LIME CRIME BLACK FRIDAY HAUL

I'm not a big hauler, in fact prior to this year I'd rarely ever really bought any makeup ever since my terribly melodramatic Youtube days (retrospectively, I was awful and should have done a lot more video editing practice- and really still should.) 

I'm also not too great at taking product shots, or even making products look generally more appealing. 

But! I love makeup. It is my passion, my hobby, my art, everything that helps me feel creative. Getting back into makeup has really been the one thing that's been grounding my through my downs of this year, and being able to do something that still makes me feel a little more normal, that I actually can feel productive and healthy doing- that's been so important to me.  

I'm so lucky to be able to get these, but also that these were on a massive sale during Black Friday! 

This was all 25% off, plus another 15% = so 40% off plus a couple of freebies were on offer depending when you ordered. I actually made two orders because I wanted to catch the second 15% off, and most of this was actually for Christmas presents.
(As of the 26th of December 2018, the whole site is actually offering up to 75% off sale!)

The best part about Black Friday sales was that most brands were offering lowered rates for International shipping, which is really where I tend to struggle with the most. 

Lime Crime was offering free international shipping over $40USD, which is much better than their usual $12USD to Australia and weirdly enough $40USD to Hong Kong. 

The tiny sizes were great for being able to try out a color and get a matching set for friends and yourself, so I really loved being able to get these in minis. 

I ordered a Best of Nudes and Darks holiday set, a Venus I + II bundle, a lip liner and plushies mini lip kit duo, two full sized Plushies in Dahlia and K, Bye!, and a full sized Velvetine in Beet It. 

Unfortunately, half of these I've already packed up and gifted it to my friends for Christmas, so there won't be any swatches. 

I did however, get the Venus I + II for myself, the bundle was already on sale but another 40% off cashed in the palettes at $37USD. The actual palette originally retails at $38USD, so you're basically getting a dollar off, plus a buy one get one free. 

Earlier, a few months ago Lime Crime had already done a 50% off for all Venus palettes, but I didn't pick any up because of the shipping fees. 

The classic Venus I

I have yet to really dip into this palette, but there are a multitude of reviews out there for this palette. 

The Venus II, I personally initially struggled a lot with regarding whether or not I wanted to buy it at all. 

The color scheme is unique and really interesting, sans the sparkly black, and theres a really thought provoking grungy color scheme that a lot of r/makeupaddiction also seems to enjoy!
However, I really don't tend to reach for these colors anymore, and despite being a unique addition to my sea of reds, I still struggle to really find a use for it - though I am definitely challenging myself to!

For me, I really like the warmer shades in this palette. Mustard, Mud and Jam are pretty much the kind of colors I've been looking for and really enjoy.
On the other hand, Marsh and Filter are slightly less great on payoff, and I find Marsh actually really difficult to work with, and hard to use. Filter isn't bad, but it also isn't a kind of color I prefer to reach for and enjoy using right now.
One thing to also note, Pigeon is the sort of green shift on dark base eyeshadow that literally every eyeshadow palette seems to want to create? From what I know, Club by MAC was the original green duochrome shift on a dark base, and I'm not a huge fan of shifting color bases as they're super gorgeous to look at and swatch but useless on my hooded eyes.
Again - not a huge fan of shimmers.

All that aside, I'm really happy I got these on a Black Friday sale, which sort of justifies the prices a little more honestly!

American indie brands with a strong social media following usually also do a lot of special promotions, I follow Colourpop, Milk and Lime Crime and they usually do specials when new products are released or around special occasions. Sugarpill usually keeps their sales for special occasions only if you're interested!

I have noticed recently that Lime Crime has been creating more nude/pink based shades and not so much of the interesting colors they used to do though, which is a bit of a change in creative direction since Doe Deere has stepped down, but I'm not sure how much to attribute that to her or other company changes that I just am not aware and will be able to know about. 

Honestly, I can't wait to get Black Friday sale periods again, they're amazing.