Testing Dupes – ABH Brow Wiz vs NYX Micro Brow Pencil

At the beginning of November, I realized I was at the very end of my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz. I had only owned the Brow Wiz for 6 months and was using another brow product simultaneously, so I was shocked that I had finished it up so quickly. I absolutely love the Brow Wiz – it’s the easiest brow product I’ve used thus far. However, I think it’s quite expensive for how long it lasted me, and I felt like I could find something just as good at the drugstore.

While doing some research online, I found that the NYX Micro Brow pencil is a widely-known good drugstore dupe for the Brow Wiz, so I decided to give it a try. I purchased the ABH Brow Wiz from Sephora, and the NYX Micro Brow from Shoppers Drug Mart, but you can also find it the Micro Brow at standalone NYX stores.

I have to apologize in advance – in my photos you’ll barely be able to see the actual brow product of the ABH Brow Wiz, because there was only a little nub left before I realized I couldn’t twist it up any longer. If I had known I was nearing the end of the pencil, I would have saved more of the product for photos so you can more easily compare the look of the pencils.

November Low-Buy Part 2

I’m sorry for all the haulage posts lately; I had a huge influx of products in November, so I’m trying to get through all my haul posts right now. I promise this is the last one! This is Part 2 of my November Low-Buy, which includes miscellaneous drugstore buys from early November, in addition to some Black Friday items. You can read Part 1 here! Onto the haul:

NYX Micro Brow Pencil – $13.99

I almost ran out of my beloved ABH Brow Wiz at the beginning of November, and although I loved it, I thought it wasn’t worth the hefty price tag, so I went online to see if there were any good drugstore dupes. I found that this was a good alternative, and decided to give it a go. I have a comparison post of this product coming up hopefully by the end of the week.

Tigritsa Giveaway Items

A few weeks ago, I received a most pleasant surprise when Tigritsa emailed me to say that I had won her 500-follower giveaway that she hosted at the end of October! If you don’t already follow Tigritsa’s blog, please do! I’ve been reading her blog since the summer and she takes the most beautiful, envy-inducing flatlays. She was incredibly generous and sent me so many items that I could barely fit them all into a group shot! Continue below to see all the goodies she gifted.

SKINCARE

Clinique Go-Go Eyes Set

The giveaway included a set of Clinique sample-sized items, including the Take the Day Off makeup remover, the Pep-Start eye cream, and the Chubby Lash mascara. It’s been a really, really long time since I’ve used any Clinique products, so I’m looking forward to start again.

November Low-Buy Part 1 – Sephora VIB Sale

I’ve gotta be honest, I went a little ham on my purchases this month. In my own defense, a lot of my purchases were replacement items, so I don’t think I actually went over my low-buy budget, but I won’t know until I do all the math! I’ve split my low-buy into two parts as some of my purchases from Black Friday have not arrived yet. This post only consists of items I got during the Sephora VIB sale.

Although I posted my wish list a few weeks ago, I didn’t completely stick to it because I realized as I was shopping that I had forgotten to include on my list some replacement items and things I had been meaning to try. The Sephora sale was difficult for me because I made it a goal not to buy any eyeshadow palettes this year, I didn’t want to buy any lipsticks until I finished some in my stash (one-in-one-out), and Stashy challenged me not to buy any more highlighters this ear…so basically for me that translated to not being able to buy anything “fun” for the sale. Still, I managed to get a few exciting items that I’m looking forward to trying.

 

Laneige Hydration Trial Kit – Regular Price: $38, VIB Sale: $30.40

This Laneige trial kit was an item on my wish list – I bought it as I’m starting to run out of some of my skincare, and I’ve been itching to try Laneige for a while, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to give the brand a go.

Feel-Good Friday

I’ve decided to rename my Friday Reflections posts to Feel-Good Friday, since I usually use these posts to talk about discoveries that I love, or things that make me feel good, so to speak. Now that it’s officially December and all of the malls and office buildings have their Christmas decorations up, I feel completely justified in going crazy for all things Christmas. I’ve been waiting for this since the beginning of November!

I’ve started watching This is Us on Netflix a few weeks ago, and I have fallen in LOVE with the show. I went into it completely blind, hearing rave reviews about it but not knowing what it was about at all. It has so much heart and is so touching and heartbreaking all at once, and I feel like I’ve missed having a show like this in my life since I’ve been watching darker stuff lately. I usually watch TV at my desk while I’m writing up blog posts or working on calligraphy stuff, and my husband is sitting at his desk behind me playing video games. He’s admitted to me that he hasn’t been able to concentrate on his games because he’s been sucked in to This Is Us! This coming from the guy who is usually into shows with car chases, explosions, and/or cliffhangers – basically the opposite of this show – so you know it’s good!

We did our Christmas gift exchange at work last week (since a lot of people will be away in December). I went shopping with a coworker to find our gifts, and he bought this colour-changing mug from David’s Tea as his gift. I thought it was so cute that I went to buy it for myself this weekend. The little fox changes colours when you pour a hot beverage into it! It comes with an infuser, which is great because I’m the only one that drinks tea in our household, and I usually find it too much to brew a whole pot for myself. A single mug of tea is the perfect amount!