Makeup

News broke today that Monica Arnaudo, Ulta’s Chief Merchandising Officer, will be stepping down in 2025. Ulta has yet to name a new successor for the position. Monica has only been in the role since 2019 but I’d say in that time Ulta has undergone a lot of rapid changes like the many brands they’ve brought into the store such as Pat Mcgrath, NARS, and more. Not to mention the many interesting and new promotions and rewards perks we’ve gotten in the last few years.

“Ulta Beauty has been just the best company. I’ve been here just over seven years now, and so it’s hard for me to close this corporate chapter of my life,” she said in an interview. “This year marks 45 years in the beauty industry for me. I started when I was 16 so I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and what the next chapter of my life could be, so I’m ready to make this change. I love this industry so much and I love it because of all the great products, but really, what I love the most about it is the people.”

I dunno if her leaving will result in any changes for us as the consumer. Remember her position includes Ulta’s merchandising strategy, product selection, and pricing and bringing in someone new means an entirely new means we’ll experience a new way of shopping at Ulta with any changes (good or bad) that are made. This could be a negative or positive for our shopping experience. I thought it was an interesting piece of news to share today as I’ve become quite the Ulta shopper in the last few years considering the assortment of brands they’ve brought in not to mention their amazing cash back rewards. Sephora sadly fails to reward me for being a loyal customer and Ulta does a way better job pampering me in our relationship. Of course, buying direct from brands lately also, results in some fantastic perks with full-size freebies and rewards programs as well but Ulta is def a nice way to do a one stop shop.

Monica leaving doesn’t necessarily mean anything negative will happen but change of any kind always makes me a nervous nelly! Do you think her stepping down will have any effect consumers?

Add a Comment

Ahh it’s been a while since we’ve done a beauty most unusual post and what better way to celebrate the return of it than with a perfume that has a poop note. Yes, poop. BorntoStandOut Be My Cookie was teased on social media a few days ago and people were losing their minds as it was the perfect drop as the Christmas Holiday closes in on us. Who doesn’t want to smell like delicious cookies? Well, ok, some people don’t but I’m a gourmand lover and I think smelling like fresh baked cookies around the Holidays is perfection!

But really, BorntoStandOut does take pride not following the society standard and creates truly unique fragrances and in this case, Be My Cookie, really goes unique. According to the brand this fragrance contains notes of Natural Raspberry Essence, Crunchy Cookie, Castoreum Resinoid, Bourbon Vanilla Absolute, Milk, Tonquitone, and Skatole. Their marketing says it’s a cookie you’ll never forget for lovers of a little bit sweet and a whole lot dirty. Ummm yeah, for sure I guess we know what you mean when you say dirty now.

According to them, “It’s sweet, but filthy. Delicious, but dangerous. For lovers who know the best relationships are a little sweet… and A WHOLE LOT DIRTY.” Ok, we get it, something interesting is happening here and we love a good dirty moment! If Heretic Parfums taught us nothing at all it was not to be scared of being a little dirty!

But after a little investigation into the notes of Be My Cookie we’ve realized that the chocolate on the bottle of the promo image MAY not be chocolate at all. That last note, Skatole, well, it’s an interesting one. According to science, “skatole is a foul-smelling constituent of mammalian feces; it is produced by the decomposition of tryptophan in the digestive tract. It has a floral aroma at low concentrations, contributing to the pleasant smell of flowers such as jasmine and orange blossoms.”

So, I guess we hope and pray that Not my Cookie has a low concentration so we aren’t actually smelling sh*t but a bouquet of jasmine and orange blossoms! Fingers crossed right? Tiktoker, BewareofPity, went the extra mile and tested it on a few people asked what they smelled when she sprayed them with it and she got some interesting replies.

She said it smells like “a gas station on fore with essence of tarmac drying and in the far, far in the distance there’s a man holding a sugar cookie”. When she tried it on others she got replies that it smelled like mothballs, smells like a urinal, smells like a bathroom getting cleaned, a few people said it smelled like ink….ok, so, things are looking up at least it’s not literally Eau de Poop.

Be My Cookie is available for a limited time and it will likely be very appealing to those that collect unique fragrances or just love this brand. I actually do like BorntoStandOut but I feel like I can safely skip out on Be My Cookie.

What do you think of this interesting fragrance?

The deals are slow coming this year but they are still out there! Have you started Christmas shopping yet? Or are you waiting to see if better deals will drop? I purchased myself a few items but I normally wait to do a full shop during Black Friday/Cyber Monday but I’m always for Thanksgiving and I really should have started earlier on my shopping this year. But oh well…! I always manage to get it done on time 🙂

Here are a few sales you may have missed.

