Tag: St. Tropez

 
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Summer Fun Ulta Haul

I must be depressed…I’ve been shopping an awful lot lately. Hmmm…oh well, I’ll feel a lot better if my skin looks nice.

I cannot believe I am saying this…but I cannot WAIT to get an ingrown hair, so that I can try out the Fur Ingrown Microdart Patch ($22.40, regularly $28). I am a longtime sufferer of ingrowns on my bikini line – I am thrilled to find out if these little patches can ease some of my pain! Updates to come…

Speaking of skincare, I wasn’t thrilled with the wet n wild micellar water I got recently, so I picked up Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water with Rose Water ($11.99). I also want to save the planet from my cotton pad habit, so I also got Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Eco Pads, Reusable, 3 Pack ($11.99). I also received a gift with purchase: a Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water deluxe sample.

I did splurge a little bit…I got the limited edition Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Poutsicle Hydrating Lip Stain in “Fuchsia Wife” ($27). I know that’s a lot for a lippie, but I really liked the color name. I was hedging my bets in hoping that the formula is similar to Colourpop Glossy Lip Stains – and it is, although at a premium price. I’ve worn “Fuchsia Wife” a few times and that stuff stays on like crazy! No regertz.

My $60 purchase garnered me ANOTHER gift with purchase – a suncare sampler: Ulta Beauty Gradual Self Tan Facial Mist (gifting to the daughter); Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protector Lotion (this shit is BOMB); St. Tropez Luxe Tan Tonic Drops (gifting to the son); CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion; COOLA Organic Makeup Setting Spray; La Roche-Posay Anthelios UV Correct Daily Lotion; Avene Solaire UV Mineral Multi-Defense Sunscreen Fluid; Jack Black Double-Duty Face Moisturizer (gifting to son); and Dermalogica Daily Moisturizer. Ain’t NOBODY gonna burn in my house.

$667 to Diamond Status in 2024.

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Hair Haul

Everyone in the family was needing a little hair care, so another Ulta haul was in order…

For myself, I ordered a NatureLab.Tokyo Perfect Smooth Shampoo Refill ($22) to match the Conditioner. I also got a back-up Colorista Bleach Highlights Kit ($10.99).

My son needed shampoo & conditioner for his bleached hair, so I grabbed Pacifica Sunshine Highs Shampoo & Conditioner ($10 each) while they were BOGO 40% off.

I decided to treat my daughter with Colorista Semi-Permanent Color in “Purple” ($10.99).

All this hair stuff qualified me for a free 12 piece Hair Color Sampler. The sampler included Madison Reed Color Protecting Shampoo & Conditioner (I’ve been curious about this brand for a long time); Virtue Recovery Shampoo & Conditioner; Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Shampoo & Conditioner (I don’t know what citric acid will do for my hair, but looking forward to trying it); Kenra Color Maintenance Shampoo & Conditioner; Fekkai Technician Color Shampoo (no conditioner?); AG Hair Care Ultradynamics Extra-Firm Finishing Spray; Pureology Color Fanatic Multitasking Leave-In Spray (giving to my son); and DevaCurl Noo-Poo Blue Anti-Brass Zero Lather Curl Cleanser (also giving to my son).

On the non-hair front, I picked up St. Tropez Self Tan Purity Bronzing Water Face Mist ($15, down from $30) for my kids, because they LOVED the previous sample I got…for myself, I got Ulta Coffee & Chocolate Energizing Superfood Mud Mask ($4, down from $8) – it smells good enough to eat! It sucked all the gunk out of my pores and made my skin super soft.

I qualified for a second gift with purchase – a Best Seller 7 Piece Gift, with my $65 purchase. This gift included Smashbox Photo Finish Primer; Bumble and bumble. Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Primer; Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Complex (I love this stuff); Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment (I also love THIS stuff); MAC Powder Kiss Lipstick in “Werk, Werk, Werk” (it’s red…meh); and Clinique Moisture Surge 100H Hydrator. That was only 6 pieces!!! What a rip-off…

Just $784 to Diamond!

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Super Skin Surprises

I don’t know that I would’ve paid $12.99 for the Ulta Super Skin Surprises Set, but 50% off ($6.49) is just right.

