The day before my actual birthday (because my husband had to work on my actual birthday) my husband took me to a Benefit Counter at Macy's to get my brows waxed. Benefit does one free brow service for your birthday, you just have to schedule it for the week of your birthday. I have wanted to get my brows professionally done for a while because I am convinced that when I shaped them myself I did not get them even. So now I know they are even and I am much happier with them. I actually let them grow out for two months because initially I was thinking I would let them go back to their natural shape, but realized, I prefer thin brows on me so I was glad to be able to get them waxed. The lady who shaped my eye brows was really nice and friendly and put aloe on my skin after she waxed them and then covered any redness left behind with concealer which was helpful.
While I was getting my brows waxed my husband picked up the Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW Broad Spectrum SPF25 Brightening Sunscreen Makeup in "I'm Pure for Sure" Ivory, which you may have seen I was using if you follow my daily makeup tumblr. I was really surprised he got me a Benefit product because he had already bought me so much makeup during July that I really wasn't expecting anything. While I don't review foundations because I am so picky about the coverage given (I tend to use concealer as foundation) I have found that this one actually gives enough coverage that I don't feel the need to wear concealer on my cheeks. It will be used, but mostly for special occasions because getting a replacement bottle once it has been used up is low in likelihood due to price.
The person my husband was working with and threw in a sample of the Stay Don't Stray eye shadow primer and the IT'S POTENT! eye benefit cream. I have tried out the Stay Don't Stray once, but I don't plan on doing a review of it just yet, I want to try it out with an eye shadow I know has really poor lasting time even with the e.l.f. eyelid primer to see if it really is all it is made out to be in reviews I have seen of it on YouTube. I have yet to try the eye cream although I am looking forward to it, but I want to finish the eye cream I am currently using first.
From Target my husband had been watching the Sonia Kashuk limited edition products for what seems like the whole month until they went to half off, because initially they were only a couple of dollars off. As far as I can tell he got me everything from this particular series of limited edition items which included…
A brush set with a case:
I have never had Sonia Kashuk brushes before so I am excited to try these. The brushes included in the set are a synthetic domed powder brush, an eye shadow brush, an angled fluffy eye shadow brush, and last but not least a synthetic pointed eyeliner/lip brush. I have been trying them without product on my face and they are very soft. I am probably going to keep the eyeliner/lip brush as just a lip brush since I like to fully clean lip brushes after one use because cream products are harder to clean out than powders.
An eye shadow quad:
This eye shadow quad is called "Moroccan Dunes" and is a very pretty set of shimmer brown tones. I have only swatched the eye shadows so far, but the colors seems nice and I am sure I will really enjoy them once I get around to using them.
A lip and cheek quad:
This quad is called "a kiss on the cheek" and all of the cream colors can be used on either the lips or the cheeks. So far I have only used one of them and on the lips and I liked how it looked.
A nail art kit:
Last is this nail art kit called "state of the art" with three nail polishes and two brushes. I have not yet tried the nail polish or the nail art brushes and given my inability to paint my nails without getting polish all over my husbands, this should be really interesting to see what I come up with and if I can keep my hands steady enough to actually do a design with.
Because the nail polish, eye shadow, and the lip/cheek products are limited edition it will be challenging for me to actually use them, but I am trying really hard to break the habit of just collecting the limited edition stuff instead of using it.
The next series of products are all from my parents, specifically picked out by my mom.
Sally Hansen Nail Art Pens:
I had never seen these before and I am really excited to try these out. As with the Sonia Kashuk nail art kit, I am not sure how well I am going to do with using these, but I love nail everything and this will give me some more color options for nail art when I get around to trying it and because of the format of the applicator, these might actually be easier to use.
I sent a list to my mom with all of the Physicians Formula Eye Makeup I didn't have that I was interested in and she kind of went nuts. She did tell me she got everything at 50% off so I think that may have encouraged the quantity she sent.
Two Physicians Formula Matte Collection Eye Shadow Quads:
Canyon Classics and Classics Nudes. I was interested in these because I have heard they were very good matte eye shadows. I have liked the Physicians Formula shimmer eye shadows that I have used in the past so I am looking forward to seeing how these compare.
Five Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Eyeliner Trios:
I already have the trio for blue eyes which I don't use enough, but I do intend to. I am also one of those people who likes to have complete collections when I get one of something. So once I got the blue trio, I started to really want all of the other ones. I did not expect to receive all five of the ones I was missing, so this was a big surprise. I received the one for Brown eyes, Green eyes, Hazel eyes, Warm Nudes, and Smokey Nudes. I now have five black eye liners, but they do have different color shimmers in them as this is part of the Shimmer Strips collection. I am also interested in seeing how things like the pink and green look at eye liners.
Four Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Eye Shadows:
The one for Hazel eyes from the Eye Candy collection is the last one I was missing for that set and since it seems CVS is no longer carrying this set I didn't think I would ever finish it so I am really excited to have this. Also because it is one of the more neutral shades I think it is one of the easier ones to wear.
She also sent three from the Nude Eyes collections in Natural, Warm, and Classic. Since I seem to have gotten on a real neutral kick lately these will probably get a lot of use as well.
To say I was surprised by what I received for my birthday would be an understatement. I know my husband and my parents love to give me things they know I will like and use, but the quantity and the quality of the makeup received surpassed any expectation I may have had.
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