Fall Fun Series: Shades of Autumn

Autumn favorites:

Afterlier Bergamoss solid perfume

Serge Lutens Chergui 

Sonoma Scent Studio Forest Walk

Sonoma Scent Studio Tabac Aurea

Sonoma Scent Studio Fireside Intense

Solstice Scents Manor

OPI Designer... De Better

Tom Ford Bitter Bitch

Chanel Malice

Tom Ford Moroccan Rouge

Serge Lutens Roman Rouge

Marc Jacobs Magenta

Buxom Havana

Osa Metal Studio Dendritic Agate Victorian owl button silver necklace

Bath & Body Works Cinnamon & Clove Bud and Sparkling Amber candles on deck for November.

Many of the perfume scents and polishes can be read about in depth by searching the blog. The candles will be reviewed in the next couple weeks or so.

What items are coloring your fall at the moment? 

Influenster: Bite Matte Creme Lip Crayons

These Bite Lip Crayons were provided free from Influenster for testing purposes.

Bite lip products first grabbed my attention at Sephora a few years ago when they appeared in one of Sephora's lipstick collection holiday boxes. I was impressed with the edgy packaging, pigmented color and creamy consistency. The new Bite Matte Creme Lip Crayons meet that same standard.

Influenster sent three full sized shades in Cava, Glace, and Red Velvet. The lip crayons come in a slightly woven textured box.

The lip crayons are housed in a grey rubberized cylinder with a snap lid (be careful taking the lid off or you will scrap your perfectly pointed lippie) and a twist up bottom. 

These bad boys are nice. They remind me of a mash up of Nars Lip Pencils and Buxom's Full-On Lip Stick. The texture is creamy with a decent slip. The pointed tip makes for precise application and the longevity of wear impressed me. My lips never felt dry. Highly pigmented and easy to wear, these lip crayons won me over.

Red Velvet is a solid fire engine red. Maybe the slightest blue undertone. 

Glace has a dusky rose lean and is the perfect My Lips But Better shade. 

Cava is a lilac pink color with a slight coolness to it. On my lips, with my skintone it is way too light. It does give me a bad case of death lips. But more porcelain or much darker skin tones would totally rock it. 

Here in the sunlight you can see the slight sheen. It sits on the lips with more of a satin rather than a full on matte, which I love. These lip crayons house 0.05 ounces of product for $24.00 and comes in 19 shades at the moment. I like that these are twist up. Less product is lost. The Nars lip pencils have 0.08 ounces of product for $26.00, but a lot is lost during sharpening. The Buxom Full-On Lip Sticks have 0.03 ounces of product for $20.00. 

I would absolutely buy a Bite Matte Creme Lip Crayon and in fact, I am eyeing Blood Orange and Truffle. 

Do you use lip crayons? Have you tried Bite Beauty? Which of these shades would call to you?

Juliette Has A Gun: Discovery Kit

Sephora happily keeps adding more and more niche perfume houses to its fragrance line up, as well as offering wonderfully sized sample sets of those lines. Juliette Has A Gun pinged my radar in my perfume wanderings the past few years but I never really sampled much other than Romantina, which came in one of my Olfactif boxes. During my birthday gift card splurging back in December, I knew this Discovery Kit would be mine. At only $15 for 8, 1.7 ml spray vials I was ready to swipe the gift card. 

The packaging is excellent, fitting in a 6 x 6 box with a placard on nice cardstock detailing the scents and notes, in addition to the names and notes being underneath each vial. 

Not A Perfume- Note: Cetalox

A simple lovely note that reminded me most of a clean cottony musk. Very fleeting though, ideal for an office friendly fragrance.

Anyway- Notes: Green lime, hedione, musk.

Light citrus notes that create a soft feminine cologne, along the lines of orange water. Short longevity on my skin.

Gentlewoman- Notes: Neroli, almond, musk.

The neroli is fresh and green with no sharp edges. The almonds have a clarity and slight floral tone, no sweetness or cherry hints. Another transparent, gauzy musk that wears lightly and effortlessly.

