Mini Makeup Splurge

In an effort not to lose my mind half way through the 2nd month of my 4 month wardrobe challenge, I decided to treat myself to a little retail therapy a la beauty shopping.  I was sticking to the rules by not buying clothes, shoes or accessories but at the same time was able to ease the shopping withdrawls a little bit.  During an unexpected power outage at work last Monday (well, any power outage is unexpected, I guess) I had some time to kill while I was still on call to go back to the office if the power came back on. So I found myself pulling into the parking lot at Ulta...the most fabulous beauty store around. Yes, even more fabulous than Sephora in my opinion because you get the best of both worlds there...high and low end beauty products. I decided to treat myself to some new eye makeup by a brand called NYX....a brand I've heard of before but have never tried because it's not easy to find in stores.  I learned of this fabulous makeup brand from watching a makeup tutorial on youtube (don't judge me...it's free makeup tips!)...and the makeup artist I watched, whose name escapes me now, went back and forth between MAC and NYX eyeshadows.  She raved about the quality and affordability of NYX eyeshadows and compared them to MAC.  Being someone who's always on the hunt for fabulous and affordable beauty and fashion finds, I finally tried out NYX eyeshadows and eyeliners...and was more than pleasantly surprised! The colors are stunning and lasted quite well throughout the day.  Maybe not quite the selection that MAC has but definitely gives MAC shadows a run for their money.  The only downside to my first NYX eyeshadow experience?  The day I wore the deep orange/almost but not quite red eyeshadow...when I got home from work and my husband looked at my face, he said it looked like my eyes were bleeding.