first sephora haul of the year extras: point perks + freebies

Most Sephora orders probably wouldn't be complete without their point perks and occasional gift with purchases. I feel like I mostly justified my recent haul because of these, hahaha. I'm trying out typing paragraphs as well. I like to list things out because I feel like it's more clear, but at the same time I feel like it makes me write more unnecessary things...

First up, the perfumes! I usually never buy perfumes because I have so many from Sephora's samples and point perks, haha. I got D&G Dolce solely for the packaging - how pretty is that! It smells quite lovely as well. There's something unexplainable about this fragrance that I really like, it's floral but not too floral. I won't finish this bottle because it's purely for show, but the bigger version might come home with me one day. I also got Fresh Life because my sister had a deluxe sample as well, and I liked the scent. It's clean, fresh, and citrusy without being powdery. I'll keep it in my bag to use, but I won't be purchasing the full size. From what I've experienced Fresh fragrances don't last very long, probably 3 or 4 hours at most.

I absolutely haaate washing my hair in the winter because it's so cold, and recently I've been blow drying my hair instead of my preferred air drying. My sister has the Bumble and Bumble Straight Blow Dry and I liked it a lot so I wanted to try a different product from the brand, and Bumble and Bumble Repair Blow Dry was up as one of Sephora's 100-point perks. I've only tried it once and I don't like it as much as the one my sister has, so I won't be purchasing the full size. Clinique's Take The Day Off makeup remover, however, I do like! It's oil-based so it does a great job at removing makeup, and it leaves only a little bit of oily residue.

And lastly, the Pantone journal that everything is standing on was the most exciting for me. It was a one-day offer that Sephora tweeted. I love getting new notebooks, especially cute ones. I couldn't find the exact same one online, but there is a brighter version available (also the same alternate one that I have, haha) on Amazon.

first sephora haul of the year

The year has barely even started and I've already made my first Sephora purchases. I'm sure most of you guys can relate! I made two separate orders online... mostly because I wanted some freebies and point perk items, hahaha. I'll write about those in a future post, but for now I'll focus on the goodies I got.



origins | clear improvement active charcoal mask » My sister has this and I tried it a couple of times (without her permission of course). I needed a basic clay mask that does a good job at drawing out all the gross stuff in my pores without irritating my skin or is super expensive. My skin is particularly sensitive to a lot of masks out there - which I guess I should always patch test first especially since I'm aware that most masks make my face burn. This one gets the job done!



buxom | luminizing trio » This is sold out online, so I'm sorry I can't provide a link! The blush in Swept Away, luminizer, and brush are available separately though. To be honest I don't really know why I got this. I did want to try a blush from Buxom and for $1 more this set contains a liquid highlight and a blush brush, so why not. I'm unsure if the blush is even my type - usually I go for corals or rosy/brownish neutrals, but it won't hurt to try something new and out of my comfort zone... Which sounds funny to say, because I think this is a shade most people would reach for!



stila | eyes are the window palette in soul » Samantha from Batalash is one of my favorite people to watch on YouTube, and when I saw that she liked this palette I wanted it as well! She used it in a tutorial and while I'm not usually one to go for orange eyes, she totally nailed it. I literally want everything that she likes - Kat Von D blush in Wish is one of her all-time favorites and I got an email saying it was discontinued, so I'm really sad about that and I'm going to scour all the Sephoras I can to get my hands on one or two. Uh ok, I guess that's enough fangirling over her... for now.

sephora collection | single ribbon hair tie in purple » .....I needed free shipping.

I know most of our resolutions is to stop spending as much... have you caved in yet? :P

haul | sephora sale!

I bought a bunch of new items...

benefit | bronze n' dandy
formula x | prime - base coat
nars | blush brush #20 (returned)
ole henriksen | protect the truth vitamin c spf 50+ sunscreen (returned)
dolce & gabbana | the blush luminous cheek colour in tan 22
laura mercier | foundation primer
urban decay | electric pressed pigment palette
too faced | melted liquified long wear lipstick in melted nude
bite beauty | mix n' mingle lip mini in glace
dior | rouge baume in lili (Rachel convinced me)
yves st laurent | rouge volupte silky sensual radiant lipstick in 3 beige ultimate
yves st laurent | rouge volupte silky sensual radiant lipstick in 13 peach passion (not pictured, still waiting for it in the mail)

...And a few repurchases as well.

beautyblender | royal beautyblender (seems to be discontinued? original here)
nars | radiant creamy concealer in honey
first aid beauty | facial radiance polish



There's (was) three FIVE lipsticks in my haul, which is something very new to me. I used to hate how lipsticks looked on me because of my lip shape. The outer edges of my lips kind of meet at a curve instead of a point, making lipsticks look clownish on me. But that's ok - if I take my time with lipstick application, it doesn't actually look that bad! It's probably a bad move to buy higher end lipsticks, but oh well - might as well go all out, haha.

I returned two items and bought some other stuff with it, though it was after the sale - I'll probably get around to the mini haul/reasons for returning stuff in another post, cause I don't want this one to be tooooo long.

Did you guys get anything from the sale? Leave me a link to your post if you have one, I'd love to see what you got!

sephora shoppin'

'Sup guys! Another Sephora haul here, though it's nothing too interesting this time. I repurchased Clinique's cleansing balm because I'm really close to running out - it's my favorite cleanser right now! People either seem to love or hate cleansing balms, but I think it's the best cleanser I've used so far since it, er, cleanses very well without leaving my skin feeling dry. And this is coming from a girl with super dry skin that will flake within minutes of not moisturizing.

