Black Friday: Benefit Lip Lotto and Bare Minerals

I know, I know, I know- Black Friday was SO long ago.

December is a crazy month here.  I'm either creating a gift, shopping for a gift, wrapping a gift, or running my kids to a thousand and one events.  I feel bad for not posting as much this time of year, but if you really want to know what I've been up to, feel free to check out my YouTube channel- I upload a daily vlog :)

When I saw the previews of the Black Friday sale at Ulta, I knew that these sets had to be mine.  The colors looked gorgeous, and three Benefit lipsticks for the price of one, and three Bare Minerals products for $10?  I also had a bunch of points, that I cashed in, and got these sets for a song!

Benefit Lip Lotto, Black Friday special at Ulta, $18 and currently sold out.

I'm definitely a BeneBabe.  I love Benefit's cute packaging, and the quality of the products that I have tried.  This said, I've never tried their lipsticks before, so this set seemed like a great way to give them a try!  The packaging is adorable, and I was excited to crack open the tubes and see all the pretty colors!

Benefit Cosmetics Lip Lotto set, in Lady's Choice, Fame Game, and La La Land

Lip Lottos are aptly named, because each set is a bit different.  These sets include 3 full size Full-finish lipsticks, and was priced at $18.  I received Lady's Choice, Fame Game, and La La Land.  These tubes of loveliness twist up nicely, and are all, in my opinion, pretty neutral and wearable.  Because I ordered online (and didn't brave the store!), I didn't get to choose my own shades.  I was surprised by the shades in the box- from the packaging I thought that they would be a little darker, but all in all, these are wearable shades, and, in my opinion, all rather neutral shades.  Fame Game is 3.0g/0.10 oz, and Lady's Choice and La La Land are 3.6g/0.12 oz in size.  Benefit advertises that these are 3.0g, so two tubes I received are actually a bit larger than full size!  These lipsticks are available HERE, if you are looking to make them your very own.

Swatches of Benefit Lip Lotto lipsticks in Lady's Choice, Fame Game, and La La Land

Lady's Choice (left), is a lovely shade, a brown-toned pink (at least in my opinion) that is my absolutely favorite.  This shade is SO flattering on me, I've been wearing this frequently.  The wear time was pretty great, and it applies like a dream.

Fame Game (Middle) is a frosty nude pink.  Now, I love me some pink lipstick (please dear Lord, no more reds for me for a while!), I'm not a fan of this shade because of the frost.  This lipstick is not as creamy as the other two, and while it applies evenly, I don't like the grainy feeling in the tube, and frosty lips just aren't a good look for me.  It's not BAD, per se, it's just not for me.  If you love frosty lips and don't mind the gritty texture of the bullet (it doens't make your lips gritty, it just feels strange going on), go for this one, but for me, it's a miss.

La La Land (right) is the darkest shade in my set, and it a gorgeous mauvey brown.  This looks amazing on me, and is another favorite.  This shade has great wear time, and is super buttery and smooth when applying.  Love, love, love!

The second set I picked up on Black Friday is the Bare Minerals Go for the Glow kit.  This kit includes a full size Marvelous Moxie lip gloss, as well as deluxe size blush, and all over shimmer powder.  I love me some Bare Minerals, and I was excited to try these items- I don't have any of them in my collection (how is that even possible?!)!

Marvelous Moxie Lip Gloss in Smooth Talker, blush in exhilarate, and all over face color in clear radiance.
 

Swatches of Marvelous Moxie lip gloss in Smooth talker, blush in Exhilarate, and all over face powder in Clear Radiance.

I love me some lip gloss, and this shade is such a pretty pink!  The Marvelous Moxie gloss in Smooth Talker applies sheer, and smells great- kind of like vanilla mint. This gloss is a tiny bit sticky, but it's not bad enough for me to dislike it. I don't like sticky glosses at all, and this one is just within what I consider "acceptable" on my stickyness scale.  So very pretty! This gloss is a full size product, 4.5ml/0.15 fl oz in size, and on it's own, retails for $18, available HERE.

Blushes are probably the cosmetic that I own the least of.  I'm not sure why- I guess I just tend to wear a smaller variety of shades of blush than I do lipstick, eyeliner and eyeshadow!  I was excited to try this blush, as it's a bit darker than others in my collection. I apply this with a light hand (and tap the excess off of my brush), and this gives me a beautiful, deep natural looking blush on my cheeks.  Love it!  This is a deluxe sample size product, at 0.57g/0.02 oz.; Bare Minerals full size loose blushes are $19 for 0.85g/0.02 oz. I couldn't find this shade for sale at either Ulta or Bare Minerals directly, but other shades are available HERE.

The final product in this set is one that I see myself saving for special occasions, where I want to look all sparkly like a vampire.  All Over Face Color in Clear Radiance is a pretty pale pink shimmer, and whereas I don't think I'll be applying this all over my face, it does make for a pretty highlight color.  This is a deluxe sample size product as well, at 0.57g/0.02 oz; full size I would assume is the same size as the blush, but I couldn't find it listed on either Ulta's or Bare Minerals' websites.  If you want to make this pretty pink highlighter your very own, it's available HERE.

Samples!

Ulta is always awesome in that they send out 3 samples with each order.  I received good samples this time: I received a foil pack of Benefit's It's Potent! Eye cream, Ahava body butter foil pack, and a deluxe sample of John Frieda's Frizz Ease Finishing Creme. All will be used.

My Ulta Black Friday shopping Haul

So that pretty much sums up my Black Friday Ulta haul.  Did you pick up anything interesting, gorgeous?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Happy Holidays!





Until next time, my lovelies- stay Average!

Disclaimer: I purchased the above items with my own money/credits from Ulta points.  All opinions are my own; I was neither asked nor required to review these products as a condition for me to keep them.  I strive for honestly, and no amount of freebies will ever change that!