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I remember watching My Best Friend’s Wedding as a 12 year old girl and marveling at the fact that Julia Roberts character, Julianne Potter, had a job where she traveled around eating food and reviewing it for a living. It seriously blew this small-town girl’s mind that such careers existed. This was, of course, well before I discovered the wonderful world of makeup and skincare. If I could go back in time, I would tell that little girl to forget about wanting to review food but to instead set her sights on the world of beauty. As luck would have it, all culinary skills completely escaped me in my path to adulthood and I grew up to be a full-blown makeup aficionado. Today, thanks to this blog and great companies like Sephora I am literally living a dream and reviewing makeup and skincare for a living. I’m thrilled to tell you that this post is the first post in a new series where I will be partnering with Sephora monthly to review the latest and greatest in all things makeup, haircare and skincare.
Following beauty trends and trying out new products is a passion of mine indeed. I am not an expert and have no formal training other than sitting in master classes at Sephoria. In fact, I didn’t even wear makeup consistently until after high-school when I danced collegiately. I absolutely love the artistry of applying makeup and it is truly a creative outlet of mine. I also enjoy the science of product development and learning more about why certain products work, why certain ingredients are good or bad for your skin and how they all tie together. When it comes to a retailer, Sephora has been and will continue to be my go-to for any and all of my beauty needs (and wants). In fact, Sephora is responsible for so much of my beauty knowledge as I have relied on their product selection, helpful “how to use” notes, website reviews and employees’ suggestions throughout the years. Today I’m pumped to showcase 9 products that you need to know about.
All of the items in today’s September Sephora Haul were hand-picked by yours truly from Sephora.com. I have tested them out and tried them over and over before giving you my final review. It’s also important to note that all of these reviews are 100% mine and 100% honest about my personal experiences with the products. I hope that you learn something new, find something you love and are inspired to give a new color, shade, tip, trick or technique a try!
September Sephora Haul
Sephora Favorites Lashstash // Ouai Super Dry Shampoo // Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Longwear Foundation // Tarte Winter Wonderglam Luxe Eye Palette // Sephora Favorites Ready To Roll Brush Set // Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask // NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Mini // Tatcha Silk Peony Melting Eye Cream // Huda Life Liner Double-Ended Eyeliner
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask // A leave-on, overnight lip mask packed with Vitamin C and antioxidants for smoother, more supple lips! I bought this after seeing several people mention it on Instagram and couldn’t imagine a flight or a night of sleep without it. It isn’t habit forming or anything like that but I’m just one of those people that loves to go to bed with a balm or gloss on my lips. I wear it on flights and will even apply during the day when my lips are dry from wind, dehydration or climate change. It has a balm texture that adheres to lips for quick absorption and I think it’s important to note that it is not sticky at all. I would also highly recommend the Laneige Lip Glowy Balm or grabbing this $18 set with both products.
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Longwear Foundation // I feel like I need a disclaimer before I get into this one. For starters, I worship the golden, glistening ground that Charlotte Tilbury walks on and own almost every one of her products. In fact, I flew to L.A. last year just to attend her masterclass at Sephoria. I think that she is a magician and quite possibly the greatest makeup artist on earth. I also would like to note that everyone’s skin is different and that is why it’s so important to test out different products and different shades. Ok so now let’s get down to it. When I first applied this long-lasting, weightless, matte foundation, I did not love it. Knowing the Charlotte Tilbury brand I knew I had to get to the bottom of things. I determined that I had initially applied WAY TOO MUCH product. The shade pulled a little yellow which wasn’t great when using too much but was actually phenomenal at combating redness when applied correctly.
Another thing that I think happened at first was that I applied the foundation over an extremely hydrating moisturizer. The foundation reacted with that moisturizer and oxidized on my skin. It’s important to note that I am 33 and my skin is somewhere between “glistening youth” and “dry and aging” and at press time is in an extremely dry state. I just returned from the Bahamas where I got too much sun and have also been battling dryness from traveling and Retin-A. The combination of dry skin, heavy moisturizer and too much of a matte foundation was just not ideal. Through trial and error I discovered that first and foremost you need only a very small amount of this product! I have also discovered that it doesn’t really need a primer and performs best right on the surface of your skin which would make sense being that it’s a hybrid skincare-foundation. It contains REPLEXIUM which helps to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, MossCellTec No. 1 to hydrate skin and AirCool that provides an immediate fresh feel on skin.
