Author: nightmareb4

Massive Haul!!! After Holiday Shopping January 2017 Part 1

nightmareb4

Hey guys so I am here with a haul. That I am going to split into two parts so that it’s not so massive and doesn’t turn into a TL:DR kinda post.

Most of this stuff was bought on major after Christmas clearance and with gift cards I got for my birthday and Christmas.

Part 1 is going to be brushes, eyeshadow, and hair products. Part 2 will be lip products, perfume and skin care.

BRUSHES

Brushes are my favorite thing to buy and hoard and collect. One day I want to have enough space to actually display all my brushes rather than have them hidden in a drawer.

So I grabbed this Real Techniques Core Collection set on clearance at target.

It comes with 4 face brushes and a case/stand for the brushes.

I don’t see the point in stand the brushes are not easy to remove or put back in while doing your makeup.

The set comes with these four brushes

They are soft but I am not that impressed. Real techniques have been so hyped up that I was just expecting more. They are not as soft or dense as I would have wanted.

Now these Wet and Wild brushes I do love they usually run between 1-3 dollars and you can find them at the Dollar Tree, Five Below or the Wet and Wild website usually.

I didn’t have either the powder brush or the tapered powder brush so I grabbed them off a rack in Five Below. They are very soft cruelty free fantastic for the price. They also hold up really well when I wash them no shedding and I’m a little rough when I wash my brushes.

Nyx Pro Fan Brush

Bought this giant fan brush on a whim is brand new from Nyx their pro brush line it is very soft and very giant. The ferule is sharp and I did scrap my face while using it when I was using it so you have to be careful with it.

I also got some brush sets.

I picked up a Sonia Kashuk travel brush set.

8 brushes in a travel set with face and eye brushes. I will probably replace the eyelash brush and add another face or eye shadow brush.

It also shuts up in its own little case.

Now I am sure every one has seen these gigantic oval brushes all over instagram and youtube. So I treated myself to a pretty knock off set since no way am I able to buy the $400+ Artis brush set. I do have the MAC Oval 7 that I will be comparing too.

So you get 4 bigger “face” brushes

And 6 smaller detail brushes

Mainly I wanted the larger face brushes the little detail brushes I find confusing to use and awkward I think I am going to need a lot more practice with those.

I splurged for the holographic rainbow because I really needed that in my life and you can get this set HERE. They have a black or silver set that does cost less.

The largest face brush is about the size of my palm so it is pretty big.

It applied my foundation gorgeously and quickly I’m in love. Now comparing to the MAC Oval 7 these are not as dense but are softer. The handles have about the same amount of sturdiness so this is definitely a set to look into if you are interested in these types of brushes.

For how they pick up product I think I like these better my MAC brush picks up a lot of product and lays it down really heavy so you have to be careful and light handed with it these don’t pick up and apply quite as much so you can build up that amount of coverage that you want.

EYESHADOW

Well I bought a lot of eyeshadow oops.

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Violet Vixen

So I think this purple/blue glitter color may be a Sephora exclusive I could not find it at Ulta. You don’t get a ton of product for the price but boy is it pretty. It is so super sparkly and surprisingly creamy on the eyelids for all the glitter in it. When I swatched these in stores they all seemed patchy except this on and it isn’t patchy on the eyes so I am pleased. Plus it’s so pretty, just think pretty thoughts.

Urban Decay Afterdark Palette

Clearly I like shiny things, so I love this holographic packaging on this.

I already have the shade Lounge I got it in a single in an Ipsy bag a while ago. I hate Lounge I think it looks super muddy on the eyes with its red green shift it just looks terrible on me I can’t get it to work. Aside from that shade the rest are fairly pigmented and buttery smooth. They have a very light sheen to them.  I was surprised by how nice alter showed up on my eyes when usually such a light shadow won’t show up on me. You get a huge mirror and a nice dual ended brush.

Alter and Scene were very hard to swatch as they are fairly similar to the color of my arm. These are really buildable and pretty.

For reference these swatches were done with a brush, three swipes in the pan and three swipes on my arm. To simulate a real eye shadow applying situation.

NYX #LOTD Lip of the Day Gold Lip liquid Lip Liner

I have never seen a liquid lip liner not sure why you  would want such a thing but I saw this on the clearance rack for a few bucks and like thank would be great as gold liquid eye liner. So that’s why I stuck it in here.

L’oreal Infallible Paints Eyeshadows Navy Yard and Aqua Aura

These are not great. They are patchy and a little shiny and not my favorite, I need to play with these more. I would give these a pass if you’re looking for liquid eye shadows, Bare Minerals makes some good ones.

