April Favorites: Beauty (& the Sephora sale!)
It’s (one of) the most wonderful time(s) of the year!
YES YES YES it’s the Sephora spring sale which is amazing. It’s not as great as the Fall sale, but it’s still a sale and the best excuse to buy makeup. Says me! Since I shared my March beauty favorites a little later last month, I figured for this month, I’d share my major loves for the Sephora sale that starts on the 20th. You guys always ask, so here they are.
Right now, I am so much more into skincare (hello, 30s!) than I am makeup. And during the Sephora sales, I usually like to buy things that would never go on sale somewhere else – like really great skincare and fragrance! I broke this into a few categories so you can see what I love the most. I’ve been using a bunch of these things for a long time, so they probably won’t come as a surprise to you.
But first – the thing I’m interested in!
What I have my eye on:
These are a few things that I’m considering grabbing this weekend at the sale. Reeeeally interested in the tan lotion (which is sold out, ugh!) and the blush! Have any of you tried these?
Tan Luxe The Gradual Illuminating Tan Lotion.
Nars Fort de France Highlighting Powder
And here are products that I use and adore
Skincare:
As you can see, I’m a total Drunk Elephant and Sunday Riley freak. I am SO in love with this products though. This is the first time in my life I have stuck to a skincare regimen and have seen results and just overalled loved the products. I won’t even travel without them!
Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream. I adore this cream for day and night. It works for me under makeup (but it’s thicker – I have dry skin!) and is great at night too!
Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream. This is a lighter version of the above. Sometimes I mix the two but often I use this in the morning and save the Lala above for nighttime.
Drunk Elephant C Firma Day Serum. This is the vitamin C serum I use every single day and I adore it.
Drunk Elephant C Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream. I’ve been using this cream for a month now and it’s my new favorite! I use it in the morning and really like it. At night, I tend to just use extra Lala cream under my eyes.
Sunday Riley Good Genes. I use this lactic acid treatment every other night. I swear it helps with brightness and texture.
Sunday Riley Luna Oil. This oil is a retinol so it’s not something I use while pregnant, but I’ve started incorporating it again once a week and once I’m done breastfeeding, will use it more often.
Dr Jart Water Fuse Sleeping Mask. I use this for an extra boost of moisturizer on nights when my skin is super dry. This goes on top of everything else you put on your face. It has saved my skin so many times!
SK II Essence. I jumped on this bandwagon almost a year ago and haven’t looked back. This stuff is incredible. It goes on after cleansing but before serums and moisturizers and I think it has also really contributed to my even skin tone.
SK II Face Mask. This is the ONLY time I ever spluge on these face masks. It is such a moisturizing amazing sheet mask for your skin.
Caudalie Moisturizing Toner. This is the only toner I use, I use it every single day and only use it with exfoliating cotton pads. Just to make sure I get every last bit of dirt off my skin after cleansing!
Fresh Sugar Advanced Lip Therapy. This is my go-to stick chapstick and it works like nothing else. Love it so so so much.
Laneige Lip Mask. I use this lip mask often at night too and it’s a dream. Smells amazing and works like a charm!
Sol de Janiero Bum Bum Cream. This smells AMAZING and is pretty much the only cream I’ve used from April – October the last two years. It’s a little strong (like I can’t wear it everywhere with Emilia, or else it will just be all over her!) but I loooove the scent.
Makeup:
For makeup, these are a lot of repeat favorites that I talk about often. But they are the things I love! I don’t have lipstick on here because it’s so hit and miss. There isn’t one brand I’d recommend ALL the time. But I generally love most Bite Beauty, Nars, Kat Von D and YSL lipsticks.
Dr Jart Premium BB Balm. This is the fuller coverage cream that I wear (instead of any foundation) when I’m doing more makeup. This gives such a natural finish and I love it.
Bare Mineral Complexion Rescue. This is the tinted moisturizer I use every single day. It’s very light coverage but perfect for me. I hate having anything heavy on my skin.
