Sephora recently had their bi-annual sale for members of their VIB loyalty scheme – giving 15% off everything in the store. I had known this little sale was coming and so I bided my time to make an order from their website so that I could get the best deal!
As you can see from the picture on the left, I made quite a large order. However, I am leaving Canada in only 4 weeks time and I had to make the most of having the beauty mothership on my doorstep before I return to the UK. There have been some exciting new releases lately that I was desperate to try and I have to say I am pretty happy with everything in my order…
Sephora Hand Masks
So these intrigued me. I am a huge fan of sheet masks and I always pick them up whenever I see new ones being released. However, these are sheet masks for your hands – basically gloves soaked in a moisturising lotion that you keep on for 15 minutes. They were quite nice, but I think hand cream would do basically the exact same job.
NARS Creamy Concealer
This was a repurchase for me, so I won’t go on too long about it. I really like this concealer, it’s higher coverage and I find that it blends well. However, I’m not loving it quite as much as I used to and I think it’s down to my skin being much drier than it used to because of the cold weather here in Canada. Hopefully my skin gets better during the summer & I’ll be using this all the time again!
Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Brush
I bought this because I was looking for both a highlight and contour brush and thought, well why not get 2 in 1? I do really like the tapered end of the brush (which is marked as ‘light’) for bronzer as it fits rather nicely in the hollows of my cheeks. The other side is an angled fluffy brush which I have been using for powder highlighter, but I’m not 100% sold on it. It works, but I think maybe using a fan brush could be a bit more subtle and natural looking.
Tartelette In Bloom Palette
I have been wanting this palette for so long now. But every time I went into my local Sephora the tester was always kind of destroyed and I couldn’t get a proper good look at it. However when the VIB sale started I decided to just go for it and added it to my basket. And I wasn’t disappointed. This palette is quite my most favourite that I’ve ever tried and I don’t say that lightly. It has the most perfect assortment of shades for me, with a great mix of mattes, satins & shimmers. I’ve been wearing it every single day since I got it and I can’t wait to try some more dramatic looks with it at some events I’m going to this summer.
Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist
Another purchase that I am just over the moon with. This is one of those hydrating sprays that have making the rounds in the beauty world recently, but is by far the best one I’ve tried. I tend to use this after toner in my skincare routine rather than over make up at the moment, as it is very dewy. For me it works best as a hydrating step after cleansing/toning – it kind of feels like the Caudalie Vinosource Hydrating serum only in a spray form. In summary, you need it in your life.
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks
Ok so the jury is still out on these ones. I’ve heard so many good things about these lipsticks but honestly, I’m just not sure I like them. I got the colours Lolita II and Bachelorette, both of which I chose off of online swatches as my local Sephora never has even the testers in stock. I really like the colour of Lolita II, it’s a terracotta colour that is really different from anything I have currently. Bachelorette isn’t really what I was expecting, it’s a bright hot pink and I was looking for a deeper more raspberry-red colour. I suppose thats a lesson in not picking colours off of online swatches! However my real issue with these is not the colours, it’s the formula. They apply quite nicely, but I just find these have no longevity. They don’t dry properly and I found that I was getting lipstick all over my hands from them after a few hours wear – something that doesn’t even happen with my normal non-liquid lipsticks. Perhaps I’m being fussy, but I have other liquid lipsticks that literally won’t budge from my lips when I apply them and they are much cheaper than these. These ones from Bourjois are cheaper and better in my opinion.
Too Faced Soleil Matte Bronzer in Milk Chocolate
Ever since hitting pan on my beloved NARS Laguna, I’ve been on the hunt for a new bronzer. I have to admit, I’m pretty uninspired by bronzing products. It took me a long time to settle on ordering this one from Too Faced, simply because there wasn’t anything that was really appealing to me. However, I am very happy that I did order this one – it may have just overtaken Laguna as my favourite bronzer. It’s matte, smells like chocolate and gives the most amazing contour. What more could you want? But in all seriousness, it is a really great product and I’ve been using it everyday since I got it, which I don’t usually do with bronzer. Too Faced isn’t a brand I’d normally gravitate toward, but after using this I am itching to try their other products.
Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Collection
Ok, so this new launch from Tarte was part of what fuelled me to make such a large order from Sephora. The packaging, the name, the assortment of products.. everything about this collection was just screaming YES at me. So I picked up the Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette, the Foundation and finally the Concealer Brush from the collection. And guess what? I love them all. Beautiful mermaid packaging & gimmicks aside, these products are really amazing. The foundation gives a nice medium coverage without cakeiness (due to it’s water-based formula) and seems to me like the perfect higher-coverage foundation for summer. The concealer brush is double ended, with one side a more precise, firmer brush and the other a fluffier making it perfect for both buffing in concealer & powdering afterwards. I’ve never actually used a concealer brush before and since using this it’s really changed the way I do my make-up. I don’t exactly have anything to compare it to, but I am really enjoying using it. However, the highlight palette (lets just call it that, rather than it’s long-winded name) is my favourite from the whole lot. There are 2 highlighters and 1 (I’m assuming) all over face powder in the palette and they are just beautiful. I find the highlighters more wearable than say something like Champagne Pop and so I’ve been wearing these, you guessed it, everyday.
