2014 Birthday (and Black Friday) Haul Part 3 - Sephora, Tarte & Lorac.

Hi lovelies!

Oh dear, I've been a bad, bad beauty blogger. I was going to write this post on what I received in my third (and last) Birthday and Black Friday haul when I realised...I still hadn't written up the second part!!! It somehow completely slipped my mind!!! Never mind, better late than never, right? I'm happy to write it up and share what I got in my second shipment if you want to see it. Let me know in the comments if you do!

So this haul started off as a few small bits and bobs I got from Sephora, because I was issued with a $25USD VIB gift card. I then decided to add some Black Friday deals from the end of November, as well as some Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, some of the packages showed up in ridiculously large boxes...we're talking about 5 boxes resulting in 12 kgs of volumetric weight when everything could have been repacked into 1 small box resulting in 2.5 kg weight, so I then had to schedule a repack. Unfortunately, it took almost 2 weeks for this to get through, which is why I only received it a few days ago.

Anyway, here is everything I received in this last haul.

Keep reading after the jump!


I've pretty much hit pan on my daily bronzer, so I decided it was the perfect time to try the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit! This has been on my wishlist for the longest time, so it felt really satisfying to have it in my hot little hands at long last!

I have to say, this is one of the most gorgeous palettes to ever grace my beauty collection. It's elegant, sleek and oh-so-classy. I've only played a little with it so far, but initial impressions are very, very favourable.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit.

Next up is the Dior Creme de Rose lip balm. I don't really have any justification beyond the fact that I am a lip balm junkie and have read many great reviews about this (I especially blame my friend Sophie from Born to Buy for this), and also, DIOR! Need I say more? The pot is elegant and classy (but hey, it's Dior, so could we expect less?), and thankfully, not packaged in glass unlike my Nuxe Reve de Miel balm.

Dior Creme de Rose lip balm.

While I'm not usually huge on lipglosses, I have been wearing them a lot more often of late, and I usually have a weakness for plumping glosses. I love all my Buxom lip products, and tried a lip polish in my last Sephora order which I fell in love with, so I couldn't resist getting this cute Christmas set with 3 lip polishes and 3 lip creams. Word of warning, these ones tingle so if you are a little sensitive, this might not be the best option for you.

Buxom Winner Takes It All kit.

I love that there is a good selection of pigmented colours together with more subtle shades mixed in. Aren't they pretty?

Buxom Winner Takes It All kit.

On to my Black Friday purchases. Sephora traditionally offers a selection of packs for $10USD each as part of their Black Friday promotion, so I picked up a few to try. The first is this little Magical Moments set from Tarte, containing a mini lipsurgence gloss (I reviewed some here), Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara and a mini blush. I kinda wish they'd included the Better than Sex mascara instead, but I'm still happy to give this a go.

Tarte Magical Moments Black Friday set.

You may have noticed from the first photo that I picked up two of these sets, I'm going to be giving one away soon, so keep your eye on the blog and my Instagram account!

Tarte Magical Moments Black Friday set.

I also picked up this mini Shadow Insurance twin pack from Too Faced, as it's my second favourite after the Urban Decay Primer Potion. I love that this pack has the original as well as the champagne version. An absolute bargain at $10USD!

Too Faced Shadow Primer Duo Black Friday set.

The last Black Friday pack I picked up was this Lip Love set from Kat Von D, featuring a mini Studded Kiss lipstick and mini Everlasting Liquid Lipstick. I've already got one of the mini liquid lipsticks and they are fantastic, so I was happy to pick up another shade from this range. 

Kat Von D Lip Love Black Friday set.

Last but not least, was this awesome sample pack from Sephora called the Flawless Refresh, which had eight very generous samples all packaged in a handy travel pouch. I received two perfume samples, a Bliss body butter, Clinique eye cream, Clinique Black Honey mini lipstick, Tarte LipSurgence mini lip gloss, GlamGlow hydrating treatment and FaB cleanser. I'm thrilled as I have wanted to try Black Honey for quite a while now, and I will definitely use everything else in the pack!

Sephora Flawless Refresh sample pack.

I also picked up a few samples using the points I got from my purchases, including a Bumble&Bumble thickening hairspray, Laura Mercier eye basic (eye primer and colour in one), and a handful of sachet samples that were free with every order.

Next up, we have an order I placed from Tarte.cosmetics during their Cyber Monday sale. They had a site-wide sale so I decided to pick up a spare Maracuja creaseless concealer since I seem to be going through mine alarmingly quickly....I then added a couple of other items (the eyeliner set and the cream shadow stick) to make the order worthwhile. Unfortunately, the concealer went missing from the order, so my order turned at my doorstep without the one item I really wanted! I'm currently in the process of sorting it out so let's hope for a favourable outcome.

Anyhow, I picked up this cute 12 piece liner set as I didn't bring any coloured liners with me, and there's a great range of shades in this set.

Tarte Eye-Opening 12 piece eyeliner set.

There's a sharpener provided, but I don't like these types without a protective case as it can get very messy. The set also rolls up in a cute pouch so you can take it travelling!

Tarte Eye-Opening 12 piece eyeliner set.

Last but not least, I managed to get my hands on the gorgeous Lorac Pro Palette 2 during the Cyber Monday sale, where it was reduced to $32USD! I did have some difficulty checking out as Lorac only accept US based credit cards, but a friend thoughtfully arranged to have the order put through! My only regret was not buying the Pro 1 at the same time. Why, oh why, didn't I buy them both?!

Lorac Pro Palette 2.

Isn't it stunning? I'm so excited to play with this! I also got a free, sparkly red lash curler as a free gift with this palette (pictured above with the Tarte goodies).

Lorac Pro Palette 2.

That's it for my last haul, lovelies! Are you keen to see the second haul? Let me know and I'll be happy to oblige! Do you own any of these products yourself?

Much love,
MM.
x