sephora

to shop / last minute splurging at sephora f&f

Sephora’s annual Holiday event is ending tonight! The tiring year makes me want to splurge on myself (more than usual). I would’ve posted earlier, but encountered technical difficulties. What I got:

Tatcha Pure & Glowing Trio. This holiday set has a full size dewy skin cream and a travel size of the rice wash and silk peony cream. Of the Tatcha creams, I like the dewy cream the most and have been using it every morning. This set has been popping in and out of stock. I am looking forward to trying this rice wash. (Through 11/11, Tatcha has a great deal on their site – code SINGLES20 for a full size Violet C mask and sheet mask ($80 value) for orders over $100. They have a bunch of new holiday sets. I like the Purifying & Plumping set that has the dewy skin cream, the cleansing oil, and the rice wash.)
Fresh Mini Rose Deep Hydration Sleeping Mask. I love how there is a mini size. I have never tried this, generally like Fresh, and heard good things from my favorite, discerning Chinese vlogger.

to pamper / sephora holiday beauty insider event

It’s that time of year again for Sephora’s annual sale. Sephora did push up the dates a bit. When you can shop depends on your Sephora Beauty Insider status. The discount applies in US, Canada, and JCPenney.

Rouge: Code ROUGEBONUS for 20% off from Oct 26-29 and Nov 2-5. Fine print for Rouge.
VIB: Code VIBBONUS for 20% off from Nov 9-12
Insiders: Code BIBONUS for 15% off from Nov 16-19. Anyone can sign up for Insiders.

I read that Rouge can use their code during the VIB/Insiders weekends as well. Also, the VIB/Insiders code is one-use only whereas Rouge can place unlimited orders. Sephora has been doing these annual % off sales for the longest. Now, there are other retailers that run similar promotions, however they don’t have all the value sets that Sephora has!

My picks:

Drunk Elephant. In the US, you can buy Drunk Elephant from their own site or Sephora. I quite like Drunk Elephant (old posts). My favorites are the vitamin C serum and the lip balm, then the eye serums, moisturizers, and marula oil. I don’t like the jelly cleanser or SPF.

(1) The Trunk 2.0 comes with 10 full size products, a snazzy acrylic case customized to hold the products, and 28% off. With the Sephora discount, it comes to 42% off. Of course I bought it (with some gift cards I’d been saving). This has since sold out on Sephora, but it’s hard to say whether it will be restocked before the sale ends. It’s also available on Drunk Elephant. Note, it does not include all of DE’s products. Missing: D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops, Lala Retro Whipped Cream, Shaba Complex Eye Serum, Umbra Tinte Physical Daily Defense SPF 30, Juju Bar, or Pekee Bar.

Images: Drunk Elephant / Sephora

For the remaining kits, they contain at least one full size product that is priced close to the kit price. It is a no brainer to me.

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to pamper / drunk elephant product reviews, value sets, & how much is left in the bottle

(Left: AHA Moment and Let’s B Clear, Right: Dermstore Skin of Dreams Trio, C-ing is Believing)

I’ve been taking advantage of the recent promotions to restock my beauty closet — both on cost-effective drugstore favorites (that the mister uses too) and on the splurges. I consider Drunk Elephant to be a midrange splurge and current holiday value sets makes the price easier to swallow. Each value set comes with deluxe samples that are the same size as what’s in The Littles set — I can’t justify paying $90 for these deluxe samples. In most cases, the set is about the same price as a single regular priced item.

