ESTEE LAUDER/MAC WAREHOUSE SALE

Hey y'all!

So this past weekend was the Estee Lauder/MAC Warehouse sale in Markham, ON. It's a sale that happens a few times a year, where they sell cosmetics at crazy reduced prices. Some of the brands featured this year were Estee Lauder, Mac, Origins, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Coach, Smashbox, DKNY.

My Mom was able to score tickets for the Saturday and Sunday sales, and I just wanted to share my experience with you!

The line up on Saturday morning, taken from the front of the line.

We got there at around 9:30 AM and waited in line for about 45 mins before getting in. That line wraps all the way around the building on the outside too. Crazy! Lucky there were no insane people in line. Everything went really smoothly, I was pleasantly surprised!

Eye shadow table

I actually thought the warehouse was going to be as crazy as an anthill, but surprisingly it was not! Here's a photo of one of the tables holding eye shadows. Most of the setup was like this- a table full of testers that were strategically taped up, and an area to claim what you wanted. Each tester was numbered and a pad of paper and pencils were supplied on each table. You write down the numbers you wanted, and go to a designated area where your selection is bagged for you.

Here are a few more photos of some of the things they were selling. A lot of them we at crazy prices!

Here's my haul for the two days I went:

Saturday Morning Haul

From L-R: Clinique A Season's Worth of Pretty palette (containing 5 lip colours, 5 eye shadow colours and 3 cheek colours), Clinique Bold Eyes to Go set (Full size bottom lash mascara, eye shadow duo, travel eyeliner and travel High Impact Mascara + makeup bag), Smashbox Try It Kit containing Travel sizes of the Photo Finish Foundation primer, Photo finish eyelid primer, limitless eyeliner, full exposure mascara and lip enhancing gloss), Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme mascara, Clinique Repairwear Eye cream, Clinique moisture surge extended thirst relief cream, Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey and Mac Lip Glass in Entice.

Sunday Afternoon Haul

From L-R: Ojon Conditioner, Ojon Leave-In treatment, Michael Kors for Estee Lauder kit (Full size lipstick, travel lip gloss, sumptuous extreme, eye liner, nail polish and full size blush bronzer duo in a coordinated MK makeup bag), Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief, and a Clinique Shaving set for Ronnie boy.

Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow

After checking out, you're asked to surrender your ticket. In return, we received a full-size Mac Pro Longwear Eyeshadow in Always Sunny. Also, if you donate $5 to breast cancer research, you receive another gift! Two full-size Mac Mineralize Eyeshadows and a Mattene Lipstick. Here eyeshadows are pictured in Pretty & Prim (pink and burgundy) and Heaven & Earth (Teal and black) and the lipstick is in Nocturnal Instincts.

So that was my awesome EL/MAC haul! You can look forward to future reviews on the products I bought (Probably while I'm sick in bed recovering from my wisdom teeth removal). Until then, let me know about your favourite EL and MAC products and your experiences at past cosmetic warehouse sales. Comment below!

xox,
Ysobel

Crazy Good URBAN DECAY deal!

So I have this coupon for the shopping network and I was browsing the site trying to find something to use it on. Then I found this. It's a crazy good deal and I couldn't help but share!!

Urban Decay Midnight Cowgirl Makeup Bag Set

I am a HUGE bargain shopper and will buy things in sets to get the best value (that's why I love buying during department store GWP time because I get all those free goodies!).

So this is going for $39.00CAD plus $6.96 shipping. It ships from my hometown so I don't have to worry about it taking ages to get here. It includes...

24/7 Glide on Pencil in Zero (0.04oz, 1.2g) - FULL SIZE worth $23 CAD
Big Fatty Mascara (15mL, 0.51oz) - FULL SIZE worth $24CAD
Eyeshadow Primer Potion (25mL, 0.85oz) - PROFESSIONAL SIZE worth $34CAD
Cosmetic pouch

So that's $90+ worth of product for $39.00CAD plus taxes, shipping and handling. NOT A BAD DEAL!

Rimmel London's Sexy Curves Full Volume and Curve mascara

Hi everyone!

So today's post is dedicated to a mascara that I bought a few years ago that I left in my make up case as "stock", and only opened a few weeks ago because I was running low on mascara and couldn't find my trial sizes.

Sexy Curves Mascara.

This is Rimmel London's Sexy Curves Mascara, a mascara that promises full volume and curve. I think I purchased it at Shopper's when they had this sale where a bunch of Rimmel products (including this one) were $4.99. Otherwise I believe it retails at about $6-8 CAD for 8mL of mascara. It comes in a slim purple tube that does stand upright (though I'm not sure if that's an advantage or not). I purchased this in 001 BLACK.

The Mascara wand, brush head compared to the size of an American Penny for size. I live in Canada (where we don't use pennies anymore), and the only coin I had close by was this old American one. The Bad boy's pretty chewed up... looks like it's been run over two or three...hundred times.

