Category: Product Hauls

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Clinique Autumn 2015 Haul and Bonus Time

by Literary and Lovely3 Comments on Clinique Autumn 2015 Haul and Bonus Time

IMG_6101Happy weekend everyone!!!

With the first day of Autumn now a few days behind us, it seemed apropos that I do a post on one of my favourite seasonal occurrences: Clinique’s bonus time at Hudson’s Bay!!! What this means is for anyone in Canada, from September 15th to October 3rd 2015, Clinique is offering a bonus with a purchase of $31 or more. I absolutely love the Clinique bonuses because they have some treasured beauty favourites in them, along with new products to try.  So, I thought I would show you what I bought from Clinique this time, and highlight a few products that came in the bonus 🙂 🙂

This Clinique gift is extra special because the cosmetic bag was designed by interior designer Tyler Dawson. If you haven’t heard of her, you can click here to pop over to her website and take a gander through her portfolio, her about page, and get in contact with her if you are interested in hiring her. Personally, I am a huge fan of her design style. It is so cute and chic at the same time, and I love how she pairs paint colours with furniture to make a room feel homey while looking fabulous.

IMG_6085To qualify for this bonus, I purchased Clinique’s newly released Turnaround Revitalizing Daytime Moisturizer. At $45, I really had to convince myself that this was something I wanted to try, and I JUST missed the free sample from Sephora if I shopped online, so that was a little irksome. But I have heard so many good things about this entire range, and moisturizer is always something I can use, so I went for it.

And now on to some of the goodies stashed away in this lovely little bonus:

IMG_6089First up is the Tyler Dawson-designed cosmetic bag. I think the colours are so fresh, and the clear, cylindrical zipper pull is such a unique take on the classic pull. It is very roomy so I think it would be great for storing, or travelling with, brushes or palettes that need lots of room both lengthways and widthways. The colours and design might be better suited for spring, but hey, it’s only a few months away.

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I love taking photos with this kind of shadowing going on

The next item is a shade of Clinique’s Long Last Soft Matte lipstick in the shade Matte Peony. This is super coincidental because I was going to purchase this shade a few weeks back, and decided not to. And now here it is in my makeup collection!!! I’m pretty sure it was meant to be. This is a vibrant pink shade, with warm undertones. Once again, I feel like this shade would be better suited for Spring, but maybe this bonus is for Spring and is just being released in Autumn because Clinique wants us to start prepping our beauty collections for Spring. Who knows???

IMG_6099Next is the moisturizer component of the bonus. Clinique usually has at least one element of their bonus that you can choose so, for instance, the items in the gift are pre-set, but you can choose between two lipstick shades, or two colour themes that dictate which lipstick and eyeshadow shades you receive. In this case, the choosable element was the moisturizer. The choice was between the Even Better Moisturizer with SPF 20 or the Repairwear Uplifting Firming Cream with SPF 15. Really, the choice here is between having a brighter complexion, or giving your skin a bit more vitality. I went with the Even Better Moisturizer with SPF 20 because I have used it before and loved it, and I am not yet concerned with the firmness of my skin. But maybe I should be???

IMG_6100Next up is a product I have never even heard of before, which is strange because Clinique is one of my go-to makeup brands.The Blended Face Powder in Invisible Blend. If anyone has heard of this or used this before, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, because I have no idea what this is, and no idea how to feel about it. I think it’s for setting makeup??? Maybe??? Gosh, do I ever feel out of the beauty loop here.

IMG_6097Now this product is fairly new, and I have never tried it: the Clinique Smart Custom-Repair Serum. Apparently this little number is suitable for all skin types and tones, and it sounds like it kind of gets to know your skin and figures out what it needs??? I know that sounds super weird and like I’m describing a life coach more than a skin serum, but I am kind of lost when it comes to this product. I did a little research and some of the uses of this product, like reducing lines or wrinkles, and firming skin are not things that I am really looking for in a product. Evening skin tone and boosting radiance though, those are things I wouldn’t turn down.

