Tarte Cosmetics Haul

     It has been ages since I went nuts over makeup. I was honestly so over the fact and so tired of the mounds of unused stuff lying around that if I didn't see a new lipstick ever it would have been too soon! But hey a man (or in this case a woman) never strays far from his nature :P Tarte is one of those brands that you get to hear about...though not a lot especially on our Indian scene but whenever it is talked about it is mostly product raves. The only way we can get our hands on it is when we spot in an international Sephora and then you are already so overwhelmed by the all the brands present that you dont end up grabbing all that you wanted (true story - I kick myself for forgetting to get the Sephora favorites kit). So when Tarte finally started shipping to India I had to place an order! They were just so many temptations that I went overboard but dont regret a single bit of it :P So lets take a peek into what I got...

Sephora Dubai Haul

     I honestly had thought that I would not shop for cosmetics at all when I went to Dubai. Though the call of Sephora was strong I didn't plan on setting foot in there coz I knew I would end up buying things :P But like all inevitable things it had to happen for one reason or the other...and I went in...and I was pulled under... :D Rather I went there twice, once in the Mall of Emirates outlet and then at the Dubai Mall one. The latter was a tad bigger than the former but I passed by all the US brands and headed straight for the Sephora in-house ones coz I really wanted to see what they had...Right now I'm kicking myself for forgetting to check out the Sephora favorite kits :( But anyhoo let's take a quick look at what I got...

     Hey guys! So I recently went a little nuts at Aliexpress and ended up hauling some jewelry! If you guys follow me on Instagram then you know how much I love my statement jewelry. I have shopped a couple of times from this site so far and have bought a wide range of products - clothes, jewelry, photography lights, led bulbs for photography. If you have been wondering whether or not you should take the plunge and try them out then check out my vid and find out 5 reasons why should be considering Aliexpress for your next purchase. 

     The weather in Kolkata has been brutal to say the least. First we had a barely cold winter (and winters can get really cold out here...I'm talking fleece socks and night-suit kinda cold) and then the summers descended on us with a vengeance and right off the bat we were facing temperatures of 40 degrees! The amount of sweating that went on quickly discourages you from even considering to put on even a layer of makeup on your face and only the thinnest possible material would be tolerant enough. Remember when we were teenagers? How we could literally sleep in our favorite pairs of jeans? When questioned we would swear to the ends of the earth how they were the most comfortable thing ever? Summer?!? Scoff! How the heck does that matter and can come in between....

     Ever since I saw all those gorgeous pictures of an Etude store, done up like something from a fairy tale with all the princess elements thrown in I so desperately wanted to visit one. They create such enchanting wonderlands within their store. And nothing is as thrilling as finally being able to touch, swatch and experience a brand before making your purchases. So far my relation with the brand has been through pictures and online sites. But I wanted to see it for real....sounds strange but really you need to stand before a kiosk of your favorite unreachable brand to understand my feelings here :)

     Hello my pretties! MAC is about to launch its holiday collection in India soon. This is a huge collection and has 3 parts to it - Divine Night, Stroke of Midnight and Nocturnals. I got lucky by chance and was able to score some pieces from it and as luck would have it these pieces became my last haul of 2013. I had no intention of picking anything from it as I have been waiting to get my hands on the Dior holiday collection but once I swatched some of these I was swept off my feet! 

     Well a haul could be more tempting than a cinnabon especially if you end up finding that great outfit/jewelry piece or even that makeup item which goes on to become your favorite or maybe even a holy grail (HG). And unlike a cinnabon the satisfaction and pleasure of a haul will last you much longer ;) Let me tell you the story of my recent haul and the events that led to it....

Just another manic haul day

Wish it were a ban day

Coz my cards are cryin

Just another manic haul day!

     I have been singing these lines all evening :P Just stuck in my head since I spoke to my friends about doing a post for my haul. I ventured out for some work and as usual ended up buying a couple of things. How do you stop yourself from getting something especially when there is sale all around?!? 

     I have been itching to buy something. Due to the work schedule I have I was not getting a chance to go to a mall and browse/shop. Seeing so many new things release and on top of that running out of both my MAC Brush Cleanser and Cleanse Off Oil I was long overdue a trip to the aisles. This is what pent up angst does to you. I went quite crazy I admit splurging but in the end was happy and content :)

Shikha Says:

     Whaz up me beauties??!! I know I'm going all 90's at ya but I don't care :D...I got my wish fulfilled all thanks to a friend and I was so happy about it (happy dancing in my head - dhin chuk, dhin chuk, dhin chuk).... I'm a complete couch potato and have been hooked to a lot if serials on telly (yes I am THAT kinda person). But I must say that I have tried and broken this habit of mine coz I realized I was getting obsessive about these fictional people and that was just not right. 

