What I Bought from the Sephora VIB Sale

 

1. Becca Luminous Skin Colour in Camel - I had heard a lot of raves about the Becca line and so I was excited to try out a couple of their products. I wore it for the first time today and it has very sheer coverage, about the equivalent of a pigmented tinted moisturizer. As you can see in the picture  my freckles still show through with this product. (Tinted moisturizers with similar levels of pigmentation are the Laura Mercier Oil-Free and the Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer.) I really like that this has SPF 25 (and its by Australian SPF standards which, as I understand, are more stringent that US standards). The Becca brand have their own 3 step foundation/complexion system of which this product is the first step. In their system, you could follow you would use their foundation stick to add more coverage and then finish with a powder. The foundation stick is not available on the Sephora website but I may consider getting the foundation stick in the future if I fall in love with Becca. (You can find their full range of products at http://www.beccacosmetics.com/) The color I bought, Camel, seems to be a great match with my skintone which is yellow toned and approx C2/NC20-25 in MAC foundations. 

Swatches of Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal 

2. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal

I researched this product A LOT before putting this in my cart. I looked

through a lot of blogs and searched YouTube for swatches and reviews. Most of the reviews were for the color, Pearl, which is white and cool toned. I wasn't interested in Pearl as I already own the Nars Copacabana Multiple and find that warm toned products are more flattering and natural on me.  The reviews (regardless of color) were almost unanimous in their love of the product, with raves about its quality and effect. I've swatched this product on my arm and tried it on my face today. (I'm wearing it in the above photo. The photo doesn't at all capture the 'glow' that this product gives!) On the face, it gives a beautiful pearlescent glow. It's not the most "natural" glow in my opinion, another girl would almost certainly know that you're getting artificial help in the glow department. Having said that it's definitely not a disco ball glow either- it is  lovely. What I didn't read in the reviews is that is has millions of teeny micro shimmers. You don't see it on your face as you only need to use a tiny amount but after the swatching that I did on my arm, I noticed that is certain angles my skin was ..glimmering? Think Edward's skin reveal scene in the first Twilight movie. Like millions of tiny diamonds on skin. Apart from the price ($41 for 1.7ounce), the biggest con I've found with this is how hard it is to get the right amount of product from  the pump. It is too easy to pump out way to much product. I'm planning a future post talking about my favorite highlighters and I already suspect this will be in the top 5.   :)

3.  Caudalie Cleansing Water and Lip Conditioner - I've absolutely loved the two Caudalie products that I've tried, the Divine Oil and Beauty Elixir, so I was jumped at the opportunity try more items. I'm looking forward to comparing the Caudalie Cleansing Water to the La Roche-Posay Micellar Water that I'm currently using. 

4. Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer and Primed & Poreless Primer Bronze Tint
I'd heard great things about this bronzer so I bought this deluxe sample duo for $12. The bronzer does have this artificial chocolate scent. The scent is not noticeable once on the face. I've never been that into food-scented products (excluding citrus and fruit scents) so I'm not excited about the scent. I have not tried the primer at all and was actually surprised that it was a bronze tint one. I basically bought this sample pack for the bronzer and didn't pay attention to the primer when I was purchasing this. I will give it a go! I actually just bought a primer from Clarins (the Clarins Instant Smooth Self Tanning Primer) that doubles as a sunless-tanner so I already have another product I can compare it to. 

5. Nars blush in Luster - This is a product that I've owned previously but ended up swapping away as I just didn't find myself reaching for it. I bought this again as it is frequently compared to the Nars Madly blush, which I am currently loving. I adore peach/apricot blushes so I thought I'd give this little beauty another try. I wore it this afternoon and was pleased with the result. (I'm wearing it in the above photo.)

Nars Luster is on the left. Nars Madly on the right.

Comparing Nars Luster to Nars Madly... Madly is more neutral. It leans more pinky/rose brown. Luster is warm toned and apricot/peachy toned. Both have very finely milled shimmer. I think Nars Madly goes with any look and therefore more versatile. I think both would look great with tan, and warm toned skin. I'm not sure whether Luster would work for cool toned gals or gals with a lot pink in their skin tone. 

