Sephora VIB Sale 2014 15% off

For those other Sephora VIBs out there, today is the start of the VIB Early Access Event where all in store and online purchases are 15% off! Today is also the only day to get the limited-edition cosmetic bag (in-store) :)

VIBs should have gotten an email a few days ago so check that one to get your in-store coupon, or use the promo code VIBTICKET for online orders. The offer is good April 3 - 11th. I'm not sure if this is replacing the usual 'Chic Week' but I really hope not and that they will have the sale later on for regular Beauty Insiders. I think VIBs can also bring a friend so make sure to share the love with other beauty lovers out there :D

I've been anticipating this sale for a while so I already have a wishlist compiled ;)

- Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush

- Ole Henriksen Cleansing Clothes: Oil-Free Pore Refining

- Tarte Clean Slate Poreless 12-Hr Perfecting Primer

- Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo or Perfect Brow Pencil

- Benefit Cosmetics Posietint

- Ole Henriksen Walnut Complextion Scrub

- Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup

Has anyone tried any of these products before and if so, how did you like them? What's on your wishlist for this sale? :)

Urban Decay Naked Flushed review + swatch

The Urban Decay's Naked Flushed Palette is a bronzer/highlighter/blush trio (which I received as a birthday gift this year). These type of trios seem to be very in right now and I can see why since they are quite multi-purpose! I'm not really sure which company came up with this idea first but the first one I heard of was Benefit Cosmetic's Fine One One stick. I'm more of a powder girl so when my birthday came up, I asked someone to get me the Urban Decay palette.
 
The packaging of this palette is very similar to the Naked Basics palette; it made out of plastic and has a full size mirror. The mirror is sufficient enough for me to see about half my face so it is great to use for touch-ups. It does not have any latches and is just a magnetic closure. This makes it very easy to open and close while still being secure enough to just pop in your makeup bag.

"Use these pressed powders individually or blend them together to create just the right effect—and let this seemingly straight-laced trio morph into a tangled color love-fest. Then bask in the radiant glow and let people wonder what you’ve been up to."

All the powders in this are full size, similar to how Urban Decay's eyeshadow palettes are. The great thing about this palette is that the colours can applied either separately or you can mix the colours together. My favourite way is to mix the blush with a bit of highlighter and apply bronzer separately. They are also super pigmented but have a very powdery formula so you definitely need to tap your brush to get off excess powder.

Bronzer - "a medium bronze satin" which is fairly pigmented but it may show up as slightly orange on some skin tones. It seems like a colour that is better for light skin tones and some medium tones because it may not show up on darker skin. It would be great all over bronze but doesn't show up enough to work for contouring for me. 

Highlighter - "a soft pink champagne shimmer" that is more pigmented than the bronzer and you will be able to get full colour with just one swipe. It is very shimmery and slightly pinked tone but seems like an okay highlighter for cheekbones. I'm not a highlighter person since I have oily skin anyways but I do occasionally mix it with the blush.

Blush - this "dusty rose satin with a hint of shimmer" is extremely pigmented and it is easy to go a bit overboard when applying. It is a very pink blush so it is not one that I wear everyday but it is still one I will use from time to time. The pigmentation allows it to last throughout the majority of the day so it is quite a long-wearing blush.

Swatch without flash

  Swatch with flash

My favourite part of this trio is definitely the blush since it is so pigmented so whenever Urban Decay blushes start to appear more in Canada, I would like to try one in another shade!

Urban Decay 24/7 Vintage Glide-On Eye Pencil review + swatch

Hey there! It seems that I'm in my procrastination mood again and blogging instead of studying (final in a week). Today I have decided to review everyone's beloved Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil. They were on sale for $7.50 so I had included 2 pencils in my friend's online Sephora order so she could make the shipping threshold but then since my birthday was coming up, she just gave them to me as a gift!

The eyeliners that I got were actually the 'vintage' ones so I guess these were the colours they chose to discontinue before they changed their formula? I'm not entirely sure but anyway, the colours that I got were 1999 and Gunmetal. Although the formula probably changed, I believe that these two pencils have the same packaging as the current 24/7 pencils. They are the same size as a regular eyeliner pencil and have a nice silver plastic cover.

1999 is a really nice eggplant colour with a bit of a sparkle. They have a creamy consistency and really do glide on easily (similar to MAC's Pearlglide eyeliner). They are fairly pigmented and do seem to last really long (most of the day) but are not immune to the usual pencil smudging that most  eyeliner pencils suffer. Gunmetal is quite similar to the eyeshadow colour they sell which is described as a "dark metallic grey with silver micro-glitter". It has the same type of application and staying power as 1999 but the problem with this colour is that there is fall out from the glitter :( A friend pointed out that I should try an eyeliner primer so next time I use it, I'll try that and see if there is still fall out.

With flash (1999 on the left, Gunmetal on the right)  

All in all, these seem like great eyeliners and are great for anyone that wants a more bold eyeliner look since they come in multiple different colours. I was disappointed with Gunmetal, but I have no problems with 1999. They sell for $23 at Sephora so they are pricey but they also come in eyeliner value sets and are sometimes packaged with Urban Decay's palettes.

Sephora VIB Sale Haul 2013

This is the first year that I have ever been Sephora VIB (thanks to my other make-up obsessed friend and my mom with her skincare products) so I was able to get the 20% off a few weekends ago. Even though it was the same weekend as IMATS, I still managed to make two online orders over $75 to get free shipping :P

It took a while for everything to come (too many orders were placed I guess) but the second and final package came today. I was a little disappointed to see that most of my samples were substituted because that has never happened before, but oh well. Here is the haul:
- Urban Decay Naked Palette (woo finally! long debate between 1 and 2)
- Ole Henriksen Power Peel 2x treatment
- Benefit Gimme Brow in light/medium
- Too Faced Primed & Perfected To Go Duo
- Too Faced Tan Without the Twinkle
- Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder
- Tarte Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer (to get a friend the discount)

I have yet to try it all, but I'm sure it will be great. Black Friday sale is coming (not really sure why Canada needs this) and there will be some Sephora deals for $12 and under $20, so hopefully I don't go too crazy then too.....

EDIT: Some Black Friday deals have been posted ($12 CAD) and I kinda want 5 or more things oops.