     Hello my beauties! My sis flew into town last night for a visit after an entire year. None other than the creative & goofy half of this blog aka Dimpy!! She lives in UK and was finally able to find sometime to come and pay us a visit. And look what she got me :D My precious much awaited haul!! Some pieces from the MAC Archie's Girls collection and brushes from Real Techniques.

     Hello Divas! Ok I got this haul last year but just didn't get around reviewing it. I will put up the current prices for each item as I don't have the old bill to tell you about it. You can visit this site here.

     Lush India is having a sale people! They are clearing out their Christmas collection for 50% off and this is specially for their online ordered purchases. I just could not resist when I heard about it. I bought 3 soaps from their Christmas collection - Snow Globe (Price - Rs. 300.90/- for 100 gms, I paid Rs 148/- ), Northern Lights (Price - Rs. 395.20/- for 100 gms, I paid Rs 190/- ) and Snow Cake (Price - Rs. 358.80/- for 100 gms, I paid Rs 173/- ). Apart from this I bought a new product called Toothy Tabs in Aquatic (Price Rs. 420/-). I will talk about this more later in the post. I was charged Rs. 262/- for shipping :p.

The Goodies!!

Snow Globe:

     Its a light mint green color soap with white soap halves in it. In its description it mentions that it contains lemon myrtle and grapefruit in it. Actually all you can smell is the lemon scent which is quite strong. I cant smell any grapefruit at all. If you don't like citrus smell then so steer clear of it. I was kinda excited about it when I read grapefruit but now I'm actually disappointed. I have not used any of the products so cant comment on that. But first impression is - so so.


Northern Lights:

     This is a neon yellow plus green color soap. As weird as it looks it smells just as awesome. It has a very fresh feeling scent with pine, cypress and lime in it. All the fragrances balance each other out. I got this because I liked the description they had given on the site. But I was not expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised with it and now it is my favorite of the lot. First impression - Love it!


Snow Cake:

     When I read that it smells like marzipan I knew I just had to get it! It is white in color and has some gold dust on top. When you first smell the soap then you are hit with the scent of bitter almonds which is quite unpleasant but when you get past that then it has a very nice musky floral sort of smell. I was the most disappointed with this as I had high expectations of it. If only the almond smell was absent then this was a definite hit! First impression - boo.



Aquatic Toothy Tabs:

     It is supposed to be a solid toothpaste. You are supposed to break it between your front teeth and using a wet toothbrush brush your mouth. I found the idea really interesting as it is a small pack and so much easier to carry than your regular toothpaste while travelling. The pack contains 40 tabs. 

     This was a huge collection launched recently by MAC. They launched it within a month a of launching Surf Baby which was kinda surprising as they usually keep some gap before launching a collection but I guess it was long overdue. This collection has some really beautiful pieces in it especially the eyeshadows. So if you still haven't grabbed anything yet I would strongly recommend that you do so asap as they are just flying off the shelves. Well I got almost all the things that I wanted from the collection so let me show you what I got.

Eyeshadows:

     These are simply gorgeous and definitely that highlight of the collection. I got 7 out of the 12 shades that were launched. Price - Rs. 1100/- for 2 gm of product. They are all in the Mineralize finish and can be used both wet and dry.  The ones that I bought had mainly a very smooth texture with the exception of one which has a slightly granular feeling to it in comparison to the others as it has more of a glitter to it. But on its own if you swatch it you will find that it was quite smooth too. All the colors that I picked out are highly pigmented and show up beautifully even on bare skin. 

Dark Indulgence - this a dark green color with black veining in it. On swatching it, it gives a nice rich green color with a hint of black in it which becomes visible in the play of light (sorta like dhoop-chaoon effect). This reminds me of MAC Humid. 

Blue Sheen - a gorgeous deep blue with predominant veins of black and mine had some pink veins too. The swatch reminds me of a purplish blue color with hint of black similar in effect to the one described above.

Smoked Ruby - I would describe this color as a brownish red with black veining to it. The swatch looks like a reddish rust color with hint of black to it. 

Golden Gaze - this is an antique gold color with black veining to it. In the swatch the color comes out as deep antique gold color.

Faux Gold - this is a bronze color with some orange and purple veining to it. In the swatch it comes out as orange-y bronze color with gold shimmer.

