We had a Sephora sale only a mere few months ago so it felt strange to have another one so soon! But when Sephora does a sale, you don’t complain – you just shop! And although I was somewhat disappointed by the selection this year, I managed to pick up a few things to make this post worthy of being a Sephora VIB holiday sale haul.
I always wait until the holiday sale to really splurge as there tends to be new releases, value sets, and range extensions. With 20% off, it’s also the best time of the year to stock up on your favourite products!
This time around, I was surprised at how generous I was to Sephora despite the lacklustre selection of value / holiday sets that I always splurge on. I feel that with so many new brands that Sephora has added like MAC Cosmetics, Charlotte Tilburry, Morphe, I’m sure I’ve picked up a lot more than I intended this year! I haven’t been as religious in following new launches and checking out what’s new in the beauty loop for a while, so I’ll be looking forward to your recommendations as well for any upcoming Sephora sales.
I do apologize that this post took a while to get up – the Canada Post strike meant my order took a full 2 weeks to get here. Plus with my shipment split into three boxes, the latest one only arrived a few days ago!
Restocking the Daily-Use Products at the Sephora VIB Sale 2018
Let’s get this section out of the way first. You’ll see a ton of very familiar names, and products as I have found myself unable to replace them.
My staple foundation remains to be the Laura MercierSilk Creme Oil-Free Photo Ready Foundation in Bamboo Beige ($60, available here). Although I’ve strayed from it a bit throughout the year to give a few new launches a try, I find myself reaching for this for those special occasions. It has yet to disappoint me and it’s the only foundation I have repurchased to religiously for the last 2 years.
Read More: Laura Mercier Silk Creme Oil-Free Photo Ready Foundation in Bamboo Beige
My mom and I are huge fans of the CliniqueDramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ ($35, available here), I simply couldn’t skip getting the limited edition jumbo version and getting a nice discount on it! I’ve been using drugstore moisturizers more frequently these days but I really miss using this and I figured since I was picking up one for my mom, I deserve one as well.
Trying Out New Products at the Sephora VIB Sale 2018
I love trying out new products through this sale and ended up picking up a few which I’m excited to review and share. I picked up two new foundations from NARS: The first is the NARSNatural Radiant Longwear Foundation ($60, available here). I’m a huge fan of foundation and love trying them out and I feel like I haven’t tried much from NARS. I tried the iconic Sheer Glow a long time ago but for some reason it didn’t stood out to me. The second one I got is the NARSVelvet Matte Foundation Stick ($55, available here). I’m very curious as to how these two foundations will work for me – I’ve heard only amazing things about them so I’m pretty keen to give them a go!
I also picked up 3 of Giorgio ArmaniLip Magnets Liquid Lipstick ($46, available here). I haven’t tried any Giorgio Armani products yet so I’m pretty interested in these. I’ll let you know they go. I picked up three shades: #304 Scarlet, #405 Vermillon and #606 Burgundy – not sure how I managed to jump on the whole red lip bandwagon but here’s to trying out more lip colours!
On the whole lip bandwagon, as well, I picked up the Bite BeautyLip Mask in Candy Cane ($30, available here) and Matte Creme Lip Crayon in Molasses ($28, available here)
Stocking up the Value Sets
I must say this year’s Sephora Favorites value sets are disappointing! It is good news for my wallet, but despite the variety they put out this year, the value for the price you pay is simply not there! As someone who religiously stocks up on them during the holidays, I was only glad to have picked up the Sephora FavoritesMystery Cheek Set ($19, sephora.ca).
Bite Beauty is a brand I haven’t had much trial with In addition to the individual pieces I picked up earlier, I also got my hand on a mini trio that I felt could be a great introduction to more of the brand’s products. I decided to go for the iconic Bite BeautyAgave Treat Trio ($20, sephora.ca).
I picked up the NudestixSmokey Gold Eyes Mini Set ($28, sephora.ca). I’ve been a huge fan of the brand’s lip products and I haven’t had much of a chance to try out their eye pencils. To be honest, I picked this up because of the colour “Copper Foil” which I think could be a fantastic dupe for this eye makeup look I’ve been obsessed with. Plus, Nudestix’s limited edition sets like these are a fantastic value for money – coming in at $28 for all 3 pencils, you are essentially getting 2 for free.
Each full-size pencil has around 0.1oz (3g) worth of product. These mini pencils have 0.09 (2.5g) of product which is around 90% of the volume of the full-sized version. It’s practically full-sized if you think about it – I mean how frequently do you finish a product like this?
I finally splurged on getting the full-sized version of the Urban DecayAll Nighter Setting Spray ($35, available here). As much as I love the Make Up For EverMist & Fix Setting Spray, the limited edition, full-sized duo that Urban Decay released for the holiday for $49 was too good to pass up! I ended up picking two sets of these as I tend to go through setting sprays fairly quickly.
This year is a chance for me to try out grab tons of new sets! I couldn’t resist getting two of the StilaBig Shots Redux Eye Set ($33, available here) which is a total steal at $33 and features 2 full-sized products. The eyeliner is my go-to, staple product, and the Big Shots mascara has tons of rave reviews. I really see myself repurchasing this again!
Another eyeliner/mascara combo I picked up is from Clinique. This is another one of those brands that I think flies under most people’s radar but they consistently come out with really good value sets worth purchasing. The Clinique Turn It Up, Take It Off ($27, sephora.ca) is a limited edition set that comes with a High Impact full-sized mascara, PrettyEasy Liquid eyeliner and mini-sizes of the Take the Day of Makeup Remover and Cleansing Balm.
I’ve tried both the makeup remover and balm and wasn’t too impressed with it so them coming as a mini is no big deal for me. This set is such a good deal because I’m a huge fan of the mascara AND very keen to try out the pencil liner. The eyeliner has really good reviews online and I’m hoping this will be as good as the Stila one – I’m keen to have more options when it comes to eyeliners!
What did you pick up from the Sephora holiday sale this year?