To bump my order up for free shipping, I got Fresh's Citron de Vigne rollerball which I don't like, unfortunately. I think the scent warped a little from the heat, since the bottle was pretty warm to the touch when I got it. Either that, or it might be too bitter/herbal for my taste. I'll be exchanging it for something else, probably.

Pretty much the other reason I placed an order online, a 7 day sample of Ole Henriksen's 3 Little Wonders. I was thinking about using this on my trip to Canada because it's so travel friendly, but I've read somewhere that a good rule of thumb is to never try out new products while traveling since you don't know how your skin could react to it. And you probably don't want to be traveling with angry skin! So far I've used one of the sets and it's plenty enough for two days. Nothing bad is happening so far, so I'm assuming that my skin agrees with it!

Until next time,

Becky

haul | staples from sephora

Hi! I have a mini haul to share with you guys today~ I didn't mean for it to happen, but most of these items are repurchases/things I'll actually use more than a few times. I'm happy to say that I didn't buy everything at once, and I'm managing my beauty spending quite well!

soap & glory | hand food

This has been a long time favorite of mine. It's very moisturizing but not sticky or greasy, and sinks in pretty quickly. I don't have much to say about this other than it does what a good hand cream should do. The scent is very subtle, which I like a lot. I got the smaller size, which is perfect for my handbag.

elizabeth and james | nirvana white

I've been hearing lots of good things about this perfume, and when I tried it on in Sephora I knew I had to get it. It's described with notes of peony, muguet, and tender musk. Even my sister likes it a lot - she doesn't usually go for florals. It goes along wonderfully with my Fresh Sugar Lychee perfume, and it seems to make that last a little longer as well. I opted for the rollerball version because I don't typically wear perfume often enough to go for a bigger size.

korres | lip butter in mango

I had another one of Korres' lip butters in Jasmine. When I went to Canada last time, I slept at one of my friend's places (now boyfriend - wait, whaaat?) and forgot to pack it when I left. No big deal, I could just take it back when I go there in June. Wrong. So wrong. My life feels empty without this lip balm. It's the best I've tried so far, and my lips are very unhappy without it.

nars | sheer glow foundation in ceylan

I've been using the NARS Sheer Glow foundation for a while now, but I haven't found my shade up until recently. I started off with Santa Fe which was too pink, exchanged it with Fiji which was close but a tad too golden, and exchanged it yet again for Ceylan which is perfect! I did feel bad for exchanging so many times - but with their awesome exchange/return policy, I feel like Sephora really does care about its customers (I'm glaring at you, Forever 21).

What are some of your staple products?

Until next post,

Becky

haul | sephora vib sale

My purchases from Sephora's sale, because I have no self control. May I also add that my sister and I bought nearly the same things? The only things she didn't get are the Bobbi Brown brush, NARS eyeshadow primer, and the First Aid Beauty exfoliator. We concluded that it's because she's going back to Ohio in a few weeks and we can't have the luxury of abusing using each other's makeup and skincare for a long time.

bobbi brown | blush brush

I don't know how to justify spending $50 on a brush. Sorry, yo.

nars | smudge proof eyeshadow base

I've been using Urban Decay's Primer Potion up until this point. I've been noticing that it tends to get a little cakey and not blend as well. It's not just the current one I have, but the ones I've used in the (semi recent) past too. Lots of people rave about this one, so I'm hoping it'll exceed my expectations.

tarte | amazonian clay 12 hour blush in exposed

I've heard tons of good things about Tarte, and I've always wanted to try their blushes. I remember Coco featuring Exposed in a post, and it's been on my wishlist ever since.

dolce & gabbana | the blush luminous cheek colour in tan 22

Aka 'why did I spend $45 on a blush??' (blame Claire).

first aid beauty | ultra repair face moisturizer

My sister has a bottle of this and I really liked it, so I bought one of my own. Now that warmer weather is approaching, I don't want to be using a heavy moisturizer in the daytime. This one is perfect!

urban decay | chill makeup setting spray

This isn't a new product to me - I've raved about setting sprays a ton and I always recommend them to people that can't seem to get their makeup to last without touching up. My favorite brands are Motives and Urban Decay, so I get either one depending on which is more convenient for me at the moment.

first aid beauty | facial radiance polish

Got this as a 100 point perk in a deluxe sample, mostly because I'm looking for a gentle exfoliator to bring with me when I go to Canada.

urban decay | naked 3

I'll admit that I totally lusted over this just because everyone else was talking about this. It quickly lost my interest afterward - I was mostly thinking "it's pinky toned, so it might make me look sick." It wasn't even initially going to be a purchase, but once I saw it in store I knew I had to have it even without swatching. It's a beautiful palette, and I don't regret it at all!

Did you guys get anything from the sale? Let me know in the comments!

Until next post,

Becky 

sephora wishlist

( background texture here )

I made myself a promise that I wouldn't purchase anything new from Sephora (repurchases are ok, though) until their spring sale. Beauty products from other stores count too, but for the sake of simplicity I'm just going to say Sephora. It seems to be where I get most of my makeup, anyway. Except I failed, because I bought some things from Urban Decay recently. In my defense, they were having a sale on something that I couldn't pass up on (will blog about it later) and I needed to get something extra to bump up the cost for free shipping. Oh, the ways I try to convince myself...

For now, I'm putting items that I like into my cart and giving them some time to see if I actually want it or not. I was going to make a typical white background wishlist, but I decided to be a little more creative and go for the formatting that I usually see in magazines (fancy background included). It's not much in terms of graphics, but it's a start!