Musings of a Muse

Earlier this month Stila sent out an e-mail burst stating they had 50 of their brand new Stila Holiday Blockbuster Sets available and the makeup world proceeded to go ape sh*t.

50? Seriously? Only 50? WTH people! Needless to say it proceeded to sell out within a brief blink of my eye. I wasn’t one of the lucky 50 to snag it.

Flash forward several minutes later and comments and e-mails proceeded to flood me telling me, “Hey, wait a sec, that palette is at Costco for $20 bucks!”

Indeed, this palette is at your local Costco and merely $20.

Don’t ask why, or how or who but Stila stated it had the following items:

• 30 Stila Eyeshadows
• 3 Stila Convertible Colors
• 15 Stila Lip Colors and Glosses
• 2 Stila Sun Bronzers
• 2 Stila Cheek Colors
• 2 Stila All Over Shimmer Highlighters
• 1 Mini Mascara

Is it different from the Costco version? I honestly haven’t a clue but I do know that it was $8 bucks more from Stila and seemed to have a bit more involved as the one at Costco includes:

• 30 Eyeshadows
• 15 Lip Colors and Glosses
• 3 Cheek Colors
• 2 Stila Sun Bronzers
• 1 Lip Pencil
• 1 Eye Liner Pencil

No Convertible Color here, no mascara, no shimmer highlighters……

Are they the same palette? I think maybe they are and perhaps Stila put the wrong details up when selling their 50, super limited edition palettes, considering they posted on their Facebook that the 50 were from left over stock at Costco someone had mentioned but where did they get the details for that palette?

A mystery we may never hear about unless one of those lucky 50 purchasers are bloggers and review the one they purchased from Stila’s website.

Putting all this aside you may question whether this is a good marketing angle for Stila. Stila’s a mid-range brand with a high mark up. As in, it isn’t as cheap as other middle of the range brands and it does fall into the realms of a makeup luxury for some where as for others not so much. Really depends on your budget for makeup.

Hardcore fans might see this as a bad move considering it’s taking Stila down into the realms of being more affordable but you’re also losing the quality commonly associated with the brand. We all like to save money, yes, but I don’t think you want to save money by forsaking quality. Stila’s Holiday Blockbuster Palette is Made in China as well which could cause some outcry among makeup junkies.

Do you need this palette?

Maybe.

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The Body Shop has launched its Holiday Makeup Collection 2010 online. Not sure if it’s in stores yet, feel free to confirm. The good news? It looks sparkly! The bad news? The new Sparkler Dust is already sold out! Sob! Must head to a store soon to see if it’s available. I have to have it in my life.

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I seriously do not need more shimmer eyeshadow in my life which is why I didn’t bother indulging in the new Hard Candy Eye Def Glitter Eyeshadow. Looking at the tube, well, let’s just say it’s even too much for glitter for me.

I did however give it another glance when a reader mentioned how delightful these are.

What did I think?

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Clarins has a lovely new Instant Light Brush-On Perfector Pen. This is a lightweight illuminator slash concealer to not only perfect skin and give a more flawless finish but it supposedly tightens, smoothes, and diminishes the appearance of fine lines.

Let’s have a lookiee!

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I couldn’t resist the evil temptation of the Bath and Body Works Snowman Scentbug Home Fragrance Oil Fan. I’m in love. He’s a little pricey at $18.50 but I used a combined coupon and got 20% off plus a free full size Twisted Peppemint Body Mist so I don’t feel nearly so bad about his high cost. If it’s any consolation he is considerably larger than the regular ScentBug range so that could make up for his cost.

Wanna see?

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I hope everyone got the chance to indulge in the Lush Forum Fragrances earlier this month. Mine arrived yesterday much to my delight and I could have literally sat for ages simply sniffing the box it came in rather than the actual fragrances.

My fav so far? Obviously Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead has to be one of Lush’s best fragrances to date and I can’t believe it was only around for Halloween.

Gasp! Horror!

But now I can re-live that beautiful scent again and again and again with the perfume!

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Morning!

How’s everyone doing today? I just got back from having my teeth cleaned, joy!

How’s your morning been? Just wanted to share with you a few sales on Tarina Tarantino goodies at Sephora.

• Tarina Tarantino Magic Hour Smudge Pen (Originally $15) $8

• Tarina Tarantino Magic Hour Cream Shadow (Originally $19.50) $9.50

I wanna haul the Magic Hour Cream Shadow but can’t justify a Sephora order at the moment when I already have so many things to review. Hopefully they’ll be in store soon as it’ll keep me from overindulging in an online order.

Happy Shoppin’!

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I’ve commonly associated Argan Oil with Emu Oil for far too long. No idea why when one is a bird and one a plant. WTH am I thinking?!

Anyone try Josie Maran Argan Oil, no, not Emu Oil. I’ve worked it into my regime for the past two Winters, it’s fab for dry, flaky skin.

If you haven’t tried it yet the best way to do so would be snagging yourself Josie’s Love Nest Argan Favorites. It’s a cute little set that not only features her best selling Argan Oil but other fab little offerings too! I love it for the name along, Love Nest awww, oops wait, another reason to think of birds, nest!

Eep!

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Here’s the first look at the Cover Girl Nature Luxe launching for Spring 2011. As you know from my prior post Taylor Swift’s premiere as the Covergirl Spokesperson will be with the new Nature Luxe Collection. This is supposed to be a more high end version of Covergirl’s offerings and is supposed to appeal to high-end shoppers that happen to be browsing their makeup, drugstore aisles, hey, that’s me!

The line only includes, that I know of so far, Covergirl Liquid Silk Foundation and their new Gloss Balm. The Nature Luxe Collection contains natural ingredients so this should appeal to the green friendly makeup users among us.

I have to admit that when it comes to organic and greener makeup options at the drugstore, in most cases, I’ve been very disappointed so I’m curious how Covergirl’s new collection will hold up.

What do you think?

WWD

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Debbie (I can listen to that girl speak Dutch all day), brings us the word on Clarins Spring 2011 today. God I’m gagging over the eye palette! If there’s anything I love more than Bobbi Brown it would be Clarins.

Check it!

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I stopped by Target several days ago to pick up the new NP Set Smoke Signal Palette and Neutrals Palette Holiday Palettes. I admit to purchasing them for myself but I also got a few to stuff stockings with. They are $9.99 each and have nine shades of shadow each. Quite a nice buy and they are pretty pigmented (I’ll review for you soon). I’m partial to the Neutrals Palette myself! They aren’t festive shades by any means but they make a welcome addition to my stash for Winter looks!

For $10 bucks I’m thinking beauty budget fans will loves!

Check ‘em out at www.target.com

Helpful Hint: Don’t look for these by the normal NP Set display, check in the front, on the end cap. They’ll be hanging on a hook there!

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Mmm when repetitious goes terribly wrong. I just finished my review of Clinique Strawberry Fudge for Holiday 2010 and proceeded to come across a bit of a rehash of the palette with the new Milly for Clinique Pretty in Prints Collection for Spring 2011. Granted, not completely the same colors but oh so familiar and similar….

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