Sparkled Beauty

With the amount of semi annual sales (SAS) going on right now, one could go mad hunting down deals. I missed the one-day good sale at SDM on Saturday but managed to a few others.

The most anticipated SAS is probably Bath & Body Work's - for long-gone or sold-out scents making a comeback.

The sale strategy is definitely working and I have gone back 3 times already :) Things are gradually put out during the sale, and offers change up almost everyday!

I grabbed a few candle holders and soap sleeves 50% off to decorate my pretties. Candles were $12.50 each (did go down to $10.50 for one day last Saturday), I got more than 1 but Gelato is here to represent lol.

If you are still looking for Raspberry Peach Macaroon or Red Velvet Cupcake, not all hope is lost as I still saw a few (either 3 wicks or Mason jars).

Stocks in the 75% off bin were really random and changed up very fast. I got:
- Morocco Orchid & Pink Amber Shimmer Fizz body mousse
- Forever Red shimmer mist
- Citrus Orchid Chill shimmer cooling mist and
- Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin whipped shimmer body cream.

See a theme here guys? I'm gonna be a sparkly SB this summer lol.

For home scents, I got a plug and a refill in Spiced Cider also 75% off. I don't have good luck with these (they stopped working after a month or two) so I didn't stock up.

Hand soaps were 3/$10 or $4 each ($2.50 with the old bottle design), or $8 for mason jars. If you plan to hit the sale, check their FB for coupons or special deals.

The Body Shop also lined up some good clearance as mentioned in this week's flyer deal post.

I was sad to see a few favorite scents go but had stocked up quite well before, so I didn't this time. Follow the link above to see if your favs are discontinued too.

Only got a Baked to Last blush in 02 Coral $2 (reg. $18) and a pair of exfoliating bath gloves $1 (reg. $5). Heard that the tiny beads in bath products are bad for the environment, so I am slowly switching to manual exfoliation.

Victoria's Secret sale was not as impressive as La Senza's so I only went for their makeup - 50% off. Since they are not going to sell makeup anymore, I guess this is the time to get some.

The big items:
- Glam and Go portable makeup palette with 1 compact and 4 clip-in palettes, reg. $30
- Midnight Jewels palette with 10 eyeshadows, 1 eyeliner and 1 dual-ended eyeshadow brush, reg. $30.

And more :)

I chose 4 bright Color Drama lipsticks - Shiver, Excessive, Stolen Kiss and Initiate, reg. $18 each. There were a few in nude colour family but I wasn't sure if they would show up on me, so I passed.

Also got a baked mineral bronzing powder in Glitterati (which I heard is a dupe of MAC Gold Deposit MSF), reg. $20 and a Luminous mineral blush duo in At Last (deep pink), reg. 18.

There were no other bronzer and blush shades at my location but I'm glad these two work for me.

Not a SAS but the sale at Sephora was equally good. The Pantone Universe (Radiant Orchid) collection was finally put on sale.

The eyeshadow palette was already sold out online and in my store, so I got the Face Radiant Femme Artistry set $49 (reg. $74) and the Cheek Sweep blush palette $19 (some odd luck my store had 1 left, reg. $).

If you are a VIB Rouge, with $50 purchase, you'll get this free Buxom Haute Pink Lips gift with 3 mini deluxe samples of new summer shades:
- Full-on lip polish in Nicole
- Full-bodied lip gloss in Sweet Thing
- Full-bodied lipstick in Mistress.

The Formula X line also has the sets and a few single shades on clearance.

I bought the Twenty-Two set for $33. There were a few single shades put on sale too but my store did not have those I wanted and I hate ordering online now that they charge customs and duties.

Not on sale but I caved because they were hot :) Sephora Escape to Rio Rouge cream lipstick in Hot Bikini $15.50 and Luster matte long wear lip colour in Mulberry Luster $20.

What have you picked up lately? :)

The very first thing I wanted to do when I got back to Halifax was to check out my Sally. It might sound silly to some of you, but I had a mission to hunt down China Glaze Dorothy Who?, as the whole Wizard collection is disappearing at Sally stores. I was lucky to get 3 bottles from it (see the previous Boxing Week haul post) but missing the most pretty shade.

And I was jumping in joy when I saw the little blue bottle on the display of the collection at my Sally. It was the only Dorothy Who? left there, and it was mine. Omg!!!

The rest of the haul was from the clearance table. My Sally had BOGO on discounted items, and I had the first $5 coupon to use, so I got:
- Biolinks Firming Creme Masks (CAD5.59 for the 2) - don't know this stuff is any good :-)
- 2 nail file & buff blocks (CAD.59)
- Savvy Scarlet - a beautiful red (CAD2.79)
- Finger Paints Caramel Cape and Cobalt Cardigan (CAD4.99 for 2)
- Palladio herbal blush in Cappuccino and Wine (CAD5.29 for 2), herbal shadow in Raisin (plum) and Black Onyx (shimmery black), CAD4.19.

Another stop at the mall for Claire's. They had gift items for 75% off but the area was almost picked over. The 10 for $10 corner, however, got my attention, as I spotted nail polishes for me and Christmas items for Squirt.

