500 point perk from Sephora ::: DARE TO BE BOLD from Make Up For Ever!!!

I was thinking about posting my views on the Multisticks that I got from Bite Beauty. Instead, I am going to talk about a current 500 Point Perk from Sephora that is actually worth talking about :-) If you have 500 point in your account, you might want to keep reading :-)

This is the “Dare To Be Bold” Beauty Insider 500-Point Reward that is currently available on Sephora.com. I am putting a lot of emphasis on the availability as these rewards get out of stock very,  very quickly. I got mine from my Local Sephora inside JC Penny.

Let’s talk about the contents! Make Up For Ever is definitely one of my very favorite brands; I really adore the brand as a whole. It is a very professional brand and has such an artistic, edgy and eccentric approach to their products! They have incredible range of shades in each of their products. Almost all of the products seem so professional that it sometimes intimidates me! There are three new products that I have been really wanting to test out (especially the Excessive Lash mascara and Artist Rouge lipsticks), plus this box has a total of 5 products (6 if you consider the HD foundation samples) which is definitely rare for these 500 point perks.

Ultra HD Foundation: After a lot of deliberation, I have zeroed on this foundation to wear during my sister’s wedding events this coming October and I had already bought it in full-size. The sample here comes in a few shades and for the most part, mixing one or two shades, you will surely be able to try it at least once. I love this foundation!

Excessive Lash Mascara: I know that this is what attracted me to this box; however I haven’t opened it yet.  I am going on vacation pretty soon and I am trying not to open it right now. It may dry up you know. I like natural lash looks and I did like their Smokey Extravagant Mascara so I have a feeling that I will like this!

Artist Rouge Mat in M-401: I loved their N9 Natural Rouge Lipstick (I think these are being discontinued or already discontinued and I am so tempted to buy the N9 while it was still available) so naturally I am  very happy to test it out. And red is always my safest as I am yet to try red that looks horrible on me! This is a very soft, kind of creamy formula; it’s quite thin as well so it feels very lightweight on the lips. It is in matte finish. I have tried this two times now. Last weekend, I wore it and completely forgot that I wiped it off to wear the gloss and take picture! And at the back of my head, I was thinking that it did not really last long :-) Silly me! But today, I collected a bit of courage and wore it to my semi-conservative office :-) and I am so happy to report that it lasted the whole day. I applied it around 7 am and it was almost intact till 5 pm without any touchup. It started to dry my lips a bit but I applied a coat of lip balm and it fixed the application immediately. It is bright very neutral true-red!   Also, the packaging is quite fancy looking! :-) Overall, I am pleasantly surprised as to how much I like it!

Artist Plexi-Gloss in 209:  I tried this formula in 202 that I got in one of the Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip set. That was a very pale color so I don’t wear it often. The formula is quite thick but not in a bad way. When first applied it feels a tiny bit heavy and thick on the lips however over time (say 5-10 minutes) it starts to mesh with the skin, and gives a very smooth, fuller look to the lips. It also appears super glossy at first but it fades and looks healthy later on. When I first apply it, I did not like the look or even the feel, however after 20-30 minutes it surprised me! It gave me such a nice moisturized feel to my lips. My only concern is the flyway hair that gets on my lips, then touches my face and leaves streaky tiny lip-gloss marks on my face :-(

Aqua XL Eye Pencil in I-24: I had my eyes on this product for a long, long time. But really how many blue/teal types of eyeliner do I need? I am pretty sure I have at least 4 to 5 eyeliners from different brands. Hence, never tried to buy it in full-size. Anyway, these claim to be waterproof and they are! It may be TMI, but I cried for a solid hour while wearing this, and surprisingly it was still intact for the most part. It got paler at my outer corner and very inner corner and that typically happens with me no matter what eyeliner I use. But it did not move or smudge or make a mess even when I was crying! I am happy with it.