Miss Charming- Notes: Rose, musks, wild fruits.

This is not the sweet jammy rose I have been wearing of late. A powdery pink blossom with a misting haze of juice from freshly sliced fruits. Clean, fresh, youthful without being sweet.

Romantina- Notes: Jasmin, orange blossom, musk.

Review can be found here.

Mad Madame- Notes: Rose oxyde, blackcurrant bud absolute, ambroxan.

A surprisingly technicolor fragrance that wakes up the senses. Ultraviolet black currants and glowing fuchsia rose petals light up the air with lively scent. After the flavorful fruits tame their enthusiasm ambergris hovers in a light and clean form to take over the duration. 

Lady Vengeance- Bulgarian rose, patchouli, vanilla.

Soft focus rose blended with polite patchouli, a dash of clear vanilla. This Lady Vengeance works undercover. A perfect first date scent. 

Midnight Oud- Notes: Oud, saffron, rose.

The boldest and sassiest of them all, Midnight Oud is one I can really sink my teeth into. Oud opens the scent with heavy heart wood, marbled in ebony ash, scars from past fires. The rose in this particular scent is jammy. A little sweet and sticky but not apparent until later, after the ghost of oud remains. Once again, the requisite clean musk lies in the drydown.

From this fairly comprehensive sampler I sense a theme of cottony musk that weaves through these scents that makes them immeasurably easy to wear. They are not challenging or intellectual but sometimes it is nice to spray on a fragrance and not have to be in the "mood" for it, or feel like it is wearing you versus you wearing it. Of these scents I would most likely want Mad Madame for further dating to get a better feel for her and Gentlewoman or Anyway as summer scents, and for some reason Lady Vengeance had the best longevity of them all and kept peeking out from my blouse to greet me at the most random moments, catching me off guard in a most pleasant manner. Which of these call to you? Do you have a favorite Juliette Has A Gun?

Marc Jacobs Beauty: Velvet Noir Mascara via Influester

This mascara was sent free of charge from Influenster for product testing purposes. 

I have used Marc Jacob Beauty cosmetics previously this year when I chose the 500 point Marc Jacobs Reward at Sephora. I absolutely loved all the items and have since used them frequently. In fact, one of my sisters used the eyeliner pencil and commented on how nice it glided on. 

Influenster sent me this box before Christmas but with all the chaos and things I needed to take care of I really did not get a chance to wear it often enough to feel like I could do a proper review. But now a week later, I have had the chance to wear it several times.

Marc Jacobs undoubtedly established itself as a high end beauty brand without compromise to integrity. The pigments are concentrated, wear time is marvelous and the packaging elegant. 

This full sized mascara runs $26 at Sephora. The ebony hexagonal tube displays Marc Jacobs in silver lettering. The wand's shape is slightly hourglass with spiraling spiky bristles. I enjoy that the wand is not overly exaggerated in the hourglass shape, as that makes it hard for me to use without painting my whole face in black goo. 

The wear was excellent. It created long feathery lashes with thick volume. It did have a tendency to clump if I layered it on crazy thick but nothing I could not tame with an eyelash/eyebrow comb. It stayed put very well with no smudging, flaking or migrating. 

Now you get to look at my mug. My lashes are pretty puny on their own so this is pretty good length and volume on me. 

I would absolutely repurchase this mascara again. I enjoy Marc Jacobs original mascara as well. Have you tried any Marc Jacobs Beauty yet? What do you think?

Skin Care: Boscia Sake Brightening Hydrogel Mask

I have been on a sheet mask kick like no one's bid-ness. Most were from my trip to Japan but last week I had to buy a new bottle of my NARS Tinted Moisturizer, and at $43, I just needed that something extra to bump my Sephora cart to $50 for that free shipping. #MakeUpAddictLogic So naturally I search $7 in the Sephora engine and this Boscia mask appears. For $7. Into the cart it goes with my Burberry Fresh Glow foundation deluxe sample, two Atelier perfume samples and a Hermes perfume sample. Back to the mask. 