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Empties! Products I've used up #1

I've been working (hard!) at trying to use up some products this month. Mostly to make way for other things! 

1. Olay Total Effects Moisturizer - this is the third bottle of this I've used up (over the years, not consecutively). This is one of those staples that I can always go back to knowing that I really like it. In the last 3 months, I've been using this moisturizer in conjuction with my Philosophy Turbo Booster C powder and its been working a treat. I do believe that powder just gives a lovely glowy boost to my skin. I just don't like the messy mixing in process. 

2. Eos lipbalm in Tangerine - I was attracted to this due to its cute egg-like packaging and I really like the scent of this Tangerine one. (There are other scents: sweet mint, strawberry sorbet, summer fruit, lemon drops SPF15, honeysuckle honeydew.) The eos website says that the tangerine flavor/scent is "medicated" making it more soothing and has anti-bacterial properties. I used this every night before going to sleep for about 4 months and personally didn't see any significant difference in the condition or hydration of my lips.

3. Soap and Glory Face Soap Vitamin C Facial Wash - Admittedly this was an impulse purchase. I was swayed by the cute product colors (it's a minty green with pink scrub beads) and the magical words they used on the packaging, namely "brightening" and "vitamin C". After discovering my love for Philosophy's Turbo Booster C powder suddenly everything vitamin C related seemed enticing. (I also purchased the Aveeno Positively Ageless Resurfacing Scrub with Vitamin C for this same reason.) And as someone who loves glowy skin, anything that says "brightening" is pretty much in my want list. Anyway, getting back to this cleanser..it's ..okay. My face felt cleansed (slightly dry) after use. It didn't completely remove my eye makeup. Needless to say, I won't be making this impulse purchase again. 

4. Clinique Take the Day Off  makeup remover -this product is technically meant for eyes and lips. I only ever used it for eyes. When I first started with this product I found it overwhelmingly oily and I didn't like the greasy sensation it left around the skin around my eyes. In time I got used to that, but it is still not my favorite. I have replaced it with a cheaper dupe from Neutrogena which is similar, but not as greasy. 

Morning Skincare Routine

My morning skincare routine is pretty basic.

1. Cleanser: Every morning I use a cleanser to clear away the oils that have built up overnight. During summer, I liked using Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser rinsed with cold water. Now that cooler weather is with us and my skin feels a little drier, I prefer to use the La Roche Posay Physiological Micellar Solution. I like this as it is rinse free; you just put it on a cotton ball and you're good to go. 

2. Toner: this is a step I usually don't bother with in the mornings. On the odd ocasion that I take the time, I have used either the Nuxe Gentle Toning Lotion with Rose Petals (which smells as pretty as it sounds!) or the Caudalie Beauty Elixir. 

3. Moisturizer: I recently got the Peter Roth Thomas Max Sheer All Day Defense from Sephora as the 100 point free gift. I have been using this lately,but not with much joy. This doesn't seem that sheer on me; it leave someone of a "glowy" film on my skin. I'm definitely not enjoying the experience with this moisturizer / sunscreen. I really want to try the Elizabeth Arden Prevage(R) Triple Defense Shield Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 50 as I've heard rave reviews for it from one of my favorite YT beauty gurus, Fleur de Force.
When I know I'm not going to be leaving the house, I like to use the Boscia Vital Daily Moisturizer. 

4. Eyes - I'm currently using a deluxe sample size of Bobbi Brown's Extra Eye Repair Cream. This eye cream is extremely thick, and while I love it for winter; I think it would be too much for the summer months (and possibly for those with oily skin). I got this deluxe sample as part of a gift with purchase from bobbibrowncosmetics.com. This little 7ml pottle was filled to the brim, and I consider this a very generous sample.  As I only need to do one swipe with each eye of this, I can see this lasting me the remainder of the cool months. 


What's your morning routine?