Urban Decay Online Sale

Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils are incredibly popular, and for good reason. Creamy, waterproof, and an amazing selection of shades. Right now, the 'vintage' shades (not part of their new lineup) are on sale for $9.50 on urbandecay.com; that's 50% off! 
*I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Urban Decay. I purchased their products with my own money.*

The vintage shades on sale are: Graffiti, Covet, Flipside, Deviant, 1999, Ransom, Gunmetal, Lucky, Eldorado, Crash, Binge, and Lust. (Shown below in that order.) I do not see any expiration date on this sale, so I'm guessing that it is while supplies last. Based on past sales of this nature, I'm sure that the price will go down further, but so will the shade selection. I chose Flipside and 1999. I almost bought Covet and Lucky, but controlled myself. (Ransom is not as smooth application-wise as the others, by the way, but the color is great.)

They have several other products on sale as well. What caught my attention is that their Deluxe Eyeshadows (discontinued) are down to only $4.00! They started at $18.00. I have one in the shade Graffiti and I love it, so I also bought Freakshow. I was able to narrow that down because I already have the Deluxe Shadow Box, which includes most of the other available shades plus some that have been long out of stock as individuals. That reminds me: the Deluxe Shadow Box, which I posted about here, is currently on sale for only $10.00.

Bonus: Free shipping when you buy $35.00 or more of products, valid until 06/25/13. (It is usually $50.00.) Their site says that this is for their Loyal Customers. It is unclear to me if this means that you have to already have an account, or if it will still apply if you register for an account now. 

You can check out all of Urban Decay's current online sales here: http://www.urbandecay.com/urban-decay-cosmetics-sale-products/sale,default,sc.html.

*I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Urban Decay. I purchased their products with my own money.*

Paired with Bold Red Lips...

It seems to be the times that I'm not going anywhere that I wear the most makeup. I think it's because I have a little more time to play with it and take everything off if the look fails. Here is the look I paired with my bold red lip from yesterday's post:

Let's focus on the eyes for a while, because that was the area of this look where I tried a new-to-me product, Kat Von D's True Romance Eyeshadow Palette: Art of Elysium--Evelyn, shown below. (It has a mirror inside in addition to what you see.) I think the packaging is super cute, feminine in an understated way.

The shade names: Top left is Enjoy the Silence, top right is Sand Timer, bottom left is Leather, bottom right is Tijuana.

I prepped my eyelids with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. (One of my so-called 'holy grail', or HG, products.) I then applied Sand Timer with a light hand from lash line to brow bone.

I applied Enjoy the Silence just to the inner third or so of my eyelid, up to the crease, as shown above. Next, I applied Leather to the middle third or so of my eyelid up to a little past my crease, shown below.

The darkest shade, Tijuana, I applied to the outer third or so of my eye. I brushed the shadow out into roughly a sideways V-shape. This is where your eyes start to look strange, like some sort of... Gothic Neapolitan ice cream?

When my eye shadow is applied in vertical strips like this, I start the blending process by using a soft crease brush to buff out the harsh vertical lines between the shades. I just use a few up and down motions with the brush until the shades flow into each other in a more progressive way.

Personally, I tend to use the same brush for my entire eye shadow process, just cleaning it between  dark and light shades. I used more of Enjoy the Silence to highlight just under my brow. Then I used Sand Timer again with a light hand and a motion like a windshield wiper, to blend horizontally between my three shades on the bottom and my highlight by the brow.

I used Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in shade #21 all over my face, and L'Oreal True Match concealer in Fair/Light Neutral. I filled in my brows with some brown powder by Maybelline and an angled eyeliner brush. (I've used the brow powder so many times that I can no longer read the label to tell you the name of the product.) For eyeliner, I used a somewhat bold line of black liquid: L'Oreal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black.

I tamed my brows a little more with brow gel by Benefit. The mascara used is Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Black Drama, which I previously posted about here. 

I used the blush that I use most of the time, Laura Geller Blush-N-Brighten in Roseberry. This is an expensive blush to me, around $30, but I got it by using Birchbox points, their loyalty/rewards program. I only tap the brush onto the blush to pick some up, not sweep over it, to keep my blush unbroken for longer. Then I tap it onto my cheeks rather than sweeping it on, so it blends better.

Last but not least was freshening up my NYX lipliner (Hot Red) and lipstick (Chic Red) from yesterday's post.

*I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned and have not received any compensation or samples for this post.*

Don't Pay Retail Prices

Despite the title of my blog, I realize that cosmetics are a luxury. They are lovely, but they don't exactly fall under the categories of food, clothing, or shelter. I feel the need to be even more bargain-conscious with beauty items than other products. In my experience, the key to getting the most out of your money is patience. Below are some recent examples.

Color Club Glitter Vixen 7-bottle set

The above type of set, containing seven bottles of Color Club polish, is available on the Color Club website for $48.00: http://www.shopcolorclub.com/nail-polish-collections.html . As nail polish prices go, not too bad: under $7.00 a bottle. But I refuse to drop $48 in one shot on nail polish, even as addicted as I am. I purchased the above set at T.J. Maxx for $9.99. It is not rare for T.J. Maxx to have great nail polish bargains on brands like Essie, OPI, China Glaze, and of course, Color Club.

Butter London Sparkle, Sparkle glitter trio

The Butter London trio above (featuring 'Shambolic', 'Jack the Lad', and 'Scuppered') is valued at $42.00, based on their 2012 price of $14.00 per bottle of nail lacquer (price is $15.00 in 2013). They were selling the trio initially for $36.00 for the holidays. I was not going to spend that much. I was tempted, however, after the holidays when Butter London lowered the price to $25.00. I still resisted. Finally, last week I found the Sparkle, Sparkle collection above at Nordstrom Rack for...

Nordstrom Rack is fabulous for finding cosmetics at more reasonable prices. On my last trip there, I saw brands such as Anastasia, Urban Decay, Stila, NYX, Jane, and Benefit. I was loving the Urban Decay:

Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box

Urban Decay actually has this Deluxe Shadow Box on sale on their website for a great price of only $16.00 (original was $38.00). I paid a little bit more than that at Nordstrom Rack, as shown below, but that was totally okay for me, since I didn't have to pay shipping. Free shipping on the Urban Decay site is for orders of $50.00 or more.

 

Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box opened

DDF Brightening Cleanser is my favorite facial cleanser. I first tried it through a sample from Birchbox. Then, I received another sample through Sample Society. Since then, I have traded on makeuptalk.com for a few of the sample bottles. But, then, not long ago I found a full-size bottle at Marshalls: 

DDF Brightening Cleanser

On DDF's website, this cleanser retails for $39.00. Dermstore sells it for $35.00. I am not sure where Marshalls got the $24.00 price from for comparison, but I was definitely happier with the price I paid:

 

Most recently, I checked out my local Big Lots for bargains. I ended up with eight Revlon nail polishes. Revlon nail polish typically retails for $4.99, although Ulta and CVS will often have sales, such as 'Buy One, Get One 50% Off'. At Big Lots, however, these were being sold for $2.00 for a pack of two. (Please note that stock varies a lot by branch.) Here are the shades I bought:

Revlon 'Chic' and 'Royal'

Revlon 'Cloud' and 'Sheer Seafoam'

Revlon 'Saucy' and 'Gold Coast'

2 Bottles of Revlon 'Sparkle Aplenty'

Another great source of bargains are online coupon codes. Simply type the name of the brand you are looking for into your search engine, followed by the phrase 'coupon code' and you may find codes good for free shipping, gift with purchase, 20% off, or similar.

It takes more time and patience to hunt for sales and coupons, but it is completely worthwhile to me. 

What do you think? Do you search for the lowest prices, or is it too much work?

*I am not affiliated with any of the brands or stores mentioned in this post. All of these products were purchased with my own money.*