Pick-Ups & Deliveries: March and April 2016

I decided to do a haul post now since I'm putting myself on a shopping ban until next month. I'm going to Montreal and New York during the first week of May, and I am not allowed to spend any more money on extraneous things until then. By "extraneous things," I mean cosmetics. Because let's be real, that's what I spend the majority of my money on, and I have a problem. However, the past month or so has been filled with tons of sales events and random releases that I just couldn't ignore.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette
Too Faced released their Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette in March through their website and it was sold out immediately. So, naturally, everyone was waiting with bated breath for it to be re-stocked. The re-stock never happened. It was then announced that they'd be available through other retailers like Ulta and The Shopping Network and Sephora at the end of March. Again, it was sold out immediately on all retailers' websites. People waited all day and all night for that palette to be re-stocked. People wrote angry comments and tweets to the retailers and to Too Faced for creating such a hype and teasing all their customers through social media only to be disappointed that they couldn't get their hands on one. I honestly hadn't seen such a craze since the release of Jaclyn Hill's Champagne Pop highlighter with Becca (which is now permanent, anyway). But I admit, I was totally caught up in the hype. I had been eyeing it on various Instagram makeup accounts for months and was determined to get it when it was released. Of course, like everyone else, I had no such luck. I kept refreshing Sephora's website for an entire day but it just kept saying "Out of Stock." Out of boredom, my friend Chelsea decided to refresh the page at 2:00 in the morning the day after it was released. And what'd you know, it was actually back in stock. She added two of them quickly to her cart before they were sold out again (which it was, literally an hour later). And that is how I got my Sweet Peach palette. It is now no longer being made available online, but it is rolling out in stores this week. So if you have your eye on it, go to your local Sephora. Like, now. Because, let me tell you: It lives up to the hype.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in That Glow and Gleam
Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Luminous Blush in Snapdragon and Tigerlily
As all beauty addicts will know, the Sephora VIB sale is going on right now. I didn't go as crazy as I've done in previous years because the spring VIB sale only allows for 15% off (the fall VIB sale gives members 20% off), but I did still pick up a good amount of stuff (I went through Ebates, too, I get some cash back as well). First order of business was the Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kits. When they were first released, I wasn't that interested in them because I have way too many highlighters as it is and didn't care for travel-size palettes of them. But I was over at my friend Chelsea's, doing her makeup, and she brought her Glow Kits out... Not only did I discover that they are full size highlighters (and in magnetized pans, so you can customize your palettes), but they look stunning on the skin, like glowy and shimmery but not scary intense or ultra-metallic. And they're just so smooth and so soft and so pigmented. It was love at first swipe. So I bought both of the kits, 'cause I couldn't decide. They're both too gorgeous to leave behind. Next up were the new Becca Luminous Blushes. They have the same formulation as Blushed Copper, so I knew these were gonna be good. I bought Snapdragon (coral-pink with gold shimmer-sheen) and Tigerlily (peachy orange with gold shimmer-sheen) to start with because they're the two shades that I'd get the most wear out of, but will probably pick up Camellia and Foxglove in the near future.
Herbivore Rose Hibiscus Coconut Water Hydrating Face Mist and Lapis Oil Balancing Facial Oil
Fresh Sugar Lychee Eau de Parfum and Soy Face Exfoliant
I also bought some skincare. Sephora started carrying a bunch of niche brands over the past six months or so, and one that really interested me was Herbivore Botanicals. They are a Seattle-based brand that "combines pure active plant ingredients with a minimalist aesthetic. Each therapeutic, concentrated formula provides tangible results you can see and feel." I don't necessarily care for all natural brands, but what impressed me was their consistent high ratings on every single one of their products. They have a total of 13 products listed on Sephora's website (they carry more on their own website), and I literally read through every single one of them. I decided to snatch up two: the Rose Hibiscus Coconut Water Mist, which is a "hydrating toner featuring coconut water, Bulgarian rose, and hibiscus" to "tone, hydrate, and soften all skin types," and the Lapis Facial Oil, which "offers balanced hydration to combination and oily skin," "reduces redness and clarifies the complexion with the power of azulene-rich natural blue oils." From the reviews I read, the Lapis Oil is especially impressive; it helps combat oil but also hydrate dry patches at the same time. People have said that it's helped with their acne- and eczema-prone skin, so I'm especially excited to try it. I also bought a new tube of Fresh's Soy Face Exfoliant which I've decided, after trying many, many scrubs, is my holy grail. No other scrubs leave my skin looking and feeling as soft and smooth as this one. And, of course, a new bottle of my signature Sugar Lychee perfume, the one I can never get away from no matter how many fragrances I try; it's the one that all my friends, colleagues, and family associate me with, and the one I get the most compliments on.
