Beauty products I bought 6 months ago and still use
I like to think that I’ve improvised some of my sale shopping tendencies over the past few years to resist impulse purchases, and while I am much more tuned in to the types of products and formulas I know I’ll actually use instead of picking up random things that catch my eye, I definitely still victim to some impulse purchases.
In preparation for the Sephora sale this week (and the wave of sales coming up for the holidays), today we’re looking back at things I bought during the last Sephora sale (or purchases roughly around then) to see what I’ve really ended up using. What has actually become a staple in my routine? What did I get sucked into buying that I probably didn’t really need? Let’s find out.
Natasha Denona Mini Dream Eyeshadow Palette – this was a palette that fell totally under the radar, but has become a really great go to everyday neutral palette. It has the perfect shades for a transition, lid shade, some shimmers, and a deep brown to smoke out my liner. It’s small and compact and perfect for travel since it has everything I really need. I already raved about it in this previous post but it’s worth singing my praises again.
Crown Affair Calming Scalp Serum – this hair serum was another exceptional purchase, evidenced by the fact that it’s nearly empty and I need to restock this when the sale happens. I really like using a scalp serum on my wash day to keep my scalp from becoming dry and itchy, which is usually what leads to dandruff for me. I used the Briogeo Scalp Revival for years but was ready to try something new. The spray applicator of this makes this much easier to use, and it’s light enough that I can use it in between wash days if my scalp is feeling dry. It does a great job of soothing my scalp and preventing further irritation, and floral fragrance is absolutely divine.
Salt and Stone Bergamot and Hinoki Mist – I knew I would love this since the body wash is one of my staples, but what makes this even better is that this is a body mist that doesn’t really feel like a body mist. The beautiful heavy glass bottle makes this feel much more sophisticated, and while it isn’t quite as strong as an eau de toilette, it does feel stronger and longer lasting than other body mists I’ve tried. The scent is just a perfect balance of slightly citrusy and slightly woody from notes of bergamot, orange blossom, and hinoki. It’s soft and sweet and uplifting all at the same time and it’s one of those effortless scents that I reach for when I am staying home or running errands and want to be enveloped in a light scent.
Dieux Forever Eye Mask – I know I was late to the game on these but I love just sticking these on with a generous helping of depuffing serum on mornings after sleepless nights. .I know it seems weird but sometimes it feels too fussy to pull out a goopy eye mask, and it’s way easier to just slap these on to let my eye cream fully absorb. What makes these particular pair worth it is they actually stay in place so I can go about doing my morning routine, make coffee, eat breakfast, etc, and these won’t budge. This was a great purchase that was frankly overdue for me.
YSL Loveshine Lip Oil Stick in 205 Nude Self – I’ve said before and I’ll say again that YSL makes the best lip formulas and I absolutely love the reformulated Loveshine formulas. It’s super lightweight and thin but they improved it so it doesn’t feel as slippy or greasy as the original formula. I was on a Loveshine kick during the April sale and picked up this soft sheer berry shade that has certainly made it into my rotation of lipsticks I stuff into my makeup bags. It hasn’t been one of my most reached for lip products the past few months, but I’ve used it enough to know that it’s a reliable favorite.
Makeup by Mario SuperSatin Lipstick – This is another lipstick formula that I really love, but I really should have waited for the fall sale because both shades I picked up – Bronx Babe, a light rose nude, and Central Park, a deep raisin brown, are both shades I reach for more in the fall and winter. I’ll be honest that they didn’t get much wear from me over the summer, but I’ve already started to pick up Central Park again as I lean fully into the vampy shades for fall.
Charlotte Tilbury Love Trap Lip Liner – Charlotte Tilbury makes some of my favorite lip liner formulas, and it was inevitable that I end up with Love Trap – the only problem is that I lost it a couple months after getting it and only just found it this weekend as I was frantically looking for a bunch of lip products I had misplaced. This is going back into my regular rotation immediately as it’s a ‘goes with everything’ peachy brown.
