Winter Ulta Haul + Blog Announcement!

     Tea or Coffee. Cats or Dogs. Spring or Fall. Ulta or Sephora. These are some of life's greatest questions for girls! While the first three things listed might be easier for us ladies to have a defined opinion about, most makeup lovers that I know have a strong opinion about Ulta vs. Sephora. Both stores are great and both have their pros and cons, but beauty gurus usually gravitate towards one or the other for most of their shopping. I'm Team Ulta 100%. I love the bright aesthetic of their stores and branding, and it's so convenient that they carry both drugstore and prestige cosmetic brands. I personally think their rewards program is one of the best out there too!


      Anyways, go figure that Vermont doesn't have any Ulta stores, nor is there one is Plattsburgh, NY (the small shopping area across Lake Champlain in Upstate NY). The nearest Ulta is 3 HOURS from where I currently live! Sure there is the website... but there's just something about actually being in Ulta. Anyways, one of the things that I was most looking to about visiting a friend in Indiana over New Year's was getting to do some much needed shopping at Ulta! I stocked up on all of my regular beauty favs, but of course I had to treat myself to several new things to try as well. My excuse was that I rarely shop at Ulta anymore.... so I had to treat myself... right? 😉 Sharing my recent Ulta purchases in today's post!

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       *Becca Sunlit Bronzer in Bronzed Bondi - I tried my first Becca products this summer, when I purchased their Chrissy Teigen highlighter palette, which also contained a bronzer. Chrissy's palette is a great entry to the Becca line- I'm definitely hooked now! While I loved the highlighters and blush, it was the bronzer that was the surprising star. It was a palette exclusive bronzer that I ran out of, so I purchased the Becca Sunlit Bronzer in Bronzed Bondi at Ulta, which is a pretty close match to the one in the Chrissy Teigen palette. Becca Bronzers blend beautifully and feel like butter, seriously! 

     *Essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara - I have been well aware of the wonders of Essence mascaras for a few years now. Hands down, Essence is my favorite drugstore makeup brand! I've tried just about every makeup product they make, and have yet to find any I really dislike. Many I love and are apart of my daily routine. If you're unfamiliar with the line, Essence is a European beauty brand that Ulta started carrying a few years ago. Select Target stores now carry it too. Almost everything is under $10, most items under $5, and the quality is amazing. So far, I really like this mascara!! I wear three mascaras daily and I've been using this as my second layer to build volume. I think I'll repurchase! 

     *Essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 03 Wow Effect - It can be difficult to find drugstore brand lipsticks that have high quality, feel, and pigmentation. I'm here to report that Essence's lipsticks really are too good to be true! Their Matt Matt Matt lipsticks are just a few dollars, and wear beautifully. I picked up a new one in shade Wow Effect, which has a pretty purple-berry tone to it. I've been wearing it a lot and love it, it's a great color for winter.



     *Essence Lip Liner in various shades: I've tried Essence lip liners before and have loved them! They're one of my favorite affordable lip liners to use. I really can't say enough good things about most Essence cosmetics if you can't tell! I bought some new ones in shades I didn't previously have.



     *Essence Kajal Eye Pencil in Feel the Mari-Time: I love playing around with colorful eyeliners with certain outfits or for fun occasions, and I realized while browsing at Ulta that I've never tried any of the Essence Kajal eye pencils. I love the radiant turquoise shade of Feel the Mari-Time!



     *Too Faced Metallic Gold Palette: I am such a sucker for eyeshadow palettes. This was my big splurge item of this Ulta trip! I couldn't get over the incredible color and shine or these shadows. I love bold metallic eyeshadows, and they're great colors to pair with winter outfits.

     Have you tried any of these products? Or had a fun Ulta haul of your own lately?


     Now for today's blog announcement! Something that I've wanted to do for a very long time is begin an email newsletter for Southern Belle in Training. I hesitated on doing this for a couple of years because I don't personally subscribe to many bloggers' newsletters (because my inbox is already normally so full!), but it finally started to dawn on me that just because I don't personally read a lot of newsletters, it doesn't mean that some of you might not like to read mine! So I've officially launched a blog newsletter. 😊To prevent inbox clogging- it will only be sent out once a month, at the end of the month. As of right now- it highlights a few favorite posts from the month, and it will preview what's to come on the blog in the next month, so you'll be in the know first! I'm hoping to add more exclusive content to it as time goes on.


     To sign up for my blog's email list, just enter your email in the widget below! I'll include that in future blog posts as well.

    God Bless,



    xoxo Annaliese

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