Holiday 2015 : Limited-Edition Birchbox Exclusive "Luxe List"

I don’t find much appeal in beauty subscription boxes and I have already talked about it before. If I am spending any amount of money on anything, I want to be in control of what I buy. That is why I have never given any sincere thought on subscribing to Ipsy, Birchbox or any other subscription boxes. Anyway, Birchbox is a beauty subscription service that starts at 10$ per month. They have a whole lot of products in their website which you can directly buy. They also have an online store and physical stores in New York and Atlanta.

Today, I am sharing my quick thought on “Limited Edition: Luxe List”; it is one of their exclusive limited-edition gift boxes and is currently available on their website. 

This Black Friday and during Cyber Monday, I might have been possessed by some shopping demon. I was that crazy shopaholic girl with a laptop on Thanksgiving so that I can continue online shopping. Over the last few years that I have been here in the USA, I have never actively participated in Black Friday shopping, and it looks like this year I compensated for all of those missing years! Birchbox had 25% off coupon and with that discount, investing in this box seemed profitable. Laura Mercier, Tata Harper, Ilia Beauty, Oribe, Rituals – all these are very luxurious brands and I know for sure that they are a bit pricey for me to buy at a regular price. This was really appealing to me :-) This was my first Birchbox purchase and overall I am quite happy with it. It was fast, free shipping and they were very responsive to some of the questions I had. Like I said, it is still available here if you want to check it out. Before discussing the products, let’s first take a detailed look at the price.

Product	Amount in Kit	Amount in Full-Size	Full-Size Price (USD)	Value in Set (USD)
111 Skin Space Defence Bright Eye Lift Gel NAC Y2 (CRAAAAAY price)	0.5 oz/15 ml	5 ml	190	63
Candlefish Travel Candle	3.5 oz	3.5 oz.	$8	8
Cynthia Rowley Beauty Makeup Bag	Assumed	-	$15	15
Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour	0.5 oz./1.64 g	0.5 oz.	$28	28
Ilia Beauty Tinted Lip Conditioner	0.14oz / 4g	0.14 oz.	$26	26
Oribe Supershine Moisturizing Cream	5 fl oz.	1.7 oz.	$49	16.66
Smith & Cult Nailed Lacquer	0.5 fl oz./14 ml	0.5 fl oz.	$18	18
R+Co DEATH VALLEY Dry Shampoo  (travel size)	1.6oz	1.6 oz.	$17	18
Rituals Ginkgo’s Secret Hand Balm	2.5 fl oz./75 ml	2.5 fl oz.	$17	17
Tata Harper Repairative Moisturizer	1.7 fl oz./50 ml.	10 ml.	$100	20
Umbra Magnolia Jewelry Dish		-	$10	10

The price for this box is $65 and it is a one-time purchase only. With these highly coveted brands in full-size and generously sized samples already makes the cost of this box quite reasonable. But with my 25% off it cost me $48.75; I think I scored quite a good deal here.

Ilia Tinted Lip Conditioner in “Bang Bang”: Let’s start with something that has been on my wish list for quite a while. Ever since I opened Beautylish account, I have been browsing their shop section from time to time and I have been mesmerized by these incredibly suave and royal looking products from Ilia Beauty. It’s also a natural brand. I am very much interested in their lipsticks but their steep price has always prevented me from biting the bullet! The product looks as gorgeous as I hoped. The lipstick bullet overall is sturdy but the cap could have been better! Being a luxury splurge-y item, I expected a bit higher quality. It is a lip conditioner; it is not meant to be super opaque pigmented. This has decent pigmentation and like mentioned in their website, you can build up the intensity gradually. “Bang Bang” is a sheer red that pulls of a more orangey tone on my skin. I have been using it since last week and I am amazed to see how long it can keep my lips protected from the drying and flaking up. I will admit that I don’t achieve the prettiest looking lips; it cannot hide the fine lines on my lips nor is it ultra-moisturizing. It’s very light weight and I actually don’t feel anything on my lips. On an average, I reapply my lip balm around 3-4 pm. But with this I don’t feel any need to do so! I think that’s incredible! While I don’t love sheer lipstick enough to go out and buy a full-size regular product, I am quite sure this is going to be a staple in my collection.

