ANOTHER BAD SEPHORA EXPERIENCE!

 A BAD SEPHORA EXPERIENCE!

So this experience is of my second Sephora purchase of this last month. August 2016. If you've been a follower of my blog or even just perused my almost 30 posts (so far), you've seen that my first purchase of the month was a total blow out. Enough to almost want to cut Sephora off for good. Especially since they never do anything to fix the problem and it makes them look dishonest. This second purchase was no different. It wasn't nearly as bad but it was the same type of dishonesty and the blatant showing of not wanting to fix the problem.

So with this order I ordered the Too Faced Bon Bons Palette after looking through the website multiple times and going to the store to check out all the palettes and try them out or swatch them. I fell in love with this palette in store but couldn't afford to buy it on the spot like my review of this palette explains in another post. 

 Not that I would have bought it on the spot anyway despite how much I wanted it because patience is a virtue. Not to mention I'm a sucker for a good deal or at least free stuff. With the cost of these products I at least wanted some free samples and you get three with every online order as opposed to no samples with your in store purchase. That is of course, unless you ask for perfume samples, which I do, but there's no purchase necessary for those. 

So anyway, I purchased the above mentioned palette and the Urban Decay Spectrum palette that's on sale now for almost half off at $29. You really can't beat that for a full size UD palette that had a great variety of colors. I just couldn't pass up this deal and I suggest you don't either because it won't be around forever. This palette is an online exclusive for Sephora and I'm guessing it's on sale because they are getting rid of the rest of their stock of this palette and won't be restocking it so if you ever did or do want this palette don't wait much longer. I love it. A review is coming shortly so keep an eye out for that along with some tutorials.

 I think that's all I bought and I got some samples I think but for some reason I can't find them at the moment. I know one was some sort of powder exfoliating face wash that worked great but I will find them and review that stuff for you guys too.

 What was fixed this time from last time is that I didn't screw up the address and have to call and try to fix it and get lied to so it showed up on time with the samples they promised. Almost anyway. We will get to that part shortly though.

Ups dropped it off and set it inside my door as that's what I ask of them with a note on my front door because I can't always hear the door depending on the area of the house I'm in.

Ups is always great. They tried to fix the last problem even when Sephora didn't try and even though they tried Sephora screwed me over then too, but that's all in the other rant.

 Anyway, Sephora has these deals where if you purchase a specific thing you can use a specific code to get a specific sample or bag or something. Otherwise if it's not a specific thing it's a specific amount you have to spend over to get to use the code for your choice of a few select deluxe sample sized items or whatever is being offered. 

 One of the items being offered was a deluxe sample sized Kat Von D Lolita liquid lipstick. I was excited about this. They had a couple other types of makeup, skin and haircare sample codes for the same requirement, but this is what I really wanted. I had wanted to try this out for quite some time but there was always something else I wanted more. So basically this was my chance to try this scot free. No risk Involved. If I didn't like it, oh well. I don't wear that much lipstick anyway as I prefer lip gloss (like dioraddict gloss. That's my fav. Review soon to come.). So it probably would have lasted me quite some time and I could have gotten a good feel of whether or not I liked it enough to want to spend $20 on a lip product. 

 Needless to say, I was really pretty excited. I was obviously excited for the entire order because yes admittedly I've made three expensive (for me) orders this month, but before that I can't remember the last time I got some new high end makeup. 

 So I go online to my account on the Sephora website to get my tracking number and check the order status once it was finally sent out. I check the order overview and see the samples they chose to send and see that almost everything was sent out. Keyword almost. The KVD Lolita Liquid Lipstick sample was out of stock. What the hell. Ok, calm down. There's got to be something in there to replace it since they have a disclaimer stating they have the right to replace any samples if they run out of something. Granted this was a deluxe size sample, but as I told you before this wasn't the only deluxe sample to choose from with your order of over $25.

 So I check my email. Nothing. They didn't ask if I wanted to choose another sample or tell me they were going to replace it with something else.

 Fine. I understand they're a big company and they can't communicate about every little thing. Whatever. There's got to be something in there.

 I get the package on time four days later. Three day shipping and a processing day. I open the package and take the palettes out and grab the samples. Theres three. I shake out the folded up receipt and the packing paper. Nothing. I can't believe this. I spend the required amount and get nothing. Not even a fourth regular size sample. 

 What if I had ordered from sephora instead of ulta to get this sample instead of another deal that ulta was offering? Is that how you treat your customers? What if someone didn't intend to spend but $20, than they see the sample you're advertising that they can get if they spend more money so they do and than they get nothing. Both of these scenarios are quite likely along with many other scenarios. It was not right of them to leave me with nothing when I spent the right amount of money, entered the code, the code was accepted, the sample added to my order and than cancelled when if I would have picked any other sample from those categories I would have gotten it. 

