Holiday Ulta Haul

Last weekend I went downstate to celebrate Christmas with my mom's family. My aunts took all of the older cousins out shopping and made stops at a lot of stores we don't have in the north--Target, Meijer, Ulta, and practical every store in the mall! I was mostly shopping for clothes but I had to splurge in Ulta. I also received some new releases from Maybelline in the mail just before we started the journey south so I've included those as well!


Urban Decay Naked palette $54
I finally got tired of not having this palette, so I picked it up at Ulta. It's on the pricier side but you get 12 beautiful neutral eyeshadows, a lot of which I don't have dupes for in my collection, so I felt that it was worth it. The brown velvety packaging is amazing as well! I know I will get a ton of use out of this, and I love Urban Decay shadows. I swatched a few shades below but let's be honest, everyone has seen this palette so I didn't swatch the entire thing.

Urban Decay Vice lipstick in Hitchhike
Urban Decay launched their Vice lipstick collection months ago and since then I've heard about a lot of different shades online. Hitchhike, a brick/terracotta red color, has always appealed to me. One swatch and I was hooked! I tried this on the other day just to see how it looked on me, and I love the color. The formula is a little strange. This is a 'comfort matte' lipstick and it is very, very light on the lips. It feels like you're wearing nothing but it is very pigmented. I can't wait to wear this one!

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Milk Chocolate (Light/Medium)
Lately I've been on a bronzer kick. Two months ago I only had two and now I have about seven! Too Faced is one of my favorite brands so I decided to pick up their chocolate soleil bronzer (nothing to do with the fact that it smells like chocolate...). The color looks very similar to Hoola, which is my favorite contour powder, but I only have Hoola in a palette and I wanted something smaller that I could travel with.

Nyx HD concealer
I don't get the chance to try out a lot of Nyx products as none of my local drugstores carry them, so when I was in Target I practically ran over to this section! Most of the things I wanted to try were sold out, but I've heard great things about this concealer so this is the only Nyx product I got. I've tried it out a few times and I don't think it overtakes my NARS Creamy Radiant or my Bareminerals Bareskin, but it's good for the price. I'll have to use it a bit more to be sure!

Maybelline Colossal Big Shot mascara*
If you know me at all you'll know that Colossal is my all-time favorite mascara, so I was really excited to be getting the Influenster box that included Maybelline's new release, the Colossal Big Shot! My first impressions are that the formula is very wet, but it does a nice job of separating and lengthening the lashes. I've only used it twice but so far it seems promising. Let me know if you'd like a full review or a comparison between the Colossal and the Big Shot! The packaging is also really pretty, it's gold and purple.

Maybelline Master Precise Curvy liquid eyeliner*
This was also in the Influenster box as a surprise bonus product and it's a newer release from Maybelline. Reviews on this have been pretty average so I wasn't super excited to try it. Over the weekend I used it only on my upper lash line, nothing fancy, and it worked really well. The formula is very black and it's easy to use, although the shape is a little awkward to hold. Just for fun I tried a wing with it and it was so quick and easy! I'll definitely be trying it more as it was even easier than my favorite Ciate felt-tip liner.

Swatches from left to right: Hitchhike, Gunmetal, Smog, Buck (from the Naked palette), Master Precise curvy, Milk Chocolate. 

This will probably be my last haul for a little while as I've decided to go on a (probably unsuccessful) makeup spending ban until my birthday in February! My winter job on campus isn't open during winter break so I won't be earning a lot of money, even though I really need to save up. I also have to buy text books soon which are always an arm and a leg! At least this way I can reward myself with some fun birthday presents after my ban.

What's the last makeup item you bought?
Xx Katie

An * indicates a product I received for free to review, but all opinions are my own.