Another Sephora Package and NOTD

The last of my Sephora packages arrived and I am definitely. It came with the Clairsonic sensitive skin cleanser head two pack, the Caudalie beauty on the go kit and my 500 point perk the Smashbox perfectly polished lids. I also got more fragrance samples and another one of those brazilian peel facial samples that I'm going to be trying soon. I also got a sample of Too Faced bronzer primer with SPF 15, an interesting product that I'm curious to try since I do love the original too faced primer.

Picture of my goodies in their package

my goodies outside of and next to their packaging

I was pleasantly surprised by the Smashbox set, they are much bigger than I expected. Is it 500 points worth? Well, I guess not but its better than nothing. I'm most excited about the brown cream liner, I heard a lot of good things about it. Overall, very happy with my purchase and reviews will be coming once I try out more of the products.

Spring is on the horizon and even though its been fluctuating like crazy in Southern California, I've been wearing nothing by sunny happiness on my nails. Or Zoya Pipa as it is called, its a bright yellow that is really a true yellow hue not those obscured neon yellows.

It only lasted about 5 days even with my seche vite top coat, so this one chipped considerably more than my other Zoya nail polish in Ibiza but I still love the color!

Recent Purchases: Sephora and Burt's Bees

When it comes to buying beauty products, clothes, shoes, nail polishes, accessories, and food....wait so what don't I buy? I BUY EVERYTHING! AND I LOVE IT! I'm glad to have supportive boyfriend, family and friends that enable me and supportive boss that continue to pay me so I can indulge in my many many obsessions.

So Sephora is having a 15% off everything sale and as I described in my previous post, I made three purchases from them, two online and one in store. One of my online packages arrived last night so I got so excited, took pictures of them right away in their best condition before I began playing around with them. 

What I purchased: Sephora air brush concealer brush (round shaped with synthetic bristles) $24 USD, and Illamasqua liquid metal cream eyeshadow in surge (metallic silver color) $26 USD. What I got for free (as in samples): Kate Walsh Boyfriend fragrance, DKNY Pure fragrance, brazilian peel sample (one application), and Clinique Pore Refining Solutions sample (their newly launched pore tightening product).

Products in their packaging:

Products next to their packaging:

Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Surge close up:

 Sephora air brus concealer brush close up:

I have been playing around with the products, what I can say so far is that I LOVE the concealer brush. It gives the most natural finish to my under eyes when using under eye concealer. The Kate Walsh Boyfriend fragrance smells horrible, it literally smells like cologne a guy would wear but not the good kind. 

I also got this Burt's Bees set as a gift. Borders is closing and a lot of their none book products including Burt's Bees are 40% off.

A close up of the set, I think this is a really good set to start exploring with for someone whose never tried Burt's Bees before because its suppose to be a few of their most popular products. Review will be coming after I played with them for awhile =]

Currently Obsessed With Suave Dry Shampoo

I've never really been a big fan of Suave products in the past. Sure they are always cheap but the quality of the product was unfortunately also very cheap. I heard good reviews on this product online and it retails for only $2.49 USD at Target so I figured I didn't have that much to lose. I was so blown away by this product! First of all, you really can't beat the price. This is the first dry shampoo I've ever used because I spend enough on regular shampoos and didn't really feel like spending a lot on a dry shampoo but with the product being under $3 it was just too cheap to pass up. Second of all, the scent is really great, smells like tropical fruit (a mix of pineapples and other fruits). I get so many compliments on the scent of my hair (weird that people smell my hair). Third, it does not leave ANY white residue, none what so ever! I usually spray on my roots and then brush my hair but even if you don't brush your hair it still doesn't leave any white residue. Fourth, it gives your hair a lot of volume! I never liked to tease my hair because my hair is wavy so its easily tangled but I do want volume. This product gives me volume without the need to tease it. I really recommend this product, it is good quality at a good price, 5 out of 5 stars!

