December Sephora Play!

The last box of the year and it came on December 23rd. Seriously. I usually get my box from 10-20. I feel like it took FOREVER! Okay, I’ll stop complaining. lol. I really do love the Sephora Play subscription that I get every month. Some months are better than others, but overall, I think you get good bang for your tenner. I might not use everything immediately, but I am happy to try everything that I can. I am rotating through my makeup collection and making it a big priority next year that if I don’t love something, I give it away. If it is too old, throw it out. If I’m not loving it, it isn’t worth the effort to use it up or pan it.

I love the bag! It is very cute, but I really don’t have a need. I usually just donate these bags away to be recycled and proceeds goes towards a local charity. I’m actually going to be using my card, because I am hitting up Sephora. I want to buy something during the 20% off sale and possibly cash in some points.

Drybar Triple Sec, 0.35 oz for $2.17

This is a 12th of the full size, so to me it seems like a tiny sample. I would have at least liked to have seen a half of an ounce for a hair product. This will probably only be a couple of uses. I have to use a lot of dry shampoo to soak up the second day oil in my hair. It gets oily super fast. I think it smells nice and I cannot wait to use it once I use up my Not Your Mother’s dry shampoo. So far, I really love the Amika Perk Up dry shampoo for my hair. I don’t have to put a ton in and it really works.

Stella McCartney perfume sample

I love that this is a natural rose scent. I’ve been really into rose scents lately. I would love to receive a foil packet instead of a perfume every other month though. I haven’t gotten one yet and I would really like to. I have too many perfume samples at the moment since I’m trying to work through a bottle of perfume.

Clinique Pretty Easy Liquid Eyelining Pen, 0.34 g for $7

I’m going to say that this is a third of the full size, since I cannot find how much is in a pen anywhere. I look forward to using this when I don’t currently have an eye liner open. I am trying to use up a black and glitter eye liner. I’m pulling it out in January, so we shall see if it is still good or not. I’ll be blogging about my makeup clearing journey, so you guys won’t miss a beat. Subscription bags are great, but if I don’t like it, I’m not going to be keeping them around anymore.

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Matte Au Natural, 1 g for $17.40

This is more than half of a full size! It is pretty close to a full size and way more than half. I am very pleased with the amount of product in this one. This is a nude color that I will be using all of the time. I actually prefer to work with cream shadows, so I am excited to try this out in my January rotation. If it wears nicely on my eyes, I will be very happy. Eye shadow creases on my hooded eyes like crazy, especially creams. I had a hard time getting rid of the swatch so I have high hopes for this one. I would work this on the lid and crease and pop a bright eye shadow on the lid.

Caudalie Vine[Activ] Energizing & Smoothing Eye Cream, 0.16 fl oz for $13

This is a third of the full size of eye cream, so I am happy that it is a really decent sized eye cream sample. It takes me a while to go through eye cream. I almost never need to buy it, because these samples carry me throughout most of the year. I am curious about this brand, but I feel like the beauty world is over it. I’d like to try more of it. I really love the beauty elixir, but I can buy a Smashbox Primer Water for less and get more. I feel like they are overpriced and trying to be luxury.

MUFE Artist Rouge Creme Lipstick Fuchsia Pink, 0.04 oz for $7.34

Another generous size for being a third of the full size. This lipstick is super soft. While I love the purple pink color, the bullet is already being smashed around inside of the tube. I would not buy a full size of this. I will be pulling it out in the spring and summer, but this really isn’t a winter color. I would have appreciated a soft pink or a winter berry.

$46.91 is the total value of this box. I would give this box 3 out of 5 stars, because of the great value and I’m not excited for the lipstick and the black liner. I am excited to see what the next year brings to the Sephora Play! box. I have been really happy with the items that I have received this year. I plan on going through my collection soon and getting rid of the samples that I didn’t enjoy.

With Love,

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VS Haul

Yes, I am finally getting around to showing you my VS haul. I had two $20 off of $40 gift cards and I decided to use them both. I shopped online, but this time, it took TWO WEEKS to ship out and get to me. Like, I got both o my boxes on December 18th and I ordered on it on the 3rd. The good news is that the one clothing item that I bought fits. It is a little big, but I tightened the straps and that seemed to do trick.

