Sparkled Beauty

It was a super busy weekend with Squirt's bday party, I didn't have much time to browse around, so this is a small (but a good) haul :)

The moment I saw Lancome Star bronzer from the LE Golden Riviera collection, I had to hunt it down.

The brilliant colour placement makes the compact glow from the core, too pretty to miss.

I found it at Sears, with a GWP offer, so there gone my money. It is a good buy though, 1.5oz/ 30g, $52 compared to the regular Star bronzers selling at $47 for 0.47oz/ 13g. It is meant for both face and body, which explains the large size.

Also grabbed the (matte) Color Design 5 Shadow & Liner palette in Beige Brulee from the Hypnotic Eyes collection (also LE).

I was watching for this collection like a hawk when I heard it has 3 matte palettes. Beige Brulee swatched beautifully and there was only 1 left, I gotta do what I gotta do right? 0.14oz/ 4g for $55, not super affordable but I caved anyway.

On to the 2-day sale at Shoppers on selected Maybelline for $6.99. Most of the items are $11.99 and up regularly, incredible savings to be had.

I got some backups and a few things I wanted for a while.
- Dream Lumi Touch highlighting concealer in Buff
- Eye Studio Master Glaze in Make A Mauve
- Dream Wonder powder in Natural Beige, and
- the Elixir in Petal Plush.

There are other lines on sale too - Dream makeup, mascaras, Colour Tattoos, etc. One could definitely go crazy :) Bonus sizes and LE shades are excluded though. The sale is still on today, if you missed it yesterday.

As a bonus, I found a bunch of Quo by Orly nail polish on clearance for $5 each. Recognized some repeat shades from the Orly line at Sally, but I do want to own to Quo versions, especially glitters :)

From L-R: Star Formation, Light Years, Redshift, Mind, Smooch and Trash Glam.

Stock definitely varies among locations, but keep an eye out on the clearance corner at yours for these :)

How have you enjoyed the weather where you are?

Nothing says "Welcome to Halifax" better than a frost warning (check out the windshield cry @haligonia tweeted on the left) and near-zero temp this morning while Toronto's high for the day would be 29. Isn't Canada fascinating you guys? :)

I will announce the giveaway winners in the next few days. Didn't get a chance to verify entries yet. thank you for your understanding.

Happy President's Day/ Family Day for those who are lucky to have a day off today. I don't, plus had to deal with a mail box key issue with CanPost (I haven't been able to get into my mail box for 2 weeks), so I wasn't in the best mood :)

Did have some good retail therapy at Shoppers in the weekend though.

I caved and got 5 of the Maybelline Elixirs, on sale for $6.99 a piece. If you prefer the L'Oreal Extraordinaires, they are $8.99 (30% off) this week too.

From the 20 shade range, I picked out Signature Scarlet, Raspberry Rhapsody, Vision in Violet, Fuchsia Flourish and Hibiscus Haven.

Just what you would expect from me, right? No nude, no gentle shades, they are all bold and bright. And no, they aren't just summer shades for me, as I would wear them year round :)

I don't know if you guys need any swatches, as my bloggers have done that now, but if you do, let me know.

On to Physicians Formula. I have been patiently waiting for a 40% off sale to try their new Nude Wear stuff.

You probably all know that PF products aren't cheap in Canada, even with 40% off, they are still in the $10 - $15 range. But, there are items with rebate stickers, and that would bring the cost way down.

I got the Nude Wear Glowing Nude blush in Natural and Glowing Nude bronzer in Light. After rebates, they are between $2 - $4. So yeah, make sure you pay attention to those pink stickers :)

And then, there is the nail polish clearance section!

I was glad to find some shades from Nicole by OPI Gumdrops (texture) collection for $4 each. I overlooked it the first time and I couldn't risk missing them again.

I bought That's What I Mint, I Lilac Gumdrops, My Cherry Amour and Cinna-man of my Dreams.

That's What I Mint (and a yellow called Lemon Lolly) was not part of the original release of the collection, glad I found it.

If you missed the $20 Petro card promo in the weekend, there is a coupon for Tuesday and Wednesday: x20 points with $50 purchase or 20% off regular priced items (excluding prestige cosmetics and fragrances).

To end the post, thought I would share this little picture, tweeted by @evilpez4. No, that wasn't Santa lol, just someone snowblowed on his roof :) That's the Maritimes/ Canada for ya.

