February Mall Haul

Hi everyone! Happy February! I’ve been meaning to do a post all week, but due to my first round of exams, I’ve been studying almost non-stop. I did, however, go to the mall on the first of February, and wanted to share my mall haul with you all 🙂 I got some beauty items off of my wishlist as well as some great sale deals.

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus lipstick (pink, amplified finish)
Hourglass Modernist Palette in Color Field
Kardashian Beauty Black Seed Dry Oil
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in ‘Perfect Topping’ from Lightness of Being Collection

(L to R: Color Field palette, Perfect Topping, VG Miley)

Let me start off by saying that I’m in love with Viva Glam Miley. Although I could’ve waited until summer to get it, this pink is creamy and beautiful, and in my opinion it’s flattering on so many different skin tones. I don’t have that many pink lipsticks, so this one is a great addition to my collection. I’m planning on getting the lipglass in March or April, it’s sparkly and a lot of fun for spring and summer! I haven’t gotten around to really playing with the Hourglass palette yet, but I don’t own many green eyeshadows and I think Color Field is quite enhancing for brown eyes. As you can tell from the swatch, the matte shade is a bit powdery and hard to put on, but I’m hoping that with primer and fix plus, I’ll end up loving the palette. If not, I’ll probably just return it. The price of the palette itself was steep, and it’s very tiny (especially compared to the ambient lighting palettes from Hourglass), so as of right now I would not repurchase.

The Kardashian Beauty hair oil is a pleasant surprise – I’m not really into their beauty line at ULTA, but I decided to give this a go since the products are made by the same makers of CHI (Farouk Systems), and so far so good. I’ve been using the oil to slick down any flyaways/frizzy hairs, and it’s been holding up pretty well in the FL humidity without weighing my hair down or making it look greasy. Some people have complained about the smell, but I actually kind of like it. I also really love the black and rose gold packaging, especially on the flat iron and blow dryer!

Last but not least, the mineralize skinfinish from MAC in ‘Perfect Topping’ is basically perfect. I had to go on a hunt for this because I waited too long after the collection’s release to buy it (Lightscapade was available at every location though), but thankfully I was able to get it at Nordstrom. It’s a great highlight, and I lucked out with how pink mine is.

Now, onto the clothes! I didn’t go crazy buying clothes as I was just browsing without really having anything in mind, but I ended up scoring some good deals.

Zara is probably my favorite store at the moment, but there is definitely a method to shopping there. They have two semi-annual sales; one right after Christmas and one towards June. By gauging how popular an item is, you can decide whether or not you can wait until it goes on sale. I usually make a list of the items I’m interested in, then browse blogs to see how popular/quickly selling the item is (especially if it’s a coat, statement necklace, or pair of shoes). If it seems to be very popular among bloggers, I get the item immediately. If not, I wait until it goes on sale and get it for a much better price. (Almost) everything will go on sale at Zara, so it’s definitely worth the wait. The shorts were $19.99, the t-shirt was $12.99, and the embellished knotted headband was $9.99. As of February 1st, the sale is still going on in-stores! The website is boasting the new spring collection, so it’ll be hard to find good things on sale.

These two pieces were bought on a whim at H&M. The pale pink slouchy sweater is the best thing I never knew I needed – I know that pale pink is going to be a very popular color for the first half of this year, and I really like the silhouette of this sweater (even though you can’t see it). It’s slouchy with a subtle high-low hem, and it was only $17.95. All of the sweaters I own from H&M have held up over the years, so I expect this one to be the same. This plaid skater skirt was found on a sale rack for $7. I’ve been looking for one that didn’t look too cheap (for lack of a better word), and this one is the perfect length and weight! It almost feels wool, and I won’t have to worry about constantly making sure that everything is covered. I originally wanted an American Apparel plaid skater skirt, but they’re so short that there is no way I would be able to wear one out of the house. This one is a lovely alternative!

I’m currently all shopped out, and won’t be buying anything else this month besides some limited edition makeup items, a few things for spring break, and possibly a Valentine’s Day outfit. What’s on your wishlist for this month? Let’s talk in the comments!