My first haul, I only bought 1 thing and I paid $22.50.

VS Satin Romper in Antiquela in Medium

This originally would have been $42.50, so it was a total steal with $20 off. I love the soft purple color and a romper is going to be great in the summer. It’s a shorts and cami combo. I can wear with around the house with a pair of pants and still be decent around my family. It is so comfortable and silky. Hands down my favorite bedtime clothes right now. I love pairing it with my Dr. Seuss Thing 1 and Thing 2 pants.

My second haul, I bought 8 things and I paid $32.52 for a haul that was worth $52.52.

Pink Coconut Hand Cream, 1.4 fl oz for $5

I bought this hand cream, because I don’t have any and now I have two. It has a pleasant scent and I look forward to trying it out.

Pink Sweet & Flirt 2-in-1 Wash & Scrub, 10.1 fl oz for $4.90

I needed some more body washes and scrubs. This is both, so I think it is a great two in one product and it’ll save time in the shower. I love this scent. The notes are sugar berry and pink grapefruit. It is sweet and a bit tart. It is also purple, which is a huge bonus to me. I should be alright for 2018 now that I have this one and the wash from B&BW. I also have a couple of soaps and a Lush shower jelly. I just didn’t want to be without, but for less than $5, I can forgive myself since it goes for $18 normally.

Pink Sweet & Flirty Body Lotion, 16.9 fl oz for $7

I didn’t really need a body lotion, but I wanted the matching body lotion and I will use it. I am currently trying to use up my body lotion stash and I hit a slump. I usually can finish an 8 ounce bottle a month. Once the cold weather hit, I haven’t wanted to sit in the cold after a shower or bath and apply body lotion. I need to just suck it up and do it. I know that as soon as it warms up, I’ll be going through my body lotions again. At least, I know that I do clear out at least 6 8 ounce bottles a year. That is 48 fl ounces of lotion a year. Wow. This bottle is almost half that. I should take about 2 months to finish this bottle up. Whenever I use the body wash, I will make sure to use this matching lotion.

Pink About Last Night Face Mask, 2 for $5

I have never tried a VS face mask before and I was really curious about them. I’ve never spent this much on a face mask, so hopefully I see results. If not, I bought it to try, so it’ll be fun either way.

Pink Let’s Glow Face Mask, 2 for $5

Again, I bought this for the fun aspect of it. I cannot believe that I spent $10 on 4 sheet masks. It’s that time of year to splurge a little, you know.

VS Martha’s Lip Kit for $15

The liquid lipsticks alone go for $14, so this kit was a no brainer. For just $1 more, I got a lip liner and lip gloss. I got the Velvet Matte liquid lipstick in Adored, the lip pencil in Nearly Nude, and the glitter gloss. I’m a nude lipstick lover, so this will be great. No swatches, because it is my Christmas present to myself. I love the magnetic closure on the box and I’ve never known that VS does makeup before.

That is the end of my VS haul. I hope you guys enjoyed and if you want to see swatches and hear a first impressions on the lip kit or anything that I own, let me know. I’d be happy to give you thoughts with the swatch. Happy Christmas Eve and everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

With Love,

November Sephora PLAY!

I’m very late with my Sephora Play this month. I could have blogged about this last week, but I never got a round to it. I’ve been very busy, but that’s not the entire reason why. November and December is a very busy time for me with working overtime, meeting with ABA worker for Dean, Christmas, and of course, Dean’s birthday. Blogging has taken a bit of a back burner for me. I’m hoping to have more time for blogging, because I really love it. Taking the time to write a post during my lunch has helped a lot. I really look forward to it now, when I can squeeze it in.

The bag is okay, but I really wasn’t thrilled with what I got in my box this time around. Sephora had been doing so well and this box was a let down to be honest. I mean, it was bound to happen. I can’t always get the best box. The theme is Survival of the Chillest. I didn’t think that all the products went with the theme. A red lip is not chill. That’s high maintenance at least for me.