Urban Decay Black Friday Sale (No Code Needed, Discount at Checkout)
Ahead of Ulta’s Black Friday Sale Urban Decay has a $12 Mascara Deal! Snag Perversion Mascara and Primer for $12 each! They also have the Naked 3 Palette on Sale for 50% Off! As well as other Naked Palettes like Naked Heat! As for the rest of the website it’s 30% off sitewide (excluding the sales I mentioned). I might be in the minority but I actually love the Moondust Space Cowboy Eyeshadow Palette which I paid full-price for. It’s currently 50% off during this sale!

Stila Black Friday Sale Use Code EARLY30
Select items are Buy 2, Get 1 Free at Stila! Use code FREEBIE and mix and match favorites like Convertible Blush, Glow and Glitter Eyeshadow, Stay All Day Eyeliner, and more! Or use code EARLY30 for 30% off sitewide!

Victoria Beckham Beauty
The 20% Off Coupon Code is still working! Enjoy 20% off sitewide with code BEAUTY. It works on Holiday Sets too!

Victoria’s Secret Early Black Friday Sale
Enjoy 30% off sitewide! No code required, discount at checkout!

InnBeauty Project Black Friday Sale
30% Off $100, 25% Off $75, or 20% Off All Other Totals! No code needed, discount at checkout!

Macy’s Black Friday Deals
Macy’s has TONS of deals on everything. As always they do Black Friday big!

Just to name a few:
Too Faced Lady Bold Cream Lipstick $10
Too Faced Lip Injection Power Plumping Liquid Lip Balm $10
Too Faced Super Fine Brow Detailer Retractable Eyebrow Pencil $10
Too Faced Brow Wig Brush On Brow Extensions Fluffy Brow Gel $10
Too Faced Lady Bold Waterproof Longwear Lip Liner $10
Too Faced Lip Injection Power Plumping Multidimensional Lip Gloss $10
Too Faced Killer Liner 36-Hour Waterproof Gel Eyeliner $13
Too Faced Hangover Pillow Balm Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm $13
Kaja Moon Crystal Sparkling Eye Pigment $9.50 (Love these highly recommend!)
Lancome 3 Piece Juicy Tubes Lip Gloss Holiday Set $20
Clinique 4 Piece Plenty Of Pop Lipstick Holiday Gift Set $20
25 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar Created for Macy’s $49
Clinique Lash + Lip Duos Makeup Holiday Gift Set $38
Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick $12
Too Faced Born This Way Sunset Stripped Eye Shadow Palette $27
Tarte Glamazon To-Go Palette $20
Tarte Big Ego Amazonian Clay Palette $36
Too Faced Italian Spritz Eyeshadow Palette $27
50% Off Philosophy Shower Gels

NIOD, The Ordinary, Deciem Shop Slowly Sale
Snag 23% Off your favs all month long! No code needed!

the Balm 50% Off Sitewide and Free Full-Eyeliner with $35 Purchase
Snag all your favs at the Balm! The entire website is 50% off (no code needed) plus spend $35 and get a free full size eyeliner!

Tatcha 25% Off Including Holiday Sets
Enjoy 25% off at Tatcha using code PREVIEW24. It even works on Holiday Sets! All orders ship free!

RMS Beauty 20% Off Sitewide Plus Free Shipping (Must Open a Free Rewards Account for Free Shipping)
RMS Black Friday has launched yet but I do have a promo code use ISABELLAM20 for 20% off (thank you for your support if you do use it!).

Snif Co Black Friday Sale
Enjoy 20% Off your favorite fragrances from Snif! No code required!

Charlotte Tilbury Black Friday Sale
Enjoy Up to 40% Off select sets as well as buy 1, get 1 free items like Glowgasm Palettes, Pillow Talk Matte Blush, and more! Plus enjoy free full-size gifts!

Spend $110 and Get Full Sizes of:
Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur in Pillow Talk Blur

Spend $160 and Get Full Sizes of:
Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur in Pillow Talk Blur
Beauty Light Wand in Pillow Talk

Spend $225 and Get Full Sizes of:
Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur in Pillow Talk Blur
Beauty Light Wand in Pillow Talk
Magic Body Cream

Experiment Beauty
We don’t have a Black Friday Sale yet and I’m unsure if one is coming up but I do have a code! Save 10% off using promo code THEMUSE10 (thank you if you do use my code)!

