SEPHORA GRATIS HAUL: APRIL & MAY

I won't bore you with a rambling intro today. Psyche. Imma bore the crap out of you. This morning I woke up and took my first breath as a conscious human on May 20th. I wondered to myself if it would be another sunny day. You see my blinds were shut, prohibiting me from knowing what to expect. I closed my eyes again, seeing as I was a bit sleepy, but then opened them again because I knew I really ought to get up...

Yeah, okay that's enough of that. Hey, here's some shit that I got given from work!

MY FREELANCE MAKEUP KIT

I don't know if today's post will pique anyone's interest, but we'll give it a go anyways. I recently started doing some freelance makeup work again. But seeing as it's been a few years since the last time I dabbled, I had to rebuild my kit almost from scratch. In the chance that there's anyone out there wondering about building up a freelancing kit, or even anyone just curious to see the contents, I wanted to share with you guys what I've stocked mine with.

COLOURPOP, YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!

I've gone and done it again, haven't I? I ordered some Colourpop a few months ago and I was so many degrees of impressed. The formulas were all on point and the prices were scrumtrulescent. So obviously I had to go back for more, she said, her eye twitching ever so gently.

THE NEW H&M BEAUTY LINE

I sensed some curiosity in the force. I just watched the new Star Wars trailer and I am literally wetting myself with excitement. But that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about today. I'm talking about the curiosity surrounding the new H&M beauty line. I've seen surprisingly little info on the new launch and I wanted to test out a few pieces and give you lovely people the low down.

COLOURPOP, I THINK I WANNA MARRY YOU

KathleenLights is one heck of a babe. I've grown quite obsessed with her Youtube channel lately and she raves a lot about Colourpop. You've probably heard the apparent deal with Colourpop. Almost everything is $5 and beautifully pigmented, with a great colour selection. I wanted to put these rumors of greatness to the test so I ordered a smattering of products – Lippy Stix, Super Shock Shadows and a Highlighter.

MINI MAC HAUL

Now that I've got a bit of a tan I found myself in need of a new concealer. My usual MAC Studio Finish Concealer has become too light. So what did I do? I went bought another MAC Studio Finish Concealer in a darker shade. Let that be a testament to how much I love that stuff. And of course, along the way I got side tracked by some other goods that I'd been eyeing up for a while.

THE TRIA HAIR REMOVAL LASER 4X

I did a bad. I spent a lot of money. I'd been lusting after the Tria Hair Removal Laser for ages and ages and now this tasty treat is finally mine. This post isn't a review by any means, I just wanted to let you guys know that the journey begins now. And it will be narrated by Morgan Freeman... if only in my mind. 

THE ENGLISH BEAUTY SWAP

A couple of months ago I got a twitter message from Ella, from Ellabooxo, saying “OMG let's do a beauty swap.” First of all, I love this girl. Her sense of humour is unstoppable. Second of all, OMG yes. Given my obsession with British bloggers/vloggers, you can imagine how long I've lusted after UK cosmetics. Ironically, just a short while after we organized our swap I did a somewhat impromptu trip to Europe, which is how I ended up with doubles of a couple of items. But that's besides the point. Excitement levels were still high on the day that the package arrived on my doorstep.

FRENCH PHARMACY SKINCARE HAUL

It's no secret that I love me some French pharmacy skincare. It's the bomb for sensitive skin. On our voyages on the starship Enterprise... I mean of Europe... we conveniently passed through Nice so I did a little skincare shopping. There were quite a few items that I'd been eager to try for some time and I figured, at half the price of what we pay in Canada, now was the time.

HUGE KIKO HAUL

I'm back baby! You may have noticed a serious lack of new posts on Bloomin' Rouge in the past few weeks. That's due to the fact that I was lucky enough to have been living it up in Europe for most of April. Truth be told I was feeling a real lack of creative energy before I left, so I'm hoping the break will have me feeling refreshed and ready for round two.

OH HAUL YES I DID

I headed into the city yesterday with the intention of buying a new night cream. My second bottle of La Roche Posay Toleriane Ultra finally ran out and, as much as I loved it, I thought it was due time to try something new. I did indeed find a new moisturizer... I just accidentally found a few others things along the way.

