Episode 152 - Amy's Sephora Sale Favorites: 30 Tried-and-True Beauty Picks- Solo Episode

: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Hi, and welcome back to the show. This week is a quickie, and it's a quick cookie on the Sephora sale. I know, random, and I figure I would hop on and give you my rundown on what I think is worth purchasing. The things that I'm going to recommend are basically things that I use over and over again, and I have a lot of empties of, and so I find that the best time to stock up on those things is during the Sephora sale because you know that you like it. I also, of course, have ordered some things that are new that I want to try, but I thought going through some of my favorites might help you in deciding what you should get. So this is kind of going to go through randomly a bunch of different things. Skincare, makeup, hair care tools. Just a bunch of things that are kind of tried and true. Okay, starting with skin prep. So there's a few products by say that I really like. The first one is the super gel lightweight dewy highlighter, which we've talked about before. I have Starglow, and I know Katie has that one, too. And what I do is I mix that in with my vitamin C and put on my face, and it's just as like a glowy do. So that's just a really good, kind of, like, skin prep product. You can kind of mix it in with anything. It looks great. I actually ordered a refill of this, but I also am trying the bronze one because I want to see how that one works as well. So highly recommend that one the next day. Product is the slip tint, and that is another product we've talked about a lot. It's the lightweight tinted moisturizer with mineral SPF. Really, really good product. Again, this is like a no makeup, makeup, makeup every day, throw it on. I kind of use it as a foundation, but it's really just like a tinted moisturizer. But it's a really beautiful sheen on the skin, and it looks very natural, and it just covers up some of the redness. So again, I really like the, say, super gel, and I really like the, say, tinted moisturizer. In terms of other skin prep products, I really like two products by Skin Fix. One is the barrier and triple Liquid and collagen niacinamide activating serum. Say that ten times times long as a name ever. And this serum is a beautiful serum. I use it morning and night. It's really helped with plumping my skin. It really helps with Barrier Recovery. It's an excellent product. I believe Natasha, Beauty Junkie Monkey, recommended this product, and I've been using it ever since. The other product that is also very good is the skin fix barrier and strengthening plumping triple lipid peptide moisturizer. And this is a heavier moisturizer. I use this at night. I was using this for a while. I repurchased it a few times, and it's a good one to mix in. I've started trying some other nighttime moisturizers, but this is kind of like my tried and true holy grail, so I always stuck up on that. So those two skin fix products I really like. Another skin prep item is the kosas plump and juicy vegan, collagen, and probiotic spray on serum. Again, this is just kind of like a toner spray. And I've been using this a lot lately because my skin has felt very dry. And sometimes what I do is I put this on before my makeup. I put this on during my makeup, and it just kind of keeps things moisturized, hydrated, and glowy. So it's a really nice spray. It's $48. It's definitely not worth $48, because there's a lot of other spray kind of, you know, serums, but it's a really pretty bottle. I like looking at it. It has, like, a really good feel, and it lasts a really long time. I've only bought it once, and I'm, like, halfway done with it, and I use it all the time, so that's a good spray on serum. Okay, these next two things are kind of skin prep, but kind of not. One is totally not, and that is the necessary deodorant gel. Rando. I know, but I had been looking for a natural deodorant for years, and I tested so many of them, and this one is the only one that I've repurchased, probably ten times. And again, it's necessary. I buy the eucalyptus scented one, which I really like. It feels really fresh, and I love that smell. But they also have unscented. They used to just have eucalyptus, but now they also have unscented. So that is a tried and true, really good natural deodorant that actually works. And the last skin prep is more of a tool and definitely a splurge, but I've been talking about getting a red light mask forever. You've heard us talk about it on the show. I know Katie has one. A lot of people recommended different ones over the year, and I've always wanted the doctor Dennis gross one. I've had it saved in my favorites at Sephora forever. So I finally bought it during the sale, and I'm excited to report back. But again, that's a splurge. But again, if you're thinking of buying a tool and it's been on your list, it's a good time to buy it because the sale only happens twice a year. Okay, that's skin prep. Next, blush. Couple of blushes I wanted to highlight. So the merit flush bomb, such a good