Ulta Haul 11/10/13

Hi there everyone!  Have you ever gone to a store and talked with the employees there and felt more alive when you leave than when you walk in?  That was my experience today at my local Ulta.  Once more, it was the lovely and talented Gloria and Vivian who were so accommodating.  It shouldn't come as any shock to you all, since I have posted about them before.  These women are so smart and motivated.  They know their stuff.  They don't make you feel like "Hurry up and leave me alone," like I've experienced in other places.  Or even worse-- when you ask an employee a question and expect to receive an intelligent, informed response, only to have the employee scrambling and desperately searching the product box for an answer, like I'm illiterate or something and couldn't have done that myself.  Not here with these women.  Gloria literally walked the entire store with me, answering questions and advising me on different products.  She never made me feel awkward with my thoughts or questions about products and was genuinely sincere with her desire to help me.  She really listened to what I liked and sought in various products.  When I walked into the store, I witnessed her speaking to another customer.  I have to say the time, patience, courtesy and professionalism that she has...  Truly to me, she is an outstanding employee that anyone would be very lucky to have.  Vivian caught me as I was walking out.  She was kind enough to inform me of upcoming events at the store, Stila and Urban Decay, and invited me to attend.  I signed up for the both events and am looking forward to learning about new products and techniques.  I have never participated in any kind of event before.  Needless to say, I am very excited about returning to this store and seeing what new goodies I will pick up.  Yes, these women were "just doing their job," but I must say that it is a job very well done.  I am so grateful to these two, in particular, for tirelessly helping me and making me feel especially welcome in the store.

With all that said, I wanted to share what I picked up today.  I got this gorgeous Benefit cosmetics bag.  I love it.  It's clever, lovely to look at and useful.  It's the perfect size to store plenty of goodies.  I, also, picked up Dot Eau De Parfum Spray by Marc Jacobs, as well as the Daisy rollerball trio.  This includes an Eau De Toilettte rollerball of the original Daisy, an Eau De Toilette rollerball of Daisy Eau So Fresh, and an Eau De Parfum rollerball of Dot.  I have a pretty substantial fragrance collection.  I will say that I am very particular with fragrances (I guess I am very particular about everything.) and I really like all of these scents.  Next, I got Redken Control Addict 28 High Control Hairspray.  I haven't tried any Redken styling products in a very long time and I've never owned any of the hairsprays.  I have high hopes that this will be a great product.  I, also, got a Dermablend Quick Fix Illuminator.  This is supposed to be used to brighten under the eyes.  Then, I, also, got a Zoya Color Lock System sampler that comes with nail polish remover (3-in-1 Remove), base coat (Anchor), top coat (Armor) and speed dry drops (Fast Drops) with a dropper.  I love Zoya polishes, so I'm really looking forward to trying all these out and comparing them to what I currently use, as well as compatibility with other polish brands.  I got the PurMinerals Miracle Mist Hydrate & Set spray and Candlelit Pink Mineral Blush.  I picked up BareMinerals Mineral Veil and Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Rebel.  I will also be trying out Butter London 3 Free Nail Lacquer in shade Pink Ribbon.  From Smashbox, I got the Photo Op Eye Brightening Mascara in Brightening Black, a very classy silver cosmetics bag, Photo Finish Foundation Primer, a Shadow Liner Brush and a double ended eye definer brush.

Oh my gosh, that was a lot of fantastic products!  Pretty much the only I have tried before was the Zoya nail polish remover and the Buxom lipgloss.  I don't know if the formula on the Buxom lipgloss is the same as the one I have, though.  I will be letting you guys know which products I really enjoyed working with and which, if any, were flops in my book.  Thank you all so much for reading and I hope to hear from you all in the comments section.