Sephora Fragrance Sampler Reviews

Two great gift giving options from Sephora Favorites!

Sephora VIB Sale Hauls!

Here is my collective haul from the Sephora VIB sale in November! It is the best time of year to stock up on the products you use most often and also a great time to try out new things as well - during this once yearly sale at Sephora.

Sephora VIB Sale - 20% off

It's confirmed!

Sephora sale for VIBs starts November 8, 2012 through November 12, 2012 - use your email with barcode in your store for your 20% off or use code 'CELEBRATE' online during the VIB event.

There will also be a VIB in-store party on Thursday November 8, 2012 in the evening. Check your email for your invite!

What's in my purse makeup bag?

My purse makeup essentials!

- Sephora Mineral Makeup compact
- Too Faced Pink Leopard mini compact
- Too Faced Flat Kabuki Brush
- Dior Addict Gloss in Draped Lilac (Nordstrom LE)
- Too Faced Lipstick Lip of Luxury in Free Love
- Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Peek-a-Boo
- Tory Burch sunglasses fabric case
- Sephora hairband

My 2012 Sephora Friends & Family Sale Wishlist!

Here are a few things that I have my eye on for the upcoming Sephora VIB/Friends & Family sale (what will this be called?) - and I'm hoping that it is announced soon before my list grows any longer!

Korres Radiance Revealed Wild Rose Brightening Duo:

At $48, this set is a steal! You basically buy the cream and get the wash for free. I've been enjoying my Wild Rose eye cream by Korres, so I'm looking forward to trying other items from the Wild Rose line!

Bobby Brown Creamy Concealer Kit:

I've been needing a replacement concealer for my now discontinued Sephora creamy concealer that I use under my eyes since I've almost run out - and this seems like it should do the trick!

Tarina Taratino Fuschia Brush set:

They're pretty! They're pink! They seem functional! Need I say anymore?

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes eyeliner in Shimmering Plum:

I've been wanting a nice purple shade eyeliner for quite a bit, and this seems like it will be perfect!

Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lipstick in Antique Pink:

My favorite lipstick by Too Faced (Lip of Luxury in Free Love) has now been discontinued as well, so I'm on the hunt for a suitable new favorite. This may take some searching, but this Laura Mercier shade does look lovely.

Philosophy Full of Fortune Cookie Shower Gel:

My all time favorite Philosophy shower gel, which is limited edition and I'm just waiting for it be discontinued since I love it so much! I might have to get two just in anticipation of it no longer being available!

And that is the general gist of it! There always seems to be a few changes right before I submit my yearly sale order - but these are the things that I'm thinking about the most right now!

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!

Tarte Carried Away Collector's Set Review!

I've enjoyed this collector's set from Tarte so much, that I had to review it and share my favorite parts of this set!

All around, it is just an incredibly great value - 24 shadows and 8 deluxe sample size glosses would be well worth the $54 retail price... but with the additional deluxe sample size blush, full sized face brush, deluxe sample mascara, deluxe sample finishing powder, & great travel bag that is included... It makes me feel fortunate that I paid as little for the set as I did!

There are a number of stand out shadows in the palette...

- From the purple quad: Boston Brick, Spanish sangria, & Napa grapes - beautiful and unique purple tones that blend nicely together

- From the top right quad: Pearl River - a gorgeous base color that looks great all over the lid and up to the brow; Seychelles Sand - a matte gray with a hint of taupe that is great for layering

- From the top left quad: snowfall in Paris - lovely cream with a hint of gold shimmer that is great as a base or highlight; pyramid gold - subtle gold tone tan that looks lovely on the lid

- From the bottom left quad: Iceland Air, Mystic Seaport, & concrete jungle - combine for a stunning blue tone look

The shadows have above average staying power - especially when combined with my NARS Pro Prime eyeshadow primer - and I'm happy with the pigmentation in all of my favorite shadows. There are one or two shadows that I feel aren't as wearable or maybe don't have much pigmentation - but honestly, for 20 out of the 24 shadows to be winners is an overall win in my book!