 They should have replaced it with something. Anything. A lot of people spend more money at Sephora as opposed to another store for the samples, deals, free stuff and beauty points and to just screw me over like that really sucks when I've been a loyal beauty rewards member and customer since I was 17 so almost 9 years ago.

 With everything that had happened a little more than a week before I'm pretty upset. I'm not even attempting contacting their customer service after all the lies they told me last time and their inability to fix a problem. If I were anybody else I would just go to Ulta.com. They give samples too. If I didn't have so many unused beauty points that I'm saving up for something big I would too and probably eventually will one day soon.

 I am now currently waiting on my third and last order of the month. The order was made on the last day of August so I'm counting it even though it will arrive in September. 

 I ordered Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sun Dipped, DiorShow Mascara, Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in the Color Crush, Kat Von D Lock It Powder Foundation in color medium 52 because I returned the liquid Lock it foundation I purchased in my first order to the Sephora store to trade in for the powder but I was still tanning and I'm not anymore so now it's too dark and I need a lighter color. I returned the liquid because I'm oily and it broke me out and the powder doesn't but it gives me long lasting full coverage which is important because of my acne. I obviously spent over $25 So this time I ordered the Make Up Forever Hd Foundation Deluxe sample in Sand. It says it's shipped but doesn't say what other samples they shipped this time so we will see how it goes. Let's hope this is a bump free ride this time. I can't take anymore drama from them this month.

Reviews and tutorials to come on all the products mentioned so like,

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Rememeber you're beautiful the way you are and don't let anyone else tell you different! Xoxo

Beth

BLUE NAIL ART FOR SHORT NAILS! OPI FALL 2016!

For fall of 2016, these nail tutorials are quick and easy enough for even the most paint challenged of us all. Obviously clean up the edges with a q-tip drenched with nail polish remover. 

step 1: paint with your base color over the entire nail. One or two coats. 

step 2: paint your contrast color in a thick diagonal motion in just one or two sweeps so it looks as nice and uniform as possible. You can also do this in one or two coats depending on the saturation of your color and your desired result.

step 3: with a purchased dotting tool or a straightened out Bobby pin end, or a tooth pic or whatever you can find to make dots start making dots down the line where the two colors meet. 

step 4: add a top coat. For this look I prefer a shiny coat but any type of top coat will work (matte, sparkle, etc. Make it your own).

Nail polishes used. Opi russian navy. Essie robins egg blue. Sally hansen white. Top coat is Sally hansen miracle gel step two. This is my all time favorite top coat out of all the shiny top coats I have tried.

These three nail posts from today are somewhat older posts from my WordPress blog at yarnandbeauty.wordpress.com that I'm moving over here. They will still be there but I want them here too. I've changed my blogging style a bit since these that's why the tutorial style may seem a bit different.

Twitter snowbunnybeth90

Pinterest @callowayelizabeth

Instagram @buzzybee1990

Gold and maroon nail art for short or long nails! Fall 2016 fashion

This is a beautiful fall nail art look for 2016. It’s a modern take on the classic french manicure. You can do this with any color but I chose maroon and sparkly gold because it reminded me of the leaves changing in the fall. I know it’s not fall yet but this would look great any time of year. Change the colors up to pastels for spring, or neons and brights for summer. Your imagination is your only limitation for this tutorial. Literally anyone can do this. Even if you dont have a steady hand all you need to do is soak a q-tip in nail polish remover and any mistakes you made will disappear so give this a try!

Step 1: Use two coats of your main color in as few amount of strokes as you can so it will stay smooth looking and uniform. 

Step 2: turn your brush handle facing away from the nail being painted and use the brush to do little straight up and down brush strokes all the way across. Do two coats of this as well in this technique if youre not well versed in painting small lines with big brushes. (You can make the line as big or small as you would like, although if you intend to do a very fine line you should probably use a thin nail art brush as opposed to the brush.right out of your nail polish bottle.

Step 3: Add top coat and let dry. Out of all the high and low end top coats I have tried sally hansens miracle gel (pictured above) is my all time favorite. One or two coats of this and it hides any small imperfections and gives you a gel look with no special tools or lights needed. You can use this top coat with any nail polish even though it is sold as step one to Sally hansen miracle gel sets. You buy each seperately though so I urge you to give it a try.

A quick change if this doesn’t work for you is to put a line of gold on the tip first then carefully put the maroon on second above that making sure you leave a straight or straight curved line. If it’s still to curvy or messy grab a thin nail art brush and paint a thin line between the gold and maroon right on the line to disguise any imperfections. Or just use the nail art brush from the beginning for the french tip. It will give you much more control if you have one or the means to buy one.