Wet snow froze over night on Saturday and turned everything into ice blankets. Squirt could actually slide down our driveway on her knees without breaking the snow surface.

We stayed in on Sunday, while I tried to work on organizing my makeup room. Still don't know to put everything, I have too much. I need an IKEA in my backyard to get this room in order :)

Have a good week, and Canadians, go roll up some Timmy's rims today!

So we went out for our first shopping trip this Boxing week, I was glad the mall was not a mad house.

My regular Shoppers "shrine" did not disappoint with great clearance sale. Note that not all locations offer the same sales as I did go to more than 1 Shoppers to check.

The first lucky score was this Quo by Orly Holiday gel kit with lamp, half price, reg. $99, valued $115, with a cleanser, a primer, base + top coat, a gel nail colour in Burning Love and the LED lamp.

I have been curious about gel manis, was eyeing this set for a while, excited to find it on clearance. The other gel kit with the pink lamp was also on sale but it cost a bit more (reg. $110), if you want it.

And then, the big items from Quo Christmas 2013 collection, on half price:

- On the Go beauty set (lower left corner), reg. $60. It reminds me of the Tarte of Giving Collector's set - a travel makeup bag with an eyeshadow palette, lip products, etc.
- Master brush set (in the background), reg. $60 with powder brush, blush brush, foundation brush, concealer brush, lip brush, liner/ brow brush, crease blender brush, all over shadow brush, definer shadow brush and shadow smudger brush, plus a cute black/ gold bag
- Stained Glass beauty set (the larger round compact in the lower right corner) with 16 eyeshadows and 4 face powders, reg. $35
- Back to Basic palette (up top), reg. $25. A giveaway might or might not in the work for this :)
- Deluxe bronzer (the smaller compact), reg. $20 with shimmery strips of colours running across
- Shimmer puff (upper right corner), reg. 20. I bought this as it was super cute with the gold metal bow on the lid, I didn't even know how it looked inside as it was sealed :)

If you haven't headed out to Shoppers yet, go today for x20 points with $50 purchase using this coupon.

At Lawtons, I got this Marcelle BB cream holiday gift set in Light to Medium, also for 50% off, reg. $49.95, valued $83.80. Comes with a black quilted bag, BB cleanser (200ml), BB cream-to-powder (7.5g), BB cream (45ml) and BB Roll-on concealer (2.8g).

There were other skin care holiday sets from Marcelle as well, if you need to stock up. These gift sets are always of good value to start with, now that they are on sale, it is the best time to grab them.

I couldn't make it to my favorite Lawtons location yet, so no report on nail polish on clearance, unfortunately.

Sally was doing extra 50% off clearance, and I had to renew my Sally card, so I went. Found a few Finger Paints shades for cheap.

The shades, from L-R: Sparkle top coat, Hue Brighten my Day, Enchanted Winter, Spell Binding and Sketch-y, $1.25 - $1.75 each after discount. The gel colours: Good Golly Miss Holly, New Year's Kiss, Splash of Bubbly and Snow Globe Shimmer, $3 each.

In the background is the free wallet clutch I got with purchase of 3 Finger Paints nail polish. The hot pink with black tone is hot!

From Sephora, I had ordered a few things online with the Sale-on-Sale code for some Sephora palettes and the Make Up For Ever Ultimate eyeliner collection (yes, that huge set with 7 Aqua Eyes, 3 Kohl liners and 4 Aqua liners, all full sized). Couldn't justify full price for these but when they showed up on the sale page and extra 20%, I grabbed them quick :)

From the store, I only got the Sephora 12hr wear waterproof contour eye pencil set for $13 - with Black Lace, Diamonds are Forever, Tiramisu and Sailor Suit, all full sized. I remembered seeing it on sale online more than this price and didn't get it then. Now seeing it in person with that holographic glow from the background, I wanted it :)

Clothing wise, I made my regular trip to La Senza to stock up on undies (10/$30) and sleepwear. Also found some cozy flannel and fleece PJs at Joe Fresh for $10 each and a legit hot pink Hello Kitty onesie (footie, to be exact) at Winners for $23 (down from $29.99, comparable at $60). Girls' PJs sold out a lot faster, so Squirt didn't find any but got some cute tops to make up for it.

Winners is also running a sale on active wear, many workout tops and capris were on sale for $22 or less, good style and colour selections at my location. I had a really hard time deciding which ones to leave behind.

