Haircare Haul from Priceline's 40% Sale

Two haul posts in one week - what is going on in the Bovary household?!

I wasn't intending for this many of my posts to be shopping related, but as soon as I heard that Priceline were having their famous 40% off haircare sale I knew I wanted to pick up a few bits and pieces that I'd had my eye on. What I really wanted was the full size of the L'Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray (Normal Hold) but unfortunately it was sold out, so I settled for the travel size instead which should keep me going (I first professed my love for this here!) I'm planning on heading out to another Priceline today to try my luck for the full size as it's such a great product.

To console myself after seeing that my regular hairspray was out I grabbed a travel size of a new 'fixing' spray I've not yet tried, Schwarzkopf Taft (Mega Strong Hold) Now that I'm rolling with a high maintenance fringe I'm really enjoying trialling lots of different hairsprays - do you have a favourite I should know about?

The third and final bit I picked up was a spur of the moment thing - I'm always up for trying a new hair mask and my thick long hair tends to appreciate that, so I plumped for the Schwarzkopf Moisture Gloss 10 Days Shine Mask...let's be honest, it was the holographic packaging that pushed me over the edge for this one! I was a bit let down when I returned home to see that the tub itself wasn't all glitzy ocean like I'd expected, but hopefully the formula works for me and makes it worth my while.

L'Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray 75ml $4.99 down to $2.99
Schwarzkopf Taft Fixing Spray 60g $3.99 down to $2.39
Schwarzkopf Moisture Gloss 10 Days Shine Mask 150ml $8.99 down to $5.39

The Priceline 40% haircare sale ends today (Weds 13th May!)
Have you picked up any new hair products lately?
I need good hair mask recommendations!
-Emma

*nothing to disclose! honesty, always

The Priceline Sale Fail

As I mentioned in my BestDrugstore Beauty Buys last week, the famous Priceline 40% off sale was on and I went along with my Mum and sister after a nice lunch at Groove Train to see what goodies I could find. I had a few things in mind to pick up, but I was so overwhelmed in there that I didn’t end up buying a single thing! I’d wanted to pick up some more back-ups of my essence Long-Lasting Liner ‘Hot Chocolate’ but they had sold out, and it was so busy in store that I couldn’t decide on which shade of the new Max Factor Crème Puff Blushes to buy, so decided to wait until they are next on sale. I also contemplated the Models Prefer Soft Touch Powder (Hourglass dupe I heard?) and the new Revlon HD lipsticks, but they have so many colours to choose from and I had no idea which one I wanted! I think I’ve definitely changed my shopping style in the last year or so, I don’t want to clog up my makeup storage with mediocre products so I put a lot more thought into things I buy now – I kind of regret not grabbing anything from this sale, though!

Mumma Bovary and my sister aren’t really into makeup but I herded them through the throngs of people to the essence stand for a cheap thrill. They each bought a bottle of essence ‘Kiss Me Freddy’ and the essence eyeliner  ‘Hot Scorch’ (recommended by moi!) Then Mumma Bovary popped a few more eyeliners into her basket (‘I Have a Green’ which is my fave green liner, and ‘Berry Merry’) along with a second polish in the dark ‘Headphones On’ shade. I love how affordable essence products are for such high quality – a risk free cheap thrill for sure!

What did you haul in this Priceline sale? If you didn’t indulge, what is the last drugstore product you bought for yourself? Is it a bit sad that my family bought from the sale and I didn’t?