everyday blush. You, it's buildable. It's really nice. I have a few colors, but some of the colors I like are cheeky. That kind of works well on everyone. And that's kind of just like a movie rosy color. Really, really pretty. It's kind of a cool pink. And then I also like one called Stockholm, which is a baby pink. So it's kind of that brighter pink rate. These are good things to travel with, good things to put in your bag. Really nice product and clean. Most of the products I've actually mentioned, I think, so far, are all clean. Says clean. Skin fixes clean. Kosis is clean, so I guess most of the stuff is clean, which is great. Back to say, I also like the do blush blendable liquid blush. I have it in Chile, and I've had that color for a really long time. It's really beautiful. I also bought during the sale a baby pink color, which is kind of like a bright pink, pretty for spring. Those are kind of like, you can't mess them up. Throw it on buildable. You can wear it during the day, you can build it up at night. Really good blush. Really, really easy to work with. And I love that one. So that's a liquid blush. Again, the flush bomb is it's a cream blush. Another one, which is also a liquid blush that I do want to recommend is the nars afterglow liquid blush. And again, this is like in the color orgasm, which looks good on everyone. And it's really nice for the cheeks. And I actually put this on my lips, too. So just another color, not that I would buy all three, but if you're thinking about different ones, the say one's great, the merit one's great, the nars one is great. And the last one, I'll say is one that I've recommended in a previous product. Junkies a little bit more high end westminutelier. And that one in the color pop, it is a really bright pink and really pretty and just gives a pop to the face and to the cheeks. There's also a few other blushes that Westminutelier have that are really pretty colors. I don't remember the names of them now, but that whole line is just gorgeous. Again, that's a cream. It's kind of in a stick, last forever. Really, really nice. Okay, next we've got. And, yes, I made a PowerPoint of all the products that I like, because that's the way that I organized myself. So if you hear me clicking my mouse, yes, that is what I did. Okay, bronzer. So this category is kind of like bronzer. Bronzer drops, highlighter. They're sort of all in the same category. So for bronzer, we have rare beauty. The bronzing stick, I use it every single day. It's so good. It's actually called. Let's see exactly what it's called. It's the warm wishes, effortless bronzer sticks. There's a million different colors. The one that I like is called happy soul. It's like a light brown with cool undertones, but all their colors are really, really nice. Again, this is, like, pretty foolproof. You throw it on, you could use it for contour. You could use it for bronze. I use it for bronze. I love it. I use it daily. I travel with it. It's kind of a one stop. The other one by rare beauty that I really like is the positive light liquid luminizer highlight in deep bronze. So I have this as a highlighter, but in deep bronze, you can use it as a bronzer. But the cool thing about this, and this is an Erica Taylor special, is that you put this on, it's almost like a highlighter, but also a bronzer at the same time. And it almost looks like a blush. So you could literally just use this. And it kind of counts for all three, I can't expect, but it's just this really beautiful formula, and it does, it makes you look bronze. It also gives you a little bit of color, and it gives you a highlight. So that's kind of a good one stop shop. And that's a fun one. So those two bronzers I like, I will also talk about the hourglass ambient lighting palettes. The one I have is the snake one. I got that, I think, during the holiday sale. And it's a great palette. There's six different shades. And again, it's. It's blushes. It's highlight. It's bronzer. And that's another good thing that you could travel with or just really have this, because the hourglass formula is so pretty, and it, it's a powder, but it's almost like a highlight. And it really makes the face kind of glowy and dewy. So if you're just kind of looking for something that's kind of an all in one, I would highly recommend these palettes. They're really, really pretty, and I don't know. No, no. They just make me happy. I just love looking at the outside packaging. It's so pretty. But, no, I use this one a lot, and I use it a lot of times over, kind of at the end, after. After I do bronzer and blush, I kind of just use that to finish off the face. So the, that palette is really beautiful. Other tried and true highlighter is the rare beauty highlighters, and they are called positive light, silky touch highlighter. I have it in two colors. I have it in champagne, which is really pretty to put, like, on the eyes or on the cheeks. And I also love rose bronze. I think that's called. What is it? Mesmerize. You could use it as an eyeshadow, but you could also use it as a highlighter. So those