The makeup section at Winners was not that exciting. Other than NARS, Clarins, Smashbox items and individual Real Techniques brushes I saw before, a few Anna Sui and Becca makeup pieces arrived. But anything that was not locked in plastic cases was swatched, I am upset every time!

I got a Sibu purifying mask ($12.99, comparable at $30) and hydrating serum ($12.99, comparable at $40), Sue Devitt Day & Night Neutrals eye, lip & cheek palette ($7.99, comparable at $25) and Nubar nail polish in Pink Dot and Sour Candy, $5.99 each, comparable at $8.

Have you found anything good lately?

Claire's had 10/$10, a few special effect and multi-layered nail polish were there. I got Pop Art and Graffiti (Splatter collection), and Surfs Up (4 layers, mango scented). I included a few other small things as an accent for the pic lol.

I still haven't got to the very first Forever 21 in town (opened during my time away), BBW and the Bay, etc. so the hauls aren't inclusive yet. Had a few online orders on the way, stuff for the house, nothing exciting.

Jetlag is still killing me, only the exciment of shopping keeps me awake a little, then I am not sleepy before midnight. Diet is also another thing that bothers me. I ate so well back home, great home cooked meals and street food, fresh fruits, sea food, etc. I gained a few pounds but it was worth it. It is tough to figure out what to cook now :)

The hauls are back :) I did a bit of shopping last week, have some new fun makeup for you today.

I was excited to find The Body Shop Colour Crush lipsticks. Quite a range of colours and finishes, some even have stain power.

I got 201 Red Hot Raspberry (pearlescent finish), 240 Damson in Distress (matte) and 301 Drive Me Nuts (sparkly), reg. $13. I included the numbers for easy reference, because the tubes only show the numbers, not the names. You have to refer to the receipt or online to get the names.

Pairing the B2G1F sale, a coupon and LYB discount, I paid less than $5 each. Not bad at all! The coupon at the bottom at the receipt is $15 off $40, good until the end of the month, FYI.

And if you like their Extra Virgin Mineral foundations, selected shades are being discontinued, cleared out for 3/$10.

I got the lightest shade in the discontinued range, 302 Golden Beige, in both cream and liquid form.

I added the Dazzling Rocks to get the deal, only shade 1 Golden Copper was available at my store. I forgot to take the lid of before taking the pic, but it's basically a mix of bronze and gold little rocks with shimmers, meant to be used on the face and body. Nice to have for that price.

This is a tiny little haul is from Lawtons, one of the rare occasions that I can run in quickly to check for new displays and sales. I don't live near a Lawtons anymore, you see?

Sinful Colors is on sale for $1.99, including the latest Leather Luxe collection. The only shade I wanted is Leather Loose, surprisingly was not sold out already.

Revlon lip products are 50% off this week. I went for a Super Lustrous gloss in Kiss Me Coral, only $4.74.

Superstore here had tax free on Saturday, I couldn't help grabbing a few things.

Maybelline Baby Lips were $3.97 each, I wanted Pink Shock and Berry Bomb from the Electro collection. Love the packaging.

Joe Fresh Fall 2013 nail polish are in, noticeable with the orange "New cap" stickers (not new shape, just new curvy ridges underneath the cap). They are 4/$10 until October 3 (reg. $4 each or 3/$10).

The 2 shades in the middle are duochrome-looking - Copper and Quartz. Not particularly unique but I wanted to try anyway.

The other 2 are Ultra Violet and Aqua. I also found Peacock with the same orange sticker, I'd assume they brought it back with the new cap because it was popular.

My local Shoppers Beauty Boutique carries Shiseido, so I redeemed some points in the Super Redemption event for a Perfect Rouge lipstick in RS320 Fuchsia, $30.

This shade has been talked about a lot on YT. I do like how creamy it was on my hand when swatched, and the colour (hot pink/ fuchsia) is definitely easy to sell, at least to me :)

Also got a Perfect Prep kit with the Refining primer and the Perfect foundation brush, $40 (valued $73). Can't say I tried any Shiseido makeup or brushes before, so I'm excited.

I had some Almay coupons and the Color + Care liquid lip balms were on sale for $6.99 at the time. I swatched them all, trying to find ones with better pigmentation (they are sheer). Ended up with Lilac Love and Apple a Day. One is purple (enough said) and one is red (more unique than the pinks and nudes).

Also wanted to check out the new Essence Stays No Matter What eyepencil & shadows. The line has 6 shades, and I heard good things. Went for Powerful Purple, $2.99. If they can get purple eyeshadows right, the other shades would be piece of cake. We'll see.

