Last week I grabbed a few things at Sephora's VIB sale and redeemed a 500-point perk. After I was burned by a bad 500-point perk a couple years back I have been hoarding my points for only super great perks. (It was a Kat Von D eye shadow palette and it was terrible!) The current perk is a fantastic set of Laura Mercier's Flawless Favorites.

Set includes:

Mini Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara in Black
Mini size: 0.2oz
(Full Size: 0.4oz $24)

Mini Eye Basics in Wheat
Mini size 0.1oz
(Full Size: 0.25oz $24)

Mini Face Polish
Mini Size: 0.4oz
(Full Size: 3.4oz $30)

Mini Tinted Moistureizer SPF 20 in Nude
Mini size: 0.5oz
(Full size: 1.5oz $42)

Mini Foundation Primer
Mini size: 0.5oz
(Full Size: 1.7 oz $30, 3.4oz $40)

Guess how much these mini's would retail for? To find out...

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beau•ty u•ni•corn |'byoōtē 'yoōne,kÃ'rn|
noun
A beauty product considered hard to find and or of holy grail status. Often a limited edition or seasonal item.

My beauty unicorn is anything grey-gold. Over the last couple of years I have purchased many items I thought would fill the need, but all of them fell flat. I thought I would never fulfill my obsession until I spotted the Bare Minerals High Shine Eyecolor kit. There it was, all lit up in sephora, my shining star, my unicorn found at last! High Shine Eyecolor in Luster. But of course my beauty had to come with a price: I had to buy its friends. Luckily the friends turned out to be superstars too. Hooray!

Kit includes:

Mini Prime Time Eyelid Primer
This potent little primer is nude in color, as in, does not leave a color. It keeps shadow in place all day without any creasing or smudging, granted you don't rub your eyes. (I know you don't, right?)

High Shine Eyecolor in Luster
My precious! I'm completely obsessed with this product. It's silver and gold at the same time. It has a medium silver-grey base with gold shine. It's super light reflective, but not glittery, with a high-shine metallic finish. The only thing that is a little strange is the packaging. It's a spring loaded sponge-tip applicator wand. It's okay for packing on the product, but I definitely recommend grabbing a blending brush to smooth out the edges. I'm just so amazed by the color that I can completely see past the weird packaging. Additionally, the package that comes in this kit is the same size as the full size ones that are sold solo.

Petitie Rock Star Eyecolor
It's a multi-purpose product that can be both a liner and a shadow. As a shadow it falls a little flat but as a liner it's quite nice. The deep grey color is enhanced with multi-color glitter particles. They don't completely translate to the eye but you can see them if you look close enough. It's definitely not a glitter liner by any means.

Mini Flawless Definition Volumizing Mascara
I always find mini mascaras a little hard to control due to the short handle. Other than that I see no problems at all with this mascara. It didn't clump up and it definitely added volume and length. It's dark black and has a wide, dense-bristled, straight brush. I didn't notice any flaking or smudging after a full day of wear. All and all a pretty great mascara. It's quickly turning into one of my favorite mascaras. It effortlessly builds thick, lush, fluttery lashes.

For more pictures and swatches...

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Sephora Collection Liquid Eyeliner is a great find for any beauty buff. It's on the low end of the price range of eyeliner you'll find on the shelves of a Sephora store. But does it preform? That all depends on what  you're looking for in a liner.

Lately a bunch of brands have come out with new formulations and colors of liquid eyeliners. I'm not sure exactly how long Sephora's version has been around but I don't think they're newbies. When I wear these I get lots of compliments on the colors.

For Pro's/Con's, more pictures and swatches

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Multiasking products in the summer are essential. We're all so busy doing all of our usual summer things who has time to do full-on makeup?

Three Custom Color Lip & Cheek Color, Poppy
This gorgeous little red orange pot serves double duty as a lip and cheek cream. When used on the lips it creates a nice little stain. When applied on the cheeks, blending out with you fingers, it adds a great natural flush. Plus this color is so on trend right now! It's sheer, but buildable and looks fantastic with a tan. Available at Three Custom Color for $22.50

MAC Fix+
This isn't your usual multitasking product. Keep it at your desk for a refreshing mid-day pick me up. On the hottest days, keep it in the fridge for even more refreshing boost. In a pinch you can spritz it in your hair for a little re-stying. Dampen your makeup brush with a little squirt to foil (apply wet, for a metallic look) your eyeshadows. Spritz your face before applying your moisturizer to seal in some extra moisture. Use it to sheer out foundation by spritzing a little on your foundation brush. Shall I keep going? Because I can. Spritz a few sprays on your face after you're finished with your makeup application to reduce any powdery look. Last but not least, it can even be used as light moisturizer for hot night when you don't want to overload your skin with any heavy products. Available at all MAC's Online shop as well as all stores and counters $10.