And in my opinion, all of the glosses are great... not too sticky, great consistency, and moderate staying power. My favorites are the colors with a bit of shimmer to them - but all of the colors have been winners to me. I especially like them over the Dior Addict lipstick, Pink Cherie.

Also with this set, you get three deluxe sample sized products: Smooth Operator finishing powder; Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara; and Adventurous Blush (shimmering rose).

The Tarte face brush included is a full size and decent quality - I've especially liked using it to apply the  blush from the set. The Adventurer bag that the set is housed in is pretty good quality and is laid out well for travel. It has a large mirror on the inside so that you could put everything you need to do your makeup in the bag and finish it while on the go!

I think this set would make a great gift for anyone that loves makeup and is perfect if you're wanting to try out multiple items from the Tarte brand. My final verdict: It is worth the money and a great value for all of the items that are included in the set! This will be one of my favorite beauty items for Fall & Winter!

Chicago Shopping Vlog & Haul!

We had a great time shopping Michigan Avenue in Chicago! I did just a brief mini vlog of the day... not much time for filming between the shopping and keeping up with babies! I did get a few cute shots though, Bella was especially excited about the horses and the stickers...

Mini Vlog:

Shopping Haul!

Favorite Pre-Fall Makeup Looks #1 & #2

Two of my favorite looks for the early months of Fall 2012!

Look #1 includes items from MAC Cosmetics, Dior, & Too Faced:

Full product list:
- Prime Time Primer
- Amazing Cosmetics Concealer
- Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 110
- Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil to set
- NARS Mata Hari blush
- Too Faced Pink Leopard bronzer
- MAC eyeshadows: Vanilla, Naked Lunch, Era, & Satin Taupe
- Dior Extreme Addict Lipstick in Bow Cherie
- Dior Addict Gloss in 157
- Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara

Look #2 includes items from Urban Decay, MAC Cosmetics, & Chanel:

Full product list:
- Bare Escentuals Prime Time Primer
- Amazing Cosmetics Concealer
- Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Compact in Beige Rose 22
- Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush
- MAC Cosmetics Mineralized Skinfinish in Medium
- Bare Escentuals Full Face Brush
- Too Faced 'Who's your Poppy?' blush
- Sonia Kashuk blush brush
- Too Faced Pink Leopard bronzer
- Too Faced Teddy Bear Hair blush brush
- Too Faced Candlelight Highlighter
- Sephora fan brush
- Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette: Bootycall, Suspect, Tease, & Snakebite
- Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow brush
- Urban Decay lid primer
- MAC Cosmetics lipstick in Patissiere
- MAC Cosmetics lip glass in Evolution Revolution

Beauty Blender vs. Sigma F80 Foundation Brush

I've been enjoying using my Beauty Blender (pink sponge) and Sigma F80 to apply foundations lately. I've found that I prefer applying liquid foundations with the Beauty Blender sponge, and cream foundations with the Sigma F80 Brush.

The Beauty Blender does a great job of applying the right amount of product to give a flawless and natural daytime look, while I find that the Sigma brush gives a heavier application with liquid foundation (so good if you're wanting a full coverage look) - I like that the F80 makes cream blush look equally as light and flawless for daytime as the Beauty Blender is with liquid foundation.

In my review comparing the two, I use the Make Up For Ever HD Foundation to show the difference in the application of a liquid foundation.

Dior Summer & Fall 2012 Makeup Haul!

I was super excited about the Fall 2012 Dior collection, so I decided I needed to get to Nordstrom's ASAP to look at the items in person... Sure enough, they are gorgeous and saturated taupe-y neutrals - perfect for a crisp Fall day when you just want to toss a cardigan & scarf on before you go... I do love my neutrals.

