Calling this a birthday haul is a little misleading. I did buy myself these items for my birthday, but it was with a gift card I was given at Christmas. "Wait," I can hear you saying. "You're telling me you went eight months without buying from Sephora?" Exactly. It sounds like a scary thought, but drugstores have been coming out with such amazing (and affordable) products lately that I spent all of my time buying those up and trying them out.

But there were a couple of things I had my eye on for months and I finally decided to go and pick them up... And, of course, Sephora threw a little treat in my bag for my birthday.

The view from my office.

I know, I know. How boring are these "update" posts? This one is kind of important for a couple of different reasons, though. I've started both classes and a new job at my university! I've been at university for many years, on and off, but I finally feel as though I'm in the home stretch of getting my degree in Professional Writing, as well as minors in Journalism and Technical Writing. My new job also happens to be in the journalism field-- I'm the editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper. It's a very exciting opportunity that is helping me realize the things I want to do once I (finally!) graduate.

Now for the bad news. I am taking 18 credit hours on top of my job. That means that, for a while, my blog will have to take a backseat. Don't worry, I don't mean that this blog will be hidden away in the trunk. No, it will be in the center back seat, where I can check up on it any time I feel I can. While I had originally planned to update three times a week, posts will probably go down to one a week. Fridays are my least busy days, so expect some sort of a post each Friday.

I know that at this point I don't have many followers and I am still trying to find out exactly what place blogging has in my life. But it is something I really love doing and I am going to stick with it and I want to thank you all so much for sticking with me!

Next week we will go back to our regularly scheduled programming. I do have some makeup posts on the way, as well as a monthly favorites post next week and a belated birthday haul with some fun goodies.

I have to admit, I have never hopped on the pigments train. Whether it was high-end or drugstore, I always felt that they were too messy and I couldn't bother with them. But I had heard so many rave reviews of the L'Oreal pressed pigments that I was intrigued-- and when the new Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigments came out, I decided why not do a little comparison?

Sultry Smoke: dry swatch (top), wet swatch (bottom)

The color I bought in the L'Oreal range was Sultry Smoke-- a gray color with blue undertones.And I love it! The product itself is so smooth and easy to apply and blend. I love that it comes with something the press the pigment into a regular-ish eyeshadow-- it keeps the mess at bay. The color itself is gorgeous. Paired with a gray or black eyeliner, it makes the perfect daytime smokey eye.

Downtown Brown: dry swatch (top), wet swatch (bottom)

When I started to see swatches pop up for Downtown Brown, I knew I had to get this color. I thought it looked like a pretty good dupe for MAC's Romp, which is a gorgeous color. And it is a dupe-- if you apply it correctly. This pigment seems to have a lot more fallout than the L'Oreal pigment I tried, though that could be because it lacked the shimmer that this one has. When applied dry it has decent color payoff, but nothing I'm impressed with. But when you apply it wet, it is amazing! And, by the way, this color is perfect if you are wanting to try out a Mila Kunis-type of look.

Okay. So this battle doesn't really have a winner. Both products are pretty awesome and if you were interested in picking one up, I'd say go for it.

Have you tried either of these products? What is your favorite pigment out there?

Ah, Sunday. Technically it's the beginning of a new week. To me, every new week is a fresh start and I personally crave fresh starts. I am a constantly changing human being in every way imaginable and, as I sit on my front porch drinking a cuppa coffee and typing away on my little blog, I find myself thinking about how my blog has changed.

I've only had my blog for a little over a year and, let's be honest, it hasn't gone exactly how I'd planned. When I started this blog, I expected to update all of the time. I love makeup and talking about makeup and what better place to do that than on the internet? And, yet, I found my posts to be few and far between. At times it even felt like a chore-- which seems silly because, with not very many followers, I could have packed up and left at any time.

But something kept me coming back and this summer I have discovered so many amazing blogs that I've fallen in love with. The crazy thing? None of them are makeup blogs. They are personal blogs, photography blog, body positive blogs, feminist blogs, home decor blogs... All of them have been absolutely inspiring.

So, as you may have noticed, my blogging habits have changed a bit. While I still love makeup, and talking about it, I've been posting more 'personal' posts about random things that have been on my mind. Random ideas for blog posts will pop into my head here and there. It's amazing and exciting and makes me realize how much I truly do love blogging. I guess the moral of this blog post is:

I will never be able to blog about just one thing.

So if this disappoints you, if you thought this would just be a makeup blog, I understand if you leave. But I hope you want to stay and witness my blogging journey. I'll still be posting makeup hauls and reviews-- maybe I'll start a Makeup Monday?-- but there will also be, perhaps, a Whatever Wednesday and a Fashion Friday or a Book Talk Tuesday. I can't make many promises, what with classes and a job starting in two weeks (ahh, scary!), but I can promise to stick with this blog.

I hope you'll stick with me, too!