The colours were very pretty, either shimmery or glittery. Just my kind of polish! Especially when they were only CAD1 each (reg. CAD5). Don't understand why they ended up in the clearance bin :-)

First row, from L-R: Yel (blue with holo micro glitters), Lime Shine (green with gold micro glitters), Meg Peg (purple with silver micro glitters) and Rock (purple giltters in clear base)

Second row: Flame (hot pink with micro silver glitters), Crush (orange with multi-coloured glitters) and Briar Rose (shimmery magenta).

Yesterday I went to a La Senza that had huge selections of sale items (the 10 for $30 panties, $19.99 push-up bras, $16.50-19.50 sleepwear, etc.) and was very "obliged" to get a few things, lol. Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush and Secret Garden items were 10 for $30 too and makeup 5 for $10, but selection wasn't that great, so I passed. Today, the store in the mall had more items to choose from, and some bottles of Honey-do, Appletini, Love Spell, etc. went home with me.

Remember the news about Victoria's Secret is coming to Canada that I blogged about last September? The lady told me we'll be having a VS store around here soon, and therefore La Senza is clearing out VS products, hence the best sale price I have seen on these items. I don't know whether the price is going to get any lower, but selection will be limited for sure. Not knowing what the new VS store will offer, I stocked up, just to be safe.

Hope the first day back to work or school isn't treating everyone too badly :-) I was flooded with emails at work but made it through the day ok.

We started the day very early yesterday at the mall. I wanted the door crasher deal at Old Navy ($1 fleece scarves) and the bf wanted to be one of the first 100 families to show up at Toys R Us to win their gift cards. You still have a chance to go today, they are giving away gift cards between $5 and $50 to celebrate their 25th birthday.

When at the mall, I saw a little sign "5 for $10" at La Senza at the makeup area, and had to check it out.

So excited to find out La Senza has some Victoria's Secret's Wet/ Dry shadows now. From the 6 shades available, I already have 4 (Bronzinger, Plum Crazy, Violet Femme and Gold Rush), so I got the other 2: Hot Ginger and Flower Girl.

Also found their new Glossy Shine Sticks with 3 available shades. The names on VS website don't match what La Senza had though, I don't know why. I got 2 Mango Tango and 1 Colada Love. They smell good! Blame this purchase on The Muse's review as she said they are good :-)

With Prestige card, the items came out CAD1.80 each. I was so happy to own these. Check your La Senza to see if they have the same deal.

The Cetaphil cleanser and moisturizer SPF50 were from Superstore, on sale for CAD9.88 each (about $5 off) this week. If you have the coupons from cetaphil.ca, they'd come down to CAD6.88 and CAD6.38 accordingly. I wouldn't mind stocking up!

My Harajuku giveaway ended on Friday, so I'll announce the winner as soon as I sort out all the entries. And stay tune, as I have another exciting giveaway coming real soon!

You probably remember my post yesterday about Victoria's Secret crosses the border next year. I mentioned I was turned away by their high S&H charge.

But today, I officially own a Victoria's Secret makeup product: the Beauty Rush Wet/Dry shadows, 8 of them to be exact!

I found these babies in a blog sale at Only X Lindah and obviously jumped right on the offer. They arrived on Thursday but I didn't have a chance to take pictures until today.

From L-R, first row: Smokin, Bronzinger, Plum Crazy, Violet Femme.
Second row: Jade A Kissed, Glamerald, Blueray and Gold Rush.
Linda also sent me a hand written note (with Hello Kitty), a sample size of Clinique blush and some sweet goodies. Sweet!

I know I'm late on this VS shadow bandwagon, and you probably wouldn't need to see any more swatches. I'm just gonna post Linda's swatches with her permission for any of you who haven't seen them before. She used UDPP as a base, swatch them dry.

The order from L-R:
- First row: Glamerald, Smokin (the third one is the regular Luminous shadow in After Midnight) - Second row: Jade A Kissed, Gold Rush, Plum Crazy
- Third row: Violet Femme, Bronzinger, Blueray.

Except for Blueray, all other shades (including the ones I don't have) are either neutral or dark. I wonder why there isn't any hot toned colour in the red or yellow family. Wish they make more.

Which shade is your favorite? I'll make sure I put these shadows in good use. I love the fact that I can use them wet, as I do believe the magic of water in making eyeshadows pop. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Omg, guys, I'm overly excited. I was reading Metro today on the way home, and a little headline caught my eyes: Victoria’s Secret coming to Canada !!!!

I don't really care about their fancy underwear and bras (well, they have some nice stuff once in a while, lol) but I do CARE about Victoria's Secret makeup.

I have been cursing online shopping at VS website so much, as the shipping and handling (and whatever it is on top of that) always came out quite close to the amount I had in my cart, so basically I had to pay almost double. That's international shopping for ya!

I missed out the Heidi Klum makeup collection at VS, not mentioning their semi-annual sales with crazy mark-downs for so many things. I stopped opening VS newsletters in my inbox, just to avoid any bad lemming cause I know I wouldn't be able to have it.

2 years ago VS bought our lovely Canadian lingerie chain La Senza and has been offering Secret Garden body products and Beauty Rush lip glosses and eyeshadows at La Senza stores. But soon (well, not until next spring), they are coming with their makeup (they'd better, or I'll scream). For now we could entertain ourselves with some PINK stuff that is available soon, and wait patiently until next year for more. Deal?

Photo credit: victoriassecret.com