Late Summer Sephora Haul

Slowly but surely, I'm catching up on my posts. :)  Sometime, back in August Benefit came out with some awesome kits...so I popped by to grab them, and naturally a few other things fell into my basket!  Would you like to see what I picked up?  I'd like to show you so that I could actually put some of this into regular rotation! :)

The first few things were sitting at the counter, so I kind of got suckered in!  They had a jar of these Sephora lip glosses for like $5 so I grabbed one to try. The colour I picked up is "Flushed." At that time, I was kind of into the nude pinks.  Well, I guess I kind of still am. This is a really good size, the tube is quite thick. It's 3.5ml but looks way bigger! 

I really had to lighten the picture to get it to show up the correct colour.  This is pretty darn close.  The nice thing about it, is that it has really fine gold glitter in it.  I'm going to get all this glittery glossy goodness (going on 15+ years!) out of my system...I'm not sure how many years I have left of it looking age appropriate.

They also had 3 different Sephora silk shadow quads for $7. Like, seriously...how can you resist, right?  These are HUGE!  Each palette is 3.75" across!

These are the colours in the first one...so pretty! The palette is called "Last Dance" I think the colours would be perfect for a daytime smokey eye. The darks aren't super heavy..the pigmentation isn't that strong on first swatch. All are shimmers, which if you know me, you know I love my shimmer! ;)

On to the next palette...(I included the case pic to break it up from the above palette...sorry to be redundant!)

This palette is called "Ballroom Dance." The colours are all gold toned.  Very pretty. :)  There was one other palette Brazilian something or other and it was pretty too...but at the time I didn't know I could actually pull off blue.  Now people are selling these palettes for $25 on ebay! :o

The final frivolous purchase was the Tarina Tarantino Eye Dreamer Highlight Duo.  I can't remember how much I payed for this, but it was probably obscene. The top of it isn't gold, it was just the reflection from my lamp. The whole case is a really nice sleek gunmetal silver. This is probably the prettiest palette I own in terms of packaging.

The colours insise; surprise, surprise...are shimmers! lol The one on the left is Jasper and the one on the right is Agate. I wore Jasper on my lids today and it looked really pretty set against really black lashes!

Now, on to the reason I actually went to Sephora in the first place!  I wanted to pick up one of the How to Look the Best at Everything - Flawless Complexion Makeup Kit.  According to the Sephora site this kit is $36. I love that Benefit really considers all their packaging!

When you pull it out of the box, the kit looks basically the same as the packaging.  I really like that the back of the box has such great details of the products inside the box.

As you can tell from the pics, it's made to look like a book...is that not the cutest?  Even the side looks just like the spine of a book.  You can get the kits in light, medium and deep.

Look, how cute! The sides of the box are actually printed to look like pages! I love that little detail! The lid is magnetic, perfect!

This is how the box looks opened. There are two flip out pages that reveal a mirror. The flip out pages are Instant Beauty Tips and Tricks. One for each item in the box. These can easily be torn out if you don't want them. On top of the box is a Tips and Tricks guide in about 15-20 other languages..including Polish. ;)

When you remove the Tips & Tricks (other languages) you reveal the products.  But, on top of the products is a clear plastic protecting everything.  On the plastic they printed, "Remove makeup tray & save the keepsake box for your little treasures."  This is something I will definitely do because the box is adorable!

Here is a look at all the products in the box!  1: The Porefessional. 2: Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Makeup. 3: Boi-ing in shades 01 and 02. 4: Hello Flawless Powder in "Me, Vain?" Champagne.

I already use the Porefessional.  I know some people like and some don't.  I have had good results when I combine it with my other Benefit products.  I'm still working on a full size bottle...it's costly, but it really does last forever.  I have a couple sample ones to work through, so this will be added to the pile.

The Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow is a new product for me.  I actually have a full size bottle in a different colour that I haven't used yet.  So, it will be interesting to see if this is a good colour for me. Even though it's the light kit, it does look fairly dark.

The boi-ing  concealer is what I'm most excited about!  I've heard good things about it.  I like that they gave you two shades so you can mix it.  I think my Vichy concealer has to be replaced, it's getting a little cakey now..which is NOT good for more mature under eyes especially!  I can't wait to try this out and see how it compares.  Since, I love Benefit so much it's definitely something I would repurchase if it works.

Here is a closeup of what they look like without their coveralls!