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in “Gilded Gold”: The name of the product itself sounds so lavish! Ever since I started exploring this wonderful world of beauty products, I have heard everyone love and applaud these pencils. This is another quite expensive product, though. I don’t know why Laura Mercier as a brand has never intrigued me! But I got their baked highlighter in 2015 Sephora Favorites Superstars set and I love it. So I am very ecstatic to get this. I have worn it twice and the staying power is phenomenal. It applied so smooth and quite easy to blend. I am very happy with this by far. And as the name suggests it is striking gold and will be flattering on a variety of skin tone.

Smith & Cult Nailed Lacquer in “Dark Like Me”: What a beautiful shade! It’s a luxury nail polish brand and it’s definitely a very luxe looking bottle. It feels quite heavy too. This is a vampy, seductive deep berry shade in cream formula. I have similar shades from different brands, but when I wear this, it looks so beautiful and feels so sensual; I love it. It does need 2 or 3 coats; also it needs a bit of work to get an even layer. It does not stay as long as I would have liked. But I do love the look. I appreciate it being in here because I would otherwise never buy it on my own.

Cynthia Rowley Beauty Makeup Bag: I have accumulated countless number of little makeup bags, thanks to my rather unhealthy obsession with value kits. But they are not of the greatest quality. I currently use a flat cube-type bag I got from Ebags for travelling and I love it. But this bag is excellently made. It’s big enough to contain products for a 3-4 day trip. It also has a side pocket which can be quite convenient. I think this might be the new travel makeup bag for me.

R+Co DEATH VALLEY Dry Shampoo: I tried dry shampoo for the first time earlier this year. I don’t have much of a problem of oily scalp, but now that I know what dry shampoo I have suddenly have lot of respect for the product. I was not aware of this brand so I don’t have a lot of expectation. It smells awesome and that’s such a good thing. But I am not wowed by it. It’s not any better than the Batiste that I use which is just $3.99 for the travel size. I will keep on using it and will report back.

Oribe Supershine Moisturizing Cream: I am not big into trying hair products. But I have heard many good things about Oribe. I have used it twice and I am really liking it so far. First of all, the smell is wonderful and it immediately brings a lot of shine to my hair. It keeps it healthier and smoother till my next wash. I am really loving it. It is not full-size but will definitely last me at least for few weeks.

Rituals Ginkgo’s Secret Hand Balm: Another brand that I have been intrigued by for a long time. But I never really researched about it. I believe this brand is more readily available in Europe. It’s a nice hand balm with a very invigorating smell that lingers for a long time. It’s not oily and absorbs quickly. Also, that tube is so handsome :-)

Candlefish Travel Candle: It is in the number 082. Very spiritual, simple and refreshing smell. I have never heard about this brand but who would not appreciate a nice smelling candle? :-) It’s not super strong and it will burn out quite quickly but I do love it in this box.

Umbra Magnolia Jewelry Dish: Such a cute little piece of accessory. It is a jewelry dish, it will definitely hold some dainty pieces of jewelry, but I love it. It is so elegant looking :-) I have already used it my blog photography and I am 100% sure that it is going to be reoccurring quite often. I love this!

The next two products are skincare products!  Tata Harper Repairative Moisturizer for face and 111 Skin Space Defence Bright Eye Lift Gel NAC Y2 for eyes. These are also two smallest sizes in this box. And the price for a regular size is just insane. I have just tried them once or twice just to get a feel. So I am not quite comfortable about forming my final opinion as skincare products need some time to show their affect. And given the price, I really need to put good time in reviewing them. But they have not broken me out yet and I will report back once I am done with them :-) 

So, holidays are just right around the corner! If you are looking for a special substantial/hefty gift to someone and yet you are unsure and don’t want to stick to one big product, this could be a great gift! These products in here definitely will prove useful for almost every skin tone! “Bang Bang” is a very subtle red that can be built up to look flattering on a lot of skin tones, “Gilded Gold” is going to look flattering on almost everyone, the jewelry dish is just too cute. Also makeup bag is very well built. The dry shampoo, hand cream, hair cream and nail polish and the candle are all something that is definitely going to get used, no matter who end up getting this gift :-) The more I used them, the more I fell in love and wondered how good this box is! I am definitely going to get very good use out of everything in here. I highly recommend this!

Love,

~Arrru

Holiday 2015 ::: "In theBalm of Your Hand" is finally in the palm of my hands :-)

Today I am talking about “In theBalm of your Hands” palette from theBalm Cosmetics. As an inquisitive person and a blogger I am always eager to try out new products from different brands! The vintage glam meets corky chick style packaging from theBalm has intrigued me for a long time now. When I saw a whole lot of their best selling products in one single palette, I knew I have to get my hands on it.