I was drawn to the set for the Jergens Rose Body Butter. It’s got a nice, light rose scent, but it STILL smells unmistakably like Jergens Lotion. I do NOT especially care for that Jergens scent, so I will not be purchasing this body butter when I run out.

I just finished off the Pacifica Kale Lip Balm that I kept in my office, so I replaced it with the Thayers Organic Slippery Elm Slip Balm in “Peppermint Stick”. I love how smooth and wintery it makes my lips feel.

I have no desire to darken my skin, so I gave the St. Tropez Self Tan Purity Vitamins Bronzing Face Serum to my kids. Then slathered it on their faces and to be fair, they did start to look like Oompa Loompas. All kidding aside, my son got compliments from girls and they wanted to know what products he was using, so apparently, this stuff works.

I have been using the Curel Set, which includes Curel Moisture Facial Lotion Enrich and Curel Intensive Moisture Facial Cream. I am much two lazy to use a two product regiment every night, but this one isn’t too bad. I like the way my face feels the next day after using it.

Also in the box: Garnier Micellar Cleaning Water All-in-1 Cleanser & Waterproof Makeup Remover (I like this for pre-cleaning before face masks); Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelette Single; and No7 Laboratories Dark Circle Corrector in “Light/Medium”. A great box, all things considered.

This is the order that put me into Diamond status for 2021, but the rest of my order was gifts and stocking stuffers, so I’ll keep them private.

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May 2019 Allure Beauty Box – Smooth Sailing

Ooooh, a box full of summer pampering products!

I was thrilled to see Laneige Water Bank Moisture Cream in this month’s box – I love this stuff…the rest of the box…um….

Also in this month’s box: St. Tropez Self Tan Purity Bronzing Water Gel, with an application mitt (not a chance I’ll be using this); ModelCo Eyelites Metallic Eyeshadow in “St Barts”; Laritzy Cosmetics Lip Gloss in “Vibe”; Lue by Jean Seo Erase Cleansing, Exfoliating and Brightening Powder (seriously, is this for laundry?); and Nunzio Saviano Anti-Frizz Sheets.

I kind of feel like the box is bullshit this month…Allure, you are on notice!

Oh, the clutch is orange this month. Um, what am I gonna do with all these fucking clutches?

The Allure Beauty Box is $15/month, but they give you $5 off your first box. They also offer an option for $150/year – a savings of $30. Sign up via my referral link.

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May 2018 Allure Beauty Box – In the Fast Lane

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Yup, I added yet another Beauty Box Subscription to the mix – the Allure Beauty Box. (This is different than the seasonal Allure Beauty Thrills boxes from a few years ago.) My sister used to get it a few years ago, but ended up canceling it. I was sucked in by an ad for the June box – a collab with Kat Von D. They were nice enough to start my subscription with the May box – “In the Fast Lane.”

Inside my first box: Wander Beauty Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks (2 sets); Kenra Dry Oil Control Spray; First Aid Beauty Hello Fab Coconut Skin Smoothie Priming Moisturizer (LOVE this stuff); St. Tropez Self Tan Purity Bronzing Water Mousse (nope, nope, nope); and CLE Melting Lip Powder in “Desert Rose” (this is one of the most amazing products I’ve ever tried…this powder absolutely melted onto my lips without a mess and stays PUT – this is the next big thing in lip color).

There were also two new subscriber gifts – L’Oreal Ever Pure Hair Sheet Mask Steam Treatment (weird) and Grande Lips Hydrating Lip Plumper in “Lust Red” (my lips are plenty plump).

The products seem a bit higher end than my other boxes, but that might be because this is a more pricey box. I’ll give it a few months to see how it goes.

The Allure Beauty Box is $15/month, but they give you $5 off your first box. They also offer an option for $150/year – a savings of $30. You can sign up at https://beautybox.allure.com.

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August Birchbox – Candidly Nicole

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It’s not that I give a rat’s ass about Nicole Richie, but the curated box option looked kind of cute. It’s called “Candidly Nicole”, with products picked by Nicole Richie, promoting her reality show. The box itself is the cutest ever – very Betsey Johnson flowery.

