My January was pretty good. Four things total (OCC nail polish in Femme, Inglot brow liner gel in #18, Make-Up Atelier foundation, Surratt Brow Pomade), and the foundation got returned.
It's the annual spring coupon offering for VIBR, VIB & BI.
Low Buy Check-In ~ January
I think I can do my check in too. As I do not see myself making any purchases between now and the 1st…lol, lord willing nothing absolutely must-have pops into the horizon!
High-End ~ I made one high end purchase right out of pocket at the beginning of the month, the Estee Edit Gritty Glow Palette…lol. I had purchased it back during the VIBR sale and promptly returned it (impulse). This time after reading a few more reviews and swatching it again, I considered it a “sleeper” must, for use on both face & eyes. I am happy to say I am really enjoying it.
Using a leftover PayPal balance from eBay & eBates, I purchased two skin care items. A refill of my Estee Lauder ANR serum.
The other purchase I made after a December Sephora consultation on manual exfoliators. I ended up really liking the Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment samples I got. So, I purchased the .50 oz. tube…a little bit of that stuff goes a long way. I have to say I also enjoyed the Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Cleanser Daily Foaming Wash samples I got. I think I like it more than my Neutrogena cleanser. I have added that to my spring shopping list…I may purchase it next month if my budget will allow.
Speaking of Sephora on a mini rant…Is anyone else just as sick as I am of the “Points Rewards Hunger Games!?!” Nothing is ever available and what is…I do not want! I am seeing that Ulta is offering more of the brands I do like, so I am tempted to through my money more in their direction…In fact I just ordered (2) Ulta gift cards using another points program. The only thing I do not appreciate is Ulta’s shipping charge for orders under $50. Anywho, I do not intend to spend enough money to be VIBR again! End mini rant.
Drugstore ~ I purchased on a bogo 50% off sale with coupons: 2 L’Oréal mascaras both of which I regularly return to and replace.
Also, because of my out of season tan situation, I purchased 2 shades of the new Infallible Total Coverage foundation. This was a more economical solution ($10.50 total) as opposed to purchasing 1 or 2 full bottles of ELDW. And I did not want to go to a counter and beg for samples to ride it out…time is money too! Come summer, I would/will get matched and invest in full size bottles, knowing it will get used at time of need.
The last bogo purchase was for 2 of the new L’Oreal clay masks, the Detox/Brighten & Exfoliate/Refining. I have yet to find a clay mask that does not irritate me somehow…itch, burn, redness…etc. So for $12 I thought affordable to give them a try.
Haircare ~ 1 purchase made during Ulta’s annual liter/jumbo haircare sale. I love the Nexxus Therappe Poo & Humectress Conditioner. If you can believe it, I only wash my hair once a week (lots of fine hair, that just limps down & does nothing unless I let it get “dirty.” )! So a jumbo of each lasts me a year!
That’s it! I’m pretty happy and most definitely did not overdo it for January. For me it is a quiet time in all things beauty...not a lot on the horizon catching my interest right now.
Great job! And you are very welcome! As we get closer to the code release date the Sephora thread will blow up with chatter & info! We post our shopping lists...Interesting on the Sephora sale, i've out of the loop for a while! lol thanks for the explanation.
Absolutely! I was trying to reconfigure a template and grrr arrrggghh! frustration! I am by no means an Excel expert so any instruction / tips would be great! I look at it this way...If I learn to use it for something fun/personal...it will make it easier to use it for anything work related!
And my January check-in - zero purchases. A friend gifted me a couple of different sheet masks to try. Binned a couple of dead mascaras.
Success!
I buy 2 thing the physician's formula Butter Bronzer (Love it) and Mabelline eraser eye concealer (only my second time using it but so far so good) did I need them NOPE, maybe the maybelline concealer because my two others are a little to dark now for my winter white skin, but everyone raved so much about those two products that I finally purchased them.
Good morning everyone as promised photos of my current collection as of Jan 2017...