First, big applause for the team that names these products! Such playfulness with words - I adore all of their names. Second, the price for this palette is $39.50 which is of awesome value for all these products. You can find it on theBalm.com, Kohls.com (you may be able to use some coupons as well) and from UnifiedCosmetics.com.  I bought it from Unified Cosmetics at a discounted price of $37.99. Being a first time consumer I got an additional 20% which means I paid a total of $30.39 :-) :-) Even without further inspection, I can tell that this is of great value! 

Before I proceed, please allow me to share a bit about UnifiedCosmetics. They are vastly invested in "SHOP FOR A CAUSE" revolution! 50% of their profit is donated to their partner non-profit organizations that helps provide autistic children with diagnosis, treatment and therapy. If I have the opportunity to contribute (no matter how small that it) to a social cause while shopping and also get to save a few bucks, I am all for it! It took 10 days for the shipment to reach me, which was annoying, but it was free shipping and it arrived safe and sound!

theBalm did an incredible job in curating the items in the palette. 3 universal blushes, 4 eyeshadows, a beautiful red lip color, a nude lip/cheek cream, a matte bronzer and ever so coveted “Mary-Lou Highlighter” all in one palette. These are some of their most loved items from previous palettes and regular range of products. They were clever to reuse all their cover designs in the original product and it looked nice and fitting in this palette! It’s a cardboard packaging with a separate lid for the cream products. It has an average size mirror but that does not stand on its own. It might also get dirty on the outside with usage if that’s something that concerns you. 

HotMama (Shadow/Blush): Another gorgeous coral pink blush. It’s the lightest and the most satin-y blush in here. It is pigmented but it needs few layers to show up on my skin as a blush mainly because it is very close to my skintone. I can definitely use it as a blush topper or as a highlighter and blush at once. It can be wearable on so many skintone with different usage. It has a weaker wear time about 2-3 hrs less than the other blushes in the palette.

INSTAIN® in Argyle (Long-Wearing Powder Staining Blush): Finally, an Instain blush in my possession! Out of all theBalm products, this range of blushes has fascinated me the most. Incredibly beautiful shades in that adorable retro packaging; I love it! “Argyle” is a cool toned bright medium pink. I love to call it a sophisticated Barbie pink :-) It has a buttery smooth texture and kicks a little bit of powder when you dip your brush in it; but nothing unmanageable. Extremely pigmented and blends in quite easy. Also unlike Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay blushes you don’t have to be paranoid about ending up with clown cheek with that pigmentation. Very long lasting too! The other day, I wore it around 12 pm and it was still hanging in there till I removed it around 1 am. That’s incredible!

CabanaBoy® (Shadow/Blush): It’s a dusty mauve shade and has some elegant sheen to it. Of course, this is my favorite blush from this palette. It’s a perfect fall shade for a wide range of skin tones! It’s also a perfect everyday blush on me. Extremely pigmented and equally amazing color pay off. I have to proceed with care not to apply too much! Blends in without much effort and has an impressive 10 hr long staying power. I am totally enjoying this shade!

BahamaMama® (Matte Bronzer, Shadow & Contour Powder Bronzer): This has to be the least loved product in the palette for me. I love bronzers but I am more drawn to warmer richer shades of bronzer. This is a very deep greyish brown shade and I can almost see a hint of olive/khaki in it; very unfamiliar shade to me.  It’s pigmented, applies smoothly and blends easily but I don’t find as much pleasure using it as I find with my Lorac TANtalizer! But I am glad that they included it here as it makes the palette more ’complete’.

Mary-LouManizer® (Highlighter, Shadow & Shimmer): Every beauty admirer  is aware of the popularity of this. Highlighters never interested me but now I am a big fan. :-) :-) Mary-Lou Manizer is a very pale-gold shade. Very strongly pigmented. If you don’t like that super glow-y skin, then this is not for you! Very blendable despite that crazy pigmentation and quite long lasting. I found that it applies better when used over some base, especially over liquid foundation! Whereas my beloved Becca Champagne Pop or Laura Marcier Baked Highlighter applies with equal ease over my bare moisturized skin! Nonetheless, I am so happy that I finally joined the “Lou-Manizer” cult!

