Collective Summer Haul

Over the last little while I've bought quite a few things (to my bank accounts displeasure), but I thought you might enjoy seeing what I got.

Image from Swatch and Learn Blog

Though I haven't received it yet, I recently ordered a bottle of Nubar Reclaim over amazon. I can't wait to paint my nails in this shade! Holographic green!

Also in the mail hopefully to make its way to me soon (Stupid Canadian Postal Strike!!!!) is a huge order of pigment pressing pans and pressing medium from the Body Needs website. 

I also needed a new bottle of my cleanser from Murad (Clarifying Cleanser- my full review here) as I accidently left my half full bottle at my cottage. So I bought a new one at Sephora and also received a free sample of DDF's Advanced Eye Firming Concentrate which I gave to my mom.

I also bought 2 tubes of Jack Black's Lemon and Chamomile (SPF 25) lip balm- which is amazing! I have one and the other I gave to my grandmother who has a difficult time with her skin. She really likes it too! You can see my full review on this product here!

Also from Jack Black (and for my Dad for father's day) was the Pure Clean Daily Facial Cleanser, a cleanser designed to help with shaving and sensitive clog prone skin- which my dad has. He seems to like it, I keep trying to get more details out of him than that so I can write a review, but that doesn't seem to be happening all that easily. Oh well it's natural and he likes it so that is good at least!

I also bought an empty Mac palette to hold pressed eyeshadows and received my 500 point Sephora gift which was the best I've ever received a Too Faced 8 eyeshadow palette and mini Too Faced Shadow Insurance. It has a magnetic closure and has super pigmented shadows inside! I'm so pleased with it that I got excited and did swatches for you all. (Plus I've got a shot of the inside of the Mac palette for anyone interested).

Two shadows from each of the palettes from Too Faced

Two shadows from the Natural Eye kit- Heaven and Push-Up

Two Shadows from the Smoky Eye Kit- Silver Spoon and Smolder

Two shadows from the Naked Eye kit- Satin Sheets and Like a Virgin

Two shadows from the Romantic Eye kit- Honeymoon and Ever After

First Column T-B: Honeymoon, Satin Sheets, Silver Spoon, Heaven (looks invisible but is actually there just skin coloured)
Second Column T-B: Ever After, Like a Virgin, Smolder, Push-Up

Same order as above

I also got a Fruits and Passion Argan Body Butter as it was on sale for $10 CND. Their hand cream with Argan oil is really good so I'm hoping for results from this too! (Argan Hand cream review is scheduled to show up soonish).

The last time we were at the cottage it was raining as we were trying to get home and my poor little dog got quite wet and cold. Despite trying to keep him warm and drying him off as soon as possible he was shivering for about half an hour and so we ordered him this rain coat. It has a warm fleece lining that wicks water away from his skin and a nylon water repellent outside. It velcros on and even has a little collar to keep his neck warm. On top of that it's really well made and has a reflective strip that reflects light so we can see him better at night. I purchased it online at Gear 4 Dogs, a great easy to order from West Coast Canadian company. They have lots of colours and sizes available too!

I also bought some clothes though only the new shirt is pictured here. I love the colour of this shirt and the ruffles are really pretty on. I also recently bought a black sundress with little red and white flowers on it and a brown flowy tank-top but my photos have gone missing for these items and due to major packing we've been doing the clothing has disappeared so I can't conveniently take another photo for you. Sorry!

Last but not least I bought two little figurines. They're both hand-made in Uruguay and I just adore them! A chubby little Zebra and a sweet little Elephant! They'll fit perfectly with all the stuff I brought back with me from Tanzania when I went last year.

Phew! Sorry this post was so long, but I hoped you enjoyed it. Have any of you hauled lately?

Jack Black Lemon and Chamomile Lip Balm

I've heard about Jack Black lip balms off and on from various bloggers, but I wasn't too sure a lip balm from a brand aimed at men would really be worth it. These aren't the cheapest lip balms at around at $7.50 USD or $7.87 CND, and they have no colour to them at all but honest to god, this are the best lip balm I have ever used.

First off the smell of the Lemon and Chamomile option is heavenly. So so good that I want candles and perfume in the same scent. It's sweet but not sugary and I love how soothing it is- something about the smell is just comforting. On top of this the balm itself is fantastic. I had really chapped lips that were quite sore and a single application of this stuff and they instantly started feeling better. You don't need very much per application, and it's super long lasting though the scent does fade after a bit. In fact the balm lasted through brushing my teeth which I didn't think was possible.

On top of all of these benefits all the ingredients are awesome and have major benefits. No fillers at all and SPF protection (in Canada they don't mention the SPF in them but the sun protection ingredients are still present). The ingredients include Shea Butter, Avacado Oil, Green Tea Leaf Extract, Tocopeheryl Acetate (Vitamin E). Then there is two types of chemical sunscreen and whatever the scents of the balm are (in this case Chamomile and Lemon).

Overall, I'm in love. I think there is a scent that everyone will like out of Lemon and Chamomile, Natural Mint, Blackberry and Black Tea, Grapefruit and Ginger, and Vanilla and Lavender. They have SPF 25 sun protection, feel awesome on, smell good, last well and you don't need much per application from the squeeze tube. The tubes themselves aren't very big but in comparison to something like the Josie Maran Argan Oil lip balm which wasn't nearly as good and costs so much more.

Sprite Rating: 9.5/10- It would be perfect if it were a little less money but other than that this is perfect. Definitely Holy Grail material!

Would I buy again? YES! I just know that I'm going to be buying these over and over in the future due to how awesome this is!