The last two products that were included in this bonus were the High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara and the Liquid Facial Soap Mild. This mascara is always, always, always included in Clinique’s bonuses, and I LOVE it. As I have most likely mentioned previously, I never have to buy mascara because I just live off the sample sizes that come in these bonuses. Between the wand design, the formula, and the easiness of packing it, this little sample size is hands-down my favourite mascara to-date. The facial soap is one I have used for years, and I even use it with my Sonic System if I’m feeling it. It’s just a nice, gentle cleanser that leaves skin feeling clean and fresh.

And that was this season’s Clinique bonus, and my mini haul!!!

Have you picked up your Clinique bonus yet??? What did you purchase to qualify??? Any recommendations???

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my 100 followers giveaway for your chance to win a Chanel Autumn 2015 lipstick of your choice and one of Time magazine’s listed 100 best English-language novels!!! Click here to find the instructions for how to enter. *The giveaway is open internationally and will close September 30, 2015 at 11:59pm” 

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All, Beauty, Product Hauls

Clinique Summer 2015 Haul and Bonus Time

by Literary and Lovely4 Comments on Clinique Summer 2015 Haul and Bonus Time

Well, Clinique’s bonus time is back at Hudson’s Bay!!! This meant that I stopped in to my nearest Clinique counter to try out some new products and received a lovely little bag of goodies as well. 

IMG_5052The first item I picked up was Clinique’s Pretty Easy Liquid Eyelining Pen. I haven’t used one of these in years, but there is no time like the present to try out an eyeliner pen again. It has a really fine tip, which makes creating thin lines super easy. It also comes in dark brown, and that would be great for a more natural look. I have been loving it the past few days, and should have a review of it up sometime this week. 

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The other item I picked up was Clinique’s All About Shadow 8-Pan Palette in Wear Everywhere Neutrals. I have been wanting to try this for so long, but I often struggle to justify the purchase of an eyeshadow palette. I get that they are a money saver and are great for traveling, but they usually have colours in them that I just can’t see myself using. This palette is different though. The 8 colours are absolutely gorgeous and are perfect for any neutral daily make up look, or a more toned down night look. I will be using these religiously come back to school time. I will be reviewing this product on this blog as well, so expect swatches of all the colours, and maybe even a few look ideas. 

IMG_5042Because I bought these things, I received this adorable cosmetic bag full of lovely little beauty items. I have amassed quite a collection of these bonus gifts, but I still love getting them, because they are such a neat way to try out products in sample sizes, as well as retain a supply of products you love. For instance, I have never had to buy mascara, because I just live off the sample sized ones that come in these bonuses. 

I won’t go through all of the items in this bonus gift, but there are a few that I wanted to spotlight for how amazing they are.

 IMG_5044The first is the Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in the shade Mightiest Maraschino. When chubby sticks first came out, I didn’t know how to feel about them, and I waited until they put one in a bonus to try it out. I ended up loving it, and so when the lip colour balms started going into the bonuses, I was on board for that. This one has such a rich tawny red colour, and it is chalked full  of mango and shea butters to keep lips hydrated. I don’t really know how to describe the finish: it’s not sheer, but it’s not matte; it’s kind of in between. I wore this on Canada Day and it lasted all day and night, plus it matched the flag rather nicely. 

IMG_5047The next item I want to talk about is the Lash Doubling Mascara. This is not the one I traditionally use (usually the high impact mascara comes with the bonuses), but it works really well, and leaves my eyelashes looking really long and full, without clumping or crumbling off during the day. I have tried this one before, but I am saving up these little ones so that when I go traveling, I can take some in my carry on so that if my luggage goes missing (and it will thanks to Air Canada) at least I’ll have a few make up essentials to see me through. 

 

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The last item I want to feature is the Quickliner for Eyes Intense. This, too, is a new addition to the bonus, but it is rather lovely. I really don’t like eyeliner pencils–in fact I hate them. I find them really painful to apply, they don’t go on smoothly or evenly, and they smudge and fade throughout the day. So, I basically go for any eyeliner that isn’t a pencil and that I don’t have to sharpen. This one has a really silky formula so it goes on smoothly and doesn’t fade. This sample did not come with the smudger end like the regular product does, but it is easy enough to smudge if you want to early on after application. This type of eyeliner also comes in 12 really cool shades, ranging from the traditional black and brown to colours like green and purple and blue and even peridot. 