Artist Shadow in I-544: I almost thought I had this shade in one of palette I reviewed here. I don't reach for that palette very often, but I know that they are some great shadows. I-544 is a nice cool pewter shade and I think every skin-tone will be able to pull it off; for me I have been wearing it a lot in my everyday looks! I got the same exact shade in this month’s Play! By Sephora (reviewed here) but that’s okay as I can give one to my sister :-). I like to apply these with my fingertips. It’s in a plastic packaging which is not really ideal, and at some point I will try to depot it! These eyeshadows are very costly individually and this will surely last you quite some time.

Overall, I really like this Point Perk! Like the name suggests it is full of bright, bold colors that are right up my alley! :-) I hope this quick post helps some of you if you are thinking of picking it up while it is still available. Here is a quick link to the Sephora website – Make Up For Ever "Dare To Be Bold"

One more work-day till the weekend for me! Yayyyy!

Love,

~Arrru

500 point perk from Sephora ::: A Flawless Fit from Laura Mercier!!!

If you live in USA or Canada (or any other place that has a Sephora) and happen to be a Beauty Lover, I am almost sure that you have a Sephora Beauty Insider account. I have one too! And I don’t know about you, but I love hoarding my points, mainly because I hardly see product that seem worth the points! I am particularly iffy about their 500 point perks. More often than not, the kits consist of tiny little products and not at all equivalent to 500 points. The last 500 point perk that really excited me was the Urban Decay Urban Vices Palette (reviewed here). I am still in love with that!

And after a few months, finally a 500 point reward that in my mind, is worth spending the point for :-) I am fully aware that this is not available online anymore; but I am sharing my thoughts anyway because of the following reasons -

• These are permanent products.
• Some of the stores may still have them.
• It is always good to review these as sets!

For those of you who don’t already know, Sephora has a reward program called “Beauty Insider” through which they award you 1 point for every dollar spent against your account. Once you have collected enough points you can redeem rewards that comes in 100 point perks, 500 point perks and 250 point perks. Some time they bring out limited edition 1000, 500 and 10000 point perks and the controversy regarding those is a WHOLE OTHER story!

“A Flawless FIT” comprises of 5 deluxe-size favorites from Laura Mercier Cosmetics. It is a higher end brand and considering I don’t have much from them, it seemed like a good investment for me! Here are the products –

Lip Glaze (0.1 oz.) in Tulip: Let’s start with a product that I have been LOVING! The color is so beautiful; it is a very pretty, sophisticated pink shade with a little bit of lilac mixed in! Packaging is very sturdy with a decent doe-foot applicator. Formula-wise it is little bit thick but I love how moisturizing it is! I also love the fact that I can wear this on top of any other lip product in any shade. I have already replaced the current lip product I have in my everyday bag with this :-); t this is the perfect lip product for that mid-day touch-up!

Matte Radiance Baked Powder (0.06 oz.) in Bronze-03: This was the item that I was most excited for! I got their very popular Matte Radiance Highlight in 01 in one of the Sephora Favorites Superstars kit last holiday season (reviewed here) and I love, LOVE it! So, I definitely had high hopes for this! The formula is “matte” and it definitely is matte (that Highlighter-01 is super shiny even though it is called a matte highlighter). This is a baked formula so not at all difficult to blend. Color wise, it does not show up on me that prominently, and I tend to wear this as a subtle, more natural bronze! I do think it will show much prettier on pale/fair to medium skin tone! I am also excited to wear it as a double duty blush and bronzer.

Translucent Loose Setting Power (0.12 oz.): This is another cult favorite product from Laura Mercier. Every one praises this. I have incredibly dry skin so buying this expensive of a powder was always a no no! But I am glad that I have an adorable mini size to try. I have used it once or twice and to be honest, I don’t have a strong opinion. It performs well and that’s it!

Foundation Primer (0.5 fl. oz.): it is a very clear primer. I have worn it a few times but my experience has been very indifferent. It performed average – my makeup went fine and stayed put. But it did not do anything magical. I will surely use it up but not impressed enough to replace my current favorite primers with this.

