SEPHORA PLAY BOX 🌱 JULY 2018 🌱

SEPHORA PLAY BOX

JULY 2018

July’s box is all about the good stuffs, starting from a cleaner beauty routine. This month the products tested are also free from parabens, phthalates & sulfates. 

Caudalie Vinoperfect concentrated brightening essence.

Upon reading the description i wasn’t entirely sure what i was getting hence looking at the info sheet this is actually a treatment step that removes impurities and dead skin. Somewhat like what a toner does, apply this on a cotton pad after cleansing and before using any serums or moisturiser. 

I like the lightness of the product and that is clear almost h2o like. This also has a lovely grape scent that smells like grape water. Ive had enough of rose scented skincare for awhile now, so this is a refreshing change.

Fresh Sugar advanced therapy lip treatment.

This travel size is super worthy to receive as the actual cost of the full price is quite expensive. This travel size is 2.2g while the full size is 4.3g. 

This is an age defying treatment with a pink tint that aids in smoothing lines while providing 24 hour moisture and hydration. These lip treatments are highly raved and are the holy grail for cracked up lips.

Tarte Rainforest of the sea Deep dive cleansing gel.

I usually remove the eye makeup with makeup wipes before face wash in order to really remove the eyeshadow and liners. I am a huge fan of tarte’s clay blushes and eyeshadows, but i have never tried their face products like the foundations and skincare. I choose not to purchase the foundations due to the limited shade fiasco eventhough i do have a shade that matches myself. 

This deep cleansing gel is clear and when rubbed it turns liquid, it breaks down even the most stubborn and waterproof makeup. The great thing about this gel is that it doesn’t leave a tight face after cleansing. Skin still remains soft to the touch after washing. 

Josie Maran Whipped argan oil face butter.

This is argan oil in a whipped cream form and it sounds delicious as hell doesn’t it?! Argan oil is very well known in smoothing and moisturising for both hair and face. The whipped formula is light and isn’t a heavy cream, it absorbs well into the skin leaving skin soft. 

There are another 3 versions with different scents added, the sample one is unscented, which is great because there might be subscribers who are sensitive to the scented ones and could totally irritate the skin. 

Tarte amazonian clay 12hour blush in Paaarty. 

If you have ever received the birthday set from sephora before, you know which blush this is from. I have about 3 diff blush pans of tarte’s blushes and a few more from palettes like grav3yardgirl’s swamp palette and the treasure box. And i love them all. The pans are mostly the nude natural shades while the ones in the palettes are pinkier and brighter. 

I used to think that their blush has little pigmentation whenever i do an arm swatch because the powder will stick to my fingers and not transfer well to my arm, so there was very little transfer. But then I started to use them with a blush brush instead and i found that the colour payoff was so so so much better from brush straight to skin and it was also very buildable. It is way easier to build a stronger pigmentation with packing on the brush. Perhaps the little transfer from the arm swatch shows that once is on first contact with your skin it doesn’t rub off at all. Hence from there on i was impressed with the blush pigmentation. 

‘Paaarty’ is a pink tone nude shade that look absolutely natural and amazing. Build it up for a more intense pink for when you really need to party it up.

Rahua Freestyle Texturizer.

At first I wasn’t sure what a texturizer is meant to do, until i followed the instructions and tried this out for myself. It says to apply to roots for volume and apply to the tips for texture. I applied to my roots for volume as i have some flat-hair at the back and so thought i could add some volume to it. As soon as i applied it, it turned my hair really sticky and made it hard to even run my hands through. I was going OMG at the moment and grabbed my hair brush to try soothe it out, by now my hair felt like it was matted together in chunks. I couldn’t do much at this point so i brushed everything straight down. It left my hair feeling heavy and if i could give them a star, it would only be for keeping my hair still and flyaways free. Needless to say, i tossed the remaining product in the sachet. It was a scary experience for me and I’m sticking to their shampoo and conditioner duo. 

Lately i feel like sephora has been focusing into certain brands too much (like mufe samples thats been in almost all beauty subscription bags) i wished we would get more make up product samples. And something more interesting than a sephora black liner. That said i do like the inclusion of some skincare like Caudalie products which is one of my favourite skincare brand. Maybe a balance of both would’ve been better. Ive been thinking of cutting at least one subscription back and altho i hate the teeny tiny samples from sephora play box, i do like the fact that they are known brands stocked in sephora and they have quality (if not quantity). 