Dior Forever Glow Liquid Highlighter – This product is undoubtedly beautiful, and a pretty unique luminizer shade in my collection but ultimately did I need another liquid highlighter? While I do reach for this a few times a month and love the formula, shade, and wear time, I’m pretty set on liquid highlighters as it is. That said, I probably would repurchase one of these shades over other liquid highlighters I own in the future, especially the Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Highlight wands, which have an equally good formula but the packaging on Dior is a million times better.
Sephora Collection 12 Hour Pencil Eyeliner in Flirting Game and Stone – I’ve heard through the grapevine that this is made by the same manufacturer as the discontinued Marc Jacobs eyeliner and I can definitely confirm that these eyeliners are bulletproof and long lasting. I bought 2 shades during the spring – Flirting Game is a deep mushroomy taupe charcoal with some shimmer and Stone is a deep, almost black gray brown. I have found that Stone is an easier color to wear, and Flirting Game can sometimes blend out to a lighter shade that doesn’t give the amount of definition that I want. Nevertheless, the formula is excellent.
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The Rootest Refillable Dry Shampoo Powder – I picked this up because while I love and use my I Dew Care dry shampoo poof all the time, I was interested to get something that was both refillable and came in a slimmer packaging to slide into my smaller bags. This Dry Shampoo filled both those criteria, but while the formula is good, it doesn’t surpass the formula of my I Dew Care one. It’s a little lighter, so it cleans, volumizes, or texturizes my hair probably about 75% as well as the I Dew Care version. I still use this because it is easier to carry and sometimes the brush is just a little easier to use, and I would repurchase a refill for convenience, but ultimately the I Dew Care version is less expensive and overall a better formula for my hair.
Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Mattifying Water Powder Serum – I bought this to see how it compared to my favorite Glow Recipe Strawberry Glow serum, and I have to say I really enjoy this and the innovative dropper packaging, but formula wise, I slightly prefer the Glow Recipe Strawberry Glow. It’s not to say this one is bad, but I can’t help but compare them both when they are both serum primers that claim to blur and mattify. This one is very good but Glow Recipe manages to be slightly more blurring and mattifying over time. I do think the advantage of this one is that it has a slightly more gripping primer feel to prep skin for foundation, whereas the Glow Recipe feels like a skincare product that also has oil controlling properties, but for the wear of my makeup over time I think I’ll go back to Glow Recipe next time.
The purchases were not my finest moments
Not that these products aren’t great, but this is where I’m really getting real with you all because both of these products sat sitting in my drawers completely unopened until this weekend. Let my unopened purchases be a reminder to you to think through what shades and formulas you’ll actually use because neither of these shades were impulse purchases! I swatched them both in store and thought about them for a few days before buying them, but they still ended up sitting unused for months
Dior Rouge Dior Refillable Lipstick in 300 – I fell in love with this shade after swatching it. These days I’m all about a taupey rosy brown and this is that perfect kind of shade. I finally started wearing it the other day and I have no excuse for why I didn’t crack this open earlier except that I got distracted by other things. It’s matte but velvety and not too heavy or saturated, and it lasts forever on my lips. The shade is actually pretty unique in my collection so I know this will be a go to for fall.
Basma The Cream Blush – this was one of my favorite cream blush formula launches of 2024, but in case you haven’t noticed, cream blush has been practically launched into our faces from all sides. I absolutely adored the Mauve shade and was curious about the Fuchsia shade, but it ended up getting lost under one of my dressers for a few months, during which I got completely distracted by other launches. Yeah, not my greatest moment. I still think that this formula is excellent, and while Fuchsia is a gorgeous brightening shade, I’m just reaching for more neutral nude blushes these days. To be honest, I could have done without this shade at all, but I still love Mauve for a natural everyday look.
Looking at this list…yikes. I didn’t do terribly but didn’t do great either. Time for an accountability moment for you – what did you buy from the past 6 months that you’re still using and loving? What have you barely touched? It’s never a bad time for some self-accountability.
As always, thanks for reading.
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