Other items that I snatched up but were too boring to photograph? Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner in Trooper (I didn't like it at first but kept using it and then ended up really liking it, even more than Stila's, which is more expensive), Sephora Collection's Instant Nail Polish Remover for Glitter (the most effective one out there that I've tried, and not nearly as harsh as 100% acetone which started making my nails super brittle), and Sephora Collection's Vented Dual Boar Hair Brush (I blowdry my hair everyday and my hair dryer was melting the glue holding up the bristles on my other brush, so I needed one that was specifically meant for using with heat tools).
Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Highlighter in Aura, Sin, and Fireball
Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Paranoid, Score, Video, and Rapture
Urban Decay Beached Bronzer in Sun-Kissed and Bronzed
Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray
Urban Decay was having their Friends & Fanatics Event, during which they were offering 20% off for two days. They had just released their summer collection, too, so I figured it was the perfect time to get some new goodies. I ended up getting all three of their new Afterglow Highlighters, plus four shades of their Afterglow Blush (one online exclusive shade, Paranoid, and three of their original shades), both of their new Beached Bronzers (Sun-Kissed to use as a blush or all-over warmth, Bronzed for adding structure and soft contouring), and their All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (I've been wanting to try this since I've heard it actually helps control oil better than De-Slick, which I didn't like).
Biotherm Source Therapie Skin Perfection Catalyzing Serum, Aquasource Skin Perfection High Definition Moisturizing Perfecting Care, Aquasource Deep Replenishing Hydration Gel, and Aquasource Nuit High Density Hydrating Jelly
Lancôme Bienfait Aqua Vital Continuous Infusing Moisturizer (x 2)
I went with my friend Steph to the L'Oréal warehouse sale last week. I totally wasn't planning on getting anything because I'd been to multiple L'Oréal warehouse sales before (back in the day when I used to work for Lancôme) and I was never that impressed. I would always end up buying junk that I'd use maybe once or twice and then throw away. But they moved the sale to a much bigger space this year, and had at least three or four times the amount of product they used to carry, and I found myself going a little crazy in the Biotherm skincare section. I used to use Biotherm religiously and their products in general work really well with my skin. But after I left Shoppers Drug Mart and didn't have a discount on Biotherm anymore, I stopped using their stuff and moved on to discover other brands. However, I saw that almost all their skincare was 40% off, so I bought some old favourites like the Source Therapie Skin Perfection Catalyzing Serum (which is being discontinued and replaced) for $40 from $62 and Aquasource Skin Perfection High Definition Moisturizing Perfecting Care for $29 from $50, as well as a new find in Aquasource Nuit High Density Hydrating Jelly for $30 from $52 (which also came with a 30ml tube of their Aquasource Deep Replenishing Hydration Gel). I actually had two more Biotherm moisturizers in my bag until I saw that they had my beloved Lancôme Bienfait Aqua Vital (previously called Aqua Fusion, and was my holy grail moisturizer for years) on sale for $34 from $57, so I quickly put the Biotherm ones down and snatched these up instead. Basically, I am well stocked on skincare until next winter.
MAC Charlotte Olympia Mirror Compact
MAC Charlotte Olympia Makeup Bag
Of course, any haul of mine wouldn't be complete without some MAC goodies. Their collaboration with Charlotte Olympia came out last month, and while none of the actual makeup products intrigued me (there's only so many red lipsticks a girl can have), I really liked the design of the collection so I ended up getting the little compact mirror and the makeup bag. Neither of them are must-haves and I do think they could've made them with better materials (the mirror is plastic and feels cheap so I wish it were weightier and came with a pouch or something so there wouldn't be so many fingerprints on it; the makeup bag is made with a hard polyurethane and as a result, it's very stiff and the zipper isn't smooth, so I wish it were made with a nylon or more flexible coated fabric), but they're both cute and retro-glam and reflective of Olympia's aesthetic.
MAC Tinashe Eyeshadow x 9 Palette
MAC Mellow Moderns Eyeshadow x 15 Palette
MAC Future MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Otherearthly and Warm Rose
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Pinwheel in Faintly Fabulous, Sunny Side, Perfectly Lit, and Nuanced
I also picked up two new eyeshadow palettes — the new and limited edition 9 x Eyeshadow Palette in collaboration with Tinashe (review here), and the newly permanent 15 x Eyeshadow Palette in Mellow Moderns (review here) — as well as a whopping six new Mineralize Skinfinishes, two from the Future MAC collection (review here) and four from the new Mineralize Skinfinish pinwheel collection (review here). Aaaaand, I'm on a ban now. I swear.
Did you score any good deals this past month? What did you get from the Spring Sephora VIB sale? What makeup releases are you looking forward to?