Review: Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip

Sephora comes out with these value kits every couple of months, it seems! I was excited to try this lip kit out as it comes with 1 full size product and very neutral shades. Here are my thoughts on this little box of goodies!

The little box comes with the deluxe samples inside. The Smashbox lipgloss is actually a full size product! 

From left to right: 

Smashbox Be Legendary lip gloss in 'Pout'

Bite Beauty 'Meritage'

Marc Jacobs Lust for Lacquer in 'Kissability'

Buxom Full On Lip Cream in 'White Russian'

NARS 'Orgasm'

Urban Decay Revolution lipstick 'Naked'

Swatched on my lips are in the same order (upper left, upper right, middle left...etc) as the list above and swatches on my arm.

My favorite product out of the bunch was the BITE lip pencil in 'Meritage.'  I found the color to be very flattering and the pencil to be extremely hydrating and lovely to wear. The color wore off after about 5 hours of wear (including eating and drinking) and wore off in a flattering way. I also REALLY enjoyed the Urban Decay Revolution lipstick in 'Naked.' It was a bit heavier than the BITE pencil but had a longer wear time. The color is quite a neutral pretty pink.

As for the glosses, I really enjoyed the Buxom lip cream. This lip gloss is a lip plumper so it has a very minty and cool feeling on the lips followed by a tingly sensation.  The color is nice on top of other lipstick, otherwise it is not noticeable on bare lips. I also enjoy NARS 'Orgasm' in the summer and spring for an easy breezy look. This gloss has some pigment to it so need to layer this product up.

As far as misses, I really don't see myself wearing the light Smashbox color. Though nice the product is full size, I think that it is too milky and rather unflattering on me. The Marc Jacobs gloss also barely showed up at all even though the little tube looks like it is packed with glitter. Such a disappointment!

Anyhow, this kit was $25 and I do recommend trying these kits out when they come out at Sephora if one or two products in the kit interest you. They are a great way to try out some products for a steal.

xxSJ

Sample Round-Up! Clinique, Soap and Glory, Benefit, MUFE, and Dr Brandt!

I have a HUGE bag of samples collecting dust in my room that I have received from various makeup orders, swag bags, and in store purchases.  I thought it was about time to delve into the bag and try out some new products and give you my thoughts on the sample value, my thoughts on the product given this little taste of it, and whether you should try this sample if you have the option to!
Let's get started shall we??

Clinique Acne Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel
Full size product: $26 for 1 oz
Sample value: $1.30 for .05 oz foil packet
This clinique sample is a medicated acne treatment complete with salicylic acid that is meant for all over your face or for spot treatments. This packet was enough to apply this product twice this week all over my face after taking my makeup off before bed. This stuff smells like PURE ALCOHOL. It is a light blue gel that tightens your skin immediately upon applying it and I must say I think it dried out my skin quite a bit. I wouldn't try this product out further and I won't be sampling it again in the future.

Benefit Air Patrol BB Cream Eyelid Primer
Full size product: $29 for .13 oz
Sample value: $.67 for .003 oz
This primer has a very thin consistency but I was surprised to find that you needed the tiniest bit to cover your whole eyelid. The product's tan color gave pretty decent coverage leaving a nice clean slate of an eyelid to place shadow on. The primer made my eyeshadow last all day with out creasing. The primer claims to have SPF benefits as well, always a plus! This little sample gave me 4 days of wear. Though I enjoyed the product, the hefty $29 pricetag may be too much to spend given I like UD primer potion which costs closer to $20.

Makeup Forever HD High Definition Primer
Full size product: $33 for 1 oz
Sample value: $1.65 for .05 oz foil packet
This product is a primer that is meant to make your makeup last all day as well as moisturize your face. The white cream was a very pleasant consistency and easy to blend in and I LOVE the fact that this primer does not have the normal oily slip to it that you feel with other primers on the market. I felt this made my makeup look fantastic for the three uses I got out of it and I would definitely want to try this product again in the future!

Soap and Glory Righteous Butter
Full size product: $15 for 10.1 oz
Sample value: $0.50 for .33 oz foil packet
This award winning body butter was SO luxurious! The thick white cream melted into my skin and smelled amazing ( fresh bergamot, mandarin, rose, jasmine, peach, strawberry, and soft musk & amber base note). The smell lingered on my skin for two whole days and my skin was so soft! I only got one full body use out of this packet but I loved every minute of using this product and would definitely purchase a full size tub. 

Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant
Full size product: $79 for 2 oz
Sample value: $9.88 for 0.25o oz
This skin exfoliant is meant to be used on moistened and warm skin after cleansing twice per week. I used this product in the shower and overall I did enjoy the feeling of scrubbing my skin with this. The product is very gritty and feels like it is getting into every pore to do some serious cleaning. You have to be gentle with this stuff though as it can be rough on your skin if you scrub too hard. I liked this product as my skin is getting dry from the cold winter air, so I felt I was scrubbing the dead cells off my face at the end of the day. The sample is a great value and I would recommend trying it out. I won't be purchasing the full size because of the hefty price tag but I would get the sample again. I am not done with this sample yet, as the tube is a very generous size. I should get at least 5 more uses out of it.

