What I Bought at the August Beauty Insider Sale

In a bizarre turn of events, Sephora threw together an extra (we think) August Beauty Insider Sale. Normally, there’s one in April-ish and then again in November-ish, so to have this August Beauty Insider Sale one fall into our laps is a rare and welcome treat. Fortunately, the stars aligned and I happened to have a gift card – so I didn’t even break my No Buy to shop.

What to Buy, What to Buy?

I’m still riding the post-KonMari wave and don’t feel the need to expand my makeup collection at this time. Sure, are there things I want? Of course. There are cool products released all the damn time that I’d love to try! But the cost to do so is steep; I don’t want to waste money, and I don’t want to reintroduce clutter.

When Urban Decay announced that they were discontinuing their iconic Naked palette (more on that to come), Sephora knocked the price in half. I considered buying a backup and another to give away, but they were sold out before the VIB-tier discount was available.

Setting Limits

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Sephora Flash Price Increase

Sephora Flash Price Increase

An e-mail sent on August 17, 2018 to Sephora Flash subscribers expressed Sephora’s intention to increase the Sephora Flash membership fee from $10 to $15 for a year. This change takes effect next month on September 26, 2018.

Recap – What is Sephora Flash?

The easiest way to think of Flash is to compare it to Amazon Prime. Granted, Prime comes with a whole host of other perks, but if you focus just on shipping, this is that. An annual membership fee gets you discounted shipping. You can read more about it from when I wrote about it at launch nearly three-and-a-half years ago; and if you’re interested in signing up, you can check that out here.

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Stila Stay All Day Liner Review

This is a legacy post that has been given a facelift. Opinions are the same, content has been edited for readability, clarity, all that jazz. Additions are noted in line. Enjoy!


Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner

I’m not sure what it is that sparks my desire to challenge, well, everything that I challenge. But like the lipstick, if I see something that claims to Stay All Day, I can’t help but want to prove whether or not it is true. You know, for science, and love and justice, whatever.

In the same holiday set that I received the aforementioned lipstick by the same name, I received a smaller-than-normal tube of Stila Stay All Day Liner. Though more favorable than my initial reaction to the name of the lipstick, I still couldn’t believe it without seeing it. Since receiving it, I have worn it with success but I never really documented how long it lasted – and, “more or less all day,” isn’t enough for me.

The Test

Yesterday, I slapped some on my face before work around 6:15AM (contrary to my programming, I am the early bird at work. 2018 Update: SO CUTE. My makeup is done by 5:45 these days.). This is what it looked like at 6:30AM:

Stila Stay All Day Liner - 6:30AM

Well of course it looks decent, freshly applied. Also, I am an airhead and hadn’t even slapped on mascara, yet.

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COOLA Organic Suncare

This is a legacy post that has been given a facelift for clarity and readability. Opinions are the same; in fact, I laughed as I re-read it because I wouldn’t change a thing aside from adding headers. Enjoy!

Sometimes, I don’t even have to look for ridiculous marketing.
Sometimes, it walks right into my inbox.

Email from Ulta advertising some new, shiny products includes this:

COOLA Organic Setting SprayUlta e-mail ad for COOLA Organic Makeup Setting Spray

Oh, setting spray! Good. Even better, it has SPF. Wait. Organic? Organic setting spray?

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June 2018 Favorites

June 2018 FavoritesJune 2018 Favorites
MUFE Rouge Artist Natural N9, $11 / China Glaze Gelaze Diva Bride, $11 /
Hot Tools 1.25 Curling Iron, $40 / Polar Toasted Coconut, $1 / Kenra Dry Thickening Spray, $17

Frankly, it’s amazing that I was able to scrounge up the time to document my June 2018 Favorites in light of:

  • Looking for and dealing with pre-house-purchase stuff
  • Running an annual, weekend-long event mid-month (that destroys me)
  • Crazy work
  • Buying a house (!!!)

…so, I’m giving myself a participation trophy. Details on my June 2018 Favorites after the jump!

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Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural N9Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural / N9 Copper Pink, $11

Have you ever come across an item and reacted, “I need ten of these?”

That’s how I feel about Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural in N9, Copper Pink. A few years ago, Sephora offered a mini of it as their birthday perk and I initially dismissed it without trying it. Definitely a fan of MLBBs, I have no idea what I was thinking. Eventually, I got around to it and was nonplussed. For me, it’s the most accurate one yet! Naturally, though, it appears to be discontinued. FML.

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