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!

[Ispend2much6]

@CorgiMommy  They are pretty!

[SportyGirly125]

@Ispend2much6 @Agree with you on the Dior. For the price it should be more full and in better packaging. Not with a plastic charm. 

[CookieGirl1]

@SportyGirly125 agree, the packaging feels a little cheap and the formula itself isn't exactly revolutionary.

[Ispend2much6]

@SportyGirly125   Were they trying to appeal to teens maybe?  And, do teens have that kind of expendable money? 😲

[SportyGirly125]

@Ispend2much6 @The amount of kids and teens that come in and use Apple Pay is crazy. They somehow got a lot of money to spend. I know I didn’t as a kid. 

[Ispend2much6]

@SportyGirly125   Good for them, I guess.  It wasn't my story either; I started working for spending money at a very early age, by doing chores.

[SportyGirly125]

@Ispend2much6 @Same here. 

[curlychiquita]

The color of the Dior is pretty, but yes, it should be more full, @Ispend2much6!

[Ispend2much6]

@curlychiquita  Thank you!  I hope a lot of people see that picture.  It would be helpful.

[NikkiD412]

 

Went in for one thing…… never works out how I plan😂

[lmaster]

Fantastic haul @NikkiD412 😍

[CookieGirl1]

@NikkiD412 going in for one thing isn't nearly as much fun 😉.

[CorgiMommy]

It is hard to resist stopping and  looking at everything.   Great haul @NikkiD412 

[curlychiquita]

Wonderful choices, @NikkiD412! That’s how I shop, too. 😄

[danielledanielle]

@NikkiD412 , I feel that's always the plan, but what you got was more fun 😊

[itsfi]

So true @NikkiD412, never happens as planned! But by the looks of it, you found some amazing goodies - the Huda Beauty stains are good, which shades did you pick up? Out of curiosity, what was the one thing you went in for? 

[SportyGirly125]

@NikkiD412 @Great haul!

[WinglessOne]

Sephora Rouge Celebration Event, rounds 2 & 3:

I did a good job of not going overboard throughout this event.

Notes:

Spoiler

Soft Services Affogato L’Orange Buffing Bar Body Exfoliant - supposedly milder than the blue bar, which I have and use once every 1-2 weeks. I wish it wasn’t fragranced but it does smell nice. Kinda makes me hungry though. 🍨☕️🍊

Chunks Jellyfish Swirl Barrette - the exact size barrette I was looking for, in a color that’ll kinda blend in with my salt & pepper coils.

SEPHORA COLLECTION Essential Brush - 10 Smudger - a backup. I’ve been using and enjoying the first one I bought a lot. Smudges cream liners without angering my eyes or skin.

Sephora Collection 12H Colorful Special Effects Multichrome Eyeliner shade Red Solstice - the only shade of these liners that’s not too similar to others in my collection. Doesn’t feel as smooth as Danessa Myricks’s multichrome liners, but it’s creamy and pretty nonetheless. Hopefully it’ll stay put on my lids. If not, I can always powder-set it or apply it over primer.

ISAMAYA Lip Lacq- Maximising Lip Plumping Serum Rust - could no longer resist the sparkly orange. I’m still surprised I can wear these glosses without lots of lip irritation, considering what’s in ‘em. I do apply a full base of Aquaphor Ointment or MAC Prep + Prime Lip first, out of caution.

BaubleBar Lipstick Bag Charm - because of course I needed this, c’mon now. 😂 This thing is life sized! I’ll probably put it on the canvas tote I carry everywhere.

GWP: mini Valentino Spike Valentino Buttery Matte Lipstick 134R - Couture In The Streets and a sample of Valentino Donna Born in Roma Green Stravaganza Eau de Parfum with Vanilla & Tea Accord. I smelled this in-store and liked it enough to give it a test run.

Ami Colé - the final farewell, in 2 separate orders:

All the orange boxes hold foundation sticks.

Couple more bag photos and notes:

Spoiler

Ami Colé Desert Date Cream Blush & Lip Multistick shades Pink Sel, Spice, Dune, and Flame - I already had (and enjoy) Hibiscus but kept resisting other shades. Half-off sale + brand closure (💔) = gotta catch ‘em ALL while they’re still around. The only one I’ve never swatched in-store is Pink Sel, and I forgot to swatch it for this post but now I’m too tired to take and edit more photos.

Ami Colé Skin-Enhancing Lightweight & Blurring Foundation Stick shades 300 and 200 - still the best foundation stick I’ve ever tried for my particular skin behavior and tones. All the shade 300s are a stock-up. Sure, I only use it on and around my nose, but no other stick/tint/balm is this good a shade match, and this formula’s fantastic for that part of my face (my oily zone). Shade 200 will be an experimental bronzer/warmer-upper for the hyperpigmented sides of my face. Like 300, it has red tones so it should work well for me.

Ami Colé Skin-Enhancing Tinted Moisturizer Deep 1 - bought for experimentation and mixing purposes.

Incense Paper Booklet - after talking myself (again) out of buying the black jelly makeup bag, I couldn’t pass up this thiouraye-inspired incense. These paper strips are potent enough to fragrance a room while unlit. Fragrance notes: 

• Top Notes: amber woody scent with lavender and rosemary
• Heart Notes: vanilla, neroli, and ylang-ylang 
• Base Notes: patchouli and vetiver
  

Ami Bag - haha, so much for willpowering myself out of buying this after all. 🙃 I don’t need it but I need it, you know? It’s roomier inside than I expected and has an interior mesh pocket. I’ll store all my Ami Colé backups in it. 🖤

It’s a jelly bag, not opaque.Holding the AC things I ordered, with plenty of room to spare.

