Friday Haul: theBalm, Wet n Wild, NYC and more!

Hooray for Friday! I love the weekends, and Saturday can never come soon enough. Today I'm sharing a great haul with you that includes one of my new favorite brands, theBalm!

Last week I shared a link on Facebook for you to visit thebalm.com for a 2 hour flash sale where everything was 50% off! I don't know about you, but I was all over it and was excited for a good deal on their shadows! Here is how I saved...

$36.00 theBalm Nude 'tude nice palette
$22.00 theBalm Instain Blush in "Argyle"
-$29.00 (50% off flash sale)
$29.00!   I love saving on high end brands!

And, again with the Walgreens this week. Sorry if you hate Walgreens as much as I do. But they had Wet n Wild fergie cosmetics for 40% off this week, and there was a lip color that needed me to try it. In addition to the 40% off sale, you also get 500 points (worth 50 cents) if you buy 2! Here is what I got...

$3.59 Wet n Wild fergie Center Stage Perfect Pout Lipcolor in "Fomo"
$3.49 Wet n Wild fergie On Edge Longwearing Eye Pencil in "China White"
-$2.79 (40% off sale)
-$0.50 (500 points for using your Walgreens card)
$3.69 for both products!

Next, Rite Aid has a great deal on NYC cosmetics this week. They are buy 1 get 1 50% off! and if you get $10 worth you get a $5 up+ reward. This deal has a limit of 2, so you can get a total of $10 back. I had a plethora of NYC coupons laying around, so I decided to do the deal twice for $10 back. However, things got tricky with 50% off the 2nd item, so in order to maximize my savings I had to do a total of 4 transactions...

Transaction #1
$4.99 NYC InividualEyes compact in "Union Square"
$4.99 NYC InividualEyes compact in "Best of Broadway"
-$2.49 (50% off 2nd item sale)
-$1.50 (coupon from here - no longer available)
$5.98

Transaction #2
$2.99 NYC Sparkle Eye Dust in "Opal Sparkle"
$2.99 NYC Sparkle Eye Dust in "Diamond Dust"
$2.99 NYC Sparkle Eye Dust in "Brilliant Sapphire"
$2.99 NYC Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm in "Pink Lady"
-$2.99 (50% off 2nd item sale)
-$3.00 (2 $1.50 off coupons from here - no longer available)
-$5.00 (up+ reward for buying $10 in NYC cosmetics)
$0.97

Transaction #3
$1.99 NYC Liquid Lip Shine in "Nude York City"
$1.99 NYC Liquid Lip Shine in "Brighton Beach Peach"
-$0.99 (50% off 2nd item sale)
-$2.00 (2 $1.00 off coupons from here - watch a video for savings)
$0.98

Transaction #4
$0.99 NYC Dual Pencil Sharpener
-$5.00 (another up+ reward for buying $10 in NYC cosmetics)
-$4.01

So, all transactions combined it looks like this:
$5.98 (Total from transaction #1)
$0.97 (Total from transaction #2)
$0.98 (Total from transaction #3)
-$4.01 (Total from transaction #4)
$3.92 for all 9 cosmetics! That's less than the price if just one of the compacts if purchased alone! Total pain in the rear to do 4 separate transactions, but worth the savings in the end.

That's all! I paid $36.79 for $92.08 worth of cosmetics this week! What were you able to score?

Review: theBalm Smoke Balm Palette Part 2

I did a full review a few weeks ago on a shadow trio that I found from theBalm at Kohls. And, I have been loving that one so much, that I decided to get the other trio palette as well. These shadows are so easy to work with and have a smooth, buttery texture. For a lot more info you can click here for the review on the other palette.

The three shades that come in this palette are:
Blaze, a dark charcoal semi-matte shade.
Spark, a cool matte medium brown shade &
Flame, a silvery champagne shade with lots of sparkle.

While the shades from these palettes are not the most pigmented I've ever worked with, they are certainly build-able. I personally like shadows that are build-able much better than uber-pigmented ones. They are much easier to work with, are much more forgiving, and don't cause harsh lines.

Again, these trio shadows retail fro $12 at Kohls and I haven't found them anywhere else. I personally think that these are well worth the $12 price tag and are such a fun addition to your shadow collection.

