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

Sephora wishes "Happy Birthday" :-) :-) :-)

My birthday falls in January and that definitely comes with few perks. For example when I was a student I could enjoy my birthday without having to worry about any tests as the school year would have just started. January born babes also get to collect the free birthday gifts from beauty stores like Ulta, Sephora or from other cosmetics brands comparatively sooner than the rest of the members! :-) This is something that I have been really enjoying for this past two years!!

I loved the gift that Sephora offered last year (blogged here). I came across a few sneak peak of 2015 Sephora Birthday gift via various social media in December and I have been pretty excited since then! The gift set was activated in Sephora website come January 1st, I ordered it ASAP. It reached my apartment within 4-5 days too! But I was out-of-station since then for work and it is just these past couple of days I have got around to exploring it. I am particularly more pumped because the NARS products in the set are highly raved about in the beauty industry and I did not have any of these in my collection yet. 

Sooo, this year’s gift consists of deluxe-size velvet lip pencil in "Cruella" and satin lip pencil in "Rikugien" from NARS. I recently became a VIB Rouge (yes, I spend or waste(?) a lot of money in cosmetics :-)) my gift also included a bonus mini Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto.  NARS and Sephora teamed up to design this kit named which they are calling as NARS Happy Birthday "One Year Bolder" kit. 

Cruella (0.06 oz./1.8 g): This shade is described as "Scarlet Red" and you know I love my reds! (buy full-size here) If you compare it to the iconic Red- "Ruby Woo" from MAC Cosmetics, this is slightly more vivid, as to me it appears to have a very subtle orange hint. Personally, I prefer my reds to be a bit deeper! But after wearing it a few times I have really started to LOVE “Cruella”. It’s red, it’s bright and it’s playful! The finish is definitely matte but it’s easy-to-apply and feels weightless on the lips. It has not bleed or creased on me and it definitely does not make me conscious about wearing a red lipstick. I have had at least 9-10 hours of wear that survived a very cumbersome Indian Chai tea drink in a moving car. It faded after I ate a big homemade chicken roll but it did leave a beautiful stain. It does feel a little drying after 6-7 hrs of wear. But overall, I am very pleased. 

Rikugien (0.05 oz./1.7 g): This appears as nude barbie-pink shade on my skin tone. But it is described as "rose pink" in Sephora website. (buy full-size here) Very pretty color, but I thought it will not look good on me. In fact when I first used it I did not like the feel as well the look on me for the first hour. I felt it was a bit too plastic-y, But after that, it settled on the lips pretty well and I loved the look thereafter :-) It is definitely hydrating compared to the velvet pencils. If you have pale skin tone, this shade will look so adorable on you. Sephora did a great job this year in assembling this comprehensive little gift; you get your red, your MLBB and the classic black liner :-)

Via Veneto (0.01 oz./0.3g): I am very glad that it was included in the VIB Rouge gift even though I was not very thrilled at the beginning about another black eyeliner. But I have to say, this one has impressed me the most in the kit. First of all, sleek packaging! It is automatic (I don't like things that need sharpening!) And it also comes with a tiny sharpener at the end. I may not use it ever but I always appreciate the option. The finish is matte, which makes me really happy because I did not have a black matte eyeliner till now. The staying power is very impressive; the first day I tried it without a primer and I took a small mid-day nap (guilty :-)) and I was surprised to see the liner intact. It may appear a bit less creamy than others, but I am loving it. (buy full-size here)

Now that, I have shared my excitement over the products let me describe Sephora's Beauty Insider program for those of you who is still unaware. It is a membership program which Sephora offers and you can register for it for free; online or in the stores. It rewards you with points against your purchases and later, you can claim sample reward products against those points that you have been accumulating. They also send you emails about some pretty cool promotional deluxe size products from time to time. (These emails have proved very dangerous to my financial health as I have purchased unnecessary items just to get the free products! I know :-) !!)  They have different levels for their membership with few added benefits with each levels. In a calender year, if you spend 350$ you become VIB and if you cross 1000$ you reach VIB Rouge status. One of the perks that I have been TRUELY enjoying is the free shipping for VIB rouge members.  So, even though you don't really shop regularly at Sephora, I suggest you open a Beauty Insider membership; it is a good thing. 

