So... I know I said November was going to be an expensive month, but it looks like it's turning out to be an expensive season in general. I'm going to split December's haul into two posts, one for pre-Christmas and one for post-Christmas (because you know Boxing Week shopping is going to be crazy). As we all know, Black Friday happened. And then Cyber Monday. Which turned into Cyber Monday Week. And every single retailer both in-store and online are having pre-Christmas sales right now. I don't know what's going on, but I had to succumb to at least some temptations, you know? It all started with Indigo's Black Friday sales, which featured 40% off nearly all of their Voluspa candles. I actually love Voluspa because I think their scents are more sophisticated and way less overpowering than Bath & Body Works' candles. But the reason I don't buy them as often is because they're typically quite expensive and they only go on sale a few times a year (compared to Bath & Body Works, which puts their candles on sale like, every damn month). I've been tempted to get a lot of candles form Voluspa's Japonica collection, so I decided to snatch up two of the travel trios and an extra French Cade Lavender travel candle because it's one of my favourite scents and it was only $5.
Voluspa Japonica Collection Mini Travel Candle Trio with Baltic Amber, Santiago Huckleberry, and Goji Tarocco Orange
Voluspa Mini Travel Candle in French Cade Lavender and Japonica Collection Mini Travel Candle Trio with French Cade Lavender, Eden & Pear, and Crème de Peche
On that same Black Friday weekend, Hautelook was having a Miss Sixty outerwear event, and since I bought a couple of Miss Sixty winter coats two years ago from Hautelook that I love to death and wear all the time, I decided to take a look to see what styles they had on sale this time around. I saw this lovely double-breasted wool peacoat with pleating and belt detailing that is feminine without being girly and is nicely tailored and polished. It was on sale for 60% off, for $109 from $270, so I decided to get one in black (surprise, surprise) with gold hardware (it also came in silver, but I thought the gold look more sophisticated). My shipment arrived a couple weeks later, and I got not one but two of the same coat due to a shipping error. My mom really loved the style of the coat, so I gave the other one to her as her Christmas present. Thusly, my coat was only $54.50. Can't beat 80% off, am I right? And then Aritzia was also having their Black Friday sale, so I finally picked up the online-exclusive black Wilfred drapey Japanese crepe blazer that I'd had my eye on for two months because it was on sale for $150 from $225. Love, love, love.
Miss Sixty Pleated Wool Peacoat (front and back)
Wilfred Snowdon Jacket
And then I went on a nail polish rampage. It was inevitable. I went to Wal-Mart one unassuming evening just to pick up some essentials (e.g. hair conditioner, anti-bacterial wipes, gum, magazines, etc.), and was casually perusing their nail polishes when I saw that a couple brands were on sale at their Roll Back prices. I don't typically get tempted my drugstore nail polishes, but Essie was going for $7.47 each from $8.97, and Sally Hansen was going for $6.97 from $8.47, so I picked up some fun shades that I'd had my eye on. Then, I was at Loblaws buying some K-Cups for the new Keurig MINI Plus brewer that Ronsee got for me as a late birthday/early Christmas present and spotted some lovely new Joe Fresh nail polish shades that are out for the holidays. They weren't technically on sale, but as they're always at a bargain price of 3 for $10, I snatched up the six that caught my eye. Finally, I got an e-mail from Nail Polish Canada announcing that they were finally stocking Rainbow Honey, an indie brand that I've been wanting to check out for ages, so I picked up five shades from them, too. They weren't on sale or anything... I just wanted them.
Essie Encrusted Treasures Nail Lacquer in Lots of Lux and Peak of Chic, and Luxe Effects Top Coat in Jazzy Jubilant
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Holiday 2013 Nail Polish in Fa-la-la-lavender and 3, 2, 1derland and Sequin Overcoat in Over the Rainblue
Joe Fresh Nail Polish in Topaz, Copper, Quartz, Peacock, Mulberry, and Ruby
Rainbow Honey Nail Lacquer in Tiny Ruby, Koi Pond, The Kraken, Sapphire Weapon, and Emerald Weapon
A week later,
Beyond the Rack was having a
Michael Todd True Organics sale event featuring nearly all of their skincare products, wherein everything was 40 - 60% off. I've been intrigued by the brand for a while now since seeing it pop up all over in magazines and YouTube videos, so I decided to take the opportunity to try out some of their products. I ended up getting their
Honey and Oat Gentle Deep Pore Cleanser and
Charcoal Detox Deep Pore Gel Cleanser for $14 each from $23, the
Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub and
Blue Green Algae Antibacterial Toner for $12 each from $18.50, and the
Hydration Boost Facial Serum for $18 from $37. All of these products have gotten amazing, glowing, raving reviews, so I'm pretty interested to see what the hype's all about. I've never been one to be drawn to organic products, but if these work well, I might just be a convert.
