Sephora Deluxe Fragrance Sampler for Her/Him-review.

If you know me, you know I can't resist Sephora. 

So, it's about that time again...haha.

I picked up the Deluxe Fragrance Sampler for my husband and had to have one for myself.

These sets cost $50 each ($96 value) and the "Hers" set has 12 samples plus an atomizer. The "His" set has 14 samples, including two Jack Black facial products.

If you're not familiar with Sephora's fragrance gift sets, you might be like, "What the heck!? Why would you pay for samples!?" I wouldn't. These sets come with a voucher that you can redeem in store for a free full size bottle of the fragrance of your choice.

So, you get the samples to try each perfume/cologne out for a while to see which one you fall in love with. Perfect. 

The sets are packaged in keepsake boxes. This box is so sparkly in person. It's really nice quality.

The atomizer to the left, and the voucher for a full size bottle of perfume of your choice to the right.

    The "Hers" set comes with:

                   -0.05 oz Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir Eau de Parfum

         -0.05 oz oz Clinique Happy Eau de Parfum

               -0.05 oz Coach Poppy Flower Eau de Parfum

                           -0.05 oz Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Eau de Toilette

                         -0.05 oz DKNY pure DKNY Verbena Scent Spray

                              -0.05 oz Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioa Eau de Parfum

                                     -0.03 oz Givenchy Very Irresistible L'Intense Eau de Parfum

  -0.06 oz Gucci Guilty Eau de Toilette

    -0.05 oz Juicy Couture Eau de Parfum

             -0.04 oz Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Toilette

              -0.05 oz Prada Infusion D'Iris Eau de Parfum

                   -0.05 oz Versace Bright Crystal Eau de Toilette

His box 

1.0 oz Jack Black Double Duty Face Moisturizer and 1.0 oz Jack Black Pure Clean Daily Facial Cleanser to the left, and the voucher for free fragrance of choice to the right. 

This set contains:

-0.05 oz Bvlgari MAN

-0.06 oz Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Pour Homme

-0.05 oz Giorgia Armani Acqua di Gio

-0.03 oz Givenchy Play Eau de Toilette

-0.06 oz Gucci Guilty Pour Homme

-0.04 oz Hanae Mori HM

-0.03 oz Jean Paul Gaultier LE MALE

-0.04 oz John Varvatos Star U.S.A

-0.05 oz Prada Amber Pour Homme

-0.05 oz Versace Man Eau Fraiche

-0.05 oz Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme

-0.05 Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit De L'Homme

These are nice travel size products. I'm jealous that mine didn't come with something like this. lol. 

These sets are perfect for gifts, or just for yourself. They're a great deal, and if you order online, don't forget to go through a site like Ebates.com for cash back. The last time I checked, Ebates was having 8% cash back on Sephora right now. 

Sephora also has a Collector's Edition Fragrance Sampler for Him/Her that's $75 each ($155 value for him and $175 value for her) with larger samples that come in tiny little bottles of their namesake. So precious, and well worth it. These sets also have a voucher for a free bottle of your choice. *The fragrance options are different than the ones I reviewed-so check that out if you're interested* 

*A quick tidbit*

Confused by the Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum?

These labels are just giving you an idea on how long you can expect your fragrance to last.

Body sprays or splashes don't last as long as an Eau de Toilette, and an Eau de Toilette doesn't last as long as an Eau de Parfum. 

Is this on your wish list? Have you purchased these in the past? Love it? Hate it?

I'm so tempted to pick up the collector's edition. 

:0)

XO

Sephora VIB 500 point perk-DIOR bracelet and perfume-Worth it?

So, I cashed in my VIB points from Sephora. 

The 500 point perk right now is this DIOR charm bracelet and .17 fl oz Addict eau de toilette.

I know I've seen some saying this isn't worth the points, because every point is a dollar spent. True, true. But this is actually a really nice 500 point perk compared to some that I've seen.

It came in this super cute little box.

This is a nice deluxe sample. This is roughly worth $10 and I've seen it for $20 on ebay. 

