What's On the Wishlist? Vol. 6 - Jewelry Edition!

Recently I've been really wanting to beef up my accessory collection, and Forever 21 is really the perfect place to do it! I've gotten a couple of necklaces there and the prices are always amazingly cheap and the selection is just HUGE! If there's a Forever 21 near you and you haven't hit it up for accessories yet, do it!

Here's a sampling of some of the stuff I'm lusting after from there!

Polished Deer Head Necklace ($4.80)

Caged Bird Necklace ($6.80)

Feather Necklace ($4.80)

Riddled Leaf Earrings ($4.80)

Beaded Chains Bracelet ($12.80)

What's On the Wishlist? Vol. 5

Here's some new things that have made it onto my wishlist in recent months! It's got a life of it's own, this wishlist...

Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25

I'm on a (hopefully not) neverending quest for the perfect lip balm, and this is another one I have heard raves about, so it has to be worth a shot! I've never spotted this in a Sephora store, just on the website, but then again I guess I've never looked... I'm always distracted by all the "pretties" in Sephora!

Too Faced Matte Eye Shadow Collection

I have a bit of a dearth of matte eyeshadows, and high end mattes can be sooo buttery and nice! I swatched this really quickly at Sephora today when I was shopping for a gift for someone else, and it took mad willpower not to buy this for myself too on the spot! But it will be mine..

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gilty Pleasure

I'm in need of a good, true gold nail polish and every time I'm at the store this catches my eye! But I like to try to buy nail polishes when they go on sale and these don't seem to go on sale very often! Might need to just bite the bullet and buy it soon...

What are you wishing for these days?

Why swatching is important!

One of the reasons I love having a couple Sephora's accessible to me (one in the mall I work at, and one a few minutes from where I live) is I do less impulse internet buying. I'm able to go in the store, look at the product, swatch the product and see if it's worth it!

In some cases, doing this makes me realize that buying something from my wishlist would have been a big mistake! Such as in the case of the Sephora Collection Moonshadow Baked Palette in "In the Nude", which appeared on my most recent What's On the Wishlist? post.

I dropped into Sephora after work today specifically to swatch this, and I was capital-Disappointed. There was hardly any pigmentation!! If you're looking for some really sheer glitter bombs, this is the palette for you. Now I know some people may like sheer, glittery shadows and that's fine!! But according to Sephora's website:

• "Each formula features high payoff pigments and textures that blend easily. Its micro glitter adheres to the skin better than regular sized glitter. Used wet, the dark shades can be used as an eyeliner with an intensified, bolder effect. "

 So I was expecting pigmented, glittery shadows. Not sheer ones... I made sure to swatch a range of colours, from the light ones and the dark ones, and both were just as bad. I didn't even bother taking a picture...

So know that pigmented is not what you will get here, and you may not want to bother. It's possible these might foil well, but honestly I want the shadow to show up well without having to take any extra steps!

What's on the Wishlist? Vol. 4 + Acquisitions from past wishlists!

I thought I would start out this edition of What's on the Wishlist by recapping some of the wishlist items from past lists that I've since gotten! First, here are the past wishlists:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

So far, from those three lists, I've gotten the BareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for Combination skin (as part of the Daily Duo with a cleanser, review here), MAC Eyeshadow in Print (swatch and haul here), and the Smith's Rosebud Salve (review here)! So not doing too bad so far!! So let's get a peek at some of the things that are currently hanging out on my wishlists!

Dior Diorskin Shimmer Star in Amber Diamond

This bronzy, beautiful highlighter breaks all the rules for me. You see, generally I'm more of a liquid/cream highlighter girl. But I kept reading about this apparent miracle highlighting powder on what seemed like every beauty blog on the universe. I finally swatched it in Sephora and had a lightbulb moment - I get it now!! It's very glowy and because it's made up of four different shades you can really customize the colour! It's like getting a few different highlighters in one pan, which helps justify the hefty pricetag of $45.

Urban Decay 15 Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection

For lovers of Urban Decay's incredibly buttery soft, pigmented eyeshadows, this new palette is a dream come true! And new is the operative word here - unlike many other UD palettes which recycle the same shades over and over, all fifteen shades in this palette are BRAND new! It's got a great mix of neutrals and colours, so there's something for everyone and every mood!!

Sephora Collection Moonshadow Baked Palette in "In the Nude"

A gorgeous collection of ten baked, shimmery eyeshadows in nude colours. This is right up my alley! It's fairly new out, so I can't wait to see some swatches, or swatch them myself at Sephora, whichever comes first!

What's on the Wishlist? Vol. 3

This wishlist of mine is ever expanding. This is going to be only a teeny sampling of what I've got a lemming for these days! But these are some of the things right at the top. :)

Konad Stamping Nail Art

This stuff looks like the bees knees!! I've been getting more into nail art recently, and this would certainly help facilitate that. If you aren't sure exactly what Konad is or how it works, basically the way it works is there are metal plates with designs etched into them - there are TONS of plates with all kinds of designs, from flowers to animal prints to words, and many, many more. You paint nail polish over them (you can buy the Konad kind which is formulated to work for stamping the best, it's thick and opaque enough, although there are many regular nail polishes that work too that you can look up all over the web), then scrape the excess off the plate so the nail polish is only in the design. Then you take a rubber stamper, roll it over the design to pick up the polish, roll it over your nail and voila!! There are many tutorials on YouTube to check out. There are many different kit options to start with, and then you can buy individual Konad plates as you like. There are also lots of non-Konad brand stamping plates out there (usually referred to collectively as faux-Nad) which are usually more inexpensive. Basically, mama wants some Konad!!