two are great. Just different options depending on what you like. Okay. And now we'll move on to the bronzer drops. So I use the drunk elephant, a Bronze age bronzing jobs. Every single day. I mix it in with my moisturizer, and it makes my face have color, and I love them. However, sometimes I switch it up because I get sick of that. And I have two other ones that I really, really like too. One of them is the Westminutelier liquid, super loaded all over illuminator drops with vitamin C. The color that I have is called pew de soleil, and it's really, really pretty bronze. I will use this more at night because it's definitely has a little bit more color. It's a little bit thicker. It just has a thicker consistency. It's a little bit more dewy, and it looks really, really nice with makeup. So I'll use that one at night more, and the drunk elephant ones during the day. And then a new one that I just learned about and I bought a couple months ago. I haven't reviewed it yet. The brand, iconic London, and it's the instant sunshine bronzing drops. And those are kind of a good substitute for the drunk elephant. If you don't like those, it's. It's actually a little bit more golden bronzy than the drunk elephant ones, but all three of these are great. So I would use the iconic London or drunk elephant for the day, and I'd use the Westman at night. Again, they're all interchangeable. And just some other options for bronzer drops. Next, eyes. Okay, I have two mascaras that I'm going to talk about. One is the Ilia fullest volumizing mascara in black. I've talked about this one a lot. I love it. To me, it is the best mascara. It's thick, it makes your eyes. I really like volume, so it really makes my eyelashes look thick and voluminous. And I love this mascara so much. The other one, that's a newcomer that I've been liking over the last few months is the lash clash by East Saint Laurent. Similar to the ilia one. A little bit different. I have the brown color, and it's like a rich brown color. So what I'll do is I'll put on the black, and then instead of doing two black layers, I'll do a black and a brown, which I think is really pretty, especially for during the day. So again, the YSL one's really good. They have it in brown, they have it in black, and I think they might have it in a blue or red or another fun color, but I have it in the brown. So those are my two favorite mascaras. Okay. And moving on to eyebrows, the two face fluff and hold laminating brow box. It's amazing. I've repurchased this many times. One side is a clear gel that goes on really nicely and has a really firm hold. And then the other side is a brush. It's two different kind of brushes on each side, and one kind of, like, has that laminate look, and the other one just kind of, like, brushes them out and makes them look a little fluffier. So that is like an awesome, awesome brow wax. Next, concealer. So I've tried so many concealers. You know, I'm always on the hunt for a concealer. And honestly, my favorite one is the lawless conceal. The deal, lightweight concealer. The color that I have a shell, they have a lot of different colors, but I really like this concealer because it does feel like skincare. It doesn't feel like a thick concealer. It's very thin. It's very hydrating. It feels really good on the skin. On me, it does not crack. It's just, I find this lawless consistency the best for me. I know a lot of people like the kosas one and all these other ones, none of those work for me. This lawless conceal the deal, I'm telling you. Try it. It is so, so nice and really hydrating. Okay. And lastly on the eyes, the noni glow radiant eye oil by quora organic. So this is the one that Erica Taylor recommended. I've had it for probably over a year. I've had the same bottle. It's small, it's only like 10 ML, but it lasts forever. It's on a roller, so you could roll it underneath your eyes or just put it on your hands and kind of pat it on your eyes. This is so good to use at the end of the day. Like, if you're going out and you don't want to redo your makeup, you kind of put this on under your eyes and it refreshes that area. And then you put on concealer again or just really evens out that area and makes it really soft and supple and moisturized. I also sometimes put it on at night before I go to bed just to kind of moisturize that area because it's always dry. I can't recommend it enough. The noni glow radiant eye oil. Just get it. Do yourself a favor. You'll be really happy. It is so good. Okay, next. We're almost there. Lip. Okay, two things. First of all, the lineage lip sleeping mask and the lineage lip glowy balm. These have replaced my aquaphor. I used to use aquaphor forever, and I know it's not great for you. So the lineage lip sleeping mask, such good hydration. I use it every single night. I like the original flavor. I have the cotton candy flavor. I love it. And also the lip glow bomb I use all throughout the day. I have all different flavors. I have mango, I have peach, grapefruit, all of them. And again, I have these in like different purses and like different