Sephora VIB Friends & Family Sale - VIB 20% off!!

Well, with the confusion that was the Sephora October Friends & Family sale over... (Which was limited to "actual" friends and family this year, unlike previous years where it was a free for all and anyone could use a code...) VIBs are axiously checking their mail boxes and email inboxes for the rumored 20% off VIB sale (comparable to past public Sephora F&F sales that were held during this time of year) to begin...

It is rumored to start around November 8th for VIBs only and I'm not sure where that leaves regular Beauty Insiders this year, although as a VIB myself I do feel it would be nice to have our own reward or slightly higher percentage off like they have done in the past. (For instance VIBs 20%, regular BI 10-15%...)

I'll be sure to post here and on Facebook once the sale is officially announced, but fingers crossed that November 8th is the day - because I have a Sephora wishlist a mile long that is growing by the day!

It's Leap Year Wednesday!

Okay, so I did have pink polish on today... but it wasn't picture worthy because it is chipping and I haven't had time to redo it. I have on Zoya Brie though, which is a gorgeous, creamy deep pink. Pictures will be posted eventually... once I have decent nails again.

I did a fun video for Leap Day though, kind of a "I just wanna talk about whatever I wanna talk about"... and did a video on Sephora free gifts and beauty insider rewards. I also showed the 100 point Dior gift that I received back in January and hopefully will eventually have 500 points saved up sometime in 2012 to get the Dior 500 point gift that is a charm bracelet and deluxe perfume sample.

Hope everyone had a great Leap Day! It was cute that all of the birthdays on Sprout today were for 4 year olds!

Beauty: Things I'm loving right now!

Well, while I've been away moving and stuff - my focus has stayed on beauty items as my main source of enjoyment while shopping. I think I get fixated on beauty items when I'm pregnant because it helps me to retain some sense of self - having the time to put on my makeup and do my hair every day - as well as just generally helping you feel like a human being again on those days when you feel like your body has been taken over by someone else! (Oh yeah, it has.)

I've been really into pinks & neutrals, and have kept my makeup palette fairly tame these past few months. This has actually allowed me to try some new products that I believe will become mainstays in my makeup collection!

Here are some products that I'm loving right now:

Philosophy 3 in 1 in Pink Layered Cake; MAC  Lip glasses in Cultured,  Nymphette, & Prrr;  Diorshow  Waterproof Mascara; MAC Blankety lip stick; NARS Cruising lip stick, Urban Decay shadow in Sin; and NARS blush in Douceur

I'd been using Too Faced lipstick in Free Love forever, so I decided it was time to branch out and find some other neutral lip colors that worked well... I tried MAC Blankety and NARS Cruising - these two lipsticks are absolutely going into my permanent rotation! I love them! Especially NARS Cruising, it is the perfect pink nude lip color and matches my natural lips perfectly.

MAC Blankety lip stick & NARS Crusing lip stick

Keeping with my pink & neutral theme... I also tried a few new MAC Lip Glass colors - Cultured, Nymphette, and Prrrr. They all look fantastic on and are forgiving colors that you can just swipe on in the car on-the-go if needed. (Which is important in my life!) I've been wearing Cultured layered over the NARS Cruising lipstick, and Prrr was actually a color that I hadn't anticipated purchasing until I was in the store looking at colors - but when paired with Blankety lipstick, it gives a beautiful nude lip.

NARS Douceur blush is also a hit for me, the perfect neutral cheek look for Fall & Winter. It is subtle when on and you can build it up for a bigger effect. The color is a pink-ish neutral brown tone and I wear it with Too Faced's leopard bronzer underneath to add a bit of punch.

NARS Orgasm Blush compared to NARS Douceur Blush

Here's a horrible swatch on my arm of NARS Orgasm blush compared to NARS Douceur. I have a hard time getting swatches to show up on my arm...

