Birthday Haul Pt 2

This is my second Sephora order - this time with the F&F discount. I just repurchased the Philosophy Purity Made Simple facial cleanser. A few years ago, I got a sample from Sephora when this brand was new. I fell in love with their Purity Made Simple line. After trying so many cleansers, this is still my favorite one of them all. It has a nice lavender scent, and it cleanses without stripping the moisture from my skin. I'm eager to try the cleansing oil and the deep clean mask! 

I also ordered the Sephora Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover .

I'm excited to try this one because it is a lot less expensive than the Lancome and Clinique varieties! I'll be putting it to the test with my waterproof mascaras. Yay!

I also purchased the Best of Clinique set. This set contains some of their most popular items.

- 1.7 oz Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief 
- 1 oz Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ 
- 1 oz Moisture Surge Overnight Mask 
- 1 oz Foaming Sonic Facial Soap 
- 0.21 oz All About Eyes 
- 0.04 oz Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Super Strawberry

 My favorite item is the Moisture Surge Extended Cream Gel . This is honestly an HG item that everyone needs to have. It is unscented and provides a really nice hydrating layer on the skin. My skin completely absorbs it by morning and it's just beautiful! I truly love this. A repurchase well made. I'm also excited to try other items in the set like the overnight moisture surge mask, and the chubby stick! YESSS.

Mostly my purchases here are re-purchases. I'm back into skincare, and trying out nice products for the skin. I didn't buy any new makeup this year besides the Naked Smokey palette and a few lip products here and there. Truly, the best makeup is healthy skin :)

In other purchases, since I came home to visit my family on Thanksgiving, I decided to make the splurge and get a new camera. Soon, you'll be seeing my photos taken with a better camera!

After much internal debate and scouring the web for reviews, Youtube videos and opinions from friends, I decided to get the Samsung NX500 . I won't go into too much details with the specs but it's a very nice well-rounded camera for bloggers and vloggers and amateur photographers. What sold me is its compactness, the powerful ACS-C sensor and the visual aesthetics. Who doesn't love a retro looking camera with modern upgraded technology?! :) Great for bloggers and vloggers because of the flip up screen, and smart phone remote viewfinder. 

The lenses are interchangeable, it's got a flip up screen for selfies, fully immersed touchscreen technology, and 28MP with 4K video recording and WIFI. What really sold me is the fully immersed touchscreen because similar cameras from other brands like Canon and Sony have very limited touch mode, and it doesn't feel as intuitive. This one feels very nice and the touch commands are liquid smooth. It uses the same technology as their smart phones, which I think is a major plus! 

I tested out a few cameras before choosing this one - i had the Sony A5100 and A6000 as well as the Canon G7X. The Canon G7X is a gorgeous camera but it is a digital camera. The NX500 has interchangeable lenses so in the future if I do decide to buy extra lenses, it would be more catered for that. Also, i read a lot of comparisons and this one seems to be the most comprehensive: Canon G7X vs NX500

The Sony A-series were nice as well, and probably the most similar to the NX500. What I didn't like is that the A6000 is not touchscreen at all, and has only a 90 degree flip screen. The A5100 has very limited touchscreen which I didn't like. So the choice ended up being very clear. I was looking for camera in the $500-$600 range that is portable and not bulky. I can't wait to use this on vacation!