Welcome to Thanksgiving week! It's officially the week of stuffing our faces with turkey and getting a head start on holiday shopping. November is always the worst financial month for me. There are soooo many amazing deals going on that I tend to overspend every single year in November. December is pretty bad too, but not nearly as bad as November. But how can I resist all the pretty makeup and packaging and holiday decor and ornaments and treats and etc etc?!
As with every year, I got my 20% off VIB coupon for Sephora in the mail earlier this month and of course, I had to go shopping. I was going to buy a lotttt of stuff because I had to spend $200 to renew my VIB status, but after a lot of thought I've decided to just give up on the VIB program. I've been a VIB member for two years now and have finally realized that it's just not worth it. Every year I force myself to spend $350 on products I don't really use just to keep being a VIB member. And to be honest, the rewards just aren't that worth it. Sure you get exclusive deluxe rewards and stuff and yearly coupons, but I just don't buy that much makeup at Sephora anymore to justify being a part of their rewards program. So for next year I think I'm going to switch to Ulta for all of my beauty stuff. You only have to spend $450 per year, which is quite easy to do if you buy all your beauty stuff there -- cleansing wipes, cotton rounds, Q-tips, face washes, etc...it adds up! They carry literally everything I need from drugstore and high-end sides, and I just feel like I have a much more fun experience shopping at Ulta than at Sephora. The Ulta rewards program also seems much more robust with points contributing to dollar values off, 20% off everything coupons 3-4 times a year, and more points earned per purchase. But I barely shopped at Ulta this year so I figured I'd start that in 2017.
Okay enough chatting. Now to talk about the goodies I got.
Clarisonic Mia 2 in Gray -- yes I finally got a Clarisonic!!! My skin has been breaking out like crazy over the last month. I don't know if it's hormonal or from inadequate skin cleaning, so I decided to try out the Clarisonic brush. Apparently it's way more efficient than manual cleansing, so let's see if my breakouts are really from me not washing my face adequately at night. Clarisonic recently had a sale where the dark gray Mia 2 was 50% off on their website so I jumped right on it and got it for only $85! Steal of the season.
Beauty Blender with Mini BlenderCleanser Solid -- Another beauty staple that I just purchased for the first time. I've been applying my favorite Clinique foundation with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush for the last few months and I feel like I cake on my foundation. I decided to try the beauty blender to help my foundation go on more seamlessly. Plus, using a brush really drags on your skin, so I'm hoping this causes a little less damage to my skin when applying ze foundation.
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion -- Okay for some reason this was on sale for $10 (it's usually $20). I thought I was going to get the baby size, but nope I got the huge wonking full size one! I have no idea why this was on sale for half off because this product is definitely not discontinued. Maybe they were just getting rid of product in the old packaging? In any case, this is one of my holy grail, everyday products that I was running out of and looks like I'm going to be good on primer for the next five years!!
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Radiant Light -- Hourglass just came up with itty bitty baby sizes of their lighting powders that were oh-so-raved-about two years ago. I never picked one up when they first came out because I'm not one for fancy highlighters and powders (especially when they cost $46 a pop), but when I saw smaller sized ones for half the price I figured I'd try it out. Plus, the Becca highlighters are way too shiny for me, and this one seems like a much more subtle highlight for everyday wear. It looks gorgeous on the swatch so I have high hopes for this product!
Sephora Collection Push Back Cuticle Pusher -- I love doing at-home manicures, but with the winter my cuticles get really dry and start flaking. I've always wanted to buy a cuticle pusher, but they're sooo expensive! When I saw this one on sale for $7 along with my coupon, I knew I had to get it. Hoping this pretties up my nails for an even better at home manicure!
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Fresh Cut Split End Mender -- I got this as a 100 point perk. I've been meaning to try something for the ends of my hair because they get sooo dry. Not sure if this product is really meant for that. I don't get split ends as often as I used to because I don't heat style as much, but with all the pulling and tugging I do for my curly hair, I'm sure I still rack up a few split ends. The reviews seem good so fingers crossed that my dry hair days have come to an end!
So that's all the gems I picked up at this holiday season's Sephora spree. I know Black Friday is just around the corner and there are sooooo many beauty goodies on the preview ad for Sephora and Ulta. BUT I'm going to be a good girl this year and probably won't buy anything from those sales. Instead my money is going to Kohl's (and possibly Ann Taylor/LOFT). Kohl's has an AMAZING Black Friday sale every year and I just put in a huge ass order this morning for a ton of wardrobe and home staples I needed.
But anyways I hope you all have a great work week, and expect a blog post up on what I did this Thanskgiving (my first one alone in a new city!).
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