Another Ulta Haul?

Another Ulta Haul!

I know that my last post was an Ulta haul, but an actual Ulta just opened up near me, and I've never been inside an Ulta before, so of course I had to do some shopping. I also got some makeup wipes at Ross, but I decided not to include pictures of those. If they end up working well (or terribly) then I'll do a review.

The first thing I picked up was the Covergirl Ultra Smooth foundation in 805 Ivory. It's a little bit dark for me, but if I blend it well and only apply a sheer layer it still works. I got it because I thought the applicator was interesting. It's a silicon-feeling oval, and the directions say to apply product onto the applicator first, then the face. I'll probably do a first impressions and review of it because it's so interesting to me. It cost $6.99 USD.

The next thing I got was the Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid-Touch foundation in 10 Porcelain Ivory. It looks too dark and too yellow for me in the swatch, but it's actually not bad on my face once it's blended out. I've been wanting to try it for a while now, and it was on sale for $4.99 USD, so I decided to finally get it. It feels like it's not there at all while still providing decent coverage, but I have yet to wear it for a full day.

The last face product I got was the NYX HD Concealer in 10 Porcelain. It was $4.99 USD. I've heard a lot of good things about it, so I'm glad I found it in a shade that matches me pretty well. Almost all of the foundations and concealers I swatched in the store were too dark for me, even though I always went for the lightest shade. There wasn't a tester for this one, but it looked light enough, so I got it anyways.

Next up is a NYX Love in Rio eyeshadow trio in Nighttime in Rio. I got it for $2.99 USD (I believe it was on sale) and the colors are lovely. They aren't super pigmented, but they aren't so bad that I can't easily work with them. They had a lot of eyeshadow trios but this is the one that appealed to me the most.

Next, I got an Essence Eyebrow Designer pencil in 04 Blonde. I find it difficult to find the right eyebrow products because my eyebrows are rather greyish, and the majority of eyebrow products are reddish or brownish. Since this was only $1.99 USD, I decided to just go for it and hope it works.

Moving on to lip products, I got an Ulta Matte Lip Cream in the shade Artistic. It's a pretty nudeish pink and I got it for $4.00 USD because it was on sale. I'm not huge on liquid lipsticks, and this claims to dry matte, but it didn't seem to do that when I swatched it in the store, so I decided to get it. I find most liquid lipsticks too drying for my already easily-chapped lips, so hopefully this one won't be.

Next I got a NYX Butter Lipstick in Pops. It's a pretty pinky-brown nude that I thought looked nice on my skin color and tone. Most nudes wash me out, but this one actually looks nice, and I got it for just $3.99 USD.

Lastly, I got this Essence clear Lash and Brow gel mascara for $2.99 USD. I need a brow mascara, and I'm never sure what color to get, so I went for clear instead.

Mascara Review

Covergirl Super Sizer Mascara Review

A month or so back, I went to Walmart and got some makeup, including this mascara. I had heard good things about it and wanted to try it out. I have the shade Black and you can buy it here for $6.85 USD.

Here's the tube. I like the packaging. Nothing fancy, but it doesn't look cheap either.

Here are my eyelashes before curling them and applying mascara...

...and here they are after. The picture isn't great quality, but you can see a difference. This is after just one coat of mascara, and you can already see more volume. I prefer volume over length when it comes to mascara, so this one is perfect. Definitely worth the price, and probably the best mascara I've ever used. It comes off pretty easily with a makeup wipe, and since it's not waterproof you don't need special ones that remove waterproof makeup. There's minimal clumping, and although it adds very little length, it adds plenty of volume, especially if you apply more layers. I tend to stick to one layer, but it is buildable. The one thing I have to say that isn't so great is that I find it hard to use on my lower lashes, but that might just be because I'm bad at applying mascara to my lower lashes in general.

Makeup Tutorial

Neutral Eye Makeup With Sparkle Tutorial

Welcome to my first-ever eye makeup tutorial! I decided I wanted to do a nice neutral eye with some sparkle and a red lip, so I created this using only shadows from the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette.

Step One

Apply the shade "Salted Caramel" to the crease. Make sure to get it all across the crease and blend it well.

Step Two

Pack the shade "Marzipan" onto the lid. It gives a very nice shimmer.

Step Three

Apply "Champagne Truffle" to the inner corner and brow bone.

Step Four

Apply "Creme Brulee" to the outer corner of the lid. This adds both dimension and more shimmer.

Step Five

Blend, blend, blend! This softens the look and gets rid of any harsh lines.

Step Six

Add winged liner using NYC's liquid eyeliner in black. Mine isn't perfect, but I figured that the more I tried to fix it, the worse it would end up.

Step Seven

Curl your lashes and apply Covergirl's Super Sizer mascara to both top and bottom lashes. Curling is optional, but I prefer how it looks

Optional: A Red Lip

If you want to, you can apply e.l.f.'s lip stain in Hot Tamale to complete the look.

If you want to, you can apply an eye shadow primer at the beginning as well. This will help the look last longer and not crease as quickly.