How'Bout Them Apples? in “Caramel” (Lip and Cheek Cream): I almost bought the original palette out of sheer cuteness in the packaging. The blush is a very soft, easy-to-work with a creamy formula. Pigmented but almost sheer! I tried it on the lips too and it was not bad! But I have been mostly using it as a light base before I layer it with powder blushes. Very much enjoying it. 

theBalm Girls® in “Mia Moore” (Lipstick): Cream lip in a palette always makes me nervous. But “Mia Moore” is actually really nice. Very creamy and yet stable enough not to bleed everywhere. Nicely pigmented. I use a small OCC lip-brush. I do have to dip my brush for 2-3 times to cover my entire lip but I need only one swipe per area to get an even opaque coverage. It’s comfortable enough on the lips and stays for 5-6 hrs before starting to wear off slowly. It tends to dry after 4 hrs, which is quite common for me with many red lipsticks.

I am so happy with the 4 eye shadow shades in here! I must say the color selection is pretty unique and versatile. “Insane Jane” and “Mischevious Marissa” are your everyday one-shade-and-done lid shades and "Sexy" and “Lead Zeppelin” are somewhat interesting shades to be included in this kind of face palette. By the way Hot Mama, CabanaBoy and Bahama Mama can be used as eye shadow too!

Insane Jane (from shadyLady Vol. 2): This is a satin taupe. I do not like to wear cool toned shades but this is actually something that I feel excited to wear. VERY pigmented, great color payoff and blends like butter! You hardly need to touch the product to get an opaque application. I wore it the other day on my inner corner on the lower lash line and I was so surprised to see that it stayed from 12 pm to 1 am :-)

Mischevious Marissa (from shadyLady Special Edition): Such a lovely neutral peachy golden shade. Not unique, but this type of universal shade is essential for this type of palette. This and “Insane Jane” are perfect one-color eye looks. I simply LOVE this shade. So pigmented, you need just a light swipe and unbelievably easy to blend. This with “Sexy” is a gorgeous yet super simple and fast fall eye look right there!

Sexy (from NUDe’tude): Fall is almost over here in my city but I am still totally obsessed with all fall makeup type of shades. It’s very dark brown-y plum shade. When I swatch this with my finger, it appears a little dry, patchy and scrubby against my skin. But when applied on lids, I don’t face any issues. You need just a tiny tiny amount, the color transforms exactly and blends in 2 second. This is much pigmented and has great staying power! I tried it as liner too but it did not last more than 2-3 hrs. as a liner.

Lead Zeppelin (from Balm Jovi): Beautiful satin Olive shade. Smoother and less powdery than “Sexy”. Consistent performance with all other shades and this really compliments “Mischevious Marissa” for a quick and easy look. Phenomenal staying power too!

Points to complain about: Not really complaints, but if they would include a light brown matte crease color this would have been an immaculate palette. You can definitely use the bronzer as crease shade, but I love my brown crease shade.

As you can already see, I am totally enamored with this palette. You have almost everything you need. Just grab your foundation (or any base you use), mascara and an eye liner, if you can’t live without one, like me, and you are good to go! I don’t like the bronzer but I am very impressed with every other product! If you have never tried theBalm, this is the prefect palette to get at a very affordable cost! Even if you already have some products, this is just the best all-inclusive face-palette that your money can buy! I think this might be the best product I have picked up this holiday season. I also picked Bite Beauty "Best Beauty Rewind" (Reviewed here) and “Sephora Favorites Superstars” (Reviewed here) that I am very much enjoying!

Tell me about your holiday shopping :-) !!!!

Love,

~Arrru

Holiday 2015: "Sephora Favorites Superstars" Review & Swatches!!!

Originally I planned for a consolidated blog post sharing my thoughts on a lot of limited edition palettes and value sets that have come out for the 2015 Holiday Season. But I am simply not having enough time to extensively research on the sets I want to include. Instead, for now, allow me to share my 2^nd pick from these very tempting gift items! Meanwhile, I am absolutely loving “Bite Beauty Rewind“ set which was my very first choice…check it out here!

Today I am talking about this year’s Sephora Favorites Superstars (It’s going to be a long post :-) )! I love these Sephora Favorites Sets although my interest level drops if it costs me more than 50 bucks! :- ) But when I was going through all holiday sets from different companies, this set interested me the most primarily for these reasons -

• Out of all the sets, I found that this gives me the most return for my money- quality and quantity wise.
• Sephora included some of the best and most popular products. A lot of which I never tried.
• Beauty Blender and Stila Eyeliner are some of my holy grail products.