Michael Todd True Organics Honey and Oat Cleanser, Charcoal Detox Cleanser, Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub, Blue Green Algae Antibacterial Toner, and Hydration Boost Facial Serum
One of my good friends who works at Lush offered to grab some things for me with his discount, so I went into the store last week to pick out the goodies I wanted plus some Secret Santa gifts I had to get. On the top of the list was my favourite
Big Sea Salt Shampoo (I finished my last jar a few weeks ago), and their new limited edition
Celebrate Body Lotion, which smells like sweet limes and champagne. I don't typically like Lush's body lotions, but this one reminded me so much of my favourite (and limited edition)
Calacas Shower Jelly that I knew I had to get my hands on it. I also wanted to get some gentle bar soaps because my hands have gotten so badly cracked and chapped with eczema flare-ups that I've decided I need to stop using liquid anti-bacterial soaps for a while (Bath & Body Works, I'm looking at you), as I think they're the main culprit. After looking (and sniffing) through their huge selection, I ended up deciding on
Miranda,
Sultana of Soap, and
Snow Globe. And, finally, I chose two Bubbleroon Bubble Bars in
Green and
Yuzu & Cocoa because I'm obsessed with taking bubble baths right now, and they were too cute to resist.
Lush Celebrate Body Lotion and Big Sea Salt Shampoo
Lush Soap in Miranda, Sultana of Soap, and Snow Globe
Lush Bubbleroon Bubble Bars in Green and Yuzu & Cocoa
A few weeks ago, Sephora sent all their VIB members an e-mail containing a coupon to get $20 off any $50 purchase to further tempt us make-up hoarders/fiends into debt. As if we didn't do enough damage during their VIB sale last month. I knew I wasn't going to go on some crazy spending spree again at Sephora, but I knew exactly what I was going to get with that coupon: Urban Decay's highly-anticipated, highly-coveted Naked3 palette. I already knew that I'm going to love it more than both the other Naked palettes because rose-toned, bronze-y golds are my favourite shades of all time (e.g. MAC's All That Glitters and Honey Lust, Urban Decay's Chopper and Toasted), so the launch of this particular Naked palette was especially exciting for me. Sephora announced via Twitter that they were going to release the palette on their website at midnight on December 6th, so being the obsessive palette fiend that I am, I went straight to the website to order it. If there was one thing on my Christmas wishlist this year, it was the Naked3 Palette.
Urban Decay Naked3 Palette
Urban Decay Naked3 Palette (inside)
So, did you guys get anything in these crazy December sales? And what's on your Christmas wishlist this year?
OMGF I love your haul posts. TEH BESTEST. (My fave of your pickups is that Aritzia jacket!)
ReplyDeleteI was pretty tame, if by tame you mean that I also bought nail polish and candles. And a tablet and a scarf and probably something else later on because I completely forgot about Boxing Day sales. I already blew half of my pay on stockpiling nephew's Christmas gifts. X_____X
LOL! I'm glad you enjoy my hauls as much as I do. ;) I reckon Boxing Day sales are gonna wreck me...
DeleteUmmmm, I need to see YOUR haul post!!! I wanna see all your nail polishes and candles, and which tablet you got!
woah haulage! i bought the first set of candle trios from chapters too! and some other things as well. reading your post reminds me i have to make a haul post of my own. im so excited about the stuff you got from lush! be careful with snowglobe though. i bought it last year and didn't use it for a while, i found it sort of started evaporating and soaking the paper it was wrapped in. not idea how it did that.
