Black Friday Shopping Haul

Now that is is Sunday and I have the chance to recap my nice, yet short holiday weekend I wanted to let you all sneak a peak at my mini haul from Black Friday shopping. I would also like to note that I did this shopping relatively late in the day and didn't have a terrifying experience like the many who went to Walmart, which is how I prefer it. I'm not a fan of crowds and even less of a fan of waiting in line. The stuff I got from Ulta wasn't really "Black Friday" special, they just had "Buy One Get One 50% Off" on NYX and Real Techniques brushes and I had been meaning to grab a few things for my makeup kit. I also stopped by MAC to pick up some essentials as well as some pigments from the Holiday Collection that I couldn't say no to. Here is what I ended up with...

My First Visit to Naimies

So if you live in the Los Angeles area you are probably aware of Naimies. It's pretty much the makeup mecca of the area, where you can find professional grade makeup for those hard to find brands all in one location. For a while now I've been meaning to take a drive to the valley (I live in the inland empire, so I'm a good hour to hour and a half drive away), and I finally did it last weekend, and I was not disappointed. My only complaint would be that we showed up an hour before they closed because my mom had some errands to run in LA before we got there, and it was obvious that the staff was more than ready to go home and there were not enough of them to address all of the customers. But luckily for me I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted so it wasn't too much of a problem for me. I had been compiling a list since I'm trying to make the final touches to my kit to do weddings and picked them up on this trip. Here is a list of my purchases...

• RCMA Shinto Foundation Palette
• (3) Makeup Forever 12 Color Case
• Ben Nye Luxury Powders: Cameo, Buff, Banana & Sienna
• Disposal Mascara Wands & Spatulas

 Had to snap a pic of my goodies for instagram (@mandy_apple)

Here's the Shinto Palette. I've heard great things from some youtube reviews, this is the "cool" palette but I feel like it gives a better range of shades than the other, which seems to be geared more towards red undertones. I'm using it for the first time tomorrow, I'll post a review soon.

My 3 Makeup Forever 12 Color Cases. I filled them with a majority of my lipsticks that range from MAC to Revlon, NYX, Cove Girl...Then the bottom palette is filled with my Cinema Secrets foundations.

Finally, my Ben Nye Luxury Powders, and all I have to say is BELIEVE THE HYPE. I used buff the first day I got them and seriously it leaves yours skin looking flawless with no sign of cakiness. I put it on top of MACs Studio Sculpt Foundation and my skin was glowy and amazing. Still have yet to use Banana because I think it's too yellow for my skin, but I'll be experimenting soon. 

And that's all for my Naimies haul, it was a fun experience and I'm excited to start doing jobs for people other than my friends and family. My next post will be about my Bridal Makeup Kit that includes all of these babies. I'm excited that I'm posting again, talk to you all soon! 

My Makeup Collection and Storage

I recently decided to throw out my old makeup set up which consisted of an Ikea desk with lots of shelving and a closed work space that was just not working for me. I was unable to see my collection because all of my products were hidden in different places, and I was using my train case as my main housing unit and I didn't like that I had to dig through the box to find the things I needed. So I did some googling on DIY makeup storage and I found a very inspirational post by Vichy et Pois. Here is the link to her post DIY Makeup Storage by Vichy et Poit. She purchased a shelf from Ikea that had a glass top so she could see all of her products and I thought that was brilliant! So I set out to purchase that shelf as well as a rolling cart I had seen at Michaels to create my dream makeup station, and so far I'm extremely happy with it.

For the shelf portion I have all of my palettes underneath the glass. On top (left to right) A sephora bag filled with q-tips and cotton balls, some hand sanitizer. A plastic carrier holding my foundation, powder and some moisturizers. A pencil holder filled with my brushes, then a brush holder from Sephora with a brush collection from last winter. 

On the right  I have a moisturizer, Fix +, UD All Nighter Spray and a holder with all my mascaras. 

I was so excited about the rolling shelf because Michael's was having a sale on the brand, I got it for 40% off, which turned out to be about $40. Here I have my perfume on top. My Valentina is in the box because I've been using it too much lately! Gotta calm down because that mess was expensive haha ;). 