Smashbox Cover Shot in Smokey

I was suckered in by the cool 3D packaging and having never tried Smashbox eyeshadows before.

These are lovely shadows and will be great for traveling you have everything you need in one little palette.  They have a standard eyeshadow feel not soft, buttery or creamy like an Urban Decay eyeshadow might be.

These blend well and are not patchy except for the matte shade called Slayer. At first I thought Slayer was a dark olive-green buy it is a weird charcoal type color. It deposited pigment in a very inconsistent way and was very hard to blend out. Otherwise I love this little palette.

Swatched in the same manner as the Afterdark palette.

HAIR PRODUCTS

I got an adorable little four pack of Dry Bar Minis.

These are just way to expensive but I really enjoy them.

I’ve recently become obsessed with this brad (Thanks so much Sephora Play!). It all smells so good and really does work so I picked up this adorable little set that comes with the Dry Shampoos, Shine Spray, Hair Spray (Which I may not use I’m not big on hair spray) and a texturizer which I’ve never tried a texturizer before.  They all smell like alcoholic drink but not like alcohol that was a terrible description you just need to go check them out.

Well that’s part 1 of this crazy long haul. Part two should be up sometime this week. Then we will be getting back to our regularly scheduled subscription reviews I have two on deck right now Medusa’s Makeup and Beauteque.

<3 Nightmare Before Makeup

 

Whats in My Trash? (A.K.A. An Empties Post) January 2017

nightmareb4

So we are 1/12th done with 2017 already. That went by way to fucking fast. So I have a goal this year to use up 15 products a month for a total of 180 products used up in 2017. So here is how my first month went.

Lotions

As usual I have my Fortune Cookie Soap Company lotions 2 this month. I love them I use them all the time. they are very thick they don’t sink in that well or that quickly but the smell so good that I don’t mind.

Eye Products

Ulta Legendary Lengths Mascara

NOT legendary and not very lengthening go with all curled up in the gold tube much better.

Josie Maran Black Oil Argan Oil Mascara

This was  clump city and kinda made my eyes itchy. Happy to be done with this.

Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes Mascara

This was a one time use mascara which I have never seen before so cool, so messy. This was actually a pretty good mascara I got alot of volume and length, but the brush is just to huge to use comfortably.

Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer Potion

Used up this primer sample. I’m sorta over the original primer I don’t feel it works the same anymore for me so I tried this it hung on to my eye shadow very well but i did see my eye shadow creasing which rarely happens to me.

Masks

Lush Mask of Magnaminty

A very scrubby very minty mask. If your skin is sensitive or you are sensitive to scent this is not for you.  I find this only really works for me ironically when my skin is super irritated and broken out and awful. I will repurchase this in the future but probably not for awhile I have so much skin care to get through.

Be Fine Warming Clay Mask

I don’t like this it is sticky and heavy. It is hard to apply it doesn’t really warm up at all it does nothing for me.

The Face Shop Character Mask in Panda

Well this looked terrifying on but aside from that it fit nicely wasn’t drippy it was a good mask.

Hair Care

Garnier Fructis Color Shield

I forgot that I didn’t really like this product and used it up again lol. Well it smells nice I do love that Garnier shampoo smell. This does nothing for my hair. Clearly I will not be buying this.

Random

Ponds Exfoliating Makeup Removing Wipes

I really had a love hate with these. I really liked the scrubby dots on them but they leave a soapy residue on your face and were not that great at removing my makeup

Medusa’s Makeup Brush Cleaner

This was horrible it did not clean my brushes at all. Not even a little I had to go back and use a second soap to get out all the stains from my makeup. To much work Cleaning brushes is enough of a chore, don’t need soap that sucks and makes it harder.

Bath and Body Works Twisted Peppermint Scent Portable

Grr these smell so good for about 3 minutes then you can’t smell them at all anymore. They do work slightly better in the summer then in the winter, but these are so disappointing and I have a bunch to use up. This is a straight up peppermint almost candy cane scent but not as sweet.

Secret Outlast Olay Deodorant

This is a hot mess literally. It melts and is gooey and stains and gets on everything.

Fortune Cookie Soap Company Perfume

I got this is one of my seasonal boxes from them and I’ve used it all up. Don’t remember what it was called and since all their stuff is limited edition it almost doesn’t matter. I do really appreciate the reusable atomizer they sent it in and will be cleaning it so that I can use that in the future.

