3 Sephora Items You Need

You guys, Sephora is having a major sale for members. Yup. That’s right. & it goes until August 27 so you have lot’s of time to add tons of stuff to your cart, become a member, & score the deal.

So here’s how you become a member: you can reach VIB level after spending $350/year & Rouge membership after spending $1,000/year. SO. If you’re already a Rouge member you get 20% off with the code SUMMERSAVE. & If you’re a VIB member, you get 15% off with the code SUMMERSAVE.

Pillow Talk Lipstick

BUT LIKE ARE YOU READY FOR THE LIPSTICK OF YOUR DREAMS?

It’s so yummy & perfect & makes your lips look all pillow-y & plump. BIGGER LIPS TOO!

Looks good on everyone.

OH, YES. Guess what guys? This lipstick has passed every test.

How, you ask, can one say that if we’re all different skin tones? I know, I know- it’s weird! It’s not normal that a lipstick looks good on EVERYONE? But this one just does. Well at least I’ve tried it on 2309 of my friends & they’re all in love. I even ::tried:: to get Michael to test it out because he is 1/4 Japanese & 1/4 Italian!! His skin tone is super pretty so I wanted to double-check you know? Sure he looked at me like I was crazy. But what can you do? I MEAN YES I KNOW I AM CRAZY.

BUT CRAZY over Pillow Talk by Charlotte Tilbury.

Charlotte is always quoted saying: “lipstick is happiness in a tube!”

And this shade is most CERTAINLY happiness in a tube.

First off, it’s a lip cheat lipstick. What does that mean? Well, simple. It means you can fake your lips to appear bigger than they actually are. YES, you can FAKE IT. Completely. In 5 seconds. I love a good ‘fake it until you make it’ moment, don’t you?

The story behind this lipstick is it was initially a lip liner ( I have the lip liner too because it’s so good but I feel like that’s another post ).

Wait, I’ll let Charlotte tell the story because she talks about this particular shade on multiple blogs. She says: “My friends have been BEGGING me for years to turn my CULT classic Lip Cheat Lip Liner into a lipstick, so I am thrilled to introduce the iconic shade in a magic Matte Revolution finish! This dreamy nude pink is the ultimate celebrity & supermodel lip color for naturally fuller, wider lips. The color enhances the natural hue of your lips, so you can CHEAT a perfect pillow-y pout in seconds. Enriched with soothing orchid & Lipstick Tree extracts, lips appear fuller and wider, with a softer, more youthful feel. Finished with an angled square tip, apply straight from the bullet for the best lips of your life!”

You get the idea.

You should know too that it totally creates the illusion of fuller, wider lips. TRICKERY!!!!!! I love- don’t you?

IT IS WORTH IT- not leading you on here. Don’t believe me? Go into Sephora & try it. Whatever. I promise you won’t leave empty-handed though. I’m telling you IT’S GOLD. In fact, this paraben-free lipstick is very much TSC-Approved.

I do a few things here. The first is when I’m working out I’ll just line my lips with Pillow Talk lip liner & put Burt’s Bees pink grapefruit lip balm over the situation. The second option is if I have meetings- I’ll just do the lipstick, no liner ( well, sometimes liner too- depends on the day ). THEN for a nighttime WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM MOMENT, I do this NARS lip pencil in ‘Do Me Baby’ lined with Pillow Talk, & then top it off with Smashbox’s INSTA-MATTE LIPSTICK TRANSFORMER. I LOVE ALL THREE.

The liner deserves its own special shout out too- I have 3. It’s known in the industry as a LIFE-SAVER. Basically it’s “lip liner to re-shape & re-size your lips.” The liner & lipstick pretty much do the same thing, it just depends on what you’re going for.

I SHOULD MENTION THIS ISN’T THAT CRUSTY, DRY KIND OF LIPSTICK THAT MAKES YOUR LIPS LOOK UN-BECOMING. This is your lips, ON STEROIDS- K?

( If your lips are ever feeling crusty- I have this HACK THAT WORKS WONDERS. Dry lips begone! ).

Whether you use the lip liner or the lipstick, the color just makes most people look pretty with pouty lips because it’s kind of a lip colored lipstick- so there’s nothing dramatic happening here, just a bigger lip. I love this lipstick & if there are any haters out there- I NEED TO KNOW WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? Telling you this shade really looks good on everyone I think. There’s something about it. The tube is also gold which very much looks cute in a lipstick stand.

