Thursday, January 1, 2015

5 Makeup Products I want to buy

Hey Dolls and Gents!
You'd think by now I would no more buy anything related to makeup.
I am blessed to have a large collection and I understand I don't need to have every color and formula under the sun. But I'm also very good at keeping my makeup well organised - daily items in one storage and the rest in categories, same as for my closet where daily items are on rack and everything else sorted by type. This means I know exactly what I have, what I am running low on and what I do not have.
For now, I am holding off any purchases, but if I were to buy something (say I won a voucher or got a gift card or it was my birthday), here is what I'd want to add to my collection.

Note that the pictures are from the MAC website and Sephora website, I do not own copyright for them nor would claim they're mine - obviously it's a wishlist so I didn't buy the products yet.

1- MAC Fix+:
I had this before and finished it, so this would be a repurchase. I do not have any product that is quite like this setting spray. I only have makeup fixing sprays which while being nice and effective, are not at all moisturising and won't do much if I accidentally overpowder.

2- A brown Lipstick:
I was going through all the lipsticks I have and the predominant color is RED. While I have a wide range of colors, as I was preparing an Olivia Pope inspired makeup, I realised I did not have a brown based lipstick. It makes sense because I do not gravitate toward such colors, but now that I have this tutorial in mind, I badly want one. I am hesitating between a MAC one and Clinique chubby stick since it is what Kerry Washington uses.

3- MAC Gold Deposit:
This is probably the highlighter that suits me the most. But for now, I have one from theBalm, been using it when filming and it looks great. The planner in me is thinking, I don't want to buy another highlighter while I still have that one and the lustre drops. I usually prefer to only have 1 or 2 items max in each category. Also given how little I need, I'm sure it will take at least 1.5 years for me to hit pan on the powder highlighter.

4- MAC Hover lip liner:
I know everybody and their grandma have been raving about the Kylie Jenner lip. I don't really care about that Whirl lip pencil, I don't follow fads, I just do what works for me.
I tried Hover all over the lip and it was perfect.
I need to finish 4 or 5 lipliners first before justifying this purchase... but I will get there.
You will be mine my precious.

5- A Z-Palette:
These have been around for quite some time, but since I don't buy online, I was never able to find one.
I see that Sephora have Z-palettes so I need to get my hands on one.
I can fit my entire makeup routine in one of these and it would be the perfect addition to my streamlined travel packing routine.


10 products I stopped buying from the US and why

Hey dolls and gents;
If you follow me on social media, you know that my biggest indulgence is traveling to teh US whenever I can. I save for months and as soon as I reach my travel budget, I hop on a plane and go.
I used to compulsively buy everything I need on a daily basis. I remember once I traveled to cincinnati, and I didn't have anything in my bag. First thing after I reached the hotel was to go to the Macy's that was few meters away. I bought everything from socks to undies to makeup and even my suitcase.
In 2013, I went to NYC 3 times and I loaded on drugstore items each time. That is when I realized I have a problem. Especially that since then, we had 2 malls in Casablanca and few stores started opening in Morocco.
As of 2014, I decided to be more targeted in what I bring along. My only trip was in October and I was quite moderate.
Here are the items that old Ouga would have bought and why I did not bother this time.

1- Rinse off Conditioner
As a curly girl, my biggest struggle is finding good products for my hair texture.
I know it is counterintuitive to say this because I live in Morocco, Africa. Alas I have to travel to another continent to find products suitable for African hair.
Every bottle weighs 1 kilo and I noticed that even when I lug back 4 huge bottles, they still won't last me a year. So I decided to start buying local cheap conditioners especially that I am no longer as strict on the no-silicones thing. I figure that paying twice the price is still OK since I have the product available whenever I want. The few dollars savings do not justify the extra weight in my luggage.
If you are curious about my hair routine, here it is in video:
2- Body Butters
I have an important stock of body butters because I would buy at least 3 tubs each time I travel.
Now, the body shop opened in Morocco so no need to stock up. And it would take me at least 2 years to finish everything I have in stock.

3- Secret Deodorant:
This has been my favorite for years. Then one day, I went overboard and bought so many that I got bored with it. I think I might be at my last stick now. When it's done, I will use some of the Avon deodorants I have in stock. Once all of these are done, I might try the Lavanilla deodorant because I heard so much about it. But this won't happen till at least a year or 2 :)

4- EOS Lip Balms:
I discovered these randomly and since then, every time I traveled I'd buy 5 or 6.
At the end of the day, I realised I don't love them that much and I can have many other lip butters available in Morocco. As of now, I have 3 open and 2 in backup and I will not repurchase.

5- Lipsticks:
There was a time (circa 2011) where my entire lipstick collection was a 2 MAC lipsticks and 1 Lancôme Rouge. I had tossed all my Wet n wild and other drugstore lippies that I had hauled in 2006 (long story but let's say I went crazy on inexpensive makeup).
Then starting 2012, I started slowly building my collection. I probably have around 50 lipsticks and some of them are not open. Every time I went to the states I bought a dozen (or two) from the drugstore. I also was gifted many lippies.
I am proud to say that in my last trip, I only bought one Revlon matte balm and one burt's bees lip balm. If ever I go again, I will buy zero lip product (maybe the agave lip mask but it doesn't count).

6- Victoria Secret Bras:
These don't come cheap, but I felt like I didn't have any choice since in Morocco we have little choice and inflated prices. However, few months ago, I went on a mission to find good brassieres locally. I bought from La Senza and didn't like them, then got a couple from Etam, and judging by how many times I wore them, I think we have a winner. So as of now, I'm replacing all my bras with Etam ones but very slowly because they're bloody expensive.

7- OPI and Essie Nail Polish:
Here again, 5 or 6 nail polishes whenever I traveled. Also friends would always give me nail polishes.
But last time, I went shopping for an acrylic nail polish holder, I needed several sets and it wasn't enough to hold my 79 polishes. This stops now.

8- MAC Cosmetics:
This is my love brand, the first brand where I found my skintone, the first brand where I splurged while being happy and excited each time I stepped into a store.
MAC opened in Morocco few years ago so since then I exclusively bought from the local store. I didn't appreciate how everything used to be out of stock, but their supply is fixed now so I'm a happy customer.

9- Teas:
There was a time customs at Charles de Gaulle airport wanted to check my bag because I carried so many tea tins. I would go to whole foods and grab a dozen cans and be so happy about it.
Now, we have a wide tea selection in Morocco, I have found brands like Tchaba, and even found Tazo sold in Casablanca and Rabat.

10- Socks:
Believe it or not, my first purchase every time I set foot in America was several packs of socks that I would wear throughout my stay.
I mean seriously, socks can be bought everywhere. Time to stop this nonsense.