A Li’l Bit of Everything Ulta Haul
Sometimes, shopping is just adding stuff to cart until it feels “right”…or at least until you get a bunch of shit for free.
I cannot remember how I started just dropping things in my cart, but I think I started looking for pore clearing masks. Ulta no longer carries Freeman, but there was a 30% off sale and a GWP on Florence by Mills, so I decided to try Florence by Mills Feed Your Soul Berry in Love Pore Mask ($16.10, down from $23 – this was a very thin, very strongly berry scented mask – it dripped everywhere before it dried) and Clear The Way Clarifying Mud Mask ($16.10, down from $23 – a more traditional mud mask, I liked this one much better). The 3 piece gift with purchase included a full size Feed Ypur Soul Love U Latte Coffee Glow Mask (haven’t tried yet); Swimming Under the Eyes Hydrating Under Eyes Gel Pads and a Silicone Face Mask Brush.
But then I started seeing stuff on sale…Arctic Fox Hair Color was 25% off, so I picked up “Virgin Pink” and “Poison” ($13.87, down from $18.49. Tree Hut was on sale, so I picked up a Tree Hut Moisturizing Shave Oil in “Moroccan Rose” ($9.99, down from $10.99). Zoya was also 30%, so I got two bottles of Zoya Remove+ ($8.40, down from $12). Inner Circle was 30% off, so I got Glamping – Santal Wood Hand Wash ($3.49, down from $4.99 – it smells SO GOOD). Flowery was 30% off, so I picked up my favorite Blue Max 4-way Buffing Block ($2.09, down from $2.99). MONDAY Haircare was BOGO50%, so I bought little travel sizes of SMOOTH Shampoo and Conditioner for Curly & Frizzy Hair with Wheat Protein ($3.49 + $1.74) for my cruise. I liked the product, but the packaging was annoying AF and hard to squeeze. I won’t be purchasing again.
Then I saw that Ulta had a free Beauty Bag with $22 purchase (what happened to $19.50?), and I just used up my favorite lip stain so I dropped an Ulta Beauty Collection Weightless Water Lip Stain in “Plum Paradise” ($11.50) in my cart. Then I dropped a few packages of Exfoliating Cotton Rounds ($4.49 each) in my cart. Inside the free gift – I chose the leopard print, of course: a 5 pan eyeshadow palette; Matte Veil Face Primer; Pop Star Lashes High Definition Volumizing Mascara; Cream Blush; Matte Veil Eye Primer; Lip Stain (appears to also be “Plum Paradise”; Jelly Gloss Lip Gel; an eyeshadow brush and foam blender.
I had a premonition that my favorite Pattern claw clip would break soon, so I picked up a back-up for $12. I also grabbed an extra Ulta Loofah ($3).
I qualified for a free 16 piece gift with my $80 purchase, which included e.l.f. Power Grip Primer; pixi Glow Mist; Thayers Facial Toner in “Rose Petal” (my favorite!); No7 Future Renew Night Serum; Vichy Liftactive Bonding Serum; Peach Slices Snail Rescue Purifying Cleanser; belif The True Cream – Aqua Bomb (another favorite!); CeraVe Balancing Air Foam Cleanser; Juvia’s Place Culture Multi-Chrome Shadow in “It Girl”; Ulta Beauty Collection Pop Star Lashes Volumizing Mascara (another one?); CNP Propolis Lipcerin; Differin Epiduo Acne Gel; La Roche-Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cleanser; Some By Mi AHA.BHA.PHA Miracle Cream; L’Oreal True Match Lumi Glotion in “903 Medium Glow”; and Cetaphil Gentle Exfoliating SA Cleanser.
I also qualified for a free 20 piece gift with my $125 purchase, which included Nakery Beauty Soothing Moisture Wipes (for my butt); StriVection peptight Face Life Serum; Azzaro “The Most Wanted”; Prada “Paradoxe” Deluxe Sample; tarte Platinum Mascara; another belif The True Cream – Aqua Bomb; Ralph Lauren “Polo”; Bumble and bumble. Bb. Seaweed Oil; Charlotte Tilbury Exagger-eyes Volume Mascara; Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Leave-In Treatment; Ole Henriksen Strength Trainer Peptide Boost Moisturizer; Yves Saint Laurent “Libre Berry Crush”; Kylie Cosmetics Supple Kiss Lip Glaze in “003 Rose Bloom”; Mugler “Alien Pulp”; Burberry “Goddess”; Elemis Dynamic Resurfacing Facial Wash (I’m still using the full size from my last Ipsy Ultimate); SEEN Leave-In Conditioner; Yves Saint Laurent “Myself” Deluxe Sample; Prada “Paradigme” Deluxe Sample; and Origins Ginzing Energizing Lightweight Moisturizer. Lots of good stuff!
I also got a free Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment with my skincare purchase.
…and then I used a $10 giftcard and $53 in points, because you know I am frugal like that.
Just $325 to Diamond in 2027!
Sun Water Alchemy
Jior Couture “Sun Water Alchemy” is the final polish that I picked for August’s “Woodland Magic” Polish Pickup. It’s inspired by a serene woman in the woods. To me, it looks like the sun peeping through a canopy of trees to reflect on a dark body of water.
While the polish itself is gorgeous, the brush SUCKED. I suspect I just got a defective one, because I haven’t noticed a problem with any of my other Jior Couture polishes.
