It's becoming more & more difficult to find eyeshadows, why? Because I have pretty much every shade! I tend to buy eyeshadows & when I go home, I found out that I have the same shade in several different brands. Shame I know! I wasn't in the mood for Urban Decay, Smashbox, or any other prestige brand at Ulta so, I headed to the Ulta Brand section. A few years ago, I bought some Ulta eyeshadows & they were pretty medicore in quality. I figured I'd give Ulta eyeshadows another try. I was testing out the eyeshadows & noticed how most of them were pigmented. They had an array of different colors & I even spotted a couple of matte formula eyeshadows. Ulta has stepped up their game! I've been wearing a lot of smokey neutrals this week so, I decided to pick up some neutral shades. I bought Milk Chocolate (light brown & matte), Sparks (red/brown shade with gold reflects), & Silk (light shimmery beige). I will be buying some more Ulta eyeshadows in the near future!

I went to MAC at the beginning of the week. I was a mission for a brown eyeshadow. I didn't have much time so, I just picked out Embark. When I got home, I thought the color was to dark for a look I wanted to create. I started to play around with the color & decided I love it! It's a matte deep brown that is perfect for a smokey neutal look & can even double as an eyebrow shade.

I wasn't expecting to get anything from this collection when I was at my local MAC counter in North Olmsted (if you're in the Cleveland area, I recommend going there. Great MUA's that are so helpful & polite), I was originally going to buy some MAC lashes, a MSF, eyeshadows, or a paintpot. When I saw the Mischief Maker sets, I knew I had to get at least one set! I opted out of the pigments sets because I really didn't want any at the moment, what I was really interested in was the Lip/Lustureglass sets. I really needed some new lipglosses in my personal collection (& not for my kit for once) so, I wanted to for sure get one of these sets. I haven't used an lipglass or lustreglass by MAC in a couple years (when the FAFI collection came out). Back then, I thought the lipglasses were too sticky for my taste & never touched a lipglass since...a couple days ago! One swatch of the lipglass at the MAC counter & I fell in love. It wasn't too sticky like I originally remembered it was. They still do have some 'stick' to them, but not to the point I don't want to wear them (some sticky-ness is good because they last longer on your lips) So, I bought the Frisky Business Bright Set. To me, this set isn't really 'bright' except for one color. The set comes with 3 lipglasses & 2 lustreglasses minis (mini lipglass compared to a full size pictured). The colors that are included are Totally It (a sheer bright pink w/pink shimmer), Beaute (coral type shade w/pearl), Wonderstruck (a pinky-coral shade), Silly Girl (a peachy shade w/multi-colored shimmer), & Pinkarat (a soft pink w/gold shimmer). My favorite is Totally It because I don't have a hot pink lipgloss like that. When I saw it, I didn't care what set it came in, all I knew was that I wanted that color! The set retails for $29.50 which is an amazing deal for 5 mini lip/lustreglasses.

Since I liked the packaging so much & didn't want to throw it out, I decided to make them into brush holders! For the bottom half of the box (the pink part), I just punched some holes with a pair of scissors.

After my last visit to the CCO, I knew I had to come back sometime soon to snag some more goodies. I didn't think I would be going back there so soon! This time while I was there, I decided to check out other brands before venturing over to the MAC section. The only other brand that caught my eye besides MAC was Bobbi Brown. Nice selection, maybe next time I'll buy something from her line. When I go to the CCO, I go there to buy some MAC items! The last time I was there, I was eyeing a couple of MAC Mineralize Skinfinishes & pigments. On this visit, I picked up a MSF in Medium Dark/Natural & Shimmer, Provence Pigment, & Mystery Kohl Eyeliner (for my sister). I love the MSF I bought! It has a matte skintone powder on one side that I use to set my foundation & a shimmery side I like to use as a highlight on my cheekbones. The next time I go to the CCO, I will be getting another one as a back up. I decided to get a Provence pigment because I thought it would make a great browbone highlight color for every skintone. It's a yellow/gold-ish beige color that is just gorgeous! The only problem with this pigment is it's color pay off. When I swatched in the store, it looked like it had a great color pay off. Come time to use it on my lids & browbone, it didn't show up as intense as it did on the back of my hand. Even after applying an eyeshadow primer + color base, it still wasn't as pigmented. I decided to spray my eyeshadow brush with was & then dab it in the pigment. I then applied it to my lid & browbone & it finally showed up more pigmented. I still really like this pigment & will probably also use it as a face highlighter. I wanted to also pick up another Hello Kitty Beauty Powder & get a Hello Kitty Eyeshadow Quad, but sadly they sold out them. So happy I at least bought of the one HK Beauty Powders from my last visit. I plan on going back sometime next month. I'll keep you guys posted on what they have stocked during my next visit!

Yes, you guessed it...I could NOT stay away from hauling this week! I need to do the Project 10, but I'm a make-up artist & it's essential for me to purchase makeup...right? ;)
I went to Target again this week to buy more items from the ELF line. I went to another Target in my area in hopes to find the Total Face Brush. I did & bought 5 of them (I sold them out). I could look & tell that the brush was better than the white handled face brushes. Once I got home, I tested them out &  I was right. These brushes are much more softer than the standard ones. They are less dense than the regular ones, but still do a great job for all over powder. I also like to use them for applying blush. I would even use the special edition brush on my clients unlike the regular brush. If you are in Target, I would say to stock up on the Total Face Brush AND the Eyeshadow Brush! Next, I'll buy the bronzing brush (I think that's the other one?).