I went looking for the new Hard Candy nail polish at Walmart. Glad to see that they update the line. 9 new shades are a good reminder to attract us back to the display, don't you think?

The first two are Pop Rocker and Jaw Breaker from the Candy Sprinkles collection, $3.98 each. The other 2 new shades of this line (Sweet Tart and Candy Coated) are just the pale pink and blue versions of Jaw Breaker. The glitter combinations might be slightly different, but I don't think I need all 4.

The third polish I got is Emerald's Eve from the Crystal Confetti, quite glowy and fun.

Their Top Ten eyeshadow collections got mixed reviews but it seems Green with Envy is the best among the 5 colour options. For $5.98, I decided to try it out for myself. If you tried it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Anything you want to see a review on?

So July was done, I was so busy getting the apartment cleaned out to finish the lease, didn't get around drugstores very much until this (long) weekend.

At Lawtons, I found some 50% off red tags:
- Marcelle BB trial kit (reg. $16.95) in Medium to Dark with BB cleanser (30ml), BB cream (15ml) and BB cream to powder (4g). Also available in Light to Medium, selections vary by stores
I don't need any trial to this line but the minis are great for travelling, I wouldn't mind to stock up on these.

- Marcelle Jelly Cheek Flush blushes in Rosy Tint and Flushed Coral (reg. $16.95)
Was lucky to find a display that was not fully picked over. I heard good things about them, couldn't wait to test them out.

More red tags - Milani (LE) Shadow Eyez eyeshadow pencils in Black Ink, Espresso Line, Cafe au Lait, Almond Cream and Sand Dunes (reg. $8.99).

I was really excited to see the display at Lawtons a while back but tried to hold off on these. However, they are LE, with 4 neutral matte shades (the first 4 shades in the pic) and now are cleared out, I certainly didn't want to miss out.

Sand Dunes has metallic finish but is a versatile shade to wear all the time, so I grabbed it too. Passed on the darker bronze (metallic) shade called Golden Bronze.

Last week, Shoppers had L'Oreal Youth Code skin care for $19.99, including the new Texture Perfector line. I got the serum and Day/ Night cream with beautiful pink and silver packaging. The line is supposed to help with the look of pores, fine lines and uneven skin tone. Let's hope eh?

On the far left is the L'Oreal Colour Riche eyeshadow quad in Cupa Joe, on sale then for $8.99. All matte shades, being dupes of MAC eyeshadows (Wedge, Vanilla, Omega and Charcoal Brown), that's a small price to pay right?

At Winners, I was over the moon to find 2 cute bags on clearance - Steve Madden Bidoll $36 (comparable at $128) and MMS Design Studio circle studded satchel $20 (comparable at $70).

Also bought a cute pair of oven mitts with a "Born to shop, Forced to cook" print, so me lol.

From Claire's Splatter nail polish line, I got Flashing Lights and Paparazzi, reg. $8 (15ml), BOGO1/2 (i.e. $6 each when you buy 2). Considering the Hard Candy nail polish (7.8ml for $4), these are better bargains.

There are about 7-8 shades in the line, I'm hoping for more. Claire's also has about 3 shades in the Sand (texture) line, great to see them catching up with indie trends.

Note that 10 for $10 sale is on at Claire's (at least it was in the weekend), and there is a bonus buck promo - when you spend $20 now until August 24, you'll get a bonus buck card to get $10 off a purchase of $20 or more between August 25 - September 15.

And lastly, if you didn't see my tweet already, Wet n Wild Pop Art Craze collection has arrived at Lawtons. The eyeshadow trios are $3.99 each, and there are nail polish too.

The hauls are back this week, some good deals needed to be shared lol.

The Super Redemption event at Shoppers was impossible to resist (if you have enough points). Make the best out of my Optimum points is the ultimate goal :)

Thought I deserved a treat to ease the stress of house hunting and buying, I got some high end items. Not something I normally spend my cash on, but with  points, I didn't feel too bad about it.

- DiorSkin Ultra Shimmering All over Face powder in Amber Diamond. I am probably the last blogger to own this
- DiorSkin Nude Tan Paradise duo - Iridescent blush & bronzing powder in Pink Glow, with a kabuki brush. I think Coral Glow is more pigmented but they were sold out
 - Clarins Splendour Summer bronzing compact.

