Sephora VIB Haul

It's the most wonderful time of the year...when you can save some money at Sephora. I did not spend ANY money at Sephora this year because I was waiting for the VIB sale where everything is 20% off. There were some changes to the sale this year because Beauty Insiders were excluded from the sale for the first time. VIB Rouge members were disgruntled because they could only shop on certain dates (Nov. 6-9) for the sale rather than receiving the discount both weekends. They did get to shop earlier and get first dibs on everything but, when you spend $1000 or more at a store, one would expect to receive exclusive deals.

I can't tell you how many different products I loaded up and removed from my cart before the sale. There were a bunch of things I wanted to buy since I hadn't shopped at Sephora for close to a year. I guess that's the beauty of online shopping; you can edit your cart as much as you want before you make the actual purchase. I chose to do all my shopping online and made two orders. I hate shopping at Sephora in NYC because it gets extremely packed and hot in the stores along and it can take forever to check out.

Anyway, getting off on a tangent, here's the damage to my wallet.

Karuna Clarifying Face Mask ($8) x 2

You get a better deal if you buy the pack with four masks for $28 but I wanted to see what it was like before committing to all of them. I've never spent more than $3 for a sheet mask so I have high expectations for this. The sheet is made out of 100 percent natural wood pulp fiber and is great for acne prone skin. The mask contains shiso to help prevent breakouts, ginger which is a natural antiseptic to help kill bacteria, honey to provide oil free hydration and soothe skin, and peptides to regenerate the skin.

Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Eyeshadow Palette ($45)

I have been lusting after this palette since it was released months ago. I had a hard time deciding between this palette and the Too Faced Natural Matte Eye Palette ($36) but I couldn't justify buying both palettes. The Tarte Tartelette is an all matte palette with 12 exclusive eye shadows and comes with an instructional guide for creating a daytime to nighttime look.
The 0.053 oz of shadows are: Free Spirit (cream), Force Of Nature (nude), Dreamer (warm brown), Multi-Tasker (chocolate), Caregiver (pale pink), Natural Beauty (mauve), Best Friend (mulberry), Bombshell (dark plum), Super Mom (ivory), Wanderer (light brown), Power Player (taupe), Fashionista (black).

Bite Beauty Best Bite Rewind ($25)

I thought for sure this set would be sold out by the time I got to shop the sale so I immediately put this into my cart. It's now sold out online and it won't be back in stock. Each year Bite Beauty comes out with a limited holiday edition and this set was the 2015 one. Everyone always talks about Bite lip products so I wanted to see what the brand was all about. They are a Canadian company and their lipsticks contain natural, food grade ingredients that are healthy enough to eat. Apparently each lipstick is infused with the antioxidant, resveratrol, which has the equivalent of five glasses of wine. That's a lot of wine.
There are four Matte Creme Lip Crayons containing 0.31 oz of product. They are packaged in a cute, red tin box with a mirror inside. The shades are: Cafe (peachy brown nude), Coulis (blue based raspberry red), Aubergine (eggplant, non-exclusive shade), Torte (brown toned rose).

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Fig ($24)

These lipsticks are described as a lush, long lasting, moisture-rich lip color. There are 27 shades in the line and Fig is a nude rose. There is a light scent to the lipstick but I can't figure out how to describe the scent. I wanted to go with a shade I could wear on a daily basis.

Chosungah 22 Bounce Up Pact Powder Foundation ($36)

Sephora is really starting to carry a number of Korean brands online but the majority of it is overpriced if you compare the prices to Korean online retailers. I did look up the price of this foundation on various sites and, surprisingly, it was considerably cheaper at Sephora. Chosungah is a professional Korean makeup artist and considered a global leader in the K-beauty and fashion industry since 1990.
The Bounce Up Foundation is a long lasting, unique powder foundation with a bouncy formula that leaves a velvety finish. In Korea this foundation comes in the standard two shades, #1 Light Beige and #2 Sand Beige. The brand must have revamped the shade range in the U.S. to make the product more accessible for all skin tones. There are four shades to choose from: Porcelain (light skin with peachy undertone), Ivory (light-medium skin with yellow undertone), Natural (medium skin with yellow undertone), Sand (medium-deep skin with golden undertone). I'm usually the lightest shade with Korean face products but I really wasn't sure if I'd be Porcelain or Ivory. I chose to go with Ivory because some of the reviews said the shades were lighter than the color description. It looks like it might work but I'll have to use it to know for sure.

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Satin Radiance Lipstick in 58 Mauve Nihiliste ($36)

Okay so this was a total splurge item for me because there are so many affordable lipsticks out there these days. I rationalize the purchase by telling myself it's my birthday month. (A little nervous about Cyber Monday this year because it falls smack dab on my birthday.) At the time of this post, 13 out of the 28 shades are sold out at Sephora.
I'm not sure why I chose the Rouge Pur Couture Satin Lipstick over the other lip products. I think it had the best overall reviews compared to the other products. The lipstick provides intense hydration, rich color, and antioxidant care with one stroke. It's a revamped version of Rouge Pur Couture lip colors. I've been in a mauve-y kick lately which is the reason I chose the shade Mauve Nihiliste. The scent of this reminds me of the Rimmel Kate Moss Lipsticks but a little less fruity and on the chemical side. From what I can tell so far, it really does live up to its claims in terms of hydration and pigmentation. I'm guessing this might not be a long wearing product because it's so creamy.

Samples

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm
Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream
Living Proof Satin Hair Serum
Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb
Tata Harper (TM) Resurfacing Mask
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair

I had plenty of points saved up to redeem one of the 500 point perks. Neither the Urban Decay kit or the Buxom Kit appealed to me. I see that Sephora has now put up a Josie Maran kit which I would have been interested in cashing out my points for.

100 point perk-Belif The True Cream Aqua Bomb

I'm sure everyone has already seen the birthday gift by now but I did get the free minis of the Nars Velvet Matte and Satin Lip Pencils in Cruella and Rikugien.

Sephora will be previewing their Black Friday deals tomorrow (11/20) but ONLY on their app. You can download the free app from the Google Play or Apple App Store. All Beauty Insiders will be able to use the code SHIPNOW to receive free shipping on orders $25+ from 11/30-12/3. The code SUSPENSE will also get you a mystery bag of 5 samples free with your $25+ purchase. You cannot use both codes so you must choose between the two.
I think in early to mid December Sephora typically mails a $15-$20 off coupon to VIB members. Again, I would hope Rouge members get a better perk than VIB's but I'm not sure. Then in late December, after Christmas, I think everything in the sale section on the website is 20% off. Save your money because there are so many deals and discounts coming up from Thanksgiving until the end of the year.

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Thanks for stopping by!
Jennifer