Recent Makeup Purchases: MAC and NARS

MAC came out with a new collection on April 7th, the Quite Cute collection. To be honest from the name I personally thought it sounded "quite boring" but I was strolling through Macy's and inevitably end up in the makeup section of the store so I stopped by to see the new collection. There wasn't anything super duper exciting about the new collection, for me at least. I think a lot of the color are dupes of what they've released in previous collections or already have as apart of their permanent collection. I did pick up one product though:

MAC mineralize blush in Miss Behave

close up of the product with flash:

close up of the product without flash:

swatches of the product:

Its not the most interesting or unique product of the collection (well the entire collection was not really THAT unique) but I don't have anything in my collection that is a silver toned highlight powder like the center of this blush so I decided to get it. I think the pinky peach color is quite dupe-able and its very sheer so you have to use a lot of the product to get the color pay off. I personally got it just for the silver toned highlight powder and it retails for $23 USD before taxes so it might be worth it to save your money for something else for some who already has a similar colored blush.

Sephora also had the 15% off sale so I made three separate purchases, two of which were online (which hasn't yet gotten shipped to me) and one of which was in stores. I picked up NARS laguna bronzer and albatross highlight color in stores:

 the outside packaging of NARS is so sleek and sexy, I just love it!

NARS Albatross highlight is on the left and NARS Laguna bronzer is on the right:

NARS albatross highlight close up:

NARS laguna bronzer close up:

swatches of NARS albatross on top and NARS laguna on the bottom:

NARS Albatross highlight color retails for $27 USD before taxes and NARS Laguna bronzer retails for $33 before taxes. I know a lot of people already have these two products in their collection so it might be very exciting but its exciting for me because I don't! The only other NARS product I have is NARS Orgasm blush. I kept putting off purchasing NARS products because they are so expensive but with each year, they only seem to raise the prices. When I saw the 15% off sale, I knew I had to pick these babies up before the prices go up again. NARS Albatross has a really nice velvety texture and the color pigmentation is excellent. Its a very flattering highlight shade without making your face look glittery. NARS Laguna is a universally flattering bronzing shade that is neither too dark nor too fair and not orangey on my fair NC 25/NC 30 skin tone. 

Makeup Tutorial: Work Makeup Up-Pink and Gray Eyes

I work hard but I also want to look good but appropriate for work, I did this makeup tutorial on a look that I often do for work. Its pink with gray in the crease so its a little flirty and a little serious. I get a lot of compliments when I wear this combination on my eyes. So please watch the video below for how to do this look!

For a close up of the eyes

List of products used...

Face:

Maybelline dream mousse foundation in classic ivory

The Balm time balm concealer in medium

MAC blot powder in medium

Fix+ lavender to set the face

MAC briar rose beauty powder as blush

MAC accentuate sculpt highlighting powder to highlight nose and cheeks

Eyes:

Too Faced shadow insurance for eye primer

MAC painterly for brow primer

Rock and Republic corset eyeshadow (pink)

Lancome after dusk eyeshadow (matte gray)

Rock and Republic carat eyeshadow (cream)

Dolly Wink liquid eye liner in black

Buxom lash mascara in black

Lancome high definicils mascara in black

MAC NC15/NW20 eye liner for lower water line

Maybelline define a brow in medium brown for brows

Maybelline great lash clear to set the brows

Lips:

Hello Kitty lipstick in pink grapefruit

Review: The Face Shop The Skin Extra BB Cream SPF 20 PA++

Retails for $32 USD at The Face Shop stores. The picture above is what the product looks like next to its outside packaging

One of the best things I like about this product is the packaging, I like that its in a tube so its easy for to get to every last bit of product. I also really like that it comes with a pump, it makes getting the product out much more sanitary.

However, having a pump also has a product in that it gives you less control as to how much of the product to get out. One typical pump will give you a lot of product, more than enough to cover your entire face in fact. In that sense, you might be wasting a bit of product if you are using more than you need but I find that in order to better control for how much product comes it, you can press the tip of the pump where the product comes out against your hand. Press the tip hard against the hand makes less product come out and looser makes more product come out.

When you first spread the product out, it is more of a grey-ish tint. However, the color does change as it oxidizes to your skin color. Another con of this product is that it does only come in one shade. I am quite fair so it matched me well but if you are considerably darker, I'm not sure how well the product will oxidize to fit your skin color.

When the color is first completely blended out, its still a bit grey colored and appears ashy on my skin.