The mask comes in two parts, and upper face and lower face that can overlap and make fitting more flexible. This was my first two-piece mask experience. Plus the texture was not fabric-like but a rubbery gel. Very interesting.

The opening for the eyes and mouth were generous. Usually I need to nip and tuck the Asian masks to get them to fit. The gel plus the serum made for a cooling effect. After about 20 minutes I removed the mask and rubbed the excess serum into my face, neck and chest, then went to bed. 

In the morning my face was smoother and brighter if a tad puffy. Some issues: the serum started rolling up like lil pill bugs when I rubbed it into my skin and the cost is way too steep for a one-time use mask. 

Overall I enjoyed being able to try this Boscia Sake Brightening Hyrdogel Mask, but I probably will not purchase it again. I can get a great 10-pack of face masks for only $3 more.

Have you joined the sheet mask revolution? My friend Nancy mentioned Nerd Skincare masks, so those are next on my list! Which ones do you love or want to try?

Sephora: 3x Points Order + Marc Jacobs 500 Point Reward

So all these enticing bits happened at once: 3x points on fragrance purchases, a great looking 500 points perk from Marc Jacobs, a new Dior 250 point perk perfume, a generous perfume sampler promotion and great free samples. What is a girl to do??? Order. In fact, the only things I ordered in the photo above were the Atelier Cologne travel spray and the mini Hourglass lippie (I also ordered something else but it is for the giveaway on the 28th). 

I enjoy buying minis before full sized products if I can help it, but especially when the full sized version is $28. Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipsticks are extremely pigmented and have an impressive longevity. I have the deep red shade in Icon in a mini as well ($10 for the minis) and love the way it wears. It does finish matte and can be a tad drying if the lips aren't prepped with some exfoliation and a touch of balm. I recently noticed another shade joined the mini Icon; Canvas, which is a nice dusty pink that thankfully has enough depth to go well with my skin tone.

She so tiny! Love all the mini things.

Atelier Cologne in Mandarine Glaciale is one of the newer scents in Atelier's new Collection Azur line. Others in the line include Figuier Ardent (which I quite enjoyed), Sud Magnolia, and Cedre Altas. A detailed review of this Mandarine will come later. (Deb! LOL! I actually get to spell it mandarine this time!)

Urban Decay Perversion mascara was a 100 point perk that I got as well. I had quite a few points racked up. I enjoy this mascara. Nice volume, length and wear. I am happy to have it in my possession again. 

Givenchy Noir Couture mascara was one of the free samples I was stoked to try. The brush has a funny three bump wand but it isn't too wide so I like it. It adds a medium amount of volume and length, and it wears quite nicely. No under eye smudging or flakes. I would repurchase it. 

Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet, one Adam will love because it smells super feminine. I just like it because the bottle is tiny and the houndstooth etching on the bottom. Look. At. That. 

The scent itself is pretty. It opens with oranges and homages to cliche' bouquets of rose and peony. Sweet pale musk winds its way about the fragrance. It is a pretty perfume indeed.

Atelier Orange Sanguine, do yourself a favor and request a free sample of this next time you are in store. A wonderful citrus for summer. I love the inspiration post cards that come with the Atelier samples. 

Atelier Cedre Atlas, yay! I get to sample it! Only need to get my paws on Sud Magnolia now. 

The perfume sample promotion included 8 fragrances in either the "floral" category or the "spicy" category. I picked spicy, because I wanted to try the Cedre Atlas and YSL Black Opium (look at that sample shape!). I also know I love Alien, Narcisco Rodriguez For Her, and Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black, so extras of those are always welcome. Tocca Cleopatra and Dolce & Gabbana The One are passes for me. Si by Georgio Armani is super sweet and candy like along the lines of Pink Sugar, Prada Candy or Angel. If you would like a review on any of these, please let me know! Otherwise I am just going to wear and toss.

