Sephora Haul

So yesterday was the last day to use the BI $15 gift card.  Yesterday was my day off so I headed to the Sephora store in Waikiki.  It's pretty new and I've never been there before and I have to say, I think they have the most selection and different brands here.  They have a ton of nail polish including Illamasqua and Dior among others.  They also have nail swatches of all the colors which is really helpful too.  The sales associates were really nice and helpful too, so I may be coming here from now on instead of the Ala Moana location. 
So I ended up buying a new Too Faced Shadow Insurance ($18) since I've been using my current tube for well over a year now.  I also picked up a new bottle of Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel.  I ran out of my sample size and since I'm running our of my Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser, I decided to just buy the full size ($26).  I knew I wanted to get some nail polish from their holiday collection, but after seeing swatches in store, I just settled on one which is Keep Me On My Mistletoe, a really pretty gold color.  I don't have any other gold nail polishes and I thought it was a nice festive color.  
What did everyone else get with your GC?

NOTD: Sephora by OPI Run With It!

 

 This is actually one of the first nail polishes I ever bought from Sephora.  This is more of a re-discovered color because it's been so long since I've worn it last.  When I first bought this I wasn't too fond of the shade.  I only wore it a couple of times and never touched it again until now.  I wanted to wear a nice neutral color that was appropriate for the season so I decided to give this another try.  I'm not sure why I never liked this color before, but I'm completely in love with this nail polish now.  It's a soft grey with gold shimmer and I think it's a really nice neutral shade.

 Application was alright.  The first coat was pretty streaky, but it was nice and opaque with two coats.  I'm not sure if this is available online anymore (I didn't see it on the Sephora website), but I did see it in store the other day which is what inspired me to dig this up from my collection.  Expect more NOTD posts in the near future.  I've got about 3 new nail polishes I'm looking forward to trying out :)

Sephora Friends and Family Sale + Skinstore.com Haul

 So after much deliberation, I only ended up buying 2 things from the Sephora Friends and Family Sale.  Living in Hawaii, I can't buy any perfume or nail polishes online, which is what I really wanted to buy, so it kind of sucks that it's not in store.  I bought the tarte Shining Stars Limited Edition Beat Sellers Collection ($25) and Clinique All About Eyes Rich eye cream ($29).  With the discount and free shipping, my total came to $45.14.  What did everyone else get??

Skinstore.com was also having a 20% off sale with free shipping, so I finally bought a Clairsonic Mia!  I got the turquoise Mia, plus two delicate replacement brush heads for $127.  I also got 6% cash back on Ebates, so I only paid $120 for everything.  I will definitely update with a review of this.  I only tried it once yesterday, so we'll see how it works for me.  I like it so far :)

Sephora Friends and Family Sale 2011

Just thought I'd share something from Muse's blog.  I'm sure everyone has been waiting all year for this :)
This year's Friends and Family sale will run from October 20-November 2.  20% off!!!  Not sure about exclusions, but I'm sure the Sephora page will be updated soon.
Apparently this year it will only be a one-time use code online, but you can see her post for more details.
I've already started making a list of things I'm going to get.  Even better, the 20th is pay day!  What is everyone planning to buy??

Sephora Flashy Liner Waterproof Review

I'm always looking for a good waterproof pencil eyeliner, so when I saw these on the Sephora website a while back, I went to my local Sephora to check them out for myself.  These got really good reviews online and after swatching them in store, I bought one to try out.
I have 2 colors: #13 Flashy Violet and #14 Taupe.  Both are very pigmented and go on incredibly smoothly.  They're very creamy so you do have some time to smudge them, but after they set, they last a long time.  I usually end up setting it with a powder eye shadow to prevent smudging, but even without it, it lasts even on my oily lids.  When I wear it on my lower lashline, it does smudge a bit, but that's only after about 6 or 7 hours.  Pretty good since the Almay and Revlon eyeliners I've tried smudge after 3 or 4 hours. 
I really love both these colors!  The taupe is really nice for an everyday look and isn't as harsh as black liner.  I've been wearing this almost everyday to work.  The violet is pretty bright, but worn it adds a nice pop of color to any neutral look. 
Here are swatches of both colors:

 Overall I highly recommend these eyeliners!  They're very affordable at $8 each (0.04oz), pigmented and long-wearing.  There is also a nice range of colors, so for the price and quality, I think these are awesome. 

Sephora Haul!

I finally had a day off from work today and went to Sephora to spend my $15 Beauty Insider gift card. I already had decided to get NARS Coconut Grove shadow after seeing it on amarixe's Youtube channel. I looked around for a good half an hour or so before I picked up Clinique Dramaticaly Different Moisturizing Gel and purple Sephora eyeliner, which all came to just about $40. I'm pretty excited to try out all this stuff, especially the Nars eye shadow. It's the first thing I've ever bought from this brand, but I've heard a lot of good things about it, so hopefully it doesn't disappoint.
What did everyone get with the $15 GC?

Holiday Deals!

I'm not sure if Sephora does this every year, but I just got my $15 gift card (for Beauty Insiders only) in the mail. It starts December 2, good until the 13th and can be used in stores or online. It's good on purchases of $40 or more.

Macys Friends and Family Sale starts December 1! I got my F&F passes a while ago from work, but I didn't pre-buy anything yet, so I will just wait until Thursday. It;s good for 25% off everything (except cosmetics, EDV and some other restrictions), including designer stuff! Also good for 10% off electronics as well.
Online code: MACYSFF

Recent Purchases

Since I've been unemployed, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on makeup anymore, but I've got some good deals looking for stuff on sale. Here are some recent purchases :)
NYX The Runway Collection Jazz Night Palette
OPI Meet me on the Star Ferry
Essie Perky Purple
I got the NYX pallette on sale at Longs. It was 25% off so it came out to about $7 total. I got the two nail polishes for about $7 each including shipping from a survey online.
I've been wanting the OPI polish since the Hong Kong collection came out and I love the color! I'll probably post swatches in a NOTD post later this week. The Essie polish I'm not a big fan of. The color is really pretty but it comes off really matte on my nails and I don't think it looks good on me. I think I'll probably put this one up for swap.
The NYX palette is amazing! The colors are pigmented and smooth, easily blendable. I'll probably do a more through review later, but so far I'm loving this palette. This is my first palette from NYX, and I was tempted to buy it after watching fafinettex3's tutorial on youtube. Even better because it was 25% off :)
I also stopped at Sephora for the free skincare consultation and I got a bunch of samples. The SA was really nice and gave generous samples from Boscia. I got cleanser, moisturizer, blemish treatment, clarifying mask and an eye cream. I really love the cleanser so far, but I'm not loving the blemish treatment or the moisturizer. I think I might go back to the Ala Moana store...I never got my free BI gift.