work bags and whatnot. But those two things are kind of definitely tried and true. I know they're all over the place and it's not original, but I have to say, if you haven't tried any of the laneige lip products, you should. Okay, moving along. Okay, so I love this Tom Ford lip combination again. Holy grail. It's a lipstick and a lip gloss. The lipstick, the one that I have is called nude, but I don't see that one anymore. But they have something that's called spanish pink, which looks exactly like my other one. So I'm assuming that was the one that replaced it. So I use that and I use this Tom Ford gloss luxe lip gloss in the color, in the buff, which is like a nude with like a pearl. And this nude combination is so pretty. Every time I wear it, I get compliments. It's my go to. Like, I always buy new stuff, but this is the one I always go back to, and I always have, like, for travel in my bag, et cetera. And the Tom Ford lipsticks and lip glosses are not cheap. So, like, again, good time to buy it. Highly recommend. And then the latest lipstick that I've been loving is the Patrick ta. Major volume plumping lip gloss. Gloss. So I got the color called say less. It's like a, like a baby pink. It's so pretty, it's hydrating, and it doesn't hurt your lips, like a lot of the other plumping lip glosses do. Like, you can feel a little bit, but it doesn't, it's not painful, and it's very moisturizing. And that's a new one. So sometimes I'll just put on that, the Tom Ford lipstick and put the plumping lip gloss over it, or I'll just wear the lip gloss by itself. But I highly recommend that. That just came out recently. I probably bought it a month or so ago, and I'm really enjoying that. And then another one, again, not original, but the summer Friday's lip butter bomb. It kind of goes along with the lineage. They're just excellent bombs. I just wear them every day on and off. They are different than the lineage because laneige is more just like a bomb. It doesn't really have color. It's just kind of like a gloss, but it's clear and it smells good and it's moisturizing. But the summer Fridays have a little bit of color. So I have the pink sugar and the brown sugar. They smell so good. They have a little bit of color, and they're great. Just a good one to have on hand and a good one to buy during the sale. Okay. And lastly, we have hair. So how could I do this without talking about hair? I just have a few products for hair. So one is the color. Wow. Dream coat super natural spray anti frizz treatment. This is something you use after you shampoo and condition your hair. Use it on wet hair, and it's a really good treatment to use before you blow out your hair. So it protects your hair from the heat. It's anti frizz. It makes your hair really shiny and soft. It's beautiful. I definitely noticed a difference when I use this and when I don't use this. So on days that I wash my hair and blow it out, I'll always use the color. Well, dream coat, highly recommend it. I had the little sample and then I bought the big one. And I'm almost finished with the big one, so I probably should stock up on this one. I also love the Kerastase nutritive eight hour magic night serum hydrating treatment for dry hair. So this is a treatment. It's like a hair serum. You just put it on every night. And again, it just keeps your hair moisturized, it keeps your hair shiny. It just keeps it healthy. And I also had, there's a version of this for highlighted hair. It's like a purple bottle, which I've also tried. I don't like the smell as much on that one and I don't, I didn't find that one as effective as just the eight hour magic night serum. So I went back to the magic night serum. So again, tried and true. I feel like that product along with the color, well, product, both of those, you can't go wrong. And lastly, again, if you want to splurge, so is a good time to look at the Dyson. So the airwrap or the air straight, either of those are really amazing tools. I have them both. The air rep I've had for years. I mean, it just does wonders, gives you that blowout, wavy, curly, however you want to do your hair look. It's such a great tool. And if you were thinking about buying, it might be a good time to buy it now. And the straightener I got more recently and I like that too, as a substitute for just a classic flat iron because this is healthier for your hair. It's hot air instead of those hot plates. So I find that when I use use this, my hair doesn't feel like burnt or like crispy. It just feels nicer. So when I want to kind of straighten my hair and not have any curling it, I use the air straight straightener. But if I had to choose one, I'd probably say get the air wrap if you haven't tried that, if you want to buy something in the sale. So that is the end of my solo episode. Thank you for listening. Hope it was helpful. And I'll be posting all these products on Instagram and on our show notes and blogs so you can always reference them there. And hope this was helpful. Happy shopping or not shopping. Bye.

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