I don’t really brag about my hauls on here unless I know I got a slammin’ deal. Today is just going to be one of those days. Bear with me, folks!

First off, Rite Aid is having a sale on all Revlon eye cosmetics, including the new Revlon ColorStay 16 Hour Eye Shadow quad, which regularly retails at $7.49. Less 40% off comes to $4.49. Smack a $2 off Video Value coupon on top of it, and you’re talking about a fresh-on-the-market eyeshadow quad for two-fifty.

Next, I move to N.Y.C., which while it isn’t on sale, is part of a special deal where any single piece $1.99 or over earns you $1 back in +UP Rewards, which is essentially a coupon good towards your next purchase. I bought four of these, rolling my coupons on to other purchases.

They’re also running a sale on all Wet n’ Wild cosmetics – 40% off. Now, I needed some new eye makeup remover after I dropped my last bottle in the loo and was terrified of it even after I immediately threw it away. Nothing haunts your dreams more than eye things that have been in the toilet. So yes, check, we pick up some new eye makeup remover, for a sweet $1.19. Then we amble over to the Megashield Lip Color SPF15, which generally retails for $2.99 per piece. This is also included in the 40% off sale, plus each piece has a $1 off coupon on it, bringing the price down to just $0.79 per lipstick. I used three of my four +UP coupons on these, which means I only paid $0.04 for each lipstick before tax.

We round out our trip with a Physician’s Formula blush, already clearanced at 75% off of the original $11.95 price tag, and used my final +UP coupon, bringing it down to just $1.98. Score.

Grand total for this drugstore spree, tax included, came up to $15.21, for a total savings of $26.51. I did wind up going to three different stores – the first one did not have the Wet n Wild Megashield lipsticks, and I simply wanted to see if the last store would have anything the first two didn’t (which is where I found the blush). I consider the store-jumping to be pretty well worth it, though. Especially considering none of the locations were too far out of my way.

These sales are still good tonight and tomorrow, so if you’re jonesin’ for some new eyeshadow, or want to stock up on some new lipsticks, you know where to go!

GIVEAWAY IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED!
WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY!

Since I’m so close to my 50 subscribers, and it’s so close to the holidays, I decided to go ahead and do my wee little giveaway early. Sound like a plan? Then let’s do this!

WHAT YOU GET
One lucky winner will receive all of the following:

• Wet n Wild Color Icon “I ? Matte” Palette
• Wet n Wild Color Icon “Little Luxuries” Nail Polish Set
• Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque
• Urban Decay Loose Pigment “Protest”
• Fekkai Advanced Glossing Cream Sample Packet
• Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm Tin
• C.O. Bigelow Lemon & Strawberry Tinted Lip Balm
• …and a handy camo ditty bag!

HOW YOU GET IT
Each of the following actions will earn you entries:

• Subscribe to this blog via Google Friend Connect (Mandatory!) +1 entry
• Tell me what’s on your Holiday wishlist (Once) +1 entry
• Draw me a kitty! (Once) +1 entry
• Tweet this giveaway (Daily) +1 entry
• Post this giveaway to Facebook (Daily) +1 entry
• Link this giveaway on your sidebar (Once) +2 entries
• Blog this giveaway! (Once) +3 entries

Since we’re doing optional daily entries, comment ONCE for EACH ENTRY. That means a separate comment with your GFC name, a separate one with a link to your kitty, another one with a link to your twitter update, etc. Your facebook updates will need to be PUBLIC in order for me to verify that it was indeed posted!

This giveaway will be open until DECEMBER 5TH, 2011 at 11:59PM EST. Entries will be compiled the following day, and one winner will be selected via random.org. Winner will be contacted via email. Winner will have 24 hours to respond to said email with their mailing address. If the selected winner does not respond within 24 hours, a new winner will be selected and contacted.

This giveaway is open internationally, with one caveat: due to shipping regulations, international winners will forfeit their nail polish prize, to be replaced with another item of equal value. In this event, the nail polishes will be donated to a local youth home. Everybody wins! Huzzah!

Studiousness continues, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take a little colour break every now and then. As I lay studying Hellenistic civilizations, I started polishing up my nails with this year’s Fantasy Makers polishes by Wet n Wild. Of all of the polish packages I’ve scoped throughout the years, these are my absolute favourites. Not only are they some of the most comfortable bottles and brushes to work with, they’re also just plain freakin’ cute.

I picked up another bottle of their Glow in the Dark polish (as my old one has gotten extremely gloppy over the schfifty-billion years I’ve owned it), as well as Purple Potion (black with purple glitter) and Creepy Pumpkin (translucent orange with orange and gold glitter). Both of these were purchased at Ulta for $1.99 each.

Despite Black Magic being available on the display at Ulta, I didn’t pick it up. For a black polish with silver glitter, I couldn’t see ANY glitter whatsoever. Perhaps our store got ahold of a bad batch. Has anyone else noticed this sort of problem? EDIT: It DOES seem as though there are two different versions of Black Magic floating around, from what I can see from the Intarwebs. Seems odd that our display would specify that it had glitter when it does, though. WTH, WNW?

I have no idea why I did this – it was something entirely improvised, and I’m not even sure if I was really using my brains at all when it happened. I was just looking through my polish box, and slapped on a white base (Wet n Wild Wild Shine ‘French White Creme’). I saw tape, and I figured I’d do stripes. I saw black (Wet n Wild Wild Shine ‘Black Creme’), and slapped that on over the tape. And as if that weren’t stupid enough, I saw fit to dot my nails with one, solitary dab of red (Wet n Wild Wild Shine ‘Red Red’).

Brains are overrated. Call me nuts, but I actually quite like it. Lines could be more uniform, but that’s what you get for working with tape rather than pre cut strips. I just need to let it set and clean up the edges before heading to work.

Too late for Memorial Day… too early for Independence Day. What’s the deal? Not sure. But I just felt like doing a red, white & blue look this week.

Sally Hansen Complete Care Extra Moisturizing 4-in-1 Treatment
Wet n Wild Wild Shine in French White Creme (449C)
Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Red Red (414A)
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue (420)

I decided to pick up a few more of the $0.99 Wet n Wild polishes, based on my success with the black polish. Using the white as a base for my marble, I noticed that it took two coats for an opaque application. Not too shabby, as I do prefer wearing at two coats of colour. On the down side, the brush was total crap. Nothing that a pair of scissors can’t fix, but still…