Hi darlings!
My Sephora Friends and Family haul is one of my more popular posts so I thought you might also like to see what I picked up during their "Chic Week" discount week where 15% was taken off your total purchase in store or online. As an aside, I highly recommend signing up to be a Sephora Beauty Insider to take advantage of these and other discounts if you love trying out beauty products or even just a few high-end skincare and makeup products. It is totally free with plenty of perks.
Anyway, let's get started. I agonized over the decision of what to get until the very last day when I made my choices in store. I thought I was going to get big ticket items but I actually picked up pretty reasonably priced items and two more expensive lip products. I will leave swatches until I have used the products for a while and write up full reviews.
I think I'll share my haul in the order I found the items. (Haul items after the break...)
Fresh Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment $25
If you follow this blog, you've probably heard me complain multiple times about my temperamental, dry, flaky lips. They can be perfectly healthy when I leave the house and without almost without fail, by midday whether or not I've put on a lip product, they are flaky by mid-afternoon. My favorite Covergirl glossbalms and some red lipsticks have sometimes managed to make it through the day but on truly bad days, even they have trouble lasting.
The girl at Sephora recommended this to me. I've only been using it for a few days and I haven't really been outside but so far I like it. The packaging is nice and simple and unlike other types of packaging will avoid picking up smudges or dust. I really like the way you can only push the cap on so far and you have to twist the cap on the rest of the way to secure it. It makes me feel like this is never going to come open in my purse. I like the feel of the product. It's kind of between a light product and a heavy product. I can definitely tell it's there but it's certainly not as thick as a heavy gloss. It applies clear and has the same light sort of lemon scent as the Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub. I still think it's a little overpriced right now, but if it works, I'm willing to repurchase it.
Make Up For Ever Professional HD High Definition Microfinish Powder To Go $15
Again, if you follow this blog, you may know that I've been looking for something to set my makeup after building up my foundation for higher coverage lately. Winter and product testing have not been a good combination for my skin. I have never owned a Make Up For Ever product before, and as with MAC (my sole MAC product is MAC Carbon) I've never really been tempted to get one. I had actually intended to get the Tarte setting powder for around $28. But the salesgirl highly recommended this and in this mini size I think it'll last me quite a while (if I like it, of course). I haven't used it yet so I don't have much to say other than it seems like a basic finely milled powder which might get a little messy and the size and packaging reminds me of my L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base (picture for comparison).
I have a love/hate relationship with my Urban Decay eyelash curler. I like that it's nice and small and fits well around my eyes. However the pad falls out all the time so I have to keep it in my makeup bag and the top and bottom plates aren't perfectly lined up which makes getting a curl a little difficult. So I decided to try something new. The Shiseido eyelash curler is a nice shape, not too round so I can sort of maneuver it around my eye and avoid pinching my skin. However, as you can see from the pictures below, it is still pretty wide (about the size of my eye) and if I try to go in directly and grab all my lashes, it does pinch the skin around the corners of my eyes. And it is considerably bigger than the Urban Decay eyelash curler. I'll continue to try this out because a major pro is that the pad is secure and that they have a replacement pad AND that they are carried at Sephora (the Urban Decay one is not). However if elf has the right sale, I might throw their mini eyelash curler into the basket and try it out instead. Curling my eyelashes is seriously one of my least favorite parts of my beauty routine.
My final purchase was the ridiculously overpriced Dior lipstick. I have been searching and searching for something to use for a natural, pink lip with pigment. Because there was a sale, I decided to spring for the Dior because I still have fond memories of Dior lipstick as the first real high-end beauty purchase I made for my prom. I only tried it once out of the store when I got it home but it seems like a nice natural pink on me. I don't know if it wears really comfortably. I might have to put a lipbalm underneath it, but so far I like it.
Altogether, I'm pretty happy with my purchases this time, and hopefully nothing will be going back to the store, those I'm unsure about the HD powder and the eyelash curler. Before tax, my total was decreased from $89 to $75.65, saving me $13.35. After tax, my total was decreased from $96.90 to $82.36, saving me $14.54.
