September Empties

I've been trying to work on my panning game, but it seems it's just other stuff that's been emptying on me lately.. 

Ole Henriksen Face the Truth Gel Cleanser - I can't seem to find this in a "full" size, which I would expect to be somewhere around 150mL. I bought it in a set with Truth Serum and a moisturizer last year, but I really enjoyed the cleanser. I would buy it again, but it was pretty small, approximately 50-60mL, if I recall correctly. It smells like citrus. Gel cleansers are my favourite type. 

Missha Perfect Cover BB cream, no.21 - mine was a sample size, but I so rarely use the same base product two days in a row, so it took me over a year to use it. I really liked it. At one point, I also used shade no.13. I find them both totally usable for my fair, neutral-to-yellow skin. The no.13 is quite fair and whitening, and no.21 is a bit more neutral. It has 42SPF and looks just like skin for me. 

CoverFX Illuminating Primer - illuminating primers are my thing! I would try this one again after I finish all the others one I'm trying to get through. It's a close contender for favourite, but I really love my Becca Backlight Priming Filter. 

Smashbox 24/HR Photo Finish Shadow Primer - I'll probably always buy this. This is my third one since 2014. It lasts me over a year, you don't need much for a day's application. 

Urban Decay/Gwen Stefani Blush Palette (Highlight shade Angel) - The first highlight I have ever panned. I worked on it daily for a while. I don't really find it glittery/shimmery enough for my tastes, it's better for someone who likes a subtle highlight. I'm preserving Hush because I love it and I can't find a good dupe. I thought Becca Rose Gold would be similar, but it's too orange. I'll work on Easy and Lo-Fi next. 

Sephora Holiday 2018 Haul!

I just have to say, I love how fall comes in with a BANG and all of the best beauty brands begin to release their holiday kits and products! There is so much to look at and decide what to buy for gifts and ourselves, it's crazy.

When you're trying to navigate all of these new products and sets popping up.. my best advice would be to pick up sets that include full priced items or close to it (considering the set/kit price in comparison). Sometimes you have huge deals, like a Drunk Elephant kit that is $120CAD but has a $100 C-Firma inside with a couple smaller samples. I also tend to avoid brands that annually release large palettes - Tarte and Too Faced are always doing this and I really feel like those huge face/eye palettes with dozens of shades are not representative of their regular quality when they have releases throughout the year!

There are just a couple of items that I was interested in in picking up right now. I might do more shopping later on for Christmas, but these ones are just for me!

Sephora's Favourites: Give Me More Lip. 

The set includes 14 lip products in varying shades and finishes, with 5 of them being full-sized. It costs $82CAD. 

Products and shades included: 

- 0.11 oz/ 3.2 g Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Poet ($26, full size included)
- 0.12 oz/ 3.7 mL bareMinerals Gen Nude Patent Lip Lacquer in Everything ($23, full size included)
- 0.07 oz/ 2 g Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Liquified Lip in Marsala
- 0.12 oz/ 3.5 g Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Bond Girl ($39, full size included)
- 0.14 oz/ 4 mL HUDA BEAUTY Lip Strobe in Snobby ($23, full size included)
- 0.1 oz/ 3 mL Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Outlaw
- 0.042 oz/ 1.2 g Marc Jacobs Beauty Le Marc Liquid Lip Crayon in Plum N Get It
- 0.06 oz/ 1.7 g NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Do Me Baby
- 0.04 oz/ 1.3 mL SEPHORA COLLECTION Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick in #40 Pink Tea 
- 0.13 oz/ 4 mL Smashbox Always On Metallic Matte in Vino Noir ($28, full size included)
- 0.033 oz/ 1 mL tarte Rainforest of the Sea H20 Gloss Lip Gloss in Hang Ten 
- 0.1 oz/ 3 mL Too Faced Melted Matte in Queen B 
- 0.03 oz/ 1 mL Urban Decay Hi-Fi Shine Ultra Cushion Lipgloss in Naked 
- 0.1 oz/ 3 mL Yves Saint Laurent Tatouage Couture in #1 Rouge Tatouage

As you can already see, the full sizes alone would cost $139CAD. This is an amazing deal, and a great opportunity to try Charlotte Tilbury since she only recently showed up for sale in Sephora. The Huda gloss, CT lipstick, and BM lacquer really made this set a huge winner in my books. 

Left to right: Huda, Urban Decay, Tarte, Sephora, Too Faced, BareMinerals, CT, NARS, ABH, Marc Jacobs, KVD, YSL, Smashbox, Bite. 

I also was completely smitten by the Clinique "Get Cheeky" compact with 3 Cheek Pops included. I did find that they are a bit.. light. I really only think these will work for fair-skinned folk. One is more of a cheek topper or possibly even a highlight shade. 

The trio is $39CAD and includes Pink Honey, Black Honey, and Nude Pop. A single Cheek Pop retails for $29CAD.. I understand online everyone is saying these are full-sized, but I'm not 100% sure. In any case, it's a nice compact with great shades! Great for travel to have blushes and highlight with you. 

