THE V.I.B. HOLIDAY SHOPPING EVENT THAT ALMOST DIDN'T HAPPEN FOR ME

"SAVE THE DATE" is what it said on top of every email Sephora had sent to all V.I.B. members & that's exactly what I did... but I still ALMOST missed it!!!!!! the problem was not in the saving the date it's in getting the dates mixed up....

The V.I.B. Holiday Shopping Event started Nov 10th ends the 14th...

I thought today, the 15th (Tuesday) is the 14th.... but I didn't give up.... I thought, it wouldn't hurt to try....

so I put stuff on my drool list in the shopping cart... entered the V.I.B. discount code & viola!!! in some sort of miracle, it worked!!!!

I actually wanted only the UD Naked Palette that I've been holding off on for a long while now.... but of course, you can't ever go to Sephora (online or in store) & pick up one thing & one thing only.... it's just impossible....

so here are the stuff I ordered...

Urban Decay

Naked Palette

I'm just tired of being the only one who doesn't have this palette... simple & plain! I just want it!!! LOL

NARS Lipstick

Schiap

ever since I missed the MAC Candy Yum Yum lipstick from the Quite Cute collection I've been desperate to find a close dupe.... and you all know I am obsessed with hot pink, fuchsia-ish colored lipsticks... & when I saw a lip swatch of this lipstick, I knew I just have to have this....

[image source]

[image source]

I wanted to get other shades but I wanted to try this lipstick first just in case I won't like the finish of it... here are the other shades I'm definitely adding on my drool list....

Funny Face

Dolce Vita

Barbarella

do any of you own any of these shades?? if so, can you please advise if they are worth splurging for??? 

Make Up For Ever 

Duo Mat Powder Foundation

# 203 Light Beige

I've been curious about this product especially because there's so much mixed reviews about it... I've only been using my MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural to set my foundation but I also want to try out other brands.... plus the MAC MSF is just not good enough by it self, so I wanna give this one a shot & see if it'll be a good coverage powder for when I'm in a hurry or just when I don't feel like putting on a full foundation face... I did a research on what shade will match my NC30 skin & according to a lot of reviews, #203 is perfect for NC30 shade... but I also hear some say #205 also works... so I based my decision on what the majority said... if the shade fails then I shall return it & exchange it for the #205...

# 205 Medium Beige

Tarte

Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush

I was pickin between Blissful, Tipsy, Natural Beauty & Amused

Blissful (warm peach)

Tipsy (coral)

Natural Beauty (muted strawberry red)

Blissful & Tipsy are in the orangey-peachy side & I feel like I already have a lot of blush with peachy shades.... I wanted to try Natural Beauty so bad but I just wasn't sure how this would look on me... so I opted for a less risky one -

Amused

which is a bright pink shade... I have MAC's Dolly Mix & NARS' Desired blushes which are in the same shade family but I have a feeling Amused will be a lot different than these two... based on swatches, it's more muted pink than Dolly Mix & Desired... I guess I'll find out when I get my package....

I almost almost missed the 20% deal.... if you haven't ordered & you were planning to, it might not be too late yet... so go on & gather the items on your wish list & head on over to Sephora.com & enjoy this great deal they are offering to us cosmetic addicts right now...

another great deal I didn't wanna pass on is the extra 4% rebate that Ebates.com is offering... so I signed up for that as well... I'm new to the whole Ebates thing but the extra discount sounds really good to say no... so if you wanna avail of this awesome tempting deal, click HERE & enjoy shopping... coz you deserve it gurl!!!!! =)

NOTW: METRO CHIC

Sephora by O.P.I. 

METRO CHIC

PRODUCTS USED:

O.P.I. ChipSkip chip preventor (as base coat)

Sephora by O.P.I. Metro Chic

Seche Vite dry fast top coat

I know it's already spring and everything but my nails are not feeling the bright pastel colors with all this rain goin on... so on my nails is a gloomy color.... still pretty though!

LAST SEPHORA HAUL OF 2010

another delayed post, is my last haul of the year 2010....

I received my package from Sephora around the third week of December which was the busiest week for me, so I didn't get the chance to post it right away...

mainly, I was gonna get the Urban Decay Naked palette but it wasn't available at that time, so I had to refer to my wish list (see on this post) to see the next items I was lusting on.... so here's what I decided to get....

3 MUFE eyeshadows

(or some of them labeled as blushes??)

I got #5 Orange Coral Matte, #60 Navy Blue & #92 Purple

here they are in the individual packaging

aren't the colors so pretty??

#5 Orange Coral Matte

Blush Powder

(matte vibrant coral)

as mentioned in this post, I am still in search for that perfect bright peachy/orangey shade blush, since NARS' Taj Mahal & Illamasqua's Lover were not in stock, I had to look for an alternative... so I found this MUFE color & had a feeling that this shade would work perfectly with my skin tone.... it looks like it's more wearable than the Illamasqua Excite blush, which might be too orange(??)... 

#60 Navy Blue

Eye Shadow

(matte navy blue)

I just love navy blues, I had to get this one...

