Before Christmas, I try really hard to avoid getting myself anything. Buuuuut, as these things go, a few things found their way to me.

The first item was a Platinum Perk that was given to a few lucky Ulta customers. It was a full-size free Clinique foundation of my choice. I was color matched by their awesome Clinique specialist, and she recommended the Superbalance Makeup, and matched me with the shade Alabaster. I love the medium coverage and weightless feel. I'm sure that this will find it's way into a tutorial or a face of the day soon. On that note, I've been trying to get back to posting videos. Hopefully soon! :(

I was given a Sephora gift card as part of a gift bag at a Black Friday blogger event, and I had recently run out of my mascara. Around this time of year, I like to pick up the Sephora Favorites set of mascara minis. Now...I was a little mistaken this time. I thought that this was the set that came with the mascara voucher to redeem for a full-size mascara, which it doesn't. The Sephora Inside JCPenney doesn't sell that set, so I just got the minis. Still, now I have 7 high-end lash products to try out, for less than $4 each. I'm planning on doing a comparison of all 7 in a future blog post. 

The last item was also inside of a blogger gift bag, and that was from Zoella Beauty. I'll admit, I don't really watch Zoella anymore. I used to, back when I first started reading beauty blogs and watching youtube videos. I had heard great things about her line of bath and home items, but they aren't available in any stores near me. Now that the line is being carried at some stores here, a pack of Gingerbread Bath Fizzers found their way to me. These smell so strongly, so if you're sensitive to scents, that's also something to keep in mind. There's also a large disclaimer not to get this in your eyes. I haven't tried these in a bath yet, but I will report on how they work.

And that's it! I braved the black friday sales at Ulta, Sephora, Target, and the mall to get gifts for my friends and family and to go to some blogger events. Was it a zoo? Yes. Was I a successful shopper? Yes. 

What do you pick up on Black Friday?