#ABH – Forty, Flirty & Fabulous

Shop My Stash April 2020 — Palette a Day Challenge April 20-25

Hey all! I hope you are safe and doing well!

I’m continuing my April Shop My Stash challenge. This month I’ve been using a different palette every day. I thought this would be a great way to use more of the palettes in my stash and would get me to wear makeup each day. It makes me feel a little bit better. It has been a bit challenging wearing makeup every day, though! I am also deciding if I want to keep all of these palettes.

April 20 — Bare Minerals Natural Oasis

April 21 — Urban Decay On The Run in Bailout

April 22 — Natasha Denona Mini Retro

April 23 — Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam

April 24 — Too Faced Palm Spring Dreams

April 25 — Urban Decay Born to Run

I swatched all of the shades. I love the shades in this palette. It’s pretty, but I think the tones are very fall. The looks I get out of this are deep and vampy. I’m still deciding if I want to keep it or pass it on.

This is the first time I used this palette, so I swatched all eight shades. It’s a really beautiful neutral one, and like the Bare Minerals one, you can get really vampy looks. I like it, though and am going to play around with it some more.

This is another new palette to me. And it’s stunning! I have a larger Natasha Denona palette, but this is my first little one. I love the quality of this, as you can see it swatched beautifully! I used just the pink shades, but I’m looking forward to playing with the gray ones, too!

Soft Glam is one of my favorite palettes! It’s so gorgeous! Every time I used it, I remember how much I enjoy it. I used the shades Tempera, Orange Soda, Burnt Orange, Glistening and Rustic. It was a simple look (it was my Zoom meeting day), but so, so pretty!!!

I received this in my January Boxycharm. I used it once before, but gave it a go again today. used the pink tones and did a cut crease, which was fun. The shades are used are: Cabana Time, Saucy & Bossy, Swizzle Stick, Rumtiki and Buzz Kill. I really liked the look, so I’m going to keep this around and try it some more!

Another favorite in my collection. I love using this in the summer and usually do bronze looks. I decided instead to use the pinks an purples. The shades I used are Weekender, Riff, Hell Ride, Guilt Trip, Wildheart Punk and Blaze. Very fun and different for me!

In my last update, I used a lot of neutral shades, but I used more color this time. And it was fun! Stay tuned for my last update and thoughts on how the month went. I’m ready for May!

Ulta 21 Days of Beauty Haul

Hi all! Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well and that you are staying safe.

Today I have a little Ulta Haul. I purchased a couple of things from the current 21 Days of Beauty sale and a few other fun products. I’m not purchasing as much from the sale as I usually do. It’s because honestly I don’t need a lot of makeup and I’m trying to use some up.

I haven’t done a lot of hauls this year, so it’s exciting to get some new makeup! Here’s more information on the items I picked up:

From the sale I got the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown and the MAC Cosmetics Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Face Powder in Light. I haven’t tried either of these before, so I’m excited to test them out!

Here’s a close up of the powder:

This is a slow-baked domed face powder with low-level pearlized pigments that provide a dimensional yet natural-satin finish. Can be used to set foundation and to touch-up makeup throughout the day.

I’m really loving this so far. It sets my makeup without leaving my skin looking dry or cakey.

I finally picked up an Elf Cosmetics Bite Size Eyeshadow Palette in Rose Water. These are so cute! I love the pink tones in this cute little guy. Here’s swatches:

I really like both shimmers. The mattes are nice, too! I want to pick up a couple more of these, but the shades I want are often out of stock. I’ll wait — they are only $3 each!

I saw that a YouTuber I like, Emily Noel, purchased the EcoTools Scented Soap Roses and they looked so pretty that I had to pick them up. They smell so nice!

I am a big fan of the Yes To facial wipes, so I wanted to try out the Watermelon Super Fresh ones. They smell amazing, too!

Have you picked up anything from the sale or are you planning on getting anything?

Shop My Stash February 2020 Results and Monthly Empties

Hi All! Happy Saturday! I’m back with my February Shop My Stash results! I enjoy dipping into my collection and using products I haven’t used in a long time, or just haven’t given much of a chance.