Also a few fun lipsticks for summer caught my attention, my favorite being Dior's Palace - a gorgeous Coral color that has just enough color without being over the top!

Shown:
- Dior Fall 2012 Golden Savannah Eyeshadow Palette
- Dior Fall 2012 Wild lipstick
- Dior Palace lipstick
- Dior Bow Cherie lipstick
- Dior Pink Cherie lipstick

Michigan Shopping Haul!

As a follow-up to my Michigan shopping videos... I wanted to share my Michigan "shopping haul"! We had a great time visiting and I did just a bit of shopping, anticipating that my birthday would be coming up in May. I took a few trips to Sephora, ordered another pair of Tory Burch shoes from Saks Fifth Avenue, and had some fun Zoya polish waiting for me when I got home!

My haul!
Zoya polishes: Lotus, Chloe, Gilda, Rory, Kimber, Zuzu
Dior polish: St. Tropez
Chanel Aqualuminere Compact
Tory Burch Revas in Royal Tan
Sephora: Complexion Kit, Sephora makeup bag, Philosophy Full of Fortune shower gel, Too Faced lipstick in Free Love

I hopefully will be sharing my "birthday haul" in the next week or two, which will be comprised of mostly beauty items!

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!

My Sephora & Ulta "semi-haul" video ;)

I hate the word haul... but here are some recent purchases that I made in January & February from Sephora, Ulta, & Narscosmetics.com.

Tarina Tarantino Magical Palette - Review and Look Idea!

I picked up the Tarina Tarantino 'Magical' eye shadow palette at Sephora the other day because I wanted a bit of color to mix up my eye look. I tend to use mostly neutrals that are in the Naked or Naked 2 palettes on a daily basis - so when I walked past this palette with beautiful purples I knew I had to get it! There is a great pewter color that works with brown eyes really well, and the bottom deep purple color actually looks like a purple against fair skin... unlike some purples that look like a dark gray or charcoal eyeshadow once you have them on.

I've been using the matte white shade in the Magical palette for highlighting and colors from the Naked 2 palette as a base. I've found that the Tarina Tarantino eye shadows are long-lasting and feel very smooth when you're applying them. I use Too Faced's Shadow Insurance eye primer, so I'm sure that helps the shadows stay on longer as well. The darker purple color in the palette does tend to "shift" on my crease after about 4 hours, and when I get home it looks like I put more of the darker color above my lid than I actually did... but it is very minimal and doesn't look horrible. Just a more noticeable shift than I've seen with the Urban Decay shadows that I'm more used to.

This palette is priced at $32 at Sephora right now, I think it is a great buy to add a few additional colors into your eye shadow rotation. The packaging is beautiful and travel friendly. While I don't think that this palette is going to replace my love for my Naked palettes anytime soon... I do think it is a keeper!

Watch the video for the look I've liked with this palette here:

Here's what it looks like on:

2011 Beauty Purchases... My personal hits & misses

The end of the year is a time of reflection for a lot of people, so I got down to thinking about what 2011 was about for me and it all came down to... BEAUTY. (Well, you know - besides all that mushy, gushy stuff of family, new baby, loving my kids, etc. - it came down to beauty. Ha!) And by beauty, I mean that 2011 was the year of getting my beauty regimen in order.

I tried new products, found some favorites in hair care, skin care, perfumes, nail polish, and makeup - and also had a few misses along the way as well.

I can say that I'm coming out the other side of 2011 with a much better understanding of the types of beauty products that work best for me, some new favorite products, and a developed passion for all things in the "beauty" segment. The year started with a bang, with the Zoya "3 free" promotion and it got me to thinking... what if I took a different area of beauty and focused on it each month. Really honing in on the products and techniques that work best for me, and trying to find my signature pieces.