My Sephora Friends and Family haul is one of my more popular posts so I thought you might also like to see what I picked up during their "Chic Week" discount week where 15% was taken off your total purchase in store or online. As an aside, I highly recommend signing up to be a Sephora Beauty Insider to take advantage of these and other discounts if you love trying out beauty products or even just a few high-end skincare and makeup products. It is totally free with plenty of perks.
Anyway, let's get started. I agonized over the decision of what to get until the very last day when I made my choices in store. I thought I was going to get big ticket items but I actually picked up pretty reasonably priced items and two more expensive lip products. I will leave swatches until I have used the products for a while and write up full reviews.
I think I'll share my haul in the order I found the items. (Haul items after the break...)
Fresh Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment $25
If you follow this blog, you've probably heard me complain multiple times about my temperamental, dry, flaky lips. They can be perfectly healthy when I leave the house and without almost without fail, by midday whether or not I've put on a lip product, they are flaky by mid-afternoon. My favorite Covergirl glossbalms and some red lipsticks have sometimes managed to make it through the day but on truly bad days, even they have trouble lasting.
The girl at Sephora recommended this to me. I've only been using it for a few days and I haven't really been outside but so far I like it. The packaging is nice and simple and unlike other types of packaging will avoid picking up smudges or dust. I really like the way you can only push the cap on so far and you have to twist the cap on the rest of the way to secure it. It makes me feel like this is never going to come open in my purse. I like the feel of the product. It's kind of between a light product and a heavy product. I can definitely tell it's there but it's certainly not as thick as a heavy gloss. It applies clear and has the same light sort of lemon scent as the Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub. I still think it's a little overpriced right now, but if it works, I'm willing to repurchase it.
I just wanted you to see how far you can push it down before you need to screw the cap on.
Make Up For Ever Professional HD High Definition Microfinish Powder To Go $15
Again, if you follow this blog, you may know that I've been looking for something to set my makeup after building up my foundation for higher coverage lately. Winter and product testing have not been a good combination for my skin. I have never owned a Make Up For Ever product before, and as with MAC (my sole MAC product is MAC Carbon) I've never really been tempted to get one. I had actually intended to get the Tarte setting powder for around $28. But the salesgirl highly recommended this and in this mini size I think it'll last me quite a while (if I like it, of course). I haven't used it yet so I don't have much to say other than it seems like a basic finely milled powder which might get a little messy and the size and packaging reminds me of my L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base (picture for comparison).
See? Almost the same size!
Shiseido Eyelash Curler $19
I have a love/hate relationship with my Urban Decay eyelash curler. I like that it's nice and small and fits well around my eyes. However the pad falls out all the time so I have to keep it in my makeup bag and the top and bottom plates aren't perfectly lined up which makes getting a curl a little difficult. So I decided to try something new. The Shiseido eyelash curler is a nice shape, not too round so I can sort of maneuver it around my eye and avoid pinching my skin. However, as you can see from the pictures below, it is still pretty wide (about the size of my eye) and if I try to go in directly and grab all my lashes, it does pinch the skin around the corners of my eyes. And it is considerably bigger than the Urban Decay eyelash curler. I'll continue to try this out because a major pro is that the pad is secure and that they have a replacement pad AND that they are carried at Sephora (the Urban Decay one is not). However if elf has the right sale, I might throw their mini eyelash curler into the basket and try it out instead. Curling my eyelashes is seriously one of my least favorite parts of my beauty routine.
Close up
Comparison to eye
Comparison to Urban Decay eyelash curler (Shiseido on left, UD on right)
Comparison to Urban Decay eyelash curler (Shiseido on left, UD on right)
Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick in 366 Pink Icon $30
My final purchase was the ridiculously overpriced Dior lipstick. I have been searching and searching for something to use for a natural, pink lip with pigment. Because there was a sale, I decided to spring for the Dior because I still have fond memories of Dior lipstick as the first real high-end beauty purchase I made for my prom. I only tried it once out of the store when I got it home but it seems like a nice natural pink on me. I don't know if it wears really comfortably. I might have to put a lipbalm underneath it, but so far I like it.
Altogether, I'm pretty happy with my purchases this time, and hopefully nothing will be going back to the store, those I'm unsure about the HD powder and the eyelash curler. Before tax, my total was decreased from $89 to $75.65, saving me $13.35. After tax, my total was decreased from $96.90 to $82.36, saving me $14.54.
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