Surprise Beauty Finds!

Today I ventured into my local T.J. Maxx because I had seen on Instagram that some people were finding the discontinued Kat Von D Shade & Light blushes there and I was hoping my T.J. Maxx would have some as well. I know they had some pretty mixed reviews, where some people found the formula extremely dry and unpigmented, whereas others liked that it was not so pigmented. Since they were on sale, I figured it couldn’t hurt to try them out for myself.

Of course, trying to find stuff at T.J. Maxx is hit and miss- sometimes you come away with nothing and other times you hit a gold mine. So naturally, I did not find any of the Kat Von D blushes, but I did find some other great products, both of which I believe are discontinued unfortunately, but that’s usually how they end up at a T.J. Maxx or Marshall’s. I was also surprised that the products I found had not been swatched already or broken, which is the state I usually find products at T.J. Maxx.

The first thing I stumbled upon was the Stila Custom Color Blush in Self-Adjusting, which is a intense, bright, neon blue-based pink shade, which I don’t think would’ve looked good on me, but would’be created a nice flush of color on those with cooler skin tones. Instead, I opted for the blush in Self-Adjusting Coral ($6.99), which actually turns out looking kind of pink on me, with a hint of coral. Not sure if that’s the “self-adjusting” part of the blush, but otherwise the swatch looks pretty true to the color in the pan. There were a couple of these left in both colors at my local store, so there might be a couple at yours too! The blush is very pigmented, but blended easily. It might be hard to tell in my picture, but this color has some gold sparkle, which reminded me of Nars Orgasm blush, but the shimmer does not translate well onto the skin, as the swatch looked quite matte to me with very little shimmer.

I also discovered a Buxom full-bodied lipstick in Dolly ($4.99), which is one of their best-selling shades, and for good reason. This lipstick formula has since been replaced by others in their line, such as the full-on lipsticks and the Big & Sexy bold gel lipsticks. This product has the familiar vanilla scent that most Buxom lip products have, but it seems more faint in this lipstick. Based on swatches by Temptalia, I thought this lipstick would be much more pink. Though, her description is pretty accurate: “a rosy plum with warm undertones and a soft, pearly shimmer.” I can definitely detect hints of purple in this on my lips, but it is still a beautiful everyday nude shade that brings life to my face and I’m happy I decided to purchase it. There were also a couple of these left at my store as well, just make sure to check if it’s been damaged at all, especially if the box looks a little rugged, like mine does.

Make sure to check your local T.J. Maxx- you may happen upon the Kat Von D blushes, or the Stila blush and Buxom lipstick! I also saw a Stila set in collaboration with Baublebar that had some of their products in their well-known shade “Kitten”, which looked interesting as well.