The holidays has come and gone and I figured for one of my first 2020 posts, I’m going to do beauty haul – they’re some of my favourite posts to read on others’ blogs and I haven’t shopped in a while. It feels like the post-holiday-ish season is the perfect way of stocking up goodies for the new year… right?
I hope your end of 2019 was better than mine – I got sick over Christmas (the stomach bug which knocked me out) so I made up being bed-ridden for 2 weeks with some online shopping… because why not right?
In hindsight, online shopping and being sick were definitely not a good combination though I suppose the pent up lack of shopping during Black Friday (where the only thing I bought was a washer/dryer laundry suite – the real adult stuff!), I felt justified shopping with having early access to the 20% off end of the year sale as a VIB Rouge.
I know, I’m overwhelmed by the volume of things I bought too. I guess, I just have to justify the “but they were on sale!” with “I also got 20% off them!” and “I was too sick to think clearly!” – other suggestions welcomed!
I really cleared out** (but let’s be real here LOL!) the sale section at Sephora – there were so many things that I had planned to buy during the Holiday sale (where beauty insiders get 15-20% off) and to get them at the sale price on top of a 20% discount was a major steal. I picked up a little bit of everything so I’ll try to break it down and share a bit of my purchase.
The majority of items I bought during the Sephora “Sale on Sale” were the limited-edition holiday set – they’re such great bargains and this is really the time of the year where brands go all out with the variety of products included and bargains! I mean seriously, I’m basically stocking up for the new year with all this shopping!
By the way, all prices listed below are the sale price (before the 20% off)
I stocked up on the Sephora Favorites Frizz Fighters: Care, Treatments & Stylers ($11.50, sephora.ca) which is a 5-pc haircare sample set. I bought this mainly for the Moroccanoil Hairoil Treatment (49, sephora.ca). Ever since I tried this at a Moroccanoil event in the fall, I’ve been so obsessed with it and the scent is just to die for! Honestly feels when I have this on, that I just left the salon. I can’t stop smelling my hair when I have this on! The rest of the samples are great for travelling!
The Sephora Favorites Iconic Hair ($25, sephora.ca) was another exciting purchase – it comes with the Moroccanoil Treatment sample (of course!) but also a variety of hair masks, dry shampoos and treatment products. My hair is going to be very well-loved in 2020!
The final hair set I got from Sephora is the brand’s Sephora Favorites Extend Your Style ($20, sephora.ca). Although Batiste remains my staple dry shampoo trying out 5 new ones that at $20 didn’t seem like a bad purchase. Plus, Moroccanoil! (can you tell how obsessed I got with this product?)
Onto the next section, makeup! I was so, so stoked when I saw Sephora had put both the Laura Mercier Make it Matte Setting Powder + Puff Set ($38, sephora.ca) and the Laura Mercier Make it Glow Setting Powder + Brush Set ($38, sephora.ca) on the sale section. Of course, they went quickly (By the way, the Glow setting powder in Translucent is still available at the time of writing!)
These sets are such an amazing bargain, and I’ve had my eye on this all December long; I even purchased a similar set during the NordStrom anniversary sale! I’m not sure if I care overmuch for the puff or the brush included, but these sets include the full-sized version of this product which costs $51 a piece!
I ended up picking up a bunch of other products for nostalgia’s sake or because they were such a great deal. For example, the Urban Decay Honey Eyeshadow Primer Potion Ornament ($17, sephora.ca) was a bit of an implulse purchase since I haven’t purchased eyeshadow primers since 2012. The same goes for my purchase of the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water Duo ($18, sephora.ca) which is the scented variety of the “regular” version I have. I ended up purchasing the IT Cosmetics Your Complexion Perfection ($17, available here) for similar reasons. Seriously, these holiday sets are just plain dangerous!
MAC is another section I managed to check before checking out. Although the selection isn’t as diverse as the retailer’s own, the prices were cheaper through Sephora. I managed to snag two sets from the Starring You holiday set (the packaging reallllllly stood out to me!) The Starring You: Starry-Eyed Kit ($44) and the Starring You: Cosmic Lip Duo – both featuring full-sized products at a bargain! You can also back-to-mac the empty tubes/packaging!
I saw the YSL TOUCHE ECLAT Glow Shot Liquid Highlighter ($45, sephora.ca) also on sale and picked up 2 shades- this holiday season, I’ve really been in love with liquid highlighters and mixing them with my moisturizer. The glow on my tanned skin just looks so flattering and makes getting ready in the morning that much quicker!
Finally, wrapping up this haul with some skincare (of course!) – my favourite purchase was the Caudalie Favourites Set ($24.50, sephora.ca). This brand has a special place in my routine – all their products are so gentle and my skin always feels so much more pampered and well-loved. I wished I bought more than one though because this set has all of my favourite products in one!
I also got the Fresh Fresh Darlings ($29, sephora.ca) although I’m not sure how much I liked it enough to keep. I found the cleanser to be mediocre at best so I may end up exchanging this for another product if anything!
Phew – that was a bit of a long post! What did you pick up during the Sephora “Sale on Sale” event?
