Sephora VIB Sale Favorites

It's my favorite Sale of the year!  The Sephora VIB Sale!

The Sale opened up to VIB Rouge's Friday (code 20ROUGE for 20% off at checkout).  Not sure when it opens up for VIB's but it is usually the week after (code 20VIB).  This sale is my favorite because EVERYTHING at Sephora is 20% off (yes you read correctly, everything, no exclusions) so it is a great time to stock up on your favorite products you're running low on or to pick up something you've been lusting after.

I personally love grabbing higher end makeup and skincare products and starting to plan any gifts I want to grab.  

Here is a roundup of my personal favorite picks from the sale

I always grab a few high-end makeup items because while they are expensive, saving 20% is nice.  Palettes are great because you get so much value out of them.  I also love grabbing a few more luxe brands like Hourglass or Kevyn Aucoin that are already super pricey.  Then I grab a few staples like my favorite BB cream, a beauty blender, or my favorite lipstick. 

Shop below:

I think I splurge the most on skincare during the Sephora Sale because skincare can get so expensive!  I love stocking up on masks and creams when they are all 20% off.  The Philosophy Hope in a Jar and Fresh Lotus creams are my two favorites right now, and I love the Sephora sheet masks and glamglow mud mask.  The best part, because the holidays are close by they have a bunch of value sets for all the expensive brands like Drunk Elephant, Sunday Riley, Glamglow and Tatcha.   

All of these are my personal picks from the Sale if you are debating what you want to pick up.  Once my order from Sephora arrives I'll update everyone with my haul!

What are your picks for the Sephora VIB Sale?

Makeup Product Reviews Vol.1

I don't think it is news to anyone that I have a slight makeup obsession (might be an under-exaggeration... is that a thing?  Did I just makeup a word?).  I love shopping and trying out new makeup products, so I thought I would share my thoughts with y'all about some new hits and misses that I've tried!  

L'Oreal Lumi Cushion Foundation

 

In case you can't tell by how dirty my foundation packaging looks I've been using this foundation non-stop this summer!  This has to be my current favorite drugstore foundation product because it gives a great natural, light to medium coverage with slight dewiness (most of the L'Oreal Lumi Line is meant to be dewy).  I love the cushion application because it makes applying the product quickly in the morning a breeze (bonus for when I am running late), plus it doesn't exaggerate my pores or scars on my skin.  If you have oily skin this might now be the product for you, but to mattify it I pair it with either a matte primer or my Laura Mercier Powder   

Makeup Geek x Kathleen Lights Palette

This summer has been the summer of highlights for me!  And let me tell you this palette is one of my new favorites.  First the formulation is top notch! These products apply so beautifully to the skin and give an effortless glow.  But what really drew me to this product is the giant pan sizes (same if not larger than an hourglass pan) and the uniquer colors.  The light gold color and pink are perfect for my cheeks (the pink blends out and doesn't look like you have a pink stripe on your face) and the bronzier color is perfect for eyeshadow.  This is definitely up there with my top highlighter palettes (along with my Anastasia Glow kits and Hourglass Ambient Light Palette)

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette

Top Row of colors left-right 

Bottom row of colors left to right

The Anastasia Modern Renaissance Palette is quite possibly one of my favorite eyeshadow palettes (which is a very bold statement).  First the color selections is perfect for those who love warm neutrals and warm red tones.  The color payoff is insane (all of these swatches are one swipe!! The only color that struggles a bit is Venetian Red, but still a gorgeous color!).  They are easy to blend and work with and very beginner friendly.  Plus this palette comes with a brush (not pictured because I have actually been using it because the brush is super high quality as well).  

  

It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ CC Cream

This is probably my favorite face base product of the summer (only just beats out the L'Oreal Foundation because of the added SPF)!  This product applies super well with a beauty blender, gives great coverage for a CC Cream, and the SPF is perfect for summer.  I would say the only downside is the shade range is really limited, but if you can find one that works for you pick this up!   

Benefit Gimme Brow

 This product is a Birchbox sample size, not a full size product, but nonetheless I have been loving this product this summer.  I have very sparse, uneven brows and this product has done wonders for helping me fill them in and give them and even look.  Plus this product is super easy to apply quickly.  I know that once I run out of this I'm gonna have to get the full size. 

NYX Cheek Contour Duo Palette

Swatches of the Palette 

Swatches of the Highlight from my Anastasia Contour kit with the NYX contour kit

Ok so this is my one miss for this post.  I was really underwhelmed by this contour kit.  First the packaging is super cute, and the swatches aren't the worst (looks like a potential dupe for more high end contour kits), however on the face the highlight shade is a disaster!  It literally looks like I picked up chalk and drew all over my face.  It doesn't blend in and looks super stark against my skin.  I had to compare the highlight with my Anastasia one to show the difference in texture and color.  The Anastasia one blends like a dream, while still highlighting the face, the NYX one doesn't blend at all and gives a major white cast to my face.  The contour shade is alright, but in my book not worth to pick up because of the highlight.

Colourpop Highlighter in Churro (no longer listed on their website :( here are all their other highlighters -- quality is pretty consistent IMHO)

Top - Bronze Color / Middle - Light Color / Bottom - The two mixed together

This highlighter... It's no secret I am a huge fan of Colourpop (see my original review here), but this is my new favorite highlighter of theirs.  First off I love the multi-color highlighter as both colors are beautiful independently and mixed together.  The only downside is not all Churros are made equal, as everyone has a different makeup of light vs. dark highlight color.  I was fortunate to get a mostly light pan, but I've heard other people had much darker pans (though that wouldn't be a problem for you if you have deeper skin).  Regardless I love the color of the two mixed together as well, and the deep color looks great as an eyeshadow!  Plus as always Colourpop is super affordable!