Pick-Ups & Deliveries: November 2014 — Shiseido Warehouse Sale + Birthday!

You will soon see that I basically spent the entire month of November shopping. Aside from the incredible damage I did to my wallet during Sephora's VIB sale, November also brought us the semi-annual Shiseido warehouse sale. I actually couldn't make it because of work, but both my friends Cynthia and Vivian were going and I sent them both lists of products to pick up for me if they happened to be there. Aside from eight packs of Shiseido facial cotton (for $8 a pack instead of $12), I also got some incredible deals on Shiseido skincare and NARS makeup. All the Shiseido cleansers and softeners were 40 - 50% off, so I asked for one of each from The Skincare line (which has been replaced by the new Ibuki line) and one of each from the Pureness line (which is still permanent). And nearly all the NARS makeup products were 60 - 70% off, so I picked up three blushes, two eyeshadow duos, and three eyeshadow singles, all of which are still permanent (this surprised me because warehouse sales usually only carry discontinued or limited edition products).
Shiseido The Skincare Hydro-Balancing Softener ($25 from $44), The Skincare Purifying Cleansing Foam ($20 from $38), Pureness Balancing Softener ($16 from $29), and Pureness Deep Cleansing Foam ($16 from $28)
NARS Powder Blush in Torrid, Exhibit A, and Taos (for $15 each from $35!)
NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Mediteranee and Mélusine (for $15 each from $39!)
NARS Single Eyeshadow in Kamchatka, California, and Nymphea (for $8 each from $28!)
My lovely friend, Fran, gifted me a ton of stuff from Lush for my birthday (she works there), including some of my favourites and some new treats that she thought I'd like. Obviously, she had to get me another bottle of So White Shower Gel (I think I raved to her about this for like, two weeks straight), and my favourite Celebrate Hand and Body Lotion because they're limited edition and only come out for the holidays. She also got me a tub of the new Ocean Salt Self-Preserving Face and Body Scrub (apparently, the new formula has been "expertly rebalanced with natural preservatives to discourage bacteria growth"), a full-size bottle of Tea Tree Water because she knows I have oily skin and love fresh citrusy scents, a little tub of Cupcake Fresh Face Mask (the only Fresh Face Mask that I like), three So White Bath Bombs because she knows it's my favourite bath bomb of all time, a Christmas Hedgehog Bubble Bar because I kept going on and on about how cute it is, plus a Snow Angel Bath Melt and a slab of Snowcake Soap (two more holiday exclusives, both of which have a lovely mellow, sweet almond scent and are great for dry skin).
Lush So White Shower Gel, Celebrate Hand and Body Lotion, Ocean Salt Self-Preserving Face and Body Scrub, Tea Tree Water Toner Water, and Cupcake Fresh Face Mask
Lush So White Bath Bombs (x 3), Snow Angel Bath Melt, The Christmas Hedgehog Bubble Bar, and Snowcake Soap
My friend Steph had originally bought me two 3-wick candles from Bath & Body Works for my birthday ('cause she knows I love candles, bless her) but I actually already had the two scents she bought me at home (from last year), so I went to exchange them for two of my favourite Banana Nutmeg Bread Pudding candles, which were on clearance (the salesgirl said that they actually shouldn't have had them in store because they're technically fall scents, so I was all, "Meant to be!"). There was some money left over from the exchange, so I also got two pairs of my favourite shea-infused lounge socks (on sale for 2 for $12) and a pair of ridiculously cute polar bear slippers (on sale for $8). She also bought me a cute plaid flannel shirt from Forever 21 because I had told her that I wanted to channel my inner '90s grunge child, but the size she got for me was too small so I went to exchange it, and I couldn't find the same style of shirt. So in lieu of finding anything else I liked, I exchanged it for two pairs of black ankle-length skinny jeans (for $9.90 each!), two pairs of ankle socks (for $1.50 each!), and the cutest sushi-print tote bag (for $1.80!).

Bath & Body Works Banana Nutmeg Bread Pudding 3-Wick Candles
Bath & Body Works Shea-Infused Lounge Socks and Bear Hugs Super-Soft Slippers
Forever 21 Sushi Tote Bag, Sushi Ankle Socks, and Holiday Puppy Ankle Socks
My family gave me money for my birthday, so obviously, I had to do some more shopping. I had two coupons from Hudson's Bay ($20 off any $100 cosmetics purchase), so I bought my beloved Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair (I've actually never tried this new formula, only the old one, so I'm quite excited to see if it works better) as well as Dior's Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet (I don't like the original Miss Dior, but I really like this one because it's lighter and fresher). Then, Liz posted a discount code for Shu Uemura. So dangerous. Weirdly enough, there's not a lot of makeup items that I'm currently interested in from Shu Uemura, but there's a ton of skincare that I want to try from them (which I think is completely underrated in the Western hemisphere; there's more to their skincare than just cleansing oils!). I ended up ordering the Depsea Hydrability Moisturizing Emulsion (to "deliver a soft and water-breaking texture that smoothly spreads on face to replenish skin with water and lipids"), their new Tsuya Skin Youthful Crystal-Transparency Lotion I (to "help boost skin's self-cleaning mechanism and draw out crystal clear skin from within"), and their best-selling Tsuya Skin Youthful Radiance Generator (for "porcelain-fine, petal-soft, translucent glowing skin"), and got 25% off with the code plus free shipping. 
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II
Dior Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet
Shu Uemura Depsea Hydrability Moisturizing Emulsion, Tsuya Skin Youthful Crystal-Transparency Lotion I, and Tsuya Skin Youth Radiance Generator
Finally, two trips to Holt Renfrew. I did not go into Holt's looking for anything, which is, of course, the most dangerous time to shop. I was with my gay boyfriend, Austin, and were just looking at pretty things we couldn't afford. I didn't need anymore lipstick, nor was I planning to buy anymore (especially after the 13 lippies I bought during the VIB sale). But we stopped at the Tom Ford counter and I got sucked in with the new displayer. Then I tried them on, Austin enabled me, and it was game over. Which is how I ended up with two of the new Lip Color Matte lipsticks in Pussycat, a gorgeous warm plummy pink that will become apart of the permanent range, and Black Dahlia, a limited edition dark vampy wine red. (This is when I also discovered that, after the currency exchange, the Canadian retail price of $55 is almost the same as the American retail price, which is $50. Just sayin'.)

Tom Ford Lip Color Matte in Pussycat and Black Dahlia
Diptyque Eau Duelle Eau de Parfum
My second trip to Holt Renfrew was with Liz! Met up with her at the Bloor Street location, where we spent the afternoon fragrance-sniffing. I was on the hunt for a new winter scent, and both Larie and Liz had suggested checking out Diptyque, which is what brought on the trip to Holt's to begin with. After checking out Diptyque, Jo Malone, Byredo, and Tom Ford, I decided that my favourite was Diptyque's Eau Duelle Eau de Parfum, which includes notes of "bourbon vanilla, spices, rockrose, and ambroxan." From reading the description, it is not something I would ever have gone for and I as I'm not usually a fan of warm or spicy scents, but having smelled it again and again (actually for three hours, because Liz and I left Holt's, walked around Yorkville, went for dinner at Annona, and ended up going back into the store), I was surprised that I was completely in love with it. So I splurged on it. 
And there is yet another November haul post to come! I wasn't kidding when I said I basically spent all of November shopping.