Tarte Early Black Friday Deals
Tarte is insane this year with the deals! They have a ton on sale ahead of Black Friday! Here are just a few:
Maneater Nightfall Eyeshadow Palette $13
Sweet Tarte Eye Candy Palette $10
Glamazon Face Palette $10
Maneater Passion Eye & Cheek Palette $8
Reach for the Clouds Eyeshadow Palette $8
Maneater Vanity Palette $8
Maneater Catitude Eyeshadow Palette $6
Sweet Tarte Double Shot Eyeshadow Palette $8
Sweet Tarte Frosted Eyeshadow Palette $8
Maneater After Dark Eyeshadow Palette $13

Solawave Early Black Friday
buy 1, get 1 free is a fab deal Solawave has Mix and Match Sets like the Eye Recovery Pro Kit and and the 4-in-1 Skincare Wand Kit. The lesser value set is complete FREE! No code required, free item at checkout. Select sets apply.

Victoria’s Secret Black Friday Sale
Get 30% off your total sitewide! No code required!

Timeless Skincare
Snag some of Timeless’s cult fav products like their Vitamin C at 50% off! Use code BFCM50 to get 50% off your total order!

Nordstrom Early Black Friday DealsUp to 60% off makeup, fragrance, clothing, shoes, accessories and more!

Nordstrom Rack
Up to 75% off fragrance, beauty, home goods, clothing, shoes, accessories and more!

Ulta Early Black Friday DealsJoybright Holiday Kits Buy 1 Get 1 50% off
20% Off Snif Perfumes
30% Off Eilish No. 2 Eau de Parfum
30% Off Select Lancome Fragrances
40% Off Elizabeth Arden, Armani, DKNY, YSL, and Ralph Lauren Perfumes
30% Off Better World Fragrance House

I’ll keep you posted of all the latest deals as they go live!

Enjoy!

Add a Comment

I realize this is an unpopular opinion but I like the Urban Decay Moondust Space Cowboy Star Eyeshadow Palette! I’d like it more if I actually purchased it at 50% off but I did pay full-price for it (or maybe it was 20% off when I got it Ulta! I’m having a senior moment but I think I paid full-size as I recall!). If you had your eye on it you can snag it for 50% off now at urbandecay.com! They are having their annual sitewide sale of 30% off but select items are 50% off and this is one of them!

Enjoy

Where to buy

Nordstrom

Add a Comment

It’s back and will go viral and will sell out and also, you’ll never find it. Well, I hope you do but yeah, Trader Joe’s Holiday 2024 items are here and the Brazil Nut Body Trio is back! The set includes a Brazil Nut Body Butter, Brazil Nut Fragrance Mist, and Brazil Nut Body Oil! The set will be $12.99 and it should be landing at Trader Joe’s tonight or at least by tomorrow! Call ahead and sometimes they are willing to hold one!

Let’s see what else is coming up from the Trader Joe’s Holiday 2024 Collection!

Another returning item is the Shimmering Candy Cane Body Butter and it’s not up on the website yet but they’ll also be a new Candy Cane Body Scrub! Those will be $5.99 each!

We also have a new Trader Joe’s Body Butter Trio ($7.99) featuring three mini body butters in Lavender Santal, White Gardenia, and Pineapple Bergamot.

A new Trader Joe’s 12 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar ($20) has landed as well which features skin and body care items (2019’s calendar pictured below). It’s always a fun little pick up if you enjoy Trader Joe’s beauty offerings!

One of my favs is back! The Trader Joe’s Peppermint Foaming Hand Soap ($2.99) returns for 2024. I love this stuff! It smells just like crushed up candy canes! And it’s so cheap!

So far, these are the Trader Joe’s Holiday 2024 Beauty offerings but I find they tend to surprise us with one or two more drops as we draw closer to they Holidays! I believe the Gummy Bear Lip Balm and Sleep Mask is back as well but didn’t see anything about the awful Hot Cocoa Body Scrub thankfully! I’ll keep you posted when more new items launch!

I decided to treat myself to a little K-Beauty/J-Beauty treats as yesstyle.com has to 50% off plus an extra 8% off $79, 10% Off $149, or 15% Off $199 with code 24BLACK. The discount codes always suck but the prices are so good on some items already that the small percentage off doesn’t matter much!

Here’s what I got!

CORINGCO Peach Whipping Tone Up Cream $8
I’m missing Etude House Sweet Recipe Baby Choux Base lately so I decided to get this peach tone up cream to see how it compares. Tone Up Creams are great for dull skin or if you want to brighten up your complexion pre-foundation.