My rule with this is if I don’t like the item after the month, I will move it out of my collection to make some room and let someone else enjoy it! You can check out my first Shop My Stash post for February.

February may be a short month, but I did get lots of use out of most of these products! The shades were perfect for February and I enjoyed using them!

I made sure to use every shade of the ABH x Carli Bybel palette. I really have enjoyed testing it out more. It’s a good palette. The mattes blend well and I really love a few of the shimmers. I do wish that most of the shimmers didn’t have glitter in them, but they are pretty nonetheless. I also still think Jode and OA are so similar and I wish they both weren’t in the palette. But, I can make some nice everyday looks with this and will be keeping it.

The formula of the Dose of Colors Eyeshadow Palette in Marvelous Mauves is so creamy and pigmented! This is a really gorgeous matte palette. I wore it alone and with shimmers from the Carli Bybel palette (especially Aura). I like this alot and will be keeping it.

I wore the blush and highlighter many times this month. They are the Nanacoco HD Pressed Blush in Shimmery Dusty Rose and the Makeup Geek Highlighter in Lit. They are beautiful together! I love them both and are keeping them both!

The Milani Keep It Full Nourishing Lip Plumper in Soft Rose is pretty, but it’s darker and more pigmented than I usually like in a gloss. I’m going to keep it for now and we’ll see if I reach for it.

On to my empties:

I had ten empties this month! Mostly skincare and body care.

I already have backups of the Pixi Retinol Jasmine Cleanser and the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Pink Juice Moisturizer. I love both of those products! Products I would repurchase are the MAC Fix+ (this was coconut scented), the Farmacy Honeymoon Glow and the StriVectin Peptight.

I got the QMS eye cream from a Boxycharm and liked it. It’s very expensive, though, so I wouldn’t purchase it again. The Julep Boost Your Radiance Oil is nice, but I haven’t purchased from them in a while, since they ended their Maven program. And the rest of the products were from my The Body Shop Advent Calendar. I loved them and might be purchasing them in the future!

Another successful Shop My Stash on the books! I had so much fun with these products and am looking forward to a new batch of makeup in March!

Do you shop your stash or have a project pan going on? I will be doing my first quarter project pan update at the end of March.

Shop My Stash — February 2020

Hi all! Happy Superbowl Sunday. I live in Kansas City, so it’s a pretty exciting day! Plus, it’s time for my February Shop my Stash! Win win!

I’m always excited to play with new (again to me) color cosmetics that I either haven’t used in a while or haven’t used much at all! My goal is to get more use out of the products I have and to see if they are something I want to keep.

This month I have chosen products that I have only used a few times, but I am excited to see how I really feel about them. I’ve picked out two palettes, a blush, a highlighter and a lip gloss. You can probably tell that I chose lots of pinkish tones. I love wearing these shades in February!

Here are the palettes open:

So many pretty shades to play with! I have already used them today and loved playing with something I haven’t tried in a while.

Here are close ups of the products:

Anastasia Beverly Hills x Carli Bybel Palette — This is such a pretty palette. I got it last fall with my Ulta points (LOVE Ulta’s reward system). The shades are gorgeous, but I haven’t used it more than a few times. I’m excited to really give it a try!

Dose of Colors Eyeshadow Palette in Marvelous Mauves — I received this in a BoxyCharm last year. I really love the tones in the palette and the shades are so soft and buttery, so they blend so well! This is an all matte palette, but I can use one of the ABH x Carli Bybel shimmers on top if I want to add some sparkle to the look.

Makeup Geek Highlighter in Lit, Nanacoco HD Pressed Blush in Shimmery Dusty Rose and Milani Keep It Full Nourishing Lip Plumper in Soft Rose

I love the formula of the lip gloss, but it’s a bit dark of a shade for me. I want to use it more to see if I like it.

The Makeup Geek highlighter looks golden in this photo, but it has a bit of a pink tint to it. It’s pretty. The blush is pretty, too. It has a bit of a shimmer. I have been wearing matte blushes lately, so this will be a nice change.

