Sephora Friends & Family Sale: What I Plan To Buy!

Have I got some exciting news to share with all my lovely readers or what?! As some of you may know, from October 18-31 this year is the highly anticipated Sephora Friends & Family (F&F) sale where a lot of people stock up on holiday gifts and things they have been looking at because of the (usually) 20% off discount. However, instead of making the sale public to everyone this year, it is quite literally a F&F sale where you have to obtain a card or online code from a sales associate. Luckily enough for me, I will be picking up the card from my friend and I will be heading off to Sephora next week!

Here are a few of my choice picks of what to get with 20% off:

1. Clarisonic Mia in Lavender

I'm not sure if I really need the Clarisonic, to be honest! I've been told my skin doesn't require such a thorough cleansing with something like the Clarisonic but maybe I'll take a look at the different brush heads they offer and see if I can find an option for normal and slightly combo skin. I've heard so many great things about this and I tried it out for a minute last time, it seems nice! I will at least do some in-store research and listen to what the experts have to say on it, since the Sephora guys and gals can be very knowledgeable!

2. Shiseido Pureness Mattifying Moisturizer Oil-Free
To be honest, I've gone through a few bottles of this, and I really love it. It is great for daily moisturizing and really keeps my face hydrated even though it is in the form of a light gel and not a thick cream as you expect anything deeply moisturizing to be. I even use this one in winter and it does a great job, and it won't affect any makeup you put on top of it!

3. Buxom Full-Bodied Lip Gloss in YOW
I've always been curious about the Buxom gloss line because of the plumping properties...but I don't like products that sting or have a minty tingle, as the original Buxom glosses have. Luckily for me, they came out with this new gloss with hyaluronic spheres that gently moisturize and plump lips over time without the sting! I look forward to trying this out!

4. Urban Decay NAKED Palette
The essential stash of neutral eye makeup shadows, Urban Decay always produces some of the highest quality shadows. I started out using Yves Rocher shadows and Urban Decay, and other brands have not compared in terms of colour payoff and ease of use and softness. Urban Decay is one of my absolute favourites, plus the colours are well suited towards my skintone!

5. Vera Wang Princess Eau de Parfum
I have been looking for a new perfume for a few weeks now, because I want a more mature fragrance to represent me and embody who I am. Of course, just doing online research and reading reviews is not enough to determine what I need, but going off of those, plus having used it once before, and loving the scent and packaging, I think I will give this one a go!

Does anyone know anything good that I should try out during the F&F sale? Do let me know by leaving a comment!

Review: e.l.f. Baked Eyeshadow in Toasted

So I did a tiny e.l.f. haul with my friends a while back because the shipping is fairly affordable and I've grown to like the cosmetics offered by e.l.f.! For those lovelies who are new to e.l.f., it stands for "eyes lips face" and is a company whose mission is to offer cosmetics at the lowest price possible to make them affordable for everybody! All of their products are very affordable and I may consider doing another order sometime soon!

When e.l.f. released their baked blushes and eyeshadows, a lot of people (myself included) were very excited to see the price point, which is significantly lower than that of most other baked cosmetic products. I wanted to give it a try first, because I have never used baked makeup before, believe it or not! I ordered one of the baked eyeshadows in the shade Toasted for a mere $3, check out how pretty it is!

As you can see, the amount you get is very generous (a whopping .12 oz or 3.5 grams!) and the colour is very metallic! It has a slight shimmer finish, but no glitter, and reminds me of the colour of MAC's Rubenesque paint pot. I like to pair this eyeshadow with my Bare Study paint pot and a taupe crease colour for a daily eye look! I think it'd look great on a variety of skin tones because of the finish, and it doesn't lean too pink, which is perfect for me. Overall, I give this shadow two thumbs up because it is super affordable and is very long lasting!

Review: Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer in Nude

So now that midterms are hitting all of us university students hard, it's time to bring out the concealers and hide those dreaded undereye circles so you can look your best! It's my first time trying out a concealer, and based on many reviews, I decided to go with the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer in the shade Nude. It was on sale for $6.99 which is a great price for a drugstore concealer, and I love the click pen idea where you can get just as many dabs as you need without drying out the rest of the product. As with all click pens, it takes a good minute or so of continuous clicking to get any product to start flowing. After that, each time I spin it one click for each eye so that I get a small dab of fresh product.

The shades available in this concealer are made for lighter skin tones, and the luminizing agent may actually make some people's skin seem paler and ghastly! For me, the trick is to use this in moderation and to pat it in light circles to thoroughly blend the product in with your natural skintone, as skin tends to be darker for me under my eyes. It also has a tendency to accent drier undereye skin if you cake on too much.

I think a product that might be comparable is the Rimmel Match Perfection concealer, which I might try next! What drugstore concealers do you like best?

Nailing It! Essie in Angora Cardi

Since we are well into the fall season now, I decided I would share my first fall manicure! While looking through my colours, one in particular stood out to me: Essie's Angora Cardi because it was a unique shade of purple, and the name is super cute as well! It's bold without being vampy or edgy at all, and changes between royal purple and burgundy depending on the lighting. It also lasted a week with minimal chipping, and I'm really impressed with this shade! I think it fits in wonderfully with the theme of fall and can easily match any type of outfit, as it doesn't come off as an immature colour.

Overall, I'm really starting to like Essie as a whole now. They have really grown from a pale pastels kind of brand to one that covers the entire colour spectrum!