Aren't they just too beautiful to look at? It is going to be really hard to put a brush on any of them.

Also got my fix of Maybelline Colour Tattoo pigments, reg. $8.99.

First row: Barely Brazen and Breaking Bronze
Second row: Black Mystery, Brash Blue and Potent Purple.

At this location, there was a sale tag on the display ($4.99) but they scanned regular priced. The supervisor agreed to give me the sale price, so I scored on these, but keep in mind that your store might not have them for the same price.

I know not everyone is a fan of loose pigments, but if you are interested in swatches, let me know.

And then, the mascara madness with lots of pink :)

- Maybelline the Rocket mascara was on sale for $4.99, and the Falsies Big Eyes mascara was $5.99, so why not? I went for the waterproof version on both.

- Essence I ♥ Extreme Crazy Volume mascara, $4.99 (reg. price)

- Annabelle Le Big Show mascara, with bonus Kohl liner, on clearance for $5.99. I don't need another liner, but I do need a replacement of my Le Big Show :)

No signs of the Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coats and Sugar Coats in all locations near me but I did see the new display of Revlon Super Lustrous Shine lipsticks and the Super Lustrous glosses with new round tube, around $10 each. I heard these are sheer but wear comfortably on the lips, will wait for a good sale.

Lawtons is running a NYX super sale - 75% off selected items. Selections vary among stores, so I suggest browsing around for choices.

I went for the eyeshadows first. Selected singles (reg. $6.99) and palettes (reg. $14.99) have red tags on (which I removed to take pic).

Even better, the singles are B2G1F this week (including sale items), which comes out to be $1.17 a pop if you buy 3.

I got Volcano (MAC Mulch dupe), Deep Purple and Prune (MAC Hepcat dupe) and a few more as gifts for friends.

The Smokey Eyes palette was one of the 4 available, all on sale. The trios did not strike my fancy, so I passed.

The prices on the red tags were from the first round of discount (50%) but they did scan half of those, so don't worry if your store did not have a sign about the 75% off sale.

Can't remember if I tried a NYX blush (reg. $9.99) before, but after some swatching, I ended up not being able to put back many.

Only one cream blush with red tag, Tea Rose.
I went for some odd colour with the powder blushes, Cafe (first row), Red (yeah, like a crazy red colour) and Cocoa (as a contour/ bronzer shade).

Some pinks and mauves are also on sale. The shelf does offer testers and products have seals on them.

Not pictured, but Revlon Lash Potion is 40% off this week (reg. $9.99), I picked one up too :)

I also made a mad dash to Sephora website to order the Ariel palette (available to BIs only at the moment), CAD66. Love an early access to something that isn't supposed to come out until next month. I resisted Cinderella and Jasmine, but the aqua packaging and the colours this palette has is just too cool to pass up. Plus I heard this is the last princess that Sephora makes a collection with, so I caved.

What you have been up to, shopping wise? Do share :)

Don't worry, it's a quick post today, not a long one like last week's :)

Stocked up on some essentials at The Body Shop's 5/$50 sale. I got the Extra Virgin Minerals liquid foundation x 2 (reg. $25), Wise Woman Vitality serum ($36), Spa Fit Firming & Toning gel cream massager ($30) and a Honey bronzing powder ($20). After the $15 off $40 coupon and my LYB discount, I paid $31.50.

Went to Shoppers for their x20 point event and 40% off Garnier sale on Saturday with some coupons I saved from a previous display. I got:

 - From the Pure Control line: Targeted Anti-spot Tinted corrector and Targeted Acne Gel treatment, reg. $14.99 each

- From the new Ultra-Lift line: Targeted Line Smoother (Tightener + Cream) and 2-in-1 Wrinkle Reducer (Serum + Moisturizer), reg $24.99 each.

If you missed out on x20 points, there's a coupon for $10 off $50 tomorrow. Also found a $10 off $50 coupon on today's Metro (Halifax) newspaper, good until Friday.

L'Oreal Miss Pop collection (LE, renamed from Miss Candy collection in the US) has arrived at Lawtons.

The gellies nail polish are $6.99, not on sale, but I was excited to grab 3 of the 6 shades. Regret to say, the Infallible eyeshadows did not make it to this display. Unless there is a separate one for them later, Canadians will have to settle with an incomplete LE collection.

