March 2018 Sephora Play! Unboxing

Receiving beauty subscription boxes in the mail is like getting presents at Christmas for me. So of course I had to add another subscription, Play! by Sephora. For $10 a month, this box includes a beauty bag and 5 samples (of items that you can purchase full size at Sephora), a beauty bonus, an in-store pass for 50 Beauty Insider points, invite to Sephora Play! Day where you can go in-store and play with your products, and lastly online how-tos.  

***My own personal photos that I took of the items in the box have mysteriously disappeared! I don't like to upload photos of used items unless they make it into a monthly favorites post, so all pictures of March's Play! box are from Sephora.com. 

The first item is Bobbi Brown's Illuminating Moisture Balm. Full size runs for $68. Festival Season makeup looks are typically dewy, so this moisturizer is a good base to prep the skin. For my combination-oily skin, this is a no-go for my T-zone. It turned me into an oil slick there. But it works amazingly well on the rest of my face (cheeks, sides of forehead, jawline). I would use moisturizers like this under a mattifying foundation to avoid looking flat matte. I would highly recommend if your skin is normal to dry, and warn you to proceed with caution if you are combo-oily. 

The next item I absolutely fell in love with - Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Black. The full size liner retails for $22. I've heard a lot of rave reviews about this eyeliner, so I was excited to see this was in the box! It definitely lives up to the hype. This little guy is so pigmented and perfectly inky. I can get a wing sharp enough to cut you, and because of the felt tip - it's easy to achieve. What's also great, is the waterproof formula makes the liner stay put. No smudging or running, even after long wear time. Perfect for any outdoor festivals, or just warm weather in general. I highly recommend this eye liner if you're looking to try something new.

Another item in this month's box was IGK Mistress Hydrating Hair Balm. This I am definitely repurchasing as soon as I run out of the sample. I've only used this twice after washing my hair, but it makes the BIGGEST difference. It claims to work for every hair type. My hair is naturally curly and coarse so if it works on my hair, I'm sure it would work on pretty much everyone else's too. The balm also has claims of adding dramatic softness and shine, and I completely agree. I don't remember the last time my hair felt so silky. The full size tube runs for $29, and I believe it is worth every penny. This is my favorite find from the box so far.

The next product is SUPERGOOP! Defense Refresh Setting Mist Broad Spectrum SPF 50, which retails for $28. I have mixed feelings about this product simply because the spray nozzle arrived broken. At first I thought that the mist was coming out a bit too strong, a stream rather than a mist. So that turned me off. After another use, the nozzle completely separated from the spring inside. Being that this mist claims to control oil, I was looking forward to testing that out. I don't have any old setting spray bottles to pour this in, so I might just pick up one from the dollar store. But from what I could feel when I was trying to fix the nozzle, the formula seems almost greasy. I wish I had a better review but that's what happens when products arrived broken. 

Sephora Play! also includes a bonus item each month. This time it is a sample of Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask. The full size tub is $28. My hair needs a lot more product than this, especially considering this is a deep conditioning mask. So I have mixed feelings on this product as well because I wasn't able to put it to the test the way I would prefer. It's a blessing and a curse getting sample sizes. You might luck out and fall in love with something, but if there's not enough product, or it's defective in how it dispenses, you aren't able to give it the love it deserves. 

Overall I am pleased with Play! by Sephora and will stay subscribed. I signed up for this one with the thought of being able to test out more skin/haircare products compared to Ipsy or Boxycharm. And for the most part, this subscription is serving that purpose. If it doesn't work out, there are other boxes to try, but for now Play! stays.

Cween Turns 25 | Birthday Haul

As I'm writing this, it's Mid-October. My birthday was back in Mid-September. Which means, YES I certaintly do take celebrating my birthday MONTH seriously. This years haul, compared to last, is almost excusively makeup products. Last year I got clothes and other things because I had an entire weekend to celebrate. This year was low key. My birthday was on a Tuesday, and nothing was going on. That being said, I got a number of freebies and some other items I purchased myself!

I love cinnamon scented everything so these candles were nice. I also like "outdoorsy" scents as well so I was glad to get a candle that smells like trees.

These next items I purchased myself. This fall I am very into purple lips (and eyes). So I picked up Wet N Wild's: MegaEyes Creme Eyeliner in Eggplant, MegaSlicks Lip Gloss in That's My Jam, MegaLast Lip Color in Sugar Plum Fairy, and MegaLast Lip Color in Ravin' Rasin. I also have a thing for peachy lips for day to day so I also got: Glassy Gloss Lip Gel in 3 2 1 Glass-t Off!, and a Silk Finish Lipstick in Sunset Peach.

These  brushes I was gifted by Wet N Wild specifically for my  birthday (thank you WNW!). Included in their Essential Brush set are: an angled liner brush, a crease brush, a contour brush, and a small eyeshadow brush. I absolutely adore these brushes! So cute and girly, plus these were sold out for the longest time, so receiving them as a gift was very appreciated.

The next set of goodies were also all freebies. If you're a rewards member with Ulta you get a free eyeshadow from Urban Decay in Midnight Cowboy. The shade is stun-ning btw. From Sephora you get free deluxe samples from Marc Jacobs if you are a part of their rewards progam too. Included is a mini Le Marc Lip Creme Lipstick in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and a mini Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliner in Blacquer. 