-Emma

Best Drugstore Beauty Buys

If you’re looking for a little pick-me-up the day before payday, the lure of Myer and its luxe cosmetic brands is often out of reach for many of us (payday itself is a whole other story!) It’s days like those where I turn to the drugstore aisles in search of a beauty fix, and in the sea of cheaply made duds there lies some gems that are really worth your while. I thought I’d skim through my drawers in search of the best drugstore beauty I own, and I came up with a lot more than I anticipated! I’ve split my recommendations into three categories to make things easier, and now is as good a time as any for my Australian readers to pick up a bargain with Priceline holding their 40% cosmetics sale for two days only (today and Wednesday 25th)

EYES:
I couldn't think of an eyeshadow palette from the Australian store that has really impressed me, so turned to my Total Intensity by Prestige Long Term Relationship Single Eyeshadows instead. The pigmentation is insane, I've got the MAC Club dupe Hocus Pocus and the stunning Bewitched. I don't wear these all the time but they are great quality, I'll need to do a full post for you soon as I think they're underrated. Eye staples that I use daily are also drugstore gems, Covergirl's Clump Crusher mascara and essence Long-Lasting Eyeliner in Hot Chocolate.

LIPS:
I'm loving lip pencils and long lasting lip products right now - the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet's are a firm favourite (shown here in the shades Frambourjoise and Pink Pong) but the newcomer from Rimmel is floating my boat right now, too - the Provocalips 16HR Kiss Proof Lip Colour in Make Your Move*. I've recently fallen for the $2 essence lipliners too and plan on picking up some back-ups during the Priceline sale (seriously, too cheap people!) but another more vibrant lip pencil option is the new Maybelline Color Drama Intense Velvet Lip Pencils*. I have been wearing the natural Nude Perfection* and the bright Fab Orange* over and over since they hit my desk!

BASE & BLUSH:
I'm a big fan of affordable foundation offerings, and the newest release on the street is the Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Oil Free Foundation. I've been trialling it and so far it hasn't knocked my beloved Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3in1 Foundation from the top spot, but it's still pretty good and worth a try! I struggled to think of a decent high street blush until I clapped eyes on my Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Sticks* in my everyday drawer (shown here in Coral Sheen, Pink Fever and Just-Pinched Pink) They are probably the only blush I'd strongly recommend from Priceline - if you've tried a great drugstore blush I'd love to hear about it though!

What drugstore staples do you swear by? Will you be picking anything up from the Priceline sale?
-Emma

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

5 Beauty Lover Saving Tips

I'm currently in the midst of a mega-life change - I've just left my job and plan on getting a job in my field next year, am getting married in a month and have a busy end of year ahead with overseas family coming out and a big glorious honeymoon to enjoy.

I'm becoming better at pinching the pennies to make my wedding lovely and keep our household running, but the beauty lover in me still needs a hit every now and again! I've been thinking about how I usually save money or shop sensibly when it comes to beauty products and the like, and have rounded up my ideas for you. These 5 tips will help you think smart about how you shop and hopefully stop you from coming home with products that won't get any love in your stash!

1 //  Evaluate your stash
Are you like me and own a million red lipsticks, a shade you wear approximately twice a year? Once you get to know your stash properly it becomes so much easier to evaluate purchases on the go. For example, I know that I own far too many neutral blushes (blushes in general actually, as this evidence shows...) but that they are something I wear all of the time, so if I'm pondering a new nude blush at least I know I will use it, and can think back to my current shades to see if this one is too similar to the others. Now that I've learnt to do this I find myself never buying red lipstick ;)

my true obsession, and my wasted money obsession!

2 // Check out current deals before you click 'checkout'
This is one that I have always done before I checkout when shopping online, and I think the same sort of reasoning works when shopping in store as well. You wouldn't dismiss sale information or a free GWP at a store, so checking current sales for favourite sites like Adore Beauty and BeautyBay just makes sense! Sites that collect coupons for a bunch of places are my favourite as they've done the gathering for me, leaving me more time to check out swatches of the items I'm lemming ;)

3 // Wish List
You have to be realistic when it comes to loving beauty - I am well aware that I could never pull off a project pan, so beginning one would just set me up for disaster in the long run in the form of a huge splurge on products that may not be worth it. Instead, I like to create wish lists to whittle down my lusts and really work out what it is that really gets my heart racing. Lately I've been all about the honeymoon wishlists (see part one and part two) and it's always good to look back to past lemmings to notice trends!


