PRADA CANDY FLORALE - NOW AVAILABLE

Prada Candy Florale will be launching in May. For those who can't wait Sephora already has this fragrance available online (check out the link below). I believe this is the third fragrance from the Prada Candy line to be released and so far it has already garnered mixed reviews. Many are unhappy with the release of another floral fragrance in what is already described as an overabundance of floral scents - been there done that multiple times over. Now while you may feel the same way, personally I love floral scents and I am super excited to purchase it.

Here is the link: PRADA CANDY FLORALE

PRADA Candy Floral currently retails for $68.00 USD for 1.7 oz and $88.00 USD for 2.7 oz. It contains notes of: Sparkling Cedrat, Bouquet Of Cosmos, Benzoin, Caramel, White Musk.

Candy declares her love for flowers. She takes on a new flirtatious game, where sensuality is pushed to the fullest. The delicately sweet smell of Candy meets a new, refined bouquet of sparkling cedrat (a fragrant citrus fruit - "Persian Apple") and blooming cosmos that intermingle with her elegant softness. Candy is blossoming.

SOLD OUT: ALLURE 2013 SUMMER BEAUTY BOX

Sorry Beauty Enthusiasts,

The Allure Summer Beauty Box has sold out! I don't ever remember the Beauty Box selling out as quickly as this one. Within ten minutes they were all gone. I know I barely had time to get my order placed before the dreaded "sold out" image appeared.

I'm not sure if this is true for all but according to others who commented on Allure's Facebook page if you used a web browser other than Firefox you may have experienced difficulties accessing the site. Personally, I was able to access it just fine but then again I was using Firefox as my web browser.

For those that missed out or decided to skip the Summer Beauty Box, check back in August when Allure will be announcing the official release date for the Fall Beauty Box. Additionally, for those that experienced dead links, or unable to load page, or any other issue with the Beauty Box link that Allure posted on their Allure.com webpage then please use this link: AllureAccess.com. It is a direct link that allows you to purchase the Beauty Boxes or any other products, contests, etc. that are sponsored by Allure.


GET READY! On April 23rd at 12:01PM EST the ALLURE SUMMER BEAUTY BOX will go on sale!

You will receive over $250 worth of "SUMMER ESSENTIAL" beauty products for the low cost of only $39.99 with an additional $10 for shipping and handling. So in all the cost is $49.99 plus tax and typically $5 of the purchase goes towards a charity of their choosing.

I've purchased the beauty boxes in the past (check out the 2012 Fall box here and here) and I am always surprised by all the great products included in them. There is always something for everyone in them and there is plenty to share with others too. If you want to be alerted for when they go on sale again you can sign up to be a beauty enthusiast here. Or you can join here as well There is not cost to be a member and there are a lot of great opportunities to receive free samples or deals on many new and old beauty products.


Click here to purchase the Allure Beauty Box or copy the link below into your web browser: https://www.allurebbfulfillment.com/april2013/

I'll be sure to update this post with the link for the 2013 Allure Summer Beauty Box once it has become active. The link for the beauty boxes will be active until all quantities have been sold. So when the sale first starts you may experience some slow down with the web page but it quickly passes. However, if the link quits working or fails to load then you know the beauty boxes are all sold out. In the past it has taken 24-48 hours less than 10 minutes this time.

SEPHORA HAUL / SHOP SPREE - VIB ANNIVERSARY SPLURGE

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.

(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.

CARVED ROSE BLUSH

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!

CHANEL ALLURE SENSUELLE

AN ALLURING SCENT FOR HER 

Discover the ultimate expression of feminine allure with ALLURE SENSUELLE. Ideal for Fall, rich spice notes shine in this Oriental scent, enlivened by fresh facets of Mandarin and Bergamot.

ALLURE SENSUELLE reveals a fascinating facet of a woman's allure. Modern, magnetic and different, it was created to draw a woman into a more sensual universe with a voluptuous Oriental note and a bright spicy accent. Eau de Parfum Spray creates a long-lasting fragrant aura.

Chanel Allure Sensuelle EAU DE PARFUM SPRAY is currently priced at $85.00 for 1.7 fl. oz.

CHANEL: CHANCE EAU TENDRE SHEER MOISTURE MIST

The fruity tenderness of CHANCE EAU TENDRE is re-imagined in a refreshing after-bath indulgence; its sensuous mist leaves skin delightfully scented and velvety soft

Back in September I had posted about the new Chanel Chance Moisture mist (you can read the post here) that was first available in February of this year. According to some it was to be exclusive to Nordstroms department store only. However it was also available on the Chanel website as well (I purchased mine from there).

I purchased the CHANEL CHANCE EAU TENDRE Moisture mist around the beginning of November when Chanel was offering free shipping with any purchase from their website. The Moisture mist retails for about $40 for 3.4 fl oz.. It has a faint fruit-y floral scent that lasts about 3-4 hours and reapplication is necessary if you plan to wear this as your main scent. Even when layered over body lotion the scent does not linger. I find the best use of this product to be right after a bath because it does leave the skin soft and silky smooth. I then lightly apply (or layer) the Chanel Chance Eau Tendre perfume so as to enhance the over-all scent. **PLEASE NOTE: You must shake the Moisture mist before applying.

Final Thoughts:

If you love Chanel and you want a high-end body spray with a clean, floral, fruity scent then this will be a definite "Must Buy" for you. Otherwise there are cheaper alternatives out there.

For myself I do consider this product to be a nice splurge-worthy item to have in my collection so I'm glad I purchased it.

CHANEL: Chance Eau Tendre Sheer Moisture Mist

Midsummer Night's Dream

A warm evening. A luxuriously long bath. And then, before you slip into your silk shift (or your ten-year-old terry robe), you spritz a veil of jasmine and skin-softening moisturizers on your arms and décolletage. Light and subtle, Chanel Chance Eau Tendre Sheer Moisture Mist is one cool way to be unmistakably, gorgeously hot.

$40 for 3.4 ounces; Chanel.com

The fruity tenderness of Chance Eau Tendre is reimagined in a refreshing after-bath indulgence; its sensuous mist leaves skin delightfully scented and velvety-soft

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I'm really curious as to how long the moisture mist will last. Typically a body spray, which is what I consider these to be, albeit a bit more expensive one at that, will last me throughout the day. Unless of course I am doing some type of activity that requires a lot of physical exertion. If that is the case, then I usually get about 3-4 hours wear time before the scent starts to fade or disappears completely.

Although working in an office environment a person doesn't really work up to much of a sweat. Unless of course there is filing of papers involved or running errands for work. Then I will freshen up with a perfume sample. I like to keep the perfume samples with me at work for such an occasion. The samples are also really nice to have if I get invited out for drinks after work and I don't have time to run home and freshen up.

Anyway, once I have an opportunity to purchase these I will be sure to do a more in depth review. So be sure to check back! ♥