I have been shopping ::: Sephora + Random Haul

Remember the Sephora Sale that happened, like a decade ago!? Yes, I am talking about the Sephora VIB Sale, Spring 2015! I bought a few things and now a million years later, I am finally able to sit down and blog! This may be the very first haul post up on "Discovering Me".

If you have been a regular visitor of this blog, you may already know that I am a field engineer which means I travel, a lot, for work. One of the many "perks" (pun intended!) of having a travel job is the unpredictable schedules. I had a few projects in Florida which forced me to move there for a brief while. There has also been a significant change in my professional life as well which I have every intent to share here when the time is right.

In short; life has been utterly busy with a lot of decision making in the past couple of months. I have had very little time for peaceful blogging; even less time to play with makeup. But that did not keep me from buying more stuff...you know for blogging purposes :-) And how can you pass up on 15% Sephora sale!? Apart from that, there are a few purchases that has been stress induced! There are a few limited edition sets as well, that I bought with the hope of sharing my view on them with you. 

Anyway, I am finally back now and had the chance to lay them down and take pictures. So, thank you for sticking with me through my rant. Let's get to the haul now!    

MAKEUP FOREVER Palette Volume 2 – Artistic ($42): Generally I do my research with due diligence before buying any beauty product. But this popped up in the Sephora website just before the sale was supposed to end. I have always wanted to try MUFE eyeshadows, but they are so pricey! I am so glad that I waited long enough for this palette to come along.

This is a LE palette that they name "Palette Volume 2"; "Palette Volume 1" is all neutral shades. There are a total 0.54 oz of product with 9 shades which are just a little bit smaller than their regular line. So, this is an incredible value palette. It has 4 neutral-hued shades and rest are fun bright colors including 2 very bold fun colors. There are no matte shades though...all of them are iridescent or metallic. I have been playing with the shadows slowly and I really really like it so far, and it is still available in Sephora!

ORIGINS Energy Boosting Bests ($39.50): I really LOVE the Charcoal Mask from Origins and I have been wanting to try out some more products from them! This set caught my attention. This contains  a Super size GinZing™ Energy boosting moisturizer, Clear Improvement™ Active charcoal mask, No Puffery™ Cooling roll-on, Modern Friction™ Nature’s gentle dermabrasion and 100% recycled cotton tote. The moisturizer is retailed at $29.50 for 2.5 oz. of product so this is definitely of wonderful value, and I am excited to try these. Also the tiny tote bag makes the whole kit much more appealing to me :-)

BEAUTYBLENDER Two Original Beautyblenders & Liquid Blendercleanser ($39.95): I have never tried BeautyBlender. When I saw this set, I could not contain my greed :-) It comes with 2 beautyblenders and a 5 oz. cleaner. I have used the bender just once or twice and I have slowly started to fall in love. I will play around more and share my experience soon!

SEPHORA Favorites Beauty on the Fly The Ultimate Travel Bag Face, Body & Hair ($42): I bought this after the sale :-) Sephora Favorites are really some of my favorites. This particular one is definitely one of the best set that Sephora has curated in a while. It includes the following:

- Algenist GENIUS Ultimate Anti-Aging Melting Cleanser 
- First Aid Beauty® Face Cleanser 
- Kate Somerville® ExfoliKate® Intensive Exfoliating Treatment 
- Ole Henriksen® Truth Serum Collagen Booster 
- Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream 
- Origins GinZing™ Refreshing Eye Cream 
- Glamglow® Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment 
- Vita Liberata Neroli & Argan Milk Broad Spectrum SPF 50 
- Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter in Sweet Citrus 
- Living Proof® Perfect Hair Day™ Shampoo and Conditioner 
- Alterna Caviar CC Cream for Hair and Travel bag

The Ole Henrikson serum and the Kate somerville cleanser are so expensive that they alone make up for the price of this set. All the other items are also of generous size. I love the Face Cream from Fresh, my mom loves the serum and I am pretty excited to try all the other products.

In the past too, I bought many skincare kits! I use them up and 90% of the time, I love them. But I never got around to blogging about all of them! Skincare takes a lot of time to review and I don't really mix up my skincare products that often. So, by the time I use them and form an opinion, the set gets sold out.

CLINIQUE Cheek Pop Blushes ($21): This is another product that I have been eyeing for a long time now. They have come out with a whole lot of new shades and I had to pick one up during the sale. I got "Fig Pop" which shows up as a very subtle nudish shade with a hint of mauve/pink on my medium/tan skintone. This is the only product out of this haul, that I have been trying and using almost everyday. It is creamy, easy to wear and has a sheen without being very obvious. I am also impressed with the staying power. Needless to say, I am very happy with this purchase. A week ago, I found "Berry Pop" which is one of their older shades, at The Cosmetics Company Outlet near me at just $15, you know I had to grab it. The pretty packaging also makes them very cute in my vanity. 

BECCA "Best of Becca" Cosmetics ($34.50): Yes, another value set. This is exclusive to Ulta and it is very aptly named as "Best of Becca"! It first appeared early this year and then was sold out. So, when I saw this reappearing, I immediately got it. I already have the guava Beach Tint but I completely trust Becca when it comes to cheek product and this set has some of the best products they make. So, I don't mind having a backup. I have used the Beach Souffle and the moonstone highlighter. I am in complete awe of the souffle. Such a delightful product to use!

I have slowly started to try out these product, and should be able to share my thoughts pretty soon, one by one :-) Please share below if you picked up anything from the sale and what you have been loving so far :-) I am always interested in learning about new products :-)

Stay tuned!!!

Love,

~Arrru