Haul - February 4-10

So...I did some shopping.  Kind of a lot of shopping.  Part of me feels guilty and part of me is psyched for all this new stuff.  I must invest in a larger makeup drawer system.






So this past weekend, as I was lying around my house, my friend calls me up and invites me to lunch.  We had some sushi and talked for about 2 hours.  When we were going home, my boyfriend tells me that he wants to stop off and get a haircut.  I have been thinking about getting some highlights to brighten up my hair a little.  I've been using the John Freida Go Blonder Shampoo, conditioner, and spray which has worked very well.  It took me from this...

 

to this

Though the picture doesn't show it, my hair did look a little too golden in real life because of the red I'd had under my brown hair when I started.  So after getting my hair done, I decided to pick up some products to maintain my hair.  

I purchased the Mizani h20 intense night time treatment as well as the Rose h20 conditioning hairdress.  So I go to take a shower and I get ready to use the intense night treatment but the directions are a little weird.  It says to put it on your hair and prepare yourself for bed.  I honestly thought this was a deep conditioning treatment (at least that's what I was lead to believe by the stylist).  Nope...this is hair grease for African American hair.  As you can see from the picture above, I am a white girl...this will not do.  

So I thought I'd give the rose h20 conditioning hairdress a try.  Same sort of deal, just lighter for the day. I don't know what that woman was thinking selling me that stuff but she clearly needs to go back to school.  I know it sounds harsh but I'll get more into my attitude about her in a minute.  I decided to just give the whole thing up and promised myself I'd pick up a proper conditioner later and went about my routine.  As I was preparing to blow dry my hair, I noticed that no matter how many times I brushed through my hair, it always looked more tangled.  I took a look at my brush and noticed that a lot of my newly highlighted hair was tangled up in the bristles.  My once healthy hair was snapping off and there was nothing I could do about it.  Now I'm furious with the woman who left me under the dryers despite me telling her that my hair reacts to color (lightening especially) very quickly and that I don't usually need as much development time.  I finish blow drying my hair and make sure to put extra Moroccan oil in it just to keep it together, finish my makeup and head out the door to do a bridal trial.  While I was there, I spoke to the owner of the salon and asked her for her advice on what I should do about my damaged hair.  She said it sounded like my hair was over processed and recommended the Redken Real Control Overnight Treat.  It's supposed to help mend my hair and hopefully I'll be able to see some results.  I also picked up another Moroccan Oil Restorative Hair Mask.  I recently used up my other one and do miss this one.

After leaving with hope that my hair will be rescued, I decided to swing by MAC to try the new Studio Careblend pressed powder.  I love my MSF Natural but have heard that this gives better coverage.  It also comes with a mirror and a puff so I think it'll be really good for touch ups throughout the day.  I can't speak to much to the coverage or staying power but I can tell you that it is a really silky texture that looks natural on my skin.

I also picked up a few eyeshadows while I was there and a new 4 pan pallet.  

• Omega: Kind of a nothing color that I can imagine using as an actual eyeshadow.  I got this because it is the perfect brow shade for a variety of different hair colors.  Since I'm almost out of my overpriced Anastasia brow powder, I figured it was time to give this a shot.

• Naked Lunch: I am replacing this color because I ran out of my last one.  This is a gorgeous pale peachy pink lid color.  There are probably about 100 similar colors out there but this one is my all time favorite.  It reminds me of seashells for some reason.

• Phloof: This is a brand new color for me.  It's a very frosted pinky white color that I am dying to use on the inner corner to highlight my eyes.  

I needed a new mascara so I decided to pick up Opulash which I have purchased and loved in the past.  It has a very large brush similar to Diorshow and the formula builds nicely while adding volume, length and curl.  

I also picked up a blush in the color Ambering Rose.  This is one of my all time favorite blushes to use on African American Skin.  This warm peachy rose color adds a glow to medium to dark complexions that I have been unable to replicate with any other blush in my collection.

The last thing that I got from MAC is their Face and Body Foundation in the color C1.  I have been running low on my Makeup Forever Face and body foundation so I thought now would be a great time to see how MAC's Face and Body foundation measures up against it.  I haven't used it yet but I will be sure to post an in depth review of both of these foundations just in case there's someone out there like me who wanted to know the difference but couldn't find any reviews.

