20% off at Ulta? Dont mind if i do...

I got the little mailer on Friday w/ my 20% off coupon. I planned on going Saturday. Coupon wasnt valid til Sunday. I went Sunday (more on that in a minute).

I had planned my trip to ulta with a mission to get some new mineral powder foundation. I'll try anything once just about - and so i had this massive collection of mineral powder foundations on my counter... So many, none that i lovvvvved, that i just started mixing them and making my own little concoction of powder... It was combo of maybelline, revlon, ulta, cover girl, and pur minerals (cause i dropped my compact, normally, this is not loose powder). was working ok. Then my bestie tried clinique powder - im not sure which one, but she has a hard time finding something that makes her not look orange. She liked it. It's bonus time. I thought - well hell, i wanted to try their mineral foundation too! So, i made a pit stop at Macy's prior to arriving at Ulta...My intitial thought, was holy crap that's a large container. But it's cool because you get to twist and grind your own loose powder and so it's not messy - at all. Huge friggin plus for me. So i grabbed it in Natural 2 and got my bonus bag and went on my merry way.

Powder review first : first full day wearing it was yesterday. I didnt touch it up all day. I got home, and it was still perfect. Buildable coverage, covers my red cheeks, I love it. No more mixing it up...sticking with this one. In the bonus bag (which was white with green apples on it) : mini bag, a small compact with pink blush and ivory & brown eyeshadow, Lash Doubling Mascara, Different Lipstick (in Spiced Apple), 7 day scrub, and Dramatically Different Moisturizer. The mascara - im not a fan of. Id tried it before with their last bonus bag it came in. I like volume in my lashes, and this gave me none. I could tell they were coated, but they looked thin. I used it again this morning, same results. I topped it off with Lash Stiletto (like i do just about everything - i like it better as a 2nd coat of mascara than i do as a first), and then it looked great. Surprisingly, i like the lipstick. it's a very soft red color, that when dabbed on, is almost sheer. I dont do red lipstick - but i will this one. Havent tried the scrub yet. I also tried to dramatically different moisturizer from their last bonus bag. Not my favorite moisturizer. Probably not even in top 5. I dont really like it all really. Id have to use it again to give an honest review, cause my memory sucks - but im pretty sure it actually made my skin kinda flaky. Daily - I use Estee Lauder Hydra Bright - it's my favorite by far.

And then i made it to Ulta. No more need for powder tho! But i wasnt about to waste my 20% off coupon. I grabbed my makeup removing wipes (they're way more convenient for me), and then wondered off to hair products. On thenest.com one day, there was a discussion about how often you wash your hair/washing hair after you workout. My response was - that i usually just wash the roots of my hair if i find them oily/dirty... I pull my hair into a ponytail with my usual part in my hair. The front layers usually fall out of the pony tail too and ends up getting washed. I stick my head under the bathroom sink or the tub and look down so the part in my hair gets wet, dab on a tiny bit of shampoo, and then rinse it. I spray on some volumizing spray, blow dry, and off i go. Its so much quicker, because i have really long hair. Well, Veronika asked me if id ever tried dry shampoo. I hadnt. Not that i hadnt tried to try it, because i had tried to find some, with no luck in recent years, and then well, i just forgot. So im browsing the shelves at Ulta and i miraculously saw a can marked Volumizing Dry Shampoo.Ya I grabbed it. I used it briefly yesterday just to see how it worked, and it looks promising. It did absorb some oil, and my hair wasnt flat - so i suppose it does what it says. Im not sure how long it lasts tho, or if i just didnt spray it as far back as i thought i did, because the hair near the back of my head was oily by the end of the day. But I cant wait to try it again. Also using Veronika's advice, I picked up a bottle of Paul Mitchell's Super Skinny Serum. Used it this morning. Hello love. When people say oh she has such shiny hair or i see shiny hair in beauty columns, im like, what are they talking about!? I never notice/call hair shiny. But y'all - I've got shiny hair today. Shiny soft SMOOTH hair. It's beautiful. I did the same as Veronika and did not apply to my roots for the same reason she didnt - i like volume in my roots. It could just be the lack of humidity in the air today, but i dont care - hello great hair day today.

Let me know if you've used any of this stuff too - i dont think you'll ever get a post with so many links in it ever again.