and the color irs neutral :). All you have to do is to refer three of your friends and you will get a free gift.  This year its a hypershine lip gloss in the shade Flirt. :/ I have about seven of these now LOL.

I was also going through a few things I was interested to try but were kind of old and i never really got around buying it since i wasn't THAT interested in it, but i just bit the bullet :). Review will come but i don't know which ones to review first! So much stuff! I can't wait to try the mascara primer, lip balm in peach and the lock & seal.  AHH~ Everything is $3 except the lip gloss which was a free gift.

 

 These three are the latesty and the newest brushes they added to their collection.  The first two from the left actually is the newest but i wanted another small stipple brush because its amazing! It has the duo fiber so you can get that airbrush effect but because this one has short white bristles, you get full control of where you want to place your product.  First first one from the left is a pointed foundation brush which is basically like using your finger but in a brush form. The middle one called the small tapered brush which i was hoping that it was more of an egg shape brush like what it looks like on the website but it is more of a smaller version of the complexion brush which is nice for highlighting, contouring and applying blush. Can't wait to use these brushes! :D. $3 each

 ELF also updated their complexion powder collection and added two new shades: warm and shimmer.  I got the warm but at that time, they didn't come out with the shimmer one. I don't know about this one since the shimmers are actually quite big. I'm going to have to see about this one.  $3 each

I have never used an actually make up remover so i thought i might try this one out.  I know that this has been in their line for a while and a lot of people love this stuff. I normally use baby wipes from Huggies and I find it works pretty good but I also use my Clarisonic pro with it too so I don't find that i really need a make up remover but this will be nice for on the go when i can't really wash my face when i'm out.  This is $3 for 20 sheets.  I hope it works.

If you guys want any reviews, remember to comment and it will be on my priority list :).