Sparkled Beauty

Hiiiii, I'm back :) The last 2 weeks went by so quickly - always the case when you are on vacation, isn't it?. I'm enjoying an extra day off (it's Victoria Day in Canada) before going back to work. Just started sorting out pictures and stuff I bought, so this is going to be a picture heavy post. Be warned!

Cherry Culture had 50% off certain NYX products about 2 weeks ago, I placed an order and sent it to the bf's. I also added a few other long term lemmings, as I'd doubt I can find them anywhere else.

- Milani Enchantment and Whimsical (from the Black Magic collection back in 2009), $3.49 each (full price). I totally missed out on this awesome collection and have been meaning to collect a few.

- NYX Girls Deep Space, Purple Noir, Royal Purple, Smoldering, Fame and Golden Lavender, $1.50 each.

This is a new line of polishes that NYX came out with, lots of exciting shades and finishes. A few popular shades were already sold out on the site, so I only got 6.

- LA Girl Glitter Addict in Purge and Nostalgic, $2.99 each. Can't turn down pretty glitters, especially when Lawtons doesn't have them.

- LA Girl Rock Star in Groupie, $2.80. I missed this shade when hauling at Lawtons clearance sale a while back.

- Jordana Orange Gleam, Fuchsia Flicker, Purple Glam and Yellow Dazzle, $1.49 each. My first Jordana's, the cheaper dupes of the Milani Welcome Back Colour collection (2009) which I also missed out.

While visiting the bf, we accidentally found some beauty supply stores with so many cosmetic brands that made my head spin. I tried to be good and only got some selected shades and brands lol.

KleanColor:
- What Girls Really Talk About glitter mini collection (5ml bottles), from L-R: Black Out, VIP, Kiss Goodbye, Grand Finale, 24 Carat and Peaceful Heart, $4.99 ($8.99 on KleanColor website)
- Red Crackle, Purple Crackle and Teal Crackle, $1.99 each (retail $3.99)
- Blue Satin, Peaceful Heart and Metallic White, $1.49 each (retail 3.49).

Awesome prices, aren't they? I was planning an order on KleanColor website before my trip, so glad I found them for cheaper. No sign of the awesome chunky holos yet though.

And the big brand NYX, of course.
- First row: NYX Girls Frizzy Spots, NYX Purple Ave and Blue Ave, NYX Girls Super Funk

- Second row: NYX Girls Enchanted Forest, Carnival, Under the Moon, Maven and Sea of Cortez.

The NYX Girls ranges between $1.49 - $1.99, NYX $2.99 each, better than Cherry Culture regular price points. Though I recently found Beauty Joint who sells NYX and KleanColor for cheap (I'm talking half retail price), plus they ship internationally with reasonable cost. Might place an order once I get over the high of this haul.

- Ruby Kisses HD nail polish in Mediterranean Nightsky, $2.49
- Ruby Kisses Red Romance and Baby Blue, $.99 each

- J2 Patent Leather and Steel Etto, $1.99 each.

Can't say I know much about these brands (and many more brands at these stores), certainly wanted to try them out. Lots of pretty colours, picking a few wasn't an easy job.

Those of you who live near these beauty supply stores are so lucky!

Five Below is a neat store chain that sells things for $5 or less. I couldn't miss checking out their home brand Funky Fingers. Not many selections at the store I went, only got Sand and Stilettos, Golden Coast and Cheshire, 3 for $5.

Ulta has buy 2 get 2 free deal on their home brand, I got Alter Ego, Jaded (x2) and After Party, reg. $5 each.

Also found on clearance: Ulta Bombshell $.99 and Underground $3.75.

No special offers on other nail polish brands there this month.

At Sally:
- Finger Paints Prints & Printess, on sale for $3.99. I needed a fun orange for this summer
- Finger Paints Merry Mittens, $1.99 (clearance)

- Orly Gilded Coral, $1.99 (clearance)
The girl told me she just put these shades out on the clearance shelf, guess I was there at the right time.

- China Glaze Cha Cha Cha, free with a coupon (Spend $10 get a free China Glaze nail polish). Too bad the coupon excluded crackles, otherwise, I could grab an extra crackle to add to my collection. Passed on the Sally Hansen crackles at drugstores, as they retail $6.99, not my kinda price.

Walgreens clearance sale:
- Maybelline Express Finish Timely Turquoise, Sunset Prisms and Go Go Green, $2.29 each (50% off). Found some $1 coupons on a display, so I paid $1.29 each.