I can't tell you what it smells like, I can't get the lid off to save my life.... LOL. And I don't want to spill a precious drop. :-P

This is a gorgeous charm bracelet! 

The charms are detailed and adorable.

It's actually pretty heavy and as far as I can tell, it's really nice quality. I can't tell you how much this is worth, but I'm thinking about getting it appraised. 

I know it's not going to be something amazing, but it is cute, and I love it.

A little shopping bag! How appropriate. :0)

If you like jewelry and like DIOR perfume, I would recommend cashing in your points. 

I know sometimes they have makeup as a point perk, and I can buy makeup any day, but this was something out of the ordinary so I had to have it. 

If this isn't something you'd wear, maybe give it as a gift to your daughter or your sister. They would LOVE it. 

Are you a sephora VIB? What has been the best point perk you've cashed in?

XO

My Sephora haul *Picture heavy*

My Sephora package came. Yay! 

All my goodies.

Half of what I got was free. F-R-E-E, my favorite word. Ahhh. I love it. 

My free perfume samples in Gucci by Gucci Sport and Issey Miyake L'EAU D'ISSEY Florale.

The Gucci is 2ml and the other one is 1ml. 

If I'm going to get a perfume sample, I love getting them in the vials rather than the little towelette. ( I'm talking to you Taylor Swift! I got my Wonderstruck sample and it's a towelette and I have a sinus infection and can't really give a review and I opened it a little...hopefully it doesn't dry out before I get my senses back. ha)  I think in order to truly see if you like something you have to try it a few times. 

Both of these perfumes smell really good ( as much as I can tell), and I should say cologne because the Gucci one is for a man.

The other one is floral, and normally I don't really like floral scents too much, but this has a light floral scent and I can tolerate it. Floral scents normally give me a headache, so if you have that same problem, this perfume might be okay for you too if you're interested. 

I give them a thumbs up. 

I got a sample of this in my August Birchbox, the original kind, and I loved it.

I have combination to oily skin and found this light version, so I bought a travel sized one to try it out. 

I swatched it and the texture of the light feels like lotion. I'm curious to see how this will work compared to the original. The original feels like a smooth silicon and it wasn't heavy at all. 

All of my freebies. :-)

My Yves Saint Laurent mascara sample. (I posted the code for this a couple posts back)

I can NOT wait to try this. This mascara is supposed to give you the false eyelash look and believe me I need  all the help I can get for my poor little lashes. lol. 

This is a 3ml sample, not too bad, not too bad at all. It's a $15 value. 

I have a ton of mascaras to try before I can test this, look for those reviews in the near future.

I picked up this Dior Diorshow mascara in black. I've tried and reviewed D&G's volumizing mascara and LOVED it and wanted to compare it with Dior. 

Have you tried this mascara out yet? What are your thoughts on it? Worth the money? Did you love it or hate it? Let me know. 

I'll be doing a review on this, but like I said, I have a TON of mascara to go through before I get to this...eek...remind me to lay off the mascara purchases. ha.

My $8 NARS eyeshadows!! Yay. I'm so glad I found these little gems on the website...

and the deal is still available! Go check it out!

The packaging on NARS eyeshadows, and NARS in general, is so cute. I love the little mirrors. 

California and Night Sun.

Close up of California.

Close up of Night Sun.

Note: This has ALOT of chunky glitter in it. My camera couldn't pick up the glitter at all. 

It's a very pretty shadow. 

If you hate glitter, you could still get this as the glitter falls off pretty easily. You have to pack it on if you want the glitter to stay on. 

Swatch of Night Sun. It's pretty sheer. 

Swatch of California. 

This swatch looked better on my camera, sorry it's blurry. This is a VERY pigmented shadow. It's a lovely copper color. 

And last but not least, my two year old daughter wanted to help swatch. LOL. This is what was left over on my finger....SUPER pigmented.

XO

*HOT* Free Sample of Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift.

To get a free sample of Taylor Swift's new perfume go "like" her Facebook page and click on the Wonderstruck tab and request a free sample. It's that easy!