Burberry My Burberry Blush

I love the fresh floral fragrance, but I don’t think that it is that unique. I would not purchase this. It is a nice fragrance though, it’s just not for me. I will use the sample up and enjoy it. Who knows? Maybe by the end of it, I’ll want to buy it.

Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara 0.17 oz $13

I’m not totally mad at this. It is a luxury brand and half the full size. I just wish that it wasn’t a mascara. I would have preferred a lip product or an eye shadow OR SOMETHING. I will still use it and appreciate it, but I’m not excited about it. It’s yet another mascara to add to my collection of unopened tubes. I just opened a MAC sample, so maybe when I’m done with that one, I’ll open this one. I have like 6 tubes now? I could use a sample mascara break.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Pore Extractor Mask 5 ml $2.34

This is such a small sample. I probably only have 1 to 2 uses in it. I think Philosophy is alright as a brand, but since they test on animals, I’m not going to be buying this. This is a meh product for me, because it is so small and I won’t be buying from the brand. I’m happy to try out a mask though, because I do mask about 3 times a week. I have oily, acne prone skin most of the time. Clay masks are a necessity for me. During the year, I use hydrating masks as well from all the products that I use to dry out my skin.

Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo 0.75 oz $3.06

 

I’ve used a reviewed this product HERE. I am super happy to have another one of these on hand. Although, I haven’t been using dry shampoo recently since I got my hair cut. I look forward to using this and getting back into the dry shampoo mood. I’ve been washing my hair every other day. Now, I’ll be able to go 1 day longer. The shorter my hair is, the more often it needs to be washed. When it was long, I only washed once to twice a week. I’m washing my hair three to four times a week now. I’d like to go down to two to three washes and this will help me get there.

Farmacy Honey Drop Lightweight Moisturizer 10 ml $9

This is a 5th of the full size, which I think is generous for a face cream. It is close to a half of a fluid ounce. It has cool little honey beads in it to give your face extra moisture. This is a really unique face cream, but I’m definitely a no more than $30 face cream girl. Face cream takes me a long time to use up. A 2 ounce jar takes me 6 months of better. I don’t want to spend a ton on face cream. To be honest, I’m more likely to spend the $30 on a night cream than a face cream. I’ll probably go back to Simple or Cetaphil when I’m done with what I have.

Sephora Rouge Cream R04 The Red 1 g $3.12

Eh. I’m not a fan of how I look in red lipstick. I guess, I haven’t found my shade yet. I’m glad it’s just a mini. I’m going to just wear this around my house. I find it drying on the lips, so when I put this in my December makeup bag, I know I’ll be reapplying it often in order to get rid of that drying feeling on my lips. I tested it out today and I’ve had it on for an hour before touching up. I just had products that make my lips feel dry. If it’s a color I like, I add a gloss, but I just want to use this red up. I need a vampy red or a berry red. A true orangey red like this one doesn’t look good an neither do the pinky ones.

I would give this box 2 out of 5 stars. I love the Amika dry shampoo and I’m only half excited for the mascara and face cream. I hope December brings a better bag or at least more interesting products that are new to me. I just feel blah about this bag. Nothing truly excited, except for a product I know I like and have considered buying the full size off. This is a good way for me to finally decide to put it on my Love’s List or not.

With Love,

November Makeup Bag

We are half way through November, so I feel like I’m late coming to the party with this. I’m going to do it anyway though. I haven’t been using any of the eye makeup. I got pink eye and then caught a bit of a cold from my son. I’m feeling better, so hopefully I can dabble more into the makeup that I have set aside for the month. Before I get into this month’s picks, I’m going to recap on what happened in October.

I used this blush 5 days a week all month long and I barely scratched the surface of it. I thought for sure that I could pan it or at the very least wear down the imprint. I will bring it back for my December bag, because I really love this blush. It is very pigmented and a little goes a long way. I hit pan on my eye gloss and I found out that it wore better without eye primer. I love how this looked on my eyes. It was a nice and easy eye look that was very pretty. It paired great with bold lips. I used up my Cover FX drops. I didn’t make a noticeable dent on the Nars concealer or the Tarte lip paint. I made a bit of progress on the perfume, but I don’t mind because I love the scent on it.

