My First Haul! Ulta and Sephora, Part 1

I live in a pretty big town, but unfortunately it has nothing fun and is close to nothing fun for a makeup junkie like myself.  The two closest Sephoras are both over an hour away, and up until a couple months ago, I didn't even know there was an Ulta in my state (also an hour away).  Around here, if you need the kind of makeup you can't find in the drugstore or mall, you order it online.  Lame.

So when my bf offered to take me shopping this weekend, I jumped at the excuse for a makeup roadtrip!  I love browsing in Sephora, and I had never even seen an Ulta before, so I was super excited!  Keep reading if you want to see what I picked up and hear some of my initial impressions of the products :)

Ulta Wild Side Collection

Flirty Pink

I could have looked around in Ulta for hours!  They were doing this great promotion where you received a $75 makeup kit in one of three color varieties and wristlet with any Ulta purchase of $17.50 or more.  So basically I bought a couple eyeshadows and an eyebrow pencil and got all the stuff in the pic above for free! :D O happy day!

Top row: Smoke and Black Ink
Bottom row: Truffle and Polished

Top row: Flutter and Chianti
Bottom row: Iceland and Cherry Bomb

Girlie Cheek Color

Swatches of the Ulta Dual Ended Lip & Eye Liner
Left: Bloom, Right: Raisin

Swatches of the Ulta Dual Ended Eye Liner
Left: Plum, Right: Black

Swatches of Ulta Dual Ended Lip Gloss
Left: Starlet, Right: Siren

I got a couple other things (like NYX white eye base. Looove it!), but Blogger's been so tempermental lately and this post is already picture-heavy.  I've wanted to post this for two days now! 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

So far, I'm really liking the Ulta eyeshadows that I've tried from the neutral palette, and the lipglosses are pretty great.  They're not at all sticky and last a pretty long time. 

The mascara has a super strange wand which has taken some time learning to use, but I like the effect it gives my lashes.  Just can't use it on the bottom lashes as it's not waterproof and tends to give me raccoon eyes half-way through the day.

The blush is a pretty, universally flattering shade of pink which, while not making a big impression, does give my cheeks a subtle blushed look.  I love the packaging which feels sturdy and is the perfect size and shape for a fluffy blush brush.

The eyeliners are decent.  I've read many reviews saying they're too hard or dry, which is luckily not a problem I'm having.  They're smooth and creamy, but don't seem to last overly long.

Next time, I'll post on the rest of the stuff I picked up at Ulta and the cute little Benefit set I got at Sephora, so stay tuned!  If you have any questions about anything I mentioned here or my experience in general, don't hesitate to ask :)