Preview - L'Oreal Age Perfect Cell Renewal Golden Serum

Hey there!

I had a sample pack of this gem. I got about 3 uses out of the sample and I knew that I wanted to try it for a longer period of time. The full size of this baby is $24.99. I wasn't sure that I wanted to commit to that price. I mean I wasn't sure that the serum was really doing anything to my face. I just liked the scent.

Well, I was coming back from a good friend's wedding and I stopped by a Walgreen's. To my surprise I found a trial size of the serum for $6.99. That sounds like a lot I know, but I figure I could try this out for a while (probably a month or more) and decide if I really want to purchase the full size.

I already know that this rich, pretty, emollient serum smells good, but I'm going to spend the next 30 days figuring out if it does anything else.

Stay tuned. Either my face will fall off or I like this product. Or something in between will happen. It's up to you to find out!

It's A Haul Y'all! - Teeny Tiny Nail Polish Haul

Hey there!!

This is just a teeny tiny haul this time. I went to Target and Walgreens and they had nail polish on sale. I, of course, don't need any new polish but these colors were really too cute to pass up.

Walgreens had some holiday Sinful Colors polishes on sale. I picked up these really pretty, sparkle toppers in Gilded and Holiday Rebel. I've already worn one of them and already have an opinion. You have to wait until Monday to see which one and if I liked it or not.

I also picked up 4 of the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes in Plummet, Navy Fleet, Slick Slade and Expresso. Plummet is a nice, deep dark plum and Navy Fleet is a hunter green (not navy at all...hmmmm). Slick Slate is a muddy, gray brown, dirty cement color and Expresso is a gorgeous pinky mocha color. I love those colors. They are creamy warm colors, perfect for winter. I am soooo going to enjoy them.

So that was just a little quick polish haul. I can't wait to try out these new colors. I may have to change out every 4 days to get everything in!

Weekend Haul

Hey there!

I didn't do as much damage as I thought I would folks. I had some retail therapy planned this weekend. I had a rough week and only saving money helps with that kind of week! I'll make sure to tell you what I think about everything that I purchased.

My first stop...Walgreens. Several folks had posted on Instagram, their super finds. Sighhhh. My 2 local Walgreens didn't have those same super finds. I picked up the two Baby Lips Balms that you see (Just Peachy & Coral Crave) and Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant nail polish (Diva After Dark). I didn't see much else. I'm not sure if the good folks hadn't had time to put stickers on stuff but Walgreens doesn't have a price checker like CVS so it's hard to know.

Anywho, my next stop was Ulta. I've mentioned a few times that I don't make it to Ulta often because I don't live near one. So, when I get there, I linger. Oddly enough, I linger near the cash register only. Yesterday the deals at the register were mainly nail polish. I had just gotten a ton of polish during the CVS Super Spectacular Mega Haul so it wasn't as if I needed much more. But, I caught some Zoya polish (Dhara - PixieDust, Piaf - Metalic & Carter - PixieDust) on sale for $4.99 and I had my $3.50 off of $10 coupon so I decided to add to the collection. This is almost the only time that I purchase high end polishes. I can't drop $8.50 for a nail polish. This is the perfect time.

I was looking for a black sweater to make one of my dresses office worthy and wandered into Dillard's. These pretty blue boxes (with pink discount stickers) caught my eye. DuWop cosmetics appears to be leaving Dillard's (I didn't investigate that or anything, I'm just speculating). They had quite a few things but the Double Glow 7 luminous face balm (champagne) and Keep Blushing water resistant blush (rose) caught my eye. The face balm is normally $25 but I got it for $6.50 and the blush is normally $22 and I got it for $5.50. Sounds great...unless I like them and want more!

Right next to Dillard's was Bath & Body Works. They were having their semi-annual sale. Unfortunately they didn't have the Signature Lemon scent that I loooooove. So I settled for Coconut Lime Breeze, and Malibu Heat shower gels. I also got Peach Bellini and Watermelon Lemonade candles in a jar. I've been picking up quite a few candles lately so I didn't want to add too many. As I type this I have 3 candles burning in different rooms. Someone call the fire department! Oh, I also picked up 3 hand soaps - Berry Sangria, Orange Creamsicle Swirl and Sugar Berry Shortcake. I think I was the last person on earth to get on the B&BW hand soap craze. I had been using whatever else I found but on Black Friday this past year I purchased 2 and the kiddo made me promise we wouldn't use anything else from then on. I agree.

I also picked up a small early-harvest raspberry bubble bath from The Body Shop for $4. I think the early-harvest raspberry line must be a scent that they are discontinuing because the early-harvest raspberry soap, lotion, room spray and body butter was on sale too. I looked on their website and perhaps they are just making way for...raspberry scent. Seriously, go look.

Target didn't have as much as I thought it would but I picked up a Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer in Berried Under. My mom picked up Cinny Sweet. Mom loves deep berry or wine colors. It's almost the only thing in her collection.

The other polishes I picked up were from Victoria's Secret. They are discontinuing their makeup line so everything was half price. I've never tried their nail polish but I've been on a pink kick so I thought I'd try String Bikini (bubble gum pink) and Peep Show (pearlescent pink). I also picked up a metalized eye shadow in Gold Card, a lip gloss in Devotion and a lipstick in True. I do plan to visit another Victoria's Secret and see if I can find anything else...