So I got exactly 15 products this month and that perfume definitely snuck its way in there on the last day of January.

Total this month: 15

YTD: 15

Off to a good start.

<3 Nightmare Before Makeup

January 2017 Sephora Play! Subscription Box Review

nightmareb4

Sephora Play!

Cost: $10.70 monthly

Cycle: Every Month

What is it: Every month our favorite money sucking store Sephora sends out a curated box of higher end samples to try out.  Every month you receive 5 samples and a perfume sample.  Even one used to receive the same samples but they have now it seems officially switched into using box variations.

There is a small survey that Sephora has you take that helps Sephora curate a box to your needs. There is also a card included in the box for a complimentary mini makeover (which are complimentary any way so I don’t really get that) and 50 extra points if you purchase something in store.

Once again we have a different style bag. Its like a weird plasticy canvas type fabric with a mesh back.

The mess is see thru and there is a cute message on the front as usual. This would be cute in a gym bag and intend to give this to my friend who actually goes to the gym unlike my lazy ass.

There was a really good assortment of products this month so let’s get into it.

It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream in Medium

Full Size: 32 ml

Full Size Cost: $38

Sample Size: 4 ml

Value: $4.75

This is a tiny tube about a third of the size of the travel size that they sell but should still be good for at least 5 uses if not more. This is a very full coverage CC cream I do own this in a full size it is very nice and natural looking but does feel very heavy on the skin. Swatched below.

Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey

Full Size: 2 g

Full Size Cost: $17

Sample Size: Not listed About 1/3

Value: $5.70

So this actually arrived broken. I contacted Sephora and they got back to me within a few hours. Their customer service is always really good, they credited my account with 100 points. I was able to get the lipstick out of the cap and use a lighter to melt it back together. It actually seems to be just fine it just looks pretty beat up not.

After I melted it back together.

This is a ok color but not my favorite. It is very sheer and not very long lasting. It does feel nice and moisturizing on the lips and is not sticky

Swatches of lipstick and foundation.

Ouai Treatment Mask

Full Size: 72 ml

Full Size Cost: $32

Sample Size: 15 ml

Value: $6.67

So the full size of this actually comes in foil packets, a set of 8 at 9 ml each. I would never buy something so expensive in a foil packet. For that price they should at least be putting them in small tubes like this one or one giant tube. This tube should be good for 1-2 uses depending on hair type and length. Idk when I’m gona get around to using this so check my future empties posts for an update.

Drunk Elephant LaLa Retro Whipped Cream

Full Size: 49.98 ml

Full Size Cost: $60

Sample Size: 5 ml

Value: $6.00

Another Drunk Elephant product. They are so ridiculously expensive that I get super excited to try them. The Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos™ Glycolic Night Serum I received back in my Oct 2016 box did not really do anything for my skin but I was excited for a new product. This has a really warm comforting scent like oatmeal or something but not oatmeal, I don’t know how to describe it but it is really comforting and nice. This is a really thick moisturizer that does not absorb super quickly. Normally I would not put something like this on my oily face but i gave it a go and it did not leave my face feeling greasy just soft and hydrated. Time will tell if this clogs my pores like most moisturizers do.

Tarte Frxxxtion Stick Exfoliating Cleanser

Full Size: 1 oz

Full Size Cost: $22

Sample Size: 0.22 oz

Value: $4.84

This thing is so fucking cool. It is really easy to apply just kinda swipe it all over your face and then add water and scrub. It has a fine grain but powerful exfoliator and really made my skin feel clean and exfoliated and even a little dry which is rare for me. If you have dry or sensitive skin you may not like this but if you have normal to oily skin I think you will really enjoy this and it is so convenient. And it isn’t even that expensive I was expecting a much higher price and was pleasantly surprised I will definitely be buying this in a full size. And it is black which makes me love it more. Have I raved about this enough? Everyone needs this in their life. I’m in love.

Tory Burch Perfume in Love Relentlessly

Full Size: 1 oz

Full Size Cost: $68

Sample Size: 0.05 oz

Value: $3.40

This is actually a nice scent very fresh but warm almost floral it is very adult with out being stuffy.

So this was a pretty low value this month but these are all products I will use and enjoy, except for maybe the lipstick. I also discovered a new life need in that Frxxxtion stick.

Quick Summary:

Total Value: $31.36

Skincare: 2

Makeup: 2

Tools: 0

Hair Care: 1

Perfume: 1

Other: 0

And as far as sizes:

Full Size: 0

Deluxe Sample: 0

Sample: 6

<3 Nightmare Before Makeup