Collective Haul: September & October 2015

Today I am back with another collective (aka HUGE) haul.  I wanted to stress that this was the results of buying random things throughout the months of September and October.  I was on a spending ban for the month of August, and I will do a super late update on that coming up soon.  Anyways, these are the products I picked up the past two months.

Like my last collective haul, I will be breaking up the haul into different sections.  And as you will see later on in the post, I've been on a huge nail polish kick.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to post swatches up here soon!

Skincare products: 

• First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser
• First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream
• Pixi Glow Tonic Exfoliating Toner
• Nip + Fab Bee Sting Fix Lifting Mask
• Yest to Blueberries Face & Neck Oil
• Formula 10.0.6 Get Your Glow On Tightening Peel Off Mask

Body Products:

• Bath and Body Works French Lavender Honey Shower Gel
• Bath and Body Works Pink Chiffon Shower Gel
• Bath and Body Works Pink Chiffon Fragrance Mist

Lip products: 

• Sonia Kashuk Liquid Lipstick in Vintage Wine
• Sonia Kashuk Matte Lipstick in Crushed Petal
• Makeup Revolution lipstick in Rebel with Cause

Random: 

• Softlips Cube in Passion Fruit
• Maybelline Volum' Express Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara in Very Black

And now a crazy selection of nail polishes I've managed to get my little hands on... #sorrynotsorry

Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy: 

• Diamond Top Coat
• Ace of Spades

Orly: 

• Mirrorball

Chinaglaze: 

• Take a Hike
• Ruby Pumps
• Fairy Dust
• Sleeping Under the Stars

Sinful Colors: 

• Sinful Shine Top Coat
• Sinful Shine Haute Shine
• Rich in Heart
• Aubergine
• Ruby Gusten

Sooo... That was a pretty big haul, that's really heavy on nail polish.  For some odd reason I've really been on a nail polish kick and I like to buy nail polishes but I haven't found a good time to paint my nails.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to paint them soon and put swatches up!  (Especially of Orly's Mirrorball!).  And so far for the month of November, I've only purchased 5 things... and I hope it stays under 10...

What are some of the things you guys have purchased recently?

First International Swap with Tales of a Pale Face

This post is so long overdue that I'm actually really embarrassed about how late it is.  But back in February, yes it's been that long, I saw a post where Kat from Tales of a Pale Face was organizing a beauty swap and I thought that would be such a fun thing to participate in, and to get to try some products that are not sold in the US!  So I signed up and completely forgot about it for a while.  Then she contacted me around March saying I was partnered up with her and we exchanged several emails and set some budgets and told each other our likes and dislikes.  I'm actually quite embarrassed because my goodies arrived at the end of May, before I even got a chance to mail out hers.  (Sorry!) 

I actually tried my hardest to not eat or play with that many things but my curiosity won and dug into all the lip products before I took the pictures!  When i first saw the contents, I was completely shocked and amazed at her generosity!  I told her that I love lip products and she made sure she included 6 different lip products for me to obsess over!  On top of that she also included an eye shadow palette and a blush, along with some of her favorite snacks!  So here are the products that Kat sent me!  (I honestly feel so embarrassed about the products I got for her after I saw this!)

First up are the snacks!  I've never seen any of these but I have to say, it took a lot of self restraint to not open these up and try them all right when I saw them!

One of the few non-lip products that was included in the package was this Gorgeous Glow Blush Block from Collection.  Collection is a brand that we can't get in the US so I was excited to see this!  The blush looks like a really nice peachy-shimmery shade that would look really nice on.

The other non-lip product that I was shocked to see was this eye shadow palette by Makeup Revolution.  This palette is the Redemption Palette Iconic 1 and it reminds me a lot of all those neutral palette out in the market right now.  What's really nice is, I think there are three matte shades in the palette that you can use as highlight or transition/crease color.  I'm really excited to dig in and swatch it all to see the pigmentation of it!

Everything else I'll be mentioning below was in this cute little makeup bag by Paul & Joe.  I think I squealed when I saw this makeup bag; it's the cutest and the perfect crazy cat lady makeup bag I've ever seen!  I've heard about the brand Paul & Joe and their cute lipstick bullet shaped like cats, but that's the extent of my knowledge of that brand.  I'm so excited to add this to my collection of makeup bags!

The first thing I saw in the makeup bag was this face mask by the brand Indeed Labs.  I've seen some bloggers mentioning this brand on the blogosphere a while back and was so excited I get to try this face mask!  I've been really into skincare recently so finding this made me so happy!  Ulta now carries this brand so I'm excited to see how I like this face mask and from that, I might pick up some more from this brand!

One last thing before we get into the pile of lip products!  I have also heard about the brand Kiko but I don't really know much about it.  I'm also really excited to see the Dawn Till Dusk Volume Effect Mascara.  Lately I've been really into trying out different mascaras (I blame my sister), and I can't wait to open this and try it.  I haven't even opened the tube to see what the brush is like because I'm still working on some opened mascara before I want to dig into this!

Now, this is my favorite part of the swap package!  I honestly was not expecting all of these to be included in the swap.  I know I told her I wanted to try some of the Bourjois products, and that I'm obsessed with anything lip crayons.  I think I also mentioned that I wanted to try some of the popular Rouge Edition lip gloss type products and boy did she go above and beyond.  She included the Lanolips Lip Ointment, which I've heard many good things about, Bourjois Color Boost lip crayon in Peach On the Beach, Barry M Genie, which is one of those pH adjusting lip products, Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm in Honey Nectar, I actually have one in Ripe Raspberry so I was happy this is a shade I didn't have, Bourjois Rouge Velvet in Don't Pink of it!, and Bourjois Rouge Aqua Laque in Rose on the rocks.  

