It’s been a while since I last posted on here…even though it was my one and only New Year’s resolution…to blog more. Alas, I was feeling quite uninspired and quite frankly my life has not been that interesting during the months of January and February since I’ve mostly been hibernating.

But finally, spring has sprung amongst us and the other weekend we had such beautiful weather that I finally decided to leave my cave apartment and do some shopping. It turned out to be a fantastic day because I had to buy jeans (*shudder*) and I ended up being a size smaller than the last time I bought the exact same pair! To celebrate this amazing victory of mine, I decided to treat myself by going to Sephora and check some things off my wishlist.

I’m not even gonna try and pretend to be all aloof about how much this stuff cost me. Some people act like going to Sephora is no big deal, but I’mma be straight with you guys: I tried really hard not to cry and have second thoughts as I handed the cashier my Visa to process my $200 transaction. I’m still pretending like this purchase doesn’t exist by not logging into my bank account to check my Visa statement.

The Smashbox step-by-step contour sticks are something I actually saw being demoed on my local morning show on TV. As the Smashbox rep made a model’s face FLAH-WLESS in less than 5 minutes thanks to these sticks, I immediately went on my phone and added them to the top of my must-haves list. I’ve only tried the sticks once so far – on the day I first bought them and I can confirm that they are so incredibly easy to blend…the stick practically melts onto your face. I have yet to give it a full review seeing as I haven’t done a full contoured look in a while. I haven’t been anywhere special since I bought them and honestly girl, ain’t nobody trying to contour in the morning before going to work.

Ahhh the Laura Mercier translucent setting powder. I attracted a swarm of Sephora employees around me that day because they must have thought I was about to steal from their store or something since I just stood in front of this product for about 15 minutes, staring at it, justifying to myself on why I should dish out $47 on a powder to set my face. It honestly all came down to the fact that it has been on my wishlist for over a year and literally everywhere I turn, someone is raving about this damn powder! Oh and do I ever love it so much! I have absolutely no regrets about this purchase because holy shit does it ever transform my skin into silky smooth goodness. I don’t know what else to tell you except, PLEASE do yourself (and your makeup) a favour and go buy this thing, it’ll be the best investment you have ever made.

I think pretty much everyone is aware of how amazing Urban Decay’s makeup setting sprays are by now so I don’t have to tell you about it. If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, I suggest getting out once in a while and exploring the amazing world around you. Haha just kidding, just watch hours and hours of beauty gurus on YouTube like I do and you’ll be a pro in no time. This product has been a staple in my makeup bag for a while now, I love to douse my face in it before I go on a night out because hey I’m all about gluing my makeup on to pretend like I haven’t been drinking as much as I have. I couldn’t bring myself to buy the full-size version though because dude, I just spent $100 on contouring sticks and setting powder alone. Sigh.

Last but not least, one of my goals in life is to be a glowing, bronzed goddess. I know what you’re thinking: “but Marinela, you’re so pasty that even white paper is more tan than you are” and to you I say, yeah well at least I’m trying to do something about it! I’m out here applying layers of self-tanner while you lounge in your sofa reading this and possibly eating chips. Where was I? Oh yeah. I have a long love/hate relationship with self-tanners. I actually have a whole drawer dedicated to my tanning products. I fully believe that I WILL one day achieve a non-Dorito looking tan no matter what you say! I read amazing reviews about the St. Tropez tanning mousse and so I said: “Fuck it Mari, you’re one jean size down, you might as well splurge and invest in a good self-tanner”. So here I am all excited at Sephora and the salesperson hits me with a “yeahhh…we don’t actually sell those in stores, it’s online only”. WHAT. So she recommended I get this second-tier one that she claims is “just as good”. I used it once, it seems to be working fine, it has more of a grey undertone to it, not orange, which is great – but how in the world am I supposed to know if it’s “just as good” as St. Tropez if I NEVER TRIED THE ST. TROPEZ ONE?

I was given this sample by the cashier and I’m on the fence about it. I haven’t tried it yet, but I looked it up on their website and it has such mixed reviews that I don’t know what to think…One person said it made their skin break out throughout the day which right there is enough to make me cringe and throw this away but I so wanna give it a chance! They do say to use a buffer brush to apply it, which I currently don’t own. I fully believe that makeup will only look good if you use the proper tools to apply it so I’m scared of using this before acquiring a proper buffer brush. Stay tuned for this one folks!

Last but not least, I know this has nothing to do with my Sephora haul but my flowers looked hella cute so I had to snap a picture of them. This is also a good opportunity for me to wish you all a happy Easter, I hope you’re all enjoying your day off (unless you work in the food industry, in which case, I sympathize). Set your alarms early tomorrow, because it’s half priced chocolate day and why in the world would you ever want to miss that.

Mari xx