At Ulta this week, they had a special going on for Too Faced Cosmetics. They had a special mini kit that included a mini sized Too Faced Shadow Insurance & Lash Injection Pinpoint Mascara stashed away in the cutest metallic pink mini bag. I love anything miniature so, I couldn't pass this deal up! In fact, I bought two. I wanted to give my sister one of the mascaras & give one primer to my mom. I'm a fan of Urban Decay Primer Potion & L'oreal De-Crease, but always wanted to try Too Faced primer. I tried it a few times at the store before & I wasn't honestly impressed. It's hard to tell how good a primer is just judging from applying it on the back of your hand so, I thought this mini kit would be perfect to get so I can test it out without commiting to the full size primer. I'll do another post with what I think about Too Faced Shadow Insurance next week. While I was at Ulta, I also picked up another mini CHI 44 Iron Guard Spray & picked up some Ulta Brand makeup from their 5 for $5 sale. I bought 4 glitter eyeliners & 1 mini lipgloss tin. The eyeliners are okay quality, I like to use them on my lower lashline. They don't go on very smoothly, but I don't mind using them. The lip glosses in the tin feel a bit grainy, but I like the color pay off.

Next, I went to Sally's for a new nail color & a new pair of lashes for myself. I bought Orly Prince Charming nail polish (reminds me of a OPI color that I had to return at Ulta a few weeks ago because it was old..the entire stock of that particular was old!) & Ardell #107 lashes. I LOVE Prince Charming! It's grey-brownish color with no shimmer (which I love).

I might do a post of the other makeup I purchased over the weekend. I found some frugal makeup finds in some unlike places. You'll be surprised!

I went to the nearest CCO (Cosmetic Company Outlet) yesterday to see what they had on stock. I haven't been to this CCO in years & the CCO I went to in CA a few months ago didn't have what I was looking for...MAC Cosmetics. The CCO I went to yesterday was fully stocked with a nice selection of eyeshadows, blushes, msf's, pigments, lipsticks, lipglasses, paint pots, brushes, foundations, concealers, fluidlines, & a lot of holiday sets/exclusive LE collection items. I was really there looking for one collection in particular, the Hello Kitty collection! I watched a lot of youtube CCO haul videos with HK items being purchased at CCO's. I was hoping my CCO would have some HK items as well. I didn't see any HK...until the SA saw my earrings (I was wearing my HK earrings) & guided me to the HK items they had on stock. I was SO excited! They had the beauty powders, eyeshadow quads, lipsticks & lipglasses from the collection. The even had some HK Kouture items (just the compact & lipglosses). When MAC first had the HK collection out I wasn't very impressed so, I didn't buy anything. Now, that I see it at the CCO, I'm rethinking that! I only got the beauty powder in Pretty Baby. The other one was a peachy color, I should have gotten that as well but, I just wanted to try Pretty Baby for starters. I'll probably go back sometime soon to pick up the other beauty powder. I tried Pretty Baby last night & it gave my face a nice glow + help minimize shine. I also picked up Fertile eyeshadow. It's a deep dark purple that's be gorgous over a black color base & used for a smokey purple look. I didn't realize until I can home that I already had an eyeshadow that was identical to Fertile! The one I already have that is a dupe for Fertile is Stila's Cassis. Both look great with Urban Decay Flash & ARTISTRY Royalty eyeshadows.

I went to Target a couple days ago in hopes to find the new special edition ELF Cosmetics items. I wasn't really interested in the makeup, I was moreless interested in the makeup brushes. My Target had a little endcap of special ELF makeup. They sold out most of the brushes except for the eyeshadow brushes so, I bought the last 3. The eyeshadow brush is different than the regular white handled eyeshadow brush. It's smaller & more sturdy, perfect for packing eyeshadow on the lid or using it to highlight. I also like the appearance of the brushes because they look more sleek with the special edition black handles. The brushes are still $1 (not unless they come in a set that is either $3 or $10). I'm not sure if this ELF line will just be available for the holidays. In March 2010, some products of ELF's Studio line will be offered at Target. I'm very excited about that, hope they have the brushes available!

I've been TRYING to cut back on my hauls, but ever since the grand opening of Ulta to the town next to me makes it so difficult! I'm trying to limit myself to going to Ulta to once a week instead of 2-3 visits per week. So far, so good! While I was at Ulta this week, I bought Urban Decay Surreal Skin Creamy Concealer in Hallucination & NYX Single Eyeshadow in Hot Orange. The only brands of concealer I've used are ARTISTRY, Stila, Cover Girl, & Hard Candy (review on this soon!) so, I'm relucent to trying new concealers. My favorite is ARTISTRY because it's the only concealer that is truly creamy so, when I saw Urban Decay's Surreal Skin 'Creamy' Concealer, I had to buy it & put it to the test. I've been using it for a couple days now. I like it, but it's more liquid-y in consistency than it is 'creamy'. It reminds me of my Stila concealer, but I like Urban Decay's better. One thing I really don't like is the fact that Urban Decay does not offer concealers for medium-darker skintones. I use lighter shade to highlight my eyes & the bridge of my nose, but they don't offer a shade that matches my skintone for blemishes or other imperfections. Other than that, it's a pretty good concealer. Is it worth $16? I would have to say no! Maybe, $8-10, but $16.

While I was at Sally's, I picked up 2 pairs of lashes & a nail polish. I haven't been buying many pairs of lashes for myself lately. Instead, I've buying lashes to stock up in my kits for my clients. I finally decided to pick some lashes for myself since I was getting tired of wearing my Ardell #120 Demi's. So, I picked up a pair of Ardell Wispies & Demi Wispies. I LOVE Wispies lashes! I only got one pair because that was the only one left! So, I got a pair of the Demi Wispies. They kind of remind me of the #120 Demi's, but just a tad bit bigger/longer. After I was done taking a picture of the lashes I was going to buy, I noticed how badly I needed to do my nails! So, I decided to pick up a nail polish by China Glaze. The color is VII. It's a dark non-shimmer purple color, it's gorgeous!