As I was leaving, I decided to run into Sephora to get some more Jack Black lip balm.  This is really the best lip moisturizer in the world.  I've tried going back to other lip balms and nothing compares.  I saw that they had a variety gift set thing which included 4 different flavors.  

• I've had the natural mint one before which is just a minty lip balm.  It moisturizes very well and tingles a little when you put it on.  I almost feel like it's a plumping lip balm and then I remind myself that it is meant for men.  
• The Shea Butter formula has a mild chocolaty scent and feels good on the lips. I like this one less than the mint one but it is still wonderful.
• The Mango and Madarin one is great as well and obviously smells like mangos.  I don't feel like it's as wet as the mint one but it's not sticky and I think it'll last on my lips for a while. 
• The last one is the Lemon and Chamomile one which has a really mild lemon scent/flavor. Again, not quite as wet as the mint one but similar in texture to the mango.  

As I was making my way up to the check out, I decided to go past the Makeup Forever display.  Since I'm planning that trip to NYC later this month, I wanted to see if there was anything there that I should make sure to buy while I'm up there.  Unfortunately, I got side tracked by a Best of Makeup Forever value set and forgot all about the reason I went over there in the first place.  After quickly doing the math in my head, I realized that it was in fact a very good deal and decided to purchase it.  Included in the set was a full size Smoky Lash Mascara, a full size Aqua Cream in the color 13 (a shimmery flesh tone), a full size Lab Shine gloss in the color S4 (a peach with subtle green reflects glitter), a small 5 gram jar of their HD powder, a .5oz tube of their HD Micro Perfecting Primer, and a miniature aqua eyes liner in 0L.  All that for $55 is a fairly decent deal.  It included a couple things I really wanted to try and a few things I may have overlooked.  

My birthday is next month so I was able to get the birthday gift this year which is the sample sizes of the Fresh Sugar and Sugar Rose Lip treatments.  Sephora is really stepping up their game with their birthday gifts.  The sales assistant was also nice enough to throw in some samples.  

I received the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel Patented Two-Step Anti-Aging Treatment.  It's two separate packages that have little towelettes that you're supposed to rub on your face one after the other.  It's supposed to reduce fine lines, wrinkles and enlarged pores, fights blemishes and helps with hyperpigmentation and redness.  I only have the one use of it so I doubt I'll actually notice any difference but it's a nice thing to try out.  

She also gave me the Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster.  This is a vitamin C serum that is supposed to help with anti aging as well.  I guess maybe I looked a little worn down tonight...she gave me two anti aging things (haha). 

As I mentioned in my last post, I was expecting an order from MAC Pro.  Last Friday, two MAC collections were released about 2 weeks early online and rather than miss the entire collection, I decided to bite the bullet and pay for shipping to ensure I got these products. 

I went out on a limb and purchased the MAC Vera Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flower Fantasy sight unseen.  It is described as a pale coral with slight gold pearl, slightly blue pale pink, soft pale salmon.  After looking at the swatch photos online, I was kind of afraid that it would be too pigmented and look clown-ish on my face.  Well, it kind of went in the other direction.  It's a little sheer on me.  It's a really pretty color but the two matte shades are a little chalky.  I'll still use it and love it, it just wasn't quite what I expected.    


I also got a backup of the lipstick Innocence Beware.  This is a re-promote from  the Venomous Villains collection that came out in the fall of 2010 and is one of my favorite MAC lip colors.  It's similar in texture and color to Creme d'nude but slightly pinker.  I'm nearly out of my original one because I wear it so often and decided to make sure I wouldn't run out of this for a while. 


Next was a product I've been dying to get my grubby little hands on for a while now.  Reflects Pearl Glitter.  I think this will be a super beautiful color for many occasions.  It looks like little snow flakes and I am very happy I purchased this. 


The last thing I got was the Invisible Set Powder.  I don't think I've used a translucent powder in about 3 years - the last one being Laura Merciers.  With my skin being as oily as it is and my distaste for cakey skin, I decided that it was time to look into it again.  There is a subtle difference between this and the MUFE HD powder but I'll get into that in another post.  


So other than some new skincare, which I'll review once I've formed an opinion on it, that's about it.  It was a good week shopping wise and I think I'm done for a while.  So now I want to know what you've picked up recently?  What are you dying to try?