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So the hurricane/tropical storm/rainstorm Hanna arrived late last night/early this morning and now has left...

This morning was a case of the "rainy day blues" due to the horrid weather. I decided to meet ChicArmoire and her daughter this morning for brunch at Panera. Since brunch took less time than expected, we ventured out to brave the rain and headed to our favorite vintage shop Halcyon but a quick drive-by discovered they were closed for the day! So, what to do? We felt a trip to Regency Square mall was in order to visit two of our fave stores: For Love 21 and Sephora.

It's hard to go into Sephora and to NOT buy anything but after restraining my shopping urges at For Love 21, I "broke down" and bought only two things at Sephora (but received a sample and a free gift for being a Beauty Insider).

I am a sucker for neutral eyeshadows, so I decided on purchasing Sephora Brand Colorful Pearl Mono Eyeshadow - Pearl #8 (Champagne Beige Pearl). After much deliberation and receiving many rave reviews about the Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder from quite a few Sephora associates, I was sold buying it! Also one of the Sephora associates was kind enough to give us samples of the Sephora Brand "Tricks Of The Trade" Anti-Shine Primer and my Beauty Insider gift was a sample of the new Smashbox Bionic Mascara.

Now it's time to play with my new goodies! I'll try to post reviews once I give my new goodies a full test-run!

Life's had quite the turnaround as of late, I've started a new job at a investment/wealth management firm and I love it! Right now I'm an administrative assistant but I hope to eventually work on getting my licenses so I could sell life insurance and securities in the future. Who would of thought I'd end up working in the financial industry?!? I left my job at the high school, my last day at the "big fancy department store" was on Wednesday, and I've been hired by one of my fave makeup brands to be a freelance artist for them as something to do on the side. I worked my first event for them yesterday and had a fantastic time! I ended up doing a lot of prom makeup and once I got in the flow, I did some amazing work in my opinion and one of the M.A.'s who works at that counter said to me, "I had no idea you could do eyes like that." The counter manager is definitely going to have me come back and work for him again.

So yeah, life is good.

In other news, here's how to blow over $50 at Sephora:

Laura Geller Spackle Under Makeup Primer

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Tarte Rejuvelash - This stuff is AMAZING when you want to touch up your mascara. Swipe Revujelash on and then apply a coat of your usual mascara and you are good to go. It "primes" your lashes that already have mascara on them so you can touch up your mascara without the potential of adding clumps!

I've started reading BellaSugar on a consistent basis (and by consistent, I mean EVERY DAY). One of the perks of reading BellaSugar is the Sephora sponsored giveaways to win fabulous beauty prizes. Saturday's giveaway was Murad Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15 and I happened to be the lucky winner! This eye cream is a 2006 Best Of Sephora winner and I can't wait to try it out as soon as it arrives in the mail. I'm always on the hunt for my "holy grail" eye cream so I'm hoping this could be it?

PHOTO CREDIT: Sephora

Today I did a bit of retail therapy at Sephora. I swear that I could spend hours in that place! I decided to splurge on a new concealer and I picked out the Vincent Longo Concealer/Illumina Pencil - Light #1. Since good brushes are an investment to any makeup collection, I picked up Sephora Brand Professional Platinum Bronzer Brush #48 to mainly use with my loose face powders. I can see a lot of potential uses with this brush in addition to applying and buffing in my face powder: M.A.C. Mineralized Skin Finishes, M.A.C. Pigments (as blushes and to contour), bronzer, etc. I do own two of the mini M.A.C. kabuki brushes that came out with the Pearlizer sets last summer and they're great for detail work especially for creating cheekbones but sometimes I want a bigger brush (but not too big of a brush).

I also picked up a couple goodies at The Body Shop but I'll post about those tomorrow!

. . .

In other news, I went into Forever21 and one of the sales associates was so rude and had this "I don't want to be here" aura about her. I would have bought something there but I had a hard time finding my size so I think I'll shop off their website instead. If I go into a store and I see a sales associate with arms crossed, I am inclined to take a quick look at the merchandise and to walk back out. I guess after working in retail all these years, I like friendly and approachable salespeople. If your body language tells me to go away, I'm not buying anything!