Sephora Haul!

This past weekend was the VIB Rouge 20% sale and last week, I put together a wish/shopping list post (read it here).  I added things to the list that I’d been wanting for a while, full well knowing that I wasn’t likely to buy everything I wanted (given the small issue of not having unlimited funds).  Also, usually by the time I get in store and have the time to compare and look at products in greater detail, I decide they’re not for me/talk myself out of them/change my mind, etc.

This time I feel like I stuck fairly close to my shopping list, with a few exceptions.  So without further ado, here’s my haul:

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (Dim Light) – $22 CAD

I fully intended on picking up Diffused Light given its claims to counteract redness.  Unfortunately, it was sold out. So I looked through the other shades they had available, noticed the travel size of Dim Light and figured that was the next best option.  As mentioned previously, I love samples and travel/trial size products because it’s the best way to try new products for (typically) a lower cost.

Dim Light is defined as a “A neutral peach beige powder that blurs imperfections and highlights a radiant complexion with the perfect balance of warm and cool tones.” To be honest, when I swatched this, I wasn’t overly impressed.  It does appear to very finely milled and exceptionally soft but there is just the slightest hint of shimmer.  I didn’t see how this was going to be any different than any other finishing powder I’ve tried and I was expecting more shimmer or glow.  But I bought it anyway.

I’ve used it twice and thankfully, my initial opinion has changed.  This is the only finishing powder I’ve tried that doesn’t emphasize or stick in my pores.  Hallelujah!  Also, note that if you’re looking for intense highlight, this isn’t going to satisfy that need.  Instead, it gives you a natural, glow from within look that I just love.  So far, I’m really enjoying this!

Too Faced Born This Way Foundation (Porcelain) – $39 CAD

I had full intentions of visiting Sephora early last week to pick up a couple of foundation samples before committing to a full-size purchase.  That didn’t happen.  Instead, I read a bunch of reviews online on this and the MUFE HD Foundation and ended up going with the Too Faced version.  Both had similar reviews but this one had been on my list for longer so it won.

So I’ve used this twice and so far….I’m not impressed with its staying power.  The colour match is pretty much a perfect match to my skin but after about 5 hours of wear,  I had very little of it left behind.  I’m going to experiment with a variety of primers and powders and I hope I can find something that makes it stick around a little longer  Stay tuned!

Buxom Customizable Eyeshadow Bar Palette – $50 CAD

The amount of time I spent trying to decide which eyeshadow palette I wanted was a little embarrassing.  I had given myself quite a few (aka too many) options including the Kat Von D Shade & Light Palette, Too Faced Chocolate Bar, and Tarte’s Showstopper Palette, plus Buxom’s Dolly’s Wild Side  My thought process on choosing Buxom sounded like this: First stop – Kat Von D; decided I didn’t want just matte shades.  Up next the Chocolate Bar Palette – pretty colours but more shimmery/glittery shades then I realized.  Third stop – the Showstopper Palette.  Decided I wasn’t crazy about the blush or highlighter.  That left me with Buxom.  Originally I wanted Dolly’s Wild Side palette, mainly because of the shade Wild Nights.  I looked at that palette and noticed there were only 2 matte shades in it – so I decided to make my own.  This all seems very logical now, but I spent a lot of time going back and forth between all 4 brands to get to that point. Yah, I’m a bit indecisive.  Anyway, in the end, I picked the following:

From left to right:Silk Sheets (Chai Luster) ; Feather Boa (Matte Pastel Pink); Lingerie Lover (Matte Mauve); Spoiled Sexy (Matte Deep Mauve); Haute Couture (Metallic Java); Wild Nights (Shimmering Sugar Plum)

You’ll notice that this doesn’t look too different from the Dolly palette, and that’s because I used 4 of the shades included in that, in my custom palette.  In place of Champagne Buzz (shimmering pearl) and Mink Magnet (metallic bronze), I used Haute Couture and Feather Boa.

Wild Nights is so gorgeous and quite pigmented.  I wouldn’t consider the other shades to be intensely pigmented but they have a decent colour payoff and are buttery and smooth to apply.  Overall, I’m really happy with this purchase and I love the fact that I can purchase refills for it!  It was fun customizing my own palette too!

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara – $30 CAD

I’m not going to go into too much detail about this because I’ve done a review on it and stated how much I love the little sample size I received with the Too Faced Most Loved Set.  I’ve already used this a few times and nothing has changed, the full-size is still as fantastic!  The only thing I was surprised about was how heavy the tube is – it’s got some serious weight!  I think because the tube is made out of metal.  So maybe not the best option for traveling.  However this is easily the best mascara I’ve tried all year.

