I’ve been particularly short on funds this month, hence the plethora of tl;dr meditative posts and the absence of product reviews. Luckily, I just received my latest stipend check, so I’m planning to do a bit of damage during the High Holy Days of consumerism. (Only online: I can’t stand the crush of people at brick-and-mortar sales.) Here are some of the products I’ve been coveting for the past month, listed in rough order of desire.
1. Face Stockholm Crème Blush in Paris
Putting together my seventeenth-century look reminded me that I don’t own a warm pink blush. I have most color categories covered–cool medium pink, psychedelic magenta, neutral pink-nude, reddish plum, soft orange, even lavender–but I’d like a pink that’s warmer than NARS Mata Hari. I’ve heard great things about Face Stockholm’s cream blushes; I even swatched a few of them back in March, but couldn’t decide which one to buy and left empty- if not clean-handed.
It took me eight months, but I’ve finally settled on Paris, a bright reddish pink. It’s available on Anthropologie’s website, and I’m hoping that Anthro’s Black Friday sale will include beauty products. (Update, 11/27: The entire Anthropologie website is 25% off today and tomorrow! I pounced, of course.)
2. OCC Lip Tar in Lydia
As I learned in xoVain’s helpful roundup of 65 (!) Black Friday and Cyber Monday makeup sales, OCC is taking 20% off all products on their website from Friday through Monday. I think it might be time to buy my first OCC lip tar, and recent reviews by Xiao and Carina have swayed me toward Lydia, described by OCC as a “darkroom plum.” To me, it looks like a grayed mauve-plum, a decidedly eccentric neutral. I still feel some trepidation about carrying around a lip brush for reapplications, but if every other beauty blogger can do it, why can’t I?
I might also buy a nail polish from OCC: Isherwood, a “metallic tobacco ebony,” looks promising. I have only one brown nail polish, a now-discontinued creme from Milani, and there’s something alluringly steampunk about metallic brown (though Butter London is the brand doing steampunk this year, of course). I don’t know why Isherwood has a greenish cast in the image below, since it doesn’t look at all green in the swatches I’ve seen.
3. NYX Wicked Lippies in Power and Wrath
Despite my great distaste for the word “lippie,” I’ve had my eye on these metallic lipsticks since they first came out a month ago. The darker shades have received mixed reviews and look somewhat patchy in swatches, but Lucia’s comprehensive review convinced me that I need bronze Wrath and dirty-rose Power. I can’t believe how squeamish I used to be about lipsticks with the faintest hint of shimmer; these days, I think the absence of a metallic bronze lipstick from my collection is a great tragedy.
4. theBalm shadyLady Vol. 2 Eyeshadow Palette
My love for theBalm’s Nude ‘Tude palette is well documented. I like some of the shades in Nude ‘Tude more than others, but I can’t deny that most of them are superbly formulated. I think the time has come to expand my collection of theBalm shadows, especially because theBalm is a cruelty-free brand from my hometown of San Francisco! What really attracts me to this palette is Just This Once Jamie (middle row, far right), a lavender taupe, but I can see myself using all of the shades except the bottom left two.
5. NYX Simply Vamp Lip Cream in Enamored
I couldn’t find a decent product shot of this lip pencil, but NYX describes Enamored as a “deep brown with burgundy pearl.” (Pang has swatched four of the Simply Vamp Lip Creams here.) NYX has released so many new lip products this year that I completely missed the Simply Vamp debut, but I’ve been catching up on swatches and, my dear Enamored, the passion is mutual.
6. Hada Labo Ultimate Anti-Aging Facial Masks
If I order the NYX lipsticks from Ulta, I might throw in these sheet masks as well. I’ve never tried the Japanese skincare brand Hada Labo (lit. “skin lab”), but I’ve heard good things about it, and my passion for sheet masks shows no signs of abating.
And that’s that! I doubt I’ll buy all the items on my wishlist, but something tells me I’ll end up with at least a couple. Do you plan to take advantage of the upcoming sales?
Luckily Black Friday is primarily an American extravaganza and the Canadian version of its sales is paltry by comparison. I'm sort of closing my eyes to all the promotions right now as I'm still recovering from Sephora VIB madness.Nodding furiously at the Face Stockholm blush, and half-nod to theBalm Shady Lady Vol. 2. I had it and loved it for a long time but eventually tired of its too-soft texture and shimmers. If you decide against theBalm palette, there's a Wet n Wild palette that's pretty similar although not the same at all. I did a comparison post way back when – hope you don't mind the link drop:http://beautyreductionista.blogspot.ca/2013/01/dupey-palettes-wet-n-wild-and-thebalm.html
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My plan is to order a set from Tatcha as soon as their sale starts on the 28th since they tend to sell out fast during sales. I haven't had a chance to really look at the deals and work on a \”scheme\”, yet. And maybe it is a good thing. 😉
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Too soft, eh? Maybe I'll wait to see the palette in person before buying (in any case, I'm not planning on ordering it unless I find a really great deal somewhere). There's a theBalm store in SF that I pass all the time when I'm home–I should actually go inside for once.And wow, those palettes ARE eerily similar! Unfortunately, the Wet n Wild palette dupes the colors I'm less interested in, so I'll probably hold out for the real thing.
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The Tatcha sale is tempting indeed! Most of their stuff is out of my price range even with the 20% discount, but I'm very interested in the camellia cleansing oil, so who knows…
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