Thursday, February 27, 2014

HAUL | Swanson, Zoya, Madison Street Beauty


Hello beauties! I know it's been a little while since my last post but that's only because I've been putting in orders online and you know how shipping takes... forever. But most of the items have finally arrived!!

The blue bottles are by a brand called Essencia and they are Floral Water sprays. My mom specially orders them from a private company for doctors so unfortunately I have no idea how you'd be able to get them. :c I got Pure Rose and Witch Hazel ($8/each, I believe). I've used Pure Rose before and I really liked it so I went for it again, but I also got Witch Hazel because I heard it's perfect for taming wild skin.

The first site I ordered off of is SwansonVitamins.com. It's a site my mom and I have been frequenting for years (mostly for her vitamins and such) but I've been known to purchase a face mask or shampoo here and there. I've been looking for a good shampoo/conditioner brand and I found Desert Essence: the price was good, the ingredients were good and so were the smells! I haven't given them a shot yet but they look amazing. I got the smell Apple & Ginger in both Shampoo and Conditioner ($5.06/bottle). I then picked out the Everyday Shea Moisturizing Body Wash in the smell Vanilla Mint ($10.59). I still have my The Body Shop Grapefruit body wash I'm using up but I figured I'd stock up for now so I don't have to order later. Plus, the smell looks amazingly unique.

Next I picked out a few cosmetic items. The Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Petunia ($6.99). I've only ever used the clear, minty Burt's Bees lip balm so I was definitely excited to try out this product. A product that is both coloured and a lip balm? Must be made for me! Next I chose the Beauty Without Cruelty Soft Natural Lip Gloss in Coral Mist ($11.39). Firstly, I must not have read the listing properly because I ended up getting a pack of 3 lip glosses rather than one (mom and cousin each got one). I'm not a huge fan of lipglosses, I like how coloured ones look but they're sticky and messy and your worst nightmare on a windy day, but I figured any makeup collection needs at least one lip gloss. Lastly I got a nail polish. I've been going bare-nails for the past few weeks and it's been killing me! I got the HoneyBee Gardens WaterColors Nail Enamel in the colour Camelot ($7.79). This polish is actually water based, which is super cool, never heard of that - can't wait to give it a shot. And this isn't even the end of the Swanson journey! I still have another package or two coming in the mail.

The little white bottle in the fourth picture is a natural Waterproof Macara by Ere Perez. Natural mascara is not hard to come by in the natural world, but waterproof mascara is an entirely different story. I have the most stubborn lashes ever and they refuse to stay curled unless I wear a waterproof mascara, and sometimes even then it's a hit or miss! I scoured the depths of the internet searching for the right mascara with the right ingredients. Finally, I found this one but the one problem? It's from Australia! I looked everywhere for an online retailer and finally succumbed and dished out the extra on shipping. $30 for the mascara + $15 shipping, yeah I was ready to cry. I'll be posting a full review on it soon.

As many of you may know, I love nail polish. I make it a priority to repaint them every week. There's something fun about having different coloured nails, and something relaxing about the application. As I looked for natural nail polish brands, I was disappointed to find many of them come to the $10+ mark which just makes me cringe. $16 for a nail polish? No thank you. Zoya is a well-known brand amongst beauty lovers and I was pleased to hear it's natural and 5-Free (no formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, dibutyl phtalate and camphor) and comes at only $9 per bottle. Unfortunately zoya.com does not currently ship to Canada but I did find a seperate retailer that ships free! nailpolishcanada.ca For my "starter" polishes I opted for a nude/dark. I found these two and thought they were perfect! Taylor and Raven.

Next I decided to indulge in my obsession, MadisonStreetBeauty. These guys seriously have the best eyeshadows I've ever used, even better than MAC (and that's saying something). Since all my eyeshadows (save for my other MSB) had to go, that means all my nudes went too, I decided to get some new ones and who better but MSB? I went and bought a whopping 14 eyeshadows, 1 highlighter, 1 blush and 1 bronzer in the following colours:
  • Highlighter: Sheer Glow
  • Bronzer: Ibiza
  • Blush: Nectar
  • Cloud
  • Bronze Shimmer
  • Shell
  • Starry Night
  • Posie
  • Copper
  • Rose Gold
  • Eclair
  • Soft Heather
  • Walnut
  • Dulce de Leche
  • Water Hyacinthe
  • Rum Raisin
  • Gold Leaf
I also got my cousin in on this criminal obsession and she went for a smaller load: Magic Carpet, Burgundy Glow, Ganache Champagne, Caramel Latter and mineral foundation in Cameo. Everything was 60% off so we had some serious savings right there. If you're looking for a new company to try, I 100% recommend these guys, not only do they have amazing products but they're actually super nice and have the best customer service. And right now is the best time to try them because they still have 60% off!

And lastly, my little helper came to see what I was up to and why I wasn't paying attention to him.

Ada xx