Baltimore Beautiful: haul

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Mini Haul

Okay so to be honest, the only reason I put in a Sephora online order was because there was a 500 point perk that sparked my interest - the Caudalie Instant Hydration Facial kit. I have recently transitioned to using the Vinosource Intense Moisture Rescue Cream because I felt like my First Aid Beauty facial moisturizer just wasn't cutting it for my dry skin, so I was wanting to try some of their other products. Within this kit are small samples of their Makeup Remover Cleansing Water, S.O.S. Thirst Quenching Serum, S.O.S. Morning Eye Rescue, and Moisturizing Sorbet.

There were a few 100 point rewards that coincidentally where products I've been wanting to try... "Add to Basket". I picked up the LANCÔME HD Mascara, Philosophy eye serum, Smashbox Primer. I used coupon "PMDSERUM" to get a very generously sized trial of the No Foundation Foundation Serum - based on MakeupByTiffanyD's recommendation. This free 'mini' size is 0.3 oz, yet the full size is 1.0 oz and sells for $55 - thanks Sephora!

Does anyone else do this, pick their rewards and samples before having anything else in their basket? I looked in my Sephora Loves bin (where I put products that I hear a lot about and want to try at some point) and decided to try the NARS pressed setting powder. I was slightly irritated that I allowed myself to fall in love with the Make Up For Ever HD Loose Powder because it doesn't travel well. I'm hoping this NARS powder works just as well at blurring imperfections... fingers crossed.

I was recently at our mall that has outlet shops and poked my head in Off 5th because I spotted a beauty counter right inside. Am I the last one to know that Off 5th (Saks Fifth Avenue's outlet store) sells high-end makeup at a 20-70% discount? I found the ORIGINS spot treatment I had in my Sephora Loves Bin based on a recommendation from Zoella. I've recently been using the Dermalogica Emergency Spot Fix which has 5% benzoyl peroxide, while the ORIGINS one has 1.5% salicylic acid. I don't know which one my skin will respond to better, because I didn't know to look for those ingredients before now. I'll let you know what I think about both of these products.

When I saw a display of Bobbi Brown's Illuminating Bronzing Powders, my heart went all a flutter. Could it be... could I find love again?! In my Oops I Haul'd It Again! post, I had picked up my first BB bronzing powder. I have been wearing Antigua every day since I bought it, so I picked up Santa Barbara, thinking it looked similar to the cult classic Orgasm blush by NARS. Here you can see the two shades next to each other. Antigua is rosey, while Santa Barbara is more pinky-coral with a gold sheen - neither are shimmer, they just have a nice sheen to them.

I'm looking forward to trying these products and letting you know what I think. I have my makeup trial for my wedding makeup coming up, so I feel another haul isn't far away. :) I'm looking forward to being made more beautiful.

Products mentioned in this post

ORIGINS Super Spot Remover - ~~$15.50~~ $12 @ Off 5th

Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder - ~~$40~~ $26.75 @ Off 5th

NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder - $35

Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation Serum (1.0 oz) - $55

Caudalie Vinosource Intense Moisture Rescue Cream - $39

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Oops I Haul'd It Again!

I took a trip to Sephora the other day to get a new fragrance for my Fiance's birthday... and accidentally had a mini-haul for myself (thanks honey!). Disclaimer, I did have 2 products to return, so that's how I justified it to myself, I'll talk about these in another post. Here's a little preview of what jumped into my basket (minus Nick's gift because I didn't know if I'd be posting this before I had given him his gift or not):

I began at the overwhelming wall of men's fragrances, gravitating towards the ones with the coolest bottles. Nick wears Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue everyday - which I really do like, but it has very soft, subtle notes - so I knew I wanted to get him a more "spicy" fragrance for nighttime. Here's a glimpse of the image I had in my mind:

I honed in on two fragrances, Viktor & Rolf's Spicebomb and YSL's L'Homme. While both have spicier, peppery notes, I decided on the YSL one because I felt it was a bit more of a middle ground. If Nick gets into switching up his fragrances, I would definitely like to add Spicebomb because it is so yummy!

Foreground: YSL L'Homme Background: birthday card I made for him

Now onto my beauty finds, I have been looking for a nice pinky-nude lipstick for a bit now and found NARS' lipstick in Crusing and one from BITE in Retsina. The colors read similarly, but they do have different finishes, when swatched and on the lip. Retsina is more opaque with a satin finish, while the Crusing one has more of a semi-sheen/semi-gloss. Both look good with MAC's lipliner in Dervish (if you want to bring out the pink tones) or Whirl (if you want to bring out the brownish tones) and layered with MAC Nymphette gloss.

While in the NARS aisle, there was a NARS rep there giving someone a demo of the Dual Intensity eyeshadows that got me so interested I became less and less nonchalant with my eavesdropping. She showed how to use it dry to get a more subtle wash of color, and wet for a more opaque, metallic finish. I threw the Himalia color in my basket figuring with it's brownish-taupe color would work well with my everyday neutral eye looks. I wanted to be able to get the most use of out the product because it's so frickin' pricey! After using it for only a few days, I have found it to be buildable and I'm already having dreams of what shade I would like to get next. Also, she recommended using a synthetic hair brush.

I picked up Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb ladies fragrance in a rollerball on my way to the checkout. It has a very sweet, floral, and addictive smell. I spontaneously grabbed a mini size Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer

to give it a try. I've heard good things about this, I'll be interested to see if it's really worth the price and can replace my Garnier BB Cream (specifically the combo-oily skin one). This may be going back if it doesn't blow me away - $20 is pricey for only 1oz of product.

Last but not least... I was looking around at Nordstrom for the Armani counter wanting to see what all the hype is about surrounding the Luminous Silk Foundation (which I couldn't find at any department store in my mall), I was stopped in my tracks. My eyes were drawn to the Illuminating Bronzing Powder at the Bobbi Brown counter. I don't know why it is considered a bronzer, but the Antigua shade gives a beautiful rosey, glow-from-within color to the cheeks. Sephora only seems to carry 2 of the 6 shades online. To me, these are much more wearable than the much obsessed about shimmer bricks, which I find way too sparkly. I definitely recommend checking these out!!! So that wraps up my haul for this time.

I always have this internal argument with myself when purchasing from Sephora, I LOVE swatching the products to really determine whether I like them or not. However, I also REALLY love getting the cash back from Ebates (right now Sephora is offering 8% cash back!). If you can hold back from that "I MUST HAVE THIS NOW" urge, I recommend waiting to put your order in online using Ebates - Sephora online usually offers better samples and rewards gifts as well. In fact, I recommend checking out Ebates when purchasing from any store online for available cash back and coupon codes. Who doesn't want make money for shopping? (That's another justification I make to myself for my online shopping habits.)

Until next time... stay beautiful!