Ulta Haul!

Hello everyone! If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen a tweet regarding a future haul from my favorite beauty store. Well wait no more, because here comes the haul! Today's haul is from Ulta, the most dangerous beauty store everrrrr! Well... it's only dangerous to my wallet haha. Ulta was having an AMAZING sale last week that I just HAD to take advantage of! All of Ulta's house brand products were EXTREMELY discounted for one week only, so I splurged quite a bit on some of their products, They also had one of the great "$3.50 off of $10 or more purchases" coupon available throughout the week. So without further adue, here we go!

I kinda went crazy and bought a whole bunch of random items! Some of the items were things that I have wanted to try for a while, and others were just items that I splurged on.

The first items I went nuts with purchasing were Ulta's brand of eyeliners. I was so tempted to get one in every color, but then I realized that I wouldn't use a few of their colors because they were either too crazy to wear day-to-day or simply because I didn't like the color of the eyeliner. I bought 12 eyeliners total (three of them I did not show because they were basic black eyeliners that I use daily.  I bought extras of them so I can have a back up stash.) The Ulta brand eyeliners, both the gel and automatic kinds, are normally $8.00 per pencil. During this huge sale, the automatic eyeliners were discounted to just $1.00 each and the gel liner pencils to just $2.00 each!!! CRAZY GOOD DEAL! I would have spent over $96 on eyeliner pencils alone, instead I only spent $16 on the eyeliners! Only $16.00!!! And the deals didn't stop there!

Ulta Eyeliner Pencils from bottom to top:

Golden Eyes (automatic metallic eyeliner)-Gold

Lace (automatic eyeliner)-White

Silver Dust (gel eyeliner)-Silver

Charcoal (automatic eyeliner)-Dark Grey

Black Plum (automatic eyeliner)-Dark Plum

Peacock (gel eyeliner)-Emerald Green

Aqua (gel eyeliner)-Aqua/Teal

Starry Night (gel eyeliner)-Dark Navy Blue

The next three items were items that I had researched a lot prior to purchasing. I love to try out new makeup brands and new items, so I took advantage of the "$3.50 off of $10>" coupon and went out on a whim and purchased these products. The first one is Maybeline's Pure BB Cream in the tone Light (seen in the picture above.) I tried this out for the first time the other day, and I absolutely loved it! It covers the bare face with a light coloration that hides redness and dark spots nicely without leaving a greasy finish. This was actually my first time purchasing a BB cream, and I was very pleased with the overall idea of a BB cream. The other three items that I purchased that were on my wish list were NYX's Lip Primer in Nude and L'Oréal's Voluminous Miss Manga mascara in the color Blackest Black. I'm not too crazy with NYX's lip primer. It makes my lips look really bumpy and dry, and it tends to chap my already chapped lips. I also noticed that it affects the color of the lipstick that I put over it. It tends to lighten the color of the lipstick a bit too much. L'Oréal's Voluminous Miss Manga mascara actually surprised me. I had been hearing mixed messages on the effect of the mascara and the clumpiness of the formula, but I had absolutely no issues. I'm overall pretty satisfied with this mascara. My #1 favorite mascara is still probably Benefit's "They're Real!" mascara from Sephora.

Maybeline's Pure BB Cream (Light) $8.99

NYX Lip Primer (Nude) $6.99

Essence Lash and Eyebrow Gel $2.99 

I also took the liberty of purchasing Essence's lash and eyebrow gel mascara to help tame my crazy, curly eyebrows (they are so hard to tame!) I have yet to try this yet, but I will definitely post a review on it soon! The NYC cover stick below is not from Ulta, but I did purchase it from Target on the day I went on this crazy haul and I felt it should be included. I use this cover stick to cover up those large nasty blemishes that I get every so often and the somewhat dark spots that I have from previous blemishes.

NYC Cover Stick (Light) $1.61

L'Oréal Voluminous Miss Manga mascara (Blackest Black) $7.99

Eyeshadows! Who ever has too many potted eye shadows? Not me! haha I purchased three eye shadows from Essence cosmetics and I absolutely love how shiny and pigmented they are! I encourage you all to try out one of their potted eye shadows, you won't regret it! 

 

Eyeshadows from Left (starting at the top) to Right:

Essence eyeshadow (02 Dance all Night)       Orig. $2.49    SALE $1.29

Essence Metal Glam eyeshadow (#2 Coffee to Go)    $2.99

Essence eyeshadow (04 Beach Goddess)       Orig. $2.49    SALE $1.29

If the amount of eyeliners I purchased was overwhelming to you, you might also be overwhelmed by the amount of lipsticks and glosses I purchased for this haul. The majority of the lipsticks are NYX's Matte Lipsticks or Essence's brand of lipstick. They were all pretty affordable, especially since all NYX products were buy one get one 1/2 off that week. My overall impression on the NYX Matte Lipsticks are that they have a great pigmentation to them, they aren't sticky, and they last for a while (if you aren't constantly eating, drinking, or dare I say....kissing haha.) The NYX Butter Gloss I was a little more disappointed with. It was streaky and wet when first applied, but after smacking your lips together the color gets better and less streaky, and your lips feel soft and buttery. The Essence brand lipsticks are very hydrating and sparkly however, you have to apply more than one coat to truly color your lips. I own 3 of their lipsticks so far, and I am pretty satisfied with them. 

