Sephora VIB Sale Haul 2015 - Part 2

This week has been the week of hauls! After this, I'm definitely not allowed to buy anymore makeup or skincare products until the next Sephora sale, or if I'm out of a daily staple.

I was only going to make one order during the Sephora VIB sale, but then I saw that Caudalie released a few value sets that included their new face masks and I had to throw in some other items that I didn't include in my first order.

The reason for the second order was the Caudalie Prep for Radiance Set. This set includes a full size Beauty Elixir and sample sizes of the Instant Foaming Cleanser and the Glycolic Peel. I really wanted to try the Glycolic Peel and hopefully the Instant Detox Mask in the near future.

Another reason for this order was the nail polish in Bamboo White from the NAILS Inc. and Victoria Beckham collaboration. I was seriously hemming and hawing over this nail polish. It's ridiculously expensive (I could've bought another Dior or Burberry nail polish instead at a lesser price) but the whole off-white trend has really gotten my heart lately. I can't wait to paint my nails with this, but did it really need such a big box? Such excessive packaging! I'm glad I got this though, since it's out of stock now.

I also got the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Concealer in Medium Neutral. For some reason, I thought I ordered it in my first order until I saw that it wasn't in the box. I've used it once so far and I'm really liking it! I think there's potential for it to take over my love for the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer!

And lastly, I got the Anastasia Brow Wiz in Ebony. I have it in Dark Brown/Brunette (review), but felt it was too light for my liking. Here's hoping that Ebony is better suited for me.

Another Shoppers Drug Mart Haul

The past couple of weeks have been a bit spendy for me and with good reason! First was the Sephora VIB sale (You can see my first haul here and the second haul here.) and then there was a 20x the points event at Shoppers Drug Mart. It was the perfect time for me to get one of my favourite foundations in my current shade.

If you didn't know, I prefer going to the Shoppers Drug Mart at Bayview Village when these points events happen since they have a lot of the higher end brands there. I went in looking for two specific items: Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet and the Garnier Micellar Water, then walked out with a bunch of other items. 

I had shade B40 for the Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet foundation, but it's too dark for my current skin, so I bought B30. The other item I really wanted to get my hands on was the Garnier Micellar Water, but they didn't have it! To say the least, I was bummed. After reading some reviews comparing it to Bioderma, I really wanted to see if it truly is as good. Instead, I picked up the Simple Cleansing Micellar Water and the L'Oreal Gentle Micellar Solution to see how those compare to Bioderma. I eventually went to two other Shoppers Drug Marts and couldn't find the Garnier one. Is it not sold in Canada or am I just extremely unlucky?

I also picked up backups of some of my daily staples. I got a pack of the Quo cotton pads. They have the texture I like to help with "scrubbing" off the makeup/dirt on my face. Of course I got a bottle of Herbal Essences conditioner since it was on sale and it works good enough for me! Then there's the Marcelle Gentle Makeup Remover for Sensitive Eyes. I recently used up a mini size of this makeup remover and absolutely loved it!

After the Sephora sale and this little haul, I'm putting myself on a spending ban probably until the next Sephora sale in November! 

Sephora VIB Sale Haul 2015 - Part 1

It's that time of year again where Sephora has their first of two VIB sales. I decided to order online again instead of going in-store for a majority of the products that I wanted. I posted my wishlist earlier this month, but funnily enough, I didn't end up purchasing a lot of the items on that list!

I tried to sticking to what I really wanted, but ended up adding some last minute items right when I was putting in my order. Suffice it to say, a couple of items might just be returned. 

Bobbi Brown Sheer Powder Brush

I've wanted this brush for a pretty long time now. I can see this being quite the multi-tasking brush - powder, blush, contour, highlight. The sky's the limit!

Caudalie Favourites Kit

I always like to pick up the sets that Caudalie puts together. It's such a great value when you want to try out new products and they typically include a bottle of their Beauty Elixir. Plus, this set includes a tube of their Hand and Nail Cream and Lip Conditioner that I really like.

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

I wanted to try out this powder in preparation for and to research the best products for doing my wedding makeup. I got the smaller size just in case I didn't like it and I'm sure it'll last me a while.

Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water Cloths
I'm always on the hunt for great makeup removing cloths and this one has gotten pretty good reviews! I got the 10 cloth pack just in case it didn't work out. This was definitely a last minute add to my order!

Clinique Cheek Pop - Fig Pop and Plum Pop

I didn't get these when they first launched, so I thought the sale was a great time to pick a couple up. Fig Pop looks like a great natural shade that I can wear year-round and Plum Pop looks like a wonderful spring shade. 

