There is a good chance that in any given month I am going to walk into Ulta a couple of times, wander around for ten minutes, and leave with makeup that I hadn’t planned on buying because everything in the store I look at and say, “I need this.” The voice in the back of my head disagrees but there is another, louder voice saying “yea you do!”

This month was no different in that department, I was really looking forward to a few items that I don’t have yet because my store was out of them and I refuse to order makeup online. (I have had things come broken and I am too socially anxious to complain.)

So my first haul happened about the beginning of the first full week of March because I have control issues when I walk into the store. I went in for a fan brush and came out with a fan brush and a few other items.

The fan brush I bought was a Morphe M310 brush (1), I really like Morphe as a brand. (I have a few palettes as well.) The fan brush is really simple and I want to use it for highlighting, which in the last three months or so I have actually started to do when I do an actual full face of makeup.

Next was something that I actually needed, I have been living with the wrong shade of foundation for quite some time. I love the foundation that I have (Too Faced Born This Way) but it’s difficult to use because the shade is the wrong one for my skin tone. I spent a good 15 minutes looking between three or four different brands and I finally decided on Urban Decay’s All Nighter liquid foundation (2) in shade 0.5. (I am super pale.) I haven’t actually tried it yet but I am hopeful for it to be a much better match for my skin tone. I really like Urban Decay’s foundation products because the only concealer that I use is their concealer and I have loved it since the moment I started using it well over two years ago. I actually just had to replace my tube because I ran out.

In most cases it is the packaging that gets me and for sure Urban Decay always has some great packaging.

The next two things I saw in an email first and then I wanted to try them. Normally I am not a fan of glosses when it comes to lips because they stay sticky, I have been on the matte liquid lipstick train for quite some time now. NYX is normally my favorite brand for lipsticks so I decided to give the Strictly Vinyl lip gloss.

The deep purple is called Night Walker (3) and it actually looks pretty great.

The more mauve shade is called Baby Doll (4) and it also looks pretty great.

The final item I bought was the Lorac Pro 3 Palette (5). I feel like Lorac is a relatively newer brand to my makeup collection, I think the first palette I bought from Lorac was the California Dreaming palette and I love that palette so I have gone back and bought other things from the brand because I loved the quality of that item. I went with this specific palette because the shades are more attuned to my personal style when it comes to what I put on my eyelids. I am looking forward to using this product as well for more everyday looks.

 

Also in March I went into Sephora, which I do not do very often. Don’t get me wrong I love Sephora but it also has more designer makeup that I want but cannot afford so I avoid it and avoid the temptation as well (my wallet thanks me).

I went in with the intention of purchasing, to try, the Dr. Jart Shake and Shot mask (1) because I had seen a lot of people trying it online and I wanted to see if it was worth the $12 price tag of a one-time use mask. (I’ll let you know) I feel like the reviews of it are already played out but you know what I want to do it anyway. Also the fact that the top is a baby’s face is a little off putting but I still think it is an interesting marketing technique because it makes you think about it and it is a conversation piece.

 

The second thing I purchased was something that I saw on Instagram. (shakes fist at Instagram for making me want things that I don’t need!) The Kristen Leanna and Urban Decay collaboration eyeshadow palette Kaleidoscope Dreams (2). I swatched the shades and I already love all of the shades, again I wanted something that was a bit more daring in my makeup collection and this was definitely a showstopper of a palette. I am absolutely in love with the Leo + Brixton shade because it is iridescent and it’s amazing. I am looking forward to actually using this palette in small quantities for nice pops of color in my eyeshadow looks.

 

Very late in the month I walked into Ulta with the intention of buying some skincare items (and a free sample of a highlighter), they did not have them in the store so I walked around and got myself into some trouble. Ulta is nearing the end of their 21 days of beauty event and those deals suck me straight into the store.

I purchased the Urban Decay Naked Skin Shapeshifter highlight and contour palette in light/medium (1). It has four powder shades and five crème shades and I am terrible at contour I never got on the heavy contour train but I would like to be able to make myself look like I actually have cheekbones. It was half off so I decided that now was the time to purchase it and experiment with some contouring. Big fan of the two sided mirror in the packaging though.

I also got as a sample a Becca highlighter in the color Opal (2), it’s a beautiful golden color and I am looking forward to an event where I need to wear a highlighter so I can rock this color.

The last thing that I got at Ulta this month was a silicone beauty blender (3), I want to do a comparison of foundation application tools and I have seen this silicone applicator rolling around the internet for a while now so I’m going to give it a try. I will let you know how it goes.

 

Did you buy any new makeup or beauty items this month?

 

-MJ