I have used all of these products a few times. I have dabbled in the Hourglass 2016 Holiday Palette and used the finishing powder and blush a few times. I’m trying to use up the Caitlyn lip gloss, because I don’t like lip glosses that are pigmented in dark colors. It smears around like crazy. I only use this at home. I want to use up some perfume samples and work on my Vampire perfume that I love. I’m kinda getting sick of it though. I’ve used the eye shadow once and then got pink eye. I threw out my Benefit Gimmie Brow, because they have been on the news as having TOXIC ingredients. Could be the reason why I got pink eye. I also got rid of my mascara since I got pink eye and I had used that on my eyes that day. I’ve used the foundation once and liked it. It did flake up my moisturizer though. I’m going to try it with primer this week.

Above is what my daily makeup cabinet looks like. I have a few of my other daily supplies in there like primer, lip treatments, and a purple corrector. I like that it’s not too busy and I can easily reach in for things without knocking anything over.

What do you have in your makeup bag?

With Love,

Sephora Play! September

I am not going to lie. I was a bit disappointed with what I got in this Sephora Play. Nothing really wowed me. I did get some exciting brands, but not the items that I would have wanted from that brand. I will still use everything that I got, but I hope next month will bring an exciting product or two. The theme was Fall Into Beauty and I have to say, I really love the bag this month and I’ll be using it for my monthly beauty bag for this upcoming month at least.

The red polka dots on the Play! Card are very reminiscent of Minnie Mouse for me. How can you not love that bright silky hot pink bag though? It’s an ultra girly color with such a cute saying on the front.

My free perfume sample had two perfumes from Clean in it. I wish I could have gotten a foil sample instead, which Sephora will now be doing in addition to the perfume sample. You will either get perfume or a foil packet. I am personally all for the foil packet. I have too much perfume to begin with without having all these samples around.

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Intense Black 0.25 ml for $11

This is half of the full size making this a generous sample and I am excited to try this out. Everyone loves this eyeliner. I just wish I could have gotten a full color instead of black. I have too many blacks and I tend to use colored ones more often than black. I don’t even use eye liners that often either. I have a different liquid black eyeliner that I should use up first, but I look forward to the day that I can try this one out. I can practice my cat eye or just line my waterline. It will be used eventually.

DevaCurl Melt Into Moisture Matcha Butter Conditioning Mask 1.5 fl oz for $6.75

I will have to wait until I use up my Lush hair masks, but this one does sound promising. My hair has been getting curlier since I’ve stopped coloring it a year ago. Gosh, I cannot believe that it’s been a year and 4 months since I bleached my hair. Now, it is a brassy mess and blonde is too much upkeep for me right now. I intend on chopping off most of the blonde. Once I’m all my natural hair color, I will see what I want to do with it. I’m thinking temporary washout color for when I need a boost. I’ll probably will get to trying this out next year. I think I still have like 6 uses out of each Lush hair mask that I have remaining that will go bad if I don’t use them. I use them GENEROUSLY and they still lasted like two years.

Belif The True Cream Moisturizing Bomb 10 ml for $7.60

I was so excited about this until I looked at the back and saw just how little product would be in there. I still want to try this out immediately. My skin has been flaking like crazy these past few days, because I left a face mask with sulfur on for too long and it dried out my skin bad. It could have been from my retinal moisturizer, but I only used that twice every other night and I didn’t show any signs of sensitivity. I’ll be only using that mask on my nose for now or use it for only 10 minutes on the T-zone. I’m hoping this moisturizes my flaky skin and that it stops peeling soon.

Benefit Gimme Brow #3 1 g for $8

This is a third of the full size, so between this one and the other one I have, I have a full size gimme brow. I don’t really do my eye brows, but I have been because I have it. I don’t need to buy a brow product. I have naturally thick brows. I need to get them reshaped, but otherwise than that, they are in really good shape. I will use this up after I finish my opened tube. I don’t care for this product, because I really don’t need it. Only waxing will shape my brows. I have too much eye brow rather than too little.

