Hauling All the Way to the Holidays

Its that time of year again....the time of year that my bank account starts to suffer and weep because of all the beauty deals floating around, namely, the Sephora deals.  It's the only time of year they offer a 20% off discount, causing mass hysteria and panic to buy the most coveted limited edition palettes before they sell out.  In recent years, they've limited the sale to VIB members only, but if you're a beauty crazed addict like me, spending $350 is no big deal.  Plus, I justify it by spending about half that money on skincare, which is absolutely essential and more important than any cosmetic product.

After much planning, I've managed to stock up on skincare and scare some of the holiday offerings at Sephora.  Among the most popular items this year were the Hourglass Ambient Light Palette, Laura Mercier Artist's Palette, and the NARS One Night Stand Blush Palette.

I bought the Hourglass Ambient Light Palette when it first came out, and I'm glad I did because it ended up selling out almost immediately once the VIB sale started.  But for the actual VIB sale, here's what I ordered:

I had originally wanted the Laura Mercier Artist's Palette, but wasn't able to catch it in time, but I think I may like the Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things Palette better.  Stay tuned for a review coming up very soon!

 Read after the jump to see some more products I've been acquiring lately...



I also took the chance to stock up on some skincare - my HG Clinique Acne Solutions Toner, and a large bottle of the Clinique Dramtically Different Moisturizing Lotion.  The Clinique TTDO Balm was out of stock, so I'm taking it as the perfect chance to try out the Boscia Makeup Breakup Cleansing Oil.  The VIB tote this year is also adorable, and I see myself getting some good use out of these!  Some of the samples (some from past orders) are perfumes I've been wanting to try out, so I'm glad with the sample selection recently.

That's all from Sephora for now, but hopefully they'll be running their gift card promotion again soon!  Let's hope because I'm not quite done with Sephora for the year yet....


 now on to other things - awhile back, CVS was running a 30% off sale on Maybelline lip products, so I picked up some of the one's that I've been wanting.  

The first is another Vivids lipstick.  I absolutely love the formula and texture of these, so I decided to get the appropriately named Neon Red.  I already have the fuchsia shade, but am finding less opportunities to wear it now that I'm reaching for darker berry shades.  However, I am under the impression that one can never have enough reds, so a neon red seemed perfectly appropriate.

I also was able to finally try out some of the Color Whispers.  I've been hearing so much buzz about these, especially in the shade Pin Up Peach, and it is such a versatile shade that I could not pass it up.  The next shade, A Plum Prospect, is a hopeful dupe to satiate my lust for the YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in Violet Incognito.  It appears purple in the tube, but swatches a beautiful pink-berry shae.  A Plum Prospect has a similar effect, except sheerer and pinker.  I have no idea how these measure up to each other, but it'll do for now.  I may eventually have to pick up the YSL lipstick, for comparison and reviewing purposes, of course....

Some quick swatches of the lipsticks:

Neon Red, Pin Up Peach, A Plum Prospect

Let me just leave you with the fact that I LOVE everything I've gotten this month, but you'll have to wait for the reviews to find out why....