I recently qualified for VIB status for the next year and for my VIB ANNIVERSARY I received a 10% coupon off on any purchase. How you qualify for VIB status is first you must sign up to be a Beauty Insider at Sephora (you can do this online or in-store and its free to join!). You will receive coupons and /or discounts plus you will be invited to special Beauty related events as well. All qualifying purchases (I have yet to find out what doesn't qualify) will earn you beauty insider points that can be used towards 100, 200, and 500 point gifts. Once you hit the threshold of $350 (per year) you will qualify for VIB status - Very Important Beauty Insider for the remaining of the current year throughout the next year. A coupon will be sent out as well for 10% off your entire purchase (it expires 30 days after the issue date) to be used on anything in-store or online. Another perk of being a VIB and why you should maintain this status are the rewards that you will receive. Periodically Sephora will hold special events or issue special discounts just for their VIB's as a way of saying "Thanks for being so loyal to our brand!" which are really nice. I usually wait for those types of events to stock up on all my "must have" beauty items and I typically repurchase back-ups of products that I really like so I don't run out.
Check below for pics, swatches, and general beauty related ramblings!
I had read on Twitter that Tarina Taratino products were either going to be repackaged / reformulated or they were no longer going to be carried in Sephora stores. When I went to Sephora and asked a SA she said the brand as a whole was undergoing a complete redesign. I'm not exactly sure what that means but I do know it means a huge savings for right now as everything has been marked down to ridiculous prices.
I'm relatively new to this brand so I have no clue as to whether or not these are good quality eyeliner products but for the discounted price it was too good of a deal to pass up. I purchased three eyeliners for about $8-9 ea. There wasn't much of a color range left as most of the eyeliners had already sold out but I was happy with these three. I picked the plum colored eyeliner because it really enhances my green eyes. I bought the black eyeliner because I like to use this color to line my upper lash line. The third eyeliner was a brown with micro-flecks of gold and I thought this would look really nice on my bottom lash line.
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(L to R) ULTRAVIOLET, TOMMY JET, AND PUPPETEER |
The next set of beauty products I purchased from this line were two blushes. The pink blush is Carved Rose and the peach blush is Neapolitan Lane. I think these were marked down to $12-15 ea. Carved Rose is a very vibrant pink that is build-able to achieve such a pink flush of color. Neapolitan Lane is a soft muted peach blush that looks darker in the pan than it really is. Overall both blushes have good color payoff and give a solid 8 hours wear time.
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CARVED ROSE BLUSH |
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NEAPOLITAN LANE BLUSH |
The last item that I purchased from this line was the EYEDREAM HIGHLIGHT duo in Iris Plume and Moon Opal. These creamy pearlized metallic eyeshadows are supposed to highlight the eye area and soften up the eye by diffusing harsh lines and shadows to create an almost ethereal glow. I believe there are four duos available and they are currently priced at $12 each.
The Nars Larger Than Life lip glosses are part of the Nars Andy Warhol collection which are available on Sephora.com and on the Nars.com website. They are currently priced at $26.00 USD for approximately .19 oz of product and there are a total of five full size lip glosses for sale. Out of the five my favorite was, Candy Says. According to the Nars website this gloss was "named for a sweet, sad and sentimental track about Candy Darling from the Velvet Underground’s legendary self titled album".
The lipgloss, Candy Says, is a beautiful strawberry pink with lots of shimmer and shine. The only drawback to the gloss is the applicator. I prefer lipgloss wands with the doe-foot applicator because it is so much easier to apply than this little tiny brush which takes FOREVER! Overall though, the gloss is long-lasting and the formula is not as sticky as some of the other Nars lipglosses.
Tarte Amazonian blushes are some of the most popular blushes right now with the beauty community. I have one from the "Gifts From The Lipstick Tree Achiote" color collection and it actually does have fairly decent color payoff. Mainly I wear the blush during the summer after my face has a slight tan. The main reason is the Achiote blush has more of a coral peach-pink color which tends to compliment my skin coloring the best during the warm summer months when my face isn't so pale.
With the exception of a few blushes that I own, I almost always gravitate towards plum, rose, and mauve colored blushes. One thing to keep in mind with the Amazonian blushes, they are at times a "hit or miss" with them. They are either too chalky, or there's not enough color payoff, or they are too peachy-orange. However, there are a few gems in this line of blushes and one of them is Blushing Bride. It's a plummy rose colored blush with a slight gold sparkle / sheen that can be blended out and is not really as noticeable as it looks in the pan. The Amazonian blushes are currently priced at $25 USD for approx. .2 oz of product.
Sorry for the bad swatch of this blush. I went through all of my photos and the blush kept coming out orange-ish looking. It is a far cry from being an orange blush - ITS PINK for heaven's sake! For an excellent swatch of this blush please check out Karla Sugar's blog. She has some excellent swatches of the entire collection. Here is a link to her blog post: KARLA SUGAR - TARTE SWATCHES.
One of my ALL-TIME favorite fragrances is Taj Sunset by Escada. It has a sweet fruity scent that I absolutely adore!! Unfortunately for me, it was discontinued so ever since then I have been on the hunt for something similar. I came across the Ralph Lauren Big Pony #2 fragrance in a sample from Sephora. The #2 fragrance has the same sweet fruity scent as Taj Sunset but it also has some underlying musky notes as well. The musky notes don't overpower the fragrance but they are noticeable. This is why I decided to only purchase a small bottle of the fragrance seeing as how this is an "okay" replacement for Taj Sunset, but I know if I keep searching I can find something better.
This last item I purchased mainly because I had seen @Lisasz09 (her twitter user name) feature it in her September Haul video. (Here is a link to the video: September Haul ). You should definitely check out her YouTube channel. She posts video reviews of all kinds of makeup products and I love watching her haul videos as well. I'll post links to her blog and twitter along with her main YouTube page below.
Here is a link to her YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Lisasz09
Here is a link to her blog: http://beautybylisasz09.blogspot.com/
Here is a link to her Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/Lisasz09
I find this Too Faced 3-way eyeliner truly fascinating. I don't really have any expectations other than I hope it doesn't dry out too quickly. According to the Sephora website the 3 way liner (or triple-tipped eyeliner) is supposed to "emphasize" the lashes by making them thicker looking, help to create a smoother tight lining application, and provide a better overall eye lining experience. I'm so excited and I really can't wait to try this. The eyeliner is available on Sephora.com and it's currently priced at $22.00 USD for .02 oz. of product. At this time it is only available in black. One important tidbit I forgot to mention is most Sephora stores are sold out of this eyeliner and can't keep it in stock. So you might have better luck purchasing it online.
Well this concludes my VIB Anniversary splurge post. Depending on my work schedule I hope to post in the coming days/weeks my Chanel Holiday splurges, my Sephora Friends and Family haul and my Sephora VIB haul as well. So keep checking back or subscribe to my blog so you can see what all I got. Thanks and I hope your having a great November so far!
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