Infusion De Rose Nourishing Oil (0.10 fl. oz.): This is the only product that I still have to try. I am almost certain I will like it because my dry skin is very fond of face oils :-)

Here I am wearing the lip glaze and the bronzer for a a very simple look to wear to work!

I hope you enjoyed this post and I sincerely hope you had a chance to pick this up? What is the best Sephora point perk reward that you got? Tell me :-)

Love

~Arrru

Urban Decay Urban Vices ::: Loving the current 500 point perk from Sephora

Today I have a quick little post for you guys. You may already notice that 80% of the products that I review here are purchased from Sephora. Naturally I accumulate a lot of Beauty Insider points. If you are not already aware, the reward membership program for Sephora is called "Beauty Insider". For every 1$ you spend, you earn 1 point and depending on how much you spend on annually you reach different levels of membership namely Beauty Insider, Very Important Beauty Insider (VIB) and VIB Rouge.

They always have reward products mostly deluxe sizes that can be purchased against these points. Often these come at the expense of 100, 250 and 500 points and very rarely there are mega rewards worth 1000s of points! I typically tend to pick up 100 point perks; I believe they are perfect for travelling. I also collect all the adorable deluxe size perfume bottles that are generally 250 points. I don't recall getting a 500 reward ever, mainly because most of the time it’s just a bunch of deluxe-size products thrown into a kit; these deluxe sizes you can easily get in anywhere else. And I genuinely don't think they are worth 500 points. But lately, I can see that Sephora is taking a little bit of time and effort in curating these rewards! I want to share with you my very first 500 picks perk- the Urban Decay Urban Vices.

I love the name :-) Anyway, this is one of the 500 point perks that are currently available. If you have 500 points to spend and wanting to try Urban Decay (UD) or expand your UD collection, go grab it.

This reward caught my attention because it’s very unique and adorable. Basically, you get a very well made eyeshadow palette with 4 deluxe eyeshadows that are taken from their popular Vice pallettes, 1 deluxe 24/7 glide-on eye pencil and a foil packet of their cult favorite primer potion for the eyes. The foil packet was missing from my kit though. The eyeshadows are 0.02 oz. each compared to their regular eyeshadow pan at $19 for 0.05 oz.) and the pencil is 0.03 oz. compared to $20 for 0.04 oz. Valuewise, I still think it needed a bit more product to be worth 500 points. But like I said, it’s unique as far as rewards are considered. And it’s specific to Sephora Rewards so you cannot find this product anywhere. You cannot even buy it in Sephora unless you have 500 points :-) The palette is very strongly built. The look and appearance of the palette is quite catchy which is very peculiar to UD. I am very pleased with the fact that Sephora and Urban Decay team created this palette with equal sincerity and care that they take with any permanent item. That care shows through the product.

UD shadows are definitely one of the best in the market. Their shimmery, metallic and glittery shades definitely stands out. The shades in this palette are very well put together. Dope is satin peachy cream shade and Hoodoo is a shimmery gorgeous light violet; I am very excited about this shade. It reminds me of MUG Bewitched pigment but in a muted and pressed form. Derailed is a bronzey taupe; very beautiful, very shimmery and extremely pigmented. Smokeout is another gorgeous multicolor shade, I mostly see a very deep blackened plum but I see gold, purple, pink micro glitters shining! I simply love all these shades! These two shades are perfect for a smokey look, as well as perfect to use as an all-over-lid shade. You can surely create a complete look if you use a crease colors. Here is a quick look on the EOTD (eyelook of the day) I wore work today… sorry for a not-so-planned click :-)

I have always wanted to try the 24/7 glide-on eye pencil! Finally! Smokeout is a simple very blackened brown, very creamy and it literally glides on! Basically first impression with this palette has been good. 

UD shadows are not the longest lasting shadows on me, but nonetheless I do enjoy them. Overall, this palette will be great to take with you for travelling especially if and when you know that you are not going to put on a whole lot of makeup! I am glad that I picked up this adorable mini palette.

What about you, do you like to hoard your reward points or spend them regularly? 

Love,

~Arrru