Saturday, March 1, 2014

Ulta Brand Ulta Haul: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Everything Ulta except brows and foundation
I'll forewarn you. This is a lengthy mostly picture post. Ulta was running a promo that if you bought 19.50 in Ulta brand products you got a 14 piece Ulta brand makeup gift set. I haven't really explored the Ultra brand name so I thought this was a great opportunity at a low price!
Ulta Gift Set
I had no idea where to start with what I wanted to purchase myself. I figure I own way too many lip and eye products even though I felt that is where I should start. 
My purchases:
  • Ulta Pressed Mineral Blush in Tiger Lily
  • Ulta Extreme Wear Mousse Blush in Peach Glow
  • Ulta Glitter Eye Top Coat in Glitz Girl
Ulta Pressed Minerals Blush:





 I was not prepared for the tiny blush container. Again, I normally buy BareMinerals so this little blush container caught me off guard. I love the color, and the pigmentation. Its very satiny and smooth. It has a sheen but is not glittery. I was surprised by the fallout but it is a mineral blush. It was $12 but I used a 20% off coupon on it. I am in love with the peachy bronzey Tiger Lily color! Not my normal pink and I love it. I would buy this again!

Ulta Extreme Wear Mousse Blush:









Another win! This blush is only 8 bucks and is a creamy dream. I tried to swatch it but it is just blends so well into my skin I couldn't get a good picture. This peach color works great for my fair skin. It gives me a light glow and is such a natural looking blush. This would be great for a BB cream and mascara kind of day. Highly recommend!









Ulta Glitter Eye Top Coat:
































Ulta Glitter Top Coat over Classic Eyeshadow Quad
Ulta Mascara


















Hello gorgeous! Look at that glittery goodness! As you can see it is glitter without being a chunky ugly glitter. Sophisticated glitter? Is there such a thing? Who cares. Admit you love glitter, and go buy this. 8 bucks. I perhaps played it a bit safe with this color, but I think this color will be versatile for me.

Now onto the reason I ended up ordering in the first place!

Ulta 14 piece gift set


  • Ulta Blush in Sweet Cheeks
  • Ulta Nail Polish Mini in Fuschia Mania
  • Ulta full size Lip Butter in Vienna
  • 3 Ulta mini eyeshadow quads in Classic, Dramatic, and Chic
  • 3 Ulta brushes: contour, eyeshadow, and sponge tip
  • Ulta full size Voluptous Volume Mascara
  • Ulta sample size Matte Prime
  • Ulta mini Lip Gloss in Illusion
  • Ulta dual ended liner in deep brown and black

Ulta Cheek Color:





























This blush has a glitter to it. Meh. I don't really want glittery cheeks. Possibly shimmery but this is pretty chunky glitter for blush. On my swatch you can see its not terrible on, but in the top left you can see it catches the light. It would be better without glitter. I know just a few minutes ago I said I love glitter, but not from head to toe. I'm not a disco ball.

Ulta Nail Polish: 

 Average nail polish. Pretty pink color.

Ulta Lip Butter:


















A peachy color. This is a peachy post! I like this lip butter. It will cost 8 bucks so around the same as the Revlon lip butters. These might even be just a tad more pigmented. This is definitely a hit with me and I look forward to trying other colors. This seemed like it might to be orangey brown but I was VERY pleasantly surprised with it on. It actually a great nude shade on my lips without washing me out.

Ulta Mini Eyeshadow Quads:



















When I swatched these out on my arms I immediately hated them. However, I used a bit of Nyx eyeshadow primer before I applied to my lids and that seemed to help me get more bang for my buck with these less-pigmented shadows.

Dramatic Eyeshadow Quad:


As you can see they are shimmery in nature except for Lock & Key being a matte color. After Hours looks so gorgeous in the quad, but on my skin it was washed out and not very pigmented at all. Lots of fall out. Kinda disappointed. The matte color probably had the best consistency. Classic Eyeshadow Quad:













So much for my high hopes for this one. Again, very pretty in the quad, but as you can see, lots of fall out. Not very pigmented at all. You can't even see the first two colors! Not very smooth. Boo. 

Chic Eyeshadow Quad: 





















What is with the horrible ugliness of Glittering Sand? Gross! The blue Mosaic has potential. I am not even sure where to begin. I am hesitant to ever buy any ulta eyeshadow! Granted these quads from what I can tell online are what they always offer in their free gift sets. Is the quality less than their actual eyeshadow they sell? I hope so. But I'm not entirely sure I want to take that risk! Wow. I hate to be so negative but unfortunately from sampling so many products I'm starting to notice things I might have ignored before. However a little eyeshadow primer seems to salvage these from the garbage.

Ulta Brushes:



Arg. Total garbage. A foam tipped brush?! The contour brush is okay. Not great. The only benefit to getting these brushes is that the eyeshadow brush works okay for my glitter top coat so I can dedicate it to that. Again, these were a free gift with purchase, so hoping not the quality of their actual brushes. But I still love my cheapy coastal scents that are crazy quality for the price. 

Ulta Voluptuous Volume Mascara:


This is a legit product of theirs and will cost you 8 dollars. I felt like it gave me good length but not much volume for being a volumizing mascara. It was not clumpy or too wet. I would buy this again. 

Ulta Matte Prime:

Another actual product sample of the Matte Prime. It contains salicylic acid used in many acne treatments so I would be hesitant to use this if you do not have oily skin! A full size will cost 18 dollars. I felt that it really accentuated any dry spots I had. It might be a product for summer heat more than winter dry skin! 


Ulta Super Shiny Lip Gloss: 




Average pigment for a lipgloss. Full size 8 bucks. Nothing bad to say here but nothing to blow me out of the water. 

Ulta Dual Ended Eye Liner:  
























I was surprised by this eyeliner. Its not a creamy dreamy smudgey liner, but it is a liner that is going to stay put. I liked the pigment to it. I think the deep brown will come in handy!

To summarize:
The products I was pleased with: Primer, lip butter, mascara, eyeliner
The products that are neither here nor there: Lip gloss, nail polish
The products I was disappointed by: Eyeshadow quads, makeup brushes, blush

Would I get one of their gift sets with purchase again? I wouldn't aim for it but if I needed some Ulta products anyway... I did like the blushes I purchased and the eye glitter I purchased a lot!

Ulta Samples with Purchase
I picked perfume because I already subscribe to Ipsy and Birchbox for makeup samples (although I do get perfume from them too) I just was in a perfume sampling mood. I received
  • Encounter by Calvin Klein 
  • Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift (the sample was a air freshener, how fun!)
  • Couture La La by Juicy


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