Haul time! :)

After all the dust settled from my move, DB indulged me in a little after-work hauling (using my leftover reward money from passing my last requirement for accreditation!)

We hadn't had much time to explore the area yet, so we took off to a nearby township (I think I'm just starting to get used to North Jersey and their overlapping towns) where I had identified a TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Harmon Discount.

Based on the NB over at MUA, I was crossing my fingers hoping to find some Barielle goodies at TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

TJ Maxx was a complete bust. The section for bath and beauty was tiny and cluttered. Nothing good here :(

Next, we drove over to another strip mall with the Marshalls in it. It also looked small, and I was starting to get a knot in my stomach that I'd have no luck all night. Then, I spotted down the strip mall a Sallys! Hooray! We (read: me) decided to go there after Marshalls.

The bath and beauty section at Marshalls was a bit larger, but there were very few things. DB spotted a 3 pack of Barielle polishes (for french manicures) for $6.


Barielle Shades in Enduring, Top Shield, and Cherish

I was not thrilled at these boring colours, but DB loves sheers and pinks, so I indulged him :p Plus, at $6 you can't really go wrong for 3 bottles, right? Also, I wanted to make sure I didn't come away that night empty-handed!

After digging around some more, DB found more Barielle products, since he knew what the packaging looked like now.


Barielle Manicure Extender and Camo Base Coat

He found the Manicure Extended and Camo Base Coat (both the last bottles there) hidden among some creams and lotions. I snatched these up at $4 each :D Hooray! I was hoping to find the Hydrating Ridge Filler, but no luck. I'll have to come back later and look again :)

Next, we hopped over to Sallys. It was an older store, but the good thing was none of the polishes had those annoying magnetic stickers on them to prevent theft. I suppose this was a low traffic area, since the other 2 Sallys I went to both had the obnoxious stickers over everything, and even the caps taped to the bottle to prevent people from opening them! Can you imagine all the residue on the bottle after you peeled everything off?? Ick!

I didn't see any new collections at Sallys, but spied a little rack of clearance items. At the very bottom, I spied a little box...


ORLY Enchanted Forest and Prisma Gloss Gold

Both for $1.99!!! I had Enchanted Forest on my wishlist, and was thrilled to pick it up for $2.


Close-up of Orly Prisma Gloss Gold

I was indifferent about the topcoat, since it seemed useless to me, but after using it, I quite like it over cremes! The glitter goes on sparsely, but looks a bit holographic. So, BONUS!

Since I didn't see anything else, I was about to check out and then DB, being a tall lanky boy that he is, spied an old China Glaze display at the very top shelf (which I could neither see nor reach) and we found these bad boys:


China Glaze Emerald Sparkle and Atlantis

For $1.99 and $3.99 respectively. SCORE! There were some other polishes on clearance for $2-4, but none of them appealed to me.


Close-up of China Glaze Atlantis

When I got home and looked closer at this bottle, there seemed to be quite a bit of polish missing. I wonder if this was a return? Or does all that glitter "absorb" the polish? Who knows!


China Glaze Atlantis over OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui

I'm not usually fond of glitters, but I threw it on for fun later that weekend.


China Glaze Atlantis close-up

I've been won over!! Look at that O_O!!!


Close-up of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Can't wait to wear this! I'm going to put it on my toes this weekend.

We left Sallys (me, reluctantly; DB, happily) and headed to the Final Destination: Harmon Discount Beauty Supply. I never heard of this store until I moved to NJ, and it seems to be owned by Bed, Bath & Beyond. I was glad to find there was one here, because the other one I had been seeing was on the highway (and on the "inconvenient" side) which I wasn't dying to go to.

I had a 20% off entire purchase coupon that came in my moving package of coupons from the postal office, after I changed addresses. I think usually you only get coupons at BBB for 20% off a single item, so I'm happy :)

I was fully prepared to make a big haul here, to maximize my savings, but I didn't think I'd get so many polishes...


Essie Van D'Go, Mink Muffs, Marabou

We looked at Essie polishes first. None of them made it into my basket, because DB was being difficult and only wanting sheers and pinks, etc.

Then, it turns out there was a larger display of Essie at the other end of the store. This is where their permanent line was showcased, and DB was in awe. He said, "I think I like this brand". I told him to pick out whatever boring pink he wanted, and I'd get it, and he picked up Mademoiselle. LOL. I told him I already bought it! Then I showed him how to identify sheers from opaques, and he proceeded to pick up every bottle. He had a hard time doing this, so I told him to discreetly open the polish and see how it dripped off the brush.