#92 Purple

Blush Powder

(matte brilliant purple)

the infamous #92 shadow that's both very famous for being such a beautiful shadow & also such a pain in the butt for the stain it leaves on the skin... no matter what they say about this shadow, I knew I had to have it... I've wanted this for as long as I can remember....

here is the back of the packaging which shows the number of the shadow/blush.... what's great about the packaging of these shadows/blushers is that there's no need for depotting... the metal pan pops right out of the single eyeshadow packaging, ready to be placed in any magnetic palette casing....

the size of these shadows/blushers is about twice the size of the regular MAC eyeshadows... I think they're humongous!! here is a picture to show the comparison of the sizes....

the 3 MUFE pans compared to a quarter & a MAC palette refill pan....

here are the swatches without any base or primers...

I also took advantage of a great promo that MUFE is having right now.... if you buy any combination of 3 MUFE eyeshadows, diamond shadows or the powder blushes, you'll get a free 

MUFE Eyeshadow Palette

(holds 10 eyeshadows/blushes)

I was like, "scorrrre!" LOL.... how great is that?? this thing usually costs $20 but they give it to you for free!! I think it's awesome! MAC never have that kind of deal!

this is how the palette looks like inside & with the shadow pans in...

comparing it to the MAC pro refill palette which holds 15 eyeshadow pans....

I can't wait to fill it up with some more MUFE shadows/blushes.... what shades do you recommend???

& last but not the least.... I got the

YSL ROUGE VOLUPTÉ

Silky Sensual Radiant Lipstick SPF 15

#2 Sensual Silk

(creamy pinkish beige)

need I say more???

the swatch...

I didn't get much coz I didn't really wanna spend money on cosmetics right now, the main reason why I even shopped at Sephora was just to take advantage of of the $20 gift card that Sephora sent to all VIB members on the first week of December... (good from December 2nd thru the 13th)...

plus I just got a bunch of stuff from the Sephora Friends & Family Sale in November (see haul post HERE).... so I need to slow down... Sephora, please! enough of your emails about discounts & gift cards & all that stuff!! LOL

so I heard Urban Decay Naked palette is now back in stock???? hahaha.... G help me!!!

GIVEAWAY GOODIES

yay!!! my giveaway goodies from Marie a la Mode came!!!! I got it last Wednesday, the 15th, I just didn't get the chance to post it right away as I was too busy with my kids' Holiday events at school..... but now that everybody's on winter break, it's time to relax, & when I say relax it means, blog & play with makeup & all things girly!! LOL

anyhoo, I didn't get to take pictures of all the stuff together... but here is the original giveaway picture from her blog...

& this is exactly what I got! =) looooove it!!!

here are pictures of everything I received from winning Marie's giveaway.....

they were in this purple organza bag....

first off,

Sephora by O.P.I. n/p set

at first I didn't know what colors were included in this set, but when I looked, I realized it includes the one that I've been wanting to get from Sephora - the Metro Chic!!! ooohh... I almost died!!! I was the happiest girl! you shoulda seen me.... LOL

Maybelline Dream Mousse blush in Peach Satin

I'm also excited about this product because it's something that I've been curious about but never tried before.... I've heard a lot of raves about it but I dunno why I never thought of getting it.... 

Sephora mascara

I don't own any Sephora mascaras yet, so I was happy to get this as well...

MAC Plink! lipstick

I don't think you could ever go wrong with any MAC lipstick... whatever shade it is, you can be sure that the person you're giving it to, will def love it... especially this one that is in most "Top 5 favorite lipsticks" videos...

gorgeous!!! it seems like it would resemble Angel though... but who cares?!? I'm still stoked that I got it!

Calypso Cuties Sugar Baby

deluxe lip gloss in Tahitian Tango

I haven't heard of this brand before... maybe it's Canadian?? not sure!

cute eh?!?

(how do you like my Canadian 'eh'?? LOL.. I love it when people say that by the way)

this stuff smells good, it actually smells like my Aquolina Pink Sugar hair perfume.... I'm pretty sure it would taste yum too, I mean what sugar doesn't taste good??

& finally....

Urban Decay Ammo Palette

need I say more?!? I mean, I literally heard angels sing when I opened this baby.... 

just look at the colors!!!

flash

no flash

the packaging is also oh so gorgeous!

the details are made of embossed felt material & a foil that's seemed to be embedded on the cardboard packaging... 

when it's laying flat, you see that the foil material looks like a shiny silver print & the felt fabric is a dark purple

but when you look at it in an angle, the colors switches to the other way around... the foil becomes a darker purple & the felt material turns into a lighter shade of purple.... ain't that crazy???

same goes with the back side of the packaging....

here's the detail of the front side....

& of course the cardboard that shows all the shades included in powder form just like any other UD palettes...

this is honestly another item that I've been interested in ever since I started blogging, but being the practical girl that I am, I was reluctant to get it coz of the limited colors included in the palette... but I guess me & Ammo are just meant to be together!! LOL

***sigh** I'm inlove!!! 

this is like the best set of prizes for me... like honestly, I couldn't ask for more... =).. everything is just perfect!

Marie also included this note in this cute card...

I love personalized notes! I think it's very sincere & thoughtful!...

I wanna say thank you sooooo much again to Marie for this awesome giveaway!!! I loved everything I got!! I am one lucky girl!!! you have no idea how happy you made me, ok that sounded kinda creepy but for real though, I am one happy girl!!

I can't wait to play with these goodies! hmmm... I wonder what I should try out first!?!