Shop & Tell: Sales & Steals

I love post-Christmas sales. ‘Tis the perfect time for retail therapy. The makeup sets that are already a good value to begin with get even more discounted and it’s my goddamn kryptonite – and I was rushing to get this post out because these products are still all available and all on sale.

Some of the things I got I’ve been wanting to get for a long time and was just waiting for a deal. Others were never part of my wishlist but they got so inexpensive that I wanted them all of a sudden. And some I didn’t even know existed but got intrigued when I saw the discount.

I’m a marketing department’s dream client.

I bought all but The Balm’s palette from LookFantastic – they were all already on sale plus I had a coupon for an extra 20% because the website “missed me” (I love it when they miss me). My previous purchase with them was the MAC Holiday Collection haul, so I understand why they were pining for my wallet me.

The set that started it all: the Illamasqua Prep & Glow Vault.

makeup haul
Part of Illamasqua’s last year Holiday collection, Electro Tartan.

It contains two full size products: the Hydra Veil Primer, a cult favourite made popular a few years back, and the Beyond Powder in the shade OMG Burst, which is a highlighter for which I have high expectations, because Illamasqua knows how to make face powders well. I have swatched the powder and the glow seems to be on the subtler side.

The Hydra Veil pot on the left, Beyond Powder on right. The powder compact is huge.
A comparison between the OMG Burst Beyond Powder compact and a regular Illamasqua blush compact (shade Katie depicted here). The pan of the Beyond Powder is also slighter bigger – it’s 7g compared to de 4,5g of the blush.

The regular price was 60€, it’s at the time of this post with 50% off, and I still got 20% on top of that, so it cost me just 24€.

The other set that intrigued me: Smashbox Cosmic Celebration Photo Finish Star Primer Power Set (there are nine words in that name, wtf?)

The set contains a small size of their famous Photo Finish primer (regular size is 30 ml, this is 12 ml), something I have tried and liked before. It’s your classic silicone primer that feels in pores, but it’s thinner than typical, clear in colour and spreads very easily.

It also contains a Primer Water (30ml, regular size is 116ml) which I’m very sceptical about, but at least has hydrating properties and I can use it as a toner if nothing else, and a mini size of the Primerizer (4 ml, regular size is 30ml), which has received rave reviews. The Primerizer is a primer and moisturiser in one and seems to contain great skincare ingredients (niacinamide, hyaluronic acid) – and I didn’t even know it existed but now I’m considering getting the full size if the trial with this one goes well.

The regular price was 33,45€, it’s on sale for 22,45€ and I got it for 17,96€ with the extra discount. In terms of value, the full price isn’t worth it, I did the math with the full size prices on LookFantastic’s website, and the total value in the set is 27,86€. But if you want to try Smashbox and what they do best, the currently discounted price is a great option.

Last but not least: Glow-To Blush from Ciaté in the shade In Too Deep.

The In Too Deep shade is kind of a light, neutral mauve colour.

Isn’t this adorable? So adorable. Looks like something from Polly Pocket, the vintage stuff. I remember when these came out and I never actually put them on my wishlist because they weren’t readily available in Portugal. But alas, we are blessed with the joy of international shipping. This was originally 26,45€, it’s currently on sale for 17,95€, and I got it for 14,36€. As cute as it is, it’s only 4g and I’m not sure if it’s worth the full price. It’s a subtle shade that I don’t think would work for medium to deep skintones. If you want it, scout the internet for a coupon to see if you can slash the price even more.

And the only product I got at a different website, Maquillalia, because it was on sale for 40% (still is! until tomorrow!) and I’ve been thinking about getting it for 7 years – since it launched, basically: The Balm’s Meet Matt(e) Nude palette.

The Meet Matt(e) palette that first came out was very tiny. When Matt(e) got Nude, they made it a bigger size. The pans are huge. TheBalm’s puns are one of my favourite things ever.

They are all matte colours and the there’s some very unique, interesting shades, like Matt Singh, Matt Lombardi and Matt Hung. I’m very excited to use this. It’s on sale currently for 20,64€ – but I know that The Balm frequently has products on sale on other websites that I don’t keep up with because they don’t ship to Portugal, so depending on your country, you might get an even better deal somewhere else.

I’m happy. ‘Twas a great therapy session.

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2 Comments

  1. Such great purchases. I have to agree, I’m also the same. I absolutely love Christmas time as the makeup gift sets are ideal to keep you going throughout the year. I just buy a whole lotta of them and it’s great value for money too xx

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