He picked out Marabou and Van D'Go and couldn't decide, so I took both :p

At this point, he was smitten with Essie and said all Essie's were "safe" and "cute". I ran back to the other Essie display and grabbed Mink Muffs. Woohoo! I got a "poopy" colour, according to him.

Part of the nail polish deal is that DB would get to choose my mani and pedi. He chose that awful sheer Barielle pink at first, but I protested (my nails are still stained from Charla), and he picked both Essie Marabou and Van D'Go.


Essie Van D'Go with Orly Prisma Gloss Gold

Van D'Go dried a lot more bright/orange on my nails than it looks in the bottle. I do like it, though. I still have Marabou on my toesies. It's so.. safe!

I layered the Orly Prisma Gold Gloss on top to see what it was like, and was pleasantly surprised!

Next up was Color Club! According to DB, I got all "ugly" colours.


Color Club Fashion Addict and Revvvolution

I was a little wary about getting holos, but I decided to trust in the widsom of the NB.


Color Club Fashion Addict

Guys, I love this!!!


Color Club Love 'Em Leave 'Em and Emerald Depths

Originally, Love 'Em Leave 'Em didn't make it into my basket, but at the cash register they had another display of CCs, and it "accidently" made its way into my obscenely large checkout pile.


Color Club Love 'em Leave 'em

I like how this is a blingy take on a "safe" colour.

Finally, they had some OPI for $7.50, so I decided to pick up a couple colours I had been thinking about.


OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui and Samoan Sand

Usually blue is too "ugly" for DB, but when I told him this was from the Hong Kong collection, he was all over it. Man, this boy does not make sense!!

Loving Samoan Sand! What a great neutral. I was a little worried about it on my skin tone, but I quite like it :)


OPI SSFS and Orly Prisma Gloss Gold

Here's SSFS with the Orly top coat on it :)

Anyways, all in, I managed to go $22 over my allocated "reward" money. Oh well. At least everything I got was on sale, right? :)

My next haul is contingent on catching up on a month's worth of studying. It'll be a 10 bottle minimum, plus I'm allowing myself a bonus 1 bottle for every time I get my lazy butt to the gym. I was going to go yesterday, but got home late from work, so I'll try again tonight!!!

Dipping my fingers back in...

Yikes, it's been more than a month since I've posted! It's been a really busy last few weeks for me, as I've moved to a new apartment, had to go Ikea shopping for additional furniture (went from a 1-bed to a 2-bed!), and make a trip back home to Canada to move the rest of my belongings from both my parents' basement and my boyfriend's parents' basement.

Finally things have settled down and I can get back into a regular routine that includes things like nail polish! Hooray!

My boyfriend (too bad he isn't my husband, because I wish I could use "DH" in my posts, hehe! Does anyone use DB for "Dear Boyfriend"? That would be a little confusing, since he works for Deutsche Bank, so we always use DB to refer to that... ) was with me the last 4 weeks helping me do all these things since he's moving in with me in September. He just left last weekend for training in London until the end of August. You better believe I'm sending him a wishlist of UK polishes (mostly Barry M) for him to bring back for me in exchange for all this loneliness he's putting me through! Hah! Do you guys have any suggestions for other polishes he can get me while in the UK?

I really want some Catrice polishes, but they appear to be available in Germanic countries only, right? Shouldn't be a problem, though, as I foresee business trips to HQ in Frankfurt in the future where he can fulfill my lemmings.

Anyways, I do have quite a few new goodies to show you guys!

First, I received a lovely package from Suzie at blah.suzie for being the sixth person to email her in a quick-fire giveaway! I'm so happy because this is the first time I've won anything from a blogger! I remember that night because I had just gotten home around 10:30 pm after having dinner in the city with a friend, and saw her post from around 10pm. I though my chances were pretty good to be 6th to email!

Here is the lovely prize package!


With Love by Hilary Duff Shower Gel & Body Lotion
MAC Metallic Eyes Palette
Dior Addict Mini
L'Occitane Purse Mirror
Little Romantic Thoughts Cards


MAC Metallic Eyes Palette


The MAC palette is really gorgeous and these are my first MAC eyeshadows ever! I really love the warm colours. I'm still trying to determine if I can pull off the cooler colours, but I may have to mix and match them with my other eyeshadows to make them work for me :) I haven't had a lot of time to do eye makeup lately, but I look forward to playing with them more in the future (primarily weekends XD)!!

I love the Dior Addict perfume! I had been pondering whether to buy Dior Addict Shine, but this is a similar scent and now I don't have to buy it, ho ho ho!