This is two coats of “Sun Water Alchemy”, over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Froot Loops” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Pink Sugared Lemons“.
Odette
A sheer white shimmer polish is beautiful, although maybe a bit less beautiful when my stained nails are giving it a bit of a yellowish cast.
Haunted Polish “Odette” is from March’s “Sky Creatures” Polish Pickup and is inspired by Swan Lake. In the bottle, it appears similar to “Icarus”, but the magnet brought out the silver in “Icarus”. It’s different enough from “Luck Dragon” (no flakies), that I’m not irritated about picking up dupes. I still feel like I have several similar polishes though…
This is two coats of “Odette”, over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Froot Loops” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Pink Sugared Lemons“.
September 2026 Ipsy Bag – Rebel in Color
Somehow, I think I missed the product choice window for September…I feel like I spent the last half of August traumatized, so that tracks…
The products are so random and I haven’t tried any of them. I’ll be giving the Bliss Pore Patrol Flower Blemish Patches to my daughter – I just can’t with Gen Z walking around with stickers on their face instead of being seen with a pimple.
Also in this month’s rando bag: Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Pore Primer; Da Lish Cosmetics Highlighter (do people still use highlighters in the year of our lord 2026?); e.l.f. Skin Thirst Burst Lip Treatment in “Sheer Blue Hibiscus” (probably the only product I’ll use); and Maeve Ellis Serafine Hand Cream.
Honestly, the best thing about this month’s bag is the bag itself – it’s mesh and I think I’m going to use it to put my magnetic hooks in for my cruise in a few days!
I subscribe to the original ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and ipsy Ultimate (formerly Icon Box, and before that – Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
Turnt 2: Return of the Quoise
I’ve been overusing the ‘Electric Boogaloo’ joke, so I decided to go a different direction with my post title…I fear this title is even more non-sensical, but it makes sense to ME.
I keep going back to Sinful Colors “Turnt-quoise”. Sheer polishes usually don’t do much for me, but this one is just so beautiful that I cannot resist it. I think it’s that hint of a glitter/shimmer – I’m not sure.
This is two coats of “Turnt-quoise”, over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Froot Loops” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Pink Sugared Lemons“.
Megaloceros
I am a big dummy. When I was read the description of Stella Chroma “Megaloceros” as being inspired by King Thranduil’s Mount, my brain went “mount = mountain”. Derp, the maker meant mount as in “an animal you can ride”. I haven’t read The Hobbit since 8th grade and I haven’t watched the third Hobbit film all the way through, so it didn’t click that King Thranduil is riding a giant extinct elk. DERP.
I’ve been on a flakie bender lately and this one is full of green and gold flakies in a crelly-like cream polish. It wore well and is a great polish if you’re unable to change polishes for a week to ten days.
Is this polish a sister to “Gold Dust Woman”? I wonder how they’d look together?
This is two coats of “Megaloceros”, over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Froot Loops” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Pink Sugared Lemons“.
Fire Swamp
Exactly zero people are shocked that I chose Rogue Lacquer “Fire Swamp” as the first polish to sample from August’s “Woodland Magic” Polish Pickup.
It’s got turquoise (or is it teal?), it’s got flaming red flakies and it’s got Cary Elwes…it’s got EVERYTHING.
This is two coats of “Fire Swamp”, over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Froot Loops” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Pink Sugared Lemons“.
Polish Pickup August 2026 – Woodland Magic
August’s Polish Pickup theme was “Woodland Magic” and even though there were loads of cute polishes available – my order was rather conservative.
Rogue Lacquer “Fire Swamp” ($13) is inspired by the titular Fire Swamp in The Princess Bride.
Stella Chroma “Megaloceros” ($13.50) is named after the mountain of King Thranduil, father of Legolas in The Lord of the Rings.
Jior Couture “Sun Water Alchemy” ($15) is inspired by a serene woman in the woods.
Which one should I try first?
Sea Glass
I was inspired by an Instagram account – Vintage Dusties – to pull this polish out of my stash when I saw her swatch it. Lots of her swatches are true vintage from the 60s, 50s and even the 40s – but polishes from the early 00s are now vintage too!
This is Black Radiance “Sea Glass”. I’m guessing I bought it at Walmart or Walgreens sometime in the early 2000s? It’s a swampy green with a strong flash of purple. Most polishes get thicker with age, but this one is super thin. It was fairly streaky and retreated from the free edge quite a bit. I don’t think the formula agreed with the base and top coat, but I honestly don’t remember how it wore when it was new.
This is two coats of “Sea Glass”, over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Froot Loops” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Pink Sugared Lemons“. This is my first time using “Pink Sugared Lemons” and I really don’t care for the scent. It’s like Lemon Pledge and Pine Sol had a butt baby. I don’t know that I’ll be able to get through the whole bottle, but I’ll try…
Hot Damn Anthurium 2.0
I’m not much of a “plant girly”, so I had to google anthurium…sure enough, this polish looks like anthurium!
Sassy Sauce Polish “Hot Damn Anthurium” was originally part of May 2025’s “Tropical Forest” Polish Pickup, but I picked it up in July’s REWIND. Hence, Sassy Sauce Polish “Hot Damn Anthurium 2.0”. How many red nail polishes can a girl own? I don’t know yet, because I cannot stop buying red nail polish.
This is two coats of “Hot Damn Anthurium 2.0”, over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Froot Loops” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Vampire Blood“.