Laura Mercier Velour Lovers Lip Colour in Happy 0.09 oz for $21

This is almost a full size and totally worth the $10 price tag for the box. I was scared at first that it was going to be super pigmented, but it is very buildable. You can do a sheer wash of color or full on glam demonstrated by my swatches. It is such a pretty color and I will be pulling it out for the holidays. I might even wear it at work since it’s such a friendly formula. It has a semi matte look and feels comfortable on the lips. I always put a balm underneath my lip sticks, so it may not be as comfortable if you don’t prep with a balm before hand. I love the subtle metallic finish. It is more of a shimmery effect than a metallic one. I find metallic colors to be unflattering for the most part.

The value of my September box is $54.35!! I think this is one of the highest valued boxes, but I feel meh about it. I would give this box 2 stars. I’m really only excited for the lip stick, but I gave another star for the value of this box. Sephora Play is a worthwhile subscription to me. I get beauty treats every month for $10 and build up my makeup collection for cheap. If I had a daughter, I would get this for her. It’s great for beginners or for the beauty adventurer that loves to try out everything without breaking the bank.

With Love,

$200 Before 2018 Update #2

It is that time again. Another month has passed and I have gone through a few products. I’ve been trying to be better at finishing more stuff up and I put a few beauty things in my 14 Before Fall project pan. After this post, I’m going to do my makeup today. It is supposed to be scattered showers and thunderstorms. No chance of swimming in the pool today. Sunday is looking like a better day, so I will probably end up wiping any makeup away before I go into the pool tomorrow afternoon.

To recap, I was able to use up a total of 3 products out of 20, totaling $27.40 out of $200. The following items are everything that I have used up in May. June’s update will be coming soon, since I didn’t manage to put up this update until July 1st.

This is what I managed to use up in May at a glance. I know it isn’t as many things, but I promised myself that I would do better in June. Now, I’m promising myself that I’ll do better in July. I want to make a big dent on my samples, but even those take time to use up. I’m concentrating more on enjoying my products than using them up as quickly as possible. As long as I have more than one makeup empty a month, I’m happy.

Foundation Sample = $1

I really enjoyed this foundation sample and I am thinking about buying this foundation. It was a perfect color match for me and made my skin look perfected. I need to remember this next time I am in the market for buying a foundation. Probably by the end of the summer to be honest.

Perfume Sample = $1

I wasn’t a fan of this rather manly scent. It is Versace Eros Eau De Toilette spray. I would not buy the full size. It is not the scent for me, but happy to have it out of the way.

CoverGirl Clean Professional Loose Powder 105 Translucent Fair = $5.84

I wrote a review on this that is already up on the blog, but I really liked this powder. I would repurchase in an actually shade instead of translucent.

Nicole By OPI Roughles NI 453 On What Grounds? around $8

I loved this polish when I had it and now, I have moved onto the pink version of this. I haven’t painted my nails in forever. I never seem to have much time to do them. I will be doing them this weekend though. I also will be doing my toes. I’m almost done with the pink as well. I prefer the blue though and I’m sad that it’s gone. I’m done to 48 polishes with this one and hopefully, by the next update it will be down to 47.

Two Lip Products = $22 + $5 = $27

The Stila Lip Glaze in Sparkling Grape is $22. I cannot believe that I spent $22 on a lip gloss! Then again, I want to spend $32 on a lip oil from YSL. It is what it is and I didn’t really like either of these products. The lip stick was nice but not my color. The lip gloss was too sticky for my liking. I’m glad to have both of these items out of my collection.

Well, in the Month of May I got through 3 products and the grand total is $42.84. So, combining the previous numbers with this month’s numbers, I have gone through 6 out of 20 items and used up $70.24 out of $200. I am almost half way through both of my goals! This is super exciting! I might actually be able to finish this challenge before the end of the year. At the end of the year, I will be comparing how much makeup I used up compared to how much makeup I bought that year. As long as I have more going out than coming in, I will be happy. I might even do this challenge again next year!

With Love ❤