Sephora had pretty nice samples when I shopped their site. I chose samples of Urban Decay's Primer Potion, and samples of Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow pomade. I've always wanted to try both so I was happy about these. 

I needed some new nail polishes, so I shopped Sephora.com. I am obsessed with holographic and duo-crome nails and was pleased Sephora had some affordable options. I picked up: Formula X The Effects in Determined, Ciate London Mini Paint Pot in Deco Delight, and NAILS INC Fibre Optic in Hampstead Court. I also picked up some Kiss nail glue and Gel Fantasy nails from Walgreens. 

Also from Walgreens I was very excited to find they carried Tattoo Junkie Lip Paints. This is another item that is often sold out, and everytime I checked my local Walgreens, they didn't have it in stock. Of course I picked up the shade Whatever, because purple. I also got Wet N Wild's limited edition Coloricon Matte Liquid Lipstick in Don't Be A Plum Plum.

Glitter lips is also a trend I wanted to try, and the formula of both the liquid lip and glitter are top notch. Even better they are affordable.

The final items I purchased for myself were some things from Poshmark and Ebay. From Poshamrk I found this mark Bohista Suedeshadow Eye Quad in Exotic. This has been discontinued for a long time and my old one was damaged, but this is the perfect everyday fall eyeshadow palette. I also found on Ebay, the matching mark Bohista Suedeshine Lip Quad. I also picked up a selfie fan, because it's so necessary. And a selfie light. 

The last gift I got was from my son. He picked out this adorable bracelet, which is actually a lip gloss. This is by far my favorite gift, and I've been wearing it everywhere. 

Happy Birthday to me, and I am kind of sad my birthday month is over lol.

Sephora Haul | Spring 2016

Welcome! This will be the first of many more hauls to come in the next few months. After perusing around my makeup collection, I've realized that a lot of what I have is outdated, old, and expired. So I've been on a bit of a shopping frenzy lately trying to update my stash. Also, I have realized that I am officially in my "mid-20s" so it hit me like a brick that I also need to update and stay on top of my skincare routine. I figure I still have time to prevent/prolong aging so some of my picks will reflect that.  

The first three items I picked up at my local Sephora, in store at JC Penney. I love Boscia's Green Tea blotting papers, so I thought I'd try their Black Charcaol kind. For those who don't like fragrances, you probably won't be a fan of these as they are fragranced. I like the scent and I don't mind scents at all. In comparison, I think the Green Tea kind work better, but the Black Charcoal is still good. Boscia's blotting papers are my favorite, I highly recommend those. I also bought a Sephora brand lip gloss as I needed one to complete the look I was going for, for a concert I went to. I had purchased Colour Pop's Lumiere Lippie Stick (a haul on that coming soon!) and as much as I love how it's matte, I wanted to gloss it up. This gloss is really nice, I'll probably purchase different shades. The last item on this trip (not pictured) was a sample of Smashbox's primer oil. Even though I have combination-oily skin, I haven't had any luck with primers yet (even the silicone based ones), so I'm giving it a shot. A little goes a long way, you only need a couple of drops for your whole face. I will say it is amazing for the dry patches I tend to get on my cheeks and worked pretty well everywhere else on my face, besides my nose. I'm not sure if I'll get a bigger size as I want to try Smashbox's Primer Water next.

The last part of my haul was from Sephora.com. Everything I chose was a trial set or a sample of some sort. Because these items aren't at drugstore prices, I want to be sure that I truly love the product before investing in the full-size. All of the samples above were free. With every purchase Sephora lets you choose 3 free samples. I picked a primer from Hourglass, a serum from Lancome, and a fizzing face wash from Nude. I had Beauty Insider points to use so I picked out Clinque's Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealor. The last free sample was from their promo/sample page. It is a deluxe sample of Fresh Black Tea Age Delay Firming Serum. 

I've been wanting to try Bare Minerals for a very long time as I don't wear liquid foundation, I only wear powder or tinted moisturizers/BB creams. It's pretty full coverage for a powder, which I'm not sure I love. It looks a little cakey around the nose and mouth, but I think I just need to find the right brush to apply it with (the buffing brush that comes in the box is scratchy and too small for me). The primer is nice but didn't combat oil the way I need it to. The Mineral Veil is nice, so is the Concealor powder and Concealor brush. All in all you're getting a decent amount of product to try for a good price.

I remember smelling these perfumes in fall of last year in the impulse-buy/checkout area. I remember really liking them and never really thought about them again until I saw them on the site. These are perfect for daytime, even better for a work environment. They're not heavy at all and smell very fresh & clean. You won't overwhelm anybody as the perfumes are not overbearing or intense. 

Fun fact: I used to work for Clarins for a little while a few years back. Another fun fact: Clarins is who gave me my Certification in Skincare. Even though I don't work for them anymore, I still strongly believe in and have trust in their products and their brand. And you know how scents are attached to memory? Opening and using these products really brought me back #tbt. My spiel is that because ALL of their products smell amazing, it is truly an experience to use them. To my knowledge just about all of their products are fragrance free, what you smell is the natural plant extracts. Read up on them if you have time, Clarins is amazing. So needless to say I love everything that came in this box. You get their new Multi-Active Day Cream, Beauty Flash Balm, Hand and Nail Treatment Cream, and Body Treatment Oil. 

Thank you so much for reading! As I said at the top of this post, I have a LOT of hauls coming up, so there will be much more to come!