A list of exciting things that happened in the beauty world while I was away

As promised, now that I'm back to blogging (yay!), I mentioned that I would give you a list of the "big" things that I missed while I was away. I'm so excited to discuss everything with you, and I would LOVE if you could update me on anything I failed to cover in this post.

Before I get to the list, I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment on my last post. Your words were like a warm embrace and I am so grateful for the love, support and well-wishes that you shared with me. I am also incredibly grateful to be back doing what I love, knowing that you're here and ready to have a little bit of fun with me again! I'm giving HUGE virtual hugs (the obnoxious, awkwardly-long kind) to each and every one of you reading this right now. Can you feel my hug? Are you wishing it would stop because people are staring? Good. I'm not letting go yet...still hugging...still hugging...OK. I'll let go. For now (insert evil laugh).

So here are the "big" things that went down in the world of drugstore beauty while I was away. This is a long one so sit back, relax and give it a read!

• I'm listing this first since I'm not sure how much longer it will be available: the Burt's Bees Summer Grab Bag is still in stock HERE as of the time of this post. This is a "mystery bag" that always seems to be a great value every time it is offered. It's $25 and you're guaranteed to get at least $55 worth of Burt's Bees products, but you won't know exactly what you're getting until it arrives (you will get at least eight full-size products though).

• Also, the Tarte Friends & Family sale is going on NOW (through 8/4). Enter code FANDF at checkout for 30% off your order.

• MUA (aka: Makeup Academy, which is a UK brand) products are now being sold at CVS! I have some great reader-submitted pics of the displays that I can share with you if you haven't seen the displays in your area yet. Let me know if you're interested or if this is old news at this point (and thanks so much to everyone who submitted pics while I was away!).

• NEW NYX Eyebrow Gels ($7), which are rumored to be a dupe for the Make Up For Ever Aqua Brows ($20) are now popping up at Ulta stores. Click here for some swatches courtesy of @makeuplunchandinner. These are also available on the NYX site here. 

• NEW NYX All Over Balms are now on the NYX website here. I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of these--take a closer look at the packaging here. Adorable, right?

• All 30 shades of the new Milani Bella Eyes Eyeshadows are now on the Milani website and these are also popping up in the permanent Milani displays at CVS. The new Milani Color Statement Nail Colors are now on the Milani website as well as popping up in the permanent display at CVS. I received samples of both lines for review, so look out for my swatches and full review coming soon. 

• NEW Wet n Wild Summer 2014 Limited Edition Eyeshadow Trios, Balm Stains, Wild Shine nail polishes and makeup brushes are now popping up at various retailers. I received these products for review and will be posting pics and swatches ASAP.

• NEW e.l.f. Snow White Collection - eyeshadow palette, beauty book, lip colors, cheek color, brushes, lashes and makeup bags and now popping up at Walgreens. Let me know if you'd like to see pics of these items--I don't want to post if this is old news to all of you!

• NEW e.l.f. Ariel Collection nail polishes and nail art kits are now popping up at Walgreens too. Let me know if you want to see pics--not sure if this is old news at this point. I posted about the rest of the Ariel collection several weeks ago but the nail stuff came out more recently, so I thought it was worth mentioning!

• Inglot has a new Lion King Collection. I'm not sure if this is out yet, but it's the first image that comes up on the Inglot home page, although the image is not clickable. I couldn't find any products in the Lion King Collection  for sale on the site (admittedly, I didn't dig too deeply so they may be there...I just didn't see them).

• NEW eos Visibly Soft Lip Balms in Vanilla Mint and Coconut Milk are now available on the Ulta site here--thanks to several of you for the heads-up!

• NEW Maybelline Great Lash Doll Mania Mascara has landed. This mascara is available on the Ulta site here--let me know if you'd like to see pics of the display, which I spotted at Rite Aid recently. 

• Sally Beauty just changed the bottle shape of their Sally Girl nail polishes to THIS (thanks, @nailmattic for the pic and tip today!). The price is still the same though ($0.99) but thanks to some lovely readers for confirming that you now get slightly less product. I do love that the caps are a lot larger, which makes application easier compared to the old, tiny caps. 

• NEW Dial Acne Control Face Wash, Body Wash and Bar Soap is just starting to pop up at my local Rite Aid stores--you can see all three products here.

• Last but not least, a beauty news tidbit: Encore Consumer Capital, which is the same private equity firm that used to own Tarte (before they sold it to the Japanese corporation Kosé earlier this year) now owns ButterLONDON. 

I am positive that I missed some things here, so if you know of any other noteworthy new products, sales, etc. that debuted while I was away, please please let us know in the comments (and thank you in advance)!  Also, don't forget to let me know if you'd like to see pics of anything mentioned above!