Play! by Sephora ::: December 2016!!!

My December Sephora Play has arrived and this is potentially my last Sephora play! The theme of this month’s bag is “The Partygoers” and I was so eagerly hoping to get a glitter product of some sort. But alas, there was none!

First of all, the cloth bag this month is super cute and the page where they list all the products is nicely designed as well. Now for the products – I would say this is a nice assortment of some very well-loved, great performing products. Most of them are cult favorites. That is really nice but not for someone deeply invested in the “beauty world”. I already have tried or have got all of these before! Basically, this is not an exciting bag for me at all.

Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer Smoothing Primer: A lot of people love these primers from Make Up For Ever. I have their hydrating one from the same line and I don’t really have anything to rave about it. I tried this smoothing one on my hand and it really feels smooth. I will try it out and you will definitely hear about it if I end up LOVING it. Also, can we talk about how tiny this sample is? It is really tiny!

Lancôme Hypnose Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara: Good to have another mascara because as a beauty lover, I don’t hoard enough mascaras! :-\ This is another mascara that always end up in sample bags. This or some other variations from Lancôme! Honestly, I don’t remember! But because I don’t expect a lot from my mascaras, I don’t think I will “not” enjoy it!

Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain in 01 Always Red: This is such an industry favorite. After hearing about it for years, I finally grabbed it when it was offered as a gift with purchase just a month or two ago. So, I am not personally very excited about getting it in this box. I mean if you are a true Sephora lover, I am 80% sure you already have this lipstick. But aside that complaint, it is a gorgeous red. Very neutral and very eye-catching. Its stays on unless you eat very oily food. It is also a universal red and designed for every skin tone.

Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray: Another cult favorite product! I feel like this is one of those products that you will end up trying at one point of your life, if you have any kind of beauty interest. It’s a good setting spray and really does help to hold on to your makeup. I have super dry skin so I don’t really struggle with makeup sliding off my face. But it is definitely a good product to have.

Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo: This is the only product from here that I have not tried. Drybar is a coveted brand and I do use dry shampoo quite regularly so I am really excited to try it out. I am pretty sure I will use it up easily.

Elizabeth and James Nirvana Rose: I am not a big fan of the Nirvana perfumes. They are too heavy for my taste and I often end up having headaches if I use them. If you like woodsy heavy spicy scents you will enjoy it. It is described as floral but I don’t agree with that. But it is nice to get a bonus perfume spray every month.   

Although, the products in this bag were good, I can’t still find any justification for me to keep subscribing. Who else subscribes to Sephora Play? Are you happy with this subscription?

Love,

~Arrru

New Makeup Geek Eyeshadows - Spring '16

Many of us already know that Makeup Geek (MUG) Cosmetics has an incredible range of eyeshadow shades! But lucky for us this Spring they decided to add a few more! There are 9 matte and 9 shimmers in this collection. The pretty soft-warm “sunset” themed mattes shades are what drew my attention to this release. However when I watched the swatches of the shimmer shadows in online videos, I had to pick some up! :-) I will discuss the shades first and then touch up on the prices and other details towards the end of this post!

MUG shimmer shades are always very beautiful; and I strongly feel that they are well worth the $6 price tag! All the previous shades that I have are quite consistent in formula! But to my surprise, all three shades that I ordered this time seem so very different – formula and texture-wise!

Venom (buy here): Without a doubt, this is the best performing shade in this bunch. It is a khaki shade and it looks very similar to their duo-chrome shade in “Typhoon” but it is much more deeper and does not have a lot of shift in it. It has incredible pigmentation; whether you are using a brush or your finger tips, it is very easy to get an even and intense color payoff on the eyelids! It feels just a bit chalky to touch however it goes very even on application, quite easy to blend. Did I tell you that the pigmentation of it is just out of this world? I absolutely love this shade.

Toxic (buy here): This has a formula that is much more finely milled than Venom, therefore it feels much smoother to touch. It is very, very pigmented but because it is smoother, it appears less strong of a shade and may be because of that it does not appear as vibrant as I wanted to! That’s not a bad thing though; this type of shades are best to use when you long for color and yet not ready to indulge in a “va-va-voom”/”pop”  of color! I also like to use my fingers to dab this on my eyelids to get a stronger and brighter color payoff!  It is almost a blackened purple of a shade and every now and then I like wearing this type of shade as an alternative of dark black/brown shades!

Rebel (buy https://www.makeupgeek.com/makeup-geek-eyeshadow-pan-rebel.html): Now this is a very unique color. It has a periwinkle blue-grey base with a gold shade. It is almost a duochrome! I am not sure if these two “shift” shades complement each other! Under some light I like the combo and really enjoy the shift but under some different some light, it don’t like it at all! It also feels much drier in comparison to Venom and Toxic. It has a smooth texture but it surely is dry! It is not my favorite but I enjoy the fact that I can still wear it to work for a quick everyday-glam look!

I bought 3 new matte shades from this release and they all were really consistent in formula!

Tuscan Sun (buy here): This feels so incredibly smooth, when I was swatching these I felt I could just keep on swirling my fingers on it :-) It is a gorgeous soft pinky-coral shade – reminds me of soft corally shades during sunset! It is quite an enchanting shade for me :-) Not very heavily pigmented like some of their other mattes. But for this particular shade, that “less stronger pigmentation” actually works out better. I have worn it as crease shade and as well as all-over-the-lid shades. Both ways, it performs the same. I adore this shade.

Fashion Addict (buy here): About 2 months ago, my sister was vigorously looking for Pink/Hot Pink eyeshadows. While doing the research for her I realized, there are not a whole lot of pink eyeshadows. Some are more corally, some are orangey, some are red and a lot of them are more purple than pink. But I love this shade. I know that on MUG website, it is described as an orchid purple. But I see it more of a true pink when applied on the eyes. Such a happy shade! It will immediately brighten up your entire look. It has the same soft texture as Tuscan Sun, easy to blend and has beautiful pigmentation. Very happy!

Tiki Hut (buy here): Such a cute name! I have recently developed a love for these type of deeper brown shades. It is very versatile; sheer it out to use as crease shade, or add on the lower lid, use it as an alternative for a boring black. This appears to be a bit less smoother  and less pigmentation than Cocoa Bear, one of my absolute favorite shade (review here). But on the eyes, it performs the same.

Chickadee (buy here): This is an existing shade! I bought it in this order, so I thought of including it in this review. It’s a beautiful deep mustard-yellow shade; very unique shade. It’s excellent to slightly warm up your looks! It’s not an everyday color for me but I do enjoy it as crease and blending shades in my looks! 

With Urban Decay Primer Potion and Mac Paint Pot underneath, these stayed on for entire day- at least for 11-12 hrs. But on a daily basis, when I am not putting much effort and time in my makeup in the morning, it fades by afternoon ie after 7-8 hrs of application! The price for these shadows is now $6.00/pan for 0.064 oz. (1.8 g). I know MUG gained popularity because of its incredible quality at much affordable price but I opt for MUG shadows more when I am looking for particular shades! I have reviewed a few of MUG shades before (you can check them here and here). Apart from Rebel, I really have been liking these new shades :-)

Today is my off Friday, and I have crap ton of chores to take care of! So it is gonna be one of those “busy-for-nothing” weekends! What about you guys, any fun plans?

Love,

~Arrru