Beauty Haul from the Last Few Weeks

I know I have been waiting for a few items to come in the mail to review them, however one is shipping from the UK and I have no idea how much longer I'll be waiting, so I'll just lump it with the next haul, and focus on the items I've garnered over the past few weeks!

First up is two products that I fell in love with when I visited the Laura Mercier website. 

credit to Laura Mercier, lauramercier.com, and its affiliates
I thought her lips just looked so so gorgeous and springy. I went to the mall with some friends and purchased the lipstick (Arabesque) at Nordstrom's. They were sold out of the lip gloss (Bare Pink) so I tracked it down at Sephora. The colors looked a bit different on their website than they did on me, I'm not sure why (different skin tones, I guess) but the lipstick was much more peachy/ light coral than the baby pink I was expecting. The lip gloss was just what I expected though! 

 The lipstick and lipgloss side by side

 The lipstick with the lipgloss on top (left)

The lipstick by itself. My lips are pretty dry, so pardon the slight cracking!

The lipstick with the lipgloss over it

Overall, the colors were not exactly what I was hoping for, but I bought it knowing what the colors would look like on as I sampled them in the store. My friends agreed, however, that they liked how the color looked with my complexion. The lipstick is definitely a color I don't already own, and was quite matte. I'm not sure Laura Mercier has fully grasped hydrating matte-like lipsticks yet, but hopefully my lips won't be as dry in the summertime. That being said, I'm disappointed that it goes on so cakey. I kind of expected higher quality from LM, which is a company I've been going to for a decade now. 

Moving on, I also purchased the MAC make-up removing wipes (found in stores and on their website here or on amazon*) I use them every time I'm in the MAC store and I love the smell so much, I have no idea why. It's just fresh and light and pretty. They were 29 dollars for the big package of them which is much more than I thought they would be. I'm not sure why they're so expensive, but I love how they remove my make-up, love their smell, and the employee told me they never make her break out, so let's hope so! 

I also purchased one of the new Philosophy Field of Flowers body lotions. I chose the peony scent, it smells exactly like what I hoped it would smell like! I'm also pleased with how hydrating the lotion is. I bought a Pure + Good body lotion in December that wasn't moisturizing at all, I was surprised, but the Philosophy lotion leaves my hands feeling soft and smelling so springy! 

It was $26 at Sephora. Also pretty pricy, I had a hard time paying that much for body lotion, but it will hopefully last a long time! You can also buy the body lotion for $18, which is slightly cheaper! The line also comes in Violet Blossom, Orange Blossom, Wildflower Blossom, and Wild Blackberry Blossom. There also appears to be an original field of flowers scent, but I didn't see that or smell it!

I also got the Stay Matte powder by Rimmel in 001 (Transparent). I don't have oily skin, more like normal or combination, but so far it's been a great and very wallet friendly option for a high quality finishing powder. At $3.99 it's a great option for shine control and doesn't leave behind any noticeable powder residue once it has set in. My one complaint is the smell-- it has a distinct drug store or high street store smell which reminds me of my grandmother or old powder cases. Not my favorite scent, but good enough in all other aspects! 

 I also gave in and bought the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara. I never do my bottom lashes because they are kind of long and I look sort of creepy when they are done! But I get annoyed when product from the top slowly migrates to the bottom and my make-up gets smeary by the end of the day. I have heard people this product helped prevent that, so I decided to give it a go! It comes in two colors, black and brown, and was $10. That's really not too bad considering it will probably last a while! I doubt I will use this every day, but when I use dark eyeshadow colors I will give it a go. 

The last product I got was Davines Defining Relaxing Fluid. My hair stylist used this last time I was in and swears by it to prevent humidity induced frizzy hair and to smooth it whilst blow drying and straightening. The smell is pretty nice, not as floral as I expected, though. A pea sized amount or so is enough to use, so this will last for a long time!! I got it on Amazon for about $15, but I'm not sure I would do that again because the person who sold it wasn't a salon, and I have no idea if they tampered with the product or not. I'm going to go to the salon in a few days to smell it there and see if they are similar. If not, I will probably return it and buy the products straight from the salon (even if they are more expensive!)

So yeah, that's what I've purchased over the last few weeks. There are SO many more things I'm dying to buy, but I will have to wait and save my money. I've got a lot of things to save up for in the upcoming future (including this trip) so we will see. Anyone else buy anything great lately?