NOVO Fingertip Glitter Eyeshadow $4.48
I’ve recently been really into shimmery eye looks! Blame the Holiday season! And I enjoy all these touch shimmers and glitters as they are so easy to apply on top of powder eyeshadow. I thought I’d give these NOVO ones a try out! The orange shade literally stood on a chair and yelled at me to buy it.

Heimish Marine Care Algae + Peptide Eye Cream $23
You already know I am a HUGE fan of Heimish’s eye cream! It’s majorly hydrating and so affordable. They actually reformulated it recently and although, I have a backup of the original formula I really wanted to try the new version! I’m scared the change isn’t for the better but MAYBE it is!

ZEESEA 9 Colors Eyeshadow Palette in Rose and Orange $10
I’ve had my eye on these two palettes from ZEESEA for a while and the price is quite nice at the moment so I grabbed both! I’m in love with the shades!

xixi Broken Star Series Highlight Single Eyeshadow $3.64
Another cute range of shimmery shadows! Not sure what evoked this new shimmery phase I’m in as matte has overtaken my life for the past several years but I’m a magpie for shimmer shades lately!

O.TWO.O Matte Liquid Eeyshadow $5
Speaking of matte eyeshadow I did haul two of these matte liquid eye creams! I love a good matte cream eyeshadow!

Heimish Matcha Biome Hydrogel Eye Patch $14.62
I’m a die hard Patchology girl since purchasing some on sale at Ulta but I love Heimish’s eye cream so much I decided to give their eye gels a try!

PERFECT DIARY Explorer Eyeshadow Palette Red Fox $20
I really don’t need another brown shadow palette but I’ve had my eye on the Perfect Diary Red Fox one for a while and decided to add it to this order!

ViCREA & honey Melty Moist Repair Hair Oil $17
And finally I restocked my fav hair oil!

What’s your latest makeup and beauty haul?

Where to buy

YesStyle

I’m so sorry Tarte no way I’m spending $26 on your new Go With the Faux Freckle Stamp. Guys…guys…come on! I can get one on amazon.com for $8 bucks. P.S. you KNOW Tiktok is going to make this freckle stamp go viral! Everyone is going to be dishing out $26 bucks for it. But not me…!

For $26 I can get not one but two mega palettes from Tarte. Black Friday is really Black Fridaying over at Tarte because both the Maneater Nightfall Eyeshadow Palette and Maneater After Dark Eyeshadow Palette are $13 each with free shipping! $26 bucks for both baby! TAKE THAT FRECKLE STAMP!

Snag these two palettes and many other insane deals today at tartecosmetics.com!

Where to buy

Tarte

Add a Comment

Baccarat Rouge 540 Body Lotion will set you back $95 but who needs that when we have the new Baccarat Rouge 540 $8 EOS Sparkling Amber Shea Better Holiday Body Lotion! Yes, it smells like Baccarat Rouge 540 and I’m here for that.

EOS Sparkling Amber Body Lotion one of three new, limited edition Holiday 2024 Body Lotions! I’ve already reviewed the EOS Peppermint Cashmere Body Lotion and Whipped Shea & Sugar Body Lotion and I liked both of those as well but I’m leaning towards saying Sparkling Amber is my favorite of the three.

I’m hearing a lot of mixed reviews on this one but I have to say I love it. It’s not an exact dupe of Baccarat Rouge but it’s fairly close and layers well with the fragrance! I’d liken it to Fine’ry The New Rouge! Very close to Baccarat Rouge 540 but just not identical. But hey, if you’re a BR540 fan girl I don’t see why you wouldn’t love this.

What’s most interesting is the notes aren’t nothing like BR540! This contains notes of sugared pink grapefruit, rich red berries, blooming star jasmine, dreamy pink cotton candy, and warm woody musk. I’ve always called BR540 a naughty cotton candy scent so maybe that note is what’s typing this together with BR540 for me. I love it. It’s warm, comforting, and the scent lingers beautifully. When I saw the notes I was expecting more of a fruity cotton candy blend with perhaps a bit of warmth due to the woods but nope, it’s all BR540 to me!

EOS Sparkling Amber Shea Better Holiday Body Lotion arrives in new cheery packaging for the Holidays. It’s a 16 oz bottle with a pump and it’s baby pink in color with a cute little snowflake design. It’s priced around $8.99-$9.99 depending where you purchase it.

The formula is the traditional lightweight, creamy consistency of the original EOS 24HR Moisture Body Lotion. It absorbs easily, doesn’t leave me greasy nor oily and provides lightweight hydration with a nice lingering fragrance.

EOS Sparkling Amber Body Lotion is available now. Have you smelled it?

Where to buy

Target Amazon Kohl’s Walmart