Some other goodies including a small compact and a set of very cute cards.


The cards are so cute! I showed them to my boyfriend and he asked if he could have some. Then on Saturday night (the day he left) I was getting ready for bed, I went to set my alarm (I use my DS as an alarm now, haha) and noticed he slipped this card inside for me to see. I almost started bawling right there!

Second, a few days later I noticed a destashing post over at Berryhappynails. How sweet is this girl to just give away polishes asking for nothing in return?? I managed to call dibs on OPI Fiercely Fiona, which I had been thinking about picking up (to add to my other Shrek polishes: Cattitude, Rumple's Wiggin', Funky Dunkey) around that time as well! I was over the moon with my good luck ^_^


I had a picture of it on my toesies, but I have no idea where that memory card went! :(

Finally, I received some epic good news right before I was going to move and do the Canada trip: I passed my last requirement for a professional accreditation I had been working towards! An annual raise and some letters to put after my name aside, I had allocated $55 as a "reward" to spend on polish if I were to pass. Unfortunately, with the move and trip coming up, I wouldn't be able to actually spend it for at least a week!!

The move itself went smoothly, as did our little road trip to Canada. I already blogged about this ad nauseum on another blog, so I'll skip it here!

The second day after we got back (a Friday), my car battery died and I had to take another day off work to get it fixed. I was so bummed that I had to spend another vacation day, after already having used 6 for the move and Canada road trip. It wasn't til late afternoon that my car was fixed (under warranty, thank god! I just bought my Civic LAST YEAR and it only has 3000 miles on it!!), so instead of going back home right away, we decided to go to the Ikea and mall nearby.

We went to the mall first so we could get some food (we were both starving) and shop around for some new work clothes for DB. He is a skinny, lanky boy, so no shirts fit him well. Luckily for me, I spotted an Icing store and ducked in and found a bottle of Laura's Fave!


Laura's Fave and Rebellious

DB hates my taste in nail polish colour, and he picked up a fairly boring colour and said "I like this one!". He left the store out of sheer boredom as I tried to find another bottle to buy (Buy one get one half off, as usual there), and ended up getting the one he picked out. I showed him afterwards and he was so happy that I bought a "cute" colour.


HELLO? LAURA'S FAVE? LOOK AT THIS!!! (sorry for the god awful swatch)


Shimmery...

Here's the other colour, Rebellious

But the colour he picked out, Rebellious, isn't bad either!

The Ikea trip (our first of SEVERAL) was uneventful. Our drive home took forever, as we got stuck in traffic for about 30 minutes. When we finally escaped the bumper-to-bumper area, I noticed a Sally's about 2 miles south of my new apartment! Ho ho ho! But we (read: DB) were too tired to make another stop, so I made a mental note to come back later.

Our first Saturday back, we had a LOT of errands to run. First of which was a grocery run at Whole Paycheck (err, Whole Foods). I was feeling kind of down that day because of my car troubles and missing more work. DB offered to let me browse in Kmart before hand (he absolutely hates going in stores like Target and Kmart, so this is a pretty bold offer for him to make, LOL!) to see if I could find some glycerin (to DIY me some Remove+).

No luck at Kmart finding any glycerin, BUT I did happen to spy a little plastic box on the bottom shelf in the nail polish area...


WITH THIS IN IT!


HAYE THAR, WTF?! Totally didn't expect to ever see this polish, after I saw the display on May 4 in Wags (obviously with both HT's missing) and then religiously stalking about 3 CVSs in the area.


You guys all know what this looks like, obviously :)

I put this on everything for a couple days (including the secret pedicure I did for DB: Zoya Pinta + HT) and am so happy to finally have it. I'm also glad that the Nfu Oh #40 I bought (when I was sure I'd never find HT) has different coloured flakies, because I'm not fond of having dupes in my somewhat "modest" collection (around 70 now).

Finally, we had a day of errands which included going to Target, Home Depot, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Actually, since HD and BBB are in the same shopping area, we split up to spare each other. DB got a power drill, which he was over the moon about (he spent the rest of the night just turning it on to make the drilling sound) and I got to use my 20% off entire purchase coupon at BBB... which included some polishing essentials. I found a bottle of Poshe top coat and picked up Essie Mademoiselle (a classic, no?)


I still haven't worn this yet because my nails are a little Charla-stained :(

I wouldn't get to spend the rest of my reward money (and actually, overspending!) for another week or so, but I'll save that for the next post, since this one is already ludicrously long :)