Who is playing with their Christmas goodies today? I love how Zen Christmas day is which is a feeling I have totally been enjoying today. It was snowing earlier and everything is so nice and quiet that it has been a nice contrast to the last two weeks. When it comes to stocking stuffers and small things that delight, the Sephora Collection has literally hundreds of products at a price point for any budget and I always get caught at the Beauty on the Fly section adding multiple little trinkets to my basket! Sephora has done a great job of creating a "sub-Sephora" making waiting in line so dangerous!
The Dark Rainbow collection is Sephora's limited edition holiday release this year and is totally not what I was expecting from a holiday collection but I am liking the oil-slick coolness of the pieces. I just hate the look of my fingerprints on the high polish surfaces of the Dual Boar Brush* ($18.00 CDN) or the PRO Flawless Airbrush #56* ($40.00 CDN) which is supposed to be the bestselling PRO brush! I am a die hard makeup sponge user when it comes to any foundation so I am not sure if I would personally use something like this, but it sure does look and feel nice.
Though I say I have enough brushes, I can never get enough travel sized brushes and the Dark Rainbow Ready in Five Brush Set* ($35.00 CDN) has all of the necessary brushes for the face, crease, shadow and angled liner. I personally don't like how cumbersome and scratchy the glitter is on the travel case and would probably use the brushes on their own and the case as a small clutch.
I mentioned this on my IG stories, but I also was not a fan of the matching Compact Mirror* ($15.00 CDN) because though it IS slim, man is it ever heavy! Like seriously! And of course, if you are a big fan of depotting your shadows, there is the Dark Rainbow Z Palette* ($24.00 CDN) which comes with everything you will need to depot and label your products to create a truly custom personalized makeup palette. I was really into these a few years ago, and I'm not really sure why I stopped. I think it's because they don't make for great IG photos TBH...
The exciting part is always the makeup and this year's winter collection feels feminine and cozy with the little fox making an appearance in the form of a pinata, in a sleeping mask and couple of adorable palettes.
I feel like I have sold my soul to the sheet mask devil this year and now have moved into the realm of sheet masks for OTHER parts of my body like my hands and feet for ultimate pamper sessions! The Sephora Collection Avocado Hand Mask ($8.00 CDN) and Lavender Foot Mask ($6.00 CDN) are part of Sephora's regular collection with only the packaging of the hand mask being limited edition. I have not tried these yet as I keep forgetting to use them, but I will be using them this week and will report back!
OMG, this Cream Lip Stain Set* ($15.00 CDN) is honestly the best way to try out the Sephora formula! 1.3mL may not sound like much, but you will not have to put the wand back in for a second round as the formula goes on so smoothly and opaquely for beautifully full coverage. The shades included range from neutral to glam to vampy so all types of looks are covered!
I am so sorry I didn't have time to get swatches for you in time for this post, but for just $23 CDN, the Wonderful Stars Palette is a wonderful value containing 4 matte and 5 shimmery shadows, 2 blushes and 1 highlighter that are smooth and pigmented. As you can see, this is a fairly neutral palette, but let's face it - we are all suckers for a good neutral palette!
The Winter Queen Palette* ($13.00 CDN) contains two very pigmented blushes, a highlighter and bronzer which are all really quite stunning. I was quite impressed with the quality let alone for the price of $13! This is now sold out online, but might still be available in stores. I know this from hunting down Marsala Collection merchandise 2 year ago!
The Winter Flush Blush Palette* ($20.00 CDN) is very droolworthy in terms of sight value, but pigementation wasn't quite as good as the above palettes. I also find it odd to have the shimmer and matte within the same pan because I feel like once you mix them, your matte shade will always be shimmery to a degree.
Remember I said I was more of a beauty sponge lover when it came to foundation? Well Sephora sponges are pretty comparable to Beauty Blender ones and I honestly have not repurchased a BB for two years now that I have tried ones from the Sephora Collection and Real Techniques. Sephora has a couple of kits year round with their sponges and minis of their Solid Brush Cleaner which I have reviewed and adore so definitely pick one of these up if you haven't tried it out yet!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to closing out 2017 with all of you!
No comments