Triple Plump brush Close-Up. I think my picture above was better than this. My bad.

The reverse side of the packaging mentions Rimmel's New Triple Plump brush used "for fuller curvier lashes". So... here's the Triple Plump brush. It's almost like three balls of silicone spikes stuck together and elongated a little.It's about an inch long, and it's actually pretty flexible, making removing excess mascara from the wand a breeze. The ball on the end makes it surprisingly easy to apply mascara to the inner corners and outer lashes without worrying about poking your eyes out.

The formula is creamy but really wet (so wet that you hear a moist "pop!" when you take the wand out of the tube). I'm not a fan of super wet formulas because they are a little difficult to apply on your lashes. I find they make them clump and stick together, unless you apply with extreme caution. Then if you're lucky, you'll get every single lash.

Sexy Curve Mascara applied to both eyes. No curling. One coat.

When applied properly (as in, 3-4 minutes of you poking at your eyes with utmost caution), the mascara has a really nice natural look. there is a but of added volume but not too much curl. With a name like "sexy curls" I was expecting almost a false eye lash effect, but as I was building my lashes got chunky and clumpy and they were not a pretty sight. It's also not the blackest mascara out there, but for a natural, everyday look it isn't bad.

Yesterday I was wearing this mascara and my sister made me laugh so hard I was crying. She told me my mascara was running everywhere and so I ran to the washroom. there was ZERO mascara left on my bottom lashes after a few tears. Now I know the formula doesn't claim to be water proof, but I like a mascara that can stand up to a few tears and not dissolve all over your face. Sometimes waterproof mascaras emit fumes that tend to make my eyes sting so I stay away from them. They're also a pain in the butt to remove.

After a few hours of wear I find the mascara flakes all over my eyes. But for only a few bucks, I guess you can't expect smudge-free wear and flakeless lashes.

The verdict? It's okay. It's cheap and it does the job. If you have a 12-13 year old girl who is just venturing into make up then I think it'd be a good mascara to start her on. It's relatively cheap and creates a natural look that's great for everyday. However, I wouldn't consider it HG status and I wouldn't wear it on a special night out.

xox,

Ysobel

Have you tried this mascara? What's your favourite one to use? What's your opinion of other Rimmel London products? I'd love to hear from you!

Mascara Woes

So like I promised, I'm going to talk about the big deal with mascara.

Take a look at the bottom of your tube of mascara. Actually, this goes for all kinds of cosmetics (face creams, eye shadow, foundations, etc.) There should be a picture of an open jar that has either 3M, 6M, 12M, 18M on it. That is how long your cosmetics can be used after you open it, essentially an expiry date (yes, cosmetics indeed DO expire!).

image care of bunbunmakeuptips.com

For mascara and most eyeliners/eye primers, the is anywhere between 3-6 months. For eyeliner pencils that need to be sharpened, that's around 36M. As a former microbiologist, I STRONGLY recommend that you follow the manufacturer's suggestion. Have you ever heard of the "mini world inside your eyelashes"? That because it actually exists. Your eyelashes help protect your eyes from daily assaults, not only from things like blazing sunshine, but from all of the crap in the air that you and I breathe in. Our nostrils have nose hairs, our respiratory tract has cilia, and our eyes have eyelashes. Anything that our eyelashes don't catch is caught in our tears and eventually "cried out".

I'll be the first to admit it - for a while I kept mascara for as long as there was still product in the tube. After studying some microbiology in school and working for a while in the cosmetics industry, I realized how nasty that was. Every time your mascara wand applies product to your lashes, it combs your lashes of all the crap they caught protecting your eyes. So for as long as you're using that same mascara tube, you're dragging more and more crap through your eyelashes. Bacteria is multiplying at exponential rates - the bacteria already in your tube from past uses, and the bacteria you're going to collect on it the next time your use it on your lashes, will be multiplying at astronomical rates.

This is precisely why I think that mascara tip (adding contact lens solution to your dried up mascara tubes) on Pinterest is absolutely revolting. Yuck.

The 3-6 month expiry also considers the mascara's consistency. Every time you open up your mascara, you're pumping more air into it, drying it out. Your mascara will keep the same, usable consistency for about 3-6 month's time. After that, the formula has been exposed to waaay too much air and is no longer suitable to use.

So what do to? First, throw away all of the mascara you purchased and opened before the end of last year. A makeup artist friend of mine writes the dates she opens up her mascara on the actual tube to help her remember. As per my last post, I like to use the small tubes you get in GWPs or as samples because there's only enough product in there to last you a few months evenwith every day use, so you don't have to worry about exceeding your mascara's expiry date. Lastly, if you can, use one mascara at a time, so you really get your money's worth of product (especially for department store mascaras, those are $18CAD - $31 a pop!).

