Most of my haul this month was scored at Ulta. Despite my best attempts, Ulta has lured me back into my previous beauty buying habits. Everytime I leave, they pull me back in with mega bonus points, epic sales, and coupons galore! I don’t feel too bad though because I scored some sweet stuff! I also picked up a few things along the way at my favorite discount haven TJ Maxx, as well as at Sephora. Torrid, and Pandora. Keep reading for all the goodies I scored this month!
Hair Care
Most of the stuff in my hair care haul were restocks or replacements. I’m currently working to regain my former glorious crown of hair with the Curlsmith Ultimate Lengths 30-Day Therapy. The brand recommends using the product for at least 3 months, and this is my third box. I wash my hair once a week, and I always pre-treat my hair with a scalp treatment, hair oil, and conditioner before shampooing. It was time to replace all three.
For the scalp treatment, I bought the Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen and Restore Hair Serum to replace the Grow Gorgeous Back into the Roots and the SheaMoisture 100% Pure Baobab Oil to replace the Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture Brassica Seed Oil.
The new products in this month’s haul are the SheaMoisture Manuka Honey and Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Treatment Masque and the Truly Star Fruit Hydrate and Shine Hair Mask. SheaMoisture was on sale BOGO 50%, so I bought a packet of the Masque. I wasn’t ready to go all in with a full size jar. Ulta had 5X bonus points for several brands including Truly, and I obviously could not resist. The Star Fruit was worth a try for $5 and bonus points. Thus far, I’ve tried everything except the Truly Hair Mask.
Skincare
This month’s skincare haul is full of stuff that’s new to me! It began with the Acure The Essentials Rosehip Oil and the Acure Seriously Soothing Blue Tansy Night Oil. I wanted to start using oils to lock in moisture as the last step of my skincare routine. I found this brand during a search on the Ulta website.
Like the SheaMoisture, Acure was having a BOGO 50% off sale, so I eagerly obliged. The bareMinerals Mineral Cleansing Water is also new to me and an unexpected treasure I found during a visit to TJ Maxx. At $6.99, it was a steal that I couldn’t resist. Since I had a good experience with the bareMinerals Cleansing Oil, I have no problem giving this a try when I finish the Tarte Micellar Water.
I only planned to buy a couple of items during Ulta’s Love Your Skin Event. The Cannuka CBD Calming Eye Balm was one of those items. I am almost finished with the Kiehl’s Creamy Avocado Eye Treatment. Although I really like the Kiehl’s, I’m always looking for something new, so at 50% off, the Cannuka seemed like the perfect candidate. The other must-buy product was the Dermalogica PreCleanse. I’ve heard some in the beauty community rave about how good this product is for removing makeup, but at almost $50, I wasn’t about to find out for myself anytime soon. Lucky for me, the PreCleanse was included in Ulta’s Love Your Skin Event. For about $20, I could give it a try.
The Crème Shop Twin Stars Fusion Face Mask and The Crème Shop Hello Kitty Fusion Face Mask were clearance section impulse buys during an Ulta trip. I am always down to try a hydrating sheet masks, and these were less than $2. How could a beauty junkie like me say no?
Since I’ve been taking beauty products to my local L’Occitane store for recycling, I have been using the 10% discount I receive to try a L’Occitane product. This time around, I bought the L’Occitane Shea Butter Ultra Rich Comforting Cream. I plan to use it when I’m finished with the Kiehl’s Creme D’Elegance Repairateur. I like the short ingredients list, and I wonder if it works as well as the Kiehl’s face cream.
Since I discovered this, it has become one of my favorite beauty products. What is it you ask? Why, it’s the Shiseido Facial Cotton. I found 3 of the small packs at TJ Maxx. Of course, I got them all!!! The final item in my skincare haul isn’t even a product. It’s an experience. This month, I enjoyed a 30-Minute Facial at Ulta Beauty thanks to 5X Bonus Points on Skin Bar Services along with my $25 Diamond Services Gift Card. My skin feels smoove, and I got a glow that Leroy Green would envy.