What Clinique products have you been loving lately??? 

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have a lovely day 🙂 🙂 

All, Beauty, Product Hauls

Summer Sephora Haul!!!

by Literary and Lovely6 Comments on Summer Sephora Haul!!!

IMG_5033So I went into Sephora the other day on the hunt for some summer essentials. You know, a foundation with SPF, sunscreen that wouldn’t break out my face, etc. But, of course, the minute I stepped into Sephora, I completely forgot my reason for going in and stocked up on some other “essentials”.

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110 Pink Porcelain

In my last post, I reviewed Make Up For Ever’s (MUFE’s) Pro Finish Multi-Use Powder Foundation. I loved it so much that I wanted to pick up the HD Invisible Cover Foundation. I haven’t tested it out yet, but I did try a little on in the store and it is so silky. I got the shade 110 Pink Porcelain, which, according to Sephora, is meant for porcelain skin with pink undertones. That I did not know, but it’s the lightest shade they had, and that is usually a pretty simple way for me to pick out the shade to try. This was quite pricy at $50, but it looks pretty good, so I took a chance on it.

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4.9 oz Spray Bottle

The next item I bought also coincides with my last post, where I mentioned I got the MUFE Foundation Kabuki Brush. It wasn’t until I began using this brush that I realized I did not have a cleaner for it, so I went out to get the MUFE Instant Brush Cleanser. I figured I would keep my brushes and cleanser of the same brand, because I like to think the formula is best suited for the brushes they sell, but who really knows. Anywho, what I love about this cleanser is it comes in two sizes: a 4.9 oz full-size spray bottle ($25), and a 1.69 oz travel-size spray bottle ($14). For someone like me with an unexplainable love for travel size products, this is perfect because it means I can take this with me in my carry-on without having to worry that Air Canada will lose my luggage (trust me, it happens more often than you think) and I’ll be stuck with dirty brushes until my luggage is found. It’s also a great way to test the product without having to get the full size.

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156 Large Flat Blush Brush

I am quite peeved about this next item. I wanted a foundation brush with which to properly apply liquid foundation. The brush guide in Sephora said the MUFE 156 brush was for foundation. Turns out it is actually the Large Flat Blush Brush. A bit of a letdown, not going to lie, at $43. For the time being, I am going to use it for foundation application, but I will eventually find a brush that is actually meant for foundation, given I already have a blush brush that told me up front what it was.

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226 Medium Eye Shader Brush

I also picked up the MUFE 226 Medium Eye Shader Brush, because I am accumulating quite a collection of eye shadow palettes, but I like keeping any applicators included in them clean. Plus, I find brushes usually allow for more precise application. I am quite excited to test out this little dandy and hopefully it keeps those pesky grains of powder eyeshadow from landing under my eye.

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Marshmallow Bunny

The final item I picked up was a bit of a treat for myself–nothing necessary, but a nice summer splurge: the Too Faced La Crème Colour Drenched Lip Cream in Marshmallow Bunny. I absolutely love Too Faced’s packaging, both the cardboard exteriors with their gold-trimmed floral designs, and the simplistic brushed gold tube design. Not going to lie, the name Marshmallow Bunny kind of lured me in. I mean, come on, how cute is that name for a lip shade?!? I still tested it on my hand in the store to make sure I liked the shade, and decided it was the perfect colour to wear during the summer to add a little pop to my daily make up routine.

The other exciting thing about this little shopping venture is that I am now a Sephora VIB!!! Yes, it means I’ve spent a fair bit of money there, but Sephora is the perfect one-stop make up shop, and now I qualify for early sale access, exclusive offers, samples, and free items. The adorable little silver VIB card is pretty cool, too.

I will be posting reviews for these products soon, so keep an eye out for those if you’re interested. If you have tried any or all of these products already, what did you think of them???

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