Thursday 19 November 2015

Sephora and Beauty.com Sale Hauls

Recently, both Sephora (USA) and Beauty.com ran their 20% off sale events so I broke my no-buy to pick up some holiday sets. If you follow the MakeupAlley boards, you would have seen that the Sephora sale was a mess of poor communication and mismanagement, resulting in much unhappiness and board dramas. Rouge members got early access to the sale from 6-9 November, while VIB members could shop the sale from 13-16 November. Some Rouge members were unhappy that they could not shop the second sale for VIB members, so Sephora ended up making an exception on a case-by-case basis for those that complained.

I'm a Rouge member but sat out the first sale. On the last day of the VIB sale, I happened to drop in at my local Sephora and got drawn in by their wealth of Sephora Favourites sets. The Skin Wonderland (U.P.$68 with a value of $228) looked especially tempting with their array of 16 deluxe samples, mostly from high end brands. The SA readily agreed to give me the 20% off, so I ended up adding a few other items to my basket.

Some of these products are my tried-and-tested favourites like the Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist, SKII sheet mask, Kate Somerville ExfoliKate, Caudalie Divine Oil and Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. Also included are some much newer products that I've been wanting to try sch as Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment, REN Keep Young and BeautifulInstant Firming Beauty Shot and Nude Skincare ProGenius Omega Treatment Rescue.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit palette (U.P. $80) gets a lot of flack for containing less product (0.294oz) than one full-size Ambient Lighting Powder (0.35oz, $35). However, for someone who hasen't hit pan on any powder product in a decade, having a variety of shades to play with makes more sense. $80 is certainly a tad overpriced, but at 20% off, it becomes more palatable.

The Josie Maran Argan Enlightenment Illuminizing Trio (U.P. S$26 with a value of $44) contains deluxe mini sizes of the three illuminizers that she had earlier launched for Fall 2015. Again, it's a great way to sample the different formulas, and the generous sizes means that these can last even the most heavy-handed strobing devotee a long time.


From Beauty.com, I purchased several of Anna Sui's Holiday 2015 offerings as I loved this year's sets, especially the Makeup Box which is a relative steal at $22.

It's sturdy and well-made, with an embossed pattern on the lid. Anna Sui sold a black version some years ago, which had an additional inner tray that is lacking in this white box. That black case has held up very well over the years without any rusting or dents, so this white box leaped to the top of my holiday list.

The Moisturizing Care Kit (U.P. $20) is a nifty little set containing a tri-layered Nail Care Oil, Rose Hand Cream and lip balm.

Below is the Holiday Snow Collection 02 Thawed Heart (U.P. $59), which turned out to be much less orange toned than it looked online. The lipstick and blush usually retail for $30 and $36 individually. The box is surprisingly hefty and solidly constructed. This has sold out on Beauty.com.

The Paul & Joe holiday makeup coffrets were an easy pass for me, so I settled on one of their Luxurious Bath & Body Collection 01 Columbine (U.P. $50), which has a sweet floral aroma composed of notes of citrus, black currant, rose, jasmine and amber. This has also sold out.

Finally, these are the free birthday gifts from Ulta (the Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie lipgloss) and Sephora (NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella and Rikugien, plus a Larger Than Life eyeliner pencil).

Ulta also gave me a $10 voucher which I used together with my points to redeem this Tarte Total Lip Service set.

My apologies to my regular readers for the long absence of review/haul posts aside from the updates on upcoming collections. Most of my days are taken up with my son, plus I have been blessed with the surprise of being pregnant with twins. Although I'm only 16 weeks along, I look more like I'm 6 months pregnant. My makeup purchases have drastically reduced as I hardly have the energy to put up makeup most days, so this is the first year in many that I've skipped getting the Suqqu and Addiction coffrets (which were much less impressive compared to previous years). There's a long, long road ahead, but I'll still try to post here whenever I find something worth sharing.

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Suqqu Spring 2016

Here are more details on the Suqqu Spring 2016 collection:

22 January

1. Blend Color Eyeshadow EX28 金紗砂 Kinshasuna,(champagne yellow and silver grey, LE) and #22 輝春蕾 Kiharutsubomi (pearl pink and champagne orange) (6800yen)


2. Eye Color Palette: 2 LE trios EX05 Sumichazumi (beige brown and deep grey) and EX06 Hanamizuki (mauve pink and khaki brown)(4800yen)


3. Face Color Palette EX04 (7000yen, 6.1g, LE): The face powder is composed of five pearl hues, while the blush is a soft coral pink. Includes a face brush and a cheek brush.


4. Dual Lip Color: 3 LE duos EX01 密晴 Mitsuhare, EX02 瑞咲 Mizusaki and EX03 紅雫 Benishizuku (4000yen, 5.5g)


5. Bright Up Lipstick: 2 new shades #8 澄橙 Sumidai (fresh orange) and #9 薊映 Azamibae (cherry pink) (5000yen)


6. Nail Color: 2 LE shades EX13 焦雲 Kogaregumo (greige) and EX14 春茜 Haruakane (clear red) (2500yen)


4 March

1. Frame Fix Liquid Foundation Lightness SPF30 PA++ (8000yen, 25ml, 6 shades)


2. Sheer Glow Liquid SPF25 PA++ (6000yen, 25ml)



Les Merveilleuses by Laduree Spring 2016

Here are the details of the Les Merveilleuses by Laduree Spring 2016 collection set for release on 29 January in Japan:

1. Cheek Brush (6000yen, LE): Made with rose-tinted Saikoho goat hair.


2. Pressed Cheek Color Limited Case IV (1500yen)


3. Pressed Cheek Color: 3 LE shades #106, #107 and #108 (3800yen for refill)


4. Eye Makeup Palette: 3 LE palettes, each containing three eyeshadows, an eyeliner pencil and sharpener. The eyeshadows have a nostalgic powdery fruity vanilla scent. (5300yen)


5. Lip Stain: 3 LE shades #101, #102 and #103 (2500yen)


6. Powder Cheek Color: 3 LE shades #101, #102 and #103 (3600yen)

Addiction Spring 2016

Here are the first couple of releases that Addiction has lined up for 2016:

8 January

1. Lip Crayon: 3 LE shades Desert Rose (rose pink), Uptown (true red) and Angry Red (dark rose) (2300yen)


2. Nail Polish: 5 new shades including 2 LE shades. Red Shoes (rich true red), Last Emperor (elegant wine red), Angry Red (dark red) and Tough Love (blackened red). (1800yen)


5 February

1. Sparkling Veil Powder: In 2 LE shades of Sparkling Pink (with silver pearl) and Sparkling Beige (with gold pearl). (5000yen)


Jill Stuart Beauty & Party Cafe

A Jill Stuart Beauty & Party Cafe will be opening at Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku Omohara Station (3rd floor) from 20 November to 14 January 2016. It will be open daily from 11am to 9pm, serving up a range of princessy desserts.