Pick-Ups & Deliveries: January and February 2015

on
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Given the intense amount of shopping I did over the holidays, I was really trying to dial it back in January. And because I'm going to NYC this month (I'm leaving this Sunday!), I've also been actively trying to save money (the Canadian dollar sucks right now, so I don't know how much shopping I'm actually going to do there... but I do intend on eating all the things). Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't pick up a few goodies here and there. I am me, after all. A few weeks ago, I was passing by my local Dior counter and noticed that they put out their Spring collection, so I stopped by to take a look. I haven't been impressed with Dior's seasonal collections over the past year or so, and I actually bypassed most of Kingdom of Colors, but I did end up leaving with the limited edition blush and glittery nail polish because they were too cute to resist.

Dior Kingdom of Colors Vibrant Color Powder Blush in 536 Peach Splendor and Top Coat Éclosion Blossoming Top Coat

Too Faced La Crème Color Drenched Lip Cream in Taffy, Nude Beach, and Naughty Nude

Caudalie Hand Cream Trio (Miel de Vigne, Pamplemousse Rose, and Feuille de Cassis) and Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream

All of you probably know by now that I can't go through like, a week without going into Sephora. After the insane amount of shopping I did over the holidays, I wasn't really looking for anything going in, but I just started swatching things... and fell in love with the Too Faced La Crème lipsticks. I haven't heard too many people talking about them, and I'm not sure why. They smell great (like lemon cake), they feel amazingly smooth and creamy, and they make lips look soft and lush. I'm all about nudes right now, and I somehow ended up buying three of the four shades in their "nudes" range (I would've picked up all four, actually, but they were sold out of Naked Dolly) because y'all know I can never leave with just one shade of lipstick. I went back into Sephora a week later to pick up a tube of my new favourite Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream after going through the three deluxe sized samples that I had gotten with my Beauty Insider points over the holidays. I literally love everything about that hand cream; it smells amazing (citrusy and sweet), leaves hands super-hydrated and smooth, and doesn't feel greasy so I can use it at work. I've since discovered that my eczema-prone hands love, love, love anything with grapeseed in it, so when I noticed that they had one of the Caudalie Hand Cream Trio sets left, I snatched that up, too.

Clinique Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream, Deep Comfort Body Butter, and Exfoliating Scrub

My friend who works at Clinique was struggling with her pre-sell target for their Bonus event, so I decided to help her out by ordering with her. In general, I'm not a huge fan of Clinique (I love their Cheek Pops and their Chubby Stick Intense, but I already have all the shades I like), but I was looking for a new face scrub, so I decided to get a tube of their Exfoliating Scrub (I've used their 7-Day Scrub, which was okay but not gritty enough for me, so my friend told me to get this one instead). I thought I'd also get a tub of their Deep Comfort Body Butter, which I have fallen in love with since my friend gave me a few samples to try last month (I usually prefer body creams that have some scent to it, but the texture on this stuff is just dreamy and my skin seems to love it), and I also decided to add a tub of their Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream because I've gotten really into body scrubs recently but the one I'm currently using (Froosh's Key Lime Dead Sea Body Polish) is really quite harsh and I wanted something more gentle. Clinique's body products don't seem to get a lot of attention, but I think they're as underrated as their skincare is overrated.

MAC Studio Nail Lacquer in Party People, Overaccessorized, Spoonful of Sugar, Too Short Skirt, #Obsessed, and Special Potion

MAC Studio Nail Lacquer in Fashion Fizz, Cyber Lime, Kale Salad, Rich Kid Blues, Sparkledust, and Tiara on Top

MAC Isabel and Ruben Toledo Blush Ombres

MAC Isabel and Ruben Toledo Blush Ombre in Ripe Peach, Kindergarten Red, and Azalea Blossom

MAC Isabel and Ruben Toledo Lipsticks

MAC Isabel and Ruben Toledo Lipstick in Oxblood, Barbeque, Tenor Voice, Victoriana, Opera, and Sin

MAC Lip Pencil in Cyber World, Nightingale, Candy Yum-Yum, Talking Points, Chic Trick, Rosy Rim, and Fruit Cocktail

In early January, MAC released 16 new shades of glitter nail lacquers at MAC Stores, so I obviously had to check them out... and pretty much had to have all of them. Indeed, I ended up with 12 of the 16 shades, and that was only because the other four were dupes for shades I already have. MAC has seriously upped their nail polish game: the quality is so much better, the brush is less flimsy and easier to use, and the price is right ($14). I never thought I'd say this, even as recent as a year ago, but MAC's nail polishes are totally worth checking out now. Then, last week, of course, the Toledo collection launched, so I picked up all three of the Blush Ombre shades (Ripe Peach is finally mine!), as well as all the lipsticks (both of which I've reviewed, here and here). And finally, MAC's lip pencil extension launch, aptly named Pencilled In, came out on the same day as Toledo, so I grabbed seven shades that really fill in the gaps of their previous pencil range (of which I have all). It was about time that they added more shades in this formulation; they were so focused on their Pro Longwear Lip Pencils that they seemed to have forgotten about their original (and my favourite) Lip Pencil.

Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows

Last, but not least, my Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadows finally arrived! I had waited about three weeks for them to be back in stock on their website, and the moment I saw that they were available again, I put in an order right away. Makeup Geek has quickly become one of my favourite eyeshadow brands of all time (I have 45 of their original shadows, and they are all so smooth, so silky, so pigmented, and only $5.99 each!), so when I heard they were coming out with a new ultra-metallic finish, I got really excited. There has been a lot of buzz and rave reviews over these ten shadows on YouTube and beauty blogs, and when I saw the live swatches of them, I was like, "Yaaaasssss, I neeeeeeed!" I swatched them for the first time today, and they're like... buttery gemstones for your eyelids. I will be putting up a review post of them soon, but all you need to know is this: they are well worth the hype. Yes, indeedy.
6 comments on "Pick-Ups & Deliveries: January and February 2015"
  1. Lol, awesome as always. Love the shot of the blue and green nail polishes! And that Clinique body butter really is amazing. It's not the most exciting thing on the market and often gets overlooked but I really like the texture.

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    1. Thanks! And yeah, I am totally surprised at how much I love Clinique's body products. The body butter is pretty pricey, but it's such a nice splurge for winter, especially because my eczema is in full force right now.

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  2. LOL, Denise, that's a heck of a "slow" month! I didn't actually know that Clinique made body scrubs! Gotta check that out. I love a good exfoliating scrub but it's hard to find a good one that isn't insanely overpriced.

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    Replies
    1. LOL, you know I'm a person of excess when it comes to cosmetics. :P

      Clinique has two body scrubs, one in the tub (which is more gentle) and one in a tube (which is more abrasive). They're both really nice, and reasonably priced. And they both have a nice mild sweet mint scent. :)

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  3. yea i agree, clinique's body stuff barely gets mentioned. i feel like brands get categorized into color or skincare, even if they do both, people seem to just focus on one aspect of the brand. i've never tried any of clinique's stuff but i'm curious about those two body things now.

    ... omigosh...buttery gemstones.... as always, must resist (but i really want to try MUG)

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    Replies
    1. It's true; Clinique (and Origins and Shiseido) is definitely more skincare oriented, just as MAC (and NARS and Bobbi Brown) is more make-up oriented. But there's so much underrated stuff from all these brands!

      You really should try MUG. They're really affordable and have amazing textures and pigmentation. Well worth it. :)

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