I hope I’ve convinced you to try it because I personally can’t get enough.

It Cosmetics CC cream with SPF 50

OK so here’s the thing: this CC Cream has changed my skin/makeup game.

Since you guys really responded to the post about my horrendous, brown sun mustache, I figured SHIT…I NEED TO SHARE what’s helped cover the stache too.

That’s where the magical CC Cream comes in.

…I mean really, the best, best, BEST CC Cream on the planet.

( Stop reading right now if you’re not into glowy, dewy, flawless skin ).

Ok so I originally found this so randomly on YouTube. It wasn’t anyone famous or huge on YouTube. Just kind of off the beaten path YouTube foundation tutorial.

For some reason, I was intrigued. I’d link the video, but it was so damn random that I don’t even know where to begin to search for it.

Anyway, immediately I bought a bottle in ‘light.’

Ok so here’s the deal, try it make sure you’re priming your face with a very good primer before application!! A primer sets the canvas & makes all the difference in the world. A good caffeinated sunscreen always does the trick. ( << I use this everyday, every second because the caffeine tightens my skin BIG TIME- love a quick facelift, LOL ).

Every time I apply this CC Cream I blot it with a Beauty Blender, my ride or die beauty companion. Make sure when you’re using a Beauty Blender you BLOT, not rub. TRUST ME on this! It looks more natural. & it HAS TO BE DAMP.

The damp Beauty Blender & CC Cream together make for this dewy, glowy, Snapchat-filter finish that you will become addicted too.

Blue Cooling Mask

This has been talked about very recently on TSC, but I just can’t get enough & feel like everyone needs it.

This mask is just a random mask that was sent to The Skinny Confidential office & I happened to try it out one day after Dorit Kemsley from Real Housewives recommended it on her vacation. & I FELL IN LOVE.

First off, it’s the perfect traveling mask, especially for warmer climates. It’s cooling, tightening, & makes your skin unbelievably delicious & buttery. It’s also good for every single skin type: oily, dry, sensitive, combination, & normal. To be real, Michael even tried it on his skin & he was very much into it.

After trying the mask, I discovered that it was really shrinking my pores & helping with dullness & uneven tone & texture. But, the main thing you can expect with this mask is the shrinkage of pores.

& then, after I tried the mask a 4th time, I wanted to dive in to find out everything I could about it. Ole Henriksen is a Scandinavian man/brand & this mask was inspired by the plunge pools of Scandinavia.

“Inspired by the “cold plunge” part of a Scandinavian sauna cycle, this cooling clay mask detoxifies, controls oil, and reduces the look of pores. The innovative formula harnesses the power of alpine willow herb and snow lotus—antioxidant-rich botanicals that have adapted to thrive in extreme cold—to soothe, mattify, and refine pores. Add cool water, and the turquoise clay mask thaws into a luxurious lather that sweeps away excess oil and impurities. With AHA and BHA, the mask unveils dramatically improved skin texture. Balance is restored as Green Fusion Complex™ and neem seed oil help replenish the skin and you see a refreshed, refined and purified Ole Glow®.” ( via )

It’s also part of Sephora’s Clean Beauty section which is always a win. This mask is formulated without all the nasty shit like: Sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, triclosan, triclocarban.

I applied it with an old Beauty Blender ( it was damp of course ) then I washed it off with Elemis Cleansing Balm. I left it on for an obscene amount of time which is ridiculous. Like sometimes for hours, but you can leave it on for about 20 mins & see results. It’s great to use before you put on makeup because it’s going to tighten your skin & give you this really pretty, primed canvas. Anyway as of now this is on the top of my beauty products list. And one that I’ll continue to travel with & use at home.

This is currently at the front of my skin fridge. It’s the perfect place because it keeps it extra cool. If you want to up this mask’s efficiency, get a fan. No I’m not joking. Like a cute paper fan to fan yourself with. I was walking around my hotel room, in a robe, just fanning myself.

What do you guys LOVE from Sephora? Let me know below. I’m always looking for new things to try. Beauty guinea pig over here. Chat soon.

x, lauryn

+ if you’re into skin, you have to check out this hack.

++ for more beauty products, tips & tricks, scope out this page.

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