Nicole’s box comes with dr. brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant; LAQA & Co. Cheeky Lip in “Humble Brag”; OPI “Worth a Pretty Penne” from The Venice Collection (LOVE); Rene Furterer LISSEA Leave-In Smoothing Fluid; and St. Tropez Gradual In-Shower Tan (nope, nope, nope).

If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.

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Online Shopping Binge

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I kind went nuts last week with the online shopping – between Thursday night and Saturday morning , I placed no less than 6 online orders…so many sales and coupons in my inbox…I couldn’t resist.

With the long holiday weekend and biblical flooding, almost all of the packages hit at once yesterday. Instead of half a dozen different posts, I figured I’d stuff most of them into one…

I am fairly shameless, so I’m not going to show the pile of underwear from Victoria’s Secret. Yup, I hoard panties, too.

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I had been eyeing the Sephora Sun Safety Kit – I need to protect my easily scorched skin. Inside the kit are 16 different sun protection products in a cute travel bag: – AmorePacific Natural Protector SPF 30Clarins UV Plus Anti-Pollution Broad Spectrum SPF 50Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 30 in Light MediumDr. Dennis Gross Skincare Dark Spot Sun Defense Broad Spectrum SPF 50 SunscreenDr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15Josie Maran Cosmetics Argan Daily Moisturizer SPF 47Korres Yoghurt Nourishing Fluid Veil Broad Spectrum SPF 30Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 30Ole Henriksen total truth eye crème SPF 15Origins VitaZing Broad Spectrum SPF 15 Energy-Boosting Moisturizer with MangosteenPeter Thomas Roth Max Sheer All Day Moisture Defense Lotion SPF 30Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 50+ WetForce Broad Spectrum Water Resistant (80 Minutes)St. Tropez One Night Only in Light-MediumSupergoop! City Sunscreen Serum SPF 30, and Vita Liberata Passion Flower & Argan Dry Oil Broad Spectrum SPF 50. PHEW – that’s a lot of sunscreen!

For my 3 samples, I chose Viktor & Rolf “Flowerbomb” (spicy and flowery, reminds me of a Victoria’s Secret scent), Maison Martin Margiela REPLICA “Beach Walk” (this doesn’t smell like a perfume – it smells like a thing – LOVE), and dr. brandt Do Not Age. Sephora was also running a Jetsetter deal – pick 3 extra samples – so I got Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask, Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream, and boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel. My face is gonna be SMOOTH.

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I can’t say no to Birchbox’s Limited Edition Boxes. As soon as I got the email got the “Under the Sun” ($55) box, I knew I would eventually order it…but not until I got that 25% coupon. 25% off and $10 in Birchbox points and ADD TO CART. Inside the box: Baggu Tote Bag (I had my fingers crossed for this elephant print!), Cynthia Rowley Beauty Beauty on the Go Multi Blush & Bronzer Duo (meh), Laura Mercier Bakes Eye Color in “Cameo” (yasss), Sugarpova Flirty Candy (why does Maria Sharapova sell candy?), Chloe + Isabel Birchbox Exclusive Medina Convertible Pendant Necklace (my favorite part of the box!), Knockaround Premium Sunglasses (silver!), ncLA Nail Lacquer in “Bikinis & Martinis” (it’s the color of bubble gum you’d find stuck under a picnic table), and Supergoop! Skin Soothing Mineral Suncreen with Olive Polythenols SPF 40.

For samples, I got Vasanti Brighten Up! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator and Sumita Jumon Contrast Eye Pencil. I also finally got my Birchbox Anniversary Keyring (not pictured).

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…and today, I got a big box of Deep Cleansing Hand Soap from Bath & Body Works. You know that I start to get the shakes if I have less than 30 bottles under the sink. They were all between $2.75 & $3.25, plus 20% off and free shipping. I threw in a handful of Scentportables for my car for good measure.

I also received my Dream Polish Gem Glam Topcoat in “Lily Flower” – yes, it’s scented! This another popular one on Instagram and it’s 5 free – I can’t wait to try it out.

I am still waiting on my sale order from Delush Polish – that’s the only one that hasn’t arrived. I think I have enough stuff to keep me busy…until next week when all my subscription boxes start rolling in!