Ulta Haul!

As promised, here are the items I picked up during Ulta's 20% off sale!  I actually didn't go too crazy at Ulta, as I am trying to save most of my purchasing for Sephora's VIB sale (details here) to try to make VIB Rouge by year-end :)

The one item I skipped was the Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Styling Heat Protect Spray ($23).  I do use this regularly when I curl my hair with a curling iron, and I love it, but I have a few other heat sprays that I need to use up, so I couldn't justify the purchase right now.  (Plus, I didn't realize that Sephora sells this, too, so I would rather get it there anyway!)

More details on what I grabbed below!




Mally Beauty Volumizing Mascara ($20)
As I mentioned in my wish list post, I saw this on QVC one night and have been dying to try it.  I'm a total sucker for a new mascara, so this was my must-have item.  I can't wait to give it a shot!

Loreal Voluminous Full Definition Mascara ($7.99)
When I placed my order, Loreal products were B1G1 50% off, so I decided to grab this.  Tiffany D claims it's the closest drugstore mascara to the Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara, which I haven't splurged on (cough*yet*cough), so I just had to add it to my cart.

Prestige My Biggest Lashes Mascara ($6.99)
Yes, another mascara!  Like I said, I'm a total sucker!  I loved Prestige My Blackest Lashes, but I prefer lengthening formulas, so I figured I'd try this one out next time around.

OPI All I Want for Christmas (is OPI) ($9)
So as I mentioned in my video, when I took this out of the box, I realized it looked an awful lot like OPI's I Got the Blues for Red and other shades just like it that I already own.  The swatches I had seen online made this polish look warmer toned than the polishes I already have, which is why I grabbed it.  However...as promised in my haul video...here it is swatched with other shades:

I can't even make this up.  These 4 polishes are identical.  Like, not even similar...identical.  Oops.  (Click for a larger image, but L-R, it's OPI All I Want for Christmas (is OPI), OPI I Got the Blues for Red, China Glaze Adventure Red-y, and Sephora Formula X Ignite).  So yeah, All I Want for Christmas is getting returned!

Essie Toggle to the Top ($8)
The swatch of this in Polishaholic's post on the Essie winter collection made this shade look incredible, so I grabbed it.  I don't have any sparkly or glittery holiday reds in my collection, either, so now I do :)

Jane Cosmetics Water Resistant Eye Liner in Black ($6, but on sale for $4 right now!)
After filming my haul video, I gave this liner a run for its money.  It actually did stay on my waterline ALL DAY.  I think I may have actually found my Holy Grail liner for my waterline.  This stayed better than anything else I've ever tried by far.  It's super black, transfers so easily, and hello...it's $6!  I have to give a huge thanks to Tati/Glam Life Guru for mentioning this one!!

Loreal Colour Riche Caresse Aqua Lacquer Lip Stain in Endless Red ($9.99)  This was the other half of my B1G1 Loreal purchase.  I grabbed it on a total whim, since I don't wear bold lips that often.  However, I've been really feeling red for the holidays this year.  This is also supposed to be a drugstore version of the YSL Glossy Stains, which I've been dying to try.  For 1/3 the price of the Glossy Stains, though, I figured I should start small and try this one instead.  Happy to report that I LOVE the red color, and it lasted me about 3 or 4 hours before I had to reapply.  I purposely brushed my teeth with it on (it was still perfect afterward) and drank a latte.  It was a little worn off after the latte, but I went another 2-ish hours without needing to reapply.  I'm a big fan!  (As promised in the video, here is a great post comparing the YSL and the Loreal stains!)

That's it!  Please let me know what you picked up during the sale in the comments!  I'd love to hear what you're going to try out :)

As always, everything in this post is my honest personal opinion.  No affiliate links were used.  I have not accepted any consideration for sharing these items with you.  Unless indicated otherwise, all products were purchased by me with my own money.

Top 5 Fall Polishes

Hello pretties!  I have a quick post today to share with you my top 5 nail polishes this fall.  I haven't picked up too many new bottles recently...not much really spoke to me this season.  Instead, I've been shopping my stash and enjoying polishes I've picked up along the way.  Here's what's been on my tips the past few weeks.

All my swatches are 2 coats of polish, without a base or top coat.  (Please excuse my nubs of nails!  A bunch of them recently broke, but I wanted to get this post up before we get much further into fall.)

(taken in shade to be
more true to color)

1.  OPI I Got the Blues for Red.  This was part of OPI's Chicago Collection, and I don't believe it's been made permanent, but it's still readily available online.  (Here, on Amazon for $7 with free shipping!)  It's just a perfect red - not too bright, not too dark.  I also recently found what is almost a dupe for this shade...China Glaze's Adventure Red-y from the On Safari collection.  (I got mine on cherryculture.com for $4!)

2.  Essie Bobbing for Baubles.  This shade was part of Essie's Winter 2011 collection, but it's still a fall/winter favorite of mine.  It's a really pretty dark greyed blue.  You can likely still find this color in stores, and it's still on Essie's website.  Ulta has it in stock online, too.

3.  Essie Beyond Cozy.  This is one of the newer polishes that I picked up.  I was browsing the beauty aisle of WalMart and randomly spotted this one, and I knew I just HAD to have it.  This is from Essie's Winter 2012 collection, and I honestly don't know how I missed it until just this past month!  It is a gilded silver glitter...the color is really unique to my collection.  Two coats give you a completely opaque glitter.  Removal is what you would typically expect with glitter.  This is a total top coat eater, so I wouldn't even bother with one.  It's still available on Amazon for under $6 with free shipping.

4.  OPI Alcatraz...Rocks.  This is another new polish to me.  It was released in OPI's Fall 2013 San Fransisco collection, and is a liquid sand texture.  It's a blue base with holographic glitter and I absolutely love it!  It's not done justice indoors or in shade, but get this gem in the sun and it really sparkles.  It should still be available in stores, but it was very popular, so online may be a better bet if you want to grab a bottle.  Ulta still has it available.  Removal is a little easier than your typical glitter, but it still takes some work.  This is another top coat eater, but it does look stunning with a top coat.  You'll get great shine for about 24 hours before the top coat disappears.

(taken in shade to be
more true to color)

5.  Revlon Plum Seduction.  I am a huge fan of Revlon's polishes, and I always get them inexpensively at Ulta or one of the drugstores.  (Online, Ulta has this bottle for $5.)  This had exceptional wear time on me...at least 4 or 5 days with just some tip wear, which is unheard of for me, since my hands are always in water.  The bottle color in my swatch is a little more true than what appears on my nails.  It's a purpley-pink that is super flattering and pretty for fall.

So what do you think?  Will you try any of these?  Have you picked up any must-have fall polishes that I'm missing?  Do you know of any dupes out there for these shades?

Thanks for stopping by :)

As always, everything in this post is my honest personal opinion.  No affiliate links were used.  I have not accepted any consideration for sharing these items with you.  Unless indicated otherwise, all products were purchased by me with my own money.