Treated Myself to an Ulta Haul

It has been a rough couple months blog-wise. As you can see, I've only updated the blog a few times recently. My busy time at work is from May through July, so as we enter into the hotter months I am going to have a bit more time to dedicate to you, my readers! So why not start out with my favorite of things: a new haul!!

There is something fantastic about a haul. The thrill of browsing through the store, the wonderful feeling when you feel the heft of your purchases in the shopping bag, the potential that comes with opening each item, and the ultimate buyer's remorse being repressed. It's just the best.

This month's haul is from Ulta, my favorite beauty destination as it holds every brand I love all under one roof. What a brilliant idea it is to have the prestige brands, plus traditional drugstore brands all in the same place. It's a one-stop shop, and I go there so much the manager knows me well.

Ulta was having a special this week on NYX and L'Oreal Paris, among other brands. After winning a L'Oreal prize pack during a Twitter chat, I fell in love with the brand. The quality is outstanding for a drugstore brand, all at reasonable prices. I especially love the haircare line. And, NYX is always a temptation for me. So at 40% off, I was incredibly excited to get to the store, I even made a shopping list!

-NYX Dream Catcher Palette: This eyeshadow palette reminds me of Urban Decay's Naked palettes. At over $50, I cannot justify buying any of those palettes (yet), even though I want Naked3 SO badly. But in the meantime, I'm very happy to buy this little gem and not spend over $10. With 10 great colors, I'm excited to experiment! I bought it in the collection "Stormy Skies."

-L'Oreal Paris Infallible Lacquer Liner: Saw this gel liner when scrolling through the sale items on the Ulta app and it caught my fancy. I have never tried gel liner before, but all the reviews for this product made it seem like this is a great introduction. I got it in the shade Blackest Black.

-NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk: I had never heard of this until I saw the L'Oreal Infallible Gel Liner Review/Demo by LearningToBeFearless where she mentions it (check out her videos, she is wonderful). Apparently this eyeshadow stick can be used as an eyeshadow (fancy that), an eyeshadow base, a brightener for the waterline, etc. It's like the Jack of all trades of the eyeshadow world. I'm just worried about having to sharpen it!

-NYX Butter Gloss: I have to admit, I was trying to resist these. I have SO MUCH lip gloss, I could use a different lip gloss each day for the rest of my life and I feel like I'd still have some leftover that I didn't use. But as I make the rounds of beauty bloggers and vloggers, these glosses keep following me! Everyone raves about these, about how they're not sticky and how wonderfully pigmented they are. But as they are usually around $5+, I was able to pass on them. But at 40% off? No way, they were indeed going to be mine. My original intent was to get just one, but of course at the low price I bought two. I got the shades Creme Brûlée and Eclair. I've been wearing Eclair and I have to admit, it is great so far.

-Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturizing Shampoo and Conditioner: I waited for these to go on sale. I read somewhere that texturizing shampoos were great if you want to curl your hair or even to hold a better pony tail. Plus I'd like to imagine my hair would look great with beachy waves. So I'm going to check this shampoo and conditioner out and see what happens. Either way, at least it smells good!

-NYX Suede Collection: This was my impulse buy! I happened to see it at the end of an aisle, on the bottom shelf. I hadn't even seen this palette online, I didn't know the price, I just went for it. The colors are gorgeous! I need to be more adventurous in my eyeshadows (nudes are not the only shades!), and this, combined with the Dream Catcher palette, should fit the bill.

I haven't had this big of a haul in a long time. I'm so excited to try all of it, it took all of my willpower to not open everything before I had the chance to photograph it!

PS Does anyone know if NYX is pronounced like "Nicks" or like separate letters like "N.Y.X." Comment below with the answer because I want to know!!