My Mini Makeup Haul

I don’t know if you can really even call this a haul, but I recently purchased a few beauty items that I am super excited to share and review. So I guess I should just get started then.

A few weeks back I convinced my mother to join me on a trip to a Sephora store while at a local mall. I had only been in Sephora a few times prior and the entire world of makeup and fashion is all still relatively new to me. However I knew that I loved the store because it held all of the candies of a dream I once had. (Not physical candies, we are speaking metaphorically, its makeup, I’m talking about makeup)

Yves Saint Laurent

On my last trip to Sephora I was wandering to the Yves Saint Laurent lipstick section and fell in love with the Rouge Volupte Lipsticks. Not only did the colors translate well onto skin, the casing is just to die for. The design of the container is what I believe to be one of the most exquisite parts of the entire YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick series. The rest of the three part equation that makes the YSL lipsticks so desirable, in my eyes at least, are the soft silk-like feeling and the light rose scent. 

Image courtesy of yslbeautyus.com

After a good 30 minutes of going back and forth I purchase the YSL Rouge Volupte Nude Beige 1. I realize there are many other more colorful and wonderful lipsticks to choose from, but I am a sucker for the nude lip so I decided that I wanted my first ever YSL to be a nude lipstick. I went back and forth for a few days prior to purchasing the lipstick on if the actual product was worth the market price. The YSL lipstick that I purchased runs for $34, and I was really debating it worth. Although now that I obviously have purchased this product I am so happy with my decision and love the lipstick. The price is still a little steep to be spending regularly so the YSL lipsticks are more of a special occasion item for me. 

If I were to rate this product I would have to take into account; price, saturation/pigment, touch, scent, design, and of course taste. (I don’t eat my lipsticks, but that doesn’t mean that sometimes a little bit gets into your mouth, so I had to include taste) Below I have accumulated all of the scores for each category out of 10 and averaged it out to get the overall rating.

YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick Nude Beige 1

Price: 6

Saturation/ Pigment: 7

Touch: 10

Scent: 10

Design: 10

Taste: 6

Overall rating: 8 out of 10


Smashbox

The next two items are both from Smashbox and are in the category of face makeup. While wandering around Sephora I found the Smashbox section and immediately remembered all of the YouTube videos I’ve watched were beauty gurus and enthusiasts mention the brilliance of BB creams and redness correction face makeup. So I started testing things out. 

Image courtesy of Smashbox.com

(I had previously been through the Smashbox section at Nordstroms and they gave me some free samples of both the Camera Ready BB Cream and the Photo Finish Color Correcting makeup.)

I knew quickly that I wanted to purchase the BB Cream due to its wonderful coverage and smooth blending abilities, however; I was still pondering the Photo Finish Color Correcting primer (the stuff that’s green and looks like it’s made for an alien). When I had tried both out at home from the samples I was given, I really enjoyed the smooth feeling of the color correcting cream, however, I could not tell if it was actually taking away my redness. 

Image courtesy of Smashbox.com

Little fun fact about me, I am of European decent and have a lot of Irish, English, and everything else that makes me have very rosy cheeks, so I have always applied a proper amount of foundation and coverup to my face in order to take away my blood shot cheeks. Anyways, back to the makeup. 

Since I knew that I liked the feeling and did seem to see a small improvement in my skin I gave both the Photo Finish Color Correcting primer and the BB Cream in shade Light a chance. At Sephora, and on Smashbox.com, the BB Cream costs $39 and the Color Correcting Primer is $38. Again, the prices are steep but the products seem worth it to me. However, I know for a fact that I can not afford to keep purchasing these items regularly due to their price, so if you know of an affordable alternative for color correcting and/or BB cream then please let me know. 

If I were to rate these products I would have to take into account; price, coverage, touch, scent, and design. Below I have accumulated all of the scores for each category out of 10 and averaged it out to get the overall rating of the Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Primer and the Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35 - Light. (By the way, due to the fact that the BB cream has sunscreen in it, I do smell a faint scent of sunscreen while wearing it, although I enjoy that smell so it does not bother me.)

Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Primer

Price: 5

Coverage: 6

Touch: 10

Scent: (not adding to equation because I don’t believe it has a scent)

Design: 7

Overall rating: 7 out of 10

Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Primer

Price: 5

Coverage: 8

Touch: 10

Scent: 7

Design: 7

Overall rating: 7 out of 10

I hope you enjoyed the review of my mini makeup haul. I plan on doing these types of blog posts for the foreseeable future, so stay tuned for more!

Love Always,

Kirsten Nicole