Mineral Mode - this was the only multiple veined sort of mixed kinda color that I got from this collection. There were others like it but I didnt pick those up. This is a silvery white color with pink and grey veining to it. In the swatch it come out as a pinkish slivery white color.

Quartz Fusion - this is the one with the slightly different texture than the rest. It looks like a chunky glittery pink color. In swatch it comes out as a shiny pink color with pink and silvery shimmer.

Lipsticks:

     I got 2 lipsticks from this collection - Gem of Roses and One of a Kind. Price - Rs. 990/-. Both are in Lustre finish. I personally feel that they belong to the same color family. Gem of Roses is a lighter pink color while One of a Kind is a deeper pink with slight red tome to it. 

Gem of Roses

One of a Kind

Blush:

     I got one blush from the collection - Feeling Flush. It is a light pink color with veining of a deeper pink in it. This color has a bluish tone to it so I would recommend that you swatch it first on your skin before considering to pick it up. Price - Rs. 1350/- for 3.2 gm of product. The texture is really smooth.

Mineralize Skinfinish:

      I got the Semi Precious Pearl one. I wanted the Rose Quartz as well but that was sold out. This is a champagne color with a multicolored heart of bronze, plum and silvery white. Price - Rs. 1450/- for 6.5 gm of product. 

From left to right - The outer ring, Inner heart and the two mixed together. Colors shown in 2 different lights.

     Phew! That was huge. But this is a really fab collection and a lot of it is suited for evening wear. MAC launched a few collections between Surf Baby and this which didn't really make it to India and has launched some more after this. But personally for me this is definitely a must have collection and I have not found anything really exceptional in the collections which have already been launched abroad. This is the reason that I have completely splurged on this one and am not going to be picking up something from this brand anytime soon :p. I would strongly recommend that you consider picking up some of the eyeshadows at least as the pigmentation comes out awesome and without using any primer. 

     After waiting for the longest time I was finally able to lay my hands on the MAC Surf Baby collection. Why is it that they take soooo long in launching it in India? Plus why so few pieces? Kolkata got like 3-4 pieces of a lot of these items. So many things were sold out and some I almost missed (heck I bought the last piece). :( Not fair! I was wanting to get the Paradise powder but that was completely sold out. Humph!

     Any ways moving to tthe good part :). I got everything else that I wanted from the collection. So let me show you one by one what all I got.

Eyeshadows:

     I really wanted 2 out of the 3 that I got - Surf USA and Sun Blonde and I bought the 3rd ie Short Shorts as I liked the swatch on my skin. The texture is really nice and I love the pigmentation of Surf USA. Short Shorts is more of a highlighter for the India skin tone I personally feel and Sun blonde is a pretty shade but the pigmentation was a little light. But all in all some good shades. I wanted to check out the swatch for a grey-ish shade that was part of the collection but it was sold out here. All 3 are in frost finish and cost Rs. 950/- each.

     I love these! The color and texture is really awesome. They just bring out your eyes. I believe these will go with a lot of skin tones. I bought both the shades that were part of the collection - Glided Gold and Blue Noon. I felt a little bit of tugging on my lids when I tried out Blue Noon. I did not use Glided Gold on my lids but on my waterline and it looked so pretty :). Price - Rs. 1050/-.

Studio CareBlend Pressed Powder:

     I bought Gold-Go-Lightly which I personally felt goes well with my skin tone. It gives a soft sun-kissed look when I apply it to my cheeks without looking OTT. I used it for contouring too but it was a little dark for it but I think it will suit for with an evening look. Price - Rs. 1500/-.

Crushed Metallic Pigment:

     These were the stars of the show for me. My absolute must have! I almost did not get one stack - almost. But I got really lucky and was able to get the last one. Phew! That was a close call. The pigmentation and texture is just too awesome for words. I know I sound crazed or something but you need to see it to believe it! For me they were totally worth the price. There were two stacks that were launched - Surf The Ocean and Summer Stash. They both have very different colors. Price - Rs. 2050/- each.

Surf The Ocean

The left most shade is a pure silver color what you can see on top left in above pic. The one next to it is a greenish silver. The last one is a greenish black color.

Summer Stash

The left most is actually a very light pinkish silver shade what you can see in the top right in the  pic above. The one next to it is a very light peach shade. The other two color have very pretty glitter to them as you can see in the pic.

     A really nice and very wearable collection. I would highly recommend that you hurry and grab what you can still get out of it. The new Semi Precious collection has been officially announced but it will take some time in coming to the stores. So make the most out of the gap and go pick your fav's fast. Who knows they might already be out :(.