When the color completely oxidizes you can see that it does match my perfectly. And yes this is my hand  so the color is a little different than on my face but it does also match me perfectly on the face. This product is very moisturizing and it has anti-aging properties to it. I love that it comes with a SPF so on winter days when I don't want to use sunscreen I can just wear this BB cream and my face will still be protected. It also doesn't break me or clog my pores out and I do have very sensitive skin, in fact the sales lady recommended this BB cream for individuals who are prone to break outs. Lastly, it doesn't have any strong or over-powering scent which some might be sensitive too.

The pros:
-does not break me out
-has SPF 20 for sun protection
-has anti-aging properties
-very hydrating
-does not clog my pores
-nice tube packaging
-no over powering scent

The cons:
-pump can be hard to control how much product comes out
-only one shade so might not match darker colors
-$32 might be too pricey for some

Overall, I think the pros do outweigh the cons and this product works really well for me. I highly recommend this product for those with fair complexions but not to those with dark complexions. I am combination skin and it wasn't too oily for me but I'm not sure if it would be too much for those with oily or extremely oily skin.

The Face Shop
3825 West 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 427-0829

They accept credit cards and cash and they are always very generous with samples, if you should have any questions just ask one of the sales ladies. They are all very friendly and helpful!

Review: The Face Shop Brightening Rice Water Cleansing Oil Migamsu

Retails for $15 USD at The Face Shop store before taxes. Its a cleansing oil so what you do is get a few pumps on this on DRY hands (usually two is enough for my entire face) and then rub it on your face to melt away all the makeup. Then you wet your hands a little bit and once again rub on your face, the cleansing oil becomes a milky consistency. After 30 seconds of this second time rubbing, wash away the cleansing oil with lukewarm water and your face shop be clean and makeup free.

What I like about this product is the consistency, its more watery than some of the other cleansing oils I have used and I like it better because it feels less sticky and heavy on my face. It also smells wonderful which I find a lot of other cleansing oils have a weird smell to them. I think the consistency is less think because the primary ingredient is rice water. It removes makeup wonderfully, I don't feel like I need to go over it again with another cleanser. My face does not feel oily after I wash this product off. The size of the product is not very big but I think you don't need a lot of product. I think it can last me about three months. I think if you have sensitive skin or oily skin then this might be one of the few cleansing oils you can actually use because it will not break you out and it is not overly oily so it will not make your face oily. Overall, I really recommend this product and I do think I will be repurchasing it in the future.

The Face Shop
3825 West 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
phone: (213) 427-0829

They accept credit card as well as cash, there is an option of signing up for a membership card which will earn you discounts when you spend over a certain amount. They are always very generous with samples and if you join their mailing list, they will email you when they have deals or specials coming up.

Rock and Republic Swatches and Review

Here are the swatches to the Rock and Republic Haul that I did awhile ago, I know this information is late but better late than never!

Let's start with the lip glosses, I got one in a baby pink, one in nude and one in red

the baby pink and the nude are sheer but the brownish red is very pigmented

Now the Rock and Republic Blush in Shameless

the blush is very pigmented, this is one swipe and I barely even touched the pan to get this color pay off

 Lastly, the Rock and Republic eyeshadows in Carat (cream color), Paranoid (purple color) and Corset (pink color)

swatch of the eyeshadows with flash

swatch of the eyeshadows without flash

 Review:

In terms of the price, it cannot be beat. I got these products at a Rock and Republic factory sale and the total for all seven products was $30 flat. The lip glosses are really smooth, even the baby pink despite the glitters in it. They are also extremely moisturizing and not sticky at all. I think these are probably some of the best lip glosses I have ever used. The pink and the nude are sheer but very good for every day. The brownish red is extremely pigmented, good for more dramatic days. The blush is also extremely pigmented and you get a lot of product. The size of the blush is significantly bigger than the average MAC blush and carries a lot more product. I think the blush will last me a life time because you need to barely touch it to get instant intense color pay off. The eyeshadows are also very smooth and not very powdery so not a lot of fall out which I love. The pink is the most sheer and the most disappointing because you can't really build up the color. However, the cream and the purple are both very pigmented so I can ignore the mishap of the pink. Overall I give these products 5/5 stars for great price, good texture, and overall good color pay off.