In the middle of the year, my sensitive skin on my face flared up (because of pregnancy hormones), so one month was focused on my skincare routine, another month I focused on finding great hair products that improved the look of my hair, other months were devoted to nails, eye makeup, lips, etc. I found that I started to gravitate towards the brands Mario Badescu, NARS, MAC, Alterna, and Make Up For Ever - just to name a few. And although it was tough to narrow it down... I came up with a list of beauty purchases that I made throughout the year, that were a definite "don't regret buying it - HIT" or "regret buying this - MISS"...

*~*~* 2011 Beauty Purchases Hits & Misses *~*~*

Top 5 Purchases that "I could have skipped buying this" - Total MISSES!

5) Bare Escentuals Flawless Definition Mascara - It was really hard for me to think of a fifth item that I could totally put in the "regret" category... so this one only gets an honorable mention. In my pursuit to find the perfect mascara (Diorshow won) I tried BE's Flawless Definition mascara - it wasn't horrible. Just nothing great. Nothing to write home about. I found it to to be a perfectly "adequate" mascara... meaning it didn't flake and drive me nuts, but it didn't really do anything for my lashes either. After the first few uses, even its magical lash separating powers didn't really seem to work quite as well, so it just became a regular mascara - with a really annoying applicator.

4) Sephora's Hello Kitty Perfume with atomizer - Sigh. I wanted to love it. I really did. The adorable bottle, the great smell, the fantastic atomizer (of which you can read about my obsession with HERE)... it was the total package. I ordered it online after we moved to our new house in an area that does NOT have a Sephora conveniently located near by, opened the box... only to find - the stupid atomizer didn't WORK! Not cool. 


I realize this isn't exactly "designer" perfume, but for the price - you expect at least working parts. I didn't want to go through the hassle of either driving to a store to return, or having to return by mail (it was right around the time I was due with the new baby)... so the adorable bottle sits on my dresser and when I want to wear it, I unscrew the bottle top and put it on. Lame.

3) Maybelline Falsies Mascara - This mascara gets hype that it works great, even from people that have tried higher grade mascaras... so I fell for it and decided to give it a try, even though I KNOW that drugstore brands mascaras just don't work for me. (I wear contacts and have really sensitive eyes... I can't have any sort of flakage with a mascara, otherwise it just kills just my eyes & contacts.) This was clumpy, thick, and flakey for me... Nothing positive to say about this one. Well... I guess other than at least it wasn't more than $6 or $7...

2) MAC Evolution Revolution lip glass - The color doesn't really do anything for me and I found the colors Prrr, Cultured, and Nymphette after buying this - that are much more suited to my skin tone and lifestyle. ER stays in my makeup drawers, but I could have probably taken a pass here...

MAC lipstick in Blankety & MAC lip glass in Evolution Revolution

1) Urban Decay's 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette - I wanted to love it... I really, really did. This one fell flat on me or just couldn't live up to the hype that the Naked palette fulfilled. The colors were long-lasting, but I found them to be totally unwearable. I'm much more of a neutral gal for every day makeup and don't ever particularly have a need for makeup that is "out of the ordinary"... this was the biggest purchase regret of 2011.

Top 5 Purchases that "I Love!" - Were total HITS! 

5) Marc Jacobs Oh, Lola perfume - I ended up buying the largest size of this when my Sephora was out of all other sizes except the large size during a beauty event, even though I typically always get the medium sized perfumes. I was skeptical I could use it all at first, but now I'm so glad I ended up with the larger size! It's a beautiful scent that works for everyday as a stay at home mom, or is nice enough for a night out with hubby. Plus the bottle isn't too shabby to look at either.

4) MAC Fix+ - Took a gamble on trying this product and I'm glad that I did... I find that it does work to help "set" my makeup and gives me a soft finished look. I don't use it everyday, but I do feel like it gives me a little boost on the days that I do use it.

3) NARS Douceur Blush - A beautiful brown with pink undertone blush that looks great against my fair skin. This is my every day blush right now. 

NARS Douceur blush is pictured in the bottom right corner, with some of my other favorite beauty items.