Clinique Pop Lip Colour + Primer - Bare Pop

I wanted to try out a new lipstick and of course I get a my lips but better shade. The reviews for these new lipsticks look good and promising, so I'm hoping I really like this as well. I also have my eye on Plum Pop. 

Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick - Incognito

This has always been on my wishlist. I don't know what took me so long to get this lipstick! Probably the price, but I figure I might as well try it out now instead of always wanting to try it out. This is another my lips but better shade - as if I need another one!

Dior Nail Polish - Incognito

This is one of my holy grail nail polishes. I used up more than half of my first bottle, but now it's gotten quite thick which has made it hard to work with. It's ok to use if I'm going to apply one thick layer, but I can't be bothered to apply two thin layers since it's so thick. 

Kate Somerville Clarifying Treatment Toner

I was in the market for a new toner that actually does something for my skin. I love the Caudalie Beauty Elixir, but I wanted one that doesn't have alcohol. I've read reviews that this toner works well on healing residual acne and fading acne scars and hyperpigmentation. 

Josie Maran Argan Daily Moisturizer SPF 47

I was on the search for a new moisturiser that has SPF and I thought this would be a great one to try out. It was recommended by a friend and the benefits of argan oil makes this a win-win. Hopefully this doesn't break me out!

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder - Dim Light

I've already tried out the Diffused Light powder and it didn't work out so well for me. It made me look quite sickly and it didn't control my oil that well. I'm hoping this will help with blurring out imperfections in my skin and make it look more radiant. Maybe then I'll finally understand the hype with these powders.

Kevyn Aucoin Celestial Powder - Candlelight

This is the first highlighter (besides samples) that I've owned. I'm hoping that this is the only one I will own! I've read so many reviews on different highlighters and wanted one that looks natural and looks great on my medium olive skintone. This one seemed like the best one to use on all kinds of skintones too. I'll be doing my friend's bridesmaids' makeup and the makeup at my own wedding, so I was looking for a highlighter that will work on everyone. Fingers crossed it works out!

This was the first of two hauls. See what I got in my second haul here. 

Finding the Ultimate Brow Product: Marcelle Duo Eyebrow-PRO in Brunette

I'm back with another brow product that I've been testing out. If you're new to this series, I'm trying out a bunch of different brow products that find the perfect one for me. To recap, I'm looking for an all-in-one product - products that don't require me to have the brow filler itself and an additional tool.

So far, I've reviewed the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil, Anastasia Brow Wiz and Benefit Gimme Brow. You can see I haven't tried out any brow powder or pomades, since I'm pretty sure I will mess up the application and it requires me to get a brush to use them.

Today, I will be reviewing a drugstore option, the Marcelle Duo Eyebrow-PRO. This was actually recommended to me by Jordana since I liked the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil.

This Marcelle eyebrow pencil comes in 3 different shades, of which I chose Brunette, since the Dark shade looked a little too dark for my liking. As the name suggests, it is a double sided eyebrow pencil, with the pencil on one side and a lightly tinted gel on the other.

Much like the Hourglass pencil, this also has an angled wedge-shaped pencil, but the comparison stops there. Unlike the Hourglass pencil, I found it to be noticeably softer and less waxy. This made it easy to go a little overboard in filling the brows if you used too much pressure in applying the pigment. Since this formula isn't that waxy, it didn't help with keeping the brow hairs in place - but I guess that's why there's the tinted gel.

As for the gel, it's only lightly tinted, so it won't give much colour to the brows. I tried out the gel over the pencil and on its own. Both times, I wasn't very pleased with the results. The gel left my brow hairs feeling tight and crunchy without really setting the hairs in place. When I used it on its own, I could see a tiny bit of colour, but only if I used a lot.



The colour match of the Brunette shade is ok. Looking back, I should have gotten the Dark shade. On me, I had to make sure I didn't put too much of the pigment on the front of my brows, or else my brows would appear much too light to match my hair colour. So, for now, I mostly only fill in the sparse areas in the middle and tail end of my brows with light strokes. For the front, I just draw a faint line at the roots, then blend it out with my finger to help it look fuller.

Which brings me to my biggest problem with this brow pencil. It doesn't come with a spoolie! How am I supposed to blend out the pigment that I've applied? I've actually been using my fingers to blend it out since I don't actually have a separate spoolie I can use. Or sometimes, I use the spoolie from my Hourglass brow pencil or the Anastasia Brow Wiz. So, if you can't tell, I would rather have a spoolie than the tinted brow gel.



Overall, I don't really like this brow pencil. Perhaps I've already been spoiled by the higher end options, but if you're on a budget, this would suffice. I will use up the rest of the pencil, but will happily move on to other brow products on the market.

Blushes for Spring

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