Audacious and Atomic August Hauls 2025

[danielledanielle]

 

It's the peak of summer ⛱️

Oooh, bummer

No Sephoria (yet) and school may start soon.

But we're about to swoon

Over your haul

Whether they are are audaciously large

Or atomically small

Holiday sets hitting up your charge 💳

Friends and Family may be at large

For all these gifts, I might need a barge

Three for me, one for you, though

Following that @blackkitty2014 credo

 

Happy Birthday to all the August BIC Babies!

[itsfi]

Love the description of the EB Queens Caramel, @danielledanielle! I didn't pick up powdery when I tested it in store but I was also trying to pinpoint what I did smell in that opening. 🤔 I'll see if I get powder notes the next time I'm in the store. EB QC should be a good one to layer with several other fragrances. The QR code for Dagne Dover was a nice touch - a little invitation to "just look" 😄

[danielledanielle]

@itsfi , I had to go back to fragrantica, because I'm also like... What floral is in this

Still don't know, but it's in there twice..so we're getting that floral mixed in with gourmand for sure and just a touch of caramel, ironically 

I smell it lightly now, and it's got a hint of caramel to it.

[itsfi]

Interesting @danielledanielle. From that list, sweet, woody, caramel & honey resonated with me. I wouldn't have minded if it had some (or more) of the smoky qualities that amber can give off. 

[SportyGirly125]

Target. New travel buddy and bag. 

[CorgiMommy]

So sweet @SportyGirly125 

[SportyGirly125]

@CorgiMommy Thank you 

[lmaster]

Awwwww 😊 so cute @SportyGirly125 

[SportyGirly125]

@lmaster Thank you 

[WinglessOne]

@SportyGirly125  Aw, so cute. 

[SportyGirly125]

@WinglessOne Thank you

[WinglessOne]

Nordstrom, Dermstore anniversary sale, and a MAC late arrival:

The Nordy SA kept kindly asking if I was sure I didn’t want a personalized message on my Le Labo label. I usually decline unless it’s a gift for someone else.

Notes: 

Spoiler

Medik8 Crystal Retinal 20 - restocking at a good discount. I wish Avène would release a RetrinAL 2.0 (0.2% retinal), now that they’re selling their reformulated 1.0 at Ulta where I could use points to restock. For now, Medik8’s 0.2% definitely does the job.

By Terry 8HA Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder, travel size - more restocking. For me, a mini jar of this lasts as long as a full size jar of other brands’ setting powders. Heck, I still have a full size of the original formula Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder that’s not even 1/2 empty yet, and it’s been opened for years.

MAC Lip Pencil shade Grape Expectations (the backordered item from my National Lipstick Day order) - not the blurple I hoped for, but a good concord grape nonetheless. In my swatch photo (further down this post), I put MAC lipstick shade Matte Royal next to Grape Expectations to show that color difference.

Le Labo Thé Noir 29 - strolled Nordstrom’s first floor looking for Malin+Goetz’s tomato candle (they were sold out) and gosh, somehow I wound up at the Le Labo counter. 🤷‍♀️ I’ve finished a few Thé Noir 29 sample vials over the years so yeah, it’s time to just buy a bottle already. Also a good way to use up some expiring Nordy Notes. Le Labo’s fragrance notes:

“THÉ NOIR 29 is an ode to the noble leaf and the craft that surrounds it. THÉ NOIR 29 combines depth and freshness, softness and strength through permanent oscillation between the light of bergamot, fig, and bay leaves and the depth of cedarwood, vetiver, and musk. A special extraction of black tea leaves wraps up the composition by bringing to the formula a dry, leafy, hay, tobacco feeling in the dry down to transform this creation into a sensuous and addictive essence.”

The Nordy sales associate tossed in a couple Le Labo samples. I know a Santal 33 fan so he’ll get that one. I’ll keep Another 13.

Poems From The Lab:

It came with a handwritten note + poem.

Poems From The Lab Future Focus Vitamin C Serum - created a year ago by cosmetic chemist Stephen Alain Ko, aka KindofStephen. It’s a 15% ascorbic acid serum in an airless delivery system that dispenses one drop at a time, to keep that antioxidant as stable as possible. It’s been a while since I tried a 10+% ascorbic acid serum and this one’s been on my Try It list for months. I’ll probably open it this week since I’m about done testing another product.

