Dollar Tree Haul

Who doesn't love looking at a haul? I know that I do. I tend to get tons of ideas of what I want to get for myself by reading and watching them. But, when you go to your local Dollar Tree (or two), you tend to find hidden gems. Brands like ELF, Milani, Physicians Formula and Maybelline.

I guess you can say that I went a little bit wild getting some of these wonderful gems. Who says you can't build up a makeup collection on the super cheap? Plus, if you have coupons, you can get some of these items just for the cost of sales tax!

I've already been playing with some of it, and I am so glad that I do have these items to add to my collection. Not that my collection is huge or anything. It's really not. By most people's standard, it is large, but by people who LOVE makeup? It's really small.

Now, I found a happy mixture of everything, and all of it, I will use. I'm not getting it to just have a large collection. I'm getting it because I know I will use it. I will have pictures so you can see what I got. If you are wanting reviews, please let me know. Will try to incorporate swatches too.

Polish Swatches

I'm lucky because I got 12 polishes that are beautiful. Some great for Spring, some for Summer and the rest for Fall/Winter!

My wonderful, fun polishes are in a great variety of colors and name brand no less!

 Two face washes, a foot scrub and a lotion from Whit Rain. Will be trying these soon.

 ELF, Maybelline, Almay, L'Oreal, Milani......and Physicians Formula! Even some NYC glosses! Not too bad for a mini haul at the Dollar Tree!

So go take a look at your local Dollar Tree and share what you have found!

Urban Decay Naked Palette VS. Crown Brush Unexposed Palette

Two palettes that are so similar in color, packaging and depending where you go, price. Urban Decay Naked palette is $54 at Sephora, Ulta and the Urban Decay website. Crown Brush Unexposed palette is around $22-$55 DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU BUY IT. I got mine for $16 with a discount code from www.crownbrush.us. I was comparing them side by side and even though it seems some of the colors are off, they actually match up in swatches extraordinarily well. While I haven't actually WORN the Unexposed palette yet, the shadows are soft and buttery like the UD Naked Palette.

I do like that there is a cheaper option for the Naked palette, but there are many dupes out there. More recently, the LA Palette by L'Oreal. But, that's another post. I do feel though, that the Unexposed palette from Crown Brush is by far the best dupe out there.

I did notice that the Unexposed palette tends to be more powdery than the Naked palette if you are not careful. But, with a light hand, it's a very workable palette. As you can see from swatches, the colors are so close that it's uncanny.






To the left are the swatches and if you are like me, you will be amazed at the closeness of each swatch.







I was in no way paid to do this review. I spent my own money to do this review.

Review: Healthy Now Nutritionals Colon Cleanse Detox

Ok, I'm a person that usually has no problem talking about anything, but when it comes to poop, it's a little different, but when I agreed to try the Colon Cleanse Detox, I was seriously at a loss. How do you talk about poop? Well, I guess we just plunge right in, right? Literally, plunge right in. LOL.

I got cleaned out, quickly, I might add. I was literally grabbing my butt rushing to the bathroom to go. I swear I had a 5lb. baby out of my butt. But, honestly? I feel better. I feel better than I have in years. How is this possible? Well, I will give credit to this colon cleanse. It better be squeaky clean.

Would I recommend this? YES. I feel everyone needs to detox once in a while and this is one way to do it. From what I've read most of the ingredients are all natural. So, for me, that's a huge plus. You can take up to 4 capsules a day, but I only needed 2. I think I would have a broken butt if I took more than that. I will definitely do another review when the hubby gets home so I can have him try it. I do recommend that if you are on any prescription medication to consult a doctor. You don't want it to interfere with your meds if there's a chance for a reaction.

You can buy it on Amazon for $19.97 and is Prime eligible. You can go straight to the product through this link:  http://bit.ly/healthynow_cclax .

You can always find me on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Laura.hutchins3
or www.facebook.com/Beautylearningwithlaura
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BLearningwLaura
Instagram: instagram.com/Beautylearningwithlaura
Business Only: Beautylearningwithlaura@centurylink.net

So go get a bottle and take a detox......just be sure to be by a bathroom. I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

REVIEW: Shu Uemura foundation review

Ok, I tried this foundation, Shu Uemura lightbulb highlight, the other day, and quite honestly, I didn't like it for me. On me it lasted about 4 hours before I HAD to get it off, because it was just so greasy on my skin! History on my skin is that it's combination, and more oily than normal. I got a sample in #574 Neutral undertone, and on me, it was more of a yellow undertone. This foundation will be best suited for those with dry skin, since it is so dewy. It does apply easily and at first, on me, it felt great! But then it started to oxidize on me. That isn't a good thing. So after 4 hours I took all my makeup off and just went barefaced for the rest of the day.