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I’m excited about his month’s Shop My Stash! Do you do a Shop My Stash or Project Pan to use up your products?

Shop My Stash December 2019 Results and Monthly Empties

Hi All! I’m back with my December Shop My Stash results! I enjoy dipping into my collection and using products I haven’t used in a long time, or just haven’t given much of a chance.

I’ve had a lot of fun playing with these products this month! And I have definitely decided to keep all of these products!

I usually wear a lip pencil and lip gloss everyday, but I do enjoy these lipsticks. They are matte, so I wear a gloss over them. They are very long wearing.

Here are the palettes open:

The ABH Sultry palette was my favorite product in my stash this month. I haven’t really used it much before this month. I love it! It’s so gorgeous. All the looks I made with it have been every day looks with a touch of glam. The shimmers/metallics take all looks to the next level! I used most of the shades in this.

I also used the Urban Decay Elements palette a few times in December. I like this palette, especially the purples and bronzes. I don’t really wear the blues, greens or the matte pink. The gold in this palette is so gorgeous! I’m going to keep this for now, but if it takes me until next holiday season to use it again, I will pass it on to someone else.

I used the highlighters in this Ofra x Madison Miller palette a lot. I would often forget to wear the blush, but when I did, I liked it. It’s not my favorites shade, but it blends out nice and wears well. The highlighters are so glowy! I will keep this and see if I reach for it.

Now, on to my empties!

I have a good amount of empties for December. Mostly skincare as always.

Out of these products, I can see myself repurchasing the Smashbox Primerizer (on sale) and the Ordinary Hyaluronic acid (when I am needing it). I have other hydrating serums that I am using now. The Primera water cream was nice, but I have a lot of moisturizers open and in my stash, so if I purchase it, it won’t be for a while. The Meaningful Beauty SPF moisturizer is okay. It’s a bit greasy and I’d like to find a less heavy sunscreen this year.

I LOVE both of these mists. The Skin & Co one is great for setting makeup and the Botanics mist is one I use after washing my face as a toner. I’m not going to purchase new ones write now because I have lots of mists to use up.

The Primera essence is so lovely! I may be repurchasing it. I have been working on the Soap & Glory Righteous Butter for a long time! I do like it, but don’t have to have it. I’m using other body creams right now.

December was another successful Shop My Stash and I used up lots of good products!

I’ve decided I’m going to do the same style Shop My Stash this year. From time to time I might add in some complexion products. We’ll see. I was thinking of doing a Project Pan, too. But I’m not sure. What do you think? Do you shop your stash or do Project Pans?

Anastasia Beverly Hills x Carli Bybel Palette Review

Hi all! I hope everyone had a great Monday! I’m here with a review of the new Anastasia Beverly Hills x Carli Bybel palette ($45 USD). I picked this up in my recent Ulta points haul. I saved up my Ulta points and raked in some free makeup — it was amazing!

I thought this palette looked so pretty, so I picked it up!

Here’s the palette open:

Isn’t it pretty! Such a lovely, feminine color story. I think these colors are soft, but with all of the metallics, you can make a really bold look.

The shades are:

Boli (metallic champagne)
Bybel (matte reddish-purple brown)
Mandala (metallic/duo chrome light purple)
Libra (metallic goldish)
Jode (shimmer teal)
OA (duo chrome blue + purple)
Boie (matte ash brown)
Bear (Matte beige)
Moo (metallic light gold)
Chai (matte light brown)
*Cindy (matte bright orange pressed pigment)*
Stev (matte dark red)
Aura (metallic red pink shimmer)
My Angels (metallic gold)

Swatches:

From left to right — Boli, Bybel, Mandala, Libra, Jode, OA and Boie.

Bali and Mandala are very sheer and glittery. The are nice eyeshadow toppers, but I wish they weren’t so glittery, because there is so much fallout. And another issue I have is that Jode and OA are so similar, I don’t know why Carli chose to do that. It’s hard to tell in the photo, But Jode is more gray-blue and OA has more purple in it and a bunch of glitter –but I don’t think you need both.

