Beauty + Health

Sephora VIB, Black Friday + Cyber Monday Haul & Reviews

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As you may have guessed, my wallet may have had some significant damage done to it over these last few weeks with all of the crazy sales in the beauty world. It first started with the Sephora VIB sale, which was then quickly followed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday and other holiday promotions. The list goes on and since I love high-end makeup (but try hard to never pay full price for it) I decided to take full advantage of all the deals and haul a ton of new makeup to play with and try out. I’ve had most of these items for almost a month now and have used them almost every day, so I wanted to review them for anyone who may end up with some extra Christmas cash and wants to get some new pretty things!

Tarte Bling It On Palette - I’ve mentioned before that my whole life I’ve been afraid of blush because my cheeks have a tendency to turn beet red when I got flustered or hot. I’ve slowly been overcoming that fear and this was the first high-end blush I purchased and I haven’t used any blush since. The Tarte blush really lives up to its name; it’s so pigmented and each color is beautiful on its own, but they also mix really well to create new shades. The only shade I don’t use is the last one because it has chunks of glitter in it and that’s just not me, but the other four are so good that I can overlook that. 4.5 stars out of 5.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Self Made Palette - It took me a while to figure out how to use all of the shades in my first ABH palette (the Shadow Couture) but once I got brave enough to use the brighter shades, it quickly became one of my all time favorite palettes because the shadows are so pigmented and creamy, they blend out beautifully and the palette is a bit more affordable than other high-end ones. So, when the Self Made Palette was released, I knew I needed to try it out. I don’t know if I love it as much as my Shadow Couture palette. On one hand, it comes with two more shades but there are only two straight matte shades. Most of them are shimmer or satin finishes. The colors in the Self Made Palette work well in quads and are a bit more every day, but are a little cooler in tone all together which isn’t what I normally reach for. Still, the quality of the shadow is amazing and it has great pigment. 4 stars out of 5.

Carli Bybel Palette - I ordered this off of BH Cosmetics more recently, but several of my favorite beauty YouTubers were singing its praises and for 12 bucks, I had to try it. I’ve only used this a few times so far, and my overall first impressions are that this it is a great palette for those who like makeup, who want nice eyeshadows but don’t want to invest in high-end makeup quite yet. The shadows are fairly pigmented, there’s a great mixture of mattes and shimmers and they all seem to blend out well. The highlights are pretty but don’t seem to stay on as long as others that I’ve used (I’m looking at you, Ofra!) The palette (along with other BH Cosmetic products, I’ve noticed) does have a rather foul smell when you first open it up. I don’t know if it’s the kind of packaging they use or what, but the smell seemed to fade after a few days. 3 out of 5 Stars

Ofra Cosmetics You Dew You Highlight - This highlight was one of two made in collaboration with the DupeThat Girls (Beauty Instagram Account) and had been recently making it’s rounds in the youtube community as well. I’ve only tried one product from Ofra before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this highlight is THE BEES KNEES! It goes on the skin so beautifully and gives such a healthy glow to the face. It doesn’t have any fallout, stays on the face all day long, and just makes my skin look so glowy and healthy. I’ve reached for this almost every day and can’t wait to get my hands on their other shade! 5 out of 5 stars

Ofra Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick in Miami Fever - Kathleen Lights is on of my favorite Youtubers out there and I’d been meaning to get my hands on her collab with Ofra for a while. They had a 50% off sale on Cyber Monday, so I snagged Miami Fever with my highlight. I’m not going to lie, I’m not totally in love with the color on my skin tone, but the formula is pretty nice! It’s not incredibly drying (like the Colour Pop ones) and it lasts really long! I definitely want to pick up a few more in other colors. 4 out of 5 stars.

Glam Glow Hydrating Face Mask- I picked up the smaller pot because I wasn’t ready to drop 69 dollars on a mask without trying it first. I’m not going to lie, I had really high expectations for this mask because so many beauty vloggers and friends have been singing its praises, so maybe that’s why I was pretty disappointed in this. It does smell nice, but I don’t notice any huge differences in my skin when I use it. Since my earth hasn’t been changed, I definitely won’t be buying any other full sized pots of Glam Glow, but I’ll keep trying samples. 2 stars out of 5

Boscia Charcoal Pore-Minimizing Trio (Face Mask, Warming Gel & Cooling Gel) - This was one of my black Friday buys from Sephora. I’ve been meaning to try a charcoal face product for a while, and when I saw that Boscia was doing this little trio for 10 bucks, I picked it up right away. I first tried the mask and initially HATED it. It was so thick, hurt a ton to peel off and left my skin really red. The next morning, I woke up and went to wash my face and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. My skin was SO smooth, my pores were SO tiny and my whole face was glowing. I have been using nothing but the warming gel cleanser (which literally is warm to the touch) to wash my face in the morning and evening and the cooling gel moisturizer (which feels tingly and chilly, like bengay) and have used the mask twice more and my skin has literally never looked so good. My pores have basically vanished, I don’t have any blackheads and it’s so glowy! I don’t have SUPER sensitive skin; it does take most products well but doesn’t react well to powerful masks. I did experience a little irritation right after I pulled my first mask off but haven’t experienced it since. The trio was a Black Friday exclusive, but I highly recommend looking into these products on their own. 5 Stars out of 5.

It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye in Light - Literally the most powerful concealer I’ve ever used. This stuff is really, really thick, and I was initially worried that it was going to be super cakey on my face. I was very surprised to find that it blends out beautifully with a damp beauty blender. A little goes a LONG way, and this is the most effective concealer I’ve ever used for my eye circles and because I use it in a lighter shade, it doubles great as a highlight for my face. It does need to be set immediately with a powder to prevent creasing, but I really can’t complain with how great the coverage is. 4.5 stars out of 5.

It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Pressed Powder - I originally wanted to get the Laura Mercier translucent powder, but when I saw that It Cosmetics made a similar powder in pressed form, I decided to pick it up instead, because #imamess. I’m not entirely sure if this minimizes my pores completely, but it does give a beautiful smoothing effect to the skin and is great to bake/carve out contour with. It does give me more of a matte finish and since I’m dry right now, I’d rather look dewier. However, I do enjoy setting my foundation with this and my bronzer, blush, and highlight goes on significantly more smoothly onto my face when I use it. 3.5 stars out of 5.

House of Lashes in Iconic, Smokey Muse and Featherette - I already own some lashes from House of Lashes and when their black Friday sale hit, I knew I needed to stock up on some more styles. I love all three of these styles, although boudoir is my absolute favorite! These have thicker bands, so someone who isn’t used to wearing falsies might find these uncomfortable or heavy, but they don’t bother me! 4 out of 5 stars

House of Lashes lash adhesive - I decided to pick up their lash adhesive in my quest to find a holy grail eyelash glue. Let’s just say that I think I found it! I LOVE this eyelash glue; it smells really good, it turns from white to a light green as it becomes tacky so there’s no guessing when it’s ready to be put on and it gets tacky right away! The hold is strong enough to last all day, but they come off easily when I’m ready to remove them. I seriously cannot say enough good things about this lash glue! 5 out of 5 stars!

Phew! I think that’s all of it! I’m really glad I took advantage of the sales and have had so much fun finding some new products to play with. I love trying new things, changing up my look and getting creative with my makeup, it’s my way of saying “hey thanks body, for surviving cancer that one time.”

Have you tried any of these products? What one would you want to buy? Any products you’ve been eyeing lately? Let me know!