4 // Follow International Trends
Being in a remote country like Australia means that we are made to wait a really long time for products to hit our shores. I keep an eye on my favourite international beauty blogs like Temptalia, Eye Heart It, Beauty Reductionista and Beauty Reflections to make sure I know what will eventually come out. This gives me time to check out more reviews and work out whether or not a product would work for me, and by the time it comes out here I am prepared with a full purse for it!

Products I've bought after reading about them on international blogs!

5 // Sign up to email lists for your favourite stores
This is a double-edged sword - if you are on a shopping ban this can cause too much temptation, but I personally find it wonderful to get the notification about a sale as soon as it has begun. Some of my non-beauty favourites include Lovisa (I love a good costume piece!) and Cotton On (I've used both of these recently for wedding related purchases, and didn't pay full price because I was notified about the promotion early!)

How do you save money when it comes to beauty shopping? Have you ever done a project pan or a similar mission?

Emma x

Get Pompous in 60 Seconds with Rimmel London

Sometimes I just get gripped by the thought of a new polish, and the obsession won’t leave until the shade has coated my tips. I was hauling at Chemist Warehouse’s infamous 50% off sale when I spotted Rimmel’s Pompous at the checkout. Rather than go down the sensible route and just tack it onto my order, I told myself I never wear purple polishes and moved along. In my spare moments during the week I kept thinking about the multi coloured shimmers in the purple base, and succumbed to the pressure before work one night and set out to hunt it down.

After seeing the Pompous spot empty at Priceline (where Rimmel polishes were 2 for $10) and on the My Chemist shelf (where Rimmel was 50% off!) I managed to snare a bottle for the lovely price of $3.98 (usually $7.95) from the other My Chemist in the area, right by my work! I was elated at my purchase, and love the way that this applies and looks on the nails. I really need to love a purple shade for it to make it onto my nails, and this hasn’t disappointed. I definitely prefer the deep and glossy complexity that a top coats adds to this colour (Seche Vite, for example) as I tried a thinner top coat and (the Skin Food pictured below) it just didn’t have the same appeal.

 

Have you ever become obsessed with the thought of owning a beauty product? What lengths have you gone to in order to track it down?

*Purchased by me, and the Skin Food top coat was a much appreciated CP from the stunning Emily Quak from Emily’s Anthology. Thanks Emily!

iHerb: Shopping for Real Techniques

I’d been looking through my brush collection and felt that it was lacking, and I had my eyes on the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman range. After looking around online I decided to order them from iHerb.  Sadly not every brush from the range was available, but I ended up choosing the Stippling Brush and the Base/Flawless Core Collection.

The brushes I am most excited to try would have to be the Stippling Brush, Buffing Brush and the Contour brush.

*****

Of course, I wouldn’t be a true beauty blogger if I didn’t throw other items into my cart, and so I chose some lip balms and the Queen Helene Mint Julep mask. I chose a Crazy Rumours balm in Freshly Squeezed Pink Grapefruit Juice as I have been on a pink grapefruit hunt at the moment, and the Soda Pop Root Beer flavour is for my best friend Candice. I also threw in a Hurraw balm in Blue Chamomile Vanilla.

I decided to load up on the Queen Helene masks as they were only $3.84 each, and I had seen so many rave reviews about them. I’m happy to say that first impressions are looking promising, I have only used the mask once but feel I may be falling in love.

I will be reviewing all of these in detail once I’ve tried them out properly, but do let me know what you are most excited to hear about!

The total order came to $47.23 which I thought was really reasonable for the amount of products I received. Shipping to Australia was $4 and I received $5 off as this was my first iHerb order.  Everything came safely packaged and came within 2 weeks, which I was really happy with. If you are interested in purchasing something from iHerb be sure to use the code BEJ649 to receive $5 off your first order. To be clear, I receive some sort of iHerb reward points if you use this code (not sure of exact details) but all who make an iHerb purchase get this opportunity and the code is not blog-related. Happy shopping!

*I was not sponsored for this post and am not affiliated with iHerb in any way, I'm just obsessed with shopping!