MEGA Truckload Tuesday: I think I accidentally took Santa's gift rucksack.

I have a confession to make. Remember how I kept telling myself I was on a no buy (wherein you try to control all spending/splurging urges in an effort to control the growth of your nail polish family)? Well, with all the holiday collections coming out, I thought it wouldn't hurt to lift it during the holidays. Understatement of 2011. Truth is, I went a bit crazy. So crazy that I was more than a little hesitant to show my loot. It really feels like I must've accidentally taken Santa's rucksack by mistake. Amusingly, there seems to be interest to see it (them?) and so I caved.

I thought this seemed appropriate, don't you think so?

(Image Credits)

But before I do, I have a some teeny tiny disclaimers (don't worry, I won't go defensive mode on you). All the items you'll see were acquired only during the months of December and early January. The photos need accompanying paragraphs in lieu of comments ergo, this will be a fairly lengthy post as there are quite a bit of photos after the jump. Okay, all set? Here we go!

First up, we have some Korean/Japanese makeup that my dear friend, Anthea, sent me from the Philippines through my in-laws. I was curious how these Asian brands stacked up to North American offerings as she's been raving so much about them. From left to right, there's a Majolica Majorca Jeweling Eye Pencil (Japanese brand under the Shiseido umbrella of cosmetic companies), Etude House eye palette (Korean brand), Etude House LUCIDarling Fantastic Brush Eyeliner in High Pixel Black, two different Etude House BB creams (the small one in the front is in travel size), Majolica Majorca Jeweling Eye Quad and the pink tube at the back is a mascara -- Black2 Volume Mascara. All of these, she picked out for me as I wanted to be surprised. Boy, was I ever! Good thing she knows me so well that the colors she picked out are right up my alley. Thanks again, Anthea!

I completely forgot about the lip gloss that came with the others above that it gets to shine in the lime light with a photo all to itself. The name is a bit funny: Dear Darling Roll Roll Gloss, also from Etude House. But it's completely accurate. The doe foot applicator rolls! I've been using it a lot lately and it was hiding out in my purse when everyone was taken out for the photoshoot (that's how I missed it).

What kind of friend would Anthea be if she didn't include some nail polish in the loot (I really do have some of the world's most awesomest friends ever)? I totally squealed when I pulled each one out from the package they came in. None of them have names and all are from the Korean brand The Face Shop so instead of giving you the numbers, I'll just describe the color (unless you complain and I'll then have to edit this). From left to right: pink heart glitter with silver holographic glitter in a clear base, pale yellow (a cooler toned yellow! I might actually pull this shade off!), blue holographic star glitter with silver holographic glitter in a clear base, a deep navy shimmer and a holographic red.

I had a slight obsession with vampy red shimmers so when I saw Nicole's swatches of Rimmel Lava Red, I had to hunt it down. It was one of those "I MUST have it" moments. After doing the rounds at Shoppers and Rexall, I eventually found it at WalMart where I also scored these two 8-pan palettes that I've been looking for since last year!

Maybe I'm a bit of a maven myself as when these hit my local Shoppers, I had to grab some of these well-talked about products to try out. I picked Red Carpet from the Revlon ColorStay line because you can never really go wrong with a classic red. This promises staying power akin to Shellac and other gel lacquers. I also got the base coat because I read it doesn't play well with regular base coats, and also to fully test out how the actual wear time stacks up to its claims. The Revlon Lip Butters have been buzzing around in the beauty blogosphere and everyone seems to love them. I got it in Sweet Tart. I really wanted Peach Parfait but the display looked much like it had been picked clean by cosmetic vultures and there wasn't much choice left. The same goes for the Maybelline Baby Lips balms and I got the two on the rightmost in Peach Kiss and Cherry Me. So far, the Baby Lips balms really are as moisturizing as they claim.

I've been hearing lots of good things about Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, along with Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter. I've been wanting to try both so when I saw this gift set on one of those Burt's Bees kiosks in the malls while Christmas shopping, I couldn't resist. The set cost a mere $4.99 and came with a full-size lip balm (I got the Mango variant and I have to admit it smells yummy!) and a smaller tin of the cuticle cream.

I rarely go to Loblaws or Superstore as the closest groceries in our area are a No Frills, a Micheal-Angelo's and a Longo's. So when the mom-in-law wanted to head to Loblaws to look for a President's Choice dessert (We get along so well with our sweet teeth!) that our humble No Frills didn't carry, I was all for it. While she was wandering the bakery aisle, I was busy checking out Joe Fresh. I was also tempted to get a Milani baked blush that I've read great reviews on but they didn't have the color I was looking for. I ended up taking home these two polishes instead. Three, actually, since it's 3 for $10 or something like that but I ended up taking 2 of Twilight which is the black with flakies on the left. I wasn't sure what other color I knew I wouldn't have a dupe of in my stash so I went with a pale pink, Petal, that I knew I had few variants of to begin with.