Urban Decay The Feminine Palette

What's not to love about this? Absolutely gorgeous packaging, which is usual for UD (I also have the Naked Palette and the Show Pony palette) with some beautiful neutrals accented by lovely soft colours. It's like they tapped into my mind when they were trying to decide what shades to put in here. It comes with a small size Eyeshadow Primer Potion - I try not to buy the full sized ones, I just get the palettes that come with a small size.... I get more for my money that way! $20 for one primer potion or around $35 for six eyeshadows and a small primer potion? What do you think!!

ghd Classic 1" Styler

This bad boy is on my wishlist for a few reasons - my hair is naturally straight for the most part (when air dried it gets a very slight wave but it doesn't take much to get it mostly straight) so it doesn't hold a curl well at all - no cheapy curling irons for me. This product is multi-purpose - although you can use it as a flat iron to get completely smooth, flat, glossy hair, because it has curved edges on the plates, you can use it to curl your hair too! It's a bit pricey at around $200 but I think it will be well worth the money!

Smith's Rosebud Salve


This is one of those cult favourite beauty products, and as someone with chronically dry, flaky lips, I'm willing to try any lip balm that is the favourite of so many people! Only $8.50CAD also makes it pretty affordable to try even if it doesn't work out... I'd be willing to pay more than that for a lip balm that keeps my lips soft and smooth!

What's on the Wishlist? Vol. 2

Alert! Alert!! Code Red!!

I have no idea if this is a recent development or I'm just oblivious, but I just found out that Sephora (at least online, I've never noticed it in stores) carries The Body Shop products!! *swoon* TBS is one of my favourite stores to go into, it's like everything they touch turns to magic. There is no better smelling store in the mall, no bath and body products I would rather see as I unwrap presents on Christmas morning (who hasn't gotten The Body Shop gift sets for more than a few Christmasses? Yet I'm never tired of them...)

Sure, I could go into the store... but since The Body Shop is a brand I trust, and Sephora.com is somewhere nice and central I often shop online from anyways, it's great to know I can get it all in one place!! So here's a wishlist of stuff I want from The Body Shop at Sephora.com! The Body Shop is an ethically sourced, natural beauty brand.... just one more thing to love.

So far there is only a small selection of The Body Shop products available on the website (none of the makeup line for example) but hopefully in the future there will be more!



Vitamin E Moisture Cream

I used to use this stuff in high school, and it is such a nice, basic everyday moisturizer. I would love to go back to it and try it again and see how it works on my skin now. Plus I don't know why this matters, but I love the soft pink colour of it... so pretty!



Vitamin C Skin Boost

I thought this was a toner of some sort, but apparently what this gel product does is smooth your skin and create a radiant glow that isn't just from the product itself, it actually helps create that glow in your skin itself with continued use - basically, it's a primer but more! You can wear it with or without makeup though. And apparently it has a gorgeous orange scent to it. Definitely a primer I want to try, see if it lives up to the hype!



Cocoa Butter Body Butter

The Body Shop's Body Butters are serious moisturizers. They are thick, luxurious, and smell AMAZING. Anyone who has ever smelled Satsuma knows what I'm talking about. But as much as I do loove the strongly scented body butters (I have a Coconut one - you put that puppy on and you smell like coconuts all day long) I want to try one with a more subtle scent, because I like wearing perfume and I don't want my moisturizer to compete. This Cocoa Butter one sounds like it fits the bill!

What's On The Wishlist? Vol. 1

I'm going to be starting a series, that really reflects the true nature of a beauty addict... which is basically a magpie!! Acquire, acquire! And like any true beauty addict, I always have my eye on a few somethings! So here's my current watch/wishlist for items I want to get!



MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Microfinish Powder

I've tried many powders, and while I've never been displeased with any of them, I've never found that holy grail of powders, one that doesn't just set your makeup, but makes your skin look better and smoother and just more beautiful! I've heard lots of good things about this, so it's one I want to try!



MAC Eyeshadow in Print

I need a good, mid-tone to dark grey with a very small amount of shimmer... as far as I've heard, Print fits that bill exactly! Now to get my butt to a MAC counter...



Bare Escentuals BareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for Combination Skin

I received a deluxe sized sample of this with my most recent Sephora.com order, and MAN did it ever come at the right time! I was getting some very uncharacteristic extreme dryness on my cheeks, and nothing I was doing would make it go away! I used this stuff twice and the dryness was completely gone, and it made my whole face feel so soft and smooth and truly hydrated! Plus the smell is beautiful... I've heard a lot of people describe it as lavender, which I don't usually like - but to me this smells a lot like bergamot, like a nice cup of Earl Grey tea. Sooo lovely to put on your face! Once I get the full size, I may do a total seperate review of this.



Sephora by OPI Nail Colour in Already Famous (top) and Break-A-Leg-Warmer (bottom)

Both colours I've seen in store and loved! Already Famous is a sheer pewter with champage and silver glitter (according to the website). To me, in the store, it looked like a cool toned gold/champage shimmer shade.. so pretty! Break-A-Leg-Warmer is an opaque charcoal grey - so chic!

So what's on your wishlist?