So I haven't forgotten to take a bit of time to focus on myself while all of this move stuff has been going on. I'm looking forward to getting back into a predictable life routine though, and that includes not having to carry all of my makeup around in travel makeup bags!

New Sephora & MAC purchases!

I've been on a bit of a makeup binge lately, it's so fun though. Some fun purchases I wanted to share are the Urban Decay 15th Anniversary eyeshadow palette, that I ordered from Sephora to also get the Dolce & Gabbana perfume VIB freebie... and a few fun lip colors from MAC. I was super excited to receive the Urban Decay palette, because the Naked palette was such a hit for me!

The palette arrived yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it to see the colors. I'd ordered the palette only after seeing the colors online, and I wasn't sure if some of them would be as wearable or good looking in real life as they came across in promotional pictures. However after I opened my palette, I was happy to find that a number of the colors jumped out at me as very wearable and great for daytime looks.

The packaging was also fantastic, it's a very weighty palette and comes with the cutest velvet lining - with a little storage compartment underneath the shadows. (Note: Be careful trying to open the storage compartment, I nicked the shadow in the bottom right corner trying to get it open after I took these pictures... and eventually devised a successful plan to open it with a chop stick. So I'm not sure how useful the compartment would be in the long run until the shadow is all gone.)

Upon first glance, my favorite colors in the 15th anniversary palette are: Omen, Midnight 15, Vanilla, Flow, Deeper, and MIA. We'll see if those are still favorites once I get a chance to try them out! I'm planning on trying to swatch the colors tonight, so I'll try to upload some photos tomorrow of how they look against my fair skin.

Also included in my box from Sephora was a freebie available to VIBS - a deluxe size spray of Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue fragrance. I'm excited to try it out, as I posted in my previous blgo post - because it seems to be reviewed as a universally flattering perfume. (And I've also heard that almost all males love it on women, so we'll see if my husband takes notice at all!)

And just because it arrived in the mail at the same time that my Sephora box arrived... here are a few items that I ordered from MAC while they were having their free shipping promotion. Blankety lipstick and Evolution Revolution lipglass.

Here's a quick swatch of what they look like on, great neutrals for everyday!

MAC Blankety lipstick on left; MAC Evolution Revolution lipglass on right

Sephora 15% off for Beauty Insiders & VIBs starts today!

Sephora is running a promotion of 15% for Beauty Insiders & VIBs starting today (April 14, 2011) and ending April 24, 2011. As you probably have figured out by now, Sephora is one of my absolute favorite stores...

I was particularly excited to receive my VIB invitation in the mail for this event, because it was totally off my radar! I always look forward to the 20% off or so that happens around October or November, but I had either forgotten about an April/Spring promotion or this is something new for this year. (With mommy brain, I had probably just forgotten about it!)

I'm looking forward to being able to pick up a few things off my wishlist at a slight discount, and possibly pick a few extra things I wouldn't have gotten otherwise with the 15% off. I'm thinking right now of getting the Makeup Forever HD Foundation, a Lancome Juicy Tube, maybe a NARS or Sephora lipstick, and... hmmm, perhaps something from Too Faced just for good measure! I'll be sure to report back with my Sephora mini haul once I've had a chance to go shopping!

In a future post I'll give more detail about the Beauty Insider program and becoming a VIB, I was a member of the pilot program of the Beauty Insiders when it was first launched, and it's been one of my favorite store loyalty programs ever since. If you shop at Sephora, even occasionally, it's definitely worth it to sign up for this free loyalty program that earns you points with each purchase. At 100 points, you earn a free deluxe sample and at 500 points you can earn some pretty nice makeup or gift sets. The best part is, you can save your points until you see something you like, so you don't have to get a deluxe sample or gift set if they don't have anything your interested in and you can hold out for something better.

The 15% off coupon is also available online, make sure your a Beauty Insider (free rewards program) or VIB (invite only program) associated with your online account, and use the following codes to get the discount!
Beauty Insider Code - BICHIC
VIB Code - VIBCHIC