Oh! Another thing! If you are not really very interested in the lip kit from NARS, you can choose this skincare kit from Peter Thomas Roth, another highly valued brand! I have used the mask and I love it! I am really glad that Sephora offered this interesting alternative. 

Birthday gifts are redeemable in store (no purchase necessary) or online (you need to buy at least one merchandise to add this gift to your online order) during your birthday month. If you somehow forget to collect it during that month, you can always approach their customer service and they will reimburse you with beauty insider points in lieu of the gift (at least I have been told so, when I contacted them with the same query!)

I am thoroughly enjoying my gift! January and February born divas, go and collect your gift! For the rest of you, I am sorry but you have to wait :-)

Love,

~Arrru

Sephora Birthday Gift 2014: Make Up For Ever "Celebrate For Ever" set

If you are a beauty aficionado like me you may already be very familiar with Sephora! It is heaven for any beauty junkie :) For those of you who are yet to experience the "awesomeness" called Sephora, let me explain! It's a beauty store that offers prestige cosmetics, skincare and fragrance brands that can literally cater to all your beauty needs. It is currently operating approximately 1300 stores around 27 countries worldwide, I believe they have opened two stores in New Delhi, India earlier this year :) Anyway, if you are even a little bit interested in beauty and makeup and want to check out Sephora, I highly recommend you open a Beauty Insider Reward account with them. It is free and you can open it online here. I believe you can also register in the store itself. As mentioned in their website, "Beauty Insider is your fast track to a never-ending supply of beauty rewards. It's free to join, and every dollar spent earns a point that gets you closer to your next beauty fix." :) You get upgraded to VIB (Very Important Beauty Insider) and VIB Rouge status with additional benefits once you spend $350 and $1000 respectively in a calendar year. I am enjoying the perks since last year and recently got upgraded to VIB, I guess it's time to be careful about not getting addicted :p 

One of the benefits of being a Beauty Insider is free birthday gifts :) Every year, Sephora teams up with a particular brand to design a Birthday kit consisting of deluxe products. For 2014, Make Up Forever partnered up with Sephora to bring out the "Celebrate For Ever" gift set, which contains the following two adorable products

• Deluxe size Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick in shade "N9"
• Deluxe size Smoky Extravagant Mascara (Black)

I have been completely enjoying them since I got them in January! I love their sturdy black packaging. It's simple but very elegant-looking. And I just can't stop admiring how adorable, cute and tiny these are!

Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick: The lipstick weighs 1.5 g (0.05 0z); which is pretty decent considering the full size is 3.5 g. The shade N9 is an everyday rosy mauve shade, can also show up as a brownish pink nude depending on the pigmentation of your lips. It has a creamy formula with a sheen finish, very smooth in application and a perfect "My Lips but Better" color for my medium olive/tan skin-tone :) But I strongly feel, it's a universally flattering shade :) It pairs with smokey eye-look as perfectly as it goes with "no makeup makeup" look! I pick up this lipstick whenever I have no clue as to what lip color will go with my overall makeup. It does not have the longest staying power though, I get around 4 hrs of solid wear before needing to reapply. Other than that, I am pretty happy with it, and will surely repurchase!

Smoky Extravagant Mascara : I have been wearing this mascara quite regularly since I got it. I tend to favor enhanced natural lashes over crazy spidery look. This mascara delivers exactly that. It has a big curvy wand with nice tapered tip. The consistency is just perfect for me, not too thick or too watery. It lengthens my lashes and provides decent amount of volume, so I get a very lovely look from just two coats. You can even carefully layer it more without looking clumpy. It's very long wearing; I have put on my makeup "really" early in the morning and the mascara has stayed all day; many times. No smudging or flakiness, whatsoever! I am almost running out of it, and will definitely repurchase once I use up all the other mascaras in my stash.

As I said before, you can redeem it during your birthday month. Of course, you need to open your Beauty Insider account before your birthday and add your birth date to the account. You will be automatically prompted to include the kit to your cart in sephora.com during the allotted time frame. This way however, you will need to purchase additional merchandise product to claim the kit. You can also pick it up from Sephora stores without needing to purchase any other product. I researched a bit and found that if a member happens to forget to collect it during the time frame, or if he/she choses, Sephora can offer 100 points in their Beauty Insider account in place of the set.

If you haven't already missed it this year, go collect the freebies :), I am very impressed with this set and cannot wait to see what they offer next year, only 6 more months to find out :)

Love

~Arrru