You can pick this up of course, online at www.shuuemura-usa.com, where it's priced at $55.00.  They have a discount code of LIGHTBULB for 10% off the lightbulb foundation set. 

Remember, just because this product didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you. So if you are interested in this product, try it and let me know what you think!

Couponing for makeup

Have you ever really tracked how much you spent on beauty products? I mean, this could be anything from lotion to makeup. I actually kept all my receipts for the entire month, and I was very shocked. Yes, I used coupons SOME of the time, but I didn't always use them when I went to CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and Target to name a few. Some places, like Sephora, they don't do coupons and Ulta usually has a $3.50 off of $10, but I rarely remember to use it!

Now, don't judge me, but I use to coupon ALL the time! I've really slacked off since I've moved to Oklahoma. In Idaho, it was quite honestly, our livelihood. But here, I never felt the need to get back into couponing until recently. Yes, we make great money, but until our house closes, we are paying $300 a week for the hotel! For the next  5 weeks, we will have paid $1500! So, here again, couponing has came to the forefront of mind, so that I KNOW we have things to wash with, and that we have food in our bellies.

But enough of that, I'm writing on couponing for beauty products! Granted, it may not be Urban Decay, Lorac or Tarte, but all beauty products that you can get for cheap or free, to me, work as well too! Granted, I'm more careful now than in the past. I look for OIL FREE products now and I make sure that the stuff is going to work for me or others in my household.

On any given Sunday there are 1-3 inserts in the paper, and just as many coupons online! I will not however, promote going through dumpsters and garbage to get coupons! I believe that is so gross and unless you are buying for a shelter, it's going to go to waste. So no point in that.

Now, most people have a basic understanding of how coupons work, but most also, once again, use them that same week instead of looking for sales and holding onto them. I'm not saying to a binder. I don't. I keep them all together like I got them. Then when I find a sale, I clip what I need and put in an envelope. Now, sales are usually repeated every few weeks, but there are times when you find something on clearence or drastically marked down. That's when you get them super cheap. But you actually have to look, and not all the stores will have the same items.

Let's start in the obvious, and that's Walmart. Yes, some Walmarts have clearance. Sometimes, you can find beauty products on the cheap. But most of the time, you get a cheap price originally, and than add the coupon. Always a good go to place, but they really don't have a great selection.

Now then, Walgreens. They have a point system that does help get the products super cheap. They also have regular clearance items. I LOVE it. I've gotten more things for free or super cheap at Walgreens than Walmart. But, you have to be strategic about it. Walgreens also has a monthly coupon book, so all you have to do is watch. I just got Almay concealer for 89 cents. All by seeing it was marked down to 1.89. I had a coupon for a $1.00 any one Almay product. So, it came to be 89 cents! Not too bad, right? So, it's about being vigilent.

Let's go to CVS now. I ADORE their extrabuck rewards. I have gotten things that I don't have coupons for with the extrabuck rewards. But as far as beauty products, again, they are limited, like Walmart. (Walgreens has the best selection, besides Ulta.) But, they usually have like spend $12, get $4 back in extrabuck rewards. You can actually save those up for a bit, but be careful, they do expire! There are times, where I've gotten foundation, face wash, eye shadow, and diapers with those extrabucks. Plus, CVS has a BeautyClub membership. It is FREE, but for every 50 you spend, you get 5 back. This last bit, I ended up getting 40 back in extrabuck rewards. I love it. But, again, it can get some getting used to.

Now that we went through the 3 major contenders, I will say that I love Walgreens for the selection and clearance items, but I like CVS because of the extrabuck program. So essentially a tie.
But, I almost forgot! Dollar Tree takes coupons, and a lot of times, you are able to get things flat out for free there! You have to be vigilant though.