From this row, I do really like the mattes and the shade Libra.

From left to right — Bear, Moo, Chai, Cindy, Stev, Aura and My Angels.

I am a fan of all of these shades. The metallics are all gorgeous! I’ve worn all three and love them. And the mattes blend very well and are so pretty.

I am glad I have this palette. The shades are good quality and look very nice on the eyes. And they are fun, but still neutral enough for every day wear.

Did you pick up this palette? What do you think?

Giant Ulta Points Haul!

Hi all! I recently turned in my Ulta points and did an amazing haul! I got the items above and this advent calendar:

The Body Shop Online Only Essential Advent Calendar ($70 USD) — I can’t find this on the website anymore! So sad! It’s really cute and smells amazing! They still have the more expensive one. The Online Only Deluxe Vegan Advent Calendar. It’s $110. You can purchase it here.

Here’s the calendar open. I’m excited to open this in December!

Here are close up pics of the other items:

The pink bag was a gift with purchase. It’s full of a bunch of deluxe samples.

And I’ve been wanting the recent Anastasia Beverly Hills collabs. The top palette is the Carli Bybel palette and the bottom one is the Jackie Aina palette. I will be doing full reviews of both (and the Tati Beauty palette which I just ordered today)!

From the top is the Tarte Travel Size Timeless Smoothing Primer ($19 USD). Tati Westbrook talks about this all of the time, and I’ve decided to try it out. And I love that it’s in a mini. I always use a pore filling primer over a hydrating one. I’m using up a couple now, but I will try this out once they are used up.

I have also heard a lot about the new Benefit Boi-ing Cakeless Concealer ($22 USD). I purchased it in the shade 2, which may be too light for me. I probably should have got shade 4. But that’s okay, I’ll give it a go.

I picked up two items from Catrice — the Lip Treatment ($7.99 USD) and the HD Liquid Coverage Foundation ($10.99 USD). I love a good lip treatment and I have heard amazing things about the foundation. I picked it up in 020 Rose Beige. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m hoping it’s an okay match to try. Of course, since I got it all with my points, it’s FREE MAKEUP! It’s not the end of the world if the match for that and the concealer isn’t perfect. I can always mix them with other products.

The other products I got are the Morphe X Jeffree Star JS4 Fly High Brush ($10 USD), Morphe Highlight & Contour Beauty Sponge ($8 USD), The Ordinary ”Buffet” ($14.80 USD) and the Peter Thomas Roth Mask MashUp ($25 USD) which is unfortunately no longer on the website.

I’ve been sick, so I haven’t really tried anything out yet, but I might wear makeup tomorrow to try somethings out. This is my largest points haul yet, and I’m so excited about it!

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Have you used any Ulta points for free makeup? What did you get?

Shop My Stash June 2019 Results and Monthly Empties

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Hi All! I’m back with my JuneShop My Stash results! I enjoy dipping into my collection and using products I haven’t used in a long time, or just haven’t given much of a chance.

My rule with this is if I don’t like the item after the month, I will move it out of my collection to make some room and let someone else enjoy it!

You can check out my first Shop My Stash post for June. Here’s a photo with the palettes open:

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My allergies were much better in June, so I have been wearing eye makeup again! My most used of the two palettes was the ABH Soft Glam. Every time I use it I remember how gorgeous it is! They blend so well.

I also used the Too Faced Festival palette a few times. I love the peaches and purple shades. I also wore the green shade a lot. The shimmer shades in the palette are so pretty!

It’s sad to say that I only used the ColourPop The Twins pigment once — on my birthday! I usually like to use palettes for complete looks. It is very pretty though.

The PixiGlow palette got lots of use. I used it for bronzer, blush and highlight by dipping into the corresponding parts of it.

I am keeping all of these products except for the ColourPop So Juicy lip gloss. It is so sticky, that I don’t really enjoy using it. I’ll see if my daughter wants it.

On to my June empties:

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I had a lot of empties this month! Mostly skincare, as always! I enjoyed all of these products.