Bare Minerals Skin Rever-Upper – $26 CAD

Again, no need to get into too many details about this, I’ve done a review on it here.  This is my favorite lightweight daily moisturizer.  I just used up a bottle of it so this was a re-purchase.  For whatever reason on sephora.ca they say this product is not available in Canada but I purchased this in store?  I have a bad feeling that this is being discontinued which I’m hoping is not the case!

Too Cool for School Egg Cream Sheet Mask – $6 CAD

Sheet masks have grown on me and I couldn’t help but look through the selection of them while I was waiting in the checkout line.  This one sounds a little gross but I was also intrigued by it as well.  I read some of the reviews on Sephora’s website and the consensus seems to be that people either love it or hate it so I’ll be sure to do a review on it once I’ve used it!

Marc Jacobs Decadence Rollerball – $28 CAD

The more I wear this fragrance, the more I love it.  It’s only been two days and I can’t stop smelling myself.  It’s just the perfect fall/winter scent and it lasts!  One of my biggest pet peeves is paying a lot of money for perfume, using it and not being able to smell it. Not as in having a cloud of fragrance around you when you walk by, but as in, getting little whiffs of it throughout the day.  Also, I loved the packaging on this – its hard to see in the picture but the little box was covered in soft green velvet!  The full size of this is going on my Christmas list!

POINT PERKS

Buxom Objects of Obsession (500 points)

I was obviously on a Buxom kick that day and when I saw this set on display, I couldn’t help myself.  The set includes:

Mascara Bar Big & Bushy in Show-Off Black (0.16 oz)
Hold The Line™ Waterproof Eyeliner in I’ll Be Waiting (0.02 oz)
Full-On™ Lip Cream in Kir Royale (0.07 oz)
Full-On™ Lip Polish in Sophia (0.07 oz)

So far I’ve only tried the Lip Cream and I wasn’t sure about it at first – application can be a little patchy.  But once I applied a second coat, the patchiness went away.  I love the shade – it’s kind of a light cranberry colour and its perfect for fall.  It smells like vanilla but leaves a cooling/tingly sension on your lips.  It is slightly tacky and because it’s a fairly thick gloss, it won’t survive through eating or drinking.  But it does leave a bit of stain behind on your lips which was kind of nice!  I’m looking forward to trying the pink shade (although it does look a little sheer)!  The eyeliner is a silvery/gun-metal gray and I own nothing like it so I’m excited to use that  And I’m a mascara connoisseur so I’m intrigued by it as well (although that may be one of the worst product names I’ve ever heard).  Overall, pretty impressed with this kit!

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Intense Hydration (100 points)

I kind of feel like I may be losing my mind.  Did FAB not used to have an ultra repair cream just for hands? I swore they did but maybe not.  Regardless, this used to be my favourite hand cream for the winter months as I often suffer from severely dry hands and excema on top of that.  This used to be the only thing that helped.  I feel like this has a thinner consistency since the last time I used this but it still seemed to work  I’ve only used it once so I will report back once I’ve gone through the tube entirely.

Bite Beauty Lip Lab Trio in Kir Royal (250 points)

I actually picked up this limited edition set a couple of weeks ago and thought I’d might as well throw it in here.  This is a 3 piece set that includes:

Mini Luminous Crème Lipstick in Kir Royale
Mini Lush Fruit Lipgloss in Kir Royale
Signature Bite compact mirror

Is it weird that I now own two lip products with the same yet not that common name (Kir Royale)?  I thought it was.  Anyway, I’ve worn the lipstick once and while the colour is super opaque and intense, it’s so creamy that it very easy slipped outside of my lip line.  You need a lipliner with this.

On the other hand the lip gloss is gorgeous – super pigmented and creamy and an absolutely gorgeous bright raspberry shade.  I’ve used Bite’s lip glosses before and always been impressed with them, and this was no exception.

The little compact mirror was a bit of a disappointment – it looks like a button pin without the pin.  I suppose its small and light so easy to throw in your purse but I didn’t feel it was anything special.  However, I didn’t get the set for the mirror, so no biggie!

2015 VIB Rouge Renewal Gift

Congratulations to me!  I qualified for VIB Rouge for 2016!  Is that something to be proud of – I’m not sure.  Either way, I received a gift for it.  Inside this little box was an exclusive shade of Marc Jacobs lipstick:

I’ve never tried anything by Marc Jacobs so receiving this was exciting – plus while the red looks more warm/orange I was happy see that it swatched more cool/pink which will work great with my skin tone.  If I’m being honest though, I feel like VIB Rouge members should get a full-size product or at least more than one product as a reward for qualifying.   It takes quite a bit of purchases to make it to VIB Rouge and in general I don’t the benefits between VIB and Rouge to be that different.  Last year I know they sent me a survey asking about my thoughts on their rewards program so I hope they do the same this year so I can give them my feedback.

