Back to school mini-haul

After being relatively obedient to my budget all summer (To be honest, I was too tired most of the time to shop), I went on a mini-haul in Toronto before school started. I also had lunch with my old co-workers so it was great seeing their faces again. I missed their sharp wit.

My budget was $200 and I stayed under it by about $40 so WHERE BE MY REWARD COOKIES? I also need to return a dress (made me way too pale) and exchange the red one for a different size but overall, a fun and successful shopping trip.

The only downside was when it rained and I had to cover my hair with a bag from The Bay while running for the TTC. It smelled like wet puppies in there.

Skincare

1) Mario Badescu Drying Lotion: great for any blotchiness. This is my 12th bottle since I started using it 5 years ago. I'm going to need to pay shipping for this during the school year but I may stock up on it at Jacob & Sebastian during an October haul. On the bright side, Badescu ships from NYC so their packages usually gets to Hamilton within a few days.

2) Origins Out of Trouble Mask: Epic mask is flawless in every way possible, tears and possible trauma if I run out of it one day without a backup tube. Sadly, only The Bay (s) downtown carries Origins and Origins.com charges a small country for shipping. This is my 3rd tube in two years. It's great for keeping your pores clean if you use it about twice a week. When I feel stressed or cloggy, I use it everyday for 5 minutes and listen to Enya music while lying in bed.

Lol no.

Makeup

1) Mac Blushcremes in Posey (a rosy red), So Sweet So Easy (Lily Pulitzer pink) and Something Special (a very light peachy pink).

These blushes retail for $26 but Lipstick Nation was kind enough to let me use her Mac Pro card so it came to less than $45 for the 3 at the end. Unless I want to venture into powder blushes (I do like creams more because they give a pretty sheen), I think I should be good for the school year.

They had two more that I was eyeing (Brit Wit and Tea Petal) but the colors were more browny and resembled Mac's Lillicent, which I bought a few months ago before it was discontinued. I do prefer my pinks and reds.

2) Lancome Teinte Miracle in Buff 7 (W). I loved this when I bought it a few months back. Unfortunately, the Shoppers cosmetic ladies were terrible at color matching me. I went back 3 times because the color wasn't right. One of them thought I was the palest shade, the other one gave me one that made me look like Asian Malibu barbie. In the end, I gave up and just returned the whole thing. Quite sad, since I really did like it.

Luckily, Sephora had the perfect shade. Buff 7 (w) melts nicely into my skin and gives me a very glowy no make-up look. It's extremely light coverage, which is right up my alley. I experimented and found that if you use any more than a small dot, it gets oily so a spare dot is more than enough.

Clothing and Accessories

1) Coach Bookshelf keychain

Every year, before I go back to school I buy a little Coach keychain. I've been doing it since 2009 (a little white cupcake) and 2010 (a chocolate dipped strawberry), it's just a little self-imposed tradition. I feel like they're good luck charms because my years do get progressively better.

2) H&M red Jersey dress

This was only $19.99, it's a very simple cut and the red skirt flares out a bit.The color is quite bright but it looks quite nice against my skin tone. I do like the cut and its lack of embellishments. The only problem is that the medium is actually too big (it's stretchy) so I'm going to have to exchange it at the Erin Mills H&M tomorrow. It's loose around my waist and using it a belt makes it look too formal.

Overall, I had a very fun shopping trip! The only downside was that the place I bought Dim Sum from gave me raw Shu mai. My mom gave me antibacterial pills at home, which calmed my digestive system down. If anyone is heading towards Eaton, their new food court looks absolutely amazing now!