Friday Haul: Maybelline, Physicians Formula, The Balm

Hooray for the weekend! I hope your week was awesome, and that you were able to score some great beauty finds. This week, I went to Ulta, Kohls, and Rite Aid. Here we go...

I went to Kohls this week because they sent me a coupon for $10 off anything in the store. I originally wanted to get some new clothes, but looked them over and didn't find anything that suited me, so of course I browsed the cosmetics to find something there. I had no idea that Kohls sold theBalm cosmetics! I found this "Smoke Balm" eyeshadow palette for $12! Easy desicion at that point. A $2 trio from theBalm after my $10 coupon. I reviewed this item yesterday, so click here for more info.

Then, I hopped over to Ulta. I posted on Facebook that they are having a 40% off sale on a lot of drugstore brands. Maybelline and Physicians Formula are 2 of the 5 brands that are 40% off right now. PLUS, you can use a $3.50 off your $10 purchase coupon for even better savings, and Ulta takes Manufacture Coupons as well! So as I was browsing, I found this BB Bronzer with an attached $5 off coupon. Then, I got some things from Maybelline that I've needed and wanted as well. Here is how this sweet deal ended up:

$14.99 Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Glow Boosting BB Cream
$6.99 Maybelline Define a Brow in Dark Blonde
$4.99 Maybelline Fit Me Bronzer (Can you tell I'm gearing up for summer?)
-$10.78 (40% off sale)
-$5.00 (Coupon attached to Bronze BB Cream)
-$3.50 (Ulta $3.50 off $10 purchase coupon)
$7.68 For $27 worth of makeup!

Last, I went to Rite Aid for one of my favorite sales ever! They do this sale every now and then, and I JUMP on it! Spend $15 on Physicians Formula get $10 up+ rewards (excludes eye & clearance)! Already that is a sweet deal, but combine it with a coupon, and you can get a smoking deal! PLUS, you can do this twice. That's a $20 savings if you spend $30. I've told you about the Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupons that I found at Target. I went and got another one, then ran to Rite Aid and found more coupons stuck to the products there as well:

$14.95  Physicians Formula Nude Wear Bronzer (Yes, another bronzer this week)
$13.95  Physicians Formula Super CC Color Correcting Powder
$6.55 Physicians Formula Gentle Cover Concealer Stick
-$13.95 (Buy 1 Get 1 Free Coupon from Target)
-$3.00 (Coupon stuck to CC powder at Rite Aid)
-$20.00 (up+ Rewards for next purchase)
-$1.50  --> An awesome money maker, if you can find the coupons at Target!

So that's all for my haul this week. I got $74.42 worth of makeup for only $8.17 this week!

I want to mention, that there was a $4 off any Almay cosmetics coupon in the Sunday paper. If you were lucky enough to get one, then you can get some free stuff at Ulta and CVS this week! CVS has the lip glosses for $5.99 with a $2 reward, so free after the $4 coupon. And Almay is included in the 40% off sale at Ulta, so choose your scenario there. I was super lucky and scored 2 of these wonderful coupons, thanks to my sweet neighbors, so I'll be saving mine for a money making scenario next week! So make sure you come back next Friday. And, have a great Easter weekend!

Review: theBalm Smoke Balm Smokey Eye Palette

Hey everyone! I have an exciting review for you today. theBalm Smoke Balm Smokey Eye Palette! This is a 3 shade palette that I found at Kohls this week. I got a GREAT deal on it (come back for more about that tomorrow). This is the first time I have played with theBalm shadows, and I gotta say, I'm impressed!

Can we start with how cute the packaging is? These shadows come in a cardboard housing with cute and fun graphics. The side has a picture of what looks like a matchbox striking strip (because this is a "smokey" palette ;) And the back of the package has a guide for how to apply these to make your eyes look smokey. Of course though, you can do whatever you want with these shades!

The three shades that come in this palette are:
Kindle, a dark green with a charcoal undertone that has a slight shimmer.
Glow, a matte medium brown shade &
Combust, a golden champagne shade with lots of sparkle.

All three shades feel velvety and smooth and are very decently pigmented. I never build up my swatches to give you a false hope of what cosmetics look like. One swipe and that's all they get. If you can see it then great, if not maybe it's not a good choice.

 I think these colors work together very well, and are a great addition to your collection! It retails for $12 at Kohls, and I'm pretty sure it's exclusively there. I could be wrong on that. What do you think of this palette? Worth $12 or is it a pass for you?