And that’s all folks! Well, not quite.  I did pick up a few gift sets that I’m not going to post on here just in case the intended recipient happens to visit my blog.  All in all, it was fun picking out everything.  After I’ve used these products a little longer I will be sure to post updated reviews on all of them.

If you shopped at the Sephora sale this past weekend, let me know what you picked up!  And as always, thanks for reading!

Review: Too Faced Most Loved Set

I have a confession to make: I love samples.  And I love sample sets even more.  Why?  Because I HATE shelling over major bucks to purchase a full size product to try out only to discover that they don’t work for me.

I came across this Too Faced Most Loved Set at Sephora a few months ago and at the time, I was going to purchase the full sizes of the Chocolate Soleil Bronzer and one of their Long Wear Lipsticks.  When I saw this set and all that it included, those were quickly forgotten.  Not only did it include smaller sizes of the lipstick and bronzer, but it included 3 other samples including their Better Than Sex mascara which I have been wanting to try for a long time.

Unfortunately it appears as though this set is no longer available online (either via Sephora or the Too Faced website).  I believe this was limited edition set but I have seen some of them available in store at Sephora.   I’m not sure why they’d make this limited edition as it seems like it’d make it a good staple product but I guess that’s not for me to understand!   I paid $32 CAD for this and I found it at Sephora in what I like to refer to as crack corner (the section stuffed with all kinds of great little products near the checkout).

Now, on to my reviews of each item included in the set:

Hangover Face Primer

This primer had to be the dark horse of this entire box.  I took a quick look at it when I opened up the set but when I saw the words “Coconut Water” it made me nervous.  Mainly because a few months ago I was using the coconut milk version of the eos lip balm and it made me break out around my mouth.  So I was pretty cautious about using this but after reading some reviews on Sephora’s website and not really seeing any complaining about it causing breakouts, I figured I’d give it a try.  And I’m so glad I did!

I’ve been using it with my Covergirl Outlast foundation and the combination of the two give my skin a dewy yet natural look.  Which I never thought I’d like because I have combination skin and my t-zone tends to get progressively oily throughout the day.  And I won’t lie, about mid day I do use a blotting sheet on my t-zone, but I don’t feel like I look greaseball-ish.  Just a little excess shine that I can easily get away with at this time of year.

The other thing I really like about this is how much skin just soaks this up.  Perhaps my skin is dehydrated right now (which it very well could be) but it doesn’t leave the tacky, sticky feeling behind that many primers do, nor does it take forever to set.  I can apply this and then immediately apply foundation with zero issues.   The consistency of this is similar to a light lotion and it really feels more like a moisturizer than a primer to me.  Which may explain why I feel like my skin’s condition has improved since I’ve started using this – I’ve had zero breakouts in the last month, which for me is really rare. And did I mention this scent?  Coconuts!  It’s nothing overpowering, just light and slightly sweet.

If I had to pick a drawback I suppose it would be the price.  I feel like $40 for a primer is a bit much but when I find something that works for me I’m willing to pay for it.  I just purchased the full size of this last week as I’m close to using up the sample size.  I have been using the sample size for a month straight and I wouldn’t call it particularly generous size-wise.  Therefore I see the full size lasting me a good long while, so I can justify the cost.  Ultimately this gets  a big thumbs up from me!

Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer

I’ve tried quite a few eyeshadow primers over the years and have had some mixed results.  I have very oily lids and if I don’t use a primer, my eyeshadow is guaranteed to crease. Overall I’d say this worked well – I tried it out using a variety of different eyeshadows and I never had to worry about creasing at all.  It has a rather thin consistency so it definitely doesn’t completely cover up any discoloration or visible veins on your eyelids.  I don’t care too much about that – I do have visible veins but once I apply eyeshadow they disappear or blend in.  But if that’s an area of concern for you, this might not do the job.

If I was going to purchase a high-end eye primer, this would definitely top the list.  The problem being I’m currently loving this e.l.f eye primer that costs $2 (review here).  I don’t see any differences between that one and this one and the price difference is significant.  Plus the e.l.f. version has a doe foot applicator which I prefer over the tube format.  So I don’t see myself purchasing the full size of this right now but I won’t rule it out in the future.

