A Series of Observations

Hello my beauties! The long-awaited time is upon us, the Spring Sephora Sale. Cue the upbeat (or suspenseful) music because we have some good stuff to go over. I already hit send on my cart and secured my goodies, so I wanted to share what I will be trying out or restocking.

I’ll start by saying I consider myself to be someone with normal to dry skin, and sensitive too. I’m not able to try every product on the market, and the products I do find myself trying focus on moisture, barrier maintenance, with acne control and overall health. When I’m looking for products, I want them to be made with good-quality, clean ingredients, from a brand that works to support sustainable practices.

Unfortunately, we know that often isn’t the case in the beauty world (a blog post for another time), but I do my best to filter out the brands that aren’t doing the work that they should. I can’t promise that every brand on this list checks every single box, but I trust them.

Let’s start with the restocks. It takes a lot of patience and effort for me to get to a restock point on a product, be it makeup or skin, so when I have to go for round two or three on something, I know it’s something that is a ride or die in my routine!

First up, the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel Pads. These things are tiny but mighty to say the least. These pads are a chemical exfoliator with AHAs/BHAs, acids and antioxidants that buff my skin to perfection when I need the extra help. Chemical exfoliants should always be used responsibly (and with professional guidance). Keep in mind, these aren’t for the faint of heart, but if you are they have a sensitive version, or if you’re a force to be reckoned with, extra strength. I only use these maybe once a week, so I don’t mind the standard, and at that rate, they last me quite a while! So it’s worth the investment in my eyes.

My go-to exfoliator other than the peel pads is the Dermalogica Microfoliant Exfoliator. She’s a classic, and does such a fantastic job at giving me the light exfoliation I need without completely stripping my skin, or wreaking further havoc when I’m having some breakouts. Ingredients work together to even skin tone and texture, exfoliate, as well as hydrate and sooth. It’s a powder formula, so you add a coin size amount to your hands and lather with a couple drops of water to make a paste, then go to town! I’ve purchased this before, and I even have the travel size ready to go, so this time around I purchased their refill pack. This refill pack gives you the same amount as their standard size container, but with 92% less plastic waste, a sustainability win!

Last restock item I purchased was the Saie Slip Tint Tinted Moisturizer. To say I love this might be an understatement. The Slip Tint was my introduction to the brand, and I wasn’t disappointed. I wore it religiously during the warmer months, and loved how it made my skin look while also giving me sun protection. I still wore regular sunscreen underneath though! It comes in a pump container, which we love, and has non-nano mineral zinc oxide with an SPF value of 35. That combined with other hydrating ingredients, it provides a smooth but lovely lightweight and natural coverage. My biggest complaint about this product is the shade range. It simply sucks, and to be entirely honest, the shade Three + Half that I get borderline a little too dark if I don’t have self tanner on, or haven’t seen the sun in months (like right now). But because of the light coverage, it’s easier to play around with, but not for darker skin tones. The lighter options wouldn’t work for my undertones, so that’s why I stay away from them. However I usually don’t notice it as much once the rest of my makeup routine is done. But PLEASE Saie, let’s give the people more shades (and olive undertones)!

Here’s where the real fun starts…all the new goodies I got to start playing with! I recently cleaned out my makeup stash, tossing products that were super old or lost my favor, so I feel justified to get a few new and fun things. I also am someone that tends to buy the mini version of a new product (if they have it). I know it’s not entirely cost effective when you do the math, but I would rather not waste the product and spend a little less to test it out. Then if I fall in love with it, I have a travel version and can buy a larger size for everyday!

I love simple, and lightweight skincare. I’ve learned that the less I do, the better, for my skin at least. However I want the products I do use to do everything I need them to! So I love toners or essences. They give me lots of customization in my routine without adding too many extra overwhelming layers. I picked up the Laneige Cream Skin Toner. A milky consistency and packed with ceramides and peptides, this product is said to help with dryness, breakouts, and skin elasticity. I’m testing it out primarily for the hydrating benefits, but we’ll see what else it does for me!

I grabbed a couple new Saie products as well, since I now feel like I can do no wrong with the brand. I got the Glowy Super Gel Dewey Highlighter in the shade Starglow, and the Sun Melt Natural Cream Bronzer in the shade Fair Bronze. I’m exactly like every other girl, wanting to look like a natural, radiant, goddess day-to-day, so I’m excited to try out the dewey highlighter. I haven’t consistently used highlighter since high school, but I have a feeling modern highlighters are far more wearable. Like all makeup, it’s multi-use, and said to provide nice hydration to the skin. Then the bronzer! How cool that us fair girlies weren’t left out on this one. I’ve always had the issue of bronzers going orange on me, especially with my olive complexion, but I’m hoping that once the weather gets nicer, and I’m out in the sun a little more, I can use this to feel like I’m glowing with youth and other-worldliness but not turn into a Cheeto. We’ll see how both work out!