Crazy, insane waste of space packaging. 

Marc Jacobs beauty line has gone untried by me for long enough. The eyeliners have amazing quality, richly pigmented, no tugging and long wear. The lipstick feels creamy and wears wonderfully. I have not tried the mascara yet.

Swatches Top to Bottom:

Marc Jacobs Magic Marc'er Precision Pen Eyeliner in Blacquer

Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer

Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lipcreme in Magenta

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Canvas

Has Sephora tempted you with anything recently? Any new perfumes or cosmetics in your life? Only two more days until the One Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway! Excited!

Sephora: YSL Volupte Tint-In-Oil and NARS Birthday Lippies

My sister, Lindsey, turned 22 recently and wanted to celebrate by going to brunch, then shopping. Sephora was on the list so she could get some face primer (one of my gifts to her was the Benefit Porefessional), and she wanted to get her Sephora birthday gift to give to me. She is not a fan of lipsticks, but knows I am gaga over NARS lipstick pencils. While we were there I splurged and scooped up one of the new YSL Volupte Tint-In-Oil lipglosses.

This is a newer formula of lippie that uses four essential oils with tint to stain the lips delicately. It feels quite plush and wears for a nice long while. This is not a gloss to get if you expect full on color coverage. The effect is quite beautiful though, with a flattering glossy tint that begs to be worn all summer long. They run on the deep end of the price pool at $32 a pop, but an occasional extravagance feels nice. There is no way I could collect them all at that price point, however. I tend to lean towards corals but forced myself to try something new and chose No. 8 in Pink About Me, which has a cool purple hued pink tint. Lindsey said "I heard somewhere if you aren't uncomfortable sometimes, then you aren't living." With that sage advice in my ears I went non-coral.  

I don't really have the lips (or nails for that matter) for gorgeous swatching, but I wanted to show how it looks. It looks startlingly clear upon application, then develops more deeply over time.

After wearing for about 10 seconds, then removed. The stain is subtle but pretty.

The Sephora birthday freebies are two NARS lip pencils in Cruella (red Velvet Matte finish), and Rikugien (pink Satin finish). They are generously sized at 0.06 oz and 0.05 oz each. The full sized pencils are 0.09 oz and cost $26.00 each. There are three finishes to the NARS lip pencils: velvet matte, satin, and velvet gloss. 

I adore both shades and will wear them down to nubbins before my birthday in December rolls around and I can collect mine. Thank you sister. <3

Atelier Cologne has a few new scents out and I wanted to sample Figuier Ardent from their recently released Collection Azur. It reminded me of L'Artisan Caligna initially, with that fresh green fig note, but then they quickly departed similarities as they settled. Where Caligna becomes hazy soft with sweets and cream, Figuier Ardent becomes clear and defined with lime and woods. The scent notes do not include lime and point to pepper and bergamont, but lime is what my nose translates it as. I am excited to wear this sample and ring in spring with figs of all types. 

Are you excited about Sephora's birthday gift this year? You get it free if you sign up to become a Beauty Insider (which is also free). Any new makeup products calling out to be tried? How do you feel about lipstick? 

Sephora: VIB $20 off $50 Purchase

At the end of the year, in early December, Sephora Beauty Insiders, VIB's, and Rouge members all get coupons. They range from $15 off (BI), $20 off (VIB), or $25 off (Rouge) of a $50 purchase. I eagerly await this coupon, as high end makeup discounts can be rare. I originally had desired to use this on the Urban Decay Naked 3 pallet, but my face told me to be nice and get new skin care instead. I am at the age where I should be vigilant about my skin care routine, but the pretty colors so easily distract me....

So. In a concerted effort to avoid looking like Alastor Moody, I walked past the Urban Decay Naked 3 pallet in all its rosy glory with my head in the air and only one eye cut in its direction, right to the clearance rack to scour the skin care goods. I found this Dr. Dennis Gross Brightening Solution that pinky swears to reduce my wrinkles and uneven skin-tone from too many days basking in the Anna Maria Island sunshine. It was normally $88, on sale for $40. I still would not have paid $40, if it weren't for my coupon and $20 gift card. 

