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Thoughts on October purchases

In the month of October, I got a little too excited about holiday releases and value sets. So I spent more than I had planned to. In an effort to think more critically about my makeup purchases, let's talk about what I bought.

~A "Sephora Favorites" set in "Trending: Beauty's Most Coveted" - this had a variety of popular items sold at Sephora, which I was excited to try. It contained a nude BeautyBlender, which I currently enjoy using to blend out my under-eye concealer; a mini Becca highlighter in Moonstone that I love; a mini Benefit Ka-Brow in "3" a brown shade, I haven't used this yet; a mini Cover FX Enhance Click in Bubbly, that I also haven't used yet; a full size Estee Edit shadow stick in Viper, a smudgy black eyeliner I plan to give to my sister; a Foreo Luna Play that I really need to use, good reminder; a mini Glamglow Supermud, haven't used yet since I'm still working on other masks; a full size Kat Von D tattoo liner in Trooper, which is a backup of the mini I'm currently using; a mini Laura Mercier translucent loose setting powder that I already gave away to a friend; a mini NARS radiant creamy concealer in Custard, that was too dark for me so I gave it away; a mini Tarte marine boosting mist that I assume is some sort of setting spray (?) that I also haven't yet used; and finally a full size Urban Decay lipstick in 714, a red shade already given to my mom who wears the color more than I do. I definitely fell for the "great value" of buying a set. If I didn't have so many backups, this would be awesome, and it is a good value. But maybe not for me at the moment. At least I'm making the people around me happy with gifts.

 ~Lorac Mega Pro 3 eye shadow palette - I think I may have actually hugged this thing to my chest when I found it at my local Ulta. And I am only a little bit ashamed. After using it for a bit, I'm glad I have it, but it's not the perfect palette. 1) it's pretty large, at least large enough that it's cumbersome to tote back and forth to my boyfriend's place. 2) it's very warm - a lot of my looks have come out some shade of orange. All in all, I like having a variety of shimmery neutrals, a category that my makeup wardrobe has been lacking.

~Sephora Collection Rouge Gel lip liner in "Rose Wine" - it's the only lip liner I own. I wanted a lip liner to wear under my liquid lipsticks since they always wear off everywhere but the outer rim of my lips. Not a good look. I've been using this as a base, and it's been working nicely!

~Sol De Janeiro Brazillian BumBum Cream: this is expensive ass lotion - really, its super expensive and it's for your butt, so read it as you will. It's supposed to firm and improve the appearance of your bum and other cellulite-prone areas. I can't really speak to that, but it smells so good. The Sephora site describes it as a caramel/pistachio, which I kind of get. It's delicious and warm and cozy and vanilla without being to reminiscent of food. If I could find this scent as a regular lotion, I'd be all over it.

~Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask - apparently it's just lanolin, so in addition to my expensive ass lotion I also bought expensive nipple cream. Good job, self. However, it does work nicely. I put it on before I go to bed and my lips still feel nice and soft when I wake up in the morning.

~Sephora Play! October subscription box: this was the first month that Sephora Play has had a lot of variation in the boxes they send out. So what's in my box could be quite different from what others received. They always send out 5 mini samples of products sold at Sephora plus one perfume sample. I've been enjoying the Smashbox liquid lipstick in "Driver's Seat." It looks similar to Kat von D "Lolita II" on me, only I like the Smashbox formula better. It's more comfortable, and I think it might last longer on me too.The NudeStix lip&cheek pencil in "Belle" looks like it'll be similar in color, which makes it an odd choice to put both in the box. It's still sealed for freshness, waiting for me to finish a lip product before it gets rotated in. The Verb leave-in mist is supposed to detangle, defrizz, and condition. I guess it defrizzes, or it could just make frizzy hair somewhat greasy. Jury's still out; I'll get back to you. I'm still waiting to get through some other face moisturizers before I try the Too Cool for School Egg Mellow Cream moisturizer. Same goes for the Skin Inc facial peel. The perfume sample I got was Tom Ford Orchid Soleil; it smelled nice, but I gave it to my mom, who likes fancy perfume.

I'm trying to be good for the month of November. So far, I only have gifts planned. Maybe one rollerball perfume for me. We'll see how it goes, I'll keep you posted.

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