2) NARS Crusing Lipstick - Another hit from NARS... This IS the perfect nude lipstick on me. Practically the same color as my natural lips, works with almost any makeup color scheme... This one is going into permanent rotation!

MAC Blankety on left, NARS Cruising on right

1) Urban Decay's Naked Palette - This is my go to eye shadow palette that I use practically every day! This was such a great investment for me and I'm actually one year later getting ready to purchase my second replacement one. I started off the year trying out this palette, and it quickly became a favorite. Wearable colors, travel friendly, and long-lasting formula... what's not to love?!?

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!

Hooray for Sephora boxes! ~ NARS mini haul ~

I love the sound of the UPS truck... especially when it has a handbag or Sephora box on it for me!

Today it was the latter, and I was excited to try out some new colors, as well as receive a few freebies with my order!

The first freebie was a makeup set for VIBs, free with the code 'MUSTHAVE' (may still be available, it is good until supplies run out) - and was for a Make Up For Ever set of four items with a cute little cosmetic bag. It came with a lip gloss, finishing powder, mascara, and aqua eyes liner.

My other freebie was the Too Faced 500 point gift, . I finally decided to cash in some points I'd had saved up since I have fairly good luck with Too Faced products, and it seemed like a fun little set.

The main things that I actually ordered... were a few things from NARS. (Which we will refer to as my 'NARS mini haul', ha!) A blush in Angelika, lipstick in Mayflower, and lip lacquer in Chelsea Girls. I was looking for a fun, pink nude lip color for summer - and I needed a brighter blush as well. I tend to gravitate towards plums and darker colors for cheeks & lips, so I constantly have to remind myself to add in lighter colors to my collection every so often.

I've already tried out a few of the products, and I love everything I purchased from NARS. The colors were as I expected them (well, I thought Mayflower was going to be a little bit lighter from it's picture online - but it's still a really pretty color none the less) and very wearable. Angelika looks intimidating in the packaging (which I had anticipated from reviews online), but is very wearable with a light hand. I went into trying it with what I *thought* was a light hand... and I'm going to need to be even lighter next time.

Mayflower is a pretty light raspberry color with a bit of shimmer, it's similar to the popular Dolce Vita - which I also own (I'll try to swatch them to compare at some point)... but it is different enough that I went ahead and decided to keep both. Chelsea Girls is a great nude color to go over lipsticks and give that nude lip look.

I think all three colors are great additions to my NARS collection and bring a bit more of a "summery" look into my makeup options!

Sephora Mini Haul!

I was so excited about the Sephora 15% coupon that I had to stop in to see what fun things I could find to use it for, and also check a few things off of my makeup wishlist!

The three things I picked up were the Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 110, NARS lipstick in Dolce Vita, and Sephora Collection gloss in Forever Pink.

With Flash

I finally got the Make Up For Ever HD Foundation to try - and I have to say... I'm loving it! It's exactly what I was looking for in a liquid foundation. (I'm used to using Bare Escentuals, so I knew I couldn't use anything TOO heavy, or TOO perfume-y.) It is really light, feels nice on your face all day long, and doesn't get cake-y or dry. It also doesn't have any type of perfume odor to it, which I appreciate - because my sensitive skin goes crazy when manufacturers put unnecessary scents into face products.

NARS Dolve Vita lipstick is a nice, neutral pink color that looks extremely dark in the tube in real life, but goes on a nice neutral pink color once you put it on your lips. More like what the color shows up as in the picture above with flash. It's a great Spring lipstick!

And I also picked up the Sephora collection lip gloss in Forever pink on a whim, because I tried it in the store and loved it! It's a glossy pink that gives just a hint of shimmer and pinkness once it's on, perfect for going over a lipstick (I've already tried it over Dolce Vita and give it a thumbs up) or on it's own.

Without flash

The Sephora 15% off coupon can be used multiple times until the expiration date, so I may have to make one more trip to the store just for good measure!

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