Kevyn Aucoin Tropical Days (and Nights!) Celestial Bronzing Veil. I’ve used the Day bronzer for a year, and when I went to repurchase, accidentally bought the Nights. However! I really love both. The Days one is more warm toned and looks like bronzer. The Nights one is much cooler and I can use it for contouring when needed.
Benefit Gimme Brow. This is by far my favorite low maintenance brow product. None of the others compare – this brush is so small, the formula comes out as an even mousse. It’s perfect.
RMS Magic Luminizer. This highlighter is incredible. It is so super natural, beautiful and some days is literally the only makeup I put on my skin!
Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara. I’m still going through the Chanel mascara that I mentioned last month, but this Stila one is what I’ve been using for the last year. I really love it.
Nars Eye Primer Base. Best eyeshadow base ever. This is what I use every single day!
Marc Jacobs Eyeconic Palettes. I bought two of these at the VIB sale last year and I’ve been using them nonstop, especially because they are such a great size for travel.
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light. This is the most natural powder highlight I have ever used. It’s so pretty and just makes your skin extra glowly. Keep in mind that I am pretty fair skinned, so you might want to test this in store to see if it works for you!
Fragrance:
I live for scents because they remind me of certain periods in my life. I tend to switch them out every season because I’m a bored millennial.
Tom Ford Soliel Blanc. I bought this perfume while I was in NYC after smelling it for ages. I already have the shimmer oil and love the scent, but the oil isn’t something I can wear on me all the time.
Tom Ford Soleil Blanc Shimmering Oil. I bought this last year during the spring sale and used it all summer. It is GORGEOUS and it smells insane. It often sells out and it’s so pricey that I would only buy it during the sale. Just gorgeous in the summer.
Tom Ford Noir Pour Femme. This has been my main go-to perfume for the last two years, but it is kind of heavy for warmer weather. I still wear it at night during the summer, but I save this mostly for Fall and Winter.
Jo Malone – everything! I adore everything by Jo Malone and was so super excited that they started selling it in Sephora. My all-time favorite is ginger biscuit, but it’s usually limited edition. What I wear most often is Mimosa Cardamom!
Elizabeth and James Nirvana Bourbon. I really love all the E&J scents, but the bourbon one is my favorite.
Commodity Gold. This is another amazingly warm, amber-like scent that is FANTASTIC. I get so many compliments on it.
I can’t wait to hear what you are loving, what you suggest and what you want to grab at the sale!
{as usual, none of this is sponsored and all of these products were purchased by me. i am not affiliated with any of the companies above, nor do i accept free products. just love to talk about what i like, makeup junkie to makeup junkie. there are some amazon and general reward style affiliate links above. thank you for being here!}
29 Comments on “April Favorites: Beauty (& the Sephora sale!)”
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As a fellow Sunday Riley lover I feel I must tell you about her new foundation – The Influencer. Amazing, and I don’t like foundation, usually just a BB cream kind of person. So, when in Sephora have them make you a sample!
omg i bought it over the weekend when i was in NYC!! i haven’t tried it yet (because i didn’t want to risk trying it for an event) but am going to tomorrow. so excited because i feel the same way about foundation!
What about sunscreen? I think it’s so important to use this every day all year round. Just wondering if you found any good ones. It’s hard to find natural zinc oxide based ones that work well under makeup.
yes! the tinter moisturizer that i use everyday if SPF 45, but in the spring/summer months here i tend to use supergoop the most! https://www.sephora.com/product/everyday-sunscreen-broad-spectrum-spf-50-P386194?skuId=1604164&icid2=products%20grid:p386194
Drunk elephant also has an awesome SPF product!!
What is the best skincare to get rid of age spots and redness
I highly recommend going to see your dermatologist. You may just see their esthetician but they can review your skin (even take a picture of the sun damage below the skin that you can’t see yet…whoa) and either get you on a prescription retinol or suggest products (theirs or others) and ingredient levels you want to look for in other products. I found it very helpful as the world of skincare is vast and hard to tell what is just marketing hype!
maybe I should try the drunk elephant eye cream. I didn’t love the polypeptide cream or the Lala retro (although I liked the Lala retro more than the polypeptide!) – It bothers me that I wasn’t impressed because EVERYONE raves about the drunk elephant products and they are at a good price point! Ugh, maybe I should try again!