Nail polish used: top coat- Sally hansen miracle gel step 2. Opi bring on the bling for gold french tip and opi Lincoln park after dark for maroon base.

These three nail posts from today are somewhat older posts from my WordPress blog at yarnandbeauty.wordpress.com that I'm moving over here. They will still be there but I want them here too. I've changed my blogging style a bit since these that's why the tutorial style may seem a bit different.

Twitter snowbunnybeth90

Pinterest @callowayelizabeth

Instagram @buzzybee1990

OPI SKYS MY LIMIT BLUE NAIL TUTORIAL FOR SHORT OR LONG NAILS!

Hopefully you can see the beautiful sparkly blue beneath this not so subtle nail art. The picture didn’t do this polish justice but it is a beautiful fine multi shimmer iridescent real blue polish. It’s been a favorite for going on two years now. It lasts like most opi polishes. It also does NOT have the “I’m never leaving this nail” attitude that a lot of glitter polishes take on, so basically there’s no extra trouble getting this off.

Hard candy makes some ok nail art pens. This is what I used on top along with nicole by opi high shine top coat. The high shine top coat isn’t anything special. It takes for-ev-er to dry and it’s dried effect isn’t worth the extra money. After trying this because I’m an avid opi fan I will definitely be sticking with my Wal-Mart bought Sally hansen miracle gel top coat step two. Seriously, nothing can beat that gel polish. It hides imperfections in paint and lasts forever with a real gel look with no special tools or lights needed. It also dries so amazingly fast, which is great for the woman on the go that so many of us are in today’s world.

Now I admit, I am a bit of a brand snob. I won’t do off brand knock offs of anything because it usually ends up costing the same because either it doesnt last as long, work as food or something along those lines. But, I will try a not so high end brand here and there hence the Sally hansen miracle gel love affair.

Unfortunately, my usual view came true about hard candy(s) nail art pens. The black pen (not pictured here) works alright for the price, but as you can see above most of the other colors are runny and do not look good. They last ok. It’s been three days since I did the nail above, but it’s looked that bad since the minute the nail art dried. The packaging is easy enough to use in a pen shaped form and sharp tip. Unfortunately it’s a press and release mechanism to get the paint to come out. So that means you need to find a place to press it every time you need a dot or a line or two. It also randomly starts flowing out even after pushing with exactly the same pressure you will almost always get different results. I most definitely will not be purchasing again.

Tutorial for above nail art: put two coats of main color all over nail, let dry a bit without top coat on. Add a big dot middle top with a dotting tool then use a smaller dotting tool or nail art pen to add smaller rows of did in the shape of the curve of your nails. After that use a nail pen, or fine nail art brush and add two or three diagonal lines toward the bottom diagonal half off the nail. Let dry some then add your top coat.

Too Faced Bon Bons Makeup Neutrals Tutorial

This is another Too Faced Bon Bon Tutorial but it's also a neutral look where you could use any colors that are similar to get the exact same look. For this purpose I will also put a picture of the color for each step. This is an easy look to do and takes less than ten minutes total, which is great for us mom's or the girls going to school, work or just someone looking for a good daytime "smokey" eye.

The products I used were an

1) Anastasia Beverly Hills (from here on out termed ABH) #14 dual brow brush that I use for liner.

2) Loreal Telescopic Mascara

3) Too Faced Bon Bons Palette

4)Cover Fx Contour Kit

5) Make Up Forever HD Blush Second Skin Cream Blush in the color 210

6) DiorShow Maximizer Lash Primer

7)Kat Von D Ink Liner in Trooper

8)Kat Von D Lock It Powder Foundation in Medium 54

9) Bobbi Brown concealer duo in Pale Yellow

10) Loreal Voluminous Mascara

11) Loreal Color Sensational Creamy Matte lipstick in the color 660 Touch of Spice

12) Benefit Precisely My Brow Pencil in the color 03 Medium

13) Sephora Pro Blending Brush #27

14) eye shadow brush from my cargo palette. Any small shadow brush will work.

15) Mary Kay eye primer

Seems like a ton of products I know but keep in mind these are just the products for the entire face. Very few of them are for the eyes. For the eyes just use the eye products you need with the neutral colors that match. Simple as pie. Also, you can switch this look up to different colors using the same techniques and it would be just as beautiful and look totally different. 

 this look coming soon

Let's begin!

First prep your face. Wash and moisturize your face and let dry.

Step 1) Use your concealer on your eyelids all the way up to the brows. Set that with a powder foundation or setting powder. The Bobbi Brown Duo mentioned above has a matching powder but honestly I wouldn't buy it again. It's not worth $37. I've seen lots of better drugstore concealers.