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Thank you! I'm inspired by all of the cool storage ideas on here actually! I've been purchasing Hakuhodo brushes since 2010. At that time there was only 2 bloggers (Glossed in translation and delicate humming bird) both no longer blog, and a you tuber by the name of Julia Graf. I never had the opportunity to see the brushes in person, so I ordered based on their recommendations. However, when my orders arrived, I loved them,put them to good use,and as the years went by, a lot of folks were talking, blogging, and doing reviews on them. If I was starting over today, I probably would only buy 5 brushes from Hakuhodo and continue to explore other Japanses brands for pure squirrel or a mix of goat/squirrel on the website CDJapan : Japanese Anime, Jpop, Japanese music, Game music, Japanese movie, CD, DVD. Koyudo has excellent quality just as good as Hakuhodo but cheaper in price. In my opinion while Hakuhodo have great brushes of superb quality and craftamship, the prices have gone up quite a bit since I first started buying Hakuhodo in 2010, back the they were much more affordable. For example I own the B509 Powder brush a mix of squirrel/goat I purchased the brush for $60 in 2010, there was a price increase across the board in 2012, bring the price to $75, and it seems as though Hakuhodo stopped dying the goat hair of their brushes, and have discontinued all the ones I own, to re-introduce them with the new un-dyed goat/squirrel mix. I checked the price of the B509, and the price is now a cool $119.00. The Hakuhodo brushes you see in the drawers are pure blue/gray Squirrel=very very soft on the skin or the older un-dyed version mixture of goat/squirrel which also equals soft on the skin, but not as delicate as say the pure squirrel brushes. The pure squirrel brushes(some of them much more expensive) are so delicate it's recommended not to wash very often. If you have sensitive skin a mix of goat/squirrel is great, and if you''re more on the combo/oily side which I am in the summer months (combo) I use my Goat hair brushes. The 4 brushes I would purchase from Hakuhodo would be theWow wow! Everything looks fantastic! I am in love with your Hakuhodo brushes! If you are up for it, could you tell us about the brushes you have and what you love about them? I know not a thing about Hakuhodo and refuse to jump into the high-end brush pool without solid feedback and recommendations. Like what 3-5 are must have?
Thank you! I'm inspired by all of the cool storage ideas on here actually! I've been purchasing Hakuhodo brushes since 2010. At that time there was only 2 bloggers (Glossed in translation and delicate humming bird) both no longer blog, and a you tuber by the name of Julia Graf. I never had the opportunity to see the brushes in person, so I ordered based on their recommendations. However, when my orders arrived, I loved them,put them to good use,and as the years went by, a lot of folks were talking, blogging, and doing reviews on them. If I was starting over today, I probably would only buy 5 brushes from Hakuhodo and continue to explore other Japanses brands for pure squirrel or a mix of goat/squirrel on the website CDJapan : Japanese Anime, Jpop, Japanese music, Game music, Japanese movie, CD, DVD. Koyudo has excellent quality just as good as Hakuhodo but cheaper in price. In my opinion while Hakuhodo have great brushes of superb quality and craftamship, the prices have gone up quite a bit since I first started buying Hakuhodo in 2010, back the they were much more affordable. For example I own the B509 Powder brush a mix of squirrel/goat I purchased the brush for $60 in 2010, there was a price increase across the board in 2012, bring the price to $75, and it seems as though Hakuhodo stopped dying the goat hair of their brushes, and have discontinued all the ones I own, to re-introduce them with the new un-dyed goat/squirrel mix. I checked the price of the B509, and the price is now a cool $119.00. The Hakuhodo brushes you see in the drawers are pure blue/gray Squirrel=very very soft on the skin or the older un-dyed version mixture of goat/squirrel which also equals soft on the skin, but not as delicate as say the pure squirrel brushes. The pure squirrel brushes(some of them much more expensive) are so delicate it's recommended not to wash very often. If you have sensitive skin a mix of goat/squirrel is great, and if you''re more on the combo/oily side which I am in the summer months (combo) I use my Goat hair brushes. The 4 brushes I would purchase from Hakuhodo would be the
G5557- foundation brush Blends like a dream gives me that flawless look I love
G5554- smaller brush to the G5557 I use this for a lot of my cream products including my cream blush
The B104 black hair version(discontinued) now called the J104 white hair version big fluffy soft goat hair powder brush much better than the MAC 150
The B110 black hair version(discontinued) now called the J110 white hair version cheek brush also made of goat hair very soft and is comparable to the MAC 116, but much softer. but That's it, for the rest I'd recommend Wayne Goss brushes, and Koyudo, which can be found on CD Japan. CD Japan also carry other japanese brands such as Chikuhodo which retail much cheaper than US retailers like Beautylish. When I got towards the end stage of my brush collection, I found Sonia of Sweet make up temptations, a blog all about brushes, a great resource! The brushes that I do own from Hakuhodo, were great (at the time I bought them) bang for the buck in terms of quality/price. the brushes in the drawers in the first posting to the right are a mix of blue squirrel/goat I use them and wash them often, I have enough to rotate, I get lazy when it's time to wash my brushes. By the way the B509 I referenced is in the first set of pics I posted 4th brush from the right great powder brush, I love it so much that back in 2010 when I ordered, I ordered a back up a few weeks later.
We have a Hakuhodo thread and a general Japanese brush thread you can check out!
Hakuhodo - makers of MAC brushes
Japanese brushes - Chikuhodo, Koyudo, Hakuhodo, Suqqu, etc