Let’s talk about the price. It is a Sephora Favorite so it is obviously a good deal! You can find it in Sephora Retail stores and on Sephora.com at a price of $75. It is marketed to be of $207 value set I followed my own method and per my calculation the value of this kit is 212$ (220$ if you consider the price of Smashbox Primer in travel size). Here is the price break down :-)

Product	Amount in Kit	Amount in Full-Size	Full-Size Price (USD)	Value in Kit (USD)
Beautyblender® original	Full Size	-	20	20
NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in Himalia	Full Size	0.05 oz.	29	29
Urban Decay Eye shadow in Lounge	Full Size	0. 05 oz.	19	19
Stila Stay All Day® Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Intense Black	Full Size	0.016 oz.	22	22
Touch in Sol Stretchex Stretch Lash Effect Mascara	Full Size	0.24 oz.	22	22
Lancôme DRAMA LIQUI-PENCIL™ Extreme Longwear Eyeliner in Noir Intense	Full Size	0.042 oz.	23	23
Benefit They're Real! Mascara	0.1 oz.	0.3 oz.	24	8
Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight	Full Size	0.21 oz.	22	22
Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Highlight	0.06 oz.	0.26 oz.	40	9
Tarte the Sculptor Contouring Face Slenderizer in Park Ave Princess™	0.06 oz.	0.09 oz.	24	16
Tarte The Slenderizer Bamboo Contouring Brush	0.035 oz	Available in doble sized brush	34	12
MAKE UP FOR EVER Step 1 Skin Equalizer Hydrating Primer / Base Step 1 Skin Equalizer	0.16 oz.	1 oz.	36	5.76
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water	1 oz.	1oz/3.9 oz	16/32	16/8.2

Basically it is of incredible value. Let’s discuss the products one by one before the post gets 100 pages long :-)

Beauty Blender “the original”: I waited so long to try this! But when I finally did try it, I have been in UTTER love. I have been using this since this Spring. It makes foundation application so darn easy! As instructed I use it little damp to apply my foundation and within a minute I have amazing flawless skin. It works the same way with foundation and BB creams! You need to try this!

MAKE UP FOR EVER Step 1 Skin Equalizer Hydrating Primer / Base Step 1 Skin Equalizer: MUFE is one my most favorite brands! I am disappointed in the size though. You have just a week or at most, 10 day’s worth of product. All the other items in this kit are decently sized. It did a good job as a primer. My makeup held on good, but around my mouth where it typically gets dry the foundation started to break towards the end of the day. I like it but I am not 200% impressed with it yet.

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water: Everybody loves this product. I was not sold on this first but now that I have been using it constantly, I am slowly falling in love. It has a nice spritzer that works great in dispersing even amount. I have used it under makeup as well as a setting spray and it does a good job in elongating the wear time of my makeup, including my lipstick :-) I am very much enjoying this right now but I am yet to be impressed enough to recommend this to you to go out and buy it in full size.

Benefit Cosmetics "They're Real! Mascara": Honestly, I am a little annoyed with Sephora for putting this mascara in each and every set. A lot of people love it. I don’t like the plastic bristles and I don’t enjoy how it makes my lashes crisp and separate. But I do grab it when I need to wear waterproof mascara and also when I am photographing for the blog. So while it is not my most favorite, I still find use for it!

NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in “Himalia”: Thanks to my value set addiction, my NARS collection is slowly growing :-) :-) :-) I have shared many times before that I find the most pleasure while playing with colors when makeup is concerned; so neutral shades like this do not excite me as much as a blue eyeshadow. But now that I have a more conventional work environment and can wear a bit of makeup every day, I am finding “Himalia” to be extremely useful! It’s a perfect “One-shade-and-done” lid color! I thought it would be much lighter but I am so glad that it’s a little deeper. It is a taupey bronze in metallic finish. VERY pigmented, very easy to apply and blend, even with my finger. It does stay a decent time without primer; with primer it has a wear time of around 6-7 hrs. and then it starts to fade while still looking gorgeous. I adore the packaging - minimal, elegant, has a magnetic closure and I love the embossing on the eyeshadow itself :-) I have slowly started to ponder that NARS rocket-high prices may just be justifiable.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in “Lounge”: Such an elegant metallic duo-chrome shade and Urban Decay does the best metallic. It has an intense olive green/teal shimmer on a coppery reddish brown base. It is a fun, fancy color to swatch and to use :-) And it is sophisticated enough to use it subtly for an everyday look. It is not crazy pigmented so I need to use 2-3 layers to get an even and intensely pigmented look. I did try using it wet and it looked a little more foiled then using dry! It lasted with the same intensity for more than 10-11 hrs! I will never pay full price considering it is neither an extremely unique nor innovative shade! But the more I am using it the more I am falling in love.