ReplyDeleteOoh, thanks for the warning about Snow Globe soap! I will use it soon. I just started on the Sultan of Soap, so I will move on to Snow Globe after I'm done with that... Did you keep the soap in a warm place, though? Maybe it was melting?
DeleteAnd, yes, do a haul post! I love reading them, it's like I went shopping, too. :D
To my fellow Sephora Rouge makeupholic, I too purchased the Naked3 palette with my promo code about 45 minutes after midnight on Dec. 6th! Surprisingly, it arrived less than a week later - this has never happened with Sephora!
ReplyDeleteWow, incredible bonus with the Miss Sixty jacket!
My colleague was wearing a blazer the other day that I loved, and I asked her where it was from and she said Wilfred. I THINK it's this one: http://aritzia.com/Wilfred-CHEVALIER-JACKET/42112,default,pd.html?dwvar_42112_color=1274#q=wilfred+chevalier&start=1
Anyway, I think I might like yours even better! Doesn't look like it's available anymore, though. I'm so into drapey blazers lately, and I've always preferred 3/4 sleeves.
I got my Naked3 palette sometime this week, for sure, so it took about two weeks to get here. I have no idea why they ship everything from the US because there are Sephoras here in Canada. :(
DeleteOh, yes, the Chevalier jacket! I actually have two of them, and between that one and this Snowdon one that I got, I actually prefer the Chevalier. The Snowdon is more structured and tuxedo-inspired, whereas the Chevalier one is more drapey and feminine. I guess it depends on your style, 'cause even though they look kinda similar, they are rather different in the cut. And the Snowdon is actually full-length sleeves (I folded them up), whereas the Chevalier comes 3/4-length. My Chevalier is probably my most-worn piece of clothing (I wore it today, actually!). Like, my cost per use is definitely less than a $1 right now. What I love about these jackets is that you can dress them up or down and they go with everything in your wardrobe. Seriously. I've worn them with heeled boots and with sneakers. :) Definitely worth the splurge, I promise!
Do they ever go on sale?! And not those fake Aritzia sales where it's like, $5 off.
DeleteThen... sadly, no. :P I've never seen the Chevalier go on sale because it's one of their "classic" pieces, so it's always apart of their permanent range. But I think their other seasonal blazers go on sale. Whether or not it's a good sale is another question, lol.
DeleteI love your haul posts, Denise.
ReplyDeleteDamage on this end was pretty bad this month, too. X_X Some of it was gifts from others, but some of it was my own bad bad badness.
Lol, thanks, Larie -- I love hauling a little too much. :P
DeleteHaha, I think my shopping in December was like, 5% for other people and 95% for myself, so don't even feel bad.
I didn't do too much damage in December - I was tempted and kept going to buy things, but then held off - then I started buying gifts for everyone and all my plans went out the window LOL. I'm also planning to take it easy in January, but then get right back to it in Feb - at least with skincare, as seems the norm lately!
ReplyDeleteI got a couple of those Voluspa candles in my stocking, hooray! And LOVE that Aritzia jacket, yow! I have Lots of Lux and I absolutely LOVE the shade, though textured polishes chip like crazy on me, in weird places (like the middle of my nail).
Finally...I keep hearing that Naked3 is the best of all the UD Naked palettes (I own none) and I think I might have to give in to this one to see what it's all about :S
Good job at holding off on buying things last month!!! The sales were SO CRAZY, it was super hard not to get tempted. And I'm not even talking about Boxing Week sales, I'm talking about pre-Christmas sales! Everything seemed to be like, 30 - 60% off at all stores. It was insanity.
DeleteI bought way too much make-up AND skincare AND body stuff last month so I'm trying to control myself this month. January is all about paying off bills, LOL.
Love Voluspa candles! Which ones did you get? And thanks, I didn't know if I was gonna love that Aritzia jacket, but I've been using it a lot lately. :) I haven't tried Lots of Lux yet, but polishes never seem to chip on me, so hopefully this one won't, either!
And having just swatched all of Naked3 and finally using it (I wanted to keep it pristine because it's so pretty when it's all brand new), I gotta say, this is by far my favourite Naked palette. Give in, give in!!! LOL.