Sally Beauty is a den of temptation. Every time I go, I always, always end up getting a polish or something that I wasn't really intending on going home with. They just manage to persuade me.  I had to do a couple trips to Sally's during the holidays as I was running a bit low on polish remover and wanted to try the Beauty Secrets one that came in pink. Both times I went, they didn't have any of the reasonably sized ones. The first time I went wasn't much of a bust even if I did come home without the polish remover. Instead, I found Color Club Gingerbread Man, a nondescript looking gold foil that smells just like gingerbread, and Orly Au Champagne, a matte white shimmer. I also got a big vented hair brush (I forgot to take a photo of it) that was on sale for $4 but was on clearance so I ended up getting it for only $2!

These MAC and Estee Lauder goodies were a Christmas gift from one of my bestest friends. She always gives some of the best gifts! From left to right, that's a MAC Plush Lash mascara, an Estee Lauder travel palette and my first MAC polish in Vintage Vamp. 

Apart from the Kobo Touch that I already knew I was getting for Christmas, Mr. J surprised me with the Nubar Prisms collection! He even went so far as wrapping both presents by himself (with ribbons on top, to boot!) -- a feat considering he hates wrapping and would rather throw any gift in a gift bag and call it a day.

My local Winners is in an epic winning mode lately. I've found sooo many polish goodness on its shelves that I've taken to dropping by at least once a week. I don't always end up getting anything but when I do get something, they're usually a steal. They had some Barielle sets and I ended up with a box of 5 polishes for $16.99. That's roughly $4 per polish! That's easily half price. From left to right, Blossom, Grape Escape, Swizzle Stix, Budda-ful (another flakie!) and Do Unto Others. They also had this OPI You Don't Know Jacque Suede for $7.99 and you know it had to come home with me.

Also a Winners buy, this SpaRitual set was such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. I wasn't even supposed to get it but you know how these impulsive shopping urges can take over your sense of rationality? This wasn't even in the Beauty section. I found it while already in line for the cashier. But seriously, SpaRitual for $4 each? Yes, please!

When you're at Winners as much as I am, you end up taking home a few things that you might not really need but end up getting anyway because you want to try them out. Most of these are already used as I couldn't keep my hands off them long enough to take proper photos. From left to right, Cake Beauty Whipped Body Lotion in Snow Woman (smells divine, like cake or cookie dough when I make white chocolate and macadamia cookies!), a clarifying face mask with kaolin and bentonite clay, c. Booth Tea Tree Toner (spray form = less cotton pad usage! It looks promising but haven't busted it out yet) and a Yankee Candle in Danish Butter Cookie (really smells like warm yummy cookies are baking in an oven and the scent lingers for days). The first three I got for less than $10 and the 623g candle I got for only $12.99 (I saw the exact same thing at Home Outfitters for $30!).

So on that first trip to Sally Beauty where I failed to get any polish remover (but went home with a couple polishes and a brush), I also asked the saleslady if she could possibly put a hold on a set of the Finger Paints Special Effect collection for me. She was nice enough to agree and even promised a phone call as soon as she had them ready for me. She did call in 2 short days to tell me they were ready for pick up but we were swamped with events that I didn't pick it up till a week after.  Alas, still no reasonably sized polish removers when I picked these 5 up, so I ended up going home with a mammoth bottle (photo from my twitter here).

These are in my first nail mail of 2012! I ordered these during Nail Polish Canada's Boxing Week sale with the total coming to about $30 for all (just enough for free shipping!). $5 each is not bad for Zoya, CND and Essie, isn't it? I would've ordered more but Mr. J promised me a shopping spree at Fernanda's (Nubar and Misa!) so I had to scale back some.

On a recent trip to Winners, I found more of the Barielle sets. I ended up with two that I hadn't seen before. I also saw another SpaRitual set but it was mostly pale pinks and cream/off-white neutrals that I decided to pass (a sign that I'm not completely irrational, yeah?). From left to right, Secret Encounter, Slow Motion, Wrap Me In Ribbon, Moody and Skinny Dip.

The other Barielle set, from left to right: Decadence, Snow Day, U-Concrete-Me, Out-Grey-Geous and Falling Star. If Decadence looks out of place to you, you're right. I switched it with another set that was open because I already had the sky blue that it came with (Swizzle Stix).

So there you have the lot of it. I have a sneaking suspicion that I've landed myself on Santa's Naughty List with the way I've been amassing polish. Really, if you think about it, this is an insane haul for a month's worth! *hangs head in shame* It suddenly makes more sense how my collection grew so much from 6 bottles in March 2011 to over 200 today. Yikes.

Hammie says: So much polish in so little time? Where did Carmela's self-restraint go!? My penny pinching self is very much in shock! What did you think? Are you prone to massive haulage phases? Anything here that you'd like us to feature first? (P.S. How are the photos? We're still playing around with the new camera to better get used to it and we've been using a makeshift set up.)