Sephora Play! October 2017

Sephora Play! October 2017
Box Variation #677

Sephora's graphic designers were dialing it in this month. It bugs me the card overlaps the copy. No one else in the world probably noticed. But I did, Sephora. I noticed.

Cover FX
Custom Enhancer Drops | $42.00

“And then I saw my face and I’m a believer!” Good lord this stuff is gorgeous. GORGEOUS. Sephora has sent me a lot of highlighters over the years and they’ve ranged from bleh to meh. This one is stunning. It’s pink toned (yay!) and super shimmery. But the formula is easy to sheer out or build up, so you can really customize your highlight exactly how you want it. You can dab it directly to your cheekbones for a big, blinding WITNESS ME highlight. You can sheer it out with a brush/sponge for a subtle glimmer. Or you can use the dropper to add a bit into your moisturizer and get a lovely natural glow. Probably foundation too, but I didn’t try that one.

The formula is spot on, as well. It’s liquid enough to spread it out evenly, but thick enough you’re not worrying about it dripping down your face. It works perfectly over BOTH powder and over cream products. It looks fantastic even when wore by itself on bare skin. It does contain silicone, but since I’m using one drop sparingly instead of full face, it won’t break me out.

The only downside I can see is this stuff goes everywhere and stays there. That’s ideal when you want staying power but it’s also hella messy if you used you fingers for application. You will need to wash your hands after. I tried the old rub my hands on my jeans method and this stuff stayed right where it was. Which is really impressive. And annoying. But impressive. I’d say this product is absolutely worth the price tag. A drop goes a mile and you’ll get a huge bang for your buck. I’m already eyeing the Celestial shade to grab when the Fall sale happens next month.

BECCA
First Light Priming Filter | $38.00

This is a relatively new genre of products I haven’t really explored much. They’re basically a layer of illumination or color correction that go underneath a primer or are the primer. This one is a purple-tinted serum that spreads on with a lavender hue and doesn’t absorb so much as it sits on top to visually blur pores and even skin texture. There’s also a very subtle, barely-there shimmer to the product, although it disappears when you apply foundation or powder over top. Which you would have to, as the faint purple tinge stays after application.

If you have yellow undertones and light to medium skin, purple color correctors are your jam. They can revive your skin and eliminate dullness. I have pale pink skin, so this just enhanced my pinkness. So while I can’t say it brightened my skin or refreshed my complexion, it did creating a slight overall glow and smoothed my skin out a bit. This must be due to the “special crystal technology” that Becca claims “scatters light to erase the look of shadows & creates a clear, flawless face.” Their words, not mine.

Anyway, I don’t wear foundation often enough to warrant purchasing a priming filter, so this isn’t ideal for my routine. But if you do wear foundation or BB cream, this is an interesting product to give a try. No silicones, so that’s great. There is a considerable amount of limonene (citrus extract) in this stuff which lends it a Pledge furniture polish smell, so be warned about possible irritation if you’re sensitive. Or just hate lemons.

MAKE UP FOR EVER
Ultra HD Skin Booster | $41.00

“A hydrating face serum that delivers a plumped look, preps skin for makeup, and hydrates to smooth the appearance of fine lines. Recharge your complexion with Ultra HD Skin Booster. Rich in hyaluronic-acid and argan oil extract, it instantly hydrates skin to smooth the appearance of fine lines. It illuminates skin to prep it for makeup application, and its expertly designed, drop applicator provides the perfect amount of product. Apply before your favorite primer formula to make your makeup work even harder. The result is a perfectly smooth canvas ready for makeup application.”

This is a very nice, well-performing hydrating serum. The texture is thin, slightly watery but not to the point of dripping through your fingers, and a little goes a long way. You’ll only need a drop or two from the eye dropper. It absorbs fast, doesn’t glisten on your skin, and feels weightless. True to it’s claims, it does give a decent boost of moisture to your skin. Now that it’s fall here in New England, moisture is very necessary. When the air dries and the wind picks up, my moisturizer struggles to rise to occasion. This is a great helper product to add right before layering on my morning moisturizer. It hydrates (or rehydrates if I’ve been outside) and plumps up the skin so I don’t feel like a dried up mummy rising from my tomb to begin my morning commute.