NARS DIGITAL WORLD LIP PENCIL COFFRET

I've mentioned a few times how much I love me some Nars Dragon Girl, but the other day I was watching Tanya Burr's vlog and she was wearing Nars Cruella. Ooooh child. Lets just say I was a moth and her lips were a flame. Only lets say it in a less creepy manor. Well I'd been eyeing up the Nars Digital World Lip Pencil Coffret for months and my new found obsession with Cruella, which is included in the set, was enough to tip the scale. I love the idea of getting to try a load of mini sizes. I figured it was now or never because they're a limited edition Christmas set and they can't last much longer. Yup, I ordered out of fear. I am susceptible to consumer traps.

4 NEW AND FABULOUS

I've gone done it again. Somehow I've managed to compile a nice little group of new things to talk about. So, you know, that's what I'm going to do – talk about them. Unpredictable I am not. A quick side note first: The Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, which I have hanging out in the photo above, is such a fantastic book! It's packed full of incredibly useful information about both skincare and makeup. I highly recommend taking it out of your local library.

STILA FIELD OF FLORALS CONVERTIBLE COLOR PALETTE

I wouldn't normally do two posts in a row just talking about one single product. But yesterday this came to me, The Stila Field of Florals Convertible Color Lip and Cheek Palette. I haven't seen any word of it yet on the blogosphere, so I thought I'd get some swatches out for you guys. But first I've got to tell you how I ended up with this palette because I'm still flabbergasted.  

THERE'S BEEN A BIRTHDAY

It was my birthday a week ago. While the day was odd (for completely external reasons that I'll explain to you guys at a later date), I was so happy to get to spend it with people that I love. My sisters and beloved friend (I'm looking at you Rich) all turned up unannounced in the morning, which is the best kind of way to turn up in my books, and we joined up with some other friends and spent the day together. I was lucky enough to receive some vonderfull gifts, which also included an unbelievable set of noise cancelling headphones that I am over the moon about. There won't be a shred of eardrum left when I'm done with them. But I'll stick to telling you guys about the beauty stuff!

ZOEVA ROSE GOLD LUXURY SET

A while ago I struck a deal with myself. It was an intense negotiation session, but myself and I came to an agreement: once I got my first Youtube video up I was allowed to buy the Zoeva Rose Gold Luxury Set. Getting a video up was (and still is) something that scares the poop out of me, so a motivator couldn't hurt. About a month ago I finally posted a video and (after no spend October was over) I went ahead and ordered a set of zee German treasure. And hooo Nelly, they arrived yesterday.

THE FIRST MAC LIPSTICKS (WITH SWATCHES)

A few weeks ago something arrived in the mail. Something that would make any makeup fanatic giddy. My friends, I speak of the glorious MAC Pro Card. Hoho baby, I knew I spent thousands of dollars attending makeup school for a reason (I can't emphasize enough how much I am kidding). Now the temptation was to go absolutely nuts and buy everything I'd ever heard any blogger talk about, but I was slightly more sensible and limited myself to only three products. Two of those products happened to be lipsticks. I don't know how I've managed to go this long loving makeup and never having bought a single MAC lipstick. It seemed about time to put an end to that madness (first world problems at their finest). I'm pretty darn tootin' pleased with the two I picked.

THE BODY SHOP IS BACK

I was down to the dregs of my Ren Evercalm Cleansing Milk so I decided to place an order with The Body Shop to stock up on some more cleanser... and then somehow other things found their way into my basket too. What? Who put those there?! Anyways, most satisfyingly, the day that my Ren Cleansing Milk bestowed upon me it's final pump, the package from The Body Shop arrived. And cleansing was had once more. As well as some shampooing and spraying of good smells. So what did I get you ask? (Please ask). Well my friends, let me tell you!

I GONE DONE SEPHORA

There were a few things I'd been wanting to pick up from Sephora for a while now and I finally caved and did it a couple of days ago. I don't have the easiest time spending big chunks of money on cosmetics (it still makes me cringe), so naturally I have a love/hate relationship with Sephora. They have everything you could ever want... but it'll cost you your soul. Well apparently I was okay with selling my soul this time round. I haven't given anything a proper go yet so this will be more of a show and tell with updates to come soon.

THE BODY SHOP TREATS

Alrighty. Face mask on and ready to write. Let’s begin. I love The Body Shop. It’s something that our family has always used. The satsuma scent instantly takes me back to my childhood. So every once in a while I indulge in a nice body butter or shower gel from them, but I’d never actually given their makeup a go. It was time my friends.