 Left to Right:

NYX Butter Gloss (Eclair) $4.99

NYX Matte Lipstick (MLS20 Audrey) $5.99

Essence Lipstick (12 Sparkling Miracle) $2.99

NYX Matte Lipstick (MLS11 Tea Rose) $5.99

NYX Matte Lipstick (MLS01 Nude) $5.99

Essence Lipstick (67 Miss Peach) $2.99

I am very sorry for rambling on so long about everything I got! With the rambling aside, I hope you all enjoyed seeing the products I purchased and I hope that you might even gather up the courage to go out and purchase them for yourselves to try out! If you do purchase any of these amazing items, please let me know what YOU think of them either through Twitter or in the comment section below. 

Until next time!

-The Sophisticated Shopper

Fave Fruity Lip Balms!

I've noticed that during the summer time, my lips tend to get chapped...a LOT! I tried using regular Chapstick and it just wasn't hydrating enough. I then tried using a variety of e.o.s. lip balms, and they made my lips burn even more! So I went on a search for the perfect lip balm. What is a perfect lip balm?" you ask... it is one that tastes as good as it smells, is hydrating and medicating to chapped lips, and my personal favorite, is travel sized in pretty packaging.

After searching for weeks, I found three lip balms that I absolutely LOVE! 

The first lip balm I purchased was the "Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm" by Rosebud Perfume Company. A fun fact about this company is that all of their lip balms are cruelty free and gluten free! I found this amazing little lip balm at Sephora for the somewhat expensive price of $7.57. It is kind of expensive for a lip balm, but this lip balm is by far the best lip balm I have EVER tried in my 18 years of living!  It smells just like freshly picked strawberry and it feels like silk against your lips! The consistency is a little like Vaseline but more solid. When on your lips, it appears to be sheer with a slight shine. They only complaint I would ever have with this balm is that you have to apply it with your finger, which can be a bit of a bother, but any potted lip balm will make the same small mess. I would rate this lip balm to be a 10/10! So if you are feeling fancy and are looking for the perfect lip balm, go check it out at Sephora! (If you aren't interested in the Strawberry flavor, they also have it in a minty flavor.)

The next balms that I purchased came in a set of two by the brand Absolute New York. This company is also cruelty free and against animal testing (which is HUGE in my book.) The flavors I purchased were "You're the Balm: Grape" and "You're the Balm: Green Apple." I purchased these two potted lip balms from Marshall's for the amazing price of $3.99 (significantly cheaper than the "Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm" and you get two yummy balms for the price of one!) The original retail price on this set is $6.99, which is a great deal even at the retail price. The Grape balm smells and tastes exactly like grape! Which I first thought would be a problem, seeing as I pictured it to taste like cough medicine, but it turned out to taste fantastic! Almost like a grape lollypop! The Green Apple flavor did not really smell like an apple, but it did smell and taste like a Watermelon Jolly Rancher! Yummy! One swipe of these lip balms doesn't cover your lips as well as one swipe of the "Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm," but after two or three coats, they start to work their magic and start to hydrate and smooth your lips. Individually I would rate the Grape balm as a 9/10 and the Green Apple Balm as a 8/10 (probably because of the smell.) As a package I would probably rate this as a 9/10.

Out of these three I am definitely more in love with the "Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm" than the "You're the Balm" lip balms, just because it takes less product to get a better result and it smells true to its label.

Feel free to try out any of these three lip balms and tell me what you think of them! Also, if you have any favorite lip balms and would like to share your favorites with me, please post them below!

Until next post! x

-The Sophisticated Shopper

SALE...the Most Dangerous 4 Letter Word

The word SHOP can bring danger to anyone with a bank account and a love of browsing for something new and exciting; but the word SALE brings extreme danger to those with a tendency to shop until they drop or until the funds run low. The Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale did just this to one person in particular...me. Now I know what some of you are thinking. "Do you ever stop shopping?" And the answer is, no. I have no idea what is wrong with me! When I see the words SALE or CLEARANCE, I automatically shut down the logical parts of my brain, and start to see things as "saving money" not "spending money." I find this to be a somewhat healthy habit...only because it is hard for me to justify spending money on full priced items unless I cannot live without that item. Some of you may think I'm crazy, but others may think that it is "genius"... or maybe I'm the only one who thinks that...

Enough about my crazy habits! Let me show you what amazing things I got at the VS Semi-Annual Sale!

I know what you're thinking.... "Really...you went to the sale and that's all that you bought?" My answer is, yes. I actually only wanted to buy the items that screamed out to me and had "screaming" prices. 

The first item I purchased was full priced. However, I was able to convince myself to purchase it because I had run out of my old bottle, and because this is my absolute FAVORITE perfume! I have this weird thing against flowery perfumes. They just don't smell right on me. But this MARVELOUS perfume is so fruity and fresh smelling that I can wear it any day to any event! It is definitely my go-to perfume.