I don’t think it’s substantial enough to be substituted as a moisturizer because it’s too thin and light weight to get the job done on its own. But it’s a nice extra assist when you need just a little more muscle from your moisturizer. As for ingredients, thankfully there’s no silicones in this serum. There is added fragrance somewhere (I couldn’t detect it with my nose, but it’s listed on the ingredients so I’m guessing it’s there to mask a chemical smell), so if you’re sensitive to that be advised. If not, this is a great add-on to your skincare regiment. For now I think I’ll stick with my fragrance-free Drunk Elephant serum. But this would be a nice backup option should I decide to change things up.

Laura Mercier
Translucent Loose Setting Powder | $38.00

I purchased this powder back in February and have loved using it. I first discovered it while hunting for something to set concealer with at Sephora. I needed the concealer because a week before my vacation to Miami beach, I banged the side of my face on a chair rail and developed a nasty bruise. It looked like someone punched me in the face and I felt super awkward explaining to the Sephora associate that I fell behind a couch trying to unplug a lamp because it sounded like a cover story for domestic violence. Thankfully she played it cool and recommended me this awesome setting powder.

I covered up my bruise perfectly with NARS creamy concealer. The shade Vanilla was a perfect match and looked just like my skin. Then I used a big fluffy brush to dust this setting powder over top of the concealer. It’s completely translucent, no color whatsoever. And then I flew to Miami. The combination of concealer and setting powder stayed put through the half day of flying. The next day it stayed put through a long, sweaty, humid day spent baking on the beach. Then it survived a jump into the ocean. And it even lasted through a swim in the pool. There was only the slightest bit of degradation after swimming but you still couldn’t see the bruise underneath. Just a bit of pilling.

So yeah, this stuff gets the seal of approval from me. And now thanks to Sephora Play I have a travel size. Ingredient-wise, there’s no added fragrance. There is one silicone but it’s dead last on the list and only in trace amounts, so I’m not concerned about breakouts. I highly recommend this setting powder. 10/10.

Make Up For Ever
Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation | $43.00

It’s rare to get a foundation sample, so this is a nice surprise. I’m a huge fan of Make Up For Ever’s Water Blend foundation. It’s sheer, weightless, and silicone free. Practically a unicorn in the makeup world. And when my skin was more on the oily combo side, I wore their gorgeous Matt Velvet foundation. So I was excited to sample a new formula.

This foundation is medium coverage and sets to a satin finish. It’s fairly natural looking as well. It’s also pretty fluid on application, so one pump is all you’ll need. And it has a light weight texture. You’ll feel it on your face but only just so. For ingredients, there’s tons of silicone in this, so I’m not testing it on my face for that reason. There’s also added fragrance but it’s in a small amount so I’m less concerned with that. If neither are an issue for you, then it could be a great foundation option for when you want more coverage but don’t want to wear a total mask of makeup. My sample ran a tad on the red side and slightly dark, but there’s forty shades in the line so I’m sure I’d find a good match if I looked. As for now, I’ll stick with my Water Blend.

Chanel
Gabrielle Chanel Eau de Parfum | $105-$135

Gabrielle opens with a super tart grapefruit. The tanginess is balanced out by a fresh, bubbly soapy note and a whiff of powdery currant. There’s more citrus beyond that and then a big yellow floral: ylang ylang. Then I got a faint whisper of jasmine and tuberose before it became a skin scent. Gabrielle fades. Fast. I got less than an hour of the top notes before I had to press my nose to my wrist to locate the rest of it. It took spraying a spot on my arm three times and layering it over and over upon itself to get a strong enough fragrance so I could detect the dry down. Which was nothing special, just musk and sandalwood. I really have to press my nose down to my arm to get it.

So, Gabrielle is a bit of a dud. It’s quite nice at first spray. I love the tartness (or tahtness as my Boston-accented boyfriend would say). I dig the baby soft florals. Sure, it lacks complexity and comes across as a high-end shampoo, but sometimes you want fresh simplicity. The unfortunate fact is this just doesn’t last to give you that. There’s no projection or longevity at all. If I buy a perfume, I want to smell it on myself. I want to luxuriate in the aura that floats around me when I spray it on. I want to be enveloped in it. If Gabrielle could stay a while longer, she might be more interesting and worth a purchase. But she doesn’t. She strides right past, waving over her shoulder, turns a corner, and is gone without a trace.