End of October Hauls

Last week my Sephora haul arrived just in time for the Halloween party. I didn't have a chance to post but since I got my most recent soap haul and my China Glaze nail polishes, I figured that now is the time to show it all off. 

Up first is what I got from Sephora during their Friends & Family sale. I got the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar & Nail Lacquer Set in NSFW because who could pass up a matching set of true red! Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Icon and SEPHORA+PANTONE UNIVERSE Spectral Lacquer in Purple Wine. 

I've already gotten the chance to try out the OCC set and they are amazing but the lip tar does take a bit of practice. I noticed that it bled a bit which led me to believe that I may have been a bit heavy handed during the application. A little does goes a long way and I'd suggest just using a bit, and reapplying if necessary much later on. The nail polish is beautiful and as a side note, it looked great with my Captain Hook costume. 

Geeky Little Things (Wonder Witch) is a soap shop that I figured I'd give a shot. Now maybe it was because they Harry Potter themed soaps or maybe it was because the main moisturizers are either olive oil, shea butter, and/or oatmeal but something about this store seemed whimsical and cute. So in honour of Halloween, I decided to grab a couple of soaps and their Butterbeer balm. The packaging is lovely and I was more than surprised when I got everything.

I've already opened the Butterbeer balm and it's scent is a butterscotch base, with french vanilla, burnt sugar, and marshmallows. It's quite moisturizing and I'm so glad I opened it immediately to use. As for the soaps, here's what was in my order:

• Madam Puddifoot's Green Tea Soap (Green Tea, Cucumber, and Oatmeal Soap)
• Professor Trelawney’s Divination Bar (Oatmeal, Milk, Honey, and Poppy Seed Soap)
• Hogwarts Express Pumpkin Pasties Soap (Pumpkin Almond Shea Butter Soap)
• Honeydukes Salty and Sweet Soap (Salted Caramel Goat’s Milk Soap)
• Dumbledore Sherbet lemon Bar (Lemon Oatmeal Soap)

Finally, I got my China Glaze nail polishes! These are all from the Monsters Ball lineup. Almost every year I have the hardest time finding these in stores but this year Groupon had them as an offer. As a result, I had to indulge! 

From left to right is: Bat My Eyes, Fang-Tastic, Howl You Doin', Boo-Gie Down, Ghoulish Glow, and Bump in the Night. 

More Halloween Manicures

Halloween is my favourite time of the year so I've been all about the simple manicures for this month (it is timed well with my latest nail polish haul). This week I did two and my boyfriend named the first one the "8-bit Lava" and the second is something I call "Halloween Night."

8-Bit Lava: Two coats of Sinful Colors Courtney Orange (30), two coats of Lucky 13 Lacquer Super Meat Boy, and one coat of Sinful Colors Black Crackle (1019). The Super Meat Boy nail polish has a red jelly base with small white square, and medium black hex glitter. The way the crackle dried exposes the white squares perfectly. At first I thought it looked like wood on a fire, but my boyfriend insists it has more of an 8-Bit Lava look -- hence the name.

This is the beginning of the Halloween Night manicure -- I wanted to test out sponging first. The base is two coats of China Glaze Bizarre Blurple (1137). I sponged on some of the Sinful Colors Courtney Orange (30) which didn't really show up so I decided to sponge on a bit of Milani Good Morning Sunshine (29). Overall, I loved the look of it and considered adding in stars but opted for another coat of nail polish instead.

I couldn't get a good shot of the end but I love the look of this one. The final coat is Lucky 13 Lacquer Cogs which is a light brown jelly with small copper square, medium gold, and large silver hex glitters. The copper squares look a bit orange in this manicure so it gives an interesting allusion to a night sky. (As I mentioned, the picture doesn't do it justice).

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You can get Sinful Colors at Target or Walgreens and the normal bottles costs ~$2. The Sinful Colors crackle costs ~$4. The China Glaze usually retails for about ~$5 but this particular bottle was part of a set (and I got this bottle as part of a makeup swap). Lucky 13 Lacquers are available online for $10 for a bottle. (but this particular bottle was part of a limited edition set).