I typically don’t wear matte foundations but if you love matte products or have oily skin then this might just be the foundation you’ve been waiting on. I am still amazed at how little you need to cover your entire face and how smooth and tight it makes your skin. Just make sure you aren’t using too much!
Tatcha Silk Peony Melting Eye Cream // If Tatcha is wrong I don’t want to be right. I’m all about J-Beauty (Japanese Beauty for those of you who might be confused) and want all of the peony extract and superfoods you can give me. I haven’t tried a Tatcha product that I don’t love and this one is no different. It’s an eye cream that fights aging and melts into your skin to release double hydration. Silk extract provides hydration without weight and gives you a pretty, pearlescent glow while Japanese white peony extract strengthens the skin barrier helping your skin to naturally retain moisture. This eye cream also contains Hadasei-3 Complex, Tatcha’s proprietary trio of anti-aging superfoods which detoxify and work to reduce the premature signs of aging. Another great thing to note is that this product is Clean at Sephora meaning it is formulated without a list of over 50 ingredients, including sulfates (SLS and SLES), parabens, phthalates, and more.
Ouai Super Dry Shampoo // Super is an understatement for this dry shampoo! I love that the instructions say that the spray is “as strong as your chocolate cravings” because it blasts your strands like no other and literally lifts the hair off of your scalp to give you body as it cleans. It’s very absorbent and instantly soaks up all excess oil and I think the best part is how freaking good it smells. Zach asked me no less than 5 times what my new perfume was and he just cannot comprehend that it’s actually my dry shampoo. I will be using this whole bottle.
Sephora Collection Ready To Roll Brush Set // This one is for all of you that have asked me for really good, affordable brushes. I actually purchased this set a couple years ago and re-purchased it for this post and to use when I travel. This $70 brush set includes 10 of the most popular brushes and everything you need to create a complete makeup look. You get brushes for powder and complexion, highlighting and contouring and all the brushes you need for eye looks. The brushes are well made and encased in a chic faux leather brush roll that is perfect for travel. If you have messaged me about affordable brushes that are high-quality then chances are you already know about these! It will continue to be my #1 brush kit recommendation.
Sephora Favorites Lashstash // Call Santa and tell him you have it taken care of because you can buy this entire collection of Sephora’s best-selling mascaras for only $48!! If you have followed me for awhile then you know I love a good drugstore mascara right alongside a “fancy” mascara and that is because nice mascaras can be so pricey. With this kit you get 2 full-sized mascaras, eight deluxe-sized mascaras and a set of false lashes from Huda beauty. The best part is that the 2 full-sized mascaras are two of my favorites Benefit Cosmetics Roller Lash Curling & Lifting Mascara and IT Cosmetics Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara in Super Black. On second thought, the BEST part is that the price of those two mascaras alone is more expensive than this entire kit!! Let me say it louder for the people in the back. For less than the price of two full-sized mascaras you can get this entire kit worth $135.
Tarte Winter Wonderglam Luxe Eye Palette // This product is another value buy perfect for the upcoming holidays. This kit includes 24 multi-finish eyeshadows with a mini mascara, mini liner and a shadow brush. The entire value of the kit is $212 and you can grab it for only $54. Tarte is one of my favorite brands for eyeshadows because their shadows have incredible pigments, long wear and smooth finishes. This palette gives you every color you need for day to night, smoky eyes, and even those fancy holiday parties where you want a little glitter and drama.
Huda Life Liner Double-Ended Eyeliner // It’s rare to find an eyeliner that is long-lasting, waterproof, smudge-proof and fade-proof that applies smoothly and flawlessly. Huda has nailed it with this dual-ended liquid and pencil eyeliner. I’ve worn it non-stop since I’ve received it and haven’t had any issues with smudging, fading or transfer.
NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer Mini // One of the reasons I love, and I mean LOVE, Sephora is because of their mini sizes! So many of my favorite items in my beauty bag started with a harmless mini size from the Sephora checkout. If you haven’t tried out this NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer then you should snag this mini version. It is one of my favorite concealers and is a great mid-weight option for when you want coverage but want it to look natural and not be too thick. I love that it is buildable meaning that you can use it for light contouring or heavy coverage and color-correcting if needed. I wear shade “Creme-Brulee.”
Thanks for reading!! Let me know if you find something you love!