I would repurchase every one of these products except for maybe the CO Bigelow hand soap, because it was very creamy and hard to rinse off. I loved all of the other products!

The CoverFX primer filled my pores completely. Another favorite would be the GM Collin serum, it is so hydrating.

This was a successful Shop My Stash! I used all of the products at least once, and enjoyed discovering them again!

Are you doing a Shop Your Stash or are you on a low or no buy? How’s it going?

Shop My Stash — June 2019

Hi all! Happy June! It’s time for a new month and a new Shop My Stash! I’m always excited to play with new (again to me) products that I either haven’t used in a while or haven’t used much at all! My goal is to get more use out of the products I have and to see if they are something I want to keep.

June is my birthday month! So in honor of me (LOL), I’m choosing products that I really enjoy and haven’t used in a while.

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I have loved on all of these palettes! I wanted to choose some of my favorite products for my birthday month! Here’s more info on all of the products:

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This is the Too Faced Life’s a Festival palette that came out last spring. I love the shades in this! It’s so much fun! It’s mostly shimmers, but the next palette I chose has a lot of mattes and I can use them together. I love the shades in this and am looking forward to playing with it!

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I love Anastasia palettes! I have a few, and Soft Glam is one of my favorites. The shades will be perfect for bronzy, summer looks! And it will pair well with the Life’s a Festival palette.

IMG_E0889 IMG_E0888 I received this palette last year for review. It’s the Pixi Glow Cake in GildedBare Glow. This is nice all over, or the highlight, blush and

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To round off my Shop my Stash are two products from Colourpop! First is a collab with Kathleen Lights The Twins (I’m a Gemini!) Loose Pigment. It’s a gorgeous copper and pink duochrome. This will work with both of the palettes I’ve pulled this month.

The second is the So Juicy Plumping Gloss in Round About. These are fairly new, I’ve had this for a few months (same with the pigment), but I haven’t got a lot of use out of either of these gems yet!

Here are swatches of the pigment and lip gloss. Both really pretty for summer!

So these are the products I am playing with this month. I am ready for summer with bronzey and shimmery products! I’ll share at the end of the month how much use I got out of these products and how I enjoyed them.

I might be doing some shopping this month (since It’s almost my birthday!), but it’s still good to use a lot of my existing products.

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Are you doing a Shop My Stash this month? Are you on a low or no buy? Let me know how it’s going!

Shop My Stash February 2019 Results

Hi all! Happy March! I am excited for a new month. To wrap February up, I’m going to give my thoughts on how the latest Shop My Stash went. Each month I will usually add my empties to this post, but I only had one this month. So I will hold on to it and post it with my March empties.

I chose the five products above. You can read more about them and see close up photos here.

My goal in these is to use some of my products more frequently, and also decide if I need to keep them all or pass them along to someone who will get more use out of them than me. Of course some of these I knew I was going to keep (Modern Renaissance), but others I wasn’t sure about.

I think it was a fairly successful month. I haven’t been feeling well, so I didn’t wear makeup every day. But when I did, I tried to use at least one of these products.

Out of the three eye shadow palettes I chose, I used the Chocolate Bar and Modern Renaissance the most. I stated at the beginning of the month that I hadn’t yet reviewed the Chocolate Bar or Venus III yet on my blog, and that’s still true. I will try to review the Chocolate Bar this month. I think I may be passing Venus III on to someone else. The shadows aren’t very easy to work with and the shimmers are so glittery. It is pretty though, and I think my daughter will love it!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the LORAC bronzer or the Wet n Wild highlighter, but I found that I love them both! The bronzer is really nice, especially while I’m still fair. If I get a (faux) tan this year, I can use another bronzer, but for now I’ve moved it with my every day makeup next to my beloved Butter Bronzer. It’s so good!

The highlighter is so gorgeous — it’s the perfect tone for my skin! It is a bit glittery, so I will use it for evenings and special occasions. But I do really love it, too!

I’ve chosen my five products for March and will hopefully have that up tomorrow. I’m excited to get started on giving some love to some different products!

Have you done a Shop My Stash? How did it go for you?