Welcome to a new year!
As you can probably tell from my previous makeup related posts I have quite a large makeup collection, it's not filled with tons of name brands like some of the women who run these types of blogs, but that's because if I can find a drugstore (cheaper) product that works well I would rather purchase that then spend the extra money on something with a brand name that works the same. Now typically when shopping online for makeup I purchase only when they have good sales or deals going on and this mini haul occurred during a sale that
Urban Decay was having due to the holidays. I always recommend to sign up to websites such as
Urban Decay,
BH Cosmetics,
Ulta,
E.L.F, etc. because sure you may get some annoying newsletters sometimes, but it's well worth it when they have a good sale going on. Anyways, they were running a sale because they wouldn't be shipping anything for a couple days and if you purchased during that time period you would receive all these extra goodies, so I decided to make a purchase so I could try some new items and review them for you guys, and it was also a little Christmas present to myself.
When deciding what to purchase from Urban Decay I couldn't think of anything I really needed, and I was also looking to try more than one item so I decided to go with the
Mystery Travel Bag for $16. Pictured above is the travel bag itself, a simple clear makeup bag that meets airlines standards. I know from looking at the websites reviews a lot of people have complaints about there not truly being $45 worth of samples like Urban Decay says it does, but after receiving my bag and doing the math they are right even though it doesn't seem like it. I also found out that these "mystery bags" are not randomized so do not purchase more than one unless you plan on giving it for a gift because you will get the same items every time.
Included in the mystery bag is:
A full sized
Lip Junkie Lip Gloss, which is sold for $19, in a shade called Naked. This lip gloss is the perfect shade to wear when rocking a nude lip, it's not sticky, and it seems to last for quite awhile. I would have much preferred to receive the shade of Red Light because a red lip is part of my signature look, but it's always nice to have some good nude glosses and lipsticks.
I actually received two of these travel sized
Supercurl Curling Mascara, one with my mystery bag and one because of the little deal they were offering during my purchase. Packed inside this pretty gunmetal colored tube is a wand that has powers to separate your lashes, shape them, and boost the curl. The full size of this product sells for $20, it is a good mascara, and I adore the wand, but I feel I could find a drugstore product for half the price that would work just as well. (Travel size is $10)
This product came to me at about the perfect time, I decided I would test this on New Year's Eve because I had to have my makeup done at 7am before work and make it last until I was done having my fun after midnight. This exact
All Nighter Setting Spray is only sold on the site in travel size for $12, and it is well worth it, I would actually buy a full size of this exact formula if they still sold it, but it looks like they have replaced the full size with a new one. The only thing I had to freshen up on my face throughout the day was my lipstick, besides that my makeup looked wonderful from morning till night. On a side note though, it did take a little bit extra time in the shower attempting to wash every bit of my makeup off, but it was worth it.
I typically do not use items like this
24/7 Eyeshadow Pencil, but I am always willing to try something new. I received this pencil in the shade called Rehab, which is a shade of taupe and works very well with my style. I read the product reviews for these eyeshadow pencils and it seems that the thoughts about them are kind of all over the place and it seems that certain shades have more problems then others. The number one complaint I seen on the reviews was that they became flaky at times, but when pairing this with either my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer or my NYX Cosmetics Eyeshadow Base I have absolutely no issue.
Included as extras from the sale:
Before this order I had already previously purchased the
24/7Glide On Eye Pencil in Yeyo, which is a pure white that I love to use on my waterline, so when I received another I was pretty excited. The shade I received is called Gunmetal and is a lovely silver color that I also tested on New Year's Eve. My favorite use for this eye pencil is to use it on my lower lash line when I wear a silver smokey eye, it is long lasting, highly pigmented, and smudge proof.
I typically dislike when I get little samples like this, because most of the time they are near useless, but I actually was able to create a wonderful look with this sample set. I used the Half Baked eyeshadow, Evidence eyeshadow, and the Primer Potion along with some other products from Urban Decay to create the look pictured below. The other products I used were the new Naked Beauty Balm that they are releasing to the public on January 8th, the Lip Junkie that I talked about earlier in the post, Rehab Eye Shadow Pencil, and the All Nighter Setting Spray.
I also received two more of these little Primer Potion samples that I talked about earlier in this post.
I discussed this product in my
December Ipsy Bag and since then I have had even more of a chance to use this and I have decided I absolutely love it. This Naked Skin Beauty Balm, which will be released on January 8th, has become something I use every day to help create a flawless look.
Overall, even though a lot of people have complaints about the mystery bag I was satisfied with it, just remember to not purchase it more than once. This bag would be wonderful for someone who has never used Urban Decay before and is looking for samples, or to give as a gift.
Coming Soon...
In my next blog post, which should be completed within a week of this one, I will be sharing my favorite drugstore products.