Love Spell       Orig. $14.50

The next item is this adorable makeup bag! This bag just called out to me! Even though I already have a few little makeup bags, I decided that this bag was the perfect size to carry in my purse (I always carry a big purse) and it was clear so I could see the products that were inside it without having to dig through the bag and risk breaking the makeup or dirtying the inside of the bag. Plus, it is the perfect shade of pink for summer :)

VS Pink Clear Makeup Bag- Medium (Hot Pink)    Orig. $12.50   SALE $4.50

The next few items I purchased were a few of the VS eyeshadow products. The first item is the leopard eyeshadow pallete. All of the colors inside are nice, neutral colors that work perfectly with my skin tone without making me look too white and shiny. The single pot of eyeshadow I purchased is in a deep purple/wine color. I bought this because it went with a few of the purple shades that were in the pallete it was not a color that I have ever used before.

 

VS Plums/Greys Palette  Orig. $19.95   SALE $7.50

VS Metallized Eye Shadow- Plum    Orig. $10.50    SALE $5.20

And last, but not least, I purchased a hot pink and red striped VS iPhone 4/4S case to glam up my phone. I really loved this case because it was pretty, protective, and the original VS colors. (P.S. I didn't have a close up picture because it is on my phone at the moment, but if you want to see it close up, comment below!)


I hope you all liked this post about my shopping excursion at Victoria's Secret! If you have any requests of what you would like me to write about next, comment below or tweet me the topic at @SophisticateKay! Thanks for reading!

Until next time! x

- TheSophisticatedShopper

Back to Stay!

Hello my lovelies! I can not believe that it has been nearly 3 months since my last post! A lot has happened since April. I have officially completed my first year of college, yayyyy! And I have spent the first month and a half of summer break experiencing things I have never done and living life to the fullest. I have decided to come up with two bucket lists, one consisting of things that I can do and see while staying in state and in my budget, and the other list consisting of things that I would like to do and places that I would like to see that is not in my budget at the moment. So far I have been able to cross a few silly things off my "Poor Girl's bucket-list," but I will fill you in with those later. Of course, summer break is not complete without a little shopping! So far I have gone CRAZY with shopping the semi-annual and summer sales. While I was shopping and looking over the great things I have collected over the past month, I had a crazy idea...to start up a YouTube channel for my blog, or soon to be vlog! I figured it might be something fun for me to do this summer, especially since I have so much time on my hands until school starts again in the fall. If any of you, my lovely readers, are interested in me doing so, please comment below this blog post with any ideas for my first vlog post! I'm looking forward to see what you all have in mind!

Ta-ta for now!

-TheSophisticatedShopper<3

Blog Name Change!

Hello everyone! I have some very exciting news for you all! I have changed the name of my blog! The new name is "The Sophisticated Shopper." It sounded a bit more chic and sophisticated than "Fashion Finds." I also have MORE exciting news for you all! I have started a Facebook page for the blog! I am not quite finished with updating it, but it will be up sometime today. Also, there have been a few changes to the website. It too will, hopefully, be published and updated sometime today. Keep an eye out for the post releasing the links to the new Facebook page and website!

Love, 

TheSophisticatedShopper<3

I Have a Pinterest!

 Feel free to add me/follow me on Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/fashionista2152/) ! All of my pins are of beauty, fashion, or DIY projects. Hope you enjoy!

Love,
FashionistaForever<3

Betsy Johnson for Michaels!

Hello everyone! Now I know Valentine's Day is creeping up on us (11 days to go!) and it can be hard to decide on what to get your loved one(s) and friends this Valentine's Day. I will have a post dedicated to how to find the perfect Valentine's Day gift, however, in the mean time I would like to give you all one suggestion for the perfect gift for this love-filled holiday.

Many people may know that Betsey Johnson has a line of shoes, clothing, and handbags. but who knew that she has her own line of tech accessories and office supplies?! I found this out when I visited my local Michaels. I was rummaging through the value bins when I came across the bins of designer merchandise. Loan behold, Betsey Johnson had a large display full of bright and fun merchandise that was just waiting to be explored. In these bins there were tumblers, notebooks, note cards, invitations, iPhone cases, and much much more!

If you plan on getting a friend or a very fashion-forward loved one gifts for this holiday, I would definitely recommend checking out these items!

I myself could not leave the store without purchasing a few items. I left the store with a Betsey tumbler and two iPhone cases for a total of only $13 (not including tax)!

I currently have one of the iPhone cases on my phone and I absolutely love it! It is so durable, protective, colorful, and most important...fashionable! The tumbler, I have not yet used. However, the minute I walked out the door, I dropped it. Usually if you drop a plastic tumbler on asphalt, it will crack and be unusable, but this was not the case with my Betsey tumbler! It looks just as it did in the store and after being tested, had no cracks or leaks.

I hope that some of you will go out and try these Betsey Johnson products for yourselves! In the mean time, what are your plans for Valentine's Day? What will you be getting your loved ones this holiday? If you can not answer the last question, keep an eye out for a future blog post titled "Valentine's Day Gifting Guide"! Until next time <3

-FashionistaForever<3