For my first drawer I have nothing but blushes and bronzers

Second drawer has a container with nothing but eyeliner, then some random loose eyeshadows, then cream color bases and pencils. In the back are my false lashes.

Next I have my skin primers, shadow bases/ primers, concealers and luminizing bases. 

The bottom 3 drawers are about twice as deep as the first ones. This was perfect for the larger containers I have for my lipsticks and glosses. Then on the side of them I have my makeup wipes. 

Then I have my random drawer. I has a container with my lip pencils, my perfume samples, random eyeshadows, tape, removers, scope haha 

Lastly, I have all my makeup cases/purses. I seriously have no idea why I have so many of these! But when I see a cute one I convince myself that I need it. So this is what happens...

And that's all! I think what I love the most is it's so easy to see exactly what I have and what I need. The only problem is now that it's organized I feel the need to fill it up and shop more! I just bought 2 new palettes (the Smashbox and Lorac Pro ones in the first couple pictures) and I'll be reviewing those soon. 

Nordstrom/Sephora Haul

Happy Monday Everyone!

This past weekend after much debate, I decided to take back my Clarisonic Mia2. I had stopped using it for about a week to give my skin a break, then when I went to use it again I broke out again! I thought what a waste of money, so I took it back to Nordstrom and redeemed it for a whole bunch of goodies that I could actually benefit from! Also, a few weeks back I cashed in some of my rewards points from one of my credit cards and they sent me a $50 Sephora gift card, so I had some fun with that as well. 

At Sephora I settled on Benefit's gift set that came with Bella Bamba blush (full size), Eye Bright, High Beam, and Stay Don't Stray. I had originally intended to pick up an Urban Decay Primer Potion but when I saw this I gave it a shot because of all that it comes with, and I had been meaning to try Stay Don't Stray to see if it is a good primer, so I'll be doing a review on that soon. Also, I was super stoked on the High Beam because it's a mini version but you really don't need much when using it (just a few dabs on the cheek bone or under your eye brow, so for that price ($38) I thought it was worth it. And the Naked 2 Palette is a gift for my Step Mom, her birthday is this Friday. So I didn't open it up to get any swatches, but there are so many reviews on this palette I didn't really think it was necessary. 

One of the things I was most excited about was the Sephora brand blush/bronzer face powder (above) went on sale! I remember when I stopped working seasonal there in February they had just released them and I had my eye on them ever since, the price dropped down to $7 so I snagged one. The colors blend together really nicely and the product is HUGE! I'm sure it will last a long while. 

With my Nordstrom credit I really didn't have to think too much about what I wanted because ever since the trend show I attended I have been dreaming about the Valentina perfume by Valentino so I picked it up. It's a very light floral, not overpowering at all. It's wearable on a daily basis and my dad hasn't told me that the smell is obnoxious or overpowering yet (he tends to do that, especially when I wear Chanel) so that's definitely a plus. I love it for summer. 

I also decided to grab one of MAC's Cremeblend blushes in So Sweet So Easy. This is the blush that Laura used during the seminar and it looked really great on here. She also informed us that MAC reformulated their Cremeblend blushes (remember when they were super sticky and thick?) to be more like a moose texture and when you dip your brush in it you don't get this huge gooey blob of color, it comes out really nice and light.

This is my first time picking up the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick. I got it in the Beige color as recommended by the sales women and after using it once I can see what all the fuss was about. This is actually my first Bobbi Brown purchase and I'm really impressed with the product. The payoff is amazing, it's super pigmented and leaves your skin glowing like an angel. I wore it to a party on Saturday and my friend told me my skin was glowing when we were only sitting in candle light. They're super beautiful and definitely worth the spend.

Finally, I grabbed the NARS lip color in Cruella. I spoke about this in my previous post, amazing red lipstick!

Thanks for reading and subscribing! If you have any questions, comments or experiences with any of these products please leave a comment below.