Overall, I have swatched all the lip products at least once and I'm so excited to swatch blush and the eyeshadow palette!  I'm also excited to try the snacks that she included in the swap as well!  

I'm really thankful that Kat organized this swap and allowed me to participate; I know I'm still  at the beginning of my blogging journey and don't have a lot of history or experience with swaps, so I felt like I was a risk that she was taking so I'm really glad she gave me this opportunity to participate and try out makeup products from across the pond.  I hope to participate in more beauty swaps in the future and start collecting makeup from around the world!

Unboxing | Birchbox May 2015

Sooo.... I apparently lied in my last unboxing, when I said I was getting better at unboxing posts... because this unboxing is several months late.  To be fair, I didn't order it until mid-May, and it wasn't shipped out until early June.... So technically, I'm only a month late... right? 

As you guys may or may not know, I don't order from any monthly subscription services at all.  I did Ipsy back when it first started, and was still called MyGlam, but I stopped when I moved back home after college.  I haven't picked it back up and I haven't picked up any other services, or else there would be a lot more late unboxings on here for sure!  But towards mid-May, Tati had this incredible deal in one of her videos that I could not pass up!  I think it was the beginning of her partnership, or whatever it is, with Birchbox and they gave her a code to give to her subscribers, or whoever found the code, where you get you first Birchbox for $1.  Now $1 for something that's typically $10, that's a deal I couldn't pass up and signed up right away!  

I was expecting and half way hoping it would be their June box, since it was already more than half way through the month and the fine prints said they wouldn't ship until June, but it ended up being the May's box.  May's box was a collaboration with a cupcakes and cashmere, and I love design of the box.  One of the things I really like about Birchbox is that the boxes are shipped in another box that has all the shipping labels on it, protecting the inside box.

Now I've had this box for a while now but I believe it did not come with an info card that tells you what products are included along with directions.  I believe most, if not all, boxes come with that info card so that was a bit disappointing.  Luckily all the products are in English and are easy to figure out how to use.

The products inside this box are:

• Marcelle Clay Mask
• Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser
• Whish Body Butter
• Pixi by Petra Fairy Dust in Gold Dust
• Nelson J Beverly Hills Moisture Healing Mask

I'm kind of disappointed by the products included in this box, but beggars can't be choosers right?  I did pay only $1 for this and it was my first time so they probably don't know what I would have wanted and whatnot.  I will say, I see myself using all of the products eventually so that is a good sign! 

What is one of your favorite subscription services out there right now? 

Unboxing | Target & Walmart Fall 2014 Beauty Boxes

Soo... I'm terribly late for these unboxings but, it's better late than never right?  I'm so embarrassed that it's almost time for their spring boxes and I'm just getting around to talking about the winter ones, which came out around early December.  But anyways here're the products I received from Target and Walmart beauty boxes a few months ago.

We'll start with Target.  There were three different boxes that Target released and I grabbed two out of three.  First box is the Beauty Box For Her, which retailed at $10 with free shipping.

I really love the fact that these boxes come with a little info card, along with a coupon attached at the bottom.

Products I received in this particular box are:

• Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Advanced Serum sample
• ChapStick Total Hydration Lip Care in Sweet Peach
• Revlon HD Lacquer in Sunstone
• CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Kit in Daring Nudes
• Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in BlackNoir (sample?)
• L'oreal Butterfly Intenza Mascara in Black
• Laneige Water Sleeping Mask sample 
• Hair Food Thickening Solution

This box was really worth the $10 since it came with many full size products!  Everything except for the Boots No7 serum and Laneige Water Sleeping Mask were full size.  I'm not sure if the Pixi eyeliner is full or sample size since Target doesn't have it on their website.  

Now for the second Target box.  This is the Target Beauty Box Natural and it was $5 with free shipping.  

This box came with many products I was not aware of and I'm happy I get a chance to sample them out.

Products I received in this box are:

• Acure Organics Facial Cleanser
• Borghese Age Defying Facial Scrub
• Burt's Bees Facial Wipes
• SheaMoisture Coconut Hibiscus Smoothie
• SoapBox Argan Shampoo
• Skinfix Hand Repair Cream

I believe everything in this box is sample size.  But I'm not complaining, since I can see myself using all of these products except for the SheaMoisture product.  Btw the Skinfix hand cream is some expensive stuff! Full size of it (twice the sample size) is $18!  I'm so excited to see if it's actually worth that much!

And finally we have the Walmart Beauty Box for Winter 2014.  My box came pretty beaten up and stained with coffee but I'm sure that wasn't Walmart's fault.

I was kind of disappointed by Walmart because they didn't send me any e-mail notifications about the payment of the box (it's a subscription box so they automatically charge $5 to my account every season) or the tracking information until after I received my box.  

Products I received in the Walmart box are:

• L'oreal Oleo Therapy Oil Infused Shampoo sample 
• L'oreal Oleo Therapy Oil Infused Conditioner sample 
• Olay Fresh Effects Everything Off! Make-Up wipes sample
• Maybelline Dream Wonder Powder swatch sample 
• Maybelline Color Sensational The Buffs in Maple Kiss
• Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Lotion sample pack 

This time I was a bit disappointed in Walmart's box.  Compared to their first box, this box has less products that I am excited to try.  The one thing I was kind of excited about is the Maybelline lipstick, but the shade that I got was not a shade I would have chosen for myself.  There were coupons attached to the Maybelline Dream Wonder Powder and the Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Lotion.  I'm hoping their spring box will be a lot better, but you can't really expect to love everything you receive from a $5 box.

So, I apologize again for the late unboxing and I will try to be more timely with them.  I am super excited for spring to arrive (nothing related to the weather since the Bay Area has been enjoying a wonderful spring/summer weather in mid-winter...) to see what will be included in the spring beauty boxes.