Black Friday and Cyber Monday Haul
Here’s a little fun fact: I’ve never been Black Friday shopping at crazy hours in the morning. Ever. I’ve worked quite a few of them in the past and never saw any interest in shopping while sleep deprived, in the freezing cold, and fighting my way through all the madness. I just want to be at home enjoying life with my family and get out when I feel like it. And that’s exactly what I did this year as well. Since I left so late, there weren’t very many sales still going on and things had been picked over quite a bit. I went home with only one bag in my hand and continued shopping the sales online. That was probably my favorite part because I was super comfortable and found some really really good deals! Most of them came in this week, so I’ll share with you what I got and maybe inspire some gift ideas.
The only thing I bought in store was this pajama set from Liz Claiborne. I picked it up from JCPenney for around $5 because it was on sale for $15 and I had a $10 off of $10 coupon. These are seriously the most comfortable pajamas I’ve ever worn! I got them in a medium to be on the safe side. They’re a little big on me, but I don’t mind. I want to go back and buy one in every color and just live in them for the rest of the winter. It’s been about 60 degrees here lately and I already can’t wait for summer again!
When I started my online shopping, Ulta was my first “stop” because I had seen a preview of their sales and knew exactly what I wanted. I checked in store and they were sold out (of course), thankfully things were still in stock on their website once I got home. They were offering free shipping on orders of $35 or more and it took one week exactly for them to process the order and for me to receive it at my doorstep. Not too bad! Plus it came with two free samples! I chose the variety one and they sent me a Benefit Porefessional and a foil package of Infusion Keratin Replenisher for hair.
I’ve always adored Lorac eyeshadow palettes from afar because I never wanted to invest in one, but as soon as I saw this Love, Lust & Lace palette for $12 I didn’t hesitate for a second! I chose the matte one, duhh! It comes with five eyeshadows and I knew the moment I swatched them that I should’ve bought the other one also. I’ll do a separate specific review on it, but I already know it’s gonna be a staple item and I’m gonna wanna buy more. I mean, look at the pictures below and let’s just take a second to admire how pigmented the shadows are!
I also decided to pick up the bareMinerals Regal & Radiant set that they had for $10. I’ve never been impressed with bareMinerals products because they’re pretty messy and can be really difficult to work with, but thought I’d give it another try. I probably should’ve known these were all going to be mini, but for some reason I didn’t and was kind of disappointed when I opened the box. It came with a mini Flawless Face brush, a small Mineral Veil powder (left), and a small All-Over Face Color in Bare Radiance (right). These products are kind of confusing to me, especially the Bare Radiance since it’s full of glitter and there is absolutely no way I’m putting that all over my face! So I’ll be doing more research and testing it out and will keep you updated.
They had a Benefit gift set for $14 and I’ve never tried anything from their brand, so that was the last item I got from Ulta. I could see all the products in this one and knew they would all be minis, especially because there’s quite a few of them instead of just two like in the bareMinerals kit. It came with a Dandelion blush, Dandelion Ultra Plush lip gloss, Benetint Lip & Cheek Stain, BADgal Lash mascara, the POREfessional primer, and Girl Meets Pearl highlighter.
The blush (far right) is pretty light and natural, but I think it’s fine for minimal makeup days. The lipgloss (middle) is very naturally looking and doesn’t have much pigment to it when it’s on the lips. It does have a pretty strong smell that’s not necessarily bad but it does linger. My favorite part is that it’s not heavy or sticky feeling in the least bit! I haven’t tried the benetint (second from right), the mascara, or the highlighter (far left) yet, so I can’t say anything about those. The primer (second from left) comes out a skin tone color and blends to clear. It did feel smooth and not heavy on the skin, but I’ve only worn it twice so I’m still undecided on the staying power it gives to the makeup.
I also placed an order for some Lorac and Becca products from Hautelook on Black Friday, but I don’t have those to show you because that won’t arrive for quite a while. On Cyber Monday, I placed an order with BH Cosmetics. They had some deals on Black Friday, but ones that interested me more on Monday so I waited to place an order then. They didn’t offer free shipping unless you spent $50 or more and since they’re so affordable, I didn’t spend anything near that. It was about $8 for shipping, which is a lot in my opinion, and it got here exactly one week after I placed my order just as Ulta’s did.
The main thing I wanted was the Sculpt and Blend 2 (10 piece brush set). I reviewed the original version a while ago and had my eye on this one ever since it was released. On Black Friday it was on sale for $19, but because I used my patience I got it for $14 on Cyber Monday. Patience is something I have very little of in any situation, so I was pretty proud of myself! I haven’t gotten to use this brush set very much since I just got it in the mail, but will definitely being doing another review of this one in comparison as well.
I also noticed this Eye Essential 7 piece brush set that was on sale for $7.50 that looked really nice and I just had to buy it too! And for that price?? That’s better than Elf brushes! Granted it was a huge sale day, but BH Cosmetics is known for being very affordable any day of the week regardless. I’m really impressed with these so far and am very happy that they finally added numbers to the bottom of the handle! It’s the little things, I tell ya!
And because there’s no such thing as having too many eyeshadow palettes, the last thing I got from their website was this Essential Eyes 28 Color Eyeshadow palette that was also on sale for $7. I was going back and forth between this one and the 28 Color Neutral eyeshadow palette but decided on the Essential Eyes instead because it has the steel grays rather than browns and I don’t have very many of those in my collection. My initial reaction was a little bit of a disappointment because there’s not one matte shade in here, but I do think it’s very beautiful anyway. I plan on doing a specific post about this palette in the future, so I only swatched a few random shades until then.
Shopping online can be pretty difficult, but I’m pretty pleased with all of the items I purchased. Specifically that Lorac palette!! I’d love to hear what your favorite Black Friday steals were and how you fought through the madness. Have a fabulous day!
