Friday, December 18, 2009

500 Point Perk: Sephora by OPI Set

I think this is the best 500 Point Perk Sephora has offered so far. I'm glad I rarely bother to use my points on any of those deluxe samples and skipped out on the Sephora palette (first 500 point perk) or the Kat Von D "Rock N' Roll" palette. I think this is the BEST deal they've offered.. and for free! I remember the 500 point Sephora palette being dusty and the Rock N' Roll palette had terrible color payoff. These polishes are the real deal. They're actually sold individually for $9 a pop so this is a $27 (plus tax) value.

The set includes: Personal Shopper (rich vixen red), Dear Diary... (warm light pink), and I'm With Brad (shimmering wine over dark coffee.)

(Shade descriptions are from Sephora site.)

My nails aren't the best but I hope I captured the colors decently. "Personal Shopper" is a basic, primary red and I got the full effect with one coat. I really like the color and it's perfect for the Holidays. "Dear Diary..." is a sheer, milky pink. The first coat went on sheer so I layered on another coat and the color was perfect. "I'm With Brad" is like a dark, burgundy brown with reddish shimmer. All the swatches were done without a base coat or top coat.
Here are the swatches from the Sephora site:

Personal Shopper

Dear Diary...

I'm With Brad

A Little Sephora Haul: NARS Wild At Heart 15 Year Anniversary Palette Review & Swatches

I've had my eye on the limited edition NARS "Wild at Heart" palette ($75) for a little over a month now and I was super excited to finally get my hands on it. The palette is available on Sephora.com (online only), Beauty.com, and Narscosmetics.com (and other department stores such as Nordstrom, etc.) I placed an order on Sephora last week just for the palette -I'm trying to save up and didn't want to spend on anything else. The package included a Sephora catalog and coupon for 20% off all sale items (expires December 31, 2009). The promo code is "EXTRA."

I also redeemed 500 of my points for the new (Beauty Insider 500 point prize) -the Sephora OPI Set of (full-sized) nail polishes. I also got a free 4oz Philosophy "Perfumed Firming Body Emulsion." Use the promo code "WISHME" and you can choose from 1 or 3 choices: sample size Yves Saint Laurent Faux Cils mascara (my favorite mascara), sample size NARS double-sided lipgloss (I'm pretty sure one side is Striptease the other is Dolce Vita), and the Philosophy "Perfumed Firming Body Emulsion (I thought this was the best deal.. the other choices were tiny.) I also received 3 free samples of my choice and free shipping. Great deal!

I rarely pay for shipping online -I think it's such a waste. Always search for promo codes when shopping online -for every store. It also helps to sign up for your favorite sites' emails because they'll email you with special promo codes, sales, and free shipping deals. For instance, I always thought those MAC free shipping (on any purchase) deals only come around every few months but I get the emails pretty much every week.

Here's the NARS Wild at Heart 15 Year Anniversary Palette..