What are you planning to get from all of the holiday releases? 

FabFitFun Fall 2018 + Add-Ons ☕🍂

Fall 2018 is only my SECOND FabFitFun box I've received, but this is the first season or time that I took advantage of the discounts offered for additional items. 

I guess what typically happens is that "Add-Ons" will go live first for Annual subscribers about a week and a half before the BILL DATE of the box. There are beauty, fitness, fashion, lifestyle, and home items available at HUGE discounts. I'm talking... GlamGlow Supermud that is regularly $75CAD was available for $19USD/~$24CAD. You add whatever you want to your cart, and there is no "checkout" function. There is a day and time that the add-ons are over, and whatever is in your cart will be billed with your box and sent.

 Now, it is a bit of a shitshow. The hot ticket items, like the Mud, sell out very quickly. But the secret to getting the add-ons you want as a Seasonal subscriber is to be quick and have a lot of free time on the last or second last day of the add-ons. I sat and refreshed on the last day for maybe.. 20 minutes. I wasn't staring at the page, I was multi-tasking and having a morning coffee and checking emails and occasionally refreshing to see if anything I wanted was popping up on the page. If you check forums and communities like Reddit's "/r/BeautyBoxes" then you'll know what items are always sold out and you can look out for them (if they're things you want, of course). I managed to snag some of the GlamGlow brand items that were popular that I would NEVER try for full price. I had a hard time deciding what things I wanted otherwise, because there was some nice makeup, skincare, and a purse that tempted me.  

Here's what I decided to add on: 
➣Cover FX Shimmer Veil - Celestial
➣GLAMGLOW #GLITTERMASK
➣GLAMGLOW Supermud
➣GLAMGLOW Waterburst
➣NuMe Fashionista Straightner (turquoise)
➣Sol de Janeiro Açaí Body Power Cream
➣Summer & Rose Throw Blanket - Light Grey

Here's what came in my regular box: 
➣ALFRED Teapot
➣Catherine Maladrino Floral Umbrella
➣GROWN ALCHEMIST POLISHING FACIAL EXFOLIANT: Pink Grapefruit & Glucomannan Extract
➣Farmacy Dew It All Total Eye Cream with Echinacea GreenEnvy
➣beautyblender (nude)
➣GLAMGLOW BUBBLESHEET™ OXYGENATING DEEP CLEANSE MASK (2 Pack)
➣Simply Whimsical Set of 2 Tea Towels
➣SKIN&CO Roma Blue in Capri Shower Gel
➣Vince Camuto Luck Tote (Red Desert)

I did pay an extra $10 to also get the ➣6-Piece Crown brush set, because the option was between brushes and the tote and I really liked both.

I am a skincare hoarder, so I haven't opened all of the items and tried them yet. I am already using a different moisturizer, sponge, body wash, and eye cream.

I did open the GLITTERMASK to try it, and it's so fun and makes my skin feel amazing. I love the smell of the mask. It's vaguely sweet, like licorice root or marshmallow. It doesn't even make that much of a mess, because it peels off in one piece. The Body Power Cream is to DIE FOR. It has microglitter and smells great and really softens the skin. I already have a couple of the CoverFX Shimmer Veils, so I just wanted another colour because they're nice on the eyelid and as a lip topper. I needed a new flat iron desperately, and this one already blows my GHD out of the water. I spent SO MUCH MONEY on my last flat iron, and it didn't hold up or wow me. I have used the teapot every day since I received my box, it's adorable and functional. The blanket is kind of delicate, it's easy to poke little holes through the knit and it sheds a few fuzzies, but it's warm and matches my bedroom well (everything is black and grey). I didn't have an umbrella before, so I put this in my bag since I do a lot of walking at uni. The tea towels are functional and I like that they're a neutral colour and don't have any weird sayings on them (I really hate cutesy stuff that has quotes like, Keep Calm and ______, etc.). I don't have a comment for most of the other stuff, but I'm excited to try everything out. 

Now, even though this box impressed me and I liked my Summer box just as much, I'm not going to stay "subscribed" in the future. I think for someone who really never treats themselves or doesn't have a lot of makeup or skincare or body care, this is a great box to indulge in. But for myself, there's no way I NEEDED the box items or to make extra purchases, and for the add-ons especially.. it's far too tempting and easy to just say to yourself that something is 80% off, so you might as well. I think it's really nice to have a nice teapot and blanket and flat iron, but I would have picked these types of items up eventually from a Marshalls/Winners myself. But having this box subscription, it's a lot of checking your dates.. managing your finances to allow for shopping because it bills all at once.. then getting stuff I don't need or have to have.

FabFitFun has "starter boxes" available for $5 and you can find people online giving those codes out all the time. As I mentioned previously, Reddit's BeautyBoxes community lives for stuff like this and they are always sharing ways to save money or updating on what's going on, sharing spoilers for new seasons, etc. When and if you do decide to subscribe, there are $10 off codes floating around. It's a lovely treat or makes a great gift!