Spring Forward: A Small Haul + Some First Impressions!

     Spring is now officially upon us, it seems! Rain is aplenty, but those cloudy days haven't been overriding the days with sunshine, thankfully! Over the course of the past couple of months, yours truly has been scavenging Ulta drugstore sections and various other places for some spring beauty pick-me-ups (or, ahem, I guess cheap thrills is more like it). Bright vivid eyeliners, a poppy red lipstick (or two!), along with some neutral matte lipsticks, and some nice sweet-smelling balmy lip treats are the results of my attempt to change my makeup game a bit this season with some colors that may (or may not!) veer a little outside of my comfort zone! I've had the chance to try some of these items out as well, so you bet that some of these will include first impressions! Let's begin!

My Picks from the After-Christmas BH Cosmetics Sale + First Impressions!

     Ah, we have approached a new year! I have decided to do a small change of background in my photos, and am just testing it out for the time being. Let me know how you like it! Anyway, reverting to the topic of this post: remember that sale I was telling you all about in my last post? Well, let me just say that I try my absolute best to not order from mass-produced private label cosmetic companies anymore, such as Coastal Scents, Morphe Brushes, so on and so forth. I'm slowly starting to become more conscious of the ingredients I put on my skin, and neither of those aforementioned brands have claimed cruelty free status, and they do have some pretty questionable ingredients, to say the least. 

     Although I find myself overall disappointed to find, upon receiving my order, that BH Cosmetics still has parabens and talc (just rechecked my palette sleeves, and they are actually paraben-free! Sorry for the mixup, I was doing research on two different brands in the same day) in their color products, they are indeed cruelty-free, Leaping Bunny certified (this is according to the Leaping Bunny website, the products' packaging are sans the bunny logo, hopefully that changes!), and....some of their brushes are even vegan! And they certainly seem to be rocking to the beat of their own drum in regards to that. Whether or not I'll order from them again, at least in regard to color cosmetics, is to be determined. I just assumed wrongfully that since they were cruelty-free, none of those ingredients would be present. Ah well, logical fallacy on my part. And just a matter of being misinformed on consumer products and regulations.

So, enough blabbing! Here's what I bought from the sale! 

Foil Eyes 28 Color Eyeshadow Palette, $12
Modern Mattes 28 Color Eyeshadow Palette, $10

Sculpt & Blend 10 Piece Brush Set (Version 2), $20

New Skincare and Makeup Acquisitions!

 

     Hey, what's that tattered piece of fabric I see being whisked away in the horizon?  Oh, it's just my wallet floating away. Well, to be fair, what is going to be discussed in this post are close to being the only beauty products I've purchased in the past six months or so, and for me, it's the inevitable time of the year where I'm reminded that my birthday is approaching, so I suppose I have a bit of an excuse. However, that is to be determined. 😅

Alright my lovely beauties! It has been a hot minute since I've acquired a couple of these products: There are two high-end makeup items I'll be showing, which were indeed purchased much earlier than the drugstore items. I've changed jobs since, for college, so my current budget is at legitimate shoestring status. What's more, most of the skincare and makeup items were purchased at a rather steeply discounted price! Huzzah for bargains!