Stila Stay All Day® Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in “Intense Black”: I got this last December in one similar set exclusive to Sephora inside JC Penny. It’s one of my MOST favorite eyeliners. I use it in rotation with some of my other favorites. Its waterproof, has a felt tip and the finish is slightly glossy. It applies smoothly and truly stays all day. Whenever I want to ensure that I get a quick and easy wing liner that needs to last all day, this is what I use. I simply adore this liner.

Touch in Sol Stretchex Stretch Lash Effect Mascara Sol Mascara: It is a lightweight lengthening mascara and it does give serious length to my tiny lashes! It is not volumizing. I am not crazy about extreme volume or curls on my lashes so that’s fine with me. I love the wand too; it is little curved, not too big or too small. Perfect for my small hooded eyes. Sephora website says that you can remove it with warm water, but no! You need a strong makeup remover for this.

Lancôme DRAMA LIQUI-PENCIL™ Extreme Longwear Eyeliner in Noir Intense: This a fairly new product line from Lancôme. There some kickass shades like pink and yellow and periwinkle blue :-) This is the black shade and it stayed for a long time on my upper lash line. But on my waterline, I have to keep applying it for 2-3 times to get the color to cling on to it. It did not tug and it did not hurt to apply that many times but it was annoying. Once I could get an even application it did last at least for 5-6 hrs. I have similar types of eyeliner so it is by no means a must-have product for me. But I can still never have too many black eye liners as I am always going to use them!

Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight: Before I tried Champagne Pop from Becca, highlighters never interested me. Now I want to try everything :-) It’s a giant cream highlighter, extremely pale baby pink shade with very minuscule shimmer speckles…nothing too metallic though! Very creamy and super blendable. Being so creamy, I did not expect it to last long but I could see this glowing beautifully at the very end of the day! It’s a strong and extremely pigmented highlighter! If you like a subtle, simple makeup I would not recommend this, but personally I am loving it!

Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Highlight: So many beauty addicts over the world are mad about this highlighter. I have never been interested in it mostly because of its steep price. But I am always excited to try things that are so widely loved, that too at a fraction of full size price. I really love the size of it, it is so much better than the full-size. In my experience baked product has a nice fluffy and creamier type of formula. But I felt this one is a little dry when swatched. It applies a bit dry as well! It would be perfect for oily skin but I personally prefer a less dry formula. Having said that I have to agree that I am really enjoying it. It’s very pigmented, blendable and long lasting.

Tarte the Sculptor Contouring Face Slenderizer in Park Ave Princess™: I love cream products in general; it is so much easier to work with my dry skin. I don’t have a huge interest in contouring but once again it is proving to be very useful in giving my face a little bit of shape especially when I am photographing new product application for this blog. At first look it appears slightly warm for contouring but when applied on the face it does not show that warm on my skin tone. It’s very creamy, easy to blend out and stays nicely for 5-6 hrs.

Tarte The Slenderizer Bamboo Contouring Brush: This is the cutest mini brush you would ever see… and it totally works! It’s very useful in placing the contour color. I was also able to blend the tarte contour I got with this set. I did have to go back with a more fluffy brush to blend it more. 

Points to complain about: We all need to write a petition to Sephora requesting them not to include “They're Real! Mascara” in each and every value set :-P It’s not a horrible product but I don’t want to see the same old products repeated in these sets (e.g., Too Faced Melted Peony Liquid Lipstick, Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Peony, Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer etc.). I also wish they’d include a blush or maybe a lip product instead of 2 mascaras and 2 highlighters. That would have made this the most perfect value set for this holiday season! But it still is a great set. Out of the 13 products, 8 are full size and they are some of the most loved products available in Sephora. Apart from MUFE, rests of the mini products are also decently sized. I am thoroughly enjoying at least 70% of the products, and performance wise not one product has disappointed me. Overall, this is a set worth looking into :-)

What have you been shopping for the holiday season? :-)

Love

~Arrru