I survived yesterdays Ulta sale.  Only 10 more days to go.  If I somehow manage to emerge from this without permanent damage, it will be a miracle.  I mean, I’ve already bought two things a few days ago, but I’m talking about from this point forward.  Anything from the past doesn’t count.

Moving on!  Here’s my Blush Mystery Beauty Box:

How unimpressive is this box?  Very.

I dunno, guys.  I opened it and just felt very blah about the whole situation.  Maybe once I try everything I will change my mind, but for now it is an unfavorite.  However, not everything is a poo.  Well, you’ll see.  Just keep reading.

First item is a staple product, a pack of Lumene Sensitive Touch cleansing wipes.  Nothing to get too excited about, although I will use them.  In fact, I just finished the last of my current pack of wipes so this actually comes in handy as I know I’ll never run errands in the evening on a work day.  Who wants to go to Walmart on a Wednesday wearing heels and needing pajamas (and possibly cocktail) in a very bad way?  Not this girl.  There’s only 10 wipes in the pack so I’ll definitely be buying more wipes on my Saturday grocery shopping trip.  Maybe more Lumene ones if they’re fabulous.  We’ll see.

The most gigantic product in the bag is perhaps the most useless to me.  Sounds about right.  It’s the Color Wow One Minute Transformation styling cream.  Is it time for bed yet, cuz I just got sleepy.  Apparently this helps liven up your dry, frizzy hair into liquidy smooth, silky hair (per their own claims).  So I thought I’d work a little into the ends of my hair to see if it will tame them into submission, as that’s the part that always seems to have a mind of its own.  If you were to compare my before and after picture and then accidentally drop them on the floor then pick them up and try to arrange them back again your brain would seize up from trying to decipher which one is which.  No, this product did not work for me.  And yes, that was probably a run-on sentence.

I’m going to give this product one more chance before I toss it.  There is another application method which may work better.  You can apply it on your hair then take a round brush and hair dryer to it for a few seconds.  That sounds like a lot of work for a non hair washing day, but I’m doing it for you guys.  I am a professional, just so you know.

Now for something I love.  If you have roughly $20 and you want to buy a really nice dry shampoo, try the Klorane one.  It’s very very good, which is an expert opinion if I’ve ever heard one.  It does have white powder in it, but I don’t mind that one bit.  To me the white powder means it’s working.  If I don’t see white powder I consider the product defective.  It’s probably a bit of psychological brain trickery thinking the white powder performs better.  But it also could be the truest, most accurate statement ever spoken in the history of the world.  I might as well be President with that kind of power.

Aside from all that, I wouldn’t buy a full size can of this because the cheap Batiste works just as good.

Next item is the most intriguing.  It’s the SkinCeuticals Advanced Pigment Corrector.  First of all, it won an Allure Breakthrough Award, so that right there is enough to make me pay attention.  You apply it like a serum (p.m.) or after an antioxidant (a.m.) and it’s supposed to lighten your dark spots plus keep them from coming back.  Does that not sound like a miracle?  Bare-faced, I have a splotchy, freckley complexion.  Remnants of old pimples.  Even full coverage foundation has trouble fixing me.  I have sun damage and bad decisions all over my face because when I was young, tanning beds cured skin cancer, not caused it.  So I’m actually kind of excited about giving this a try.  It has hydroquinone in it, which is the gold-standard for pigment lightening.  Also, retinol.  It’s not a very big tube, so hopefully it starts working quick so I can let you know if the $90 price tag is worth it.

Got this stick bronzer from Vapour Organic Beauty.  I’m not a huge fan of cream products, especially ones that draw super scary dark stripes on your face.  I mean, what if I do it wrong and ruin my makeup and have to start all over?  Who has time for that?  Needless to say, I experimented with this on a Saturday when I had nothing more to do than lay around in pajamas watching Breaking Bad on Netflix.  (In other words, var var busy.)  At first application it was like Holy Moly! but then I started blending out the streak with my fingers and it simply melted into my skin.  Left a very natural bronzey sheen right in the hollow of my cheek.  Gained some confidence so finished up with some bronze along my hair line and on my temples.  It looked really nice.  So I figure on days I have more time to spend doing bronzer or contour, I can use this without fear.  On most days when I’m getting ready for work where I spend most of my time getting my eyeliner drawn on straight, I’ll have to stick with my quick and easy powder.

Last product in the box is a lipgloss from Juice Beauty.  I got the color Guava which is a bit of an orange shade.  It’s creamy, glossy and pretty as far as pigment goes. The smell is a little odd – kind of sweet at first, but the longer you think about it the less sweet it becomes.  It’s not enough to make me not use it, but it’s surely not a NYX Butter Gloss which if I hadn’t already known it was lipgloss I’d swear it was cake.  Well, with my eyes closed. I mean I can clearly see it’s not cake.  But it smells just like cake.  If my eyes were closed and someone put the wand underneath my nose … Oh, you know what I mean.  Long story short, I don’t hate the Juicy Beauty lipgloss.

We’ve reached the end.  Carpal tunnel is about to set in so the timing is perfect.  Hope y’all enjoy the rest of your day.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more interesting things to say.  Would you expect otherwise?  No you would not.