Sephora Rouge Celebration Event, rounds 1 and 1.5:

Final task of BI Challenge (buy a makeup tool) completed!

Notes: 

Spoiler

NARS The Multiple shade Fling - just realized I forgot to swatch it. Maybe I’ll do that later, when I compare it to a couple of the old-formula Multiple shades I have. I wasn’t going to buy one of these new ones, but that ol’ “is it as good as the old formula, or did it change for worse” curiosity won. 

Sephora Pro Brush 47 and 64 - the NARS and brush 47 were a BOPIS order. At the store, I got to see and feel brush 64 in person sooo let’s call that round 1.5 of Rouge event purchases. These are both foundation brushes but I have other usage plans for ‘em. I will try using the 47 to apply a foundation stick on and around my nose though.

Tangent: I hadn’t been to the Michigan Ave (Chicago flagship) store since they reconfigured the sales floor. That store was always cramped with narrow aisles. Now that they’ve removed all the old makeover and skincare stations and put a more compact makeover bar (like the MAC setup at some Ulta stores) along one wall at front of store, they recovered room to space gondolas out. Makes the whole store feel much more spacious: customers don’t bump into one another nearly as much as we used to. 😅 I saw an area still tarped off near back of store; I assume that’ll be another row of stations, this time dedicated to skincare. I wonder if the State Street store will ever get a similar update… I think that store’s physically bigger than the flagship, so it doesn’t often feel too crowded. All the other stores within city limits are smaller.

Ulta Diamond/Platinum Appreciation Days:

5x points on the Chanel; everything else was 10x points.

Notes:

Spoiler

Good Light Taste of Space Lip Milk - restocking my nightly lip serum. My only complaint about this stuff is the applicator length: it leaves a good amount of product at bottom of bottle, so I have to go in with a separate doe foot applicator or spatula to get all that goodness outta there.

MAC Lipglass Air shades Sublime and Zephyr - Sublime is the shade I would’ve bought last month, had I not seen Lightmoth. It’s been haunting me though, and 10x points was a good excuse to get it. I bought Zephyr to try as a clear gloss topper.

Chanel Les Beiges Water-Fresh Blush shade Deep Bronze - not sure what finally tipped me over the fence but sure, let’s try this liquid blush despite several reviews of blending issues. I do see the problem: it took some effort to soften the edges of my hand swatch, and I didn’t really try to even out the rest of the swatch. To apply to my face, I’ll definitely apply to my hand first, mix to pop the color capsules, work with a brush from there, then maybe go back over the edges with my fingers. This Deep Bronze shade is beautiful, and I love the watercolor finish (when I can even it out).

Swatching almost all of the things: 

Matte Royal and Lightmoth are here just for color reference. See how blotchy the Chanel blush looks? I didn’t really try to even it out, so I can’t blame that on Chanel. 😄

I couldn’t catch Sublime’s purple/orange/gold/pink shimmer in photos; it’s not super sparkly but it’s definitely shimmery. Lightmoth also has some shimmer, though subtler (purple and blue). 

Trivia: Matte Royal is one of my favorite lipstick shades ever. BRING IT BACK, MAC. 

[CorgiMommy]

How do you always have such amazing hauls?  @WinglessOne 

[WinglessOne]

@CorgiMommy  I like to blame it on my star sign (Sagittarius). 😂 “Sure, I could just not buy the things, but then how will I KNOW if they’re good performers or not, plus I gotta be able to give honest truthful feedback when people ask, sooooo…” *adds to cart*

[CorgiMommy]

I love your reviews, keep them up please  @WinglessOne 

[WinglessOne]

Aw, thanks @CorgiMommy ! 

[faeriegirl]

Sublime is so pretty @WinglessOne !

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @faeriegirl ! 

[lmaster]

I love the Powder too!! @WinglessOne currently using it 🙌 fabulous hauls

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @lmaster ! Glad By Terry’s powder still works for you, too! I was very worried when they reformulated it, so I’m thrilled the 8HA update works as well as the original. Whew!

[makeitup305]

You chose some gorgeous shades @WinglessOne . I've been wanting to try the Medik8, glad to hear you like it!

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @makeitup305 ! Sometimes Medik8 runs good sales at their own site, so it’s worth getting on their mailing list if you’re not already. Dermstore’s sales are also sometimes good.