August Sephora Play Review 2016

Another month, another late Sephora Play review.

This time my talented and super sweet friend Emily and I teamed up for a collaboration! Emily is amazing, and crazy talented. Capturing not only my moody matte flat lays + lattes, but also pictures for the K-State Collegian, check it out here!

Most of the time when I do my makeup I have a latte in front of me and NPR playing whilst I’m trying out all these new products. So I thought let’s bring August's Sephora Play box to Radinas (a popular, local coffee house in Manhattan with a cult following). P.S. here are two more fascinating podcasts to listen to 1, 2.

As these boxes get more and more popular it’s disheartening to see unfavorable reviews. All in all I love Sephora Play and think it's a great price! This month I was pretty excited to try so many new shades and products (surprising, huh?). August’s theme was all about eyes, with this adorable “Wink outside the box” pouch.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara (0.1 oz) 

I love trying mascara samples and this mascara’s packaging is 10/10. There’s something feisty about gun metal mascara. I didn’t notice anything extra ordinary with this mascara other than that it was lengthening.

Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm (0.23 oz) 

When I opened this little balm up I nearly squealed. It was filled to the brim with product. I love products that are filled to the top. I think its just good manners. I loved the texture of this eye cream it was so soft and billowy. I didn’t see instance results but my face did feel plumper and better in the morning! Now Pop Chips can someone tell them to fill the bags to the top???

Clean Reserve Warm Cotton Perfume Vial 

I love Clean perfumes but in general I don’t feel like they last very long =( Clean Reserve is essentially a line extension from Clean. It is a personalized collection that represents ingredients and individuality. I bought a mini rollerball trio of Clean perfumes consisting of Rain, White Woods, and Skin back in 2013 from Sephora’s Black Friday deals. They were nice to have on hand in my backpack if I had forgotten to wear perfume that day. However they weren’t very scented. I had really wanted Rain to work out for me, but it didn’t have that strong a smell =/

When I put Warm Cotton on today I was surprised. I smelled like a Yankee Candle in the best way possible. I’ve heard this perfume smells like Yankee’s Fluffy Towels (will get back to you). I can’t really explain the nice, fresh (lol) scent of this perfume. I felt like this line lasted longer throughout the day than the other Clean perfumes I've tried. However, I don’t think this is something that will become a signature scent anytime soon but it was very cool to try, and a nice break from my Prada Candy and samples of Tom Ford.

Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow in I-544

I usually am an all matte eye shadow gal. My eye shadow routine can basically be best summarized as the Shade & Light palette by Kat Von D. I was surprised to like this shade instantly. I like this eye shadow because it’s not something I'd pick and it’s wearable. It's a smoky kind of purple but moody, very 90s in my opinion. I put it in my outer lid and outer crease and loved the results.

Lancome Energie de Vie The Smoothing & Glow Boosting Liquid Care (0.16 oz)

Although I'm fond of Lancome I didn't particularly like this product. Mainly because when I opened it, it started oozing out. I did like this product as a replacement to moisturizer at night. Unfortunately there wasn't anything overwhelmingly noticeable about this product. I love luxe skincare though so I can't complain too much.

 Sephora Contour Eye Pencil in Love Affair

 I loved this eye pencil from the moment I saw it. It’s dark enough to look like a brown or black, but it’s plum! Who would’ve thought? I lined my waterline with Love Affair and although it looked black at first later in the day I loved the little smudged out plum that was left there. I wore this color entirely on a Sunday to work and quite liked it. The formula is awesome, and super creamy. I had a little trouble acing the cat eye with this liner but you can fake the tip of the wing with black felt eyeliner and it looks fine!

I did notice that this eyeliner was a little to tricky to take off, my Sephora eye makeup remover was not enough to take this off. Even paired with Glam Glow Supercleanse I still felt this eyeliner stayed in some crevices.

Overall,

I think what I liked most about this box was the pairings. This eye shadow + eye pencil are perfect together for vampy fall looks. I loved that the Lancome Energie de Vie worked perfectly with Algenist’s Eye Balm. I like the fact that these items all kind of pair together (minus the perfume which I surprisingly liked too). I'm hoping Sephora Play pairs more items together in the future!

Wishing you all a healthy, productive, love filled, 72 degree September. See you soon!

Photos c/o the sweet Emily Starkey
Follow her on Instagram!

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