Nordstrom Trend Show

So a couple of weeks ago my Mom decided to be the best Mom in the word and said she would buy me a Clarisonic :). We made our way to Nordstrom in Cerritos, CA and the woman at the Dior counter told us about the Trend Show they had coming up. That we could reserve our spot for $15, Clarisonic was going to be there, and I would also get some free gifts if I waited to pick up my Clarisonic on that day. So we did and I'm so excited that I waited because the trend show was an AWESOME experience! I had no idea that it was going to be such an elaborate production. There was a coffee and muffin breakfast with fun giveaways and then we made our way up to the second floor where there was a full on runway set up! We got to take a sneak peak at some of the hottest trends and products for the Spring and Summer and entered a drawing to win free prizes. Unfortunately, my mom and I didn't win anything, but there were plenty of opportunities to snag some samples of things. There were so many experienced and professionals speaking on behalf of their brands, it was awesome to be in the presence of such talent.

Below: Main stage of the show

Below: First model on the Runway!

Below: Us waiting in line for coffee and an introduction

The biggest surprise for me was seeing what Smashbox had in store. They brought with them world renound photographer, Steven Khan to the store and if you made a $100 Smashbox purchase you were able to reserve a photo session with him after you got your makeup done by the Smashbox team, very awesome!

Above: Steven Khan shooting the models coming down the runway

After the runway event everyone headed downstairs to check out the vendors and make some purchases. And honestly by this point I was super overwhelmed! There were so many great options, but I had already purchased my Clarisonic and was not looking to make any other drastic purchases, so I stayed where I was comfortable and headed to the MAC counter, and I'm so glad I did because I was approached by MAC Senior Artist and presenter for the show, Cynthia Rivas. She complimented me on my look and asked me if I was an artist (a major compliment coming from her) and we chit chatted for a bit about Makeup. So awesome meeting her! I wish I would have gotten a picture, she is extremely tall and beautiful on top of her being talented.
After this experience I walked around the store a few times, picked up some free goodies and pretty much made my way out. Overall it was an awesome experience filled with fun and beauty and I'm glad I went. So here are some pictures of what I picked up...

Left to right: Perfume samples of David Yurman- Delicate Essence, Valentino- Valentina (my FAVORITE!), Givenchy- Dahlia Noir, and Jimmy Choo. Then my Clarisonic Mia 2 with my free carrier bag as well as an extra brush head for Normal skin types. I also picked up Girl About Town from the MAC Sets collection, and Well Dressed blush. Then I have my free 30 day supply of the Laura Mercier foundation primer that I already have and love, so I'm glad I have a travel size now. Then my free Peony blush by Clinique. And my Nordstrom water bottle! I thought it was cute :)

Perfume samples and my Clarisonic travel bag, I love it! The inside lining is waterproof, perfect for the brush or even to carry makeup. 

Super Sample of the Primer

MAC Well Dressed and Girl About Town Lipstick 

P.S. I'm going to be writing about my experience with the Clarisonic so stay tuned for that... Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. 

Mini CVS Haul

Hello Everyone,
So I was rummaging through the ads today and I saw that CVS has the new Spoiled nail polishes by Wet n Wild for only $.99! So I stopped by after work to give them a try and I'm actually really impressed. They are very pigmented and I love the color selection. My only complaint though is the style of the brush tip. It's abnormally large and a note quite as flimsy as it should be so in the case of the
'Toad-ally Amazing' color the brush made it look streaky. But other than that I'm sold. I'm even thinking of going back to snag some more colors.

While I was there I also decided to purchase a couple of the Wet n Wild Mega Last Lipstick that many people have been talking about. I bought them in two colors, a nude, Bare it All. And a wine color that I believe was Cherry Bomb, but I threw away the wrapper and the actually tube doesn't have the name written. But i really like them both. The pigment is amazing and I will be testing them too to see how long they last. Also I've had my eye on the Kat Von D 'Homegirl' lipgloss and it would go PERFECTLY over the Cherry Bomb lipstick! So that purchase is coming up soon I'm sure.

Lastly I just want to mention that the Revlon hair color is on sale right now, 2 for $6 so I bought two in number 10, Black for the roots of my hair. I have naturally Black hair, but I also now have a great deal of naturally Gray hair so I have to cover up my roots about once a month. I started going gray when I was about 13 years old and it's only gotten worse sense then. So if you have issues with gray this hair color is PERFECT for covering it up, it does an amazing job and it is so cheap. I was really happy to discover it because coloring your hair once a month can get really pricey really fast if you are getting it done professionally. But as you can tell I'm a big fan of DIY :)