Chocolate Soleli Matte Bronzer

Bronzer is something I use every day, no matter the season because I’m pretty pale.  And I find even a little bit of bronzer makes such a difference with brightening my complexion.  The key for me is finding one that isn’t too intense or orange and can blend well.  When I first saw this one out of the box, I thought there was no way this was going to work for me.  It looked REALLY dark.  And then I swatched it and realized it’s really not as pigmented as it looks.  Which for me, is great.  If you have darker skin, this may be a disappointment for you.  I can apply this and blend it out to the point where it doesn’t even look like I put any of it on.  Is that a good thing?  I”m not sure.

What I really like about this is the scent – it smells like cocoa powder.   Which, on one hand, feels a little weird, like I’m brushing hot chocolate mix on my face.  But on the other hand, is ingenious!  Why shouldn’t cosmetics smell good?  Between using this and the primer, I’m craving something sweet by 6:30 every morning!

One drawback on this for me is the fact that there doesn’t seem to be much staying power with this.  I definitely do not have any of this left on my face by the end of the day.  So that’s slightly disappointing but not a deal breaker for me; rarely at the end of a 15 hour day do I have much left on my face.  I’m also not a fan of the cardboard packaging; while it is lightweight and can protect powder products pretty well (compared to plastic or metal), I just find its damages so easily.  You can see in the picture above what this looks like after some use.  The good thing is the full-size comes in what looks like a beautiful compact so this is only an issue with this sample size.

This little pan is going to take me a while to get through, so I don’t see myself needing to purchase the full-size of this any time soon.  I think I’ll definitely consider buying the full-size when the time comes but that’s a long ways away and who knows what new bronzers may be out by then? 🙂

Melted Long Wear Lipstick (Melted Fig)

As I’ve mentioned before, me and long-wearing lipsticks typically don’t get along.  I have naturally dry lips so anything matte or long-lasting tend to enhance and exacerbate dryness.  Despite that, I was intrigued to try these after testing out a few of these in store and liking how creamy and smooth they felt.

I can happily report that my initial opinion of these was correct.  I don’t find this drying at all, yet it does have some pretty good staying power.  It definitely isn’t transfer-proof and won’t stay in place through eating or drinking but under normal conditions but it does stick around for a good amount of time.  It has kind of a creamy, light mousse texture that glides on smoothly; I wasn’t sure if I was going to lip the sponge tip applicator but I found it actually made it quite easy to apply and apply evenly at that (and I’m horrible at this).

This colour is impressively pigmented.  It’s described as a “rosy orchid” but its more of a plum/berry shade on my lips which is perfect for fall.  One last thing – this does have a scent.  I’d describe it as a fruity/candy like scent which I personally enjoy.  It fades once it’s applied though, so you don’t have to worry about it lingering.

I honestly don’t have a bad thing to say about this!  I’m looking forward to trying out the other shades to see if they are equally as impressive!

 

 

Better Than Sex Mascara

There’s nothing I like more than a good mascara.  If I had to pick just one item of makeup to wear each day, mascara would be it.  So I’m always on the hunt for the next greatest version but I rarely purchase ones from outside of the drugstore.  If I’m going to spend money on an expensive product, it’s going to be on things like skin care, foundation, primer, eyeshadow palettes, etc.  Things that will last longer than a month or two and where I really feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.  There are so many great drugstore mascaras out there that I just don’t feel the need to splurge on them.

And then I tried this one.  And it may have swayed me from that opinion.  Mainly because this has done amazing things to my lashes.  Using this makes them look natural yet dramatic.  I wouldn’t say they look super voluminious but it adds crazy length and definition.  I find it gives them that fanned out, fluttery look which for me, is a hard look to achieve by using mascara alone.  I also love that I can build this up – some mascaras dry too quickly which always means I end up with clumpy, stuck-together lashes if I try applying more than one coat.  I can apply multiple coats of this within about 30 seconds of each other without worrying about that.

The downside – this does flake.  I find it flakes the most when I apply too many coats of it – but I like a lot (I mean a lot) of coats so that could be my fault.  And when I first started using this I found it a bit clumpy – but as it dried out a bit that disappeared.  Despite this, I will be purchasing the full-size of this.  The pros outweighed the cons so I’ll definitely report back once I’ve purchased the full-size and used it enough to see if I still feel the same way about it.

 

 

 

 

 

And that wraps up my thoughts on this set.  Overall, I was super impressed with everything and I understand why all of these products are classified as “most loved”.  They are all most deserving of the title!  I also appreciated that the samples included were of a decent size so that I could really give them a good try before committing to the full-sized versions.

Have you tried any of these Too Faced products or this set specifically?  If so, leave me a comment below, I’d love to know your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!