ALLURE 🥚 NOVEMBER 2017 🥚

ALLURE

NOVEMBER 2017

November’s box is a bit more generous than the previous boxes received, there are 7 items in the box with a full size eyeshadow brush, lip crayon and face mask.

1. Juice beauty Lip crayon in shade 12 Malibu. 

Full sized item, Malibu is a very wearable everyday pinky nude shade. On the first application, i find that the crayon was abit too soft as the tip broke as im applying it on my lips. Its not soo bad because the formula was just really soft so the tip turned into a balm instead. The lip crayon tho is really creamy and moisturizes the lips well, it is not drying at all and pigmentation wise, colour payoff is very good. (See swatch below.) juice beauty is a cruelty free and vegan brand. 

2. Doucce freematic eyeshadow in shade 37 Bailey.

This magnetic shadow pod can be attached to the smaller doucce palette and you can switch it up with other shades creating your own custom palette. Ive heard of this brand from Allure as you will receive a small palette in your first box. Most of the pigmented shades i got so far are the shimmers, but some are abit more chalky like the matte ones. 37 bailey is a dark shimmery navy steel blue shade. (See swatch below.)

3. Royal & langnickel Moda Mythical Crease brush. 

What’s not to love about a unicorn horn shaped eyeshadow brush? Aptly named the moda mythical collection, this is the crease brush with fluffy ombre bristles and ombre twisted handle. This picks up shadows perfectly without kicking up too much powder and also deposits on the lids just nice. However, as a crease brush i find that the size is a bit too big for my eye shape and i could literally use this to pack the whole lid. Which is what i use it for lol. The whole collection is pretty nice tho.

4. Hey honey - good morning - honey silk facial serum.

This serum has a thin light yellow texture that smells sweet & honey-like. The scent is not strong at all so it does not irritate the skin. It absorbs fairly well without leaving any sticky traces. In fact it made the skin quite smooth and soft after. This serum is recommended to wear underneath makeup before moisturizer.

5. Caudalie Eye lifting balm.

A lightweight eye lifting balm that claims to lift all the eyebags and dark circles in the world. I do not have bad eye bags however this tested on the skin is wuite light and non sticky, absorbs well into the skin quite fast too. Has a very light scent that is non irritating too.

6. Too cool for school - all in one - egg mellow cream.

First thing you will notice is the scent, now, its better than smelling rotten raw eggs, however i find the scent to be too artificial and perfume like that it tends to be abit strong and overwhelming on the face (im not even sensitive to scents). This is a 5 in 1 firming moisturizer infused with egg yolk extract and collagen fiber to help with skin elasticity. 

There’s multiple uses for this, it works as a serum, priming moisturizer, eye cream, neck cream, and sleeping mask in one. It has a thick creamy yellow texture, for a moisturizer i think its best to have a light hand on this when applying on the face as the cream thickness and the strong smell might kick sensitive skin into overdrive. Use small dots and build up as you go.

7. Too cool for school - Egg cream mask (hydrating).

I like that we receive 2 products from the same skin care range and that you can use this mask before you use the moisturiser they gave. 

The mask is slightly different than other masks ive tried, firstly, there is a weird netting cover that you have to peel off before wearing the mask. 

Secondly, the mask is super soft and slippery (generous amount of serum inside) the white sheet reminds me of the inner part of a coconut skin. The serum is infused with coconut water + egg yolk.

Thirdly the mask size fits just nice on my face, there is no excess flaps at the side of face and it tucks nicely underneath the chin. But the mouth hole feels a little bit snug, and the eye hole is a bit too rectangular for my eyes. (Dont mind my lips are super dry 😭)

But in the end i still like the mask! The after removal left some serum to be patted in. It did leave a little bit of creamy residue, so i patted down my face with a thin tissue. The smell is better than the moisturizer tho, softer and not so strong. 

Overall November box is quite generous with the amiunt of products as you also get at least 3 normal full size products like the lip crayon, crease brush and sheet mask. The deluxe sizes are also good for trial purpose as they will be able to last at least a week of daily use in order for you to test the product claims & effectiveness.