The last item in the box is a Hello Flawless powder.  I use this daily.  This one actually looks pretty light to me, but I'm curious how it will work on my skin.  Currently, I use "All the World's My Stage - Beige." I live and die by this powder.  If you have a chance to try it out, I highly recommend it.  It *totally* makes my skin look flawless, I feel naked without it.  It's super light and easy to apply! It's one of those products that truly make me feel gorgeous.

The other thing that I went to Sephora to pick up was one of their Lip & Cheek Tint.  Of course, I wanted all 3 kits, but I settled on Go Tropical. These retail for $32.  Now, that I went to look up the price on Sephora I want the other two kits as well. *sigh*

Inside the packaging, the box looks like this.  Isn't the cheetah print on the side adorable!? :)

Inside is the same system as used in the above "Best at Everything" kit.

Here is what comes in this kit: 1. Cha Cha tint. 2. Coralista blush. 3. High Beam highligther. 4. Coralista lip gloss.

A closer look. My main reasons for getting this kit were to try Coralista and the lip gloss.  I'm not sure if I love High Beam yet, I have to play with it a bit more.  As for the cha cha tint I'm a little scared to use it! I'm scared I'll try to stain my cheeks, it will dry too quick and I'll be left with a giant line across my cheekbone! :P

The main reason was for this blush.  It looks so amazing!! I can't wait to try it on my face.  It must be the shimmer that I fell in love with. ;)

Sephora is always so stingy with the samples in the store.  I specifically asked if they could get me a MK sample as I was walking out the door.  I hadn't purchased this at the time and used up my previous sample. I totally fell head over heels with this perfume and I ended up buying it at Shopper's Drug Mart to get the Optimum points.  Why not, it's the same price.  You can get a LOT more stuff with SDM points than Sephora points.  This Michael Kors perfume is now my signature.  I am smitten!

This is actually the sample they gave me for blowing over $100. Ring a ding ding, right? Dot by Marc Jacobs is a jasmine and red berry scent.  At least the perfume smells really pretty and I will be able to use it. Bonus, that it's an atomizer!

Well, there you have it!! My oldest post that I needed to get out of the way. ;) I hope you all have a great Friday...my favourite day of the week!

XO
~A

Julep Maven - February Edition + Some Extras

Hello! A quick post (with tons of pics!) detailing what I received in my February Julep Maven box. This months theme was based around the Oscars and leading ladies. Both, past and present. The upgrade this month was $35 instead of $30.  That is in addition to the $19.99 Maven monthly club price.  I of course, jumped at the chance this month to update for $54.99!  Why? Because it included the jewelry box! And "Oscar" which I didn't have yet but did want!  So, if you upgraded it didn't come packed in all the gold and glitzy tinsel that everyone else's did...but that's okay.  Inside the shipping box was another box, kind of like a shoe box.

This is what the jewelry box looks like. It feels like melamine and is a nice modern looking box.

It includes the product card with your personal selection. As you can see this shows my upgrade to the Glamour Nail Wardrobe.  It also includes the quote card that comes every month. I'm sure the picture is big enough you can read it. :)

Julep loves to throw in extra goodies! This month was this nifty little eyelash curler! (There were 2 chocolate hearts too, I didn't photograph them, even though I purposely didn't eat them so I can include them in the photo - DOH!)

It has a little handle you flip down and squeeze.  Just a quick try and it seemed to do a decent job!

In case you didn't notice, the bottom of the curler has an extra rubber cushion for the curler!

The first of two products received is the Oxygen Nail Treatment. Retails for $18.00.  The bottle is a little empty because I've done two treatments with it now... and at first I thought I was happy because the nail looks gorgeous when it's applied.  But, after the second treatment my nails started cracking and separating in layers! I just took it off today and I'm not impressed at the state of my nail tips.  I'll leave it off for a day and keep trying to see if it just needs to work on the new growth.  But, as of this point I'm angry that my nails are WORSE! Just a note this stuff goes on like white school glue, I find you have to work relatively quick with it.

The product is supposed to make your nails stronger, thicker and smoother. It's supposed to make your nails less prone to breakage and splitting.  So far, NOT impressed.  You're supposed to use it once or twice a week and you are not supposed to put polish on top of it.

The second product is the Freedom Top Coat. Retails for $18.00. This isn't something that I've tried yet, so I can't comment.  I was really hoping to get a good use out of the above product, get healthier nails and then move on to this product.

