Exuviance Sheer Daily Protector; the best sunscreen I've ever tried (REVIEW)

Let's talk about skincare today. I don't often do this because I consider myself to be a skincare n00b. In fact, I admit; I was TERRIBLE at taking care of my skin when I was a teenager. I broke every skincare rule in the books; I slept in my makeup, I didn't moisturize, and I never wore sunscreen. Now that I'm 27, skincare suddenly seems crucially important. I invested in a Clarisonic. I'm diligent about cleaning my makeup off. And I wear a daily SPF. Exuviance is a brand that I never had access to until working at Ulta. I'd heard of some of the bigger brands, such as Mario Badescu, Dermalogica, Philosophy, and Murad, but this was a new line to me.

Exuviance is a skincare line created by two doctors who are widely considered to be leaders in the field of cosmetic dermatology and who also patented the first glycolic peel. This sounds like the type of line for me! One of my biggest issues, and the main reason why I never wore sunscreen much as a teen, is the feel of sunscreen. It's usually that thick, white goop that has a strong smell and leaves that grayish cast on your skin and takes forever to sink into your skin. The other thing is that sunscreen should be reapplied every few hours...and let's be real here - who is going to do their makeup and then rub sunscreen all over their face in a couple of hours?

No one. That's who. Enter the Exuviance Sheer Daily Protector Broad Spectrum SPF 50 PA++++! (Speaking of "enter", if this is the type of product you think you'd be interested in trying out and you live in the US, definitely enter the Exuviance GIVEAWAY! 25 lucky people will win one of these babies...and this sunscreen retails for $42!)

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased this product from Ulta with my own money. My opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer. I am not receiving monetary or physical compensation for this post. It IS in conjunction with Brandbacker, which anyone can sign up for and take part in. My integrity is very important to me - I would not have chosen to make this post if I did not enjoy this product.

Circa Beauty First Impressions - Eyeshadow Trio & Lipsticks!

I have another Walgreens exclusive first impressions post for y'all! Circa Beauty is another "masstige" brand, sold only at Walgreens, similar to the Colour Prevails range (I posted about a couple nail polishes here). It's a pretty complete range for being so new; consisting of a decent selection of face, eyes, and lip products.

I opted to pick up three things because this brand is on the pricier side of drugstore; the shadow trio is $12 and the lipsticks are $10 each. This is not a full review; I've only had these for about three day now, but I will be posting an update and more comprehensive review after I've had a chance to fully play with these products!

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with this company, nor am I being sponsored or compensated for this post. My opinions are, as always, my own.

Colour Prevails First Impressions - Nail Polish!

I want to start out this post by stating that I am a total nail polish amateur; I love the stuff and I buy it frequently BUT I am horrible at upkeep and application. So apologies in advance for my sloppy swatches! That being said I love trying out new lines, especially at drugstores. This range is upper level drugstore or masstige; prices are on the higher end of affordable. These polishes are $8 per bottle, which puts them at an Essie or OPI level, when you consider these bottles hold less product.

I always feel guilty when I buy brands that aren't sold at Ulta; I can justify my makeup hoarding by saying it's "product education" but I can't do that when we don't sell the brand!! :D That being said, my curiosity got the better of me and I splurged. I actually intended on only purchasing the cream polish in "All Nighter" but I love glitters and I loved the name of the second one; "Mr. Wrong", and I couldn't hold myself back! The Colour Prevails range is pretty substantial, featuring face, eyes, and lip products, along with the nail polishes, but as of right now I've only tried the polishes.

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased these products myself. I'm not affiliated with this company, nor am I sponsored nor being compensated in any form for this post. My opinions are, as always, my own.

bareMinerals The Color Compatibles REVIEW & FOTD

I am incredibly tardy to the party; this palette came out in May or June, and it's taken me a while, clearly, to post a review or anything about this palette. So why the hell am I even bothering to post a review now, you might be asking? Well, right now this palette is FIFTY PERCENT OFF. Yeah, you read that right; this palette, which normally retails for $39, is currently $19.50, exclusively at Ulta. Now, I'm not sure if this price is for in-store also, nor am I sure how long this sale will be going on for. But this palette is completely worth your money, especially for THIS price so do it up my friends.

(This post is photo-heavy and I will be using page anchors to make it easier to maneuver. The list of ingredients is quite long and I've placed it at the very end of the post for ease of reading.)

FTC Disclaimer: This palette was purchased by me for blogging purposes with my own money. I am not affiliated with Bare Escentuals, nor sponsored, and I am not receiving any type of compensation for this post. All opinions are, as always my own, and also do not reflect those of my employer.

Lipstick Queen Frog Prince First Impressions/Review

Lipstick Queen is a brand that I haven't delved too deeply in. I was so excited when my Ulta store first got it in store, bought six or seven things, and then promptly forgot about it for over a year. Which, in retrospect, is crazy because Medieval is one of my favorite casual red lippies ever. Sure, I joked about buying the $50 Velvet Rope lipsticks, but I've never bit the bullet.

However, when we got the Frog Prince display in, I was intrigued. Then my GM was telling about how, when she received it as gratis, it stained for 48 hours and didn't budge. Okay. I was sold. I am going to be typing this up in review format even though it is a first impressions post because if I continue to like it over the next couple of weeks I don't intend on editing this post. If, however, something crazy happens and I actually end up disliking this product, I will edit this post, add an ETA to the title, and update you. As of right now I really like this product.

FTC Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this company, nor am I being sponsored nor compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

bareMinerals Work, Weekend, Wow Eyeshadow Palette REVIEW

I've been debating on picking up this particular palette for a while and finally bit the bullet! I accidentally sold myself on it while selling it to a customer, no joke. Considering the READY® eyeshadow 8.0 palettes are $40 for eight shadows and the duos are $20, getting seven shadows for $26 seems like a great deal. I always love the READY® shadows, I have amassed a decent chunk of them at this point, and I reach for them frequently. I just wasn't sure if I would actually use this, mostly because at this point I have so many eyeshadow palettes. Obviously, this didn't stop me!

FTC Disclaimer: This product was purchased by me with my own money. I am not affiliated with Bare Escentuals, nor am I sponsored, nor compensated in any form. All of the opinions in this post are, as always, my own, and do not reflect that of my employer.

J.Cat Beauty First Impressions - Eyeshadow & Liner

Recently, while processing shipment, we found an exciting endcap display - looks like Ulta is going to start carrying J.Cat Beauty. You might know them as the brand that does the cheaper OCC Lip Tar dupes; I've heard of this brand for a while on YT and I was super excited to find out we would be carrying at least a few pieces from the line.

Hopefully we can expand the product range in the future because there are some other products that I plan on picking up (like the blushes...hello, I'm a crazy cat lady and those blush/bronzers are cute as hell) and it's definitely convenient to pick them up while at work.

This is not a full-on review. I've only had these products in my possession for around a week and I do plan on picking up more products from this brand.

FTC Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this brand, nor am I being sponsored nor compensated for this post. My opinions are entirely my own and also do not reflect my employer. This post is entirely mine.