What kind of cleanser do you use? Im having a hard time finding a good one. I normally use la roche products.
Which eyeconic palettes do you have? Have you tried Natasha Denona? I have both in my cart and don’t know which one to get!
Thank you for your recs each month! I’ve found some great products that are working wonders on my skin thanks to your product write-ups. I have dry skin as well, so really appreciate all the ultra moisturizing notes!
Love all of these suggestions!! Is the spring sale for VIB members only or how exactly does it work??
Spring sale is for everyone in the beauty insider program (its free to sign up and you can use the coupon this weekend if you sign up!) first tier members get 10% off; VIB and rouge members get 15%!
Protini actually has a TON of uses that lala doesn’t have, and is intended to be an anti-aging booster to mix with either lala or b-hydra, depending on your skin type. It’s all about polypeptides to help plump and firm the skin, and proteins to help keep your skin that way. If you’re super oily, it can stand alone, but all of drunk elephant loves to be mixed!!!
I bought the Drunk Elephant Acid Trip kit to try out a variety of their products, you keep recommending them (and I really need to add a Vitamin C serum to my routine) so I’m finally trying them out!
I got the rio body buff a few weeks ago. It’s a little different- not as “scrub like” as I thought it would be. The directions on the tube say you can leave it on your skin to dry like a mask. It feels more “mask like” to me. Love the scent so much! Learned about the lotion from your rec- it’s the only thing my husband has ever told me smells amazing to him!
I’ve been using all of Drunk Elephant’s products for the last 6 months, since the Fall sale. And before that I used Sunday Riley. I liked both DE and SR, but wasn’t entirely thrilled with everything. For this sale I decided to go back to Kheils. I love their Vitamin C treatment, the moisture serum, sleeping mask and the Ultra moisturizer much better than anything from DE. The only product I think I will repurchase from Drunk Elephant is the Framboos night serum, and the Good Genes from Sunday Riley. Also– I got super into peels. Saturday Skin has a really great peel. Bliss (not on Sephora) has a great microdermabrasion scrub, and the price is only $15!
Jessica, I want to say again how great it is that you buy all of these products yourself and don’t take free samples or sponsorship surrounding them. (I can’t imagine how much you must spend! Clearly it’s a passion project….) Also that you’re transparent about that.
I very much value your integrity and makes me trust your experience and editorial advice implicitly.
Thank you!
Sarah
i bought too much to mention it all, but i’m super excited about my fragrance purchases: replica glow/lipstick on/jazz club and pi rose secret genius plus a really big sample of black opium.
also picked up several dr roebuck items and the new laneige eye sleeping mask!
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Love this list! Which Sunday Riley oil, the luna or the good genes, do you think works best for fine lines? I have terrible forehead wrinkles at 30 I’m trying so hard to get rid of, or least diminish!
are you still a dry shampoo fan? I have SO MUCH hair and wanted to make every effort to keep it really healthy even after starting to color it more regularly. I stretched from 2 to 3ish days between washes (I get there once every week, and twice depending on workouts) and I SWEAR by Living Proof’s dry shampoo! all the others made my hair feel weighed down with even more product than I already use, but this stuff makes it feel CLEAN.
btw I hope you used your 20% off at ulta last week, too! :)
I just tried that Dr Jart+ Premium BB cream and I had it on only for a few hours and HATED it. I wanted to love it so bad and i was so surprised because I love pretty much all the products you ever mention! I’m trying the complexion rescue next and another Dr Jart one called dis a pore. Do you use the BB cream alone? Do you use any primer or anything? Also….you got me seriously hooked on Drunk Elephant. I have been loving every single one of their products!
Thank you for introducing me to Drunk Elephant! Love their products and will try more as I finish up with my other products. I also really want to try Sunday Riley
i always look forward to these posts! :)
So happy I found you! I’m curious if you’ve ever tried Sunday Riley’s CEO and how it compares to the DE vitamin C. I’m on the fence…
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