The Sephora 15% Off Love Note Shopping Event starts today for VIB Rouge members and runs through April 13th. By now you should have received either an e-mail or card in the mail for the event. You can shop the sale in stores with the e-mail you received or shop online with code ROUGENOTE at checkout. Start dates and discounts for beauty insider vary according to the tier you are in, dates are as follows:
- VIB Rouge Members – April 7 to 13, 2016 receive 15% off with code ROUGENOTE
- VIB Members – April 8 to 13, 2016 receive 15% off with code VIBNOTE
- BI Members – April 9 to 12, 2016 receive 10% off with code BINOTE
I have a roundup of recommendations in case you’re wondering what I think is worth the splurge. Many brands rarely go on sale except for holiday sales or friends and family events so I like to use these times to stock up on skincare. I’m still working on editing down my own personal shopping list – if you have any recs let me know in the comments!
Shown above:
I have a mix of recommended items for skincare, makeup, haircare and tools. Highlighters and glowing blushes are extremely popular right now – I’ll be working on a few more reviews as fast as I can hopefully before the sale ends:
- Maison Martin Margiela Replica perfumes are new discoveries for me and Lipstick On and Beach Walk are my favorites so far. If you’re new to the line there are a few travel sets that serve as a nice introduction to the line. The REPLICA Discovery Set for Her ($65) includes Beach Walk, Lazy Sunday Morning and Tea Escape.
- NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint ($44, reviewed here) is my favorite new base formula launched this year for medium-but-natural looking coverage.
- Marc Jacobs Beauty The Bronze Bronzer Brush No. 12 ($78) is a splurge but it’s the best large fluffy bronzer brush I own. It’s soft and dense and feels extremely smooth. Applies just the right amount of bronzing powder to the face for a soft diffused look.
- Marc Jacobs Beauty The Shape Contour and Blush Brush No. 15 ($38) is a contour brush but also doubles as a foundation brush for liquids or creams. It applies liquids to the face without any streaks and blends creams to a flawless finish.
- beautyblender® nude ($20) is one of the newest beauty blender tools, in my initial review I rated the original pink on the best one, the nude version is just as good in providing streak-free smooth coverage. For color correcting, the micro.mini correct.four set ($30) is nice to have to use with different color creams so you don’t have to worry about mixing product colors (color correcting review in this post here).
- T3 PROi Professional Hair Dryer ($350, review here) is hands down the best hair dryer I’ve ever tried. I discovered this thanks to my beauty friend RaeViewer – it worked wonders on her hair and it gives the hair a salon quality blow out.
- Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick ($26 each) is Bite Beauty’s newest lipstick launch. All 34 colors have been swatched and reviewed on the blog. Roundup review and links to all of the swatches here. My top three shade picks are Honeycomb, Sake and Pepper.
- Viseart Eyeshadow Palette Sultry Muse ($80) is something I just discovered from The Makeup Show recently. I’ll have a review soon but will say right now it’s everything that everyone has raved about and more. You need this in your life.
- Tom Ford Neroli Portofino Aqua ($150) is Tom Ford’s lightest perfume to date. Each new addition to the Neroli Portofino line gets better every year and the aqua one is the best one yet. It has a citrus feel but it’s light and the scent also has an aquatic vibe to it. Full review soon.
- Tom Ford Soleil Blanc ($220, reviewed here) is summer in a bottle. Out of all the possible scents for summer I think this is probably going to be my favorite, although the Neroli Portofino Aqua is also very good.
- Tom Ford Skin Illuminator in Fire Lust ($72, review here) is a staple in my makeup wardrobe, if you haven’t bought one from previous seasons I highly recommend it since the Tom Ford Beauty line is now available online at Sephora.
- Sephora Collection Pro Full Coverage Airbrush #53 ($38, review here) hands down one of the best foundation brush discoveries I made last year. I liked it so much I bought a second one.
- Urban Decay UD x Gwen Blush Palette ($45) I have yet to review this on the blog, but both of the UD x Gwen palettes are really phenomenal. If I had to pick one I would say the blush one wins – I hope to have swatches edited and the review posted soon, but this one is a must.
- Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Concealer ($27, reviewed here and here) is a miracle worker for brightening the under eye. A little goes a long way so you only need a tiny dab – but once you apply it, under eye circles and darkness are gone. When I attended the Makeup Show – we were told that they were planning to expand the color range.
- Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation ($43, worn in tutorial here) review forthcoming, but this is the best foundation stick I’ve tried that is tied with the one from Tom Ford. The main difference is the one from MUFE isn’t quite as thick in texture so I can wear it all over the face. I prefer layering this on top of my regular liquid foundation in places I need extra coverage but it’s a winner.
- Kate Somerville Eradikate To Go! ($22) I’ve already gone through 2 packs of these. They work wonders on pimples like nothing else I’ve tried. My husband likes them too. They are gentle enough to use on sensitive skin so I bought a set for my brother. The color is tinted pink so they are best used on days you don’t need to go outside in public or at night when you sleep.
- Kate Somerville Exfolikate Cleanser ($38, review here) favorite cleanser of the moment. I already used up a tube and am on my second. I will probably be stocking up on this during the sale because it’s that good.
- Laura Mercier Face Illuminator ($44) in Indiscretion has made a comeback and now there are three new colors in the same formula. I’ve been playing with all of them and will have a review soon but if you liked the super glowy radiant finish of the original one but wanted a different color I think you will be really happy there are more options now.
- Too Faced Melted Chocolate Liquified Lipsticks ($21 each, reviewed here) are some of my favorite liquid lipsticks and they smell (and taste) delicious, Chocolate Honey and Metallic Frozen Hot Chocolate are my favorite colors
For the sale I plan on stocking up on some basics. I’ll report back with a haul once I’ve placed an order but in the meantime I hope you found this roundup of recommendations helpful! I think I could have gone on with a list 2-3 times long but I tried to narrow down my top picks for right now. In terms of highlighters I think the Anastasia Glow Kits that I just reviewed are my favorite so far. I’ll have a review of the Laura Mercier and Urban Decay up as soon as I can to compare.
To recap on dates and codes:
- VIB Rouge Members – April 7 to 13, 2016 receive 15% off with code ROUGENOTE
- VIB Members – April 8 to 13, 2016 receive 15% off with code VIBNOTE
- BI Members – April 9 to 12, 2016 receive 10% off with code BINOTE
What’s on your shopping list? Are you going to order online or stop by your local store? Or both?
Press samples featured include the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint, Marc Jacobs Beauty Brushes, T3 PROi, Tom Ford Fire Lust, Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche, Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Concealer, Kate Somerville Exfolikate Cleanser.