Since I love to explore within brands, I snagged a couple Dermalogica products as well. First up, the Ultracalming Cleanser. I’m of the opinion that cleansers don’t need to be fancy or expensive, but I do keep in mind that I have sensitive skin. Dermalogica is a brand I’ve used multiple times before and loved, and have never had a reaction to, so I wanted to try out one of their cleansers. It’s a gel cleanser, which will be new for me, and is said to soothe the skin, helping with redness, dryness, as well as dullness and uneven texture on the skin. I don’t have a favorite cleanser. In all my life, I can’t recall a single cleanser that I’ve absolutely loved, or repurchased for that matter. As an adult, I’m tired of not having a cleanser that works for me, and doesn’t irritate my acne further, or sting my eyes. Although I think Dermalogica products are an investment because of the price, usually they are an investment I’m willing to make. Fingers crossed this isn’t a bust!

Second, the Dermalogica Precleanse Cleansing Oil. I am, in fact, among the double-cleanse girly group. It feels so nice to breakdown my makeup or whatever else is on my face from the day with an oil cleanser vs. a makeup wipe, and I’ve noticed a huge difference in the cleanliness of my skin following. Double cleansing (when done correctly), has changed the appearance of my skin because my skincare could actually work with my skin, as opposed to fighting through makeup I didn’t realize was still on my face. It’s also a luxurious extra step I’m personally willing to do. Makeup wipes are still great when on the go, but I’ll always choose an oil or balm if I can help it. This oil is lightweight and contains vitamins and antioxidants to further support the skin while cleansing and make your it supple with happiness and hydration. I didn’t even bother with the travel sizes to test these products out. With the hype I see all over the internet for them, I feel quite confident in my purchase.

Next up, is the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Luminous Powder Blush in the shade Hope, which is also my liquid blush shade FYI. What an incredible launch right before the Sephora sale (I say will evil laughter). I adore my Rare Beauty products, especially the liquid blush. But since those things last FOREVER, I didn’t really need to repurchase that just yet, but I have been on the hunt for a better powder blush. I still love the ones I have, but I’m such a snob for a good blush, that when they came out with a luminous powder version, it was an immediate add-to-cart for me. I swear I didn’t even read the description before purchasing, and as long as it isn’t too over-the-top luminous, I will be one happy, blushing lady real soon.

Since I’m on my natural beauty kick, and loving the 5-minute look these days (because that’s all I have time for!), I opted to try out the Merit Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Foundation and Concealer Stick in the shade Linen. I did not color match this in store prior to purchasing, so we are going with the hope and pray method. I’ve never tried a cream or stick foundation, so I thought this would be a nice introduction to that. I have no idea how it’ll react with my skin, but from what I hear this is a very user-friendly product, having medium coverage and a natural finish, and it’s designed for those 5-minute kind of days.

Finally, we have the Henry Rose Perfume Discovery Set. You won’t believe this, but I’ve never really considered what ingredients were put in my perfume before. Not once in all my growing sustainability days did I stop to wonder about the toxic things that could be in my favorite perfume, because it’s supposed to be safe right? Well, wrong…turns out perfumes aren’t very well regulated, and companies don’t need to disclose exactly what is in their perfumes and at what amounts. Oh, how lovely, right? I’m picky enough with perfumes, and only had two favorites (one of which is discontinued now, how sad). I’ll keep the one favorite I have, hoping that it’s fine, but in the meantime I’m interested in clean and sustainable perfumes, which brought me to Henry Rose. The scents are intended to be genderless, and the brand promotes full ingredient transparency and sustainable initiatives, like biodegradable cartons. I’m curious to see how these scents play out for me, and if I’ve magically stumbled across my new favorite!

Thus concludes my Sephora Sale cart, and all my internal commentary along the way. I already hit purchase thanks to my VIB discount, so now I’ll sit and wait for my package to arrive so I can begin to play with these products! Aside from pleading with brands to extend shade ranges, and to narrow down the mouthful product titles, I’m excited to see how these products perform for me. As someone who does their best to not over-consume beauty products, which requires every ounce of my self-control, I’m happy I’ve found brands that make that easy, with long lasting-products that are even easier to keep in my routines. We work hard, so we deserve to treat ourselves where we can!

If you have any questions about any of the products here, feel free to leave me a comment, or find me on socials where you can DM me as well! I’m not a licensed professional, but I do my best to be informed, so I’m happy to help where I can. I’d love to hear about the products you are trying out for the first time, whether they were trending, or we need to keep them top secret so they don’t sell out. Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll be chatting with you again soon!