 Add an eye primer and do your brows. Now you should be prepared to start your eyes. Do not do your full face or even your foundation yet. There probably will be fallout from the eyeshadow and when you try to clean it off of your foundation it just smears it and makes a dark muddy color that you do not want under your eyes or you end up taking all that foundation, concealer, etc. Off anyway and then it's just a waste of product. Do grab a thin brush and put concealer right under your bottom lash line in a thin line and rub it in. Same with your inner corner.

Step 2) Grab a base color with your fluffy brush that's a light creamy color. I used  a shade a little lighter than my skin tone and the only color I didn't use from the palette. It doesn't really matter because you won't see it later. I used Neutrogena Nourishing Eye Duo in the color creme caramal 10. Just the lightest yellow/cream color. This is the color below. Just swipe it evenly from lid to right below the brows. Make sure it's blended very well because we don't want it to be cakey from all the products we have used already that hopefully you used sparing amounts of because you don't want a cakey look.

Step 3) Again with your fluffy blending brush grab a very light brown color like a light tan. Out of the Bon Bons Palette I used Almond Truffle. Don't be afraid to let the fallout get on your tongue. It tastes good lol. Back to the tutorial, sorry it's just so crazy how sweet it is!

 Ok now with the small amount you have on your fluffy brush, since you can always go back for more, tap off the excess. Now in a windshield wiping motion put it in and above your crease. Make sure not to get any below your crease as this only makes your eyes look smaller. Especially hooded eyes but really any.

Step 4) With your fluffy brush grab Mocha. It's a little bit deeper but still medium brown. Do the same with Mocha as you did with the Almond Truffle.

Step 5) With your fluffy brush grab Bordeaux and in small circular motions in your outer third and V. Blend into your crease. 

Step 6) Blend. Blend. BLEND. Blend outwards towards your hairline until there's no harsh lines. Don't worry about perfection. We will clean up later and for this mini smokey eye a little mess makes the smoke look.

Step 7) With your eyeshadow brush grab Divinity. It's a very nice muted, cream, white. Dab that into your inner two thirds until you get to the blended line at the outer third. 

Step 8) With your shadow brush grab Black Currant and put it into your inner V only. Dab it into your outer V only. Be careful because we don't want to make too much of a mess with a dark color. Grab your fluffy brush and blend in small circular motions in your outer third.

Step 9) With your shadow brush grab Dark truffle. Put in your inner v as with above and blend the harsh lines out just enough so there's no harsh lines with the same brush.

Step 10) With the fluffy brush grab divinity and put it above the crease color to right under your eyebrow. This lightens everything up, blends the harsh color of the top of the crease colors. 

Step 11) Grab your eyeshadow brush and some Satin sheets. A shiny, light pink. Line right under your brow line from beginning to end starting concentrating the most of the color from the middle or arch to the end. Then grab a little more and put it in your inner corner and in your waterline and right under your water line to right before your bottom lashes start.

Step 12)  Grab your ABH liner brush. Grab Black Currant and line the bottom water line and right under to the end of the lashes going inward right at the line with Satin Sheets.

Step 13) Grab the same liner brush and with Black Currant line your top lash line.

Step 14) line with your favorite liner. I used my ink liner.

Step 15) Use your favorite mascara. I used the Dior lash primer and two coats of Voluminous mascara. Then once done with both eyes start with the other eye and add one to two coats of Telescopic mascara. Using two mascaras of any kind adds an insane amount of plumpness and volume just make sure to have your lash brush handy in case your specific mascara clump up. You don't want that and no one else does either. These two specific mascaras work great together.

I love this foundation because with my oily and acne ridden complexion. It covers all my imperfections, and I don't have to use anything else. I contoured and highlighted with my cover fx kit. Then use your lipstick, liner or gloss. Blend everything in with your hands or a tissue or beauty blender. Make sure you add your foundation  to your neckline and some of your contour shade down your neck to your chest if you used it to line your entire face.  A good way to keep your cleavage looking hot is to line the inner curve of your breasts with your contour shade and use your highlight shade at the top of your breasts. 

That's that. I ordered another order from Sephora. Let's hope this order works out better than the others. I ordered DiorShow Mascara, a lighter Lock It Foundation since I stopped tanning for health skin issues, ABH liguid lipstick in crush, Make up forever foundation in light sand? I think, and the ABH Glow Kit in Sun Dipped. I will be adding reviews and what happened during or with my order or delivery since something always does lol.

Plus one me, add me on twitter @snowbunnybeth90 and Pinterest @callowayelizabeth and stay tuned for my youtube channel hopefully soon to come. 

Comment on anything you would like me to review and stay tuned for my review on the basics palette coming from Urban Decay as soon as it's released. 

You're all so beautiful!