The Nail Polish Lunchbox

Thus far I have tried to avoid the nail polish reviews because I tend to work a lot with my hands which means that nail polish in general doesn't stand a chance. But I adore having nail polish, so much so that I have a lunchbox filled with them. And yes, my collection was actually much bigger however I have restricted myself to only having as many as I can fit into the lunchbox. Behold, my collection.

Yes, my lunchbox is from BlizzCon. Now I am going to spare the precise breakdown of what is pictured inside and instead focus on a few items (which will probably come in the future as a review). Since my most recent review mentioned that I just got in a few Zoya polishes, I figured I'd mention what they were. (Please note that I haven't tried them just yet!).

I got the five bottles during a promotion where you get two bottles for free. So I figured that I ought to spring for a few more. All quotes mentioned come from the Zoya website.

• Ciara, described as a "medium berry purple with red plum undertones". Visually though, it seems to look like more of a pink.

• Akyra, described as a "medium metallic teal shimmer in a dark smoky blue base." Definitely looks a lot more like a green.

• Ibiza, described as a "blackened indigo-blue brightened slightly by subtle metallic blue shimmer." The description is spot on and it looks like a lovely dark blue.

• Indigo, which is described as "a dark indigo blue shimmer with a pinch of holographic microglitter." Yet while that description holds incredibly true, that glitter looks like it is trully dominating. The glitter also seems to vary in colour so you get a lot of different shiny colours that come through.

• Raven, which is an "intense satiny black balanced by very subtle silver shimmer." Well, it looks black.

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Moving on to my favourites! Unlike the Zoya which is completely new to my collection, these nail polishes have been tried and remain true.

• Sinful Colors: Savage (950)
This one struck me as an odd colour when I first got it. And almost a year later, it still strikes me as an odd colour but I adore it. It dries matte so I usually follow up with a glossy top coat to get that colour to shine.

• Sinful Colors: Love Nails (801)
I love a shiny blue and this one even trumps the other blues that I have -- like the other three that I have from OPI (but in all fairness, the others I have from OPI are much darker blues). This colour is bright and really pops out which is what I love about it.

Ye shall be entering the land of purple which is one of my favourite colours.

• CQ: Mystical (151)
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this colour. Perfect hue of purple, holds up incredibly well (read as: doesn't chip easily), and is possibly my favourite bottle of the lot. I don't use this one nearly as much because it isn't readily available in this area. I picked it up when I was in NYC and while they are abundant in Rite Aid, that store is not out here in SF.

• Island Girl: Surfing Paradise (1132)
I've had this nail polish for about two weeks and I love the colour of it. It looks like a pink but ends up drying on the purple side. It does chip easily though but I tend to overlook those kinds of things when I get a colour I like. I will probably run the same issue as I do with the CQ nail polish; madly in love with it but I can't use it as often since it's not available in SF. You can read my review about it here.

• China Glaze: Flying Dragon (80841)
I ended up getting this one in a swap and I love it! It doesn't chip as easily, wears well, and just looks gorgeous. Although there is microglitter in it, it doesn't really come across, which I like. You get more of the base colour which is a beautiful hue of purple. In fact, it is just slightly darker than the Surfing Paradise colour by Island Girl.

• e.l.f. Royal Plum

Alright, so since entering the land of purple, you might have noticed my overuse of "love." Sad to say that it hasn't ended. Yes, I love this hue of purple as well. It is very similar to the Mystical bottle by CQ however it is a tiny bit more pink (Mystical is a bit more purple).

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One last thing before I call an end to my nail polish collection. That is my recent acquisition of the Konad Stamping Nail Art Kit. This was actually something my BF got for me. In the box are two nail plates though. This is something I can't wait to try but first it's going to take a bit of practice.

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The Zoya reviews are probably on the horizon, depending on how much I want to stray from my beloved purple nail polishes but in the mean time, here's where you can snag some of my favourites.

	Brand	Store	Price
	China Glaze	Ulta	$7.00
	CQ	Rite Aid	$2.99
	e.l.f.	eyeslipsface.com	$2.00
	Island Girl	ABC Stores	$2.99
	Sinful Colors	Walgreens	$1.99
	Zoya	Whole Foods & zoya.com	$8.00