My Drunk Elephant experience to date:
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to pamper / 2016 sephora vib sale

Oh, Sephora. I’m an online shopper and the VIB sales are painful when items go in and out of stock. And I chuckle at people who bought too much and are no longer to use their VIB code. Get smarter, Sephora. I mix high and low. This is what I got (or would’ve got if I wasn’t out):
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to pamper / sephora customizable skin care & hair care set

This is my favorite time of the year for Sephora because it’s limited edition & value sets galore! And additional 20% off for VIBs! In addition to the monthly Sephora Play! box, Sephora now carries more brands that I like including Asian beauty and natural brands. Sephora has started doing customizable sets of late. They are an affordable $25 (before any discounts), you get to choose 5 deluxe/travel sized items that you want, and due to how the discount is applied in cart, shipping is free! The first one was the Sephora Soko to Tokyo customizable set (sold out). Next was a pure hair care Style, Treat & Repeat! Custom Hair Essentials on the go (there are many sold out options).

Now there is the Customizable Skin Care & Hair Gift Set ($25) where you get to choose from a a selection of 13 items. If any of these are missing, then it’s sold out. I had to let this sit in my cart for a bit before the discount applied, not sure if it’s resolved now.

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to pamper / drunk elephant c-firma day serum review & more

The Drunk Elephant Vitamin C serum is probably my favorite non-Asian skincare purchase of late. I stopped using the Skinceuticals CE Ferulic a long time ago — though I have other serums that have a dropper-glass bottle packaging — I didn’t like the packaging re: oxidation and I couldn’t get myself to use it consistently.

Drunk Elephant vs. Skinceuticals: Both products have the initial hot dog smell. The Skinceuticals probably has a stronger formula but it’s twice as expensive and the oxidation. Drunk Elephant has a better price point, additional antioxidants (it has pumpkin!) and virgin Marula oil, and I love the Drunk Elephant packaging.
Application: Every morning, I dry my face right after I wash it, apply the Vitamin C serum, and wait a few minutes for it to dry before putting on the next layer. Depending on the mood, I might also apply it to the neck and hands. I definitely see results.

Reading about DE’s non-toxic mission, I wanted to try more products. For the skeptics, even critical Paula’s Choice’s Beautypedia gives high marks to DE. (Note: I’m not sure what’s wrong with the Beautypedia — it redirects to the PC main page. If you want to view reviews and it’s not showing up, click on the dropdown in Google and click on ‘cached’ to view the cache of the review.)
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to pamper / {deal alert} sephora bite beauty perfect pair high pigment pencil lip set

These pretty Bite Beauty lip pencil sets are back in stock. A regular sized pencil is $24 — the two mini pencils in the set add up to one regular pencil and clock in at only $14. Bite Beauty isn’t perfect, but they don’t have parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and are gluten-free. See swatches here.

to pamper / sephora soko to tokyo customizable skin care set

I’m a huge fan of deluxe samples/travel sized products for testing and travel. This Sephora Soko to Tokyo customizable set sold out so fast when it was initially posted.

Pick 5 items for $25. All are Korean or Japanese products. It comes with a case that I don’t care for. Best yet, based on how this item is coded, you’ll get free shipping.
Of course some items are more valuable than others, but do check the product size and pick what you would really use. For example, the SK-II cream is a ridiculous size. I’m a fan of Caolion masks, never can have too many travel sized moisturizing items like Belif or AmorePacific, and have never tried the highly rated Egg mask. Don’t go by the price of what Sephora assigned to each item. (And if you want duplicates of anything amongst the five, you can adjust it in your cart…)

Image: Sephora

to pamper / sephora favorites: sun safety kit and more

Sephora comes out with a Sun Safety Kit at the start of every summer with a variety of SPF and self-tanning products. They quickly sell out. It’s $32 (and a $127 value) and $20 of that goes to The Skin Cancer Foundation. This is good for someone who’s looking for a new SPF product and isn’t sensitive to certain sunscreen ingredients. I personally don’t care for the self-tanning products.

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weekends / saturday six (2016.04.16)

(1) Marimekko for Target is launching on Sunday, April 17, which means midnight tonight-ish. Aside from studying their lookbook, check eBay auctions (there was a press preview last weekend) and also understand Marimekko retail prices (no need to overpay for a Target collab piece!). I anticipate a crazy launch.

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