Notice that instead of the standard black box with white print, the anniversary box is a brilliant bright red with shiny print -"NARS" is printed in shiny red and "15" is printed in shiny silver.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the palette but I'm not too sure about dropping 75bucks on it. Luckily, I paid with a gift card. It's a great value -if you use/like all the colors. The palette has the amazing quality I always expect from NARS but I'm not really sure I'd use these lip colors on a regular basis. I kind of want the other eye/cheek/lip palette that they're offering for the 15 Year Anniversary -the "Everlasting Love" palette (mainly blue shadows, nude lips, & same cheek shades), but I'm going to wait for another 20% off sale on Beauty.com so I can get it for only $60.
The palette includes 4 Eyeshadows: Abyssinia (delicate pearl sheen), Alhambra (golden champagne), Ashes to Ashes (violet brown with shimmer), and Pandora (matte black.) 1 Blush: Orgasm (peachy pink with shimmer.) 1 The Multiple: South Beach (shimmering apricot.) 1 Lip Lacquer: Baby Doll (cotton candy pink.) 3 Lipsticks: Red Lizard (semi matte full powered red), Manhunt (sheer poppy red), and Fire Down Below (semi matte pure blood red.)
(Shade descriptions are from the Sephora site.)
Here are the eyeshadow & blush swatches. (From left) Abyssinia, Alhambra, Ashes to Ashes, Pandora, Orgasm blush, & The Multiple in South Beach. (Sorry for my goosebumpy arm)
Here are the lip swatches. (From left) Baby Doll Lip Lacquer, Red Lizard lipstick, Manhunt lipstick, & Fire Down Below lipstick.
I do like this palette. However, I do not wear red lipstick a lot and these lippies just don't really work with me. Baby Doll Lip Lacquer goes on kind of sheer (on my lips) and a lot has to be applied for a color to show. My favorite things from the palette are the eyeshadows in Alhambra and Ashes to Ashes. Ashes to Ashes is something I will definately buy as a single -the perfect plummy brown color with a nice sheen. I also like the Orgasm blush. If you do not wear red lipstick much though, I recommend going with the "Everlasting Love" Palette which contains the same cheek shades (Orgasm blush and South Beach Multiple) but has bold shadows and nude lippies. I really don't think this is worth $75 for me because I won't use the whole right side of the palette. If you're not into red lips, skip this palette -unless you're a die hard NARS fan or have some extra cash to spend. I do admit the shadows and cheek shades are gorgeous though.

500 Point Prize: 3 Full Size Sephora by OPI nail polishes (each are sold individually for $9.) I will post swatches of these in another post.
FREEEEEEEEE STUFF!
1. Philosophy 4oz "Perfumed Firming Body Emulsion"
2. Yves Saint Laurent "Parisienne" Eau De Parfum sample
3. TEMPTU "ADORN Temporary Tattoo Sheet" sample
4. First Aid Beauty "Ultra Repair Cream" sample

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Sephora Brand Flashy Liner Set

The limited edition Sephora Flashy Liner Set consists of 7 mini-sized Flashy liner pencils in a nice variety of colors. The set includes blue, silver, mauve, copper, brown, green, and deep black. The Sephora Brand Flashy Liners are described (on Sephora's site) as being waterproof, longwearing, and are also supposed to "glide on easily" so there is less tugging on the skin. I noticed this set so, so many times in the past month as I've been to 3 different Sephora stores at once or twice a week. I kept neglecting it and assuming they were just a gimic.. come on, 7 pencils for just $20?? Yea right! Anyways, I was looking through the Sephora site and noticed that the rating for this set was 4.5/5 stars! I looked at some other liner sets that Sephora was offering, and found that more customers preferred this set to the others. Compared to the others, this set contained more colors and a lower price. Over the past 2 weeks, my need for this set grew. I wanted it BAD. I went to my local Sephora store and found that they were sold out and wouldn't be receiving anymore of these sets. The other Sephora nearby was also out and I didn't want to wait. Sooooooo, my lovely boyfriend drove me to the Sephora in the pouring rain last night and I finally got my hands on this set. I immediately swatched in the car and fell in love. Here are the swatches:
Top Row: Deep Black, Blue, Copper, Mauve. Bottom Row: Brown, Silver, Green.
I wore the Blue Flashy liner today for a family get together and the color was very -flashy. A super bright blue-teal color and I had to tone it down a bit and add Mauve to it. In the end, I added some black over and it turned into an amazing bright blue-black. Surprisingly, the color lasted from 5:30PM and beyond. 9 whole hours later at 2:30AM, it was still in place. It didn't budge whatsoever. I have extrememly watery eyes so I was surprised by the wonderful staying power. I actually had to remove it with some good makeup remover (I always use baby wipes to remove makeup.) NO liner has ever stayed (on my waterline and lashline) for over 2 hours -in my whole life. Not MAC, Revlon, MUFE, Tarte, Urban Decay, CoverGirl, etc.. none of those. I'm really amazed by this. If you have issues with liner always disappearing from your waterline, I'd say go for this. If you like experimenting with colored liners, go for this. If you're on a budget, go for this!!!! Pick one of these up while you can because they're selling out in lots of Sephora stores.
Here are some other liner sets that are currently on sale (I passed these up for the Flashy liner set.) They're all around $20-$35: