Holiday 2014 Sephora Favorite "Makeup Must-Haves Beauty Essentials" Kit: Quick Review and swatches!!!

Holidays are here, finally! :-) Given that I came back from vacationing in India not that long ago, I don't feel like "Holiday"; yet! But I am going for a short trip soon, so I am slowly getting into the holiday groove. This is the time of the year when beauty-market is filled with holiday edition products from all the different cosmetics brands. I am usually good at holding back temptations but at imes a good deal is just too hard to pass on!

Makeup Must-Haves Beauty Essentials Sephora Favorite kit exclusive to Sephora inside JC Penny was such a deal for me :-) These "Sephora Favorite" kits are made of their best-selling products. I have successfully tried a few kits. Sometimes all the products in the kit may not suit you or may not be 100% useful or even worth the money; but they give you a GREAT chance to test out different products at a much better price and size.

Among all the irresistible kits that were displayed at the store,  this one stood out the most because 4 out of 6 products are Full-Size at a total price of $39. All the items are interesting and luckily are not presently in my collection. The total value of this is $122. The geeky, nerdy girl in me was very excited to do the calculation and break it down for you.

Product	Full-Size Amount	Full-Size Price	Amount in Kit	Value
Bite Beauty Lipstick	0.15 oz.	$24	2g/0.07 oz.	$11.2
They are real Mascara	0.3 oz.	$23	1.42 g/0.05 oz.	$3.83
Smashbox BB Cream	1 oz.	$39	1 oz. (Full-Size)	$39
Urban Decay Eyeshadow	0.05 oz.	$18	1.5g/0.05 oz. (Full-Size)	$18
NARS Blush	0.15 oz.	$30	4.8 g/0.05 oz. (Full-Size)	$30
Stilla Eyeliner	0.016 oz.	$20	0.5 ml/0.016 oz. (Full-Size)	$20

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick (in "Palomino"): It is one of my favorite brands, so I am going to start with it. Their rouge lipsticks are very moisturizing, extremely pigmented and have super impressive staying power. The color range they have is also very wide. I loved "Palomino" - it's a bright bold deep-pink color. I did have this shade in another Mini Double Ended Lipstick but I know I am going get use out of this. The packaging is pretty and sturdy! And how cute and adorable is this tiny bullet anyway :-)

Benefit Cosmetics "They Are Real Mascara": This is such a popular product. It performed just "ok" for me though. The bristles are of stiff plastic which is not really my cup of tea. Staying power was good! The consistency is also ok! But I am NOT really "wow"ed by it. It did not give me the "They are real" effect that I was hoping for!

Smashbox BB Cream (in "Light"): I have heard good things about this and I liked using it. The consistency was good and easy to apply with my beauty blender type makeup sponge. It lasted the entire time without any oxidization! However, the shade is a little light for me so I need to mix  it with my other darker bases. But other than that it was a good first experience.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow (in "Sin"): Other than the Naked Palettes, UD products in general was never exciting-enough for me. But after I received a few free samples like their lipsticks, setting spray, I have started to view the brand in a whole new light! "Sin" is a very popular shade in Urban Decay's arsenal. An absolutely gorgoreous color! It is a shimmery champaigne color with a light pink undertone. Swipe accross and there you have stunning shining lid; appropriate for work or for daytime. It can also be used as a inner corner and cheek highlighter too. I used it with UD Primer Potion and it lasted 7-8 hrs before fading! Not a bad performance for the first use!

NARS Blush (in "Orgasm"): Whoo!! Controversial name but the whole beauty world is filled with stellar reviews for this product in this particular shade. I never understood the hype and love for this product, especially after I swatched it in the store (on my hand though!). It always appeared to have so much glitter in it; I was scared to even imagine how it will look on the cheeks. But after I gave it a try today, I have changed my opinion. I am really liking the glowing effect it has been giving me. "Orgasm" is a beautiful peach color with an orange undertone and whole lot of micro glitter. Holidays demand glitters, right!!?

Stilla Stay All Day Waterproof Eyeliner (in "Black"): I have been wanting to try this product for forever and now that I have tried I think it is worth the hype. And when they say waterproof they mean "WATERPROOF"! It's kind of a permanent marker for your eyes until you apply a waterproof makeup remover. I tried using water to remove the hand-swatch after 4-5 hrs of use and it did not budge. It is a pen-type liquid eyeliner with a decent length tip (just like my beloved Lakme Eyeliner). The finish is semi-glossy! Overall, first impression has been great! I love when this type of poplar product performs exactly the way I expect it to.

Oh, I forgot to talk about the make up bag. I love collecting these. They are especially handy for gifting purpose when I go home (to India) for vacation. This is a decent size bag in a bautiful matallic bronze color. If you dont carry a pile of makeup with you while travelling, this would be prefect; it is also nice to put into in your handbag for daily use. 

As you can already tell, I have been pretty happy to realize that I made a good investment in this kit. I also love that all the products make this a very comprehensive kit. Apart from the lower lashline and the bronzer, everything I used in this look is from this kit. You really can achieve an elegant look just by using this set. My nearest Sephora inside JC penny still have a plenty of this left. I really think it will be a very useful gift for someone who is just starting with makeup :-)

Happy holidays, folks!