Websites to print coupons:

www.redplum.com

www.smartsource.com

www.coupons.com

www.couponbug.com

www.couponnetwork.com

**Remember, you can always go to your fave grocers website, and if they have a loyalty card, you can download coupons too!**

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Drugstore VS. Luxury makeup

          There is nothing more fun than playing with makeup, with the exception of playing with your children. You can get makeup everywhere now. But, how can you be sure that you are getting the best makeup for you? Do you go to the drugstore or do you go to the department store to get the makeup?

          Let’s start off with the obvious, since that’s where we all started from, and for most of us, are still at. Drugstore makeup. Covergirl. Maybelline. Revlon. N.Y.C, L.A. Colors. Yep, we’ve heard of them all. Most are all great products. Some not so much. But more than likely, we all have a variety in our makeup stash. I can’t even tell you how many different brands of drugstore makeup I actually have. I want to say a fair amount. But in reality, about half of my makeup is drugstore.

          With so many different products easily accessible to us, one would wonder why they would go anywhere but the drugstore. Plus, there are coupons for these products! There are only a few items that I use that I only get at the drugstore. One is my Olay. I use that all the time and I tend to freak out when I run out. Another is my NYX products that I get either at Ulta or Target. I also get my Physicians Formula at the drugstore too, if they are having a really great deal.

I’m not going to knock the drugstore makeup. They have some awesome stuff. I’ve worn Covergirl, Maybelline, Revlon, L’Oreal most of my life. I could swear by their stuff. I still can. But, the only problem is this. I’m getting older and my skin is getting way pickier. So it’s a lot harder to wear certain kinds or brands of makeup. If I wear the absolute cheapest stuff out there, and we all know what they are, then I have the mother of all breakouts. When my skin isn’t happy, then I’m not happy.

          I know that most people would just say wash your face. I do. But with drugstore makeup it really depends on formulation and on how my skin is going to act. Everyone’s skin if different. I can only say how my skin is going to act. I can only be the one to tell you what makeup I can use on my face. No one else can.

          Now, we have to move to on to Luxury makeup. This include MAC, Urban Decay, Tarte, Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent, Clinique,  Bibbi Brown. So many more! All of them I want and all of them I know I can’t have. But, I sure can try!

          Luxury makeup is not something that I thought I would get. I figured that only rich and snooty people bought it. It was EXPENSIVE! I never had the means to really get it. BUT, now that I am able to, and I have done my research, Got my skin typed and finally have figured out my skin, I have indulged in some of those products. I have let myself get $40 foundation and eye shadow. And not have a panic attack with spending the money. I have figured out that with my skin, on some things, I have to have the more expensive products. Or it gets even. I’m talking about horrible cystic acne that pits my face and leaves my face a horrible uneven color.

          Yes, I have gone to the other side! I have Tarte foundation and powder. I have Urban Decay shadows and moisturizers. I have awesome lipstick that makes me feel special.  I get samples of expensive primers and foundations at Sephora and Ulta. I have no shame in admitting that I buy it. I have no shame in admitting that it’s better for my skin, which I can make out everything that is in my foundation and eye shadow. I adore it. I guard it like a dog. Ha ha.

          But, I mix the two. Drugstore and Luxury. Sometimes I do use all of one thing or nothing at all.  Sometimes, I am just trying things out before I end up giving it away and just using it to review. I do it with both worlds of makeup. There are duds in both worlds and there are holy grails. I love my Cover FX primer. It’s $38! But I also like my Rimmel primer and it’s $6. Some days, it’s Cover FX and other days it’s Rimmel. I’m not a complete snob. Hell, I’m not a snob at all. I’m just a regular girl who loves to play and wear makeup. That just happens to have picky skin.

          So no matter what, both are good, and both have good and bad points to them.

Makeup at Dollar Tree

Ok, I've been watching YouTube enough to notice that no one actually mentions that they an get brand name makeup at the dollar store! Plus, they take COUPONS!!! So most of the time, it makes for FREE makeup! Take tonight, I was at the dollar store and I saw TONS of Milani makeup, Maybeline,  and even Covergirl. It's not all LAColors or anything like that. I've actually picked up Revlon nail polish, Sinfull Colors nail polish (knock off brand of Revlon) and yes, even Rimmel nail polish, shadows, lipsticks and foundation.

Now for those that do coupon, like myself, this is a good alternative. But, sometimes, even the nicer stuff if fun to have too.  I have coupons for all the brands and you can bet your butt I'm gonna be there getting some makeup and only paying sales tax as soon as I am able to. Just remember, they can sell out, but keep checking! Their stock is always changing!