...because obviously this haul wasn't big enough! I need more!

No worries. I'll most definitely find more.

Sunday Fun Day - Nail Polish Haul

Hey there!

Last week Walgreens put all of their Sinful Colors nail polishes on sale for .99 cents (to my knowledge it was all of them. I didn't hear that the special edition ones weren't on sale too but I could be mistaken). I don't have to tell anyone that I RAN to Walgreens to get every Sinful Colors nail polish that I didn't have. I have some Walgreens points/money so even though it looks like I spent a lot of money, I didn't really. And remember, each polish was only .99 cents! 

Just a bit on my nail polish collection. It's not massive or anything and it's not exclusively drugstore or mostly high end -- it's a mix. I just like nail polish. I don't change my hair color or even my hair cut that often. Polish is something I can change every week or so. I can go very demure with a soft pink or mauve or I can go all out and wear a bright red or silver or a funky blue color. Until very recently, I kept all my nail polish in boxes and on my dresser and in my dresser drawers and anywhere else I could find space. So, when I needed a particular color or shade and couldn't find it, I'd either stop looking for it or just pick up another color similar. And then I stumbled on the perfect box and created the perfect spacers for that box.

I'll get to that in a second.

I had a few Sinful Colors nail polish shades before this Walgreens haul but I used this as my opportunity to beef up my collection. I picked up 20 new colors to add to the 11 that I already had. I didn't stop at the safe pink, peach and nude colors. I added some purples, blues, greens and deep reds. At .99 cents, I thought it was a smart move.

I visited 4 different Walgreens locations and they were all nicely stocked up. It appeared that had pulled out all of the shades from the back rooms and all the locations had them arranged nicely in their cases. I was pretty proud of Walgreens for keeping it all organized! Normally when I stop by my Walgreens locations, finding the collection (makeup ,nails, whatever) that I'm looking for is a hit or miss and a hit might mean that whatever I'm looking for is in the middle of a bit of a mess.

That was not the case this time. I was able to pick up 20 fan-tabulous colors to add to my collection. My toes and hands are going to be very happy this summer!! My Monday Nail Polish Change blogs are going to be full!

I also used this opportunity to show off my latest DIY project on Instagram!! If you've been on my Instagram page you saw that I made some inserts for my nail polish containers. There aren't perfect or anything but I am sooo proud of these! I mean look at it!! LOL. I took time out each evening after work for about 4 days to create this (it may only take 2 days now that I've done my starter one). If you are interested in a quick tutorial, let me know and I might add one to my Monday posts.

So get ready peeps! There's going to be quite a bit of nail polishing going on this summer!

International Envy - L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Collection Privée nail polish

I watch a lot of YouTube makeup videos and many of the folks that I enjoy watching are from places other than the continental US. I love watching them create an everyday face video or a glamorous night out look although sometimes I get a bit weepy when they tell me the products that they used. If they went to Superdrug or Browns department store, then 9 times out of 10, whatever they are wearing, I can’t get. I love a good haul but when they talk about a fantabulous lipstick or eyeliner that they picked up from Debenhams or a top from Asda I get sad. I know that I can order online and possibly pay premium shipping or I can pop over to the USA site but you don't always get the same product lines. Even Poundland has stuff that our Dollar Tree doesn't have and that makes me jealous! I don't want to be sad or jealous when I watch my friends across the water. So instead, I get International Envy.

I don’t think it’s a real condition but it should be. How many times have you been reading a blog and the person is using the eyeshadow quad that would be so perfect on you and it’s some company you've never hear of?! You Google it and it’s based in another country. Then you look it up on Amazon.com and Ebay.com and they sell them….for some outrageous amount plus shipping!!! Or, it is a company that we have in the US but that particular collection isn't one that they plan to show in the US.

That’s International Envy and I get it often.

The most recent time was when I was reading a blog and they mentioned one L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Collection Privée nail polish. The colors were so pretty! I had never seen it in my stores so I assumed they were the new spring colors. I began to research and I found out that L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Collection Privée is beautiful collection of 6 nail polishes and 6 lipsticks in a wonderful array of warm nudes that would be so perfect for my collection. They looked so creamy and so supple. I just had to have them!

I set out to see if my local drugstores had them. Why no, they did not! Perhaps it was too soon in the season for them and the blog post that I had read had been a teaser. I went back to the “World Wide Web” to see what was going on.

Turns out this collection is mainly European and I cannot readily get them here. I can seek out stores that got small numbers of certain colors (or pay $25 on ebay for a lipstick). There are a few stores (not very close to my house) that sell 4 of the polish colors but none of the lipsticks. NONE!

Thus, I now have International Envy.

It’s ok. I was relentless and hunted down the 6 colors and POW! BAM! I found the polish! A Walgreens about 30 minutes from my house had them (and not many of them). I hightailed it over there, in rush hour traffic -- FRIDAY rush hour traffic. Guess what?!

I am International!

Well, in my head I'm International. I do have International nail polish though.

And that makes it all worthwhile.

I am so excited to use these colors. I want to wear them all at one time. But that's crazy!

Right! Right??