December Couponing

I participated in some great deals for the month of December. Here is my haulage:

Sephora

$15 off of $50 or more coupon - purchased Too Faced A few of my Favorite Things palette. The palette retails for $56, and with the coupon I paid $41. Sephora mailed the coupon to me as a thank you for being a Beauty Insider. Some girls that spent more money at Sephora this calendar year received $20 off coupons. I did not hear of anyone receiving more than that. I guarded that little coupon with my life as it burned a hole in my pocket until the date that it was eligible for use! I have a thorough review of this palette coming up. 

Ulta

$5 off of $10 or more coupon  - purchased 2 Real Technique sponges (comparable to Beauty Blender) at $5.99 each, so I basically paid 99cents for one of the sponges. The associate allowed me to keep the coupon, so of course that meant another trip to Ulta. 

$5 off of $10 or more coupon - on my second trip to Ulta, I purchased two Real Technique shading brushes (for eyes) at $5.99 each, again receiving one of the brushes for 99cents. This time I went to a different Ulta where I was unable to keep the coupon.

20% off of all items (excluding high end brands) coupon - purchased Real Technique setting brush for $7.99. Thus I saved about $1.60 on the brush. (Nothing to get excited about but I felt that I needed to make the most of the coupon which was combined with the offer described below)

10% off of high end brands (excluding Urban Decay Naked palettes) coupon - I was so excited that a very friendly Ulta associate found for me the last Lorac Pro palette set in the store (it was always sold out online and in stores)! The individual palettes were completely sold out as well. The individual Lorac Pro palette retails for $42 and includes an eye primer. The set that I purchased retailed for $39 and included the full size palette along with an eye primer and a liquid eyeliner! To sweeten the deal, I received $3.90 off so that was a definite win for me!

As usual, I also got some great deals at Target but nothing new or interesting so I omitted that portion of the haul from this post. 

My overall savings for beauty purchases at Ulta and Sephora this month total to approximately: $30.50. I walked away with 2 palette sets, 2 blending sponges, and 3 brushes - all for less than $100!

If you have any questions or tips about couponing, please leave them below. I would love to hear about any holiday sets that you may have purchased.

December Favorites - Product Edition

Here are my favorite items from the month of December. This post is long overdue and it's almost time for January favorites. I have already started working on that post so that I'm not so behind next month. Nonetheless, enjoy!

Urban Decay Perversion Eyeliner - I purchased this liner as part of the Urban Decay Ocho loco set. I use this one most often. This is the perfect creamy, jet black eye liner. Perversion is pigmented, glides on smoothly and it is easy to use in both your water line and on your eyelid to create a winged liner effect if desired. This is one of the smoothest, most gentle liners that I own. Sometimes I even use Perversion in my crease area to add dimension to an eye look, as it blends easily. This product can be found anywhere that Urban Decay products are sold and it retails at $19 when purchased alone.

Mac Indigo liner - I received this liner as a gift from one of my Instagram friends. This eye pencil is perfect for your water line and I love it for everyday looks. When placed in the water line it shows up like a black shimmer, kind of like the Chanel stylo yeux eye pencil in black shimmer. It reminds me of the color navy blue, where you personally know the item is blue but it is not as obvious to others, making it the perfect way to slightly glam up your daily beauty routine.  I believe that this liner is discontinued, however, you can probably find this indigo eye pencil at your local CCO (Cosmetics Company Outlet). 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush - I love this brush for applying cream products. This is the only brush that I use to apply my Mac studio tech foundation, which I wear during the day. It helps me to blend the product seamlessly and it is super soft! If  I did not start building my brush collection with MAC brushes several years ago, I would have began with Real Techniques. These are quality, affordable brushes and I like most of their brushes that I own. Stay tuned for a full post about purchasing makeup brushes.

Elf Mineral Primer - for years Mac's Prep and Prime primer has been my go-to product. I discovered this ELF primer during my November haul and I have been wearing it with nearly every makeup look. It helps to prepare my face for foundation and helps to keep my makeup matte during the day. The product has a clear, serum-like consistency and it feels like a dry powder once applied to the skin. I recommend this product for oily skin types and for those with sensitive skin. I have very sensitive skin and in the past Mac's Prep and Prime was the only primer that I could wear without irritation, until I discovered this one. I am purchasing another bottle of this primer to add to my freelance makeup kit. 

Lorac Pro Front of the Line Liquid Liner - I shared with you guys back in November that I was looking for a liquid liner. I tried a few drug store products but I discovered that they dried out too quickly, had a brush that was difficult to work with, had formulation issues, irritated my eyes or just left much to be desired. This product came in the Lorac set that I purchased at Ulta during the holidays. I absolutely love this liner! Front of the Line is intense, dries matte (I hate wet formula liner), super easy to work with regardless of your eye shape or the size of your eyes. This product is for everyone, however, I specifically recommend this liner for ladies with small eyes, hooded eyes, sensitive eyes, and beginners who are afraid of liquid eye liner. 