Fragrance .net:

One of the two items I ordered; this is the sole survivor.

Notes:

Spoiler

Malin+Goetz Tomato Room Spray - smells just like tomato vines with a hint of fresh garden tomato and I love it. M+G’s description: “a fresh and verdant scent that transforms any space into a flourishing vegetable garden in late summer. captures the scent of a leaf cut from the san marzano tomato vine, combined with aromatic herbs, refreshing citrus and grounding woody notes to create an experience that is clean, fresh, and uplifting.”

Not pictured: Malin+Goetz Tomato Candle - when I couldn’t find the candle at my local Nordstrom, I remembered Fragrance .net and their discounts. I ordered the candle and room spray together and they both arrived, but:

Yeeeaah I think we can call this unusable. 😄
I contacted them this morning and asked for a candle refund. 15 minutes later, they’d refunded me and replied to let me know. Speedy and polite customer service is always appreciated! Meanwhile, I’ll get the candle in person at Nordstrom since it’s back in stock. 

YesStyle:

The mini bottle’s a sunscreen GWP.

Closeup photos and notes:

Spoiler

Florasis is a Chinese brand I’ve wanted to try for a few years, and it’s now at YesStyle, and I just happened to have expiring points to redeem, and there were additional coupons and discounts and stuff soooo I caved. The 2 “Love Lock” cases have detachable tassels (they arrive detached in the box) and a push-to-release bullet mechanism:

Same kind of mechanism Lancôme sometimes uses for their bullets.
I need to see if another brand’s bullet cap will fit these refills, because I probably won’t carry these cases in my purse. They’re pretty bulky. Eh, I might carry the Soft Matte case; that one’s smaller and lighter than the original case, and it has a flip-up mirror.

Reminds me of the (smaller) mirrored flip-open lipstick case I used to always carry bullets in when I was in college. And it’s robin egg blue. (IYKYK)

Shades I bought:

Blooming Rouge Love Lock Lipstick shade M1314 Together Forever - YesStyle doesn’t carry the shade I wanted most, so I figured I’d buy this one and then order another direct from Florasis, if this one passes my wear test. I’ll decide this weekend. I threw it on last night for about an hour at home; it feels like a true matte bullet, but wearable with lip balm underneath. Leaves a velvet matte finish that’s not as opaque as I expected, at least not from this red—but it’s buildable and I dunno, I like the 75% opacity I get at first. Eh, the bullet might need warming up, so I’ll see how it performs for a couple days. 

Blooming Rouge Soft Matte Love Lock Lipstick shade C7799 Cabernet Vow - a slightly softer matte look than the original Love Lock lipstick. 

Blooming Rouge Porcelain Lipstick shade M524 Shadowed Cranberry - okay so, when they said this case is porcelain, they meant that literally. 😮 (Note to self: don’t drop this lipstick on a hard surface!) This beautiful thing’s covered in lotus leaves: 

It’s also weighty; heftier than the 2 Love Lock cases.

The lipstick itself reminds me of MAC’s Powder Kiss formula. Haven’t put it on my lips yet, but on my hand it looks kinda Powder Kissy in person. The bullet looks brown but applies berry fuchsia. 

This design’s an homage to ancient porcelain makers.

GWP in exchange for review: Yurong Intense Repair Essential Sunscreen SPF 50+ PA++++ - a watery mattefying sunscreen that must be shaken before use. Comparing the INCI list to my UV filters matrix*, I see Uvasorb HEB, Uvinul A Plus, Neo Heliopan AP, and Tinosorb S. Florasis says it’s 80-minute waterproof, then drops to SPF 35 protection but supposedly lasts 12.5 hours with no need to reapply. (That claim’s probably due to highly photostable Uvasorb HEB, something I wish the FDA would approve for water-resistant US sunscreens.) On the back of my hand, it left a natural soft matte finish instead of super matte that doesn’t feel thick or greasy. It has a scent that’s kinda cucumbery and soft floral… I wanna say lotus since that’s Florasis’s running theme, but I’ve got a different interfering fragrance on my fingers and wrist right now so it’s hard to pin down. I’ll try it on my neck this weekend; if no bad reaction to the fragrance, then I’ll try it on my face. 

*Asian and European sunscreen labels don’t need to call out specific UV filters as active ingredients. Brands don’t need to follow that FDA rule unless they sell their sunscreens in the US (and then they’d need to reformulate anyway to remove all the newer UV filters we can’t have in US sunscreens). So to figure out which filters are in those sunscreens, you need to know the INCI name of each filter and either the name it’s commonly known as or its trade name. I keep a spreadsheet of that info to help me ID those filters. Eventually I’ll have ‘em memorized. 😂

Swatching all but Ami Colé: 

Shadowed Cranberry is heavily swatched. Hmm, this photo doesn’t catch Red Solstice’s fully red shift.

[lmaster]

@WinglessOne oh em gee!! Those lipsticks are a true work of art!! The cases are stunning!! Spectacular haul!! Sorry about the broken candle!! 

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @lmaster ! The bullets really are beautiful. There are a couple other designs on some of the other shades. If I can ever reasonably order from China again, I’ll be very tempted to collect all the bullet carvings. 😅

I placed a Nordy BOPIS order for the candle, so I can go pick it up in person this week. 👍

[curlychiquita]

Love the hauls, @WinglessOne! I’m glad you could get your foundation sticks. I owned Valentino 123R, but I accidentally left it in the car in a very hot day and it spoiled. I was very annoyed with myself. Maybe I could get 134R next time.