A comparison between Miss Pop and Miss Candy collection:
- 6 vs. 8 gellies nail polish. We missed out on the yellow and deep purple shades
- 2 vs. 4 Le Gloss glosses. 1 colour was gone from the display already, so I can only confirm the orange shade
- 0 vs. 4 Infallible eyeshadows!!! FYI, the colours available in the US are Cherie Merie, With a Twist, Dive Right In and Strawberry Blonde
- 2 vs. 3 Nail Lingerie nail strips.

Bath & Body Works had a $20 off $50 coupon on FB for the weekend (better than the regular $10 off $30 on their receipts), so I bought a few things.

The 3-wick candles were 2/$30.50, I bought Espresso Bar and Lemoncello from the La Dolce Vita collection. BBW did a really good job in capturing the scents in these.

Not pictured, but the fragrance mists were on sale at $8 (reg. $14.50) and B3G2F sale. I got:
- Rio Rumberry (x2), Bali Mango, Aruba Coconut (from the Island Paradise collection, available every year), and
- Capri Seaside Citrus (from the Italy collection).

I only paid $34.50 for 7 items :) A note, prices of most items at BBW (Canada) will go up by 50 cents today, the SA told me. Not a huge increase, but it was good to know.

Also found some fun spring clothing items at Winners. No new makeup/ nail polish to report, except for a lonely Smashbox Be Legendary lipstick in Black Plum for $8.99 (reg retail $22). Now we know that besides eye palettes and blushes I posted about in the last Weekend finds, there are lipsticks :)

The sun continues to hang out in the sky in the last few days, I feel blessed. Almost forgot how beautiful Halifax is in the sun until I saw some pictures on twitter under hashtag #omgthesun lol. Have a great week, everyone!

Grab some snacks, everyone. This is a long collective post of stuff I found in the last two or more weeks :)

This is my new love from the Bay. A good sized (if not large) Trapeze handbag, mint, studded, with a bow and on sale, enough said? This is Material Girl Romp bag in Mint, reg. $60, 30% off right now.

It was love at first sight and I took it straight to the cashier, not even thinking twice. Unfortunately, both versions of this bag (mint and white) went out of stock within a week, online and at my store. I am not sure when or if they would be back. Sorry if I enabled you with a hard to find item.

I have been wanting Lancome La Vie est Belle perfume (reg. $95 for 50ml) for a while, was happy to find the Spring gift set for $99 with:
- La Vie est Belle EDP spray (50ml)
- Body lotion (50ml)
- Shower gel (50ml) and
- Mini Hypnose Star mascara (2ml).

My pictures did not turn out well with the flash glare, so this is a stock pic which shows the items better.

There is another set called La Vie est Belle Hearts collection, with a mini EDP (5ml) instead of the shower gel and the mini mascara, same price. Both sets are LE, I heard.

And the GWP I chose:
- Bienfait Multi Vital SPF30 (15g)
- Color Design eyeshadow and liner palette in Mauve Cherie (not included in the pic, sorry)
- Blush Subtil powder blush in Brilliant Berry
- Absolue Rouge lipstick in Exotic Orchid
- Visionnaire LR 2412 4% Advanced skin corrector (7ml)
- Bi-Facil makeup remover (50ml)
- Hypnose Star mascara in Noir Midnight (4ml) and
- Polka dot cosmetic bag.
Also not pictured were the 3 bonus Juicy Tube glosses as I spent over $85.

Moving on to Sears with another GWP.

This is Estee Lauder Double Wear makeup lesson kit ($49.50, valued over $70) with:
- Double Wear Light Stay-in-Place foundation (30ml) - my shade is 2, the range is from 1 to 6
- Double Wear Stay-in-Place Flawless Wear concealer in Light Medium (1.9ml)
- Matte Perfecting primer (15ml)
- Foundation brush, and
- Advanced Night Repair Eye Synchronized Complex sample (0.5ml).

Considering the foundation itself sells for $42.50, I'd say this is an awesome score. I missed this set last time when Estee Lauder ran the promotion, not again this time :)

Also bought the Pure Color blush in The Siren, $32 to take advantage of the bonus gift and the $25 coupon (see below). An intense looking blush, sorry I forgot to take a pic of it opened :)

Now the gifts:
- Eyeshadow quad with Sugar Cube Satin, Amazing Grey Shimmer, Amethyst Spark Shimmer and Lavish Mink Matte, with Lilly Pulitzer print on the packaging
- Pure Color Crystal lipstick in Rose Petal
- DayWear Advanced Multi-protection creme SPF15 (15ml)
- Advanced Night Repair (7ml)
- Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume mascara in Extreme Black (2.8ml)
- Sensuous Nude Body veil (30ml), and
- Lilly Pulitzer cosmetic bag.