Total value of samples this week: $14

I definitely recommend trying out the Dr Brand skin exfoliant and the Soap and Glory Righteous Butter. Also try out your samples when you get them at home! I got to try out $14 of beauty products this week that made me feel luxurious and like I was giving my skin some extra TLC. It felt like a mini pampering session every time I tried something new. Leave me your thoughts below and what the best sample you've ever tried was!

xx, SJ

NOTD: Essie Warm and Toasty Turtleneck

Today's nail of the day was a pretty purple polish gifted to me by my good friend Safo! The color is Essie's 'Warm and Toasty Turtleneck.' It is a muted purple with some gray undertones to it. Pictured above is two coats of Warm and Toasty Turtleneck with Essie's Go Ginza dotted on top for some extra pizazz. The color applied easily with no streaking and lasted 3 days chip-free on my nails.

Pick this polish up if you're looking for a neutral purple this winter!
Essie nail polishes are sold at drugstores and beauty stores for about $8.50 a bottle. You can also find trusted sellers on Amazon as well!

xxSJ

Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette in 'Victoire'

I received another Dior 5-couleur palette for Christmas this year and I'm so in love! Santa knows that I am on hot pursuit of pretty purple eyeshadows and that my other Dior palette in the color 'Grege' (check out that review here) is one of my go-to eye looks.  I received this luxury palette in the color 'Victoire:'

Stunning. Seriously, stunning. Dior has changed the packaging slightly since I bought my last palette. The casing is slightly thinner and lighter.  It honestly feels a bit cheaper, which is a bit of a let down, but I do like that the palette is a bit sleeker now for traveling or stashing in your purse.  The full size mirror on the inside is plenty sizable for using on the go and the brushes included are a sponge tip applicator and then small duo ended 'brush' of not so good quality. 

'Victoire' is a purple-hued palette that leans cool toned and is really wearable.  I find Dior shadows to be soft to the touch while not kicking up too much powder. I think the pigmentation is perfect for my preferences being that it is easy to layer these products as well as blend them out. 

Here are the swatches on top of UD primer potion. From left to right is top left, top right, center, bottom left, bottom right.  The way the palette is supposed to work is that the top 3 colors work as a trio and the bottom 3 colors work as a trio.  I prefer to just do whatever I want but it is helpful for there to be some method to the madness if you need some direction.  

The top left color is a gorgeous purple taupe that I find quite unique. It is a versatile shade that could be used on the lid or in the crease. The top right shade is an opalescent white shimmer. I like this shade as I think the glitters are quite striking and it works wonderfully as an inner corner highlight. The center shade is a really nice satin grayish plum color that reminds me of a deeper version of colour pop's Bill.  The bottom left is a satin pink color that I was disappointed in when I swatched it, but on the lid I found the color to lean more pink (whereas the swatch appeared very stark white).  The bottom right shade is a stunning matte eggplant shade that I found surprisingly easy to blend and work with despite its high pigmentation.

The eye look I created used all of the colors in this palette. No other shadows were used! I applied the middle shade in my crease as my transition shade and I packed the light pink color all over my lid concentrating on the inner third. The upper left shade was packed on the outer third of my lid and blended a bit into my outer crease for depth.  The bottom right color was blended into my outer v to darken the look up a bit.  I used the white color on my brow bone and inner corner.  I also used the middle color and deep eggplant color under my lower lash line.

I really love this palette as I think the purples inside are easy to work with and very wearable.

These palettes are $62 for 0.21 oz of product.

xxSJ

Steph Reads: Baby Proof by Emily Giffin

I was on the look out for another chick-lit read while I was completing my first clinical rotation in the ICU this past fall. I was seeing some pretty powerful stuff on the daily, so I wanted something light and easy to read! I found this novel, Baby Proof, by Emily Giffin (author of the Something Borrowed series). The book cost me all of a quarter at the thrift store so I gave it a shot!

This book follows Claudia, a successful and independent book editor in Manhattan who has met the man of her dreams, Ben.  Their ideals and morals line up in the most picture-perfect ways down to their desires for the future after marriage: neither one of them want children.  Things are perfect for the couple and Claudia scoffs at others who are bound down by their children until one day, Ben decides he wants to be a father.  The question this novel asks is how much are we willing to compromise when it comes to true love and your potential soul mate????
Overall, I enjoyed and hated this book at the same time. It was an easy read and I do enjoy how realistically Giffin illustrates scenes and portrays characters, however it left no lingering thoughts or ponderings in my head other than general annoyance with how the book ended.

**WARNING! SPOILERS FOLLOW!**
Claudia and Ben separate after Ben's decision that he wants kids despite his prior promises.  The majority of the novel is the couple separated and perfectly depicts the following scenes: the magnetic pull felt toward an ex despite better judgments, family awkwardly asking where an SO is (not realizing yet they are no longer in the picture), seeing an ex with another person and questioning their romantic involvement, must I go on??? Giffin is without a doubt a terrific and talented author, because through every one of these scenes my stomach sank and I got actual chest palpitations. My issue with this is why do I want to live through these terrible moments along with the main character Claudia??? The majority of women have felt these feelings before as they are quintessential to nearly every breakup.

I might have recommended this book to someone going through a breakup to kind of get through it with the main character if the ending were Claudia finding some sort of inner peace with herself, BUT (spoilers, I warned you!), Claudia and Ben end up getting back together at the end. We don't know if they are going to have kids or not but we know that one of them is going to seriously compromise for the other in the biggest way.  Nothing is learned by the end of this book. The characters go through hell and back but it doesn't really matter because everything ends up just peachy in the end.

I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you're a masochist who wants to go through all the stages of a breakup just for the fun of it.  (PS You're sick!)

xx,
SJ