Body Care
Looks like my smallest haul was in body care. I have been wanting to try the Truly Unicorn Fruit Body Butter for while. Unfortunately, when I picked this up, there were no longer any bonus points. Also, the jar is quite tiny. I’ve tried the body butter a few times since I hauled it.
The product smells like cotton candy in the jar, but it smells like cocoa while I’m rubbing it in. Although it’s labeled as a body butter, it looks like buttercream frosting and goes on like a dry oil. I did get 5X Bonus Points on the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Sunscreen SPF 30 that I bought to use as a sunscreen for my hands after using an AHA.
Makeup
I sure did haul up a good amount of makeup for someone who has no makeup needs. Three new eyeshadow palettes in one month? Beauty resolutions … I don’t know her. It probably began when I saw the Anastasia Beverly Hills Riviera Palette at TJ Maxx for 50% less than the original price. The Riviera Palette was the first ABH I ever wanted, and I couldn’t resist this score!
Other makeup goodies I found at TJ Maxx were the Japonesque Solid Brush Cleanser, which is a dupe for the Sephora Solid Brush Cleaner, as well as the Laura Mercier Silk Crème Moisturizing Photo Edition Foundation. I bought both cleansers because I haven’t seen this out in the wild since Japonesque was discontinued at Ulta. Also, I have never tried a foundation from Laura Mercier. Since they had my closest shade match, and the product was a fraction of the original price, I decided to give it a try.
During an Ulta visit, I scored BIG in the Last Chance section. There were several goodies that were 50% off that I couldn’t resist: the IT Brushes for Ulta Blurring Concealer Brush, which I also previously bought during Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty, the MAC Cosmetics Fix+ White Tea Setting Spray that is a must-buy at $8, the Tarte Tarteist Pro Remix Amazonian Clay Palette, which I happily added to my collection after finally decluttering the Tartelette and Tartelette in Bloom palettes that didn’t work for me, and Urban Decay Honey Eyeshadow Primer Potion Ornament that provides a beautiful golden shimmer base for any sparkly eye look.
I liked the sample I received of the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Setting Powder, so I decided to get the full size after I finished the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder. I wanted another powder besides the Too Faced Born This Way Ethereal Loose Setting Powder in the rotation. I also couldn’t resist that new new from Tarte and purchased the Tarte Shape Tape Glow Wand with my Ulta 20% Prestige Coupon to use with the Tarte Shape Tape. I also hauled the beloved Too Faced Hangover Replenishing Face Primer thanks to 5x Bonus Points, but I bought the travel size just in case I wasn’t a fan.
This Makeup Haul has plenty of NYX Professional Makeup thanks to 5X Bonus Points at Ulta. This was a great opportunity to buy items I haven’t tried from the brand before. As someone who like to glow to the gods, I had to get the new NYX Professional Makeup Radiant Finish Setting Spray. Also, I have been totally obsessed with setting sprays lately. After finishing the Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow, I decided to give the NYX Professional Makeup Tinted Brow Mascara a try. In my efforts to seek a dupe for personal fave, the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water, I also purchased the NYX Professional Makeup Bare with Me Multitasking Spray.
This month, I also scored my first Pat McGrath Palette!! It is one of the smaller 6-pan palettes, but I don’t care because I didn’t spend a boatload of money to get it. Despite plenty of fellow beauty junkies raving about PML Palettes, I never succumbed to temptation because I wanted to swatch before purchasing. My money’s not long enough to collect PML Motherships. When I learned the Pat McGrath Labs MTHRSHP: Subliminal Platinum Bronze was on sale for 50% off, I became SHP-less no more. For $30, I could take a chance on palette without seeing it in person first.
Fashion
Thanks to a major 50% sale, I was able to score the Pandora Mixed Woven Double-Leather Charm Bracelet. Since I have large wrists, I had to buy 2 bracelets in order to get the double wrap. Although it actually gives me a triple wrap with a little extra. I also used my Torrid Cash to score two pairs of Torrid Premium Full Length Leggings and a pair of Blue Tortoiseshell Sunglasses.
What’s in your Joyous January Haul?