Top Notes: freesia, apple blossom and juicy berries

Middle Notes: vanilla, honeysuckle, and white hibiscus.

Bottom Notes: golden amber, warm musk, and lush peach.

I can't wait to get my sample, I'll do a review when I receive it. 

Let me know in the comments if you requested the sample, or if you purchase the full size and how you like it. 

xo

Happy Birthday, Birchbox!

I got my September Birchbox in the mail today, finally!

The September box shipped out later than August's box so we got them about a week later than "normal." I say "normal" because I've only had the Aug. box to compare it to. lol.

I have been super excited for this Birchbox since it's the 1 year anniversary of the company starting.

Enough of me rambling, let's get started.

The little brown Birchbox

This is what it looked like when I opened it.

My first item was these Incoco nail strips in blue glitter. 

These retail anywhere from $7.99-$10.99 

Now, my opinion on these: I went ahead a watched youtube videos and knew what to expect with the different designs birchbox had to offer and these were the ones I did NOT want. Hmmmph. Blue glitter!? I can just paint my nails blue and add blue glitter, not a real big deal. I really really wanted a design. They had cheetah and rainbow glitter and zebra glitter and I get the plain blue ones? What the heck!? My profile says I'm adventurous...but, I have really wanted to try this since Sally Hansen's nail strips came out and haven't bought them and now I get to try them so I'm okay with the blue glitter....just okay. 

My second item was this Pangea Organics facial cream in Nigerian ginger with lavender & thyme.

This is a 1oz travel size sample and I am happy with the size, this is what I expect to get for a sample that I have to pay for. I was pretty excited for this since I am slightly obsessed with face products, but I know Birchbox sends out Pangea Organics products in their boxes all the time so if I had been a member for a while now, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been too happy about this.

I don't have my card with me at the moment, but I think this retails in full for about $40? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Next is this Jouer lip treatment in an extremely small sample size that says "not for retail" on the back, which means it is a FREE sample size! Ugh, come on Birchbox, I thought this was a DELUXE sampling program? I like to consider myself resourceful enough to find a free sample of this on my own and wouldn't have had to pay the $10 a month member fee....I have wanted to try Jouer and I'm glad I get to now, but I could have found this on my own, and it would have been free....just saying..

This would be $14 in full size.

This was what I was least looking forward to, LIV GRN perfume sample. First of all, I am very particular in my perfume and getting a sample is kind of hit or miss so I don't like getting random perfume samples, second of all, perfume samples are FREE! I just got a Burberry sample for FREE in the mail and I can get them anytime I please at the mall and I can grab 10 if I like. You only get one in this box. So, two out of four products I was sent was absolutely FREE for Birchbox to send me....Ugh!

On a positive note: I actually do really like this perfume, so the only thing Birchbox got accomplished is I am now aware of this perfume, but it is $60 and that alone deters me from making a purchase.

The "Extra" for this months box is a friendship bracelet in the shape of the Birchbox logo. 

This is kinda cute and I am wearing it right now. I appreciate the thought behind this, Thank You, Birchbox.

Everything that was in my box.

My final thoughts: Overall, I am kinda disappointed in this month's box especially because this was the 1 year anniversary. Two out of the four items should have been free so I only got two that actually counteracted the $10 I pay a month and the nail strips were not the "coolest" design so I could have just took my $10 and bought Sally Hansen's in a design I liked and skipped this box. I really wanted to love this box, I don't hate it, if this were any other month I would have actually liked it, but it was very underwhelming for a birthday box. 

I am also very disappointed because I've watched videos of boxes in the past and it seems the quality of products have went way down. Birchbox has sent out free full sized items before, like a $30 blush and a full size $18 eyeshadow. I don't expect a full size product in every box or even at all, I just expect to get deluxe samples, not super tiny FREE samples. I really like the idea of Birchbox, but they have alot to work on. I am going to keep my membership and hope the quality gets better, I have faith this can be a good company.