- Sinful Colors Wild About Color mini set (5ml bottles), from L-R: San Francisco, Sugar Sugar, All About You, Rich in Heart and Secret Admirer, $2.50.

Can't tell you how many drugstore runs we did during this one week I was in the States. The bf did have tremendous patience to drive me places.

The CVS clearance sale started the last day I was there too. I didn't have a full list of stuff on sale, and some stores didn't have stickers up yet.

I bought:
- Sally Hansen HD (first release): Three D, Lite and Pixel Pretty, $1.75 each (75% off). Also used $1 coupons for these, so they only cost me $.75 each.
- Sally Hansen Complete Salon Lavender Cloud, $2.07 (75% off), before $1 coupon
- Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Marine Blue, $1.15 (75% off)
- Essie Coat Azure, $4.15 (50% off). Was happy with this one, never saw Essie on sale this much.

Rite Aid had sale on Petites nail polish a while back, $.99 each. This bunch was courtesy of the bf :)

From L-R: Black Diamond, Violet Frost, Fairy Pink, Twilight and Wild Plum.

My first Petites as well. Have already tried one shade (Wild Plum, btw it is a purple, not dark blue as shown in the pic). Not bad quality and application at all.

I don't think Petites is available outside US.

Dollar Tree hunts weren't very fruitful. I've gone to quite a few locations, didn't find anything exciting. Wouldn't it be fantastic if all Dollar Trees stock those precious old released nail polish that people found.

What I got for $1 each:
- Nailene DuraColour nail strips
- LA Colors Nail Art Deco in Green Glitter
- LA Colors Jewel Tone, and
- Sally Hansen Smile Brightening Lip Treatment gloss in Gleaming.

My Dollar Tree wish list was untouched, remained long :(

Last batch:
- Big Lots: Wet n Wild megalast duo, no individual name, $2. We quite enjoyed Big Lots, lots of cool stuff for cheap

- CVS: Revlon Top Speed Electric, $5.99. No discount but I got it as part of the "Spend $15 on Revlon, get $7 Extra Bucks" deal, worked out to be 50% off. This shade is a dupe for the famous Chanel Mimosa.

- Rite Aid: Wet n Wild fastdry Party of Five Glitters and Teal of Fortune, $1.99 with BOGO :)

How did you like my come back post? Exciting enough? Let me know if you are curious about any shade, I can start swatching it for you :) Have a lovely day!

If you are one who was disappointed that Sally Hansen Natural Beauty (inspired by Carmindy) is not available in Canada, head on over to Dollarma now as there is a treasure to be found.

Words on twitter was that Dollarama has a load of Sally Hansen Natural Beauty stuff for CAD2 a piece. I have no idea how they landed there, but I'm not complaining. Stocks vary among stores, as always, so I went check it out for myself.

This is what I found at the first store I went to, the one in the mall closest to me:
- Olay Regenerist Eye Makeup Remover + Anti-wrinkle Treatment (50ml, CAD1), reg. more than CAD10 full size (200ml) - you do the math :)
- Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Cream (14ml, CAD1)
These are perfect for travelling, and who can say no to Olay Regenerist at that price?

- Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Sheerest Cream Blush in Ginger and Sunrise (CAD2 each).

Yes, I found them, but there wasn't much selection at all. I wanted more, as I have been wanting to buy products from this line forever and this is like an opportunity of a life time.

At the second Dollarama, I hit the jackpot. There were a lot more shades of blushes, and there were foundations too. I dived right in, lol

- First row: Sheerest Cream Blushes in Sunrise and Ginger. I want backups of these 2, as they are the most beautiful shades.

- Second row: Sheerest Cream Blush in Sunset and Natural Powder Blush in Fawn.
There were a few more shades of the powder blushes but mostly are too dark for me.

- Your Skin Makeup Foundation in Tawny Beige and Warm Beige. No testers, so I picked them just by the look, hoping one of them would match my skin tone. The lighter shades seemed to be a little too light, but according to the website, these 2 shades are for medium to deep skin tone. I guess time will tell once I do swatches.

Carmindy is in the process of talking to a few drugstore chains here to bring her line cross the border, so we have hope :) In the mean time, get yourself some taste of the line first from Dollarama :) Do come back and tell me what you find at your store, deal?

On personal note, I had a great time at the beach on Saturday. Love sinking my feet in the silky white sand and sitting under the sun to read my book (plus contanst glancing at Squirt playing sand castle near the water). Sunday wasn't that warm and sunny, we went to the Greek fest for some lamb plates, lol. How was your weekend?