I'm happy that I now own something with Lily Pulitzer prints.

And more prints in the Deluxe gift, lots of pinks:
- Pure Color lipstick in Rubellite
- Double-ended Pure Color gloss in Mod Poppy and Shocking Pink
- Pure Color nail polish in Berry Hot (5ml) and
- Nail file with same Lilly Pulitzer print.

The $25 off $100 coupon was a bonus promo, I'm not sure if it's still on. Not redeemable on cosmetics and fragrances, so it was used on some swimsuits for Squirt and my niece (30% off), earrings on clearance (B2G2F) and an Attitude (by Jay Manuel) structured satchel in black and red (35% off) for me.

Yes, it resembles the famous designer bag that almost every fashion blogger owns one or several, just a lot smaller, fits my petite size :)

At Lawtons, I found Marcelle (LE) Nutrilux body line on 75% off. Only 3 products left:
- Supreme nourishing hand cream (75ml), reg. $10.96
- Supreme silky body lotion (300ml), reg. $16.96
- Supreme SOS replenishing butter (50ml), reg. $12.96.

I could not find the Supreme repair lip balm, which I heard good things about. Marcelle skin care products agree with my skin, so I'm excited to try this line out. If you tried it, let me know what you think.

I found the (untouched) Essence Vintage District display at Shoppers two weeks ago, just by luck. Surprisingly, I feel hard for the makeup and not the nail polish.

What I grabbed:
- Eyeshadows in I'm So Retro and Shopping @ Portobello Road, CAD2.49 each
- Blush in It's Popul-Art, CAD3.49
- Duo lipstick and gloss in Vintage Peach, CAD3.49
- Gel eyeliner set (the gel liner and mini brush) in Shopping @ Portobello Road, CAD3.99.

Note that Canada did not get the full collection (there is a red lipstick and gloss duo, a grey gel liner and maybe 2 more nail polish colours), but I'm happy with what I got. The blush is definitely a must have.

More items on sale at Shoppers this week:
- Neostrata Treat Yourself to Flawless Complexion set, reg. $72 (valued $109.50), 30% off.

The set includes a full sized Neostrata Intense Skin Brightener and 3 mini bonus gifts: a gel cleanser, a Night Repair cream and a jar of Vitamin C Concentrate capsules.

The box is super cute, with a white satin bow on top. There are two other sets with different main products, if you are looking for a treat to yourself or your mom this coming Mother's Day :)

- Gosh Waterproof Velvet Touch eyeliner in Ice Blue, on clearance for $3. I got it to compare with Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl liner in Light Blue since they are both light baby blue liners for the waterline.

- L'Oreal Caresse Wet Shine stain in Pink Rebellion, CAD6.99 right now.

On to the finds in Toronto. From a meet-up with some blogger friends, I received two The Balm palettes - Balm-jovi and Nude Tude CP'ed by Rasilla during Rexall's BOGO sale a while back. I'm so excited.

Jillojello found some nail polish on clearance at her Shoppers and picked some up for me - Maybelline Color Show, Quo spring (LE) shades, even a Cover Girl Outlast, only $1 each.

Note that these shades are still on full price at other SDMs last time I checked, so don't run out to find them for cheap just yet, but keep an eye on the display :)

Rasilla also brought me a gift of the two holo nail polish and the sparkly black bow hair clip on the left. The rest were part of the bunch of goodies ettuandyou brought in for us to fight over lol. All around, it was a lot of fun chit chatting over beauty products and good food.

I also met my blogger friends over at My Numerous Diversions and Swatch and Learn for some Thai food and a 3-hour shopping walk for nail polish, fragrances and everything else. I was holding off and not getting anything, but that success did not last. See below what I brought home with me :)

I wandered into a Winners near my hotel and found a bunch of Smashbox makeup. I assume this was a new batch cause I can't recall seeing them at my location before.

I grabbed the Studio Pop eye palette from the 2012 Holiday collection ($19.99, reg. $56) and a Blush Rush in Gingersnap ($9.99, reg. $29).

Also saw the Photo Op Eye Enhancing palette ($14.99, reg. $44) and some liquid bronzer/ highlighter, but I passed. There were some Givenchy makeup too, from $25 and up. A quick check at my local Winners here did not yield the same result, unfortunately.

