The Christmas chaos is over! I hope you had a fantastic time. It’s the annual tradition to post what I got for Christmas so here it is! (and as is with tradition, I’m too lazy to take photos so you get stock photos! 😛 )
Smashbox Drawn in. Decked Out. Multi-use Brush Set
I hadn’t planned on being MIA last week but it was my final week at my old job and it was so busy! I ended up having a lot of social engagements last week (goodbyes) – being out every night makes it difficult to blog! Things likely won’t settle down until after Labour Day weekend…
This post is a combined June and July accountability (I know, I’m so late with this!) June was a No-Buy month whereas July is a Low-Buy month. My budget for July was originally $200 but since I slightly overspent back in April, I had to subtract off $1.70 from my budget, leaving me with $198.30 to play with.
I was able to stretch my budget by supplementing with gift cards – plus, I received some birthday presents! 😀
It’s always a mad race at the end of the month to have all my trash presented nicely and the give their final photograph before they’re tossed out! XD
I’m a bit nervous about whether I hit my target of one per day quota… 
When I look at it all together like this, I think I got a bit carried away with makeup hauling…
But when you pick up a little bit here, a little bit there, it doesn’t seem like it’s that much! 😉 I wasn’t able to go on actual Boxing Day to shop but many of the deals are available for the whole month of January – basically when stores sell out of stuff is when the sales end! 😛
At the beginning of every month, I think to myself, “this month I probably won’t have too many empties, I might have 2 or 3 max”. Then around the third week of the month, I am suddenly faced with a bag full of empties. Go figure.
I finished some big containers too.
I have to first apologize, but this blush is discontinued as of last year. I was as shocked as anyone else when this was announced. I had MAC MUAs tell me they didn’t know what they’ll use now for weddings – it was their staple shade. They were stocking up on this shade themselves.
Blushes are one of my favourite makeup items, behind eye shadows and nail polish. I own over 150 blushes… 😮 But MAC Cubic is one that I holds a special place in my heart.
I started doing quarterly favourites this year since monthly favourites don’t work for me, as my favourites tend to remain fairly static month over month. But with the changing seasons, I do find a shift in my skincare and makeup, so I’m able to pick some some seasonal favourites to share. My mid-year favourites focus on items I used in the Spring and when I went on my trip to Japan.
Here are my thoughts on each:
I’m finally in the position to do a review on this palette, since I used it exclusive for the entire 2 weeks I was on vacation, as it was the only eye shadow product I packed with me. 🙂
The Tarte Tartelette Tease palette normally sells for $25 but I bought it during the April VIB sale for $21.25. It contains 6 shades, each weighing 0.85g for a combined total palette weight of 5.10g
I’m a very light packer when it comes to makeup during vacation. I’ve learned over the years that I end up not using at least half of what I pack when I give myself too many options. While on holidays, I essentially stick to one makeup look. Here’s my makeup menu for the next 2 weeks:
• Lorac Behind the Scenes Eyeshadow primer
• Shiseido Sheer & Perfect Foundation in O20 – I debated about which foundation to bring (the Vincent Long Water Canvas was a contender) and this one ultimately won out because it contains SPF, wears well, and can be applied with fingers.
• Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector – the glass pot is too cumbersome to pack with me so I’ve scooped out a little bit into this tiny sample container (review here)
• Shiseido Natural Finish Cream Concealer in #2 Light Medium – I also debated about which concealer(s) to bring. At first I was going to bring a separate one for under eye and another for general face concealing. This one is a good all-around concealer – I don’t love it for under eyes but it’s workable. Unfortunately, I think this concealer is discontinued.
• MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in NC15/NW20 – I compromised by bringing a concealing pencil – I like this concealer pencil for pinpoint concealing and it’s handy for highlighting the brow area or inner eye.
I had anticipated April would have been a crazy month of haulage due to the Sephora VIB sale but that didn’t turn out to be the case. I had $252.74 in my April budget to start off with.
In the Sephora sale, I bought only 4 items, and I ended up returning one of them:
My original total was $83.30 but after returning the busted BITE Beauty Agave Lip Mask, I only ended up spending only $52.70 at the VIB sale.
stash matters 