I'll talk more about the expiry of cosmetics products in a later post. In the meantime, anyone else kept a mascara longer tan the manufacturer's suggestion? What's the longest you've kept your mascara? No worries, I won't judge... like I said, I used to keep mine forever, haha.

xox,
ysobel

Everyday Beauty Routine

Good morning everyone!

For my first post I thought I would share what pieces my current daily makeup routine consists of. It's a nice selection of both drugstore and department store cosmetics that I've acquired over the past few months as gifts, in GWPs (gift with purchase), or that I purchased myself. I'll do individual reviews for these products in the future, once those are done I will update this post with the links to the products.

(1) Too Faced Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow Collection
(2) Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Mineral Foundation SPF 20 in Shade 05
(3) E.L.F. Studio Blush in Candid Coral
(4) Covergirl Black Eyeliner
(5) Lancome Cils Booster
(6) Lancome Hypnose Mascara
(7) E.L.F. Studio Bronzer in Warm
(8) E.L.F. Maximum Coverage Concealer (Oil Free) in Beige
(9) E.L.F. Essential Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Luminance
(10) E.L.F. Studio Flawless Finish Foundation SPF 15 (Oil Free) in Buff
(11) E.L.F. Studio Mineral Infused Face Primer in Clear


(1) Too Faced Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow Collection
Incredibly versatile palette that has a nice selection of basic matte, metallic and glitter eye shadows in neutral shades suitable for any skin colour. Shadows are long wearing, highly pigmented. As you can see I've done some damage on the first half of the palette. My favourite shades in this are Heaven (matte off-white) and Push-Up (metallic medium brown).

(2) Elizabeth Arden Pure Finish Mineral Foundation SPF 20 in Shade 05
Great mineral-based foundation that you can use on its own over top a primer, or to set liquid makeup. It has its own grinder that turns it into a loose powder, and you really only need a very little amount when you're using it as a setting powder. It doesn't settle into creases or wrinkles and it has SPF 20 which is a huge plus. Shade 05 would be a great shade for you if you're a medium, yellow-based skin tone.

(3) E.L.F. Studio Blush in Candid Coral
A nice peachy shade with very fine gold glitter. Not the most pigmented but definitely has some staying power. It's great for natural looks and super easy to blend, which is why it's my everyday blush of choice.

(4) CG Black Eyeliner
I really don't remember what collection this is from... I bought it about a year ago and I'm just finishing it because I can't stand throwing away decent products without using them up, haha. It's not self sharpening, but it does have this nifty smudger on the opposite end of it (that I'll admit, I never use).

(5) Lancome Cils Booster
Found this in a stash of my GWP cosmetics. It's a great lash conditioner to use underneath your mascara that helps keep your mascara from drying out and becoming flaky.

(6) Lancome Hypnose in Black
Great mascara that lengthens and thickens your lashes without too many clumps. Lashes still look natural, which is why I am really digging this stuff.

*I like to use mini sized mascaras, like the ones you receive in GWPs, because the lifespan of mascara is only 3 months! I'll blog later about this issue, but if you're wondering why I'm using trial sized mascaras, this is why.

(7) E.L.F. Studio Bronzer in Warm
A great warm-toned bronzer. I like to use the bottom two shades blended together to contour and I swirl my brush to pick up all 4 colours to bronze my forehead, jawline and neck.

(8) E.L.F. Maximum Coverage Concealer in Beige
A medium yellow-toned concealer that is super pigmented, so you only really need a tiny drop to do both of your under eye circles. I like to use this with my E.L.F. Flawless Concealer brush that applies any concealer like a dream.

(9) E.L.F.Healthy Glow Bronzer in Luminance
I know it says bronzer but as you can see, it's a highlighter. Nicely pigmented, pearly finish with virtually no glitter in it. It is also on the warm toned, almost a beige colour, which is really great for medium warm skin tones. Not bad for $1!

(10) E.L.F. Flawless Finish Foundation in Buff
Awesome $6 foundation that has medium coverage and a dewy finish. Is has SPF 15 in it which is awesome, also blends really well and doesn't settle into any creases. It's VERY long wearing - my skin still looks the same after 16 hours of wear! Buff is a medium yellow-toned colour that is almost borderline dark medium. I'm blending it with a little moisturizer right now to sheer it out while I'm at my lightest after the winter months.

(11) E.L.F. Mineral Infused Face Primer
A clear silicone based primer that I like to use before I apply any concealer or foundation. Very cost effective (only $6) and keeps my foundation on forever. I can't compare it to other primers because this is the first I've tried, but I've been so happy with this primer since I first purchased it I haven't had the need to buy another one. What I love most about it is that it does a really great job of making a barrier between my moisturizer and foundation, so my skin doesn't dry out after a long day of wearing make up.


There we have it, my daily make-up routine in a blog post. In a later post I'll share the products I use in my daily skin care regimen. Are any of these items in your daily make up routine? I'd love to know about what you guys think about these products - comment below!

xox,
Ysobel