The Freedom Top Coat is supposed to make your nail polish chip less.  It's designed to give it a gel nail like finish but without the hardness.  To cure it, you have to hold it under natural light 3-5 minutes; a 60 watt lamp will do. It claims to last twice as long as other top coats.  I guess I'm a little skeptical after using the Oxygen Nail Treatment. You do have to reapply it every couple days to get the best results...

The boxes are really cute...not only are the fronts embossed with the Julep logo, the sides of them are decorated too.  The top coat has little words depicting the product and Oxygen Treatment has little O2 symbols.  Too cute not to share!

Alas...here is inside the jewelry box! It holds 12 Julep polishes.  Considering I have about 130 colours now, I couldn't store them this way! They do look super cute in the box though! The dividers come out so you can use the box for whatever you like.  I don't think you can see but on the bottom right of the lid is the Julep name and logo. Let's have a look at the colours in the box...

Oscar - ultra chic, multi-dimensional gold glitter. (Not a new colour)

Ellie - a seashell pink shimmer. (Not a new colour, not currently available on the site)

Julianne - smoky grey-blue creme.

Laura - olive khaki creme.

Helen - smoky pastel lavender creme. 

Sally - antique ivory creme.

Ingrid - burnt orange creme. (Think 70's sofa more browny than it appears here.)

Claudette - smoky brick red creme. (Sorry! I deleted my photo because when I was editing I thought it was a double picture of Ingrid above! Photo: Julep.com)

Marion - smoky blue with silver shimmer.

This is a more accurate picture of the colour.  It's gorgeous!  You can see the silver swirled throughout!

Joan - raspberry plum with rose gold shimmer. 

This is a pretty accurate picture as well. This colour is gorgeous!! It's my favourite of the bunch. I can't wait to try this one on. :)

Ginger - sand holographic.

This is a gorgeous holographic.  You can see it on my last nail of the day.  It is more of a sandy colour than a silver. Hard to photograph! :)

Rebel - silver holographic.

I haven't tried this holographic yet...but I'm super excited to! :)  I'm so happy that these were included in the boxes!

So, that's it for my Julep box!  I was really happy with this one, mostly because it included the box, Oscar and the Holographics.  Sadly, there are 3 or 4 colours that I don't think are my style. :/

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Ok, now on to something else by Julep. I didn't really feel like making a whole separate post about this, so I thought I would include it here, since I'm already doing Julep!  About a month or so ago, Julep did a two for one deal.  So, because I wanted Jane (the glitter) I decided to scour the site for another colour that I think would be a must have.  I came up with Marisa (the blue.) We were able to buy them both at the Maven price, so $11.20 for the pair shipped.

Marisa - dark, rich cobalt blue shimmer. I know it looks super blue here but it's one of those colours that transforms green to blue in the bottle.  It's SOOO incredibly gorgeous! I'm glad I picked it up and it wasn't what I was expecting, so I was pleasantly surprised!

Jane - rose gold multi-dimensional glitter. Full coverage. Well, I should have known better!  When Dakota came out they claimed it was a metallic rose gold..and it wasn't.  Well, this glitter isn't either. There are two sizes of glitter...the larger hex ones are pink and the teeny ones appear to be copper. So...it's not quite what I was hoping for.  It is pretty though, so can't complain.  It no way looks like it appears on their site, though!

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So, one last little side post. :)  I have a wishlist of Julep polishes and my friend Polish Jinx had some dupes, so I bought the following from her, top to bottom: Gwen, Maya, Stella. 

Gwen  - glamourous deep red shimmer.

This is the perfect red colour.  It's a blood red and it has red micro glitter.  I have a feeling this will become a favourite for me!

Maya - peachy pink seashell, like a shimmer pearl.

This colour is sooo pretty! I can only hope that it translates the same way to the nails! :)

Stella - mustard yellow creme.  Well, I was expecting it to look a little more like in the picture..but well, it really is mustard coloured!  I'm not sure I like it yet, I'll have to see it on my nails.

Also, since I skipped the February box, Polish Jinx also gave me the hair ties from her January box.  Not only that, she gave me some she picked up at Dollarama.  As you can see they're similar.  The dollarama ones are just slightly smaller.  I've tried finding these on my own and haven't been able to!

Here is the comparison of the dollarama and Julep ones. The dollarama ones have more stretch to them, so it may not matter that they're smaller.  But, they are basically made of the same thing as you can tell from the centre line of the band.

Annnnd...that's all! I'm Julep'd out for one night! :) Stayed up way later than I should...but I started my  Squash Soup a little later than I should have. :S

Have a great week!
XO
~A