Found a Shoppers Beauty Boutique near there too, I grabbed Annabelle i-Tranformer (with bonus Studio Pigment) on clearance for $3 each (reg. $10, not including the pigments). Again, my local Shoppers did not even have these on the shelf.

And finally, a shout-out to Dixie Outlet mall. Awesome bargains I found.

Example: The Dynamite store had a "Almost Perfect" section for items with missing buttons or broken zippers. I paid $17.50 for a $60 blazer and $7 for a $40 pair of pants (which are currently on sale for $35 and $22 at regular Dynamite). I just had to sew the backup buttons back on, which I did not mind doing for the price.

Another example: Clearance handbags at the Aldo store there were extra 30% off and selected styles of bags and shoes were up to 50% off. So general conclusion: when there is an outlet mall, go! :)

We'll end this post with some eye candy who is also a do-gooder :) Don't you want to own one of those products with his autograph?

Yes, you guessed it. The biggest part of my weekend haul is Hard Candy :)

My most lemming (but not the only one) the moment I saw detailed pictures of the release was the Candy Sprinkles collection - picture from Body and Soul Beauty.

My Walmart was a little late getting the new products in, which caused me a few stalking trips around town. But it was a good thing in the sense that I could see swatches of the colours before buying. For that reason, I was successful in narrowing down to only a few shades.

I held my breath when I saw the display, silently grabbed 5 bottles then exhaled lol.

From L-R:
- Gummy Green and Sweet Tooth (Candy Sprinkles collection)
- Jubilee and Celebrate Sequins (Crystal Confetti collection) - Black Tie Optional was sold out or I would have got it too.
Yes, I knew about the bar glitters in Jubilee curling up but I couldn't help it. It was pretty and different
- Crush on Amethyst (Crushed Chromes collection).

The nail polish are CAD3.98 a piece.

Other Hard Candy products I picked up:
- All Lid Up cream eyeshadow in Purple Heart, CAD5.98
- All Glossed Up lip crayon in Love Bite, CAD4.98, and
- Shadow Dancer liquid to powder eyeshadow in Night & Day, CAD5.98.

And if you missed my note in the flyer deal post, Walmart now carries Pure Ice nail polish. I found them in an end cap display, CAD1.97 a pop.

The two shades I got are glitters, of course - Look My Way and Come Closer. Lol the names together sound like an invitation, don't they?

My main reason to go to Shoppers this weekend was the $3.99 deal on Rimmel (selected) eye and lip products.

I wanted more lipsticks from the Kate line, which turned out to be not part of the sale (only the regular Lasting Finish lipsticks are). I was just lucky because a wrong sale price sticker was put at the Kate section, and the cash had to honour it.

I bought #06 and 09 from the regular Kate line, #104 and 107 from the matte Kate line, reg. $7.99 each. I'm digging the red packaging, not that the black doesn't look great itself.

Other things on sale:
- Gosh nail polish in Girls on Film. My location seems to clear out all Gosh nail polish they have at CAD3 a pop (reg. $7). Only found one shade I liked
- Nivea lip butter in Vanilla & Macadamia, CAD2.49 this week. Canada unfortunately only gets this scent and the regular scent, not 4 like in the US, and they took a while to show up on the shelf too
- Peptalash, reg. CAD24.99 on sale for $19.99. The product got some good reviews on beauty blogs. Would this help my sad lashes? We'll see.

I have been to several Lawtons to hunt for this display, thanks to the tip of a lovely reader. It is Revlon Pacific Coast collection, which have the four new shades of lip butters that Revlon Canada confirmed we'll get.

The status of the display proves that the lip butters are for sure the heart of this collection. Only four items per shade, so if you find the display, jump on it. I don't know if the shades will become permanent after this display is gone.

Only bought Wild Watermelon and Sorbet (the two brighter shades), I tried to be good. Revlon is 20% off this week at Lawtons, so I paid $7.60 each (reg. $9.50).

Only one slot each for the baby sticks, but they offer minimal colour payoff, so I wasn't terribly sad that one was already gone. The nail polish and eyeshadow quads can wait.

I'm sorry for those who don't have a Lawtons. My hope is the display will show up at Shoppers and Walmart soon. Shoppers is offering the 25% off coupon on regular priced items tomorrow, but you have to spend $50. Otherwise, we'll count on weekend promos at Shoppers or lower retail price at Walmart.