Mac Nightmoth lip pencil - I have worn this liner with almost every single lipstick during the autumn/winter season. In the pic below, I paired it with Mac's Smoked Purple lipstick and it was a winning combination! I have used this liner with nearly every color from reds to pinks to purples to nudes. It is one of the most versatile lip pencils in my collection and if you are looking to start or expand your lip liner collection this one is a must have. You can look for dupes as well but Mac liners are the only ones that I prefer. I find that a lot of drugstore liners lack pigmentation and are not as creamy as Mac liners. Your lips are amongst the thinnest skin on your body, so be gentle with them and treat them well. I do not recommend that you cut corners by applying rough products that do not apply easily. I have an upcoming post about where to save and where to splurge when it comes to makeup products, so stay tuned. 

Mac Smoked Purple lipstick - When I posted a picture wearing this lipstick on Facebook and Instagram last month, I received several compliments and questions about where to purchase. This is a Pro product from MAC Cosmetics so it is only available at Mac Pro stores (we do not have a PRO store in Houston) or you can purchase it online at maccosmetics.com. This lip product goes on matte and I found it easy to apply. It is pigmented and it appears the same on your lips just as it appears in the tube, true to color.

Thank you for allowing me to download with you about my favorite products from the month of December! I hope that you found this review helpful. If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. 

Adventures in Couponing

I have always admired those people who have a super-organized binder full of coupons that hold up the checkout line at Target. Annoying but admirable! I like the idea of couponing but I have never actually taken my coupons to the store and in the past if I did take them to the store I would forget to use them. No more passive couponing! I am learning the game and I enjoy it. I do not buy processed foods for my home and there won't ever be a coupon for fresh produce, so I scour the Sunday paper for savings on cosmetics and healthy/beauty/household items.

My first couponing adventure was a trip to Target.

 

Here are my savings:
Saved $1 on Spray and go moisturizer (I used a 50cent manufacturers coupon and a 50cent Target coupon that I printed from Target's website.) - paid $4.99
Saved $2 on Almay eye makeup remover - paid $2.99
Saved $1 on Rimmel Scandal Eyes mascara - paid $3.99
Saved $4 on L'Oreal Excess mascara (I had a mfg coupon for $2 off and a Target coupon for $2 off) - paid $3.99
Total savings: $8.00


My next couponing adventure was at Ulta.

I had a coupon for $3.50 off of a $10 purchase. I have wanted to try the Real Technique brushes and I saw that they were on sale (BOGO 50% OFF). I purchased the set for $17.99 and a single brush was 50% off of $8.99, plus I received $3.50 off. If I did not purchase anything else my total spent would have been less than $20 for 5 quality brushes!
Total savings: $8.00


The best haul this month came from Elf cosmetics.

 

I love ELF brushes! Especially for my client makeup kit. I was bored one night and decided to log on to ELF's site and I saw that they were having a 36% off sale that was ending in 45 minutes from the time that I logged on. I quickly filled up my cart but decided to edit it to ensure that I received free shipping on my order of $35 or more. I ran out of time during editing and the coupon code expired. My spirit was broken! But let me tell you how God works! I googled ELF coupon codes and found a 50% off code! Won't He do it?! My total was $35 for 23 items including brushes, lip exfoliators, brush cleaner, sealant, primer, setting mist, and a blush/bronzer duo. Most of these products are not easy to find in stores and I have seen positive reviews for these items. I was too excited. I got free shipping! Shipping would have been about $12 for these items as ELF was not offering flat rate shipping.
Total Savings: Approximately $47

 

 

 

Couponing Tips:
Get organized - Try sites like krazycouponlady.com to show you which coupons you should use at which stores in order to get the greatest savings. I print the list of items that I plan to buy and use binder clips to clip my coupons to the print-out.

Check store coupon policies - some stores double/triple manufacturer coupons so be sure to check each store's policy. Stores like Target also offer store coupons on their site so look out for those, as you can use store coupons in addition to a manufacturers coupon on individual items to score greater savings.

Check Expiration Dates - I am not going to embarrass myself by telling you guys that I had a coupon for $3 off of two or more Nivea lip butters and went to CVS to use it on their deal of 3/$10, thinking that I was going to get three butters for $7 and got up to the counter and my coupon was expired! I walked out empty-handed because the butters are $1 less at Ulta and if the coupon were valid I would have saved more at Ulta by getting three butters for $6. In real life, what is $1? But in couponing, you really don't NEED most of this stuff so $1 is all of the difference in the world!

Only buy items that you really want to try or that you actually use - I am experimenting with drug strore mascaras so I am benefitting from cosmetic coupons and I always look for coupons pertaining to my preferred brand of toilet paper/contact lens solution/household cleaners. You have to buy these items anyway so you may as well save on them!

Do any of you coupon? Do you have any advice or tips for couponing? Feedback is welcomed in the  comments section. Additionally feel free to leave questions below.