Sephora Haul and Reviews: September

​Hey guys, I recently bought some stuff from the Sephora Labor Day sale. It wasn't an event with a promo code it was just products they'd marked down and honestly some of them are still in the sale section. Mainly I got sale products but I got a couple new releases too. So let's get into it. 

​This time I tried to use everything and watch it so I could give you some actual thoughts and mini reviews on these products, instead of just saying: here's what I got, bye!

I'll start with the new products:

​Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Matte Liquid Liner: I got this in black but there are other colors, I think. It's described as a "calligraphy style pen" which I'd never seen before in a liner. It goes from thick at the back to super pointy at the tip. I will do my best to get an actual picture of it. What I dig about this is that the products in this range is developed with those who have Lupus and Arthritis in mind, so they can handle and apply these products easier. I thought that was brilliant. I've not seen anyone take that into consideration. The product itself is VERY good. It's one of the best liquid liners I've tried. It's a super dark inky black, which is what I want. I was kinda worried about the tip since it looked different, but it was easy to apply. It didn't transfer which is the problem, most of the time, for me because I have oily lids. It was easy to do a thin wing, a thick wing, a long sharp wing, basically anything. I'm not to crazy about the packaging because I feel like it's going to get so dirty but that's not really a big deal. This makes me want to get the other products, and honestly they aren't my style but I'm so intrigued after this.

Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Mascara: No, no, no, no, no. What the hell, guys? I KNEW this was gonna be great. How could it NOT be? It's honestly one of the worst mascaras I've tried. I don't understand it AT ALL. I love CT, seriously. Some of my favorite products are from her. I've loved how she's always done makeup on models as an artist. Especially lashes. I am so disappointed. I have short-ish and thin lashes. I'm always looking for mascara to help them look more pronounced. It comes down to the applicator/brush here. It's truly odd in design. I can only explain it as having a flat top and bottom and then short plastic bristles on the sides. It's quite messy because so much mascara is laying on the flat parts, even when rubbing the excess off on the tube like normal, it still doesn't get all the product off and therefore gets on my lids and under eye. It also just clumps the lashes together and doesn't separate them at all. When I tried again, using a cloth to get the excess off, I found that the short bristles truly did nothing except add a coat of mascara. There was no length or thickness added. There was some "lifting" but not enough for me to take the time to wipe off and waste the excess mascara on the brush everytime. I always buy travel size in mascaras when I can because you don't get through an entire tube before it expires. So I don't bother with full size unless it's drugstore and you have no choice. Drugstore mascara is a million times better than this. I really wanted this to work. The packaging it so cute and right on brand for them. My guess is that people who have really nice lashes in general would probably like it, maybe. However, the people who are blessed with lashes of the gods can often use any mascara and it looks great so I still don't think it's worth it.

​I got a little tube of the new NARS Soft Matte Foundation to try in my normal color. This went on and kinda reminded me of  their most popular foundation Sheer Glow, which I loved. It makes sense too because with Sheer Glow we all though that meant it was "luminous and sheer" as the finish at first, but what they meant was it has just a "sheer glow" finish to it. So it was just a touch of luminosity really, it was a satin-natural finish. When you think of "soft matte", you automatically think it's going to be a more natural finish that leans toward the matte side. I do see the matte finish and it's honestly very pretty. My problem is that it oxidized so much. Not just darker but darker and also into an orange tint. Maybe if I use less and build it with a sponge instead of using a brush it might work better? I'm not sure. I'm willing to give it another shot. I have a feeling it's still gonna oxidize quite a bit though. 

Out of the sale section I got:

Milk Makeup Flex Concealer. I wanted to give this a shot because I don't really want my concealers super full coverage or matte because I use them under the eye mostly. For a blemish that I actually take the time to cover properly I use a full coverage cream concealer in a pot because those are always potent. This is described as "medium coverage that calms, and flexes without creasing or caking". I have to say it didn't cake up or look heavy at all and I didn't notice it sinking into my fine lines that much which is a win. It's nice. It's not revolutionary and not really a "holy grail" product but it's kind of a hidden gem that no one is talking about. 

I picked up two more foundations one being the Beauty Blender "Bounce" Liquid Whip Foundation. I was really interested in this and I'd heard mixed reviews. I do think it's very unique in the packaging concept that no one has done before. You have a switch lock on the back that releases or locks the pump which is just kinda like a button on this. The way the foundation comes out is through a downward nozzle so that it doesn't comes out straight, but rather flows down into the dip on the front of the packaging which is there to basically be a foundation "palette" for you to dip your sponge in. That's very smart. You often see makeup artists on set or in general using a clean palette to mix foundations or lipsticks. You don't have to do that with this one. The foundation itself was nice. It was a kinda luminous which makes since as it's described as moisture boosting due to the Hyaluronic Acid in it. It says it's medium and buildable coverage but I think it's full coverage myself. I like it.

Lastly, I got Huda Beauty Faux Filter Foundation. Dude this smells like perfume. It is heavy in fragrance. It's definitely full coverage, no doubt about it. I got it for Halloween looks, or any SFX looks really, to work as a base layer on my skin because I prefer a full coverage base when I'm going to be creating a SFX  or artistic and detailed look on my face. It's like helping make my face an even canvas in color. I know some people didn't care for this because of the intense coverage but I never get too upset about products that are extremely full coverage because I can always mix it with something to help with that. I actually really like the finish of this and the wear time. Many artists will add a bit of moisturizer to the foundation before applying it so it's not so intense or "mask" looking. I like that method and I've done it many times but I also like mixing it with liquid foundation or tinted bases. That way I'm still getting use out of my products, and they aren't just sitting in a drawer. This will be good for full glam looks, or in my case as a base for SFX looks. I wish it wasn't so strong in it's perfume scent but other than that I'm fine with it. 

That is everything I got. Some of these are still in the sale section I think, if not all of them. They keep adding more to the section as well, which is crazy because they have some great stuff in there. I hope you all are safe. Thank you for reading. I love you much.