Sephora VIB Sale Wish List

Yes, it's really that time of year again.  Can you believe it?  I've been giving my wallet a rest for the last couple of months or so, using up products I already have, in preparation for the big sale.  To a beauty junkie like me, this is almost as good as Christmas.  Almost.  But I do have to say, it's a wonderful thing that my birthday just so happens to fall during the sale.  Hello totally justifiable reason to go shopping!


Since I've been refraining from purchasing anything beauty related lately, and taunting myself with trips to the mall "just to look", you can bet your bottom dollar that I have a list of the goods I want to get my hands on.  I thought I would share them with you so we can eagerly await the sale together!


Sephora Favorites - Superstars

This one was a no-brainer for me, considering that I wanted to purchase three of the included products anyway (brow wiz, eyeliner, and mascara).  For only a few dollars more than I would have spent, I could get this gorgeous box of goodies.  It's only fair that I do the economical thing and get more for my money, right?


Bite Beauty Lipstick in Pomegranate

I've gotten over my shyness about wearing bold lip colors everyday and now completely embrace it.  There's just something about the colder months that make you want to rock a purple, or pink, or red lip.  However, my selection of reds is a bit lacking.  I've got some orange-red colors, but they don't compliment my fair skin the best.  I saw a lot of recs for this particular color, a true cherry-red, and knew I had to give it a try!


Philosophy Hope in a Jar for Dry Skin

This is my absolute favorite brand of skin care.  I use their facial cleanser every day, morning and night.  I've also tried the night cream and original Hope in a Jar.  I knew I wanted to re-invest in a good moisturizer, but lately my skin has been so darn dry that I didn't know if the original would cut it.  When I saw that they had a dry skin formula, it went right on my list.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this compares and if it truly holds up to the name. 


Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone

This is one of those "beauty bloggers made me do it" things.  It wasn't even on my radar as something I wanted to buy, but I was sitting around watching haul videos on YouTube over the weekend (total guilty pleasure) and suddenly it was like I had to have it.  I'm sure I have products already that give similar results, but then again you could probably say that about everything I'm listing here.


Benefit Gimme Brow in Medium/Dark

My latest obsession has been filling in my brows and trying all the things to see what I like the best (hence the brow wiz in the favorites set).  It's funny, I never really took the time to do this, but one day I decided to use that little brow powder/wax set I had purchased ages ago and see what I could do.  Even though the color was a little off, the difference was ah-mazing.  I actually have Gimme Brow in the lighter color, which I realized is way too light for me, so I wanted to grab the dark shade for those morning when I don't want to go through the whole shebang but still want to polish my look.


I'm sure multiple trips to Sephora will be involved for the sale, but this is what I am most excited to get.  What are you looking forward to buying?


xoxo,
Amanda

Oops...I Did it Again: Sephora Haul

I'm just going to come out and say it.  I'm a total sucker for promos, coupons, and sales.  Basically, I'm a marketer's dream customer.  BOGOs, 50% off, gifts with purchase and the like - they all get me.  This past weekend was no exception, with Sephora running their 2x, 3x, or 4x points offer depending on your Beauty Insider status.  I knew I needed to spend a little more to re-qualify for VIB again next year, so I figured this was as good a time as any to hit up the store and rake in the points while I was at it!  Oh, and did I mention that I actually made two trips there?  Once I re-qualified for VIB on Friday, I received an e-mail for 10% off my next purchase.  Then came another e-mail for a deluxe sample bag with purchase.  Does anyone know if Sephoraholics Anonymous exists?

Here's a little overview of the new goodies I picked up:


Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation & Airbuki Brush
I had been seeing this all over blogs and beauty channels lately, so I wanted to give it a try.  I had been looking for a mineral foundation anyway, for the days when I don't want to go through my full foundation routine but still want decent coverage.  Tarte is one of my favorite brands, so I went for it.  I've used it a couple of times already and can say that it does give great coverage and lasts even on my combo/oily skin.  Of course, you'll need concealer for any blemishes (aka mountain central on my chin lately!) but it does a great job at evening out your complexion.  I'll be doing a full in-depth review on this soon.


Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner
I go through phases with eyeliner, where I'm all about it for a few weeks and then I don't feel like bothering with it at all.  My problem is that I'm not the most skilled when it comes to the application, so unless I'm able to really take my time with it, I end up screwing it up (and then a string of expletives ensue).  What I like about this one is the ultra-fine tip that is perfect for achieving the thinnest line possible, because my eyes look smaller if I make the line too thick.  So far, I've found this easy to use and I've actually enjoyed putting it on in the morning.


Benefit They're Real! Mascara
Since I received this in Sephora's birthday gift last year, I've loved this mascara.  However, I've managed to come across sample sizes a few times and never had to buy a full one.  I finally did, and I like it even more.  It's easier to apply with a full size wand and easier to handle.  I will say, I have pretty long lashes to begin with but I definitely notice a difference with this mascara as compared to others.  It can get a little spidery if you're not careful, but I just make sure I don't overdo it with the coats.


Kate Somerville EradiKate Acne Treatment
This is one of the things I went back for with my 10% off.  I don't know what the heck is going on with my skin, but all of a sudden my chin is breaking out like crazy.  Treatments with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid just don't cut it for me, so I wanted to try something different.  The active ingredient in this is sulfur, which is supposed to treat your acne and reduce future breakouts.  I've used it two nights now and I can actually say that I have seen a reduction in the size and redness and of my breakouts.  Here's to hoping it continues to work just as well!


Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer
With my normal liquid foundation routine, I don't really use any concealer as extra coverage on my blemishes because I find that the foundation does a great job of covering them on its own.  To go with my mineral foundation from Tarte, I wanted to find a good concealer to dot on the blemishes so that I could still get the flawless look.  After playing with many different brands and products in the store, I ultimately decided on this one.  I haven't had a chance to actually wear it yet, but I'm hoping it wears just as well as it swatched in store! 

Sample Bag
These beauties are like opening a gift on Christmas morning, because you don't know what you're going to get!  There were definitely some generous-sized products included.


What beauty products have you hauled lately?


xoxo,
Amanda

A Weekend Trip to Sephora

If you've been keeping up with things around here, you were probably expecting to see an outfits of the week post today.  Well, I failed at documenting my outfits this week so I decided to share my recent Sephora purchase instead!  I haven't stepped foot in a Sephora in the longest time, and even though I only got a couple of things, it was a struggle for me to even decide on buying these items.  Plus I went in wanting a certain Tarte palette, and when they didn't have it available, I kind of lost interest in shopping around.  Either I'm getting rusty or I've still got "no-buy" on the brain.


Here are the goods I picked up - Philosophy Purity Made Simple, Dry Bar VIP Pack, Korres Greek Yogurt, Givenchy Le Rouge.

 
I was nearly out of the Philosophy cleanser - a bottle I purchased for $10 on Black Friday last year! - so I needed to grab another.  I can't even count how many times I have repurchased this product, it's that amazing.  I don't even have the desire to try anything else.  It's gentle on my sensitive skin but effective nonetheless at removing even my long-wear foundation without the need for a makeup wipe.  The Dry Bar VIP Pack was something I had wanted to get my hands on for the longest time, but every time I popped into Sephora they didn't have it.  Finally, today they did, and that sort of made up for the Tarte palette.  Sort of.  It includes a dry shampoo, volumizing mousse, and hairspray.  Even better, they're all travel size so I can bring them along on my upcoming business trip.  Win win!


At checkout, I had over 1000 points to spend.  If you're familiar with how the Sephora Beauty Insider program works, then you know just how I got those points.  A wide-eyed emoji would be appropriate here.  I will say, I've been accumulating points for a while so I finally decided to grab a couple of perks.  They did have a pretty awesome Marc Jacobs reward, but I would have had to part with all 1000 points, which I couldn't bring myself to do at once.  So, I ended up with the Korres Greek Yogurt Sleeping Facial and Givenchy lipstick.  I was actually looking for the moisturizer to purchase anyway but they didn't carry it in my store, so I figured this would be a good way to try it.  As for the lipstick, well it's hard for this girl to resist an adorable mini lippie.


I'm looking forward to trying out the Dry Bar products and see how they compare to my trusty drugstore faves.  Let me know if you've tried it and what you thought!  And if you've been to Sephora recently, what things have you picked up?


xoxo,
Amanda