Category: Sales

As always credit for this overall concept goes to Emily Noel on Youtube. She has some older videos about What’s OLD at the Drugstore and I’ve always loved the idea. I’ve done this Sephora VIB Sale version two other times, so if you’d like to see more products you can check those out here and here.

So anyway, while neither of these concealers is the newest thing to the market, I’m taking this time to highlight them because I think they still hold their own against new releases. The sale dates are 14 April 2023 – 24 April 2023 depending on your membership tier. All of the dates and discount levels are listed at the bottom of this post. Keep in mind that you can also shop the sale at Kohl’s locations that have Sephora sections and Kohl’s online. Often things sell out at Sephora and they are still available at Kohl’s.

NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer, $32.00

This was released in January 2017 and I still see a lot of people using this which says a lot considering how fast new releases tend to dominate people’s routines. This is a standout concealer in both form and function. I think we can all agree that there aren’t as many pot concealers as there are liquid doe foot style concealers. Also, it just seems like most people don’t even want to try a pot concealer. I think that is because they are seen as being heavy. Although this NARS Concealer is definitely full coverage, you can apply it lightly to minimize the amount of product sitting on your skin but still get the coverage you need. The texture is almost a mousse and it has a lot of slip due to dimethicone being the 1st ingredient, so it blends easily. This sets down to a matte finish as promised and I personally don’t have to set it with powder (which I love). It stays in place all day and doesn’t crease very much.

For shade reference, you can see me wearing NARS Natural Radiant Longwear in Tahoe by clicking here and Estee Lauder Double Wear in 4W4 by clicking here.

The Smashbox website is currently having a sale for UP TO 50% off Bestsellers and the Cali Contour Palette is one of the featured items. I reviewed this palette back in May of 2021 and while I still think that it would be best for normal, combination, and oily skin types, I figured that this was an excellent occasion to share how I get it to work for my dry skin. I can use the top right and top left shade on my dry skin throughout the year without any issues. However, the yellow setting powder, two highlighters, and the bottom right bronzer shade are the ones that give some trouble.

It’s really not difficult to work with if you have dry skin, it is just that, in my opinion, these powders need to absorb some moisture to look their best. I find that when worn over dewy foundations (the more moisture the better), they melt into the skin and do not appear dry. When I wear some of the powders in this palette with my top foundations (Estee Lauder Double Wear, NARS Natural Radiant Longwear) they can look dry and powdery. However, over dewy bases like the Smashbox Halo Tinted Moisturizer and the Urban Decay Hydromaniac, they melt into my skin nicely with no dryness.

As always credit for this overall concept goes to Emily Noel on Youtube. I originally saw her older videos about What’s OLD at the Drugstore. I did this for last year’s sale and figured why not turn it into a series. So as the name implies, none of my recommendations are the newest things to the market. The sale dates are 1 April 2022- 11 April 2022 depending on your membership tier.

Laura Mercier Candleglow Sheer Perfecting Powder, $39.00

This powder has been lurking around since at least as far back as 2016. For years so many people wanted Hourglass to create their ambient lighting powders in skin tone shades. Well, Laura Mercier did just that. The line started out with 6 shades and has been cut down to 3 recently. Shades 1, 3, and 5 are the new permanent lineup, although Sephora currently has shade 2 in stock. While this new range is unfortunate, I hope that more people can discover this great product and the brand can afford to expand the range.

I have dry skin and this is my preferred setting powder but it can also be used as a finishing powder. When using this as a setting powder, I get the longevity and dried down feeling I prefer, but the glow of the powder keeps my skin from looking dry or looking matte. As a finishing powder, I apply this if a foundation is accentuating my texture. I find that layering this on top improves the look of things and makes the texture appear smoother. Laura Mercier claims that this powder has a “diffused, soft-focus finish” and I guess that is the benefit that helps with the look of texture.