Haul | Post-Holiday January (Bargain) Buys 2014.

I know I was supposed to go easy on the shopping post-holiday season, but with so many post-holiday sales, and all sorts of deals popping up everywhere, it was hard to say no (and I can’t be the only one right?) I think I have been pretty good with my spending this month; everything I bought (except for one item) was on some sort of post-holiday, end-of-season sale/clearance special so I paid a fraction of what it would have otherwise costed me! This may look like a lot of things, but these purchases is an accumulation of shopping for the past 1.5 month period or so (pretty much since Boxing Day), and not through a single shopping trip.

Sephora

Sephora had some amazing end-of-the-year sale, including 1) Boxing Day sale for Canadians ($12 deals like the one from Black Friday with a couple of new stuff), 2) early access to the sale section for their VIB/VIB Rouge members, and 3) 20% off the sale section at the end of 2013. It was the perfect time to repurchase things from my loves list, and snap up a bargain.

From the Boxing Day $12 deals, I only bought the BosciaIntensifying Moisture Mask+ (regularly $36, available here). The product is the full-size (2.8oz) and at 1/3 of the regular price, there was no reason not to buy it – equal in price as a number of drugstore brands, but hopefully more effective given the many positive reviews online. Also from Boscia, I bought a now-sold-out BosciaEveryday Essentials Set ($14, sephora.ca, $30 value) which includes 3 deluxe-sized products from their skincare range. I was mostly interested in the eye cream but the others appeared quite promising too.

I had to repurchase the Too FacedAll I Want for Christmas ($36, sephora.ca, my review, $125 value) gift set which I have reviewed back in November. I was so stoked to see this set on the sale section and a very good friend of mine from the US ordered it for me at a sale price of USD$36 with an additional 20% off. Needless to say, paying $28.80 was a true bargain deal, and in my mind, on top of very much being in love with this entire set, very much justified this purchase!

I spotted both the Urban DecayFeminine Palette ($19, sephora.ca, my review, regularly $41) back in stock on the sale page and had to get my hands on them before it disappeared again! The Urban DecayFeminine Palette is one of my favourite palettes because all the colours are very useable and looks great on my skintone (as I’ve raved about in this review post). Additionally, it was on sale for $19 which made the purchase a huge bargain!

I wasn’t going to purchase the StilaCollage of Color ($12, sephora.ca, my review) but I came to a shocking realization that I do not own a single cream blush which is my main motivation to pick it up. I read a few reviews online about how amazing the StilaConvertible Colors ($33, available here) are and when I did the math for this limited edition blush palette ($72 value), I had to get my hands on it. I’ve been using it constantly this past month, and I have to say, I wished I had bought a backup!

My last purchase from Sephora is the HourglassAmbient Lighting Powder in Dim Light ($52, available here) which was the only item that I didn’t buy at a discount. I was doing so well in not caving into the whole hype about this product, but when the blushes came out, my resistance completely crumbled. To compromise (and not end up purchasing both the powder and the blush – I still cannot justify spending my money on this powder, ugh!) I decided to purchase the Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light since it was on my wishlist for the longest time. I am still playing around with it, so I’ll report back with what I think about it.

Shoppers Drug Mart Finds & Inglot

Whilst running errands at Shoppers Drug Mart, I spotted the KloraneLeave-In spray with Magnolia on clearance for $6.50 (regularly $16), and I had a coupon courtesy of Lou Lou magazine for $3 off, and happily trotted this home with only about $4 of damage. I’m really into the scent, and I love anything leave-in for the hair!

My last purchase from last month is from Inglot. I really tried to stay away from the Inglot 20% off holiday sale (around Black Friday/Christmas), and I did a pretty good job at it until they extended the sale. At the time, a friend of mine was kind enough to help me find a few things not available in Canada yet, and I asked her whether she would mind picking up a couple of eyeshadows for me which I organized in my z-palette. I love their eyeshadows and at $4.80 a piece for about twice the amount/content of MAC eyeshadows, I think this purchase was very justified. I will also be doing an updated Inglot eyeshadow collection and swatch all of these beauties for you!

For this month’s haul, I spent roughly $218.43 on $415.84 worth of stuff (including taxes), and that works out to only spending 52% of the total value of everything I picked up. It’s nice to know how much I saved, but when I think how many bills that amount could have paid, my heart breaks a little ????

What are some of your favourite pick-ups for the past month?