Dr. Jart+ Waterfuse Beauty Balm
The ultimate multitasker for skin, this stuff is truly amazing. Rarely does a product show up twice on this site (besides nail colors) but this stuff is so amazing it had to be on the multitasking picks. Full review here. PS. I'm KIND OF obsessed. Available at Sephora for $32.

What are your favorite beauty multitaskers?

The Makeup Show always offers amazing deals and discounts on products. One of the very best deals of the show was the Kevyn Aucoin The Pure Powder Glow (a fancy name for blush) priced at just $5 each! Unbelievable, right?! I'm a totally hussy for blush so of course I had to get one of each. I had a pretty difficult time trying to find a place to buy these online. Sephora carries the brand in some store but does not offer it online. (booooo!) They are available online at New London Pharmacy for $37. Note, the products I purchased at the makeupshow came sans packaging and are basically samples which contributed to the drastic reduction in price.

I am actually really happy that I got to try these out since I they are my first experience with Kevyn Aucoin products.

For review and swatches,
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Carol's Daughter recently named Solange Knowels, Selita Ebanks and Cassie their new spokesbeauties for the new Manoi Collection. To celebrate, Sephora 35th Street is hosting an event to launch the collection. The collection is designed to benefit every hair type, color and texture.

WHO: Carol’s Daughter Spokesbeauties Solange Knowles, Selita Ebanks, and Cassie

WHERE: Sephora 34th Street 130 West 34th Street New York, NY 10001 Cross-Streets: On West 34th Street in between 7th Avenue & Broadway

WHEN: May 24th, 2011 9am: Monoi purchasing opportunity begins (you’ll receive your wristband allowing you to come back later that evening) 4pm: Wristband holders are allowed to start lining up to meet the Spokesbeauties 8pm: Wristband holders are welcomed into Sephora for a meet and greet with Solange Knowles, Selita Ebanks, and Cassie

Note, walk-ins are welcome and anyone who wants to get a picture with the spokesbeauties should bring their own camera. This event is truely special and a great opportunity for anyone who is a fan of Solange, Selita and Cassie.

I'm going to assume that each and every one of you are Sephora Beauty Insiders. If you're not, what are you thinking?! You get free crap for buying stuff you'd buy anyway? 100 points redeems a deluxe sample, 500 redeems full size product. Moving on... I recently redeemed a 500-point reward on a shopping trip. I was extremely disappointed with the last one I redeemed about a zillion years ago so I have been hesitating redeeming ever since. The culprit was a Kat Von D 4-color eyeshadow palette. It was so disappointing since all the other Kat Von D palettes have been amazing. BOO!

I was actually pretty pleased with this set from Smashbox. It's not a brand I usually browse so this was a great opportunity for me to explore the brand. Below are my thoughts on each piece and swatches. I didn't swatch the mascara but I did shoot it next to a brush from Covergirl Lashblast Fusion for size comparison.

Smashbox Perfectly Polished Lids Set Includes:

Photofinish Lid Primer
I didn't notice much creasing or smudging when using this primer with in the first few hours. Towards the end of the day I did have a very slight amount of creasing, but nothing that anyone would notice. I wouldn't say it's better than any of your other standard eye primers. It does the job. I do like how it almost acts as a concealer to even out tone on the eyelid skin.

Eyeshadow Trio: Vanilla, Champagne, Brazilian Bronze
The eyeshadows are a little too neutral for me but they do have decent pigmentation. I wouldn't say they're SUPER pigmented, I'd say they fall in the medium range. I was expecting more from Vanilla but it was a little on the meh side. The other two color are pretty light so they don't bring any drama. There was zero fall out when applying. They're smooth and easy to blend. This product is probably the least exciting item in the pack. Kind of a bummer, but oh well. Not bad if you are a neutral lover.

Cream Eye Liner: Midnight Brown
This product is great. It's has good pigmentation and easy to apply with a liner brush. It is a little different than gel liners in that it's not as smooth. You'll have to even it out a little bit with your brush. On the upside, it won't dry out like a gel liner will. Lesley likey!

Lash DNA: Jet Black
This guy took me a second to get used to. The brush is really big and the formula seems to be sticky or have fibers in it. I actually really liked it after I got past the awkward size of the brush. I don't recall any flaking. This stuff brings the drama and really pumps up lashes. I will probably continue using this.

(Click on Pictures to expand)

Would you use your beauty bank points to redeem this Smashbox set?