I have been using this for a week now and I do like it. I feel like the pads help exfoliate the skin while the serum is refreshing. I cannot attest to lessening wrinkles or spotting but I can say it isn't hurting. I will keep on and report back after a few more weeks. Deal?

I had to spend $10 more I so picked up this Soap and Glory Great Kisser lip balm in peppermint. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it has a plush cushiony feel. It makes my lips shine with a wee bit of sparkle and has a light minty scent and even lighter tingle. I keep this in my car for dry lip emergencies.

Did you score anything with your Sephora coupon? Does your money gravitate towards makeup or skin care? Have you tried expensive serums or doodads?

Sephora: Black Friday Store Haul

Bellies full of turkey and fixin's, my sisters and I loaded up at 8pm Thanksgiving night (please don't throw flame, I struggle with folks having to work on Thanksgiving- I do think it should be outlawed) to grab some Starbucks (which ended up being gratis because of the wait) and headed to the Brandon Town Center for a brief shopping excursion. Between the three of us, there were only two ports of call: Sephora and Bath & Body Works. 

Origins Extra-Zing Energizing Kit ($22)- The past three years I have been using Philosophy's Miracle Worker system. I have loved it tons but I am fresh out now and am limping along on samples of various skin care products. This lil guy was shining so bright and orange from the infamous Impluse Buy section at the check out and hopped into my basket. I am looking forward to using these products. My skin could use a little waking up! Included: GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturizer (0.5oz), GinZing Refreshing Scrub Cleanser (1oz), GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream (0.17oz). 

NEST Fragrances Rollerball Trio ($10)- These beauties were the ones I was honing in on while browsing Sephora's $10 deals earlier in the week. Having enjoyed my NEST candle, their fragrance line piqued my curiosity. Scents included:

Indigo- Moroccan Tea, Kashmir Wood and Black Cardamom with Wild Fig and Bergamot. Asoft tea scent first and foremost. I can see why it is named "Indigo" as it does have a blue feel to it. I wore this one first and quite enjoyed how is lingered about my wrists.

Dahlia & Vines- Dewy Daffodils, Peony, and Rose with Garden Vines. Green ivy and herbs  with pale pink peony accents. Pretty and soft but nothing out of the ordinary for my tastes. I will wear it and see if it grows on me.

Midnight Fleur- Exotic Woods, Patchouli, and Black Amber with Night-Blooming Jasmine and Vanilla Orchid. Of course I like this. Look at those notes. But really, it smells like a dark vanilla. The patch and jasmine remain quiet on my skin but the vanilla and amber do not. 

L'Artisan The Perfume Box ($20)- Seville A L'Aube. That one little 2mL vial is the main reason I purchased this set. My nose has been yearning to experience this fragrance for quite some time now. There are four others in here I am happy to oblige sampling as well, but really it is all about that much adored Seville. The packaging on this wee set is marvelous. There is a sleeve, a paper box, then a metal tin.

Inside the tin are nestled ten perfumes:

Batucada

La Chasse Aux Papillions

Fou D'Absinthe

Nuit De Tubereuse

Seville A L'Aube

Caligna

L'eau D'Ambre

Mure Et Musc

Premier Figuier

Timbuktu

Please pardon my eye gratification. I could not get enough of these vials. 

As my birthday is this coming weekend, I also got to pick up my Sephora Happy Birthday freebies! This Make Up Forever lipstick is pretty amazing. The color is flattering for my skin tone (a definite My-Lips-But-Better shade) and does not feel drying. I have yet to use the mascara, as I only open one tube at a time.

So there it is! My Sephora Black Friday haul. Did you participate in any of the $10 deals? Did you stay home and enjoy the post feast afterglow like a sane person, or venture out and about like the crazed and depraved (like me)?