Love,

~Arrru

Sephora Favorites Limited Edition "Give Me Some Lip": Swatches & Review

The holiday season is fast approaching!! This is particularly a very exciting time for any makeup lover as different cosmetics brands have started the promotions for their Holiday Gift and Value sets! It is almost impossible for me to resist the temptation of getting each and every kit :-) 

So, keeping the upcoming the holiday season in mind, I thought this will be a good idea to share my experience with "Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip" set that I got awhile back! "Sephora Favorite" sets always consists of a bundle of fantastic products at bargain price; I especially like these sets as they have mini or deluxe size products which are much easier to finish up for someone like me who loves makeup but not a professional makeup artist! This is a Limited Edition set from Sephora with 6 products including one full-size lip gloss! Let me be upfront here, the selling point for me in this set was the Bite Beauty lip pencil. I am head over heels for Bite Beauty and anything from them attracts me, almost immediately!

The price for the set is $25. Awesome, right? :-) It contains

1. Urban Decay Naked Revolution Lipstick (Mini, 0.03 oz.)
2. Nars Orgasm Lip Gloss (Deluxe, 0.12 oz.)
3. Buxom Full On Lip Cream in White Russian (Mini, 0.07 oz.)
4. Marc Jacobs Lust for Lacquer in Kissability (Mini, 0.02 oz.) 
5. Bite High Pigment Lip Pencil in Meritage (Deluxe, 0.05 oz.) 
6. Smashbox Be Legendary Gloss in Pout (Full-size, 0.20 oz.)

Let's take a look.

Smashbox Be Legendary Gloss (in Pout): This is a VERY pale-pinky lip gloss. The finish is smooth and feels really easy on the lips! I do see some sparkle in the tube but while applying it does not show off on the lips. I guess I am upset about the fact that "Pout" is described as a pale-pink but it almost looks like "white" against my skin tone! :-( I pair it with some of my every day wear rosey lip-colors to avoid looking pale and sick! While I can still make it somehow useful, the shade is not very flattering on me! 
And ironically, this is the Full-size product in the set!! 

Bite Beauty High Pigment Lip Pencil (in Meritage): I have Bite's crème lipsticks and the lip pencils and let me tell you, they are worth EVERY penny! Meritage is a very subtle rosey pink shade, IDEAL for office and every day wear! This is also very moisturizing and comfortable on the lips; stays for up to 6-7 hrs. And like any other Bite products that I have tried this also has proved up to my expectation! For the past few months, I have been loving my BOLD shades so much that I hardly notice I don't own a lot of my-lips-but-better colors. This will definitely fill the void :-) 

Marc Jacobs Lust for Lacquer (in Kissability): Hmmm.... Marc Jacobs...just the name makes me feel so luxurious! It is a mini-size lip gloss so obviously the tube is very tiny, sleek and cute! :-) It almost does not even need any space to store. JUST PERFECT for putting in your smaller purses and clutches!! This is also a rosey-hued pink with some almost-unnoticeable golden shimmers in it. It has a bit minty tingling feel when you first apply, but nothing overwhelming. It’s a very light-weight lip gloss and applies very sheer! I like that :-)

The only complaint I have is with its applicator. It’s so very small that I need 3-5 swipes to cover up my entire lip! I wonder if the full size glosses have the same size applicator!

Buxom Full On Lip Cream (in White Russian): This is a very adored product among makeup lovers! I am not a big lip gloss fanatic, but buxom lip glosses definitely had me intrigued for some time! This is another pale baby pink kind of color in the bunch; but it is much easier to carry off than the Smashbox one. It is very thick and full coverage lip-gloss, may feel just a tiny bit sticky, but it’s hydrating! It has a strong minty tingling feel which stayed even after one cup of tea :-) Personally I do like that feeling :-)
It also gave me 3-3.5 hrs. of wear that included two cups of tea! Yes, I am from the famous-for-tea state of "Assam" and I can drink one cup every hour ;-) Considering it’s a gloss, the staying power is definitely satisfying.

Nars Lip Gloss (in Orgasm): A lot of people get offended by the shade-names Nars assigns to their products; I personally find them fun and interesting :-)

Anyway just like their insanely popular blush in "Orgasm" this is also a peachy-burnt orange kind of color with lots and lots of golden glitters! Looks extremely beautiful when swatched. But it’s a little bit too glittery and has a brown kind of undertone; if I am not much careful in executing my entire look, this may make me appear "very-wrongly-tanned"! Nonetheless it’s a very pretty color; this kind of color was very popular in India a few years back. It's light, easy to wear and gives me around 2.5 to 3.5 of wear! It does not have any smell to it and no stickiness; I really like the feel on my lips. Also the packaging is quite adorable.

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick (in Naked): This is a "TRUE NUDE" for my skin tone. With every nudish color that I have, I always need to use some kind of brightening lip gloss to make them wearable. But this one, I can just slap on and not be concerned about looking "ghostly" :-) I was never interested enough to try out other products from Urban Decay even though I love their eyeshadows! I must say, I am pleasantly surprised by the performance of this lipstick...It stays on and I love the overall feel. The finish is matte so after a few hrs., I feel a bit of dryness, but there is nothing that a quick swipe of gloss or balm cannot cure...I am now curious to check out other shades from this line of lipsticks!

Pros:

• Good value to try out products from different brands!
• They are mostly mini or deluxe size, so perfect for travelling.
• If you love natural and everyday color, this is a wonderful set.

Cons:

• Too many glosses in the kit (for my taste) :-)
• There is no bright color (I love me some bold bright color)
• The full-size gloss is a little too "blah" for my taste!

The color range is not very exciting for me; also there are many glosses. But as I have been using a few of these for the past month, I have been finding them perfect for office wear! I would definitely say I am getting my money's worth. If you are lip gloss type of girl or if you love natural easy-to-wear colors, this "set" is going to impress you